Sobre o impacto social e sua avaliação em organizações baseadas na favela

Não basta ter boas intenções para realizar intervenções sociais nos territórios de favelas. Neste post, Daniel S. Lacerda discute a importância de avaliar o impacto social em seu contexto, explicando por que as ONGs instaladas em favelas devem garantir que suas ações e objetivos correspondam às demandas do espaço onde atuam

On social impact and its appraisal in favela-based organisations

t is not enough to have good intentions when deploying social interventions in favela territories. In this post, Daniel S. Lacerda discusses the importance of assessing social impact in context, explaining why favela-based NGOs must ensure their actions and objectives respond to the material space where they operate

Overcoming Dichotomies through Space: the Contribution of Dialectical Materialism to Organization Studies

One of the most debated choices of every social research design is the adoption of either a realist (objective) or an idealist (subjective) worldview of sociological problems. As argued in this paper, both perspectives can be embraced by the dialectical approach of historical space production, according to Marxists traditions in human geography. In order to show that, this paper explores the philosophical grounds of this debate, the attempts of conciliation of the dichotomy, and finally proposes a rejection of this dichotomy through the adoption of the categories of ‘space’ and ‘time’ as central in organizational analysis. Space is a historical production of social relations, and the same relations are defined by means of surrounding space. In that sense, organization studies can benefit of a spatial view of organizations to assist on the overcoming of epistemological constraints, by means of interpreting organizations as historically produced and part of the spatial context

Public policies and the city : producing inclusive urban spaces

Research on cities have received increased attention over the years. Urban spaces are, on the one hand, a significant target of speculative financial investments and commodification of life, generating dynamics that are very difficult to contain within the competencies of local governments. At the same time, cities are the central space of everyday life, where there is resistance at many levels seeking to defend the conditions of living and subsistence of the majority of citizens. This special issue presents exciting contributions to the debate on public policies and the city. The articles published approach cities as urban spaces of diversity and encounters; the arena of discursive and material struggles; contradictory embeddedness of commodification and resistance; the focus of institutional disputes between exclusion and participation; and finally, changing spaces that respond to the need for new management technologies at a local level. Drawing on various theoretical frameworks and rich empirical discussions, this special issue reclaims cities as central spaces of everyday life, which are particularly important for protection and emancipation in a global scenario of uncertainty.Pesquisas sobre cidades têm recebido maior atenção ao longo dos anos. Os espaços urbanos são, por um lado, um grande alvo de investimentos financeiros especulativos e mercantilização da vida, gerando dinâmicas que são muito difíceis de conter dentro das competências dos governos locais. Mas, ao mesmo tempo, as cidades também são o espaço central da vida cotidiana, onde a resistência é travada em muitos níveis para defender as condições de vida e subsistência da maioria dos cidadãos. Esse número especial reúne importantes contribuições para o debate sobre políticas públicas e a cidade que trabalham cidades como espaços urbanos de diferença e encontro; arena das lutas discursivas e materiais; imersão contraditória de mercantilização e resistência; foco das disputas institucionais entre exclusão e participação; e espaço em constante transformação que responde à necessidade de novas tecnologias de gestão em nível local. Com base em arcabouços teóricos variados e discussões empíricas ricas, este número resgata então a noção de cidades como espaços centrais da vida cotidiana, que são particularmente importantes para proteção e emancipação em um cenário global de incerteza.La investigación sobre las ciudades ha recibido una mayor atención a lo largo de los años. Los espacios urbanos son, por un lado, un objetivo principal de las inversiones financieras especulativas y de la mercantilización de la vida, generando dinámicas que son muy difíciles de contener dentro de las competencias de los gobiernos locales. Pero, al mismo tiempo, las ciudades son también el espacio central de la vida cotidiana, donde la resistencia se desarrolla en muchos niveles para defender las condiciones de vida y subsistencia de la mayoría de los ciudadanos. Este número especial reúne importantes contribuciones al debate sobre las políticas públicas y la ciudad que hacen avanzar a las ciudades como espacios urbanos de diferencias y encuentros, como el campo de las luchas discursivas y materiales, una inserción contradictoria de la mercantilización y la resistencia, el foco de disputas institucionales entre exclusión y participación, y finalmente un espacio cambiante que responde a la necesidad de nuevas tecnologías de gestión a nivel local. Basándose en diversos marcos teóricos y abundantes discusiones empíricas, reivindica las ciudades como espacios centrales de la vida cotidiana, que son particularmente importantes para la protección y la emancipación en un escenario global de incertidumbr

From cheek swabs to consensus sequences : an A to Z protocol for high-throughput DNA sequencing of complete human mitochondrial genomes

