Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) consist in a range of neurodevelopmental conditions that share common features with autism, such as impairments in communication and social interaction, repetitive behaviors, stereotypies, and a limited repertoire of interests and activities. Some studies have reported that folic acid supplementation could be associated with a higher incidence of autism, and therefore, we aimed to conduct a systematic review of studies involving relationships between this molecule and ASD. The MEDLINE database was searched for studies written in English which evaluated the relationship between autism and folate. The initial search yielded 60 potentially relevant articles, of which 11 met the inclusion criteria. The agreement between reviewers was κ = 0.808. The articles included in the present study addressed topics related to the prescription of vitamins, the association between folic acid intake/supplementation during pregnancy and the incidence of autism, food intake, and/or nutrient supplementation in children/adolescents with autism, the evaluation of serum nutrient levels, and nutritional interventions targeting ASD. Regarding our main issue, namely the effect of folic acid supplementation, especially in pregnancy, the few and contradictory studies present inconsistent conclusions. Epidemiological associations are not reproduced in most of the other types of studies. Although some studies have reported lower folate levels in patients with ASD, the effects of folate-enhancing interventions on the clinical symptoms have yet to be confirmed.

Resumo Este estudo objetiva verificar se a percepção de justiça em relação às dimensões dos Sistemas de Controle Gerencial aumenta o comprometimento e a confiança dos gestores. Para tal, foi realizada pesquisa de natureza descritiva por meio de levantamento, tendo como população as 500 empresas listadas entre as Melhores e Maiores da Revista Exame, das quais 180 aceitaram participar do estudo, e a amostra constituiu-se dos 67 respondentes. O instrumento de pesquisa utilizado compõe-se de 26 assertivas, com escalas de medidas intervalares Likert de sete pontos. As hipóteses enunciadas na pesquisa foram testadas com aplicação da técnica estatística de análise multivariada denominada Modelagem de Equações Estruturais. Os resultados da pesquisa demonstram que o princípio da controlabilidade e a utilização de múltiplos indicadores de desempenho aumentam a percepção de justiça distributiva e processual; a percepção de justiça das dimensões interacional e processual aumenta o comprometimento dos gestores; e a confiança dos gestores é influenciada pela percepção de justiça distributiva e interacional. Com base nesses resultados, conclui-se que o comprometimento e a confiança dos gestores podem ser fatores atitudinais e comportamentais preponderantes na diminuição de ações retaliatórias causadas pelo sentimento de injustiça organizacional.

Purpose This study investigates which dimensions of the management control system (MCS) increase the perception of organizational justice and reduce unethical behavior in the perception of managers. The purpose of this paper is to validate the theoretical model of the study of Langevin and Mendoza (2012), testing the theoretical hypotheses formulated by the authors. Design/methodology/approach A survey was performed in companies listed among the Best and Largest of Exame Magazine, and the sample is composed of 102 respondents of the research, which consists of 41 assertions. Findings The results of the structural equation modeling show that the definition of objectives increases the perception of procedural justice, but the same was not observed regarding the remuneration of the managers. Likewise, disregarding aspects that are uncontrollable by managers in performance evaluation does not lead to the perception of procedural and distributive justice. However, feedback quality leads to the understanding that the MCS is fair. Perception of procedural and distributive justice was also observed in the use of multiple measures of performance by the company. Research limitations/implications Other factors that have not been investigated may interfere with and contribute to the reduction of unethical behavior (budget slack and data manipulation). Originality/value The only variable that interferes in the reduction of unethical behavior is feedback quality. The non-confirmation of all the hypotheses instigates the replication of the research in other contexts for empirical validation of the theoretical model of Langevin and Mendoza (2012).

RESUMOEste estudo investigou se há relação entre a adoção das práticas de contabilidade gerenciallistadas nos estágios evolutivos no documento IMAP 1(IFAC, 1998) -pelas indústrias paranaenses e os fatores contingenciais. A amostra não probabilística é formada por 1.162 empresas paranaenses cadastradas em 2012 na FIEP-Federação das Indústrias do Estado do Paraná. Para coletar dados dos respondentes sobre a sua percepção de frequência de uso e importância das práticas de contabilidade gerencial, foi aplicado questionário fechado aos controllers ou equivalentes. A técnica Análise de Clusters foi aplicada aos dados coletados para formar quatro grupos distintos de acordo os estágios evolutivos das práticas de contabilidade gerencial adotadas. A técnica Kruskal-Wallis foi utilizada para testar as hipóteses de pesquisa. Os achados da pesquisa sugerem que as práticas de contabilidade gerencial tradicionais prevalecem e sua frequência de utilização supera as técnicas mais sofisticadas. No entanto há indícios de leve mudança na adoção de práticas de contabilidade

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