Socialism without liberation: Land Reclamation Projects in Guinea-Bissau

One of the outstanding aims of most liberation movements has been to increase the economic well-being of their people, Guinea-Bissau being no exception in this respect. How far has the new Nation State succeeded in fulfilling this aim? A comparative analysis of the implementation of land reclamation projects during colonial and post-colonial times reveals astonishing similarities: especially the centralization of development efforts in the hands of administrators disconnected from the grassroots, lack of target group analysis and misconceptions about the aims and needs, as well as the resources, of the population involved in the development efforts, on the part of the administration. The effects of this negative conditioning process of 'development' over many years on the chances of cooperation between peasants and the administration are still largely unknown. Any development planner who wants to encourage the local population to take their future into their own hands, would have to take account of this negative conditioning process

Epidemiology of autism spectrum disorder in Portugal: prevalence, clinical characterization, and medical conditions

The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and identify its clinical characterization, and medical conditions in a paediatric population in Portugal. A school survey was conducted in elementary schools, targeting 332,808 school-aged children in the mainland and 10,910 in the Azores islands. Referred children were directly assessed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn), the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. Clinical history and a laboratory investigation was performed. In parallel, a systematic multi-source search of children known to have autism was carried out in a restricted region. The global prevalence of ASD per 10,000 was 9.2 in mainland, and 15.6 in the Azores, with intriguing regional differences. A diversity of associated medical conditions was documented in 20%, with an unexpectedly high rate of mitochondrial respiratory chain disorders

Body image association and habitual physical activity in institutionalized elderly

Research clearly shows that physical activity (PA) is one important factor in developing and maintaining good health and function in older people. Knowledge of the underlying processes that influence the elderly to initiate and maintain lifestyle changes is an important requirement for the development of a PA intervention. The aim of this study is to analyse the variation of the body image at its component parts of perception and satisfaction and the ha- bitual PA in institutionalized old people of both genders who are physically active or not. Methods: The sample (n=33; 77,6 ± 5,75, years) was divided into two different groups, the Physical Active Group (PAG, n =18) and the Physical Inactive Group (PIG, n = 15). The PAG comprises 10 fe- males and 8 males and PIG comprises 6 females and 9 males. The perception of the body image was assessed by the Body Size Estimation Method; the satisfaction with the body image was assessed by the Body Image Satisfaction Questionnaire. The questionnaire Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) was used to evaluate the habitual PA. We adopted the following statistical procedures: Descrip- tive Statistics (mean, standard deviation and frequency dis- tribution) and Inferential Statistic (nonparametric tests for independent samples, Mann Whitney U and Chi- Square test). Results: The following results have shown that in average, no statistics significance was found between the mean of satisfaction with the body image, when comparing genders and the physically active elderly and the physically inactive elderly. Conclusion: The main conclusions are:(i) the perceptions of the body image do not differ between old people, neither in gender nor in PA; (ii) the satisfaction with the body image does not differ in gender neither in PA; (iii) the habitual PA does not differ in gender.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estudo da associação entre receio de queda e análise postural na população sénior

Os factores biológicos, doenças e causas externas podem influenciar a fase de envelhecimento. A queda é considerada como uma causa externa já que é um evento não esperado, no qual o indivíduo muda de posição em relação à sua posição inicial, o que poderá acarretar sérios problemas para o idoso. A queda ocorre devido à perda total do equilíbrio postural, podendo estar relacionada à insuficiência súbita dos mecanismos neurais e osteoarticulares envolvidos na manutenção da postura. O objectivo deste estudo foi de analisar os resultados obtidos em diferentes tipos de testes de avaliação do equilíbrio em associação entre o receio de queda e a postura corporal de forma a observar ou não se existe uma correlação entre o risco de quedas e o equilíbrio em dois grupos distintos de idosas. Metodologia: A amostra foi constituída por 41 sujeitos do sexo feminino, 21 mulheres incluíram o grupo de força (GF, 67,33 ± 4,61 anos de idade, 1,55 ± 0,08 [m] de estatura e 74,08 ± 11,79 [kg] de massa corporal) e outras vinte no grupo aeróbio (GA, 65,35 ±3,01 anos de idade, 1,56 ± 0,09 [m] de estatura e 69,43 ± 10,03 [kg] de massa corporal). A avaliação postural estática foi feita pelo teste SAPo; os fatores de risco através da Escala de Berg; a avaliação dos problemas de mobilidade pelo Teste Tinetti; o risco de queda e a capacidade de transferência, relacionado com o equilíbrio dinâmico pelo Time Up & Go; o medo de cair o Falls Efficacy Scale. A normalidade da distribuição foi avaliada com o teste de Shapiro-Wilk, como analise exploratoria. Foram calculadas as estatísticas descritivas (média ± 1 DP) de todas as variáveis dependentes seleccionadas. Como estatística inferencial fez-se recurso ao teste T de Student para níveis de significância P ≤ 0,05. Os alinhamentos segmentares e ângulos articulares analisados sugerem que o GA tende apresentar uma postura ortostática que procura promover uma quantidade inferior de esforço e/ou de sobrecarga mecânica sobre o aparelho locomotor do que o GF. Relativamente aos testes de equilíbrio realizados às utentes do programa mais idade mais saúde, conclui-se que não existem diferenças significativas, quer a nível de equilíbrio estático ou dinâmico. Na avaliação da associação do risco de queda e da avaliação da postura corporal, pode-se observar nas tabelas acima, que não existem diferenças significativas intra-grupos, isto é, tanto o grupo de força como o grupo aeróbio não sofrem risco de queda segundo a avaliação da sua postura. Por outro lado, quando a avaliação foi realizada com a junção de ambos os grupos, podem-se observar diferenças significativas na associação do risco de queda com a postugrafia (*0,05). Conclusão: Tudo indica que as senhoras que frequentam o programa não estão sujeitas a riscos acrescidos de queda

