Enfermería en la era de la globalización: retos para el siglo XXI

O objetivo deste texto foi abrir espaço para reflexão acerca de questões relativas aos processos de globalização e impactos na saúde global, apontando alguns desafios para a Enfermagem no século XXI. Nesse sentido, a autora delineia os contornos e tendências da globalização no mundo contemporâneo e os impactos drásticos na saúde humana e no meio ambiente. Para responder aos desafios do mundo globalizado, aponta alguns caminhos, dentre os quais se destacam o fortalecimento da disciplina de Enfermagem e algumas diretrizes para a educação, pesquisa e cuidado de Enfermagem, em âmbito local e global.El objetivo de este texto encontrar un momento para reflexionar sobre los aspectos relacionados a los procesos de globalización, así como sobre los impactos en la salud global señalando algunos desafíos para la Enfermería en el siglo XXI. En este sentido, la autora esboza los contornos y tendencias de la globalización en el mundo contemporáneo, así como los drásticos impactos en la salud humana y ambiental. De esta forma, para responder a estos aspectos, señala algunos caminos entre los cuales se destacan el fortalecimiento de Enfermería como disciplina y el establecimiento de directivas en educación, investigación y cuidado en Enfermería, en el ámbito regional y mundial.The purpose of this paper was to reflect about issues related to the processes of globalization and the global impacts on health, pointing out some challenges for Nursing in the twenty-first century. In this sense, the author outlines the forms and trends of globalization in the contemporary world, and the drastic impacts on human health and environment. To respond to the challenges of the globalized world, some ways are indicated, among which, the strengthening of nursing discipline stands out, together with some guidelines for education, research and Nursing care, in a local and global scope

Étude magnétique des particules en suspension dans l'air (PM) capturées dans des bio-capteurs et des filtres à air dans différents environnements urbains

Les particules en suspension dans l'air (PM) sont aujourd'hui considérées comme un risque majeur pour la santé. Les enfants constituent l'un des groupes les plus vulnérables aux PM et à la pollution atmosphérique. Comme la majorité de la population passe plus de temps à l'intérieur, il est très important de connaître les différentes sources de particules dans cet environnement et la contribution des sources extérieures. Malgré les progrès réalisés dans la compréhension de la qualité de l'air intérieur, de nombreuses lacunes subsistent en ce qui concerne le transfert des particules de l'extérieur vers l'intérieur. Le magnétisme environnemental offre une grande opportunité pour l'étude des PM, car il est suffisamment sensible pour étudier les fractions les plus fines des oxydes de fer présents dans les PM. Les méthodes magnétiques sont également particulièrement adaptées pour être utilisées avec des biocollecteurs, échantillons naturels capables de retenir les polluants. Les biocollecteurs constituent une excellente alternative aux capteurs à faible coût, car ils sont rentables et ont un faible impact sur l'environnement. Ici, nous avons combiné des méthodes magnétiques avec des biocollecteurs afin de mieux comprendre le problème des PM intérieur-extérieur dans différents contextes urbains. L'objectif principal de la thèse était de caractériser les émissions anthropiques de PM à l'intérieur et à l'extérieur et la relation entre elles. Les différentes sources d'émissions urbaines ont été caractérisées dans des filtres PM2.5, fournissant des informations sur les propriétés magnétiques de ces sources, qui ont ensuite été utilisées dans l'étude des biocollecteurs. Les biocollecteurs ont été utilisés dans le cadre de projets scientifiques citoyens, afin d'étudier les PM dans les environnements urbains. Dans cette thèse, des techniques magnétiques innovantes ont également été utilisées pour étudier la fraction ultrafine des PM magnétiques. La microscopie électronique à balayage a fourni des informations morphologiques complémentaires sur les oxydes de fer et les autres constituants des PM. Les résultats indiquent tout d'abord que les différentes sources d'émissions anthropiques présentaient une distribution granulométrique étroite. Pour la ville de Toulouse, les émissions dues au trafic routier ont dominé la fraction magnétique des PM qui sont transportées à l'intérieur des habitations. Des sphérules d'oxydes de fer ultrafines d'environ 50 nm (et plus) liées aux émissions du trafic, ont été détectées au MEB. L'environnement intérieur présente une concentration plus faible de PM magnétiques (avec des I/O moyens pour le SIRM compris entre 0,7 et 0,9 pour les écoles et de 0,5 pour les résidences). La fraction granulométrique est plus fine par rapport à l'extérieur (dans le SSD). La fraction ultrafine pour ce type de grain a un diamètre moyen calculé à 7.7nm. D'autres sources de particules, outre les émissions du trafic, sont également importantes à l'intérieur, notamment dans l'environnement scolaire, comme le montrent les I/O pour la concentration de carbone organique allant de 1,1 à 1,9. Avec l'hypothèse que certaines des particules PM émises en milieu urbain sont entraînées dans le cycle de l'eau, les sédiments de la Garonne ont été étudiés. Les résultats montrent des pics de susceptibilité magnétique (atteignant des valeurs de 2,95x10-6) et de métaux traces (tels que Cu et Pb atteignant des concentrations de 139,0 et 73,5 ppm) dans le centre-ville de Toulouse qui indiquent un apport anthropique. La présence de sphérules d'oxydes de fer de taille micrométrique (allant de 10 à 91 um) montre que les sources d'émission liée au trafic routier sont à l'origine des particules détectées. En conclusion, cette thèse a fourni de nouvelles informations sur les émissions anthropiques de particules et sur leur relation intérieur-extérieur, qui peuvent être utilisées pour caractériser la qualité de l'air dans les environnements urbaines.Airborne particulate matter (PM) is understood nowadays as a major health risk. The finer PM fraction is the most dangerous for human health. Children are one of the most vulnerable groups to PM and air pollution, due to their immature respiratory systems and higher respiration rates than adults. Since the majority of the population spends more time indoors, knowing the different sources of PM in this environment and the contribution of outdoor sources is of great importance. Despite advances in the comprehension of indoor air quality, many gaps still exist regarding PM transfer from outdoors to indoors environments. Environmental magnetism offers a great opportunity for PM investigation, being sensible enough to investigate the finer fractions (sub-micrometric) of iron oxides present in PM even when they occur in small concentrations. Magnetic methods are also particularly suited to be used together with biocollectors, which are natural samples able to retain pollutants, such as tree leaves and tree bark. Biocollectors are a great alternative to low cost sensors, being cost-effective and of low environmental impact. They also offer the opportunity for innovative experimental designs. Here we combined magnetic methods with biocollectors in order to better understand the indoor-outdoor PM problem in different urban contexts. The main goal of the thesis was to characterize anthropogenic emissions of PM indoors and outdoors and the relationship between them. The different urban emission sources were characterized in PM2.5 filters, providing information about the magnetic properties of those sources, which were later used in the study of biocollectors. Biocollectors were used in citizen science projects, to study PM indoors and outdoors in urban environments. In this thesis innovative magnetic techniques were also used to investigate the ultrafine fraction of magnetic PM, regarding grains on the superparamagnetic size range (i.e. below ~30 nm for magnetite). Scanning electronic microscopy provided complementary morphological information about iron oxides and other PM constituents. The results indicate firstly that different anthropogenic emission sources had a narrow grain size distribution. Traffic emissions dominated the magnetic fraction of PM that is carried indoors both in domestic environments and in schools.. Ultrafine iron oxides spherules of about 50 nm (and finer) are related to traffic emissions, as detected in the SEM. The indoor environment has a lower concentration of magnetic PM (with mean I/O for SIRM calculated at 0.7 and 0.9 on the schools and 0.5 on the residencies), although the size fraction is finer in comparison with outdoors (in the SSD). The ultrafine fraction (below the SP-SSD boundary) shows an I/O for concentration calculated at 0.4, evincing a higher concentration outdoors for this kind of grain with mean diameter calculated at 7.7nm. Other PM sources, besides traffic emissions, are also important indoors, especially in the school environment, as shown by I/O for organic carbon concentration ranging from 1.1 to 1.9. Lastly, we investigated the fate of PM emitted in the urban setting. With the hypothesis that PM particles emitted in urban settings are carried away in the water cycle, sediments of the Garonne river were studied. The results show peaks in magnetic susceptibility (reaching values of 2.95x10-6) and trace metals (such as Cu and Pb reaching concentrations of 139.0 and 73.5ppm) in the downtown region of Toulouse that point to anthropogenic input. Presence of iron oxides spherules with micrometric size (ranging from 10 to 91um) shows traffic emission sources as origin for the detected particles. Overall, this thesis provided new insights on the anthropogenic emission of PM, and their indoor-outdoor relationship which can be used in characterizing the domestic and school environment air quality

