Elements of Success in Welfare to Work Programs: Programmatic and Policy Recommendations

An analysis of eight welfare-to-work programs between 1998 and 2000 in Chicago to identify successful program elements, isolate barriers to employment presented by participants, and make recommendations for welfare reform policy. The programs were both large and small, of both long and short duration, and provided a variety of services, from vocational training to shorter job placement-focused activities. By reviewing quantitative findings within the context of qualitative data gathered through staff and participant interviews, we have identified elements of successful programming and welfare policy recommendations that flow from them.Sample Demographics: Our sample consisted of 843 participants in these eight programs over the two-year period.-- The mean number of children across the sample was 2.57.-- 46.7% had earned a high school diploma or GED.-- Average reading levels were 7.70 and 6.46 for math.-- 81.5% of the sample had been employed at some point prior to entering the program.-- The average length of time on welfare was 6.97 years.Employment Rates and Drop Rates: Analyzing all those participants who showed up at the programs after intake, the employment rate was 56.1% and the drop rate was 43.9%. Those who found employment were younger, had a slightly lower average number of children, and slightly more had been ever employed prior to entering the program.Reasons for Program Drop Outs: The four most commonly cited reasons for drop were child care, health, substance abuse, and low literacy.Child care drop outs were on average older, more poorly educated, and less likely to have been employed in the past. Almost half the child care drop outs had school age children in addition to younger children, giving rise to the hypothesis that they had difficulty in finding child care for so many different age groups.Nearly 80% of the health problems involved the health of the participant rather than other family members. Women who dropped out due to health problems had higher literacy and numeracy levels than the overall sample, as well as a much longer average time on welfare (11.95 years versus 6.97 years). Fewer participants with health problems had ever been employed (75.6%) compared to the overall sample (81.7%), indicating that these health problems have and continue to be employment barriers. Substance abusers dropped out later in the program than other drop outs. They too have been on welfare for a longer time than the overall sample- 8.67 years versus 6.97 years. Since their average employment history was about the same as the overall sample, it is likely that substance abuse causes participants to lose successive jobs, a factor that is associated with longer stays on welfare. Participants who dropped out due to low literacy had average reading scores of 4.54 and math scores of 3.96, considerably lower than the overall sample, and had longer years on welfare (8.34 compared to 6.46 for the entire sample). In addition, they had been employed far less than the sample (55% compared to 81.7%), indicating that their low literacy presented a significant barrier to employment

Entre a crítica do nacionalismo e a ética da compaixão: o pensamento de Rabindranath Tagore sobre política internacional e relações internacionais

Nos últimos anos, pesquisadores e estudiosos da área de Relações Internacionais têm identificado que suas teorias e técnicas comumente negligenciam ensinamentos e experiências advindos de fora do Ocidente. Essa carência no campo das teorias compromete por completo o entendimento da dinâmica de política internacional do mundo contemporâneo, visto que, os atores internacionais não-ocidentais ocupam cada vez mais lugar de destaque na política e na economia mundial. Por essa razão, a busca por uma proposta de agenda normativa proveniente do Oriente torna-se cada vez mais frequente entre pesquisadores da disciplina. Nessa perspectiva, esse projeto de pesquisa busca analisar o pensamento de Rabindranath Tagore, poeta indiano, a respeito da política internacional buscando compreender sua crítica ao conceito de nacionalismo, e a alternativa ética proposta pelo autor, que se baseia em princípios e valores orientais. No prelúdio da pesquisa torna-se imprescindível a compreensão do cenário e momento políticos em que autor se encontrava, e exploração do conteúdo ministrado em duas notórias palestras proferidas em solo japonê

Anthropological Engagement in the International Sphere

As anthropologists increasingly embark upon the study of the international sphere, this often builds on different forms of engagement within and around organizations, processes, and institutional corridors. The co-authors, building upon a round table exchange, address the advantages and dilemmas of anthropological engagement in the field of international governance, including humanitarian work, diplomacy, international organizations, the Swiss federal government, NGOs, and multinationals

Portal "O Trem: protótipo jornalístico em plataforma de hipernicho

Este trabalho busca identificar a contribuição do jornalismo de hipernicho como modelo de negócio, na era digital da comunicação. A sociedade tem demonstrado novos hábitos de consumo, o que tem provocado mudanças na produção de conteúdo. Nesse contexto, aparece o jornalismo de nicho e sua contribuição para a comunicação. Ele apresenta conteúdo específico para determinada fatia da sociedade que pode buscar informação do segmento que mais lhe interessa. O estudo propõe analisar as mudanças no consumo de notícias, conceituar multimodalidade e encontrar a contribuição desse modo de produção na criação dos conteúdos segmentados. O trabalho também propõe a criação de um portal de notícias aprofundadas, inserido no âmbito do jornalismo de hipernicho

