Model of integrated management of public procurement oriented to public value: a proposal research

One challenge of public organizations is the creation of public value through the adoption of information technology and communication. Technology should emerge as an endogenous and not as exogenous factor of organizational and thus leveraging the processes of change in public organizations.The public procurement is an instrument of public policy implementation that, within a legal context, intends to create value. Thus, this vision contrasts with the focus on economic efficiency of the new public management. The alignment between business strategies and public information systems underlying to the transversal management of the public contract process is relevant to: (i) improve the performance of organizations oriented to the preferences of citizens and (ii) support the technological investments associated to the solutions of e-procurement.Defines the design of a model of integrated management of public procurement oriented to the public value as the result of investigation of the doctoral program in technology and information systems. This is the theme that motivates the research, which fits within the domain of design science.Thus, this paper aims to present, based on a literature review, the topic and the research framework, perspective theoretical and research process. Therefore, these are the main results.- (undefined

A positive perspective to implementation of a gender equality plan: a question of design, time and participation

This paper describes the initial steps of a project developed with the aim of fostering diversity and the gender equality at the University of Minho, with a particular focus on the school of engineering. The project follows the actionresearch method, starting by gathering the perspectives of the various organizational participants (academics, nonacademics, researchers, and students). The insights emerging from the collected information supported the definition and the prioritization of actions and activities of the Gender Equality Plan. Four levels of intervention were considered: Human Resources and Management Practices, Research Content and Delivery, Teaching and Students’ Services and Institutional Communication, under the EQUAL-IST Project (Gender Equality Plans for Information Sciences and Technology Research Institutions). The techniques used to gather the supporting information included interviews with decision makers, as well as focus groups with students, teachers, and academic staff at the School of Engineering. From the analysis of the gathered information emerged a set of challenges and opportunities to improve gender equality. The Gender Equality Plan (GEP) now being implemented at the university addresses the identified challenges and integrates actions to seize the opportunities to achieve greater gender equality. GEP was designed in line with 3 main goals: raise awareness, implement structural changes and engage stakeholders in mind-set change.This work has been founded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) within the scope of the project UID/CEC/00319/2013, the research grant SFRH/BD/84939/2012 as well as FEDER and funds through the Competitivity Factors Operational programme – COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136 and POCI-010145-FEDER-007043 and FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013. and UID/CCI/00736/2013. This work is also part of a project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nr. 710549.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

USO DA GEOTECNOLOGIA PARA A ANÁLISE DA PRECIPITAÇÃO EM CUBATÃO (SP) – CORRELAÇÃO COM A OCORRÊNCIA DE MOVIMENTOS DE MASSA: Use of geotechnology for the precipitation analysis in Cubatão (SP): correlation with the occurence of mass movements

The spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall is of fundamental importance for the management of natural resources. The presence of water is related to the great majority of the cases of instability of slopes (slopes), having great influence in the deflagration of processes of mass movements. The main objective of this research is to analyze the temporal and spatial variation of precipitation in the region of Cubatão by means of interpolation of historical data of intense precipitation in the region. Rainfall data were collected through the Hydrological Data Bank of the Department of Water and Electric Energy (DAEE) of the State of São Paulo, free of charge. Monthly total precipitation average graphs were plotted as well as spatial distribution maps of the mean annual rainfall. These results were compared with the 1976 event that occurred and was recorded in bibliographies. As a result, it could be observed that the year of 1975 was the year with higher values of monthly averages, reaching almost 650 mm in January, which indicates that in the year before the event of mass movement there was an above average rainfall in the region, and may be a factor considered as a trigger or a potentiator of the occurrence of these geological processes.A distribuição espacial e temporal das chuvas é de fundamental importância para gerenciamento dos recursos naturais. A presença de água relaciona-se com a grande maioria dos casos de instabilização de encostas (vertentes), tendo grande influência na deflagração de processos de movimentos de massa. A pesquisa tem como principal objetivo analisar, em ambiente SIG, a variação temporal e espacial da precipitação na região de Cubatão, por meio da interpolação de dados históricos de precipitação intensa na região. Os dados de pluviometria foram coletados por meio do Banco de Dados Hidrológicos do Departamento de Águas e Energia Elétrica (DAEE) do Estado de São Paulo, de forma gratuita. Foram feitos gráficos de média total mensal de precipitação, assim como mapas de distribuição espacial da média da chuva anual. Tais resultados foram comparados com o evento de 1976 ocorrido e registrado em bibliografias. Como resultado, pôde-se observar que o ano de 1975 foi o ano com maiores valores de médias mensais, chegando a quase 650 mm em janeiro, o que indica que no ano que antecedeu o evento de movimento de massa houve uma chuva acima da média na região, podendo ser um fator considerado deflagrador ou potencializador da ocorrência desses processos geológicos

