Shopping for apparel: how can kiosk systems help?

When shopping for apparel, many consumers seek advice from friends and family or store personnel. In-store kiosk systems might serve as an alternative decision support system. In the present study we address the key question of how such kiosk systems are evaluated by consumers. We conducted three focus group discussions with regular apparel shoppers aged between 23 and 39 years. In sum, qualitative information from 15 participants was subject to a qualitative content analysis with the aim of gaining a more comprehensive understanding of how apparel shoppers experience the shopping process. Getting a more in-depth understanding of the needs and wishes associated with the apparel shopping process gives a basis for evaluating the potential acceptance of electronic decision support systems in apparel shopping. Although our study is exploratory in nature, we are able to draw an initial picture of how kiosk systems could be used in apparel shopping.

Desenho e funcionamento dos mecanismos de controle e accountability das agências reguladoras brasileiras: semelhanças e diferenças

Este artigo estuda o formato e o funcionamento dos mecanismos de controle e accountability das agências reguladoras, ressaltando suas similaridades e distinções. Suas observações permitem abrir novas frentes de investigação para explicar as diferenças e semelhanças encontradas, tais como a influência da burocracia no processo e os contextos histórico e político de cada setor. O artigo analisa a formatação prevista legalmente para os dispositivos que proporcionam maior accountability às agências reguladoras, como a ouvidoria, as consultas públicas e os conselhos, e verifica indicadores de seu funcionamento efetivo, de forma a avaliar se a aparente uniformidade institucional dos órgãos reflete-se em uniformidade de procedimentos e de resultados. Por fim, aponta alguns impactos que o modelo institucional das agências reguladoras provoca na accountability do Estado brasileiro.

Accountability: já podemos traduzi-la para o português?

O objetivo principal deste artigo é verificar se as alterações políticas, sociais e institucionais (ocorridas no Brasil) contribuíram para que a tradução da palavra accountability germinasse no solo brasileiro, tendo transcorrido duas décadas desde a publicação do instigante artigo de Anna Maria Campos sobre a ausência desse conceito no Brasil. Trata-se de estudo de natureza exploratória, analítica e descritiva, numa abordagem essencialmente qualitativa, em que se procurou, além de compreender o significado da palavra accountability nos dicionários e nos trabalhos sucessivos ao de Campos, analisar, por meio da literatura especializada, as principais mudanças processadas no cenário brasileiro, especialmente quanto à organização da sociedade, descentralização e transparência governamental e quanto à emergência de novos valores sociais em substituição aos tradicionais. Reconhecendo que avanços têm sido realizados nessa direção, admite-se ser difícil dar uma resposta conclusiva à questão formulada. Considera-se que estamos mais perto da resposta do que quando Campos se defrontou com o problema, mas ainda muito longe de construir uma verdadeira cultura de accountability.

A demonstração do resultado econômico e sistemas de custeamento como instrumentos de evidenciação do cumprimento do princípio constitucional da eficiência, produção de governança e accountability no setor público: uma aplicação na Procuradoria-Geral do Município de São Paulo

Este artigo discorre sobre a demonstração do resultado econômico e sistemas de custeamento como instrumentos de evidenciação do cumprimento do princípio constitucional da eficiência, produção de governança e accountability no setor público para a minimização da assimetria informacional entre o Estado e a sociedade. O referencial teórico tem por base os ensinamentos do seminal paper de Ronald Coase (1937), A natureza da firma, transpostos para a administração pública. A pesquisa é descritivo-quantitativa, e os dados, referentes ao exercício financeiro de 2006, foram coletados por meio de análise documental na Procuradoria-Geral do Município de São Paulo (PGMSP). A pesquisa empírica sugere que a demonstração do resultado econômico (R$ 184.836.115,11) possibilita a evidenciação do cumprimento do princípio constitucional da eficiência, ao comparar a receita econômica produzida (R$ 302.894.295,11) aos custos e despesas incorridos na sua prestação (R$ 118.058.180,00), e cria novo paradigma relacionado aos aspectos de governança e accountability na gestão pública, capaz de produzir informação à sociedade e ao administrador público para a tomada de decisões gerenciais

Estudos sobre accountability no Brasil: meta-análise de periódicos brasileiros das áreas de administração, administração pública, ciência política e ciências sociais

O artigo tem por objetivo identificar como o termo accountability tem sido tratado na literatura brasileira, considerando periódicos das áreas de administração, administração pública, ciência política e ciências sociais. Foram identificados e analisados 53 artigos. Os resultados indicaram que o tema ganhou mais relevância nos estudos a partir de 2006, tendo a Revista de Administração Pública (RAP) o maior número de publicações. Os artigos analisados, em sua maioria, são empíricos, e muitos apenas citam o termo accountability, sem defini-lo ou analisá-lo. Constatou-se que os artigos que discutem o tema apresentam uma clara confusão sobre o seu significado, sendo "responsabilização" e "prestação de contas" os termos mais citados nas definições. Acredita-se que este estudo torna-se relevante por, além de demonstrar a significação dada ao termo, também apontar os limites de sua utilização.

A realização da accountability em pareceres prévios do Tribunal de Contas de Santa Catarina

Este artigo apresenta os resultados da pesquisa que teve como objetivo analisar a realização do potencial de accountability dos pareceres prévios (PP) produzidos pelo Tribunal de Contas do Estado de Santa Catarina (TCE/SC), relativos às contas anuais dos chefes de governos municipais. Tendo como pano de fundo a evidenciação da necessidade de a análise se desdobrar em duas dimensões distintas e a discussão do modelo de análise utilizado, o estudo mostrou que os referidos pareceres prévios pouco realizam do seu potencial de accountability, dado que o TCE/SC pouco avança em relação a esse objetivo, não utilizando nem explorando as possibilidades que a legislação lhe oferece e, portanto, não contribuindo para a materialização da accountability. Por fim, sugerem-se algumas recomendações que poderão servir como diretrizes em futuras pesquisas.

Accountability and co-production of information and control: social observatories and their relationship with government agencies

Abstract:Through the development of a proposal to categorize accountability into four stages - classical, cross-sectional, systemic, and diffused -, this article aims to identify characteristics of co-production of information and socio-political control of public administration in the work of Brazilian social observatories in relationship with government control agencies. The study analyses data from 20 social observatories and, particularly, three experiences of co-production of information and control, based on a systemic perspective on accountability and a model with four categories: Political and cultural; valuing; systemic-organizational, and production. The conclusions summarize characteristics of these practices, specific phases in the accountability processes, as well as the potentialities and challenges of co-production of information and control, which not only influences, but it is also influenced by the accountability system.

Periodic dynamic systems for infected hosts and mosquitoes

A mathematical model for the purpose of analysing the dynamic of the populations of infected hosts anf infected mosquitoes when the populations of mosquitoes are periodic in time is here presented. By the computation of a parameter lambda (the spectral radius of a certain monodromy matrix) one can state that either the infection peters out naturally) (lambda <= 1) or if lambda > 1 the infection becomes endemic. The model generalizes previous models for malaria by considering the case of periodic coefficients; it is also a variation of that for gonorrhea. The main motivation for the consideration of this present model was the recent studies on mosquitoes at an experimental rice irrigation system, in the South-Eastern region of Brazil.

Comparative evaluation of underlying causes of death processed by the Automated Classification of Medical Entities and the Underlying Cause of Death Selection Systems

INTRODUