Using Soft Systems Methodology to Fight Against Info-Exclusion: The Experience of a Brazilian University

The aim of this paper is to apply a systemic methodology to analyse the concept of info-inclusion which can guide strategic actions of institutions within civil society and within several levels of government. The paper provides a plan of action that, integrated with other tools, aims at fighting the technological and social gap. We apply Soft System Methodology (SSM), because it provides a holistic approach to info-exclusion. SSM is often used to analyse and resolve problems in complex social studies such as info-exclusion. An info-exclusion reduction project, developed by a university in the country region of Sao Paulo will be provided as a case study. This project is one of the several Brazilian initiatives to solve the problem of limited access to information technology tools. We start by contextualising info-exclusion in Brazil and follow with a review of SSM. We then introduce the concept of info-inclusion and apply SSM to it. We end with a discussion of the results obtained and with some suggestions for action and possible improvements.     

浅谈太原市集贸市场活禽屠宰与检疫的弊端及解决对策

就太原市现行集贸市场活禽屠宰方式的弊端进行了分析，提出了实施禽类屠宰工厂化，实行定点屠宰，集中检疫，统一管理，防止病害禽类产品流入市场，杜绝私屠滥宰对城市环境造成污染的具体对策措施。     

微分电位溶出法测定天然水中痕量铅

本文研究了测定天然水中痕量铅的微分电位溶出法。该法检测下限为0.1ug·L~(-1)pb,在0～10ug·L~(-1)浓度段有良好的线性关系,测浓度为3～4ug·L~(-1)pb的试样的相对标准偏差为5％,一般水样回收率为93～107％。用于自来水、井水、河水、湖水中痕量铅的直接快速测定,结果令人满意。     

Evidence for the presence of viable endothelial cells in cultures derived from dissociated rat brain

Summary The morphology and histochemistry of dissociated newborn rat brain was studied in tissue culture. Direct microscopy of developing cells, electron microscopy and the alkaline phosphatase activity were used to identify the capillary endothelial cells.Acknowledgments. We thank Dr J. Gripenberg for technical assistance. This research was supported by Finnish Cultural Foundation and carried out during the tenure of a fellowship provided for F. J. from the Finnish-Hungarian Cultural Exchange Program.     

Effect of insulin on immunological phagocytosis by macrophages

Summary It was shown that, in physiological concentrations, insulin enhances, in vitro, the immunological phagocytosis of sensitized sheep erythrocytes by cultured mouse peritoneal macrophages. Insulin seems to stimulate macrophage phagocytosis as a cholinomimetic agonist by increasing the intracellular levels of cyclic GMP.Acknowledgments. This investigation was supported by a grant from the National Council for Cientific and Tecnological Development (CNPq), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.     

Oxytocin analogs effective as noncompetitive inhibitors in uterotonic test

Summary Deamino-1-carba-oxytocin analogs with a chemically reactive group in position 4 were demonstrated to act as noncompetitive oxytocin inhibitors in the assay on isolated rat uterus.     

First insights into the biodiversity and biogeography of the Southern Ocean deep sea

Shallow marine benthic communities around Antarctica show high levels of endemism, gigantism, slow growth, longevity and late maturity, as well as adaptive radiations that have generated considerable biodiversity in some taxa. The deeper parts of the Southern Ocean exhibit some unique environmental features, including a very deep continental shelf and a weakly stratified water column, and are the source for much of the deep water in the world ocean. These features suggest that deep-sea faunas around the Antarctic may be related both to adjacent shelf communities and to those in other oceans. Unlike shallow-water Antarctic benthic communities, however, little is known about life in this vast deep-sea region. Here, we report new data from recent sampling expeditions in the deep Weddell Sea and adjacent areas (748-6,348 m water depth) that reveal high levels of new biodiversity; for example, 674 isopods species, of which 585 were new to science. Bathymetric and biogeographic trends varied between taxa. In groups such as the isopods and polychaetes, slope assemblages included species that have invaded from the shelf. In other taxa, the shelf and slope assemblages were more distinct. Abyssal faunas tended to have stronger links to other oceans, particularly the Atlantic, but mainly in taxa with good dispersal capabilities, such as the Foraminifera. The isopods, ostracods and nematodes, which are poor dispersers, include many species currently known only from the Southern Ocean. Our findings challenge suggestions that deep-sea diversity is depressed in the Southern Ocean and provide a basis for exploring the evolutionary significance of the varied biogeographic patterns observed in this remote environment.     

DNA damage defines sites of recurrent chromosomal translocations in B lymphocytes

Recurrent chromosomal translocations underlie both haematopoietic and solid tumours. Their origin has been ascribed to selection of random rearrangements, targeted DNA damage, or frequent nuclear interactions between translocation partners; however, the relative contribution of each of these elements has not been measured directly or on a large scale. Here we examine the role of nuclear architecture and frequency of DNA damage in the genesis of chromosomal translocations by measuring these parameters simultaneously in cultured mouse B lymphocytes. In the absence of recurrent DNA damage, translocations between Igh or Myc and all other genes are directly related to their contact frequency. Conversely, translocations associated with recurrent site-directed DNA damage are proportional to the rate of DNA break formation, as measured by replication protein A accumulation at the site of damage. Thus, non-targeted rearrangements reflect nuclear organization whereas DNA break formation governs the location and frequency of recurrent translocations, including those driving B-cell malignancies.