The New Brazilian Public Prosecution: An Agent Of Accountability

This chapter examines the performance of the Public Prosecution - a Brazilian institution tasked with exercising oversight and control over public administration - and its impact on democracy. It is argued that the institution is still attempting to define itself both internally and externally. Work by the Public Prosecution has generated significant response from groups who feel that their interests are being threatened. Amendments have been proposed in Congress to restrict the Public Prosecution's autonomy.Arantes, R.B., Direito e Política: O Ministério Público e a Defesa dos Direitos Coletivos (1999) Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, 4, p. 39. , FebruaryCappelletti, M., O Sistema de Justiça (1995) Revista do Ministério PúblicoCastilho, W.E., Sadek, T.M., (1998) O Ministério Público Federal e a Administração da Justiça no Brasil, , São Paulo: Editora SumaréKerche, F., O Ministério Público Brasileiro e Seus Mecanismos de Accountability (1999), Paper presented at XXIII encontro anual da ANPOCS, Caxambú, Minas GeraisLamounier, B., Estrutura Institucional e Governabilidade na Década de 1990 (1992) O Brasil e as Reformas Políticas, , João Paulo dos Reis Velloso, ed., Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio EdMacedo Jr., P.R., A Evolução Institucional do Ministério Público Brasileiro (1996) Uma Introdução ao Estudo da Justiça, , Maria Tereza Sadek, ed., São Paulo: IDESP/Ed. Sumaré, Série JustiçaMazzilli, H.N., (1993) Regime Jurídico do Ministério Público, , São Paulo: SaraivaO'Donnell, G., Accountability Horizontal e Novas Poliarquias (1998) Revista Lua Nova, p. 44. , São Paulo: CEDECSadek, M.T., (1997) O Ministério Público e a Justiça no Brasil, , São Paulo: Editora SumaréTelles, V.D.S., Direitos Sociais: Afinal do que se trata? (1997) Direitos Humanos no Limiar do Século XXI, , Unpublished paperVianna, W.L., de Carvalho, M.A.R., Melo, M.P.C., Burgos, M.B., (1999) A Judicialização da Política e das Relações Sociais no Brasil, , Rio de Janeiro: Editora RevanVieira, O.V., Império da lei ou da corte? (1994) Revista USP, , No. 2

Silica and other materials as supports in liquid chromatography. Chromatographic tests and their importance for evaluating these supports. Part I

Reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) has become a powerful and widely employed technique in the separation and analysis of a great variety of compounds with different functionalities. The most common type of stationary phase for RP-HPLC consists of nonpolar, hydrophobic organic species (e.g., octyl, octadecyl) attached by siloxane bonds to the surface of a silica support. In the first part of this article, a description of the many beneficial properties that make porous silica the most employed support in RP-HPLC will be presented, starting from the synthesis of silica. It is noteworthy that the chromatographic properties of the final column are strictly correlated to the preparation type. A silica surface possesses a number of attractive properties, but also some drawbacks. Unreacted or residual silanols interact with basic compounds and can induced peak tailing, which means a loss in chromatographic performance. This problem has lead many manufactures to produce stationary phases with reduced silanol activity which improve dramatically the peak shape of basic compounds. In the second part of this review, different approaches are proposed to obtain less reactive stationary phases

Contemporary Presentation and Management of Valvular Heart Disease The EURObservational Research Programme Valvular Heart Disease II Survey

International audienceBackground: Valvular heart disease (VHD) is an important cause of mortality and morbidity and has been subject to important changes in management. The VHD II survey was designed by the EURObservational Research Programme of the European Society of Cardiology to analyze actual management of VHD and to compare practice with guidelines. Methods: Patients with severe native VHD or previous valvular intervention were enrolled prospectively across 28 countries over a 3-month period in 2017. Indications for intervention were considered concordant if the intervention was performed or scheduled in symptomatic patients, corresponding to Class I recommendations specified in the 2012 European Society of Cardiology and in the 2014 American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology VHD guidelines. Results: A total of 7247 patients (4483 hospitalized, 2764 outpatients) were included in 222 centers. Median age was 71 years (interquartile range, 62-80 years); 1917 patients (26.5%) were >= 80 years; and 3416 were female (47.1%). Severe native VHD was present in 5219 patients (72.0%): aortic stenosis in 2152 (41.2% of native VHD), aortic regurgitation in 279 (5.3%), mitral stenosis in 234 (4.5%), mitral regurgitation in 1114 (21.3%; primary in 746 and secondary in 368), multiple left-sided VHD in 1297 (24.9%), and right-sided VHD in 143 (2.7%). Two thousand twenty-eight patients (28.0%) had undergone previous valvular intervention. Intervention was performed in 37.0% and scheduled in 26.8% of patients with native VHD. The decision for intervention was concordant with Class I recommendations in symptomatic patients with severe single left-sided native VHD in 79.4% (95% CI, 77.1-81.6) for aortic stenosis, 77.6% (95% CI, 69.9-84.0) for aortic regurgitation, 68.5% (95% CI, 60.8-75.4) for mitral stenosis, and 71.0% (95% CI, 66.4-75.3) for primary mitral regurgitation. Valvular interventions were performed in 2150 patients during the survey; of them, 47.8% of patients with single left-sided native VHD were in New York Heart Association class III or IV. Transcatheter procedures were performed in 38.7% of patients with aortic stenosis and 16.7% of those with mitral regurgitation. Conclusions: Despite good concordance between Class I recommendations and practice in patients with aortic VHD, the suboptimal number in mitral VHD and late referral for valvular interventions suggest the need to improve further guideline implementation