World Bank treatment of the social impact of adjustment programs

Since 1987 the Bank's operational guidelines have required President's Reports supporting structural adjustment loans (SALs) to pay particular attention to an analysis of the short term impact of the adjustment program on the poor and to measures proposed to alleviate negative effects. The authors review how SAL President's Reports prepared between July 1986 and December 1988 have addressed the social impact issue. The authors find that most efforts to address this issue have focused on targeted projects, including special employment programs, nutrition projects, resettlement projects, and credit, severance pay, and retraining projects for displaced workers. By contrast, there has been little analysis of the impact of the chosen policy mix on major sub-groups in poverty. Design modifications other than reallocations of social expenditures, have received relatively less attention. For example, the composition, incidence, and effectiveness of public expenditures and their implications for reducing poverty have not generally been examined. In preparing for adjustment operations, Bank staff should explore policy choices that eliminate economic distortions in a way that creates a basis for a more equitable pattern of long-term growth. To the extent that some adjustment measures may hurt the poor in the short term, this should be mitigated through appropriate modifications in SAL design and carefully designed targeted projects.Environmental Economics&Policies,Poverty Assessment,Health Economics&Finance,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,ICT Policy and Strategies

Ritual and transgression: a case study in new music

This research lies on the concepts of ritual and narrative as applied in a case study of a musical theatre piece. In traditional musical narrative the focus is on construction, and one could speak of fields around which hierarchies, systems and rules of musical language are built. In this piece we find unpredictable transgressive musical gestures, acted out by performers, combined with conventional narrative procedures. This study aims to demonstrate that the concepts of musical narrative and ritual cannot be seen as isolated objects but as entities of transformation by composers, and how the trilogy composer/performer/listener (audience) is associated with narrative and ritual. Ritual and transgression can thus be linked to traditional concepts of musical narrative connecting composing, performing, and listening activities

“Vir sapiens dominabitur astris”. Astrological knowledge and practices in the Portuguese medieval court (King João I to King Afonso V

This study addresses the practice of astrology and its cultural repercussions in the 14th and 15th century Portuguese court. It is based in the comparative study of three sets of sources: 1) the astrology books from the royal libraries, which reveal the dominant concepts of astrology; 2) the writings of kings João I and Duarte, and prince Pedro, as examples of the practical application of these concepts; 3) the royal chronicles of Fernão Lopes; Gomes Eanes de Zurara and Rui de Pina. The compa..

Vir sapiens dominabitur astris: astrological knowledge and practices in the Portuguese medieval court (king João I to king Afonso V)

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em História MedievalThe present study addresses the practice of astrology and its cultural repercussions in the 14th and 15th centuries’ Portuguese court. The research is based in the comparative study of three sets of sources: 1) the astrology books from the royal libraries, which reveal the dominant concepts of astrology; 2) the writings of kings João I and Duarte, and prince Pedro, as examples of the practical application of these concepts; 3) the royal chronicles of Fernão Lopes, Gomes Eanes de Zurara and Rui de Pina, as examples of its presence in political discourse. The astrological references occur in three main contexts: the validation of power, the explanation of manners and the debate about determinism-versus-free will. The latter stands as the main fracturing topic in medieval astrology. In any case, the validity of astrology by itself was never in question; the debate revolved only around its limits and its legitimacy in face of Christian faith. Astrology was seen as a sophisticated art, practiced by learned men. Its foundation was the scientific understanding of the natural laws and its practitioners tried to demarcate themselves from common divination and superstition. Due to its pervasiveness in this period, it can be concluded that astrology is an essential factor for the understanding of Portuguese medieval life. The study of the astrological practice, from the perspective of the History of Culture and Mentalities, offers new insights to the understanding of the medieval period

GResilient index to assess the greenness and resilience of the automotive supply chain

