Escolas públicas no campo: retrospectiva e perspectivas em um contexto de projetos políticos em disputa. Public schools in the countryside: A retrospective and perspectives in a context of political projects in dispute

Neste artigo, são apresentadas reflexões acerca do processo de fechamento de escolas públicas no campo, no Brasil. Por meio de levantamento bibliográfico, assim como de pesquisa documental, procedeu-se a uma análise retrospectiva do momento histórico em que ocorre a implementação das políticas de educação em massa, voltadas aos povos do campo, bem como se buscou levantar aspectos sócio-político-econômicos do momento em que o processo de fechamento dessas escolas é intensificado. A partir dos resultados, é possível sugerir possíveis implicações dessa política de fechamento e, ademais, apontar alguns dos desafios postos para a política pública de educação do país. Pode ser citado, como exemplo desses desafios, o contexto federativo brasileiro e as limitações orçamentárias impostas aos governos subnacionais no tocante ao financiamento da educação escolar, em especial no que se refere aos municípios de pequeno porte e/ou àqueles municípios com baixo montante de arrecadação própria. Tal situação ocorre, Isso porque, não raramente, esses municípios dispõem de reduzido orçamento, dependendo, de maneira majoritária, dos repasses de recursos financeiros provenientes de outras esferas governamentais, sejam federal ou estadual, as denominadas transferências orçamentárias intergovernamentais, em especial do Fundo de Participação dos Municípios. Tais questões que demandam que sejam retomados ou (re)problematizados os debates acerca do pacto federativo, em especial no que se refere ao federalismo fiscal, haja vista que a capacidade financeira de cada governo subnacional é determinante para a execução das políticas educacionais. In present article, we present reflections on the process of closing public schools in the countryside in Brazil. Through bibliographical survey, as well as documental research, we carried out a retrospective analysis of the historical moment in which the implementation of policies of mass education directed to people living in rural areas occurs. We have also sought to raise socio-political-economic aspects of the moment in which the process of closing these schools is intensified. The results obtained suggest possible implications of this closure policy, in addition to indicating some of the challenges posed to the public policy of education in the country; for example, the Brazilian federal context and the budget limitations imposed to subnational governments with regard to the funding of school education, particularly in relation to small municipalities and/or municipalities with low tax revenues. This situation quite often occurs because these municipalities present reduced budgets, depending largely on transfers of financial resources from other spheres of the Government, either federal or state, the so-called intergovernmental budgetary transfers; namely, the Municipalities Participation Fund. Such issues demand the resumption of debates about the federative pact, in particular with regard to fiscal federalism, given that the financial capacity of each subnational government is crucial to the implementation of educational policies

The Critical Coupling Likelihood Method: A new approach for seamless integration of environmental and operating conditions of gravitational wave detectors into gravitational wave searches

Any search effort for gravitational waves (GW) using interferometric detectors like LIGO needs to be able to identify if and when noise is coupling into the detector's output signal. The Critical Coupling Likelihood (CCL) method has been developed to characterize potential noise coupling and in the future aid GW search efforts. By testing two hypotheses about pairs of channels, CCL is able to identify undesirable coupled instrumental noise from potential GW candidates. Our preliminary results show that CCL can associate up to $\sim 80$ of observed artifacts with $SNR \geq 8$, to local noise sources, while reducing the duty cycle of the instrument by $\lesssim 15$. An approach like CCL will become increasingly important as GW research moves into the Advanced LIGO era, going from the first GW detection to GW astronomy.Comment: submitted CQ

The Transit Light Curve Project. IV. Five Transits of the Exoplanet OGLE-TR-10b

We present I and B photometry of five distinct transits of the exoplanet OGLE-TR-10b. By modeling the light curves, we find the planetary radius to be R_P = 1.06 +/- 0.08 R_Jup and the stellar radius to be R_S = 1.10 +/- 0.07 R_sun. The uncertainties are dominated by statistical errors in the photometry. Our estimate of the planetary radius is smaller than previous estimates that were based on lower-precision photometry, and hence the planet is not as anomalously large as was previously thought. We provide updated determinations of all the system parameters, including the transit ephemerides.Comment: Accepted in the Astrophysical Journal, 23 October 2006. Includes observations of additional transits to confirm earlier results. [15 pg, 6 figs