Background: Next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) technologies have made huge impacts in many fields of biological research, but especially in evolutionary biology. One area where NGS has shown potential is for high-throughput sequencing of complete mtDNA genomes (of humans and other animals). Despite the increasing use of NGS technologies and a better appreciation of their importance in answering biological questions, there remain significant obstacles to the successful implementation of NGS-based projects, especially for new users. Results: Here we present an ‘A to Z’ protocol for obtaining complete human mitochondrial (mtDNA) genomes – from DNA extraction to consensus sequence. Although designed for use on humans, this protocol could also be used to sequence small, organellar genomes from other species, and also nuclear loci. This protocol includes DNA extraction, PCR amplification, fragmentation of PCR products, barcoding of fragments, sequencing using the 454 GS FLX platform, and a complete bioinformatics pipeline (primer removal, reference-based mapping, output of coverage plots and SNP calling). Conclusions: All steps in this protocol are designed to be straightforward to implement, especially for researchers who are undertaking next-generation sequencing for the first time. The molecular steps are scalable to large numbers (hundreds) of individuals and all steps post-DNA extraction can be carried out in 96-well plate format. Also, the protocol has been assembled so that individual ‘modules’ can be swapped out to suit available resources

Identification of broadly neutralizing antibody epitopes in the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein using evolutionary models

Background: Identification of the epitopes targeted by antibodies that can neutralize diverse HIV-1 strains can provide important clues for the design of a preventative vaccine. Methods: We have developed a computational approach that can identify key amino acids within the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein that influence sensitivity to broadly cross-neutralizing antibodies. Given a sequence alignment and neutralization titers for a panel of viruses, the method works by fitting a phylogenetic model that allows the amino acid frequencies at each site to depend on neutralization sensitivities. Sites at which viral evolution influences neutralization sensitivity were identified using Bayes factors (BFs) to compare the fit of this model to that of a null model in which sequences evolved independently of antibody sensitivity. Conformational epitopes were identified with a Metropolis algorithm that searched for a cluster of sites with large Bayes factors on the tertiary structure of the viral envelope. Results: We applied our method to ID50 neutralization data generated from seven HIV-1 subtype C serum samples with neutralization breadth that had been tested against a multi-clade panel of 225 pseudoviruses for which envelope sequences were also available. For each sample, between two and four sites were identified that were strongly associated with neutralization sensitivity (2ln(BF) > 6), a subset of which were experimentally confirmed using site-directed mutagenesis. Conclusions: Our results provide strong support for the use of evolutionary models applied to cross-sectional viral neutralization data to identify the epitopes of serum antibodies that confer neutralization breadth

Semi-automatic algorithm for construction of the left ventricular area variation curve over a complete cardiac cycle

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Two-dimensional echocardiography (2D-echo) allows the evaluation of cardiac structures and their movements. A wide range of clinical diagnoses are based on the performance of the left ventricle. The evaluation of myocardial function is typically performed by manual segmentation of the ventricular cavity in a series of dynamic images. This process is laborious and operator dependent. The automatic segmentation of the left ventricle in 4-chamber long-axis images during diastole is troublesome, because of the opening of the mitral valve.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This work presents a method for segmentation of the left ventricle in dynamic 2D-echo 4-chamber long-axis images over the complete cardiac cycle. The proposed algorithm is based on classic image processing techniques, including time-averaging and wavelet-based denoising, edge enhancement filtering, morphological operations, homotopy modification, and watershed segmentation. The proposed method is semi-automatic, requiring a single user intervention for identification of the position of the mitral valve in the first temporal frame of the video sequence. Image segmentation is performed on a set of dynamic 2D-echo images collected from an examination covering two consecutive cardiac cycles.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The proposed method is demonstrated and evaluated on twelve healthy volunteers. The results are quantitatively evaluated using four different metrics, in a comparison with contours manually segmented by a specialist, and with four alternative methods from the literature. The method's intra- and inter-operator variabilities are also evaluated.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The proposed method allows the automatic construction of the area variation curve of the left ventricle corresponding to a complete cardiac cycle. This may potentially be used for the identification of several clinical parameters, including the area variation fraction. This parameter could potentially be used for evaluating the global systolic function of the left ventricle.</p

Applying value stream mapping to eliminate waste: a case study of an original equipment manufacturer for the automotive industry

Since its beginning, lean manufacturing has built a worldwide reputation based on results related to production improvement and cost reduction in several companies. This management philosophy focuses on customer value creation through the elimination of production wastes. Lean methods and techniques have spread their scope from the automotive industry to a wide range of industries and services. This article presents a case study that describes the use of the lean tool value stream mapping in the production process of automotive parts for a major automotive company. At the beginning of the project, relevant data from the process were collected and analysed. Subsequently, the initial process was mapped, the related wastes were identified, and then future processes were mapped and financial results were estimated. The proposals were presented on kaizen meetings, the action plan was discussed and the decision regarding which option to choose was taken. Consequently, the Cycle Time and the level of the workforce were reduced, the process was improved and savings were obtained