Importância da alimentação na terceira idade

A alimentação é parte integrante das práticas de saúde institucionais e individuais, esta desempenha um papel muito importante ao longo da vida. A história alimentar de uma pessoa ou de um grupo mantém estreita a relação com o seu perfil de saúde-doença, especialmente quando se trata de longevidade e de enfermidades que se associam à idade, como doenças cardiovasculares, diabetes, obesidade, entre outras. As mudanças fisiológicas e funcionais que ocorrem durante o envelhecimento resultam em mudanças nas necessidades nutricionais. A existência humana depende da interacção entre o homem e o meio em que nele vive, e uma dessas interacções está relacionada com os hábitos alimentares. À medida que a idade avança, grande parte das funções corporais diminuem, fazendo com que a maioria das pessoas comam menos e, em consequência, a ingestão de nutrientes fica abaixo da recomendação. Por isso quando os bons hábitos alimentares predominam juntamente com a actividade física regular, podemos tornar a vida mais saudável e mais perlongada, ao contrário dos maus hábitos, que podem determinar uma vida mais breve e com manifestações de diversas doenças.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Project Proof: Internet Enabled Process Reengineering at J.D. Edwards & Company

J.D. Edwards is a provider of the new generation of ERP and collaborative commerce solutions. This case study describes the challenges faced internally by the company to upgrade to the latest enterprise software it would sell to the world. Dubbed Project PROOF, the project started in June 2001 and was completed in November 2002. The perspectives of the CIO, the program manager, and other key personnel are presented. The case study highlights the issues that arise in an enterprise software implementation project. In addition, the case touches upon issues of project management, process redesign, and marketing. The case study uses a multimedia format to add richness and detail. Although J.D. Edwards was acquired in 2003, the issues discussed are relevant to current business practices

After sales service: key settings for improving profitability and customer satisfaction

This paper presents a performed study to develop and improve the process of after sales of a Latvian company specialized in manufacturing fish processing equipment. The project was developed based on an action- research methodology. During the first stage of the study, the current after sales process was analysed to identify the issues and possible improvement opportunities that could be implemented later on. Data were collected through surveys and analysed, resulting in a series of improvement proposals discussed with the board of the company. At a later stage of the study, improvements were implemented such as the introduction of new services, development of new process diagrams and improvements of the spare parts management strategy. To conclude the study, the new services were offered and presented to customers and the trial period for the new after sales methodology was started.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Homocysteine levels in pediatric renal transplant recipients.

Transplant Proc. 2003 May;35(3):1093-5. Homocysteine levels in pediatric renal transplant recipients. Mota C, Fonseca I, Santos MJ, Costa T, Faria MS, Henriques AC, Sarmento AM, Pereira E, Pereira M. Department of Paediatric Nephrology, Maria Pia Children's Hospital, R. da Boavista, 827, 4050-111, Porto, Portugal. [email protected] PMID: 12947872 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLIN

Nutritional and physicochemical analysis of quince from Cova da Beira region: similarities, differences and particularities

Quince, a fruit from the autumn season of the quince tree (Cydonia oblonga Miller), has a considerable nutritional value (e.g., pectin, vitamins C and B complex, minerals or chlorogenic acids). On the other hand, this fruit is characterized by having a hard, rough-looking pulp with a bitter and astringent taste. Since quince is not consumed raw, is mainly used in the production of jams and marmalades. Despite being easy to grow and weather resistant, its production is often neglected and undervalued. Thus, the study objective was to value quinces from the Cova da Beira region by the physicochemical and nutritional characterization, substantiating by how different production years and localization affect quince varieties properties.CULTIVAR (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000020)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio