Educomunicação, Transformação Social e Desenvolvimento Sustentável

Esta publicação apresenta os principais trabalhos dos GTs do II Congresso Internacional de Comunicação e Educação nos temas Transformação social, com os artigos que abordam principalmente Educomunicação e/ou Mídia-Educação, no contexto de políticas de diversidade, inclusão e equidade; e, em Desenvolvimento Sustentável os artigos que abordam os avanços da relação comunicação/educação no contexto da educação ambiental e desenvolvimento sustentável

Currículos alternativos/oficiais: o(s) risco(s) do hibridismo

The article stresses the discursive similarities between the National Curricula Parameters (PCN) established by the Brazilian Ministryof Education, considered the official curriculum, and the School Assembly Movement inspired by the Workers´Party state government in Rio Grandedo Sul, proposed as an alternative curriculum. It discusses what has been happening with our critical alternative curricula which end upproposing almost the same educationas that of the Federal Government. It forwards the argument that, as aconsequence of this hybridism, weneed to dispel the ambiguity, by producing and putting into practice curricula which do not yet exist and to invent once more the difference

Human Brucella canis outbreak linked to infection in dogs

Fil: Lucero, Nidia E. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Servicio de Brucelosis; Argentina.Fil: Corazza, Rosana. Hospital Eva Perón. Bacteriology and Paediatric Infectology Unit; Argentina.Fil: Almuzara, Marisa. Hospital Eva Perón. Bacteriology and Paediatric Infectology Unit; Argentina.Fil: Reynes, E. Antropozoonosis Centre. Veterinary and Preventive Medicine Division; Argentina.Fil: Escobar, Gabriela I. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Servicio de Brucelosis; Argentina.Fil: Boeri, Eduardo. Zoonosis Institute Dr. Luis Pasteur; Argentina.Fil: Ayala, Sandra M. Hospital Eva Perón. Bacteriology and Paediatric Infectology Unit; Argentina.The zoonotic risk of Brucella canis has been considered fairly high for persons who handle breeding dogs in kennels or are exposed to infected animals. Transmission to humans in other circumstances has been thought to be rare. We describe an uncommon outbreak of brucellosis caused by B. canis which, to the best of our knowledge, is the first reported in the literature. This outbreak involved six persons (three children and three adults), a bitch and three puppies which had close daily contact with the family. The clinical symptoms of the index case led to an erroneous diagnosis and the infection would have gone undiagnosed if culture had not been positive. This report aims to increase awareness of medical personnel of the need to order screening tests for children, immunodeficient persons or pregnant women presenting with fever of unknown origin, unexplained spleen or liver enlargement or other systemic signs. The emerging zoonotic potential of this disease in urban areas and the need to coordinate canine brucellosis surveillance systems should be evaluated

Transferring the financial risks of pharmaceutical benefits from a large health care provider in Argentina to a consortium of pharmaceutical companies

OBJECTIVE: The National Institute of Social Services for Retirees and Pensioners (NISSRP) is a nationwide health care financing agency and service provider in Argentina. Among its services, the NISSRP provides outpatient drug coverage to more than 3.3 million beneficiaries, mainly senior citizens and disabled persons. In 1997, to help cope with its rising costs, the NISSRP agreed to transfer the risk for the cost of outpatient medications and cancer-treatment drugs to a consortium of pharmaceutical companies in exchange for a fixed monthly payment. The objective of this study was to determine the impact that this new approach had on three things: (1) the level of expenditures for the medicines that were included in the agreement, (2) the pattern of nonrational prescribing for NISSRP beneficiaries, and (3) this pattern's relationship with macroeconomic variables and the pattern of prescribing for Argentina as a whole. METHODS: We compared outpatient-medicine consumption in 1999 with consumption before the agreement went into effect. RESULTS: The actual amount that NISSRP beneficiaries spent out-of-pocket climbed from US$336.13 million in 1996 to US$ 473.36 million in 1999, an increase of almost 41%. The nominal amount "spent" by the NISSRP in 1999 was US$601.11 million, versus a real amount of US$ 374.75 million in 1996, an "increase" of 60% (that increase for the NISSRP was only theoretical since the agreement specified the fixed monthly amount that the NISSRP would have to pay to the pharmaceutical consortium). In contrast with the increased real spending by NISSRP beneficiaries, Argentina's economy remained stable over the assessed period, with the consumer price index even falling by 0.8%. We found high levels of nonrational drug use in the NISSRP system in both 1996 and 1999, indicating a serious ongoing problem. CONCLUSIONS: An agreement with pharmaceutical companies, like the one we have described, might add an element of financial predictability for institutions such as the NISSRP. However, such an agreement can easily result in an increased economic burden for health care beneficiaries, and without any improvement in the services that they receive. This type of agreement requires extensive mechanisms for control, follow-up, and updating, and it also risks making nonrational drug prescribing the accepted rule. While perhaps feasible, the requirements for this kind of agreement are actually very difficult to put into place, requiring additional efforts from institutions such as the NISSRP

Functionally Enhanced siRNA Targeting TNFα Attenuates DSS-induced Colitis and TLR-mediated Immunostimulation in Mice

Tumor necrosis factor (TNFα) is a proinflammatory cytokine involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Although TNFα has been extensively targeted using systemic drugs, the use of antisense and small interfering RNA (siRNA) to drive down its expression at the site of inflammation should provide important advantages. In this study, native and chemically modified siRNA against TNFα was developed and characterized using a murine model of IBD. siRNA with 2′-O-methyl and propanediol modifications (siTNF-OMe-P) were resistant to nuclease degradation and provided better silencing efficacy in vitro as compared to unmodified siRNA. Every modification reduced nonspecific Toll-like receptor (TLR)-mediated immunomodulation in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) cells. Intrarectal administration of siTNF-OMe-P significantly ameliorated the clinical endpoints and histopathological severity in 5% dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)-treated mice as compared to unmodified and other chemically modified siRNAs. Differential gene expression assessed in siTNF-OMe-P-treated animals correlated with improved colon integrity and reduced TLR activation as compared to all treatment groups. All in all, this study demonstrates that propanediol and 2′-O-methyl modifications have profound functional consequences for siRNA efficacy in vivo. Consequently, this strategy has potential implications for therapeutic intervention in IBD and other diseases.Peer reviewe