Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / Health information systems (HIS) have much to offer in managing healthcare costs and in improving the quality of care for patients. However, the adoption of HIS can cause problems to health professionals in terms of efficiency as well as to the entire health organization in terms of acceptability and adaptability. The development of a national Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy in Zambia was initiated in 2001 through an extensive consultation process which involved academics and civil society organizations. The aim of using ICT is to improve the quality of health service delivery at local levels. Maramba and Mahatma Gandhi Clinics are the largest primary health care (PHC) clinics in Livingstone and have been prioritized for the implementation of an electronic medical record (EMR) system. The current study explored health care workers' perceptions and experiences of the use of ICTbased EMR and factors that could determine acceptability of EMR at Maramba and Mahatma Gandhi clinics to feed into future program improvement.

No / The 2004 Indian general elections stunned observers when, contrary to expectations, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Atul Behari Vajpayee was defeated by an electoral coalition led by the Indian National Congress (INC) headed by Sonia Gandhi. A further surprise came when Gandhi declined to become India's first foreign-born prime minister, opting instead to back party stalwart Dr Manmohan Singh for this office. Dr Singh, India's first Sikh prime minister, now heads a United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government headed by a cabinet containing 19 INC members and 10 members of smaller parties. Will the return to power of the INC after eight years in opposition (during three years of Left Front then five years of BJP/NDA rule) result in a shift of India's foreign and national security policies?

Orientador: Rafael Salatini de Almeida / Resumo: O presente projeto procura estudar e debater o tema relacionado à antinomia permanente entre, de um lado, a paz e pacifismo, e, de outro, a guerra e a violência. Assim, partir da doutrina da não-violência em face do conflito político permeado pelos Estados contra seus cidadãos, mesmo perante organizações ditas democráticas, procuraremos compreender os temas da paz e da não violência e sua conformação nos escritos de Gene Sharp. Assim, levantando-se a discussão acerca de um direito humano de resistência não-violenta, tomando por referência a doutrina da desobediência civil e culminando em um direito humano de todos os povos de revolução, todavia, realizável por meios pacíficos. As práticas filosóficas da não-violência, propostas por Gandhi e outros pacifistas, se transformam em teoria política de resistência e em ação coletiva de confrontação e de lutas. Porém, enquanto toda revolução pressupõe violência e uso da força, a prática da não-violência como referencial de um agir político, na esfera nacional e internacional, se mostra como grande potencial de adesões e de conquistas, obtendo cada vez mais o apoio social. Somente se entendendo os estudos políticos e humanitários relacionados à paz e ao pacifismo, conseguiremos mensurar o alcance das teorias e doutrinas de não-violência. Estes se mostram fundamentais para a discussão e análise dos métodos de luta e revolução não-violentos propostos por Gene Sharp. O estudo e a proposta tomam por ponto de convergência desses institutos... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This project seeks to study and debate the theme related to the permanent antinomy between peace and pacifism, and on the other hand war and violence. Thus, from the doctrine of nonviolence in the face of political conflict permeated by states against their citizens, even before so-called democratic organizations, we will seek to understand the themes of peace and nonviolence and their conformation to the writings of Gene Sharp. Thus, raising the discussion about a human right of nonviolent resistance by reference to the doctrine of civil disobedience and culminating in a human right of all peoples of revolution, yet achievable by peaceful means. The philosophical practices of nonviolence proposed by Gandhi and other pacifists become political theory of resistance and collective action of confrontation and struggle. However, while every revolution presupposes violence and the use of force, the practice of nonviolence as a reference for political action and at the national and international levels is shown to be a great potential for adhesions and achievements, increasingly obtaining social support. Only by understanding the political and humanitarian studies related to peace and pacifism can we measure the extent of nonviolence theories and doctrines. These are fundamental for the discussion and analysis of the methods of nonviolent struggle and revolution proposed by Gene Sharp. The study and proposal take as a point of convergence of these institutes of pacifism and nonviol... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Astratto: Questo progetto mira a studiare e discutere il tema relativo all'antinomia permanente tra pace e pacifismo, e d'altra parte guerra e violenza. Quindi, dalla dottrina della nonviolenza di fronte al conflitto politico permeato dagli stati contro i loro cittadini, anche prima delle cosiddette organizzazioni democratiche, cercheremo di comprendere i temi della pace e della nonviolenza e della loro conformazione agli scritti di Gene Sharp. Quindi, sollevando la discussione su un diritto umano di resistenza non violenta facendo riferimento alla dottrina della disobbedienza civile e culminando in un diritto umano di tutti i popoli della rivoluzione, eppure raggiungibile con mezzi pacifici. Le pratiche filosofiche di nonviolenza proposte da Gandhi e altri pacifisti diventano teoria politica di resistenza e azione collettiva di confronto e lotta. Tuttavia, mentre ogni rivoluzione presuppone la violenza e l'uso della forza, la pratica della nonviolenza come riferimento per l'azione politica e a livello nazionale e internazionale ha dimostrato di essere un grande potenziale per adesioni e risultati, ottenendo sempre più supporto sociale. Solo comprendendo gli studi politici e umanitari relativi alla pace e al pacifismo possiamo misurare l'estensione delle teorie e delle dottrine della non violenza. Questi sono fondamentali per la discussione e l'analisi dei metodi di lotta e violenza nonviolenta proposti da Gene Sharp. Lo studio e la proposta prendono come punto di convergenza questi is / Doutor

Anti-corruption movements play a vital role in democratic development. From the American Gilded Age to global demonstrations in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, these movements seek to combat malfeasance in government and improve accountability. While this collective action remains a constant, how government elites perceive and respond to such agitation, varies. My dissertation tackles this puzzle head-on: Why do some democratic governments respond more tolerantly than others to anti-corruption movements? To answer this research question, I examine variation across time in two cases within the world’s largest democracy: India. I compare the Congress Party government's suppressive response to the Jayaprakash Narayan movement in 1975, and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government’s tolerant response to the India Against Corruption movement in 2012. For developing democracies such as India, comparativist scholarship gives primacy to external, material interests – such as votes and rents – as proximately shaping government behavior. Although these logics explain elite decision-making around elections and the predictability of pork barrel politics, they fall short in explaining government conduct during credibility crises, such as when facing nationwide anti-corruption movements. In such instances of high political uncertainty, I argue, it is the absence or presence of an ideological checks and balance mechanism among decision-making elites in government that shapes suppression or tolerance respectively. This mechanism is produced from the interaction between structure (multi-party coalition) and agency (divergent cognitive frames in positions of authority). In this dissertation, elites analyze the anti-corruption movement and form policy prescriptions based on their frames around social and economic development as well as their concepts of the nation. My research consists of over 110 individual interviews with state elites, including the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, party leaders, and senior bureaucrats among other officials for the contemporary case; and a broad compilation of private letters, diplomatic cables and reports, and speeches collected from three national archives for the historical study. To my knowledge this is the first data-driven study of Indian politics that precisely demonstrates how ideology acts as a constraint on government behavior in a credibility crisis. On a broader level, my findings contribute to the recently renewed debate in political science as to why democracies sometimes behave illiberally.

BEZERRA, Emília Passos de Oliveira. A liberdade nomeada: leituras de Cecília Meireles para Cânticos. 2007. 136 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Letras) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Literatura, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras, Fortaleza-CE, 2007. / Submitted by Liliane oliveira (morena.liliane@hotmail.com) on 2012-06-26T11:59:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2007_DIS_EPOBEZERRA.pdf: 1222968 bytes, checksum: e2bd1e14a06127ffddc8459750084249 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Josineide Góis(josineide@ufc.br) on 2012-06-27T15:06:16Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2007_DIS_EPOBEZERRA.pdf: 1222968 bytes, checksum: e2bd1e14a06127ffddc8459750084249 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-06-27T15:06:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2007_DIS_EPOBEZERRA.pdf: 1222968 bytes, checksum: e2bd1e14a06127ffddc8459750084249 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / The dissertation examines the work Songs, Cecilia Meireles, highlighting the historical context-cultural, ideological and artistic of the twentieth century, from the close relationship of literature produced by the poet with the mysticism of the philosophies of the East, in particular, Buddhism, with the mystical poetry of the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore and the speeches of peace Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave. The work of the poetic corpus, still uses to support the writer Complete Poetry, the critical study conducted by Amy Zagury, "Cecília Meireles: news biographical, critical study, anthology, literature, discography, the score," and in the testimony of letters, interviews, books and chronic prefaciados as princiapal refuge. Using the methods descriptive, analytical, interpretive-comparison, the search is divided into five stages, where: "Initial considerations", "The twentieth century", "Songs - named Freedom," "The Bilbioteca way" and, finally, as a conclusion, "The uniqueness of mystical corner." / A dissertação analisa a obra Cânticos, de Cecilia Meireles, destacando o contexto histórico-cultural, ideológico e artístico do século XX, a partir do estreito relacionamento da literatura produzida pelo poeta com o misticismo das filosofias do Oriente, em específico, o Budismo, com a poesia mística do poeta indiano Rabindranath Tagore e os discursos pacifistas de Mahatma Gandhi e Vinoba Bhave. O trabalho parte do corpus poético, utiliza ainda como apoio a Poesia Completa da escritora, o estudo crítico realizado por Eliane Zagury, em "Cecília Meireles: notícia biográfica, estudo crítico, antologia, bibliografia, discografia, partitura", e os depoimentos constantes de cartas, entrevistas, livros prefaciados e crônicas como amparo princiapal. Utilizando os métodos descritivo, analítico, interpretativo-comparativo, a pesquisa divide-se em cinco momentos, sendo: "Considerações iniciais", "O século XX", "Cânticos - A Liberdade nomeada", " A Bilbioteca via" e, finalmente, como conclusão, "A singularidade do canto místico".

Decentralization leads to functional and financial devolution of authority, induces more transparency in the system and puts emphasis on local needs. It creates platforms to voice and institutionalize the interests of various groups, and comes nearer to the public by making all tiers of government accountable directly to the people. However, several complexities govern this effort in India. First, implementation involves several official agencies, creating administrative gaps, lack of coordination and fiscal complexities. Second, Indian society is largely agrarian and rural marked by divisions of religion, caste and economic class. Third, the socially vulnerable and poor are often trapped in interlocking economic transactions with affluent landlords making it difficult for them to go for collective change. This research critically evaluates these dynamics taking the case example of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGREGS). We followed a threefold methodology in order to understand the policy dynamics, namely, stakeholders’ interviews, primary survey data analysis and secondary data analysis. Case studies were useful in understanding policy implementation dynamics through field observations. The multi-level regression results reflected co-existence of agriculture and MGREGS dynamics, with their own rules and objectives, apparently contradictory, but leading to social and economic equilibrium. Searching explanations for these contradictory results led us to two larger understandings: 1) Actors are seen to take rational decisions based on local socio-politico-economic understandings of the world. 2) These decisions are, however, at multiple levels and at multiple action spaces. Institutional rational choice perspective proposed by Ostrom (1999) corroborated these findings. Latent variable path analysis results indicated the dynamics of civil society and administrative bureaucracy as a negotiated equilibrium that has the potential to transform governance. The process of institutional evolution was through endogenous institutional change process as proposed by Grief and Laitin (2004). Furthermore, the effect of socio-structural factors on institutional structures was observed. The results indicated two major understandings: 1) the formation and effectiveness of institutional structures were dependent on social capital and in turn on social structures and networks 2) the influence of formal institutional structures on local governance and social dynamics affect the governance network formation (Hertting, 2001). Scenario-wise regression analyses results revealed that the effort to improve social capital of the groups through governance procedures need to be mediated through ‘local’ social structures. Agent based model results indicated the following: 1) regulatory dynamics need not necessarily follow the trend of socio-economic dynamics. Instead, they were in line with advocacy dynamics (Sabatier, 1988), which in turn depend on the social structures and networks. 2) regulatory strategies were endogenous institutional rational choices, given the existing socio-economic structures and networks of the society. Hence, Institutional theories were observed to be instrumental in understanding the policy implementation dynamics in democratic decentralization setup.