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to suggest an Index entitled GResilient Index to assess the greenness and resilience of the automotive companies and corresponding supply chain. Design/methodology/approach: An integrated assessment model is proposed based on Green and Resilient practices. These practices are weighted according to their importance to the automotive supply chain competitiveness. The Delphi technique is used to obtain the weights for the focused supply chain paradigms and corresponding practices. The model is then tested using a case study approach in the automotive supply chain. Findings: The case study results confirmed the applicability of this Index in a real-world supply chain. The results show that the Resilient supply chain management paradigm is the one considered as the one that more contributes for the automotive supply chain competitiveness. Research limitations/implications: The proposed Index was developed in the automotive sector context therefore it could not be adjusted to a different one. Future research could consider other aggregation methods for the Index construction. Practical implications: Supply chain participants will be able to evaluate the performance of their companies or supply chain in terms of Green and Resilient paradigms. Also, the Index can be effectively employed for functional benchmarking among competing companies and supply chains.Green; resilient; supply chain management; index; automotive industry

From policies to practices: factors related to the use of inclusive practices in Portugal

Inclusion is considered a foundation for quality education, and teachers’ inclusive practices are essential for success in mainstream classrooms. Portugal has been making progressive improvements in its policies for inclusive education, although there is little consistency in school practices within or between schools. Moreover, data identifying the personal and career variables relevant to teachers’ inclusive practices in Portugal are scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between teachers’ inclusive practices and personal and career-based characteristics, including gender, level of teaching, years of experience, roles performed at school, and perception of inclusive resources. The participants were 924 teachers who worked in private and public schools in Portugal. Regression analysis showed that perceived inclusive resources, level of teaching, and gender predicted variance in inclusive practices. Mean difference analyses revealed that teachers at the lower levels of teaching, females, and teachers reporting more inclusive resources had the highest scores for inclusive practices. These findings are discussed in terms of their practical relevance for inclusive school systems.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Narrativas interditadas: feminicidio na obra 2666 de Roberto Bolaño

IX Congresso Brasileiro de Hispanistas realizado nos dias 22 a 25 agosto 2016O tema proposto para essa apresentação se configura a partir da leitura e análise de uma parte do romance 2666, de Roberto Bolaño, intitulado “La parte de los crimines”. Esse pequeno estudo tocará no tema da violência exercida sobre as mulheres que aparecem assassinadas dentro da trama, tentando mostrar qual a estratégia literária, usada pelo autor, para denunciar esse tipo de que vem acontecendo nas cidades de fronteira do México com os Estados Unidos. Além disso, há a intenção de mostrar que o exercício de composição literária, também pode se unir a temas pertencentes a outras áreas: como a filosofia, a sociologia e a economia, dizendo que os feminicidios, que aparecem na ficção, acontecem posto que as mulheres assassinadas fazem parte de uma classe precária e portanto a mercê do capital. Para traçar pontos que topam o tema da violência foram utilizadas ideias do livro do filósofo Slavoj Zizek, Violência: seis reflexões laterais e para analisar o precariado, serão utilizadas ideias do Ruy Braga presentes do seu livro, A política do precariadoUNILA­-UNIOEST

Quality of life, burden, social support, marital adjustment and psychological morbidity in caregivers of elders with functional dependence

Mudanças recentes ao nível dos serviços de saúde resultaram em internamentos mais curtos nos hospitais e na procura de substitutos para cuidar dos doentes, levando a que as famílias assumissem frequentemente esses cuidados. Os familiares que se tornam cuidadores têm que lidar com várias mudanças nas suas vidas, especialmente quando o familiar de quem cuidam se encontra dependente. Este estudo focou-se nas implicações do cuidar ao nível da sobrecarga, atividadades de vida diária, qualidade de vida, satisfação com o suporte social, ajustamento da díada, depressão e ansiedade. Participaram neste estudo 109 cuidadores informais de idosos funcionalmente dependentes. Os instrumentos usados foram: Índice de Barthel; Escala de Sobrecarga do Cuidador; WHOQOL-BREF; Escala da Satisfação com o Suporte Social; Escala de Ajustamento Conjugal Revista; Inventário de Beck para a Depressão e o Inventário de Avaliação da Ansiedade Estado e Traço. Os resultados revelaram que a qualidade de vida estava negativamente relacionada com a sobrecarga e morbidade e positivamente com a satisfação com os amigos. A sobrecarga e qualidade de vida correlacionaram-se com o suporte social total. O ajustamento conjugal moderou a relação entre depressão e qualidade de vida (dimensões física e psicológica), mas não entre sobrecarga e qualidade de vida. Os cuidadores cônjuges apresentam menor qualidade de vida e os cuidadores filhos, mais morbidade psicológica. Verificou-se também que cuidadores que possuem apoio ao nível da prestação de cuidados apresentam maior satisfação conjugal. Os resultados enfatizam a importância de intervir junto desta população no sentido de aumentar a qualidade de vida dos cuidadores.Changes in medical practice resulted in shorter hospitalization and in the search for substitute caregivers leading families to assume care. Family members who become caregivers need to deal with changes in their lives on several levels, particularly when caregiving falls upon a dependent family member. This study focused on the implications of caregiving on burden, life activities, quality of life, satisfaction with social support, dyadic adjustment, depression and anxiety. 109 informal caregivers of functionally dependent elders participated in the study. The instruments used were: Barthel Index, Zarit Burden Interview, WHOQOL-BREF, Satisfaction with Social Support Scale, Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Beck Depression Inventory and State Trait Anxiety Inventory. The results revealed that quality of life was inversely related with burden and psychological morbidity and positively with satisfaction with friends. Burden and quality of life were correlated with social support. In turn, marital adjustment was found to be a moderator in the relationship between depression and quality of life (physical and psychological dimensions) but not between burden and quality of life. Caregivers that were partners of those they cared for showed lower quality of life and adult children caregivers revealed more psychological morbidity. Caregivers who received support in caregiving tasks showed more marital satisfaction. Results emphasize the importance of intervention with this population particularly regarding psychological morbidity and burden, in order to increase caregivers’ quality of life.Los recientes cambios a nivel de los servicios de salud dieron lugar a hospitalizaciones más cortas y a la búsqueda de sustitutos para el cuidado de los pacientes, haciendo con que las familias asumieran frecuentemente esos cuidados. Miembros de la familia que se convierten en cuidadores tienen que lidiar con varios cambios en sus vidas, especialmente, cuando el familiar depende de su atención. Este estudio se centró en las implicaciones de la tensión a nivel de sobrecarga, actividades de la vida diaria, la calidad de vida, satisfacción con el apoyo social, depresión y ansiedad. En este estudio participaron 109 cuidadores informales de ancianos con dependencia funcional. Los instrumentos utilizados fueron el Índice de Barthel, la Escala de sobrecarga del cuidador, WHOQOL-BREF, Escala de Satisfacción con el Apoyo Social, la Escala de Ajuste Marital Revisado, Inventario de Depresión de Beck y la evaluación del Estado y Rasgo de ansiedad. Los resultados revelaron que la calidad de vida estaba relacionada negativamente con la sobrecarga y morbilidad, y positivamente con la satisfacción con los amigos. La sobrecarga y la calidad de vida se correlacionaron con el apoyo social total. El ajuste marital moderó la relación entre la depresión y la calidad de vida (las dimensiones físicas y psicológicas), pero no entre la sobrecarga y la calidad de vida. Los cónyuges cuidadores tienen menor calidad de vida y los cuidadores hijos más morbilidad psicológica. También se constató que los cuidadores que tienen soporte a nivel de la prestación de cuidados tienen una mayor satisfacción conyugal. Los resultados enfatizan la importancia de intervenir en esta población para aumentar la calidad de vida de los cuidadores