A influência da estrutura da vegetação em parâmetros ecológicos de comunidades

Destaca-se a importância do estudo das aves por conta de sua essencial função ecológica e da utilidade desses estudos para sua conservação. Dados de riqueza e abundância são elementares, pois aumentam o conhecimento a respeito da área favorecendo planos de conservação mais eficazes. O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar a influência da estrutura do ambiente e do tempo na abundância de aves em uma área de Cerrado. Adicionalmente foi estimada a densidade, a riqueza de espécies e foi avaliada a diversidade dos ambientes. O estudo foi conduzido na Reserva Ecológica do IBGE e o método de amostragem utilizado foi o censo por ponto em duas categorias ambientais: ambientes abertos e ambientes florestais. Foram observados 287 indivíduos de 46 espécies diferentes. As estimativas de diversidade utilizadas revelaram que ambientes florestais apresentaram diversidade superior a observada em ambientes abertos. Estes resultados justificam-se pelo fato de áreas florestais oferecerem proteção maior contra predadores, além de maior quantidade de recursos alimentares. Estes dados são de grande importância no âmbito da conservação de aves, pois geram a possibilidade de conservação da avifauna destes locais

Chlorophyll fluorescence as a tool to select salinity-tolerant cowpea genotypes

The use of saline water reduces the growth and productivity of crops, so the need for techniques that make possible the use of this resource such as the use of salinity tolerant genotypes and efficient selection methods are of great importance. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the tolerance of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) genotypes to salt stress, through the chlorophyll fluorescence analysis. The experiment was conducted in a protected environment at the Federal University of Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil, using a completely randomized design in a 2 x 10 factorial arrangement, with three replications, consisting of two levels of irrigation water salinity (0.6 and 5.1 dS m-1) and ten cowpea genotypes: (G1: MNCO1-649F-2-1, G2: MNCO3-736F-2, G3: PINGO DE OURO-1-2, G4: BRS GURGUÉIA, G5: BRS MARATAOÃ, G6: MNCO2-676F-3, G7: MNCO2-683F-1, G8: MNCO3-737F-5-4, G9: MNCO3-737F-5-9, and G10: BRS TUMUCUMAQUE). The stem length, stem diameter, SPAD index, and chlorophyll fluorescence transients were evaluated. The G2 and G4 genotypes had the lowest reductions in the growth, stem diameter, initial fluorescence, and primary and maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII, proving to be tolerant to salinity. Chlorophyll fluorescence is a tool that can be used in the selection of salinity-tolerant cowpea genotypes

Chlorophyll fluorescence as a tool to select salinity-tolerant cowpea genotypes

The use of saline water reduces the growth and productivity of crops, so the need for techniques that make possible the use of this resource such as the use of salinity tolerant genotypes and efficient selection methods are of great importance. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the tolerance of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) genotypes to salt stress, through the chlorophyll fluorescence analysis. The experiment was conducted in a protected environment at the Federal University of Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil, using a completely randomized design in a 2 x 10 factorial arrangement, with three replications, consisting of two levels of irrigation water salinity (0.6 and 5.1 dS m-1) and ten cowpea genotypes: (G1: MNCO1-649F-2-1, G2: MNCO3-736F-2, G3: PINGO DE OURO-1-2, G4: BRS GURGUÉIA, G5: BRS MARATAOÃ, G6: MNCO2-676F-3, G7: MNCO2-683F-1, G8: MNCO3-737F-5-4, G9: MNCO3-737F-5-9, and G10: BRS TUMUCUMAQUE). The stem length, stem diameter, SPAD index, and chlorophyll fluorescence transients were evaluated. The G2 and G4 genotypes had the lowest reductions in the growth, stem diameter, initial fluorescence, and primary and maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII, proving to be tolerant to salinity. Chlorophyll fluorescence is a tool that can be used in the selection of salinity-tolerant cowpea genotypes.The use of saline water reduces the growth and productivity of crops, so the need for techniques that make possible the use of this resource such as the use of salinity tolerant genotypes and efficient selection methods are of great importance. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the tolerance of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) genotypes to salt stress, through the chlorophyll fluorescence analysis. The experiment was conducted in a protected environment at the Federal University of Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil, using a completely randomized design in a 2 x 10 factorial arrangement, with three replications, consisting of two levels of irrigation water salinity (0.6 and 5.1 dS m-1) and ten cowpea genotypes: (G1: MNCO1-649F-2-1, G2: MNCO3-736F-2, G3: PINGO DE OURO-1-2, G4: BRS GURGUÉIA, G5: BRS MARATAOÃ, G6: MNCO2-676F-3, G7: MNCO2-683F-1, G8: MNCO3-737F-5-4, G9: MNCO3-737F-5-9, and G10: BRS TUMUCUMAQUE). The stem length, stem diameter, SPAD index, and chlorophyll fluorescence transients were evaluated. The G2 and G4 genotypes had the lowest reductions in the growth, stem diameter, initial fluorescence, and primary and maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII, proving to be tolerant to salinity. Chlorophyll fluorescence is a tool that can be used in the selection of salinity-tolerant cowpea genotypes

Mangifera indica L.: Avaliando a citogenotoxicidade do extrato aquoso através do micronúcleo e ensaio de eletroforese em gel de célula única