A third sector in the core-periphery model: non-tradable goods

We extend an analytically solvable core-periphery model by introducing a monopolistically competitive sector of non-tradable goods. We study how trade costs affect the spatial distribution of economic activity. Trade costs have no effect when the elasticity of substitution among non-tradable goods is low. In this case, concentration of all production (of tradable and non-tradable goods) is the unique equilibrium. When the elasticity of substitution among non-tradable goods is high, we find two equilibrium configurations: symmetric dispersion of the production of tradable and non-tradable goods, if trade costs are high; and concentration of production of tradable goods with asymmetric dispersion of production of non-tradable goods, if trade costs are low.New economic geography, Core-periphery model, Footloose entrepreneur, Nontradable goods

The core periphery model with asymmetric inter-regional and intra-regional trade costs

We generalize the model of Krugman (1991) to allow for asymmetric trade costs between regions and for (asymmetric) trade costs that are internal to the regions. We find that industrial activity, in a region, is enhanced by higher costs of importing and lower costs of exporting (more precisely, by a higher ratio between the two trade costs). This suggests that countries may impose tariffs on imported goods and seek to remove the import tariffs in other countries (unilateral protectionism) in order to foster industrial activity. Industrial activity is also promoted by lower domestic internal trade costs and higher foreign internal trade costs (more precisely, by a lower ratio between the two trade costs).New Economic Geography, Core-Periphery, Trade costs, Unilateral protectionism.

Fossil-fuels, bio-fuels and food: Raking priorities

This paper deals with the question of the trade-offs between bio-fuels, fossil-fuels, and food. To do so an analysis is conducted taking into consideration the differences in relative prices and in the productive structure among the countries. The results shows that in general food puts a greater stress over the economies than energy does, and mainly in the developing economies. As a consequence of that, the possibilities for the growing use of bio-fuels is limited and restrict to countries where it is possible to have an expansion of bio-fuel production without compromising the production of food and without putting more stress over the environment. This, by its turn, restricts the possibilities for a world policy of bio-fuels with the consequence that bilateral agreements would be the dominant ones.Fossil-Fuels; Bio-Fuels; Food; Productive Structure; Input-Output

La Gioconda Effect and Self-Organizing Factors of Biofield

The intriguing trajectory of Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo da Vinci and its attraction to people is similar to the story of Homeopathy: an unprecedented brief description of La Gioconda effect. Homeopathy continues to move through the use, textual production, and new modalities of using its medications. The development of the “Self-Organizing Factors of Biofield” (BioFAO) with complex of seven homeopathic medicines will be presented applied in life sciences. BioFAO corroborates Hering’s Healing Laws and obstacles to healing. Regardless of the point of view, innovations happen in Homeopathy, either in the stricto sensu or in the lato sensu of its classical known terminology. The La Gioconda effect mysteriously maintains Homeopathy for centuries, as well as Mona Lisa’s trajectory of magnetism over people, which made it become the most famous painting of mankind. Quantum theory brings elements that can fundamentally be connected with phenomena applied with living beings already observed