Novel plastic sheets and foams from vegetable oil-based monomers were produced. These new polyurethanes were synthesized from aromatic polyols, with erucic acid as the starting material. These monomers have the unique feature of containing an aromatic ring which was hypothesized to improve the rigidity of the polyurethane matrices and the overall physical properties of the plastics and foams. The benefits of the aromatic ring were proposed to be enhanced due to three terminal primary hydroxyl groups within the structure of the polyols. Reactions to produce hexasubstituted benzene derivatives containing alcohol groups in positions 1,2,4- and 1,3,5- around the benzene ring were suitably scaled up to provide amounts necessary for polyurethane production and characterization. These isomers (asymmetric and symmetric triols) were separated using chromatography. The pure triols were crosslinked with 4,4-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) into polyurethanes sheets (asymmetric and symmetric polyurethane respectively). The physico-chemical properties of these PUs were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction,, differential scanning calorimetry dynamic mechanical analysis, thermogravimetric analysis coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and tensile analysis. The asymmetric polyurethane sheet and the symmetric polyurethane sheet differed in their glass transition temperatures and crosslinking densities. This variation could be explained by the differences in crosslinking densities, related to the increase in steric hindrance between adjacent hydroxyl groups of the asymmetric triol monomers. It was found that both polyurethanes had similar mechanical and thermal properties. Due to the similar properties of the asymmetric polyurethane and symmetric polyurethane sheets, the monomers were combined together in order to synthesize PU foams. The physical properties of these foams were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and were analyzed for close cell content and compression strength. The effect of the benzene ring in the monomer structure on the physical properties of these new polyurethane foams was mainly compared with high density canola polyurethane foams previously investigated. It was demonstrated that the physical properties of polyurethane foams made with aromatic monomers are comparable to those made with aliphatic monomers when enhanced with glycerol. / Bioresource and Food Engineering

Human cells possess multiple nucleoside transporters (NTs) that belong to either the human equilibrative or concentrative NT (hENT: hENT1/2/3/4; hCNT: CNT1/2/3) families. In the kidney, coupling of apical hCNT3 activities to basolateral hENT1/2 activities is hypothesized to mediate renal nucleoside proximal tubular absorption while apical ENT1 may have a role in secretion. The overall aim of this research was to increase understanding of the roles of hENTs and hCNTs in renal handling of physiological nucleosides and anti-cancer nucleoside analog drugs. This was achieved by investigating the distribution of hENTs and hCNTs in human kidney tissue and the function of hENTs and hCNTs in cellular uptake and transepithelial fluxes of nucleosides in cultured human renal proximal tubule cells (hRPTCs). Immunolocalization of hCNT3 and hENT1 in human kidney tissue revealed that hENT and hCNT3 were present in apical membranes of proximal tubules. Production and characterization of adherent hRPTC cultures demonstrated endogenous hCNT3, hENT1, and hENT2 activities. These results provided evidence for the involvement of hCNT3, hENT1, and hENT2 in renal handling of nucleosides. Comparison of adherent hRPTC cultures derived from kidneys from different individuals demonstrated that hCNT3 activities varied between cultures. Also, the extent of cellular uptake of fludarabine, an anti-cancer nucleoside drug, and degree of cytotoxicity was reflected in the different hCNT3 activities observed between cultures. These results suggested that hCNT3 plays an important role in fludarabine renal handling and is a determinant of potential renal toxicities. Production of polarized monolayer cultures of hRPTCs on transwell permeable inserts enabled the functional localization of hCNT3 and hENT1 to apical membranes and hENT2 to basolateral membranes. Transepithelial flux studies demonstrated that (i) apical-to-basolateral fluxes of adenosine were mediated by apical hCNT3 and basolateral hENT2, (ii) basolateral-to-apical fluxes of 2′-deoxyadenosine were mediated, in part, by apical hENT1 and basolateral hOATs, and (iii) apical-to-basolateral fluxes of fludarabine, cladribine, and clofarabine were mediated by apical hCNT3. These studies showed that coupling of apical hCNT3 to basolateral hENT2 mediates proximal tubular nucleoside reabsorption, that coupling of basolateral human organic anion transporters (hOATs) to apical hENT1 mediates proximal tubular nucleoside secretion, and that hCNT3 is a key determinant of fludarabine proximal tubular reabsorption and cytoxicity.