Mangifera indica L., known as mango tree, is a species belonging to family Anacardiaceae, widely used in popular medicine whose leaves are used to treat several diseases. Although several studies did not detect the cytogenotoxic activity of M. indica leaf extract, other authors have observed these feature and highlighted the importance of further research about the toxic potential of M. indica leaf extract. The aim of the current research is to assess the cytogenotoxic potential of the aqueous extract of M. indica leaves through comet DNA assay and micronucleus test. It was possible observing significant increase in the number of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPCE) in mice subjected to the treatment with the extract, in addition to significant increase in DNA damage index in comparison to the negative control group. The extract also presented cytotoxic effect caused by significant reduction in the polychromatic:normochromatic erythrocyte (PCE/NCE) ratio in comparison to the negative control group. The extract of M. indica leaves is cytogenotoxic under the conditions used in the current research; this outcome highlighted the importance of comparative studies applied to the several used processing methods, as well as to cultivation conditions, to certify the safety in the popular use of medicinal plants.Mangifera indica L., conhecida como mangueira, é uma espécie pertencente à família Anacardiaceae, amplamente utilizada na medicina popular, cujas folhas são utilizadas no tratamento de diversas doenças. Embora vários estudos não tenham detectado a atividade citogenotóxica do extrato da folha de M. indica, outros autores observaram essa característica e destacaram a importância de novas pesquisas sobre o potencial tóxico do extrato da folha de M. indica. Sendo assim, o trabalho objetivou analisar o potencial citogenotóxico do extrato aquoso das folhas de M. indica, através do ensaio de DNA cometa e do teste do micronúcleo. Foi possível observar um aumento significativo no número de eritrócitos policromáticos micronucleados (MNPCEs) nos camundongos submetidos ao extrato, além de um aumento significativo no índice de danos ao DNA, quando comparado ao controle negativo. O extrato também apresentou efeito citotóxico, com uma redução significativa na relação de eritrócitos policromáticos/eritrócitos normocromáticos (PCE/NCE) quando comparado ao controle negativo. Conclui-se que o extrato obtido a partir das folhas de M. indica é citogenotóxico nas condições utilizadas neste trabalho; estes resultados reforçam a importância de estudos comparativos aplicados aos diversos métodos de processamento utilizados, bem como às condições de cultivo, para atestar a segurança no uso popular de plantas medicinais

High Plasmid Gene Protein 3 (Pgp3) Chlamydia trachomatis Seropositivity, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, and Infertility Among Women, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, United States, 2013-2016

BACKGROUND. Chlamydia trachomatis causes pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and tubal infertility. Plasmid gene protein 3 antibody (Pgp3Ab) detects prior chlamydial infections. We evaluated for an association of high chlamydial seropositivity with sequelae using a Pgp3Ab multiplex bead array (Pgp3AbMBA). METHODS. We performed chlamydia Pgp3AbMBA on sera from women 18–39 years old participating in the 2013–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) with urine chlamydia nucleic acid amplification test results. High chlamydial seropositivity was defined as a median fluorescence intensity (MFI ≥ 50 000; low-positive was MFI > 551–<50 000. Weighted US population high-positive, low-positive, and negative Pgp3Ab chlamydia seroprevalence and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were compared for women with chlamydial infection, self-reported PID, and infertility. RESULTS. Of 2339 women aged 18–39 years, 1725 (73.7%) had sera, and 1425 were sexually experienced. Overall, 104 women had high positive Pgp3Ab (5.4% [95% CI 4.0–7.0] of US women); 407 had lowpositive Pgp3Ab (25.1% [95% CI 21.5–29.0]), and 914 had negative Pgp3Ab (69.5% [95% CI 65.5–73.4]). Among women with high Pgp3Ab, infertility prevalence was 2.0 (95% CI 1.1–3.7) times higher than among Pgp3Ab-negative women (19.6% [95% CI 10.5–31.7] versus 9.9% [95% CI 7.7–12.4]). For women with low Pgp3Ab, PID prevalence was 7.9% (95% CI 4.6–12.6) compared to 2.3% (95% CI 1.4–3.6) in negative Pgp3Ab. CONCLUSIONS. High chlamydial Pgp3Ab seropositivity was associated with infertility although small sample size limited evaluation of an association of high seropositivity with PID. In infertile women, Pgp3Ab may be a marker of prior chlamydial infection

pH effect on the synthesis of different size silver nanoparticles evaluated by DLS and their size-dependent antimicrobial activity

This paper reports citrate-stabilized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized by nitrate ion chemical reduction with sodium borohydride, at different pHs (2–9). The AgNPs synthesized by this method exhibited size distribution from 5 to 249 nm, depending on pH, as determined by dynamic light scattering, and morphology spherical, as determined by transmission electron microscopy. In pH range 3–7 occurred aggregation of the nanoparticles. The size distribution depending on pH was determined by dynamic light scattering. The zeta potential was determined, and the colloidal stability was correlated with nanoparticles aggregation at different pHs. The size-dependent antimicrobial activity was evaluated for two solutions, wherein both samples exhibited antimicrobial activity, although the smallest AgNPs without agglomeration have enhanced antimicrobial properties.Keywords: Silver Nanoparticles, Zeta Potential, Dynamic Light Scattering, Size Distribution, Antimicrobial Activity