A meta-analysis of long-term COVID-19 symptoms

This meta–analysis examines the far–reaching effects of long COVID (LC), highlighting the need for welfare strategies emphasizing the Parity of Esteem. The analysis of clinical studies reveals the prevalence of LC across various demographic factors, including age, gender, infection type, and severity. The findings highlight persistent pulmonary impairments that result in post-COVID pulmonary fibrosis (PCPF), long-term cardiovascular symptoms, gastrointestinal issues, dermatological concerns, and neuropsychiatric outcomes. These effects continue beyond the acute phase of COVID-19, affecting both symptomatic and asymptomatic people. The study emphasizes that LC is not only a physical ailment but also has a significant impact on mental health, necessitating a holistic approach to healthcare. Psychological and emotional distress among LC patients necessitates empathetic support. This study concludes by emphasizing the significance of LC and advocating for data-driven healthcare policies and assistance programs to address the unique challenges encountered by COVID-19 survivors. For managing the long-term effects of LC on both physical and mental health, an unwavering commitment to parity of esteem is crucial

A systematic quality assessment of Environmental Impact Statements in the oil and gas industry

The global economy relies heavily on oil and gas resources. However, hydrocarbon exploitation projects can cause significant impacts on the environment. But despite the production of numerous Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) to identify/mitigate such impacts, no study has specifically assessed the quality of EISs for both onshore and offshore oil and gas projects, with tested hypotheses. To address this research gap, our paper, for the first time, develops a modified Lee and Colley evaluation model to assess the quality of 19 sampled oil and gas project EISs produced from 1998 to 2008 in Nigeria. Our findings show that Project Description and Communication of Results are the main areas of strength. However, Environmental Impact Prediction, and Project Decommissioning, were among the key areas requiring attention. A key finding, though, is that Mann-Whitney tests suggest that there is no evidence that the quality of EISs for the latter period (2004–2008) is higher than that of the earlier period (1998–2004). We suggest that periodic systematic review of the quality of submitted/approved EISs (c. every 3–5 years) should be established to monitor trends in EIS quality and identify strong and weak areas. This would help to drive continual improvement in both the EIA processes and the resultant EISs of technical engineering projects. Such reviews have the potential to illuminate some of the underlying problems of, and solutions to, oil and gas exploration, production and transportation, and their related environmental impacts. This suggested change would also be useful internationally, including for the burgeoning exploration and production of unconventional hydrocarbon resources.Publisher Statement: NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Science of The Total Environment. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Science of The Total Environment, [572, (2016)] DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.083© 2016, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0

VLBA Observations of Strong Anisotripic Radio Scattering towards the Orion Nebula

We present observations of VLBA 20, a radio source found towards the edge of the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC). Nonthermal emission dominates the spectral energy distribution of this object from radio to mid-infrared regime, suggesting that VLBA 20 is extragalactic. This source is heavily scattered in the radio regime. Very Long Baseline Array observations resolve it to ~34x19 mas at 5 GHz, and the wavelength dependence of the scattering disk is consistent with $\nu^{-2}$ at other frequencies. The origin of the scattering is most likely the ionized X-ray emitting gas from the winds of the most massive stars of the ONC. The scattering is highly anisotropic, with the axis ratio of 2:1, higher than what is typically observed towards other sources.Comment: 6 pages, accepted to A

Mining human microbiomes reveals an untapped source of peptide antibiotics

Drug-resistant bacteria are outpacing traditional antibiotic discovery efforts. Here, we computationally screened 444,054 previously reported putative small protein families from 1,773 human metagenomes for antimicrobial properties, identifying 323 candidates encoded in small open reading frames (smORFs). To test our computational predictions, 78 peptides were synthesized and screened for antimicrobial activity in vitro, with 70.5% displaying antimicrobial activity. As these compounds were different compared with previously reported antimicrobial peptides, we termed them smORF-encoded peptides (SEPs). SEPs killed bacteria by targeting their membrane, synergizing with each other, and modulating gut commensals, indicating a potential role in reconfiguring microbiome communities in addition to counteracting pathogens. The lead candidates were anti-infective in both murine skin abscess and deep thigh infection models. Notably, prevotellin-2 from Prevotella copri presented activity comparable to the commonly used antibiotic polymyxin B. Our report supports the existence of hundreds of antimicrobials in the human microbiome amenable to clinical translation