Hepatitis C Virus Infection as a Traumatic Experience

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether individuals consider their HCV infection to be a potentially traumatic experience. Additionally, we investigated its association with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the impact of PTSD diagnosis on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in HCV infected subjects. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 127 HCV-infected outpatients recruited at a University Hospital in Salvador, Brazil. All subjects answered an orally-administered questionnaire to gather clinical and socio-demographic data. We investigated traumatic experiences and the subject's perception of the disease using the Trauma History Questionnaire. PTSD and other psychiatric diagnoses were assessed through the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Brazilian Version 5.0.0 (M.I.N.I. PLUS). HRQoL was assessed using Short-Form 36 (SF-36). Results Approximately 38.6% of the patients considered hepatitis C to be a traumatic experience. Of these, 60.7% had a PTSD diagnosis. PTSD was associated with significant impairment in quality of life for individuals in seven SF-36 domains as shown bymultivariate analysis: Role-Physical (β: −24.85; 95% CI: −42.08; −7.61), Bodily Pain (β: −19.36; 95% CI: −31.28; −7.45), General Health (β: −20.79; 95% CI: −29.65; −11.92), Vitality (β: −11.92; 95% CI: −20.74; −3.1), Social Functioning (β: −34.73; 95% CI: −46.79; −22.68), Role-Emotional (β: −26.07; 95% CI: −44.61; −7.53), Mental Health (β: −17.46; 95% CI: −24.38; −10.54). Conclusion HCV is frequently a traumatic experience and it is strongly associated with PTSD diagnosis. PTSD significantly impaired HRQoL

A list of land plants of Parque Nacional do Caparaó, Brazil, highlights the presence of sampling gaps within this protected area

Brazilian protected areas are essential for plant conservation in the Atlantic Forest domain, one of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots. A major challenge for improving conservation actions is to know the plant richness, protected by these areas. Online databases offer an accessible way to build plant species lists and to provide relevant information about biodiversity. A list of land plants of “Parque Nacional do Caparaó” (PNC) was previously built using online databases and published on the website "Catálogo de Plantas das Unidades de Conservação do Brasil." Here, we provide and discuss additional information about plant species richness, endemism and conservation in the PNC that could not be included in the List. We documented 1,791 species of land plants as occurring in PNC, of which 63 are cited as threatened (CR, EN or VU) by the Brazilian National Red List, seven as data deficient (DD) and five as priorities for conservation. Fifity-one species were possible new ocurrences for ES and MG states

Effects of moisture content on structural and dielectric properties of cassava starch films

In this work, it was evaluated the effect of moisture content on the structural and dielectric properties of cassava starch films by means of Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), impedancimetric, and gravimetric analysis. The film samples were equilibrated in hermetically sealed desiccators, containing different saturated salts in water in order to promote activity of water between 0.11 and 0.85. The position and amplitude of the peaks in the fingerprint region of the FTIR spectra were changed due to the modifications in the interactions between the polymeric chains and water molecules. These effects may be related to the formation of semi-crystalline regions in the film structure. The dielectric properties of the films were also strongly dependent on the moisture content, showing a non-linear and a linear region, which was attributed to the domain of bound and free water in the film, respectively. The gravimetric analyzes showed the typical sigmoidal behavior, attributed to the way the water interacts with the biopolymer. Finally, the flexibility of the films increased with water content increasing.FAPESPFAPESP [05/54688-7

