Airway pathology has been extensively investigated in adulthood asthma, whereas only few studies examined bronchial biopsies in childhood asthma. To evaluate the airway pathology in children with asthma, we analyzed bronchial biopsies obtained from 23 children undergoing bronchoscopy for clinical indications other than asthma. Nine had mild/moderate asthma. Six had atopy without asthma, and eight had no atopy or asthma. We measured basement membrane thickness and quantified the number of eosinophils, mast cells, neutrophils, macrophages, T lymphocytes, and positive cells for transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) and its receptors I and II (TGFbeta-RI and TGFbeta-RII) in subepithelium. Children with asthma had an increase in basement membrane thickness and in the number of eosinophils compared with control subjects, but not compared with children with atopy. They also had a decreased expression of TGFbeta-RII compared with both those with atopy and control subjects. In children with asthma, the number of eosinophils correlated negatively with TGFbeta-RII and positively with symptom duration. In conclusion, airway eosinophilia and basement membrane thickening, which are the pathologic features that are characteristic of adulthood asthma, are already present in children with mild asthma, and even in children with atopy without asthma. Moreover, in children with asthma but not in children with atopy without asthma, there is a downregulation of TGFbeta-RII.

Neste texto pretende-se analisar, no contexto de produção das novas reformas educacionais, a questão das turmas homogêneas/ heterogêneas que tem sido um problema discutido em vários estudos sobre o sistema de ciclos adotado em muitos municípios brasileiros. No curso dessa discussão, traremos para a análise concepções de professoras dos primeiros anos do Ensino Fundamental – que trabalhavam em escolas da rede municipal do Rio de Janeiro, onde foi instituído um Primeiro Ciclo de Formação, a partir de 2000. A pesquisa utilizou como instrumento de coleta de dados um questionário respondido por 127 professoras. A análise dos dados revelou as dificuldades das professoras em romperem com os padrões tradicionais a respeito da organização escolar e também as insuficiências ou incompletudes do projeto implementado. Esses problemas precisam ser superados para que aqueles sinais, que observamos como indicadores da resignificação das concepções docentes a respeito da organização das turmas, possam se concretizar em novas posturas para o trabalho pedagógico. Palavras-chave: política de ciclos; reforma educacional; cultura escolar. This text analyzes, in the context of the new educational reforms being produced, homogeneous and heterogeneous class divisions, a problem discussed in many studies in the system of cycles used in various Brazilian municipalities. During this discussion, we will analyze conceptions of a teacher of the initial grades of Elementary School – those who work in schools where a First Cycle of Education has been introduced in 2000. The research used as an instrument to collect data a questionnaire that was responded by 127 teachers. Data revealed the difficulties of teachers when breaking away from traditional standards of school organization and also the insufficiencies or incompleteness of the implemented project. These problems need to be overcome so that those signs, which we saw as indicators of the resignification of teaching conceptions about the organization of class divisions, may materialize in new attitudes to pedagogic work. Keywords: cycle policy; educational reform; school culture.

This article presents a study on the access and permanence or equity of the students in schools of General Secondary Education. The research was carried out in two schools, which sought to understand the level of access and permanence of students. The research opted for a qualitative approach as it made a content analysis of interviews and readings. It was observed that the Mozambican educational system was marked by the exclusion of other cultures due to the weak negotiation between the school culture and that of the students, and in this context, there was a systematic and constant abandonment of students. This abandonment occurred for several reasons: cultural issues and fragility of family structures. The research also showed that in schools there was a strong trend toward generalization and harmonization of evaluation practices, without looking at issues of asymmetries between schools. A continuous and constant practice of expressing value judgments was also carried out in order to generalize the students' behavior. Faced with these factors, students have access to school but over the cycle are giving up, which makes it possible to understand that Mozambican public policies still need to maintain an inclusive and acceptability dialog with and from other cultures.