As representações da comunidade cigana sobre a escola: o estudo de caso da comunidade do Bairro Dr. Alfredo Bensaúde

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção de grau de mestre em Educação Social e Intervenção ComunitáriaEste trabalho de investigação centra-se numa problemática que visa compreender as representações que a comunidade cigana tem da escola, como forma de melhor intervir no sentido de promover a inclusão social dos seus filhos, sem pôr em causa os seus valores e práticas sociais que definem a sua identidade. Este estudo procura investigar, analisar e interpretar para compreender as vivências e a relação desta comunidade face à educação escolar, devido ao facto de haver constantes mudanças e transformações ao longo dos tempos. O estudo tem como principais objetivos, Conhecer a dimensão do fenómeno do absentismo entre as crianças ciganas no 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico; Reconhecer o significado atribuído pelos pais/ciganos ao papel da escola na educação dos seus filhos; Identificar os atributos da escola identificados pelas crianças ciganas; Conhecer as causas que os professores identificam para explicar o fenómeno do absentismo entre as crianças ciganas e Identificar as características atribuídas pelos professores às crianças ciganas no que se refere à sua forma de viver a escola. No plano teórico realizámos uma pesquisa relativamente à história das comunidades ciganas, à sua chegada a Portugal e especificamente à comunidade residente no Bairro Dr. Alfredo Bensaúde. Foram igualmente exploradas questões sobre a exclusão e integração da população cigana, nos diversos parâmetros da sociedade atual, com maior destaque na participação escolar. No processo de investigação utilizou-se a metodologia qualitativa, sendo que o seu instrumento foi o inquérito por questionário de administração indireta, pois esta permitiu conhecer uma opinião mais pessoal dos indivíduos, relativamente às representações sobre a comunidade cigana na escola. A pesquisa foi realizada no 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico da escola n.º 175 Santa Maria dos Olivais. A amostra da investigação tem um total de cinquenta e nove indivíduos entrevistados, entre os quais quarenta e seis são crianças, seis são famílias ciganas, seis são professores e 1 técnico do Instituto de Apoio à Criança. Ao longo do estudo concluiu-se que o nível de absentismo e insucesso escolar por parte dos alunos ciganos continua a ser elevado, contudo, tem-se verificado uma melhoria no que diz respeito à duração escolar. A escola e as instituições envolventes têm tentado estar mais próximos da comunidade cigana, com o intuito de estes se aproximarem e interagirem com a sociedade escolar. Apesar de haver melhorias observa-se que ainda existe um longo caminho a percorrer e que existem etapas por alcançar.ABSTRACT This research focuses on a problem that aims to understand the representations that the gypsy community has of the school, as a way to better intervene to promote the social inclusion of their children, without undermining their values and social practices that define their identity. This study sought to investigate analyse and interpret to understand the experiences and the relation of this community face to school education, due to the fact that there have been constant changes and transformations throughout the ages. The main objectives of the study are: To know the dimension of the phenomenon of absenteeism among Roma children in the 1st Cycle of Basic Education; Recognize the significance attributed by the parents / gypsies to the role of the school in the education of their children; Identify the attributes of the school identified by gypsies children; To know the causes that the teachers identify to explain the phenomenon of absenteeism among the gypsy children and To identify the characteristics attributed by the teachers to the gypsy children with respect to their way of living the school. At the theoretical level, we carried out a survey on the history of Gypsy communities, their arrival in Portugal and specifically the community residing in the neighbourhood Dr. Alfredo Bensaúde. It also explored questions about the exclusion and integration of the gypsies population, in the various parameters of the current society, with greater prominence on school participation. In the research process the qualitative methodology was used, and its instrument was the questionnaire interview, since this allowed to know a more personal opinion of the individuals, regarding the representations about the gypsy community in the school. The research was carried out in the 1st Cycle of Basic Education of 175 Santa Maria dos Olivais School. The research sample has a total of fifty-nine individuals interviewed, among them forty-six are children, six are gypsy families, six are teachers and one is from the Institute for Child Support. Throughout the study it was concluded that the level of absenteeism and school failure by the gypsy students continues to be high, however, there has been an improvement with regard to school duration. The school and the surrounding institutions have tried to be closer to the gypsy community, with the intention of getting closer and interacting with the school society. Although there are improvements it is noted that there is still a long way to go and that there are steps to be taken.N/

