Sustainable Forest Management Preferences of Interest Groups in Three Regions with Different Levels of Industrial Forestry: An Exploratory Attribute-Based Choice Experiment

The challenge of sustainable forest management is to integrate diverse and sometimes conflicting management objectives. In order to achieve this goal, we need a better understanding of the aspects influencing the preferences of diverse groups and how these groups make trade-offs between different attributes of SFM. We compare the SFM preferences of interest groups in regions with different forest use histories based on the reasoning that the condition of the forest reflects the forest use history of the area. The condition of the forest also shapes an individual’s forest values and attitudes. These held values and attitudes are thought to influence SFM preferences. We tested whether the SFM preferences vary amongst the different interest groups within and across regions. We collected data from 252 persons using a choice experiment approach, where participants chose multiple times among different options described by a combination of attributes that are assigned different levels. The novelty of our approach was the use of choice experiments in the assessment of regional preference differences. Given the complexity of interregional comparison and the small sample size, this was an exploratory study based on a purposive rather than random sample. Nevertheless, our results suggest that the aggregation of preferences of all individuals within a region does not reveal all information necessary for forest management planning since opposing viewpoints could cancel each other out and lead to an interpretation that does not reflect possibly polarised views. Although based on a small\ud sample size, the preferences of interest groups within a region are generally statistically significantly different from each other; however preferences of interest groups across regions are also significantly different. This illustrates the potential importance of assessing heterogeneity by region and by group

Effect of dopamine agonist medication on prolactin producing pituitary adenomas

Conventional light microscopy, immunocyto-chemistry, electron microscopy and in situ hybridization were used to evaluate the effect of dopamine agonists (bromocriptine-LAR and bromocriptine) on the morphology of surgically removed prolactin (PRL)-producing pituitary adenomas. Dopamine agonist therapy resulted in decrease of serum PRL, clinical improvement and tumour shrinkage. Using light and electron microscopy cellular atrophy, interstitial and perivascular fibrosis were noted; in several tumours connective tissue accumulation was pronounced. The cellular response was not uniform. In some adenomas populations of large cells and small cells were distinguished. The large cells contained immunoreactive PRL and expressed the PRL gene indicating resistance to dopamine agonists. It appears that these cells retained the potential to secrete PRL and proliferate despite exposure to dopamine agonists. In the small cells, PRL immunoreactivity and PRL gene expression decreased providing evidence that both PRL release and synthesis were blocked. Small cells can persist in tumours after discontinuation of dopamine agonist medication suggesting these small cells are irreversibly suppressed and are not capable of regaining their endocrine function and proliferative capability. The formation of irreversibly suppressed PRL cells may explain why some PRL-producing adenomas do not recur after withdrawal of dopamine agonists.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47517/1/428_2005_Article_BF01605931.pd

O potencial pedagógico da Hora do Conto para o desenvolvimento da Comunicação Oral

O presente relatório é produto de um projeto de investigação que pretendeu caracterizar a adequação e dinamização da hora do conto com a finalidade de promover o desenvolvimento da comunicação oral, implementada numa sala de 3/4 anos e a adequação didática de um processo de intervenção educativa de estratégias para a promoção do desenvolvimento da Oralidade (incidindo na dinamização da hora conto) implementado numa turma de 3.º ano do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Tendo consciência da desvalorização que é atribuída à temática em análise, acreditamos que os profissionais de educação se tornam responsáveis pelo desenvolvimento e aperfeiçoamento das capacidades de comunicação das crianças/alunos. Neste sentido, consideramos que foi extremamente importante investir neste domínio e nas competências a ele associado, nas vertentes de compreensão e expressão orais. Para atingir os objetivos delineamos, planificamos, construímos, aplicamos e avaliamos em sala de aula, um conjunto de intervenções educativas adotando como estratégia principal a dinamização da hora do conto. Assim sendo, podemos verificar através dos resultados obtidos, que efetivamente, a hora do conto e a utilização de diferentes estratégias para a dinamização da mesma, contribuíram positivamente para o desenvolvimento das competências orais dos intervenientes, potenciando melhorias, a vários níveis, nomeadamente na vertente de compressão e de expressão oral dos dois grupos de aplicação.This report is the product of a research project that aimed to characterize the adequacy and dynamization of the story time with the purpose of promoting the development of oral communication, implemented in a 3/4 year classroom and the didactic adequacy of a process of educational intervention strategies to promote the development of Orality (focusing on the dynamization of the story time) implemented in a 3rd year class of the 1st Cycle of Basic Education. Being aware of the devaluation that is attributed to the theme under analysis, we believe that education professionals become responsible for the development and improvement of communication skills of children/students. In this sense, we believe that it was extremely important to invest in this field and in the skills associated with it, in the areas of understanding and oral expression. In order to achieve the objectives, we delineate, plan, build, apply and evaluate in the classroom, a set of educational interventions adopting as the main strategy the dynamization of the story time. Therefore, we can verify through the results obtained, that effectively, the story time and the use of different strategies for the dynamization of the tale, contributed positively to the development of the oral skills of the participants, enhancing improvements, at various levels, particularly in the compression and oral expression of the two groups of application. Keywords: Oral Communication; Compression and Oral Expression; Story Time; Pre-School; 1st Cycle of Basic Education