“No Hay Guerra y No Hay Dinero” There is No War, and There is No Money: A Case Study of the Organic Coffee and Ecotourism Programs of UCA Miraflor, Nicaragua

In the face of persisting unequal relations between the global North and South, what strategies can rural Southern peasants use to ensure the protection of their livelihoods and resources? The Union of Agribusiness Cooperatives (UCA) in Miraflor, Nicaragua has developed and implemented organic coffee and ecotourism programs designed to sustain local peoples’ land and the health of the population as well as providing long-term economic diversification. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of these programs in providing actual long-term economic, ecological, and social benefits, as well as regular income, to members involved in the organic coffee and ecotourism programs. Through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and secondary data analysis, this research illustrates the priorities of rural peasant farmers and the obstacles they face as they attempt to participate in global markets dominated by organizations and policies based out of the global North

Microbial Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPSs) in Ocean Systems

Microbial cells (i.e., bacteria, archaea, microeukaryotes) in oceans secrete a diverse array of large molecules, collectively called extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) or simply exopolymers. These secretions facilitate attachment to surfaces that lead to the formation of structured ‘biofilm’ communities. In open-water environments, they also lead to formation of organic colloids, and larger aggregations of cells, called ‘marine snow.’ Secretion of EPS is now recognized as a fundamental microbial adaptation, occurring under many environmental conditions, and one that influences many ocean processes. This relatively recent realization has revolutionized our understanding of microbial impacts on ocean systems. EPS occur in a range of molecular sizes, conformations and physical/chemical properties, and polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and even nucleic acids are actively secreted components. Interestingly, however, the physical ultrastructure of how individual EPS interact with each other is poorly understood. Together, the EPS matrix molecules form a three-dimensional architecture from which cells may localize extracellular activities and conduct cooperative/antagonistic interactions that cannot be accomplished efficiently by free-living cells. EPS alter optical signatures of sediments and seawater, and are involved in biogeomineral precipitation and the construction of microbial macrostructures, and horizontal-transfers of genetic information. In the water-column, they contribute to the formation of marine snow, transparent exopolymer particles (TEPs), sea-surface microlayer biofilm, and marine oil snow. Excessive production of EPS occurs during later-stages of phytoplankton blooms as an excess metabolic by product and releases a carbon pool that transitions among dissolved-, colloidal-, and gel-states. Some EPS are highly labile carbon forms, while other forms appear quite refractory to degradation. Emerging studies suggest that EPS contribute to efficient trophic-transfer of environmental contaminants, and may provide a protective refugia for pathogenic cells within marine systems; one that enhances their survival/persistence. Finally, these secretions are prominent in ‘extreme’ environments ranging from sea-ice communities to hypersaline systems to the high-temperatures/pressures of hydrothermal-vent systems

Business-IS Alignment: Assessment Process to Align IT Projects With Business Strategy

The value of information technology has been proved to be related to alignment between business and information systems (IS). However the constant report of failed IT projects suggests a misalignment between business and IS at the implementation stage. The majority of alignment assessment approaches focuses on the strategic level and overlooks the connections with IT projects. Although research has given little attention to this problem, it has been recognized that managers must focus on IT project planning as a mediator to improve business-IS alignment. This research proposes an assessment process across different organizational levels (strategic, tactical and operational). In doing so, the strategic alignment maturity (SAM) model is used and adapted to include the assessment of IT projects alignment maturity. IT projects are considered the unit of analysis that represents the operational implementation of strategies. The assessment process proposed has been tested in an SME in order to understand its practicability and limitations. The results show that is feasible to use the SAM model to assess the IT projects alignment maturity. Moreover, analyzing alignment across different organizational levels (strategic, tactic and operational) provides a more complete picture of the organization’s alignment maturity that could facilitate the design of specific actions to improve the project alignment with business objectives

Análise de estratégia competitiva de incorporadoras listadas na Bovespa com base em indicadores financeiros