Immunophenotypic predictive profiling of BRCA1-associated breast cancer

The immunophenotypic predictive profile of BRCA1-associated cancers including major predictive markers, i.e., PARP-1, EGFR, c-kit, HER-2, and steroid hormones (ER/PR) that may have therapeutic relevance has not yet been reported in a comprehensive study. Using immunohistochemistry, we examined the expression of these proteins in a large cohort of BRCA1-associated breast cancers. PARP-1 immunoreactivity was found in 81.9%, EGFR in 43.6%, ER/PR in 17.9%, c-kit in 14.7%, and overexpression of HER-2 in 3.6% of cancers. For all markers studied, 8.2% of tumors were negative. Expression of only one predictive marker was found in 29.7% of cancers, and most frequently, it was PARP-1 (20.8%). In 62.1% of tumors, more than one predictive marker was expressed: PARP-1 and EGFR in 30.4%, PARP-1, and hormone receptors in 13.3% and PARP-1 with c-kit in 7.5% of all tumors. Coexpression of two or more other predictive markers was rare. There were significant differences in the median age at diagnosis of BRCA1-associated cancer between patients with ER+ vs. ER− and grades 1–2 vs. grade 3 tumors. These results demonstrate that BRCA1-associated cancers differ with respect to expression of proteins that are regarded as targets for specific therapies and that 92% of patients with BRCA1-associated cancers may benefit from one or several options for specific therapy (in addition to DNA damaging agents, e.g., cisplatin). About 8% of cancers which do not express therapeutic target proteins may not respond to such therapies. Knowledge of the immunophenotypic predictive profile may help with the recruitment of patients for trials of targeted therapies

Heme oxygenase-1 activity is involved in the control of Toxoplasma gondii infection in the lung of BALB/c and C57BL/6 and in the small intestine of C57BL/6 mice

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is an enzyme that catabolizes free heme, which induces an intense inflammatory response. The expression of HO-1 is induced by different stimuli, triggering an anti-inflammatory response during biological stress. It was previously verified that HO-1 is able to induce indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), an enzyme that is induced by IFN-γ in Toxoplasma gondii infection. To verify the role of HO-1 during in vivo T. gondii infection, BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice were infected with the ME49 strain and treated with zinc protoporphyrin IX (ZnPPIX) or hemin, which inhibit or induce HO-1 activity, respectively. The results show that T. gondii infection induced high levels of HO-1 expression in the lung of BALB/c and C57BL6 mice. The animals treated with ZnPPIX presented higher parasitism in the lungs of both lineages of mice, whereas hemin treatment decreased the parasite replication in this organ and in the small intestine of infected C57BL/6 mice. Furthermore, C57BL/6 mice infected with T. gondii and treated with hemin showed higher levels of IDO expression in the lungs and small intestine than uninfected mice. In conclusion, our data suggest that HO-1 activity is involved in the control of T. gondii in the lungs of both mouse lineages, whereas the hemin, a HO-1 inducer, seems to be involved in the control of parasitism in the small intestine of C57BL/6 mice.This work was supported by Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa Científica e Tecnológica (CNPq), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) and Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Vacinas (INCTV)

dPORE-miRNA: Polymorphic Regulation of MicroRNA Genes

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNA molecules that act as post-transcriptional regulators and affect the regulation of protein-coding genes. Mostly transcribed by PolII, miRNA genes are regulated at the transcriptional level similarly to protein-coding genes. In this study we focus on human miRNAs. These miRNAs are involved in a variety of pathways and can affect many diseases. Our interest is on possible deregulation of the transcription initiation of the miRNA encoding genes, which is facilitated by variations in the genomic sequence of transcriptional control regions (promoters). Methodology: Our aim is to provide an online resource to facilitate the investigation of the potential effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on miRNA gene regulation. We analyzed SNPs overlapped with predicted transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) in promoters of miRNA genes. We also accounted for the creation of novel TFBSs due to polymorphisms not present in the reference genome. The resulting changes in the original TFBSs and potential creation of new TFBSs were incorporated into the Dragon Database of Polymorphic Regulation of miRNA genes (dPORE-miRNA). Conclusions: The dPORE-miRNA database enables researchers to explore potential effects of SNPs on the regulation of miRNAs. dPORE-miRNA can be interrogated with regards to: a/miRNAs (their targets, or involvement in diseases, or biological pathways), b/SNPs, or c/transcription factors. dPORE-miRNA can be accessed a

Expression of FOXA1 and GATA-3 in breast cancer: the prognostic significance in hormone receptor-negative tumours