Psychological health damages related to the work of professionals in a general hospital / Danos psicológicos à saúde relacionados ao trabalho dos profissionais de um hospital geral

Objetivo: avaliar se os profissionais de um hospital geral sofrem danos psicológicos à saúde relacionados ao contexto de trabalho no qual estão inseridos. Método: Trata-se de uma pesquisa epidemiológica, observacional, descritivo, com delineamento transversal e abordagem quantitativa, realizada em um Hospital Geral. A amostra foi composta por 205 colaboradores. Os danos psicológicos desses profissionais foram avaliados com a Escala de Avaliação dos Danos Relacionados ao Trabalho. Resultados: Participaram da pesquisa 18 categorias profissionais de níveis médio, técnico e superior, sendo as mulheres e os profissionais que trabalham no turno noturno que apresentaram maiores danos psicológicos. Os itens da escala solidão a tristeza foram apontadas com maior porcentagem para muito grave. Conclusões: Os danos psicológicos relacionados ao trabalho permeiam as vivências de sentimento de prazer no trabalho, fazendo-se necessário intervenções de cuidado para o público estudado

Altered ATP hydrolysis induced by pentylenetetrazol kindling in rat brain synaptosomes

The ectonucleotidase pathway is an important metabolic source of extracellular adenosine. Adenosine has potent anticonvulsant effects on various models of epilepsy. One of these models is pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) kindling, in which repeated administration of subconvulsive doses of this drug induces progressive intensification of seizure activity. In this study, we examine the effect of a single convulsive injection (60 mg/kg, i.p.) or 10 successive (35 mg/kg, i.p.) injections of PTZ on synaptosomal ectonucleotidases. Our results have shown that no changes in ectonucleotidase activities were seen at 0, 1, and 24 h or at 5 days after a single convulsive PTZ injection. However, after PTZ-kindling, rats which were more resistant to seizure development presented an increase in ATP hydrolysis in synaptosomes from hippocampus and cerebral cortex (44% and 28%, respectively). These results suggest that changes in nucleotide hydrolysis may represent an important mechanism in the modulation of chronic epileptic activity in this model

First record of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato antibodies in stray dogs in the Northwest Region of Parana State, Brazil

O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar a ocorrência de anticorpos anti-B. burgdorferi sensu lato sl em cães errantes da área urbana da cidade de Umuarama, localizado na região noroeste do estado do Paraná, Brasil. Amostras de soro de 168 cães foram testados utilizando imunofluorescência indireta (IFI) e Western Blot (WB), a fim de detectar anticorpos anti-Borrelia burgdorferi sl. A IFI foi utilizada como teste de triagem e os resultados positivos foram confirmados empregando a técnica de WB. Sessenta e cinco (38,69%) de 168 amostras de soro foram positivas na IFI; 54 deles (83,07%) foram confirmados pela WB. A análise geral dos dados confirmaram a presença de anticorpos anti-B. burgdorferi sl em 32,14% (54/168) dos cães, o que sugere que a região noroeste do Estado do Paraná, pode constituir uma área de risco para a doença de Lyme. Mais estudos são necessários para determinar as características epidemiológicas da doença na região estudada.The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of B. burgdorferi sensu lato s.l. antibodies in stray dogs of the urban area of Umuarama Town, localized in the northwest region of Parana state, Brazil. Serum samples from 168 dogs were tested using indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and Western Blot (WB) in order to detect anti-Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. antibodies. The IFI analysis was used as screening test and positive results were confirmed employing the WB technique. Sixty-five (38.69%) of 168 serum samples were positive in the IFI; 54 of them (83.07%) were confirmed by the WB. The overall data analysis confirmed the presence of anti-B. burgdorferi s.l. antibodies in 32.14% (54/168) dogs, what suggests that northwest region of Parana State may constitute a risk area for Lyme disease. Further studies are necessary to determine the epidemiological characteristics of this disease in the region studied