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro Tecnológico. Engenharia Civil.O trabalho apresenta um estudo de caso sobre a análise de estratégia competitiva de uma empresa do setor de construção civil do segmento de edificações, adotando a abordagem do valor econômico agregado. O estudo observou como a estratégia de enfoque, especialização e construção de “capabilities” da companhia foi refletida em retorno e geração de valor. Para quantificar o custo de oportunidade do capital da empresa foi adotado o modelo CAPM. No geral, a empresa obteve retornos operacionais positivos e acima da média do mercado - média calculada em função das empresas do mesmo ramo cotadas na Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo. Entretanto, em relação à geração de valor agregado, foi identificado um quadro diferente, caracterizado por lucro econômico igual a zero. Esse resultado, em linhas gerais foi positivo, tendo em vista o histórico de destruição de valor dos últimos 5 anos de todas as companhias analisadas, indicando que a incorporadora reduziu significativamente a destruição de valor.This final paper brings a competitive strategy analysis case study on a company from the building construction sector, in which was adopted the economic value-added method. The paper evaluated how the company’s geographic concentration strategy, business specialization and development of capabilities resulted in return on invested capital and economic value added. In order to quantify the company’s cost of capital, it was used the CAPM model. Overall, the studied company obtained positive and above the average net operating return, in which the average was calculated as a function of the results from the other companies in the same sector that are listed on the São Paulo Stock Exchange. However, regarding the economic value-added, it was observed a slightly different outcome, in which it was equal to zero. This result, in general, was positive, considering the track record of value destruction of the last 5 years of all companies analyzed, indicating that it significantly reduced value destruction

Principales factores de riesgo para bajo peso al nacer Hospital Nacional Hipólito Unanue julio – diciembre 2018

Objetivo: Identificar los principales factores de riesgo para bajo peso al nacer en Hospital Nacional Hipólito Unanue entre julio – diciembre 2018. Materiales y Métodos: Estudio de tipo analítico, de casos y controles. Se estudiaron 184 recién nacidos, 92 casos y 92 controles. Se revisó las historias clínicas (CLAP) de las madres y el libro de registro de recién nacidos del servicio de Neonatología. Se realizó Se realizó estadística descriptiva, análisis bivariado y regresión logística para obtención de Odds Ratio crudo y ajustado utilizando el programa estadístico SPSS Statics Versión 25. Resultados: Se encontró OR crudo significativo para multiparidad (OR=1.94, IC95% 1.08-3.49), anemia menor de 10g/dl (OR=8,58 IC95% 4.41-16.69), presencia de ruptura prematura de membranas (OR=2.22 IC95% 1.23-4.02), haber tenido 5 controles prenatales o menos (OR=3.93 IC95% 2.07-7.47) y presencia de infección del tracto urinario durante la gestación (OR=7.74 IC95% 3.90-15.33). No se encontró asociación con grado de instrucción bajo e hipertensión gestacional. Al realizar regresión logística, se encontró OR ajustado significativo solo para anemia menor de 10g/dl y presencia de ITU como factores de riesgo. Conclusiones: Los principales factores de riesgo para desarrollar bajo peso al nacer encontrados fueron la presencia de anemia menor de 10g/dl y la infección urinaria durante la gestación.Tesi

Microbial Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPSs) in Ocean Systems

Microbial cells (i.e., bacteria, archaea, microeukaryotes) in oceans secrete a diverse array of large molecules, collectively called extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) or simply exopolymers. These secretions facilitate attachment to surfaces that lead to the formation of structured ‘biofilm’ communities. In open-water environments, they also lead to formation of organic colloids, and larger aggregations of cells, called ‘marine snow.’ Secretion of EPS is now recognized as a fundamental microbial adaptation, occurring under many environmental conditions, and one that influences many ocean processes. This relatively recent realization has revolutionized our understanding of microbial impacts on ocean systems. EPS occur in a range of molecular sizes, conformations and physical/chemical properties, and polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and even nucleic acids are actively secreted components. Interestingly, however, the physical ultrastructure of how individual EPS interact with each other is poorly understood. Together, the EPS matrix molecules form a three-dimensional architecture from which cells may localize extracellular activities and conduct cooperative/antagonistic interactions that cannot be accomplished efficiently by free-living cells. EPS alter optical signatures of sediments and seawater, and are involved in biogeomineral precipitation and the construction of microbial macrostructures, and horizontal-transfers of genetic information. In the water-column, they contribute to the formation of marine snow, transparent exopolymer particles (TEPs), sea-surface microlayer biofilm, and marine oil snow. Excessive production of EPS occurs during later-stages of phytoplankton blooms as an excess metabolic by product and releases a carbon pool that transitions among dissolved-, colloidal-, and gel-states. Some EPS are highly labile carbon forms, while other forms appear quite refractory to degradation. Emerging studies suggest that EPS contribute to efficient trophic-transfer of environmental contaminants, and may provide a protective refugia for pathogenic cells within marine systems; one that enhances their survival/persistence. Finally, these secretions are prominent in ‘extreme’ environments ranging from sea-ice communities to hypersaline systems to the high-temperatures/pressures of hydrothermal-vent systems. This overview summarizes some of the roles of exopolymer in oceans

Phototherapy induces an improvement in clinical and biochemical scores in rheumatoid arthritis