The expression of additional genes, other than oestrogen receptor (ER), may be important to the hormone-responsive phenotype of breast cancer. Microarray analyses have revealed that forkhead box A1 (FOXA1) and GATA binding protein 3 (GATA-3) are expressed in close association with ERalpha, both encoding for transcription factors with a potential involvement in the ERalpha-mediated action in breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to explore if the expression of FOXA1 and GATA-3 may provide an opportunity to stratify subsets of patients that could have better outcome, among the ERalpha-negative/poor prognosis breast cancer group.The present study was supported by a research grant (SFRH/BD/15316/ 2005 to AA) financed by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT). The authors thank Prof. Raquel Seruca ( coordinator from the Cancer Genetics group at IPATIMUP) for scientific assistance, Dr Jose Luis Costa (postdoctorate at IPATIMUP) for critically reading the manuscript before submission, and Dr Nuno Marcos ( PhD student at IPATIMUP) for artwork assistance

Metaplastic breast carcinomas exhibit EGFR, but not HER2, gene amplification and overexpression: immunohistochemical and chromogenic in situ hybridization analysis

INTRODUCTION: Metaplastic breast carcinomas constitute a heterogeneous group of neoplasms, accounting for less than 1% of all invasive mammary carcinomas. Approximately 70–80% of metaplastic breast carcinomas overexpress the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)2 and EGFR have attracted much attention in the medical literature over the past few years owing to the fact that humanized monoclonal antibodies against HER2 and therapies directed against the extracellular ligand-binding domain or the intracellular tyrosine kinase domain of EGFR have proven successful in treating certain types of human cancer. We investigated whether HER2 and EGFR overexpression was present and evaluated gene amplification in a series of metaplastic breast carcinomas. METHOD: Twenty-five metaplastic breast carcinomas were immunohistochemically analyzed using a monoclonal antibody (31G7) for EGFR and two antibodies for HER2 (Herceptest and CB11) and scored using the Herceptest scoring system. Gene amplification was evaluated by chromogenic in situ hybridization using Zymed Spot-Light EGFR and HER2 amplification probe. The results were evaluated by bright field microscopy under 40× and 63× objective lenses. RESULTS: Nineteen (76%) metaplastic breast carcinomas exhibited EGFR ovexpression, and among these EGFR amplification (defined either by large gene clusters or >5 signals/nucleus in >50% of neoplastic cells) was detected in seven cases (37%): three carcinomas with squamous differentiation and four spindle cell carcinomas. One case exhibited HER2 overexpression of grade 2+ (>10% of cells with weak to moderate complete membrane staining), but HER2 gene amplification was not detected. CONCLUSION: Metaplastic breast carcinomas frequently overexpressed EGFR, which was associated with EGFR gene amplification in one-third of cases. Our findings suggest that some patients with metaplastic breast carcinomas might benefit from novel therapies targeting EGFR. Because most metaplastic breast carcinomas overexpress EGFR without gene amplification, further studies to evaluate EGFR activating mutations are warranted

Lack of evidence for KRAS oncogenic mutations in triple-negative breast cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mutational analysis of the <it>KRAS </it>gene has recently been established as a complementary <it>in vitro </it>diagnostic tool for the identification of patients with colorectal cancer who will not benefit from anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) therapies. Assessment of the mutation status of <it>KRAS </it>might also be of potential relevance in other EGFR-overexpressing tumors, such as those occurring in breast cancer. Although <it>KRAS </it>is mutated in only a minor fraction of breast tumors (5%), about 60% of the basal-like subtype express EGFR and, therefore could be targeted by EGFR inhibitors. We aimed to study the mutation frequency of <it>KRAS </it>in that subtype of breast tumors to provide a molecular basis for the evaluation of anti-EGFR therapies.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Total, genomic DNA was obtained from a group of 35 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded, triple-negative breast tumor samples. Among these, 77.1% (27/35) were defined as basal-like by immunostaining specific for the established surrogate markers cytokeratin (CK) 5/6 and/or EGFR. <it>KRAS </it>mutational status was determined in the purified DNA samples by Real Time (RT)-PCR using primers specific for the detection of wild-type <it>KRAS </it>or the following seven oncogenic somatic mutations: Gly12Ala, Gly12Asp, Gly12Arg, Gly12Cys, Gly12Ser, Gly12Val and Gly13Asp.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found no evidence of <it>KRAS </it>oncogenic mutations in all analyzed tumors.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study indicates that <it>KRAS </it>mutations are very infrequent in triple-negative breast tumors and that EGFR inhibitors may be of potential benefit in the treatment of basal-like breast tumors, which overexpress EGFR in about 60% of all cases.</p

Aspects of molecular phenotype and its correlations with breast cancer behaviour and taxonomy

The assessment of breast cancer morphology remains an important element in the evaluation of prognosis and therapeutic planning for this disease. The tumour morphology reflects the molecular profile that produced it and consequently each can be predictive of the other