Estimating the global conservation status of more than 15,000 Amazonian tree species

Estimates of extinction risk for Amazonian plant and animal species are rare and not often incorporated into land-use policy and conservation planning. We overlay spatial distribution models with historical and projected deforestation to show that at least 36% and up to 57% of all Amazonian tree species are likely to qualify as globally threatened under International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List criteria. If confirmed, these results would increase the number of threatened plant species on Earth by 22%. We show that the trends observed in Amazonia apply to trees throughout the tropics, and we predict thatmost of the world’s >40,000 tropical tree species now qualify as globally threatened. A gap analysis suggests that existing Amazonian protected areas and indigenous territories will protect viable populations of most threatened species if these areas suffer no further degradation, highlighting the key roles that protected areas, indigenous peoples, and improved governance can play in preventing large-scale extinctions in the tropics in this century

Identificación del virus de hepatitis delta genotipo 3 en comunidades andinas y amazónicas del Perú

Introduction. The Hepatitis Delta Virus (HDV) is the cause of the most severe form of human viral hepatitis and is associated with a high risk of liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). There are 8 HDV genotypes with different geographic distribution. Objectives. To identify the genotypes of VHD circulating in Huanta and three indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon. Methods. Observational and cross-sectional study, from 582 reactive samples for anti-HBc-HBV. Anti-HDV positive samples were processed with the nRT-PCR method, genotype was determined by direct Sanger-type sequencing and   phylogenetic analysis of the R0 fragment. 111 reference sequences from GenBank were used. The 42 sequences of the study were edited y assembled with the bioinformatics programs. Phylogenetic and evolutionary analysis was performed   with the following software: Beast v2.5.2, Jmodeltest v2.1.10, Tracer v1.7.1, Tree Annotator and Figtree v1.4.4. The Bayesian Yule and Birth Death skyline serial models were used, the MCMC at 30 and 80 million respectively, with the relaxed uncorrelated Exponential molecular clock. Summary and central tendency measures were calculated using the program in STATA 14.0. Results. The mean age was 38 years, 52.8% were women. 101 samples were positive for anti-HDV antibodies. HDV RNA was detected in 49.5% of the anti-HDV ELISA reactive samples. Phylogenetic analysis determined the presence of genotype 3. Conclusions. The presence of HDV genotype 3 in Andean and Amazonian communities of Peru is evidenced.Introducción. El virus de la hepatitis delta (VHD) es el causante de la forma más severa de la hepatitis viral humana, se asocia con un riesgo alto de fibrosis al hígado y carcinoma hepatocelular (HCC). Existen 8 genotipos del VHD con diferente distribución geográfica. Objetivos. Identificar los genotipos del VHD circulante en Huanta y tres pueblos indígenas de la Amazonía peruana. Métodos. Estudio observacional y transversal, realizado en 582 muestras reactivas para anti-HBc del VHB. Por el método nRT-PCR se procesaron todos los anti VHD positivos, el genotipo fue determinado mediante secuenciamiento directo tipo Sanger y análisis filogenético del fragmento R0. Se utilizaron 111 secuencias de referencia del GenBank. Las 42 secuencias del estudio fueron editadas y ensambladas con programas bioinformáticos. El análisis filogenético y evolutivo se realizó con los programas: Beast V2.5.2, Jmodeltest v2.1.10, Tracer v1.7.1, Tree Annotator y Figtree v1.4.4.  Se utilizaron los modelos Bayesianos Yule y Birth Death skyline serial, el MCMC en 30 y 80 millones respectivamente, con el relaxed uncorrelated Exponential molecular clock. Se calcularon las medidas de resumen y de tendencia central utilizando el programa en STATA 14.0. Resultados. La media de la edad fue de 38 años, el 52,8% fueron mujeres. 101 muestras fueron positivas para anticuerpos anti-VHD. El ARN del VHD fue detectado en el 49,5% de las muestras reactivas a ELISA anti-VHD. El análisis filogenético determinó la presencia del genotipo 3. Conclusiones. Se evidencia la presencia del genotipo 3 del VHD en comunidades andinas y amazónicas del Perú