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis is a common autoimmune disease for which there is no known cure. Ultraviolet light can induce immunosuppressive effects. Our main objective was to ascertain whether a complementary treatment with phototherapy improves changes in functional scales in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: Seven women with rheumatoid arthritis were enrolled for this study and submitted to phototherapy sessions with a 425 to 650 nm lamp. Results: The Karnofsky scale changed from requiring frequent medical care to being capable of normal activity with few symptoms or signs of disease (p = 0.018), the RaQol questionnaire decreased abruptly from 29 to zero points (p = 0.018), the Steinbrocker Functional Capacity Rating changed from limited to little or none of the duties of usual occupation or self-care to complete ability to carry out all the usual duties without handicaps (p = 0.017). The pain was remitted after the treatment period. The acute inflammation variables showed a significant decrease after the indicated sessions, C-reactive protein (p = 0.042), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (p = 0.018). Conclusion: The evaluated scales clearly show a benefit with the phototherapy in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Thus, phototherapy seems to be a plausible complementary option to reduce the symptoms in rheumatoid arthritis

Avaliação estandardizada da aprendizagem na educação superior: estudo de caso no México

In recent years the Autonomous University of Baja California has promoted standardized departmental tests development which are intended to contribute to the institution´s goal of applying departmental tests´ achievement to continuously improve student learning levels, a priority in the Institutional Development Plan of this University. This research paper presents the results of the psychometric evaluation carried out on a standardized departmental test of one of the subjects of outmost curricular relevance for the core curricula ​​belonging to the Faculty of Languages, as well as the analysis of said test psychometric evaluation results. The psychometric analysis is based on the conventional procedures of the Item Response Theory measuring features such as discrimination index, discrimination coefficient and difficulty index. The results show that the test achieved a good discriminatory range, as well as medium difficulty, and the above average indexes ​​obtained in the thematic unit of outmost curricular relevance for the studied subject. The obtained values on reliability and validity features allowed to evidence the instrument´s quality, directly contributing to the domain level certainty that students show in relation to the acquired knowledge universe which the test presents.La Universidad Autónoma de Baja California ha impulsado en los últimos años el desarrollo de pruebas departamentales estandarizadas con las cuales se pretende contribuir al cumplimiento de la meta de aplicar exámenes departamentales para mejorar continuamente los niveles de aprendizaje de los alumnos, prioritaria en el Plan de Desarrollo Institucional de esta universidad. Este trabajo de investigación presenta la estructura y composición de una prueba departamental estandarizada de una de las asignaturas de mayor relevancia curricular para el tronco común de Lenguas perteneciente a la Facultad de Idiomas, así como los resultados de la evaluación psicométrica realizada a la misma. Se empleó el método de análisis psicométrico basado en los procedimientos convencionales de la Teoría de Respuesta al Ítem, midiendo atributos tales como el índice de discriminación, coeficiente de discriminación y el índice de dificultad. Los resultados muestran que la prueba alcanzó un buen poder discriminatorio, así como una dificultad media, además destacaron los índices superiores al estándar obtenidos en la unidad temática de mayor relevancia curricular para la asignatura en cuestión. Los valores obtenidos en los atributos de confiabilidad y validez permitieron evidenciar la calidad del instrumento, contribuyendo a la certeza del nivel de dominio que los estudiantes reflejan en relación al universo de conocimientos representados en la prueba.A Universidade Autônoma de Baixa California tem impulsado nos últimos anos o desenvolvimento das provas departamentais estandardizadas nas quais procura-se contribuir ao cumprimento da meta de aplicar exames departamentais para melhorar continuamente os níveis de aprendizagem dos alunos, prioritária no Plano de Desenvolvimento Institucional desta Universidade. Este trabalho de pesquisa apresenta a estrutura e composição duma prova departamental estandardizada de uma das disciplinas de maior relevância curricular para o tronco comum de Línguas que pertencem à Faculdade de Idiomas, assim como os resultados da avaliação psicométrica feita à mesma. Foi utilizado o método de análise psicométrico baseado nos procedimentos convencionais da Teoria de Resposta ao Item, medindo atributos tais como o índice de discriminação, coeficiente de discriminação e o índice de dificuldade. Os resultados mostram que a prova atingiu um bom grau de poder discriminatório, e também uma dificuldade media, alias, destacaram os índices superiores ao estândar obtidos na unidade temática de maior relevância curricular para as matérias envolvidas. Os valores obtidos nos atributos de confiabilidade e validade permitiram evidenciar a qualidade do instrumento, tendo assim certeza do nível de domínio que os estudantes refletem em relação ao universo de conhecimentos representados na prova