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:08:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RobivalAR_DISSERT.pdf: 2720305 bytes, checksum: 83d53344a02e589555a480f021157774 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-04-14 / This work aims to study the fluctuation structure of physical properties of oil well profiles. It was used as technique the analysis of fluctuations without trend (Detrended Fluctuation Analysis - DFA). It has been made part of the study 54 oil wells in the Campo de Namorado located in the Campos Basin in Rio de Janeiro. We studied five sections, namely: sonic, density, porosity, resistivity and gamma rays. For most of the profiles , DFA analysis was available in the literature, though the sonic perfile was estimated with the aid of a standard algorithm. The comparison between the exponents of DFA of the five profiles was performed using linear correlation of variables, so we had 10 comparisons of profiles. Our null hypothesis is that the values of DFA for the various physical properties are independent. The main result indicates that no refutation of the null hypothesis. That is, the fluctuations observed by DFA in the profiles do not have a universal character, that is, in general the quantities display a floating structure of their own. From the ten correlations studied only the profiles of density and sonic one showed a significant correlation (p> 0.05). Finally these results indicate that one should use the data from DFA with caution, because, in general, based on geological analysis DFA different profiles can lead to disparate conclusions / Esta disserta??o tem como objetivo estudar a estrutura de flutua??o de propriedades f?sicas dos perfis de po?os de petr?leo. Usou-se como t?cnica a an?lise de flutua??es sem tend?ncia (Detrended Fluctuation Analysis DFA). Fizeram parte do estudo 54 po?os de petr?leo do Campo de Namorado localizado na Bacia de Campos, no Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Foram estudados cinco perfis, quais sejam: s?nico, densidade, porosidade, resistividade e raios gama. Para a maioria dos perfis, a an?lise de DFA j? estava dispon?vel na literatura; entretanto o perfil s?nico foi estimado com o aux?lio de um algoritmo padr?o. A compara??o entre os expoentes de DFA dos cinco perfis foi feita usando correla??o linear de vari?veis; assim t?nhamos 10 compara??es de perfis. Nossa hip?tese nula ? que os valores de DFA para as diversas propriedades f?sicas s?o independentes. O principal resultado indica a n?o refuta??o da hip?tese nula. Isto ?, as flutua??es apresentadas pelos DFA dos perfis n?o apresentam um car?ter universal; ou seja, em geral, as grandezas exibem uma estrutura de flutua??o que lhes ? pr?pria. Das dez correla??es estudadas, apenas os perfis de densidade e o s?nico apresentaram uma correla??o significativa (p<0,05). Enfim, estes resultados indicam que se devem usar os dados de DFA com cautela, pois, em geral, an?lises geol?gicas baseadas em DFA de perfis diferentes podem levar a conclus?es d?spares

Submitted by Automa??o e Estat?stica (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2016-08-25T20:38:33Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ThiagoRafaelDaSilvaMoura_TESE.pdf: 12432375 bytes, checksum: febda1c72d0a41b9c13988a5c4ef03f4 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-08-26T00:23:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 ThiagoRafaelDaSilvaMoura_TESE.pdf: 12432375 bytes, checksum: febda1c72d0a41b9c13988a5c4ef03f4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-26T00:23:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ThiagoRafaelDaSilvaMoura_TESE.pdf: 12432375 bytes, checksum: febda1c72d0a41b9c13988a5c4ef03f4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-02 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico (CNPq) / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior (CAPES) / Propomos nesta pesquisa um modelo de caminhada aleat?ria com perfil de decaimento q-exponencial. A fun??o q-exponencial ? uma generaliza??o da fun??o exponencial ordin?ria. No limite q?1, a fun??o q-exponencial torna-se a fun??o exponencial ordin?ria. Nosso modelo apresenta um comportamento difusivo Markoviano, onde se sabe que o Teorema Central do Limite proibe superdifus?o neste caso. Apesar de neste problema n?o ser esperado o surgimento de uma transi??o superdifusiva no limite assint?tico conseguimos observar tais transi??es para caminhadas de tamanho finito.