Public Health Provisions of the Social Security Act

This paper analyses the survival of four different growth regimes conditional on political regime transitions that occurred during the first or prior year of the economic regime. The results suggest that in countries with no history of military dictatorship (MD), the episodes of fast-growing regimes initiated by political democratisation have an approximately 40% lower hazard of termination than the miracle growth episodes that were not started by political transitions. This finding does not hold in countries in which the consolidation of democracy is complicated by the historical role played by the army in the governing process. Additional analyses are carried out for the effect of political transitions on the duration of ongoing economic regimes. The data does not support the argument that “order” and the “rule of law” promote economic growth under more authoritarian regimes, which commonly feature authoritarian leaders during times of economic crisis. Political transitions of both directions under an economic crisis render the ongoing economic regime more durable. In contrast political transitions (of both directions) seem to be economically more efficient under the regime of stagnation

Labor redundancy, retraining, and outplacement during privatization : the experience of Brazil's Federal Railway

One of the most complex challenges of infrastructure privatization is its impact on employment. Often (but not always) private operators'main approach to cost-cutting is labor reduction. Private operators cannot afford the low levels of labor productivity typical in public companies if they are to be competitive and to deliver on their contractual obligations to provide cheaper, more reliable infrastructure services. But labor issues are so sensitive that government's early, direct involvement is seen as a way to address what potential investors see as a risk of privatization as well as to address the social concerns of the population, including the workers. When Brazil's Federal Railway was privatized, the team in charge of privatization made a significant effort to complement the incentive for voluntary reduction with an elaborate menu of training options. The authors describe this experience in dealing with labor redundancy problems. They discuss the design of the program, highlight the connections between its components, and assess the program's achievements. All things considered, they conclude, this staff reduction program was reasonably successful. The aimed-for improvements in productivity were achieved without major problems through a government-stimulated and -sponsored combination of early retirement and voluntary retrenchment. The concessionaire was willing to make quick decisions about the number of involuntary retrenchments it wanted to make, which helped sustain the momentum created by the government's prompt implementation of its own decisions and the fair treatment of workers. The main problems came from the underestimate of time needed to agree on the strategy for implementing the training and outplacement programs. Informal evidence suggests that most workers found new jobs before many of the training programs were available. And the strategy adopted gave workers a good incentive (one month's pay) to sign up for the courses but provided little incentive for workers to show up, since they were paid up front.Labor Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Labor Management and Relations,Labor Standards,Public Health Promotion,Labor Management and Relations,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Labor Standards,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management

Participatory 'Spatial' Knowledge Management Configurations in Metropolitan Governance Networks for SD

Thematic Report n°2, Chance2SustainThis report concerns the extent to which participatory spatialized knowledge construction1 and learning are conducive to dealing with challenges of strategic domains of urban development; such as economic growth, reducing social inequalities and vulnerabilities, increasing environmental sustainability, and making use of decentralized and participatory fiscal flows. Our main idea is that spatial knowledge construction and use is a strategic instrument in urban development, making explicit the various types of knowledge existing in cities, and reflecting the priorities of different actors in the city (government, private sector and citizens). We focus on urban development processes in which various kinds of knowledge are produced, exchanged, contested and used, and the extent to which joint learning and collective local formulation of principles of change is generated by such processes

Mapping City Visions: Integrating Mega- projects in Urban Development

This policy brief explores the mapping of city visions in fast-growing cities in several emerging economies (Brazil, South Africa, India, Peru). As cities have to deal increasingly with both complexity and uncertainty in their development, they are concerned with the future pathways their cities can take. City visions on urban development portray idealized situations as goals for the future, and the maps portraying them are strongly idealized. To get behind these idealized versions of reality, policy makers need to understand how such visions are developed, by whom, and whose realities they reflect

Mapeamentos participativos: pressupostos, valores, instrumentos e perspectivas

A complexidade crescente das configurações urbanas e regionais tem colocado diversos desafios que exigem novos instrumentos para coleta e tratamento de dados. Os mapeamentos participativos constituem um instrumento poderoso para informar modelos teóricos e subsidiar os processos de tomada de decisão, tal como o planejamento participativo. Este artigo discute os pressupostos e valores que embasam essa abordagem e apresenta um inventário de métodos e técnicas específicas reportados na literatura. O artigo se concentra na literatura norte-americana que tem tido pouca influência no debate brasileiro. A referência a estudos com mapeamentos participativos evidencia sua abrangência e potencial para a geração de conhecimento coproduzido envolvendo atores com formação e inserção social distintas. As novas tecnologias de informação e tratamento de dados espaciais oferecem boas perspectivas para o uso dessa abordagem, assim como colocam novos desafios para acadêmicos e gestores públicos envolvidos com o planejamento participativo.

IFSS, TG, FT-IR spectra of impregnated sugar palm (Arenga pinnata) fibres and mechanical properties of their composites.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of resin impregnation on the interfacial shear strength (IFSS), thermogravimetric (TG) and fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) of sugar palm (Arenga pinnata) fibres. In addition, the effect of resin impregnation on the mechanical properties of sugar palm fibre reinforced unsaturated polyester (UP) composites was also studied. The fibres were impregnated with UP via vacuum resin impregnation process at a pressure of 600 mmHg for 5 min. Composites of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 % fibre loadings were fabricated and tested for tensile and flexural properties. It was observed that the impregnation process caused the fibres to be enclosed by UP resin and this gave a strong influence to the increase of its interfacial bonding by the increase of its IFSS from single fibre pull-out test. It was also observed with TG and FT-IR spectra that the impregnated fibre had lower moisture uptake than the control and there was no significant increase in thermal stability of the impregnated fibre. The sequence of fibre decomposition started from the evaporation of moisture, hemicelluloses, cellulose, lignin and finally ash content and the presence of these components were proven by FT-IR spectra. For the composite specimens, due to the high interfacial bonding of the impregnated fibre and the matrix, the impregnated composites showed consistently higher tensile strength, tensile modulus, elongation at break, flexural strength, flexural modulus and toughness than the control samples. It was also observed that 30 % fibre loading gave optimum properties

Simulação numérica para análise estática e de vibrações livres de estruturas de placas de materiais compostos

The purpose of this work is to study different approaches for the finite element analysis of composite multilayered plates, and to develop the kernel of a numeric simulator for its structural representation. A detailed review of the First Order Shear Deformation Theory was made, and two plates elements were implented. The applications include homogeneous isotropic and orthotropic plates and multilayered composite plates. A comparative study between a classical bending element and a shear deformation element was made, and it was verified the need to account the transverse shear effects in the analysis of multilayred plates.O objetivo deste trabalho é estudar as diversas propostas de elementos finitos de placas laminadas compostas, e desenvolver o núcleo de um simulador numérico para sua representação estrutural. Para isso, é feita uma revisão detalhada da Teoria de Cisalhamento de Primeira Ordem e são implementados dois elementos de placa. As aplicações englobam estruturas de placas homogêneas isotrópicas e ortotrópicas e de placas laminadas compostas. São realizados estudos comparativos entre os resultados de um elemento baseado na Teoria Clássica de Placas e de um outro baseado na Teoria de Cisalhamento de Primeira Ordem, sendo constatada a necessidade da consideração das deformações de cisalhamento transversal na análise de placas compostas

Is Hormonal Contraceptive Use during Adolescence a Factor in Baseline Adult Muscle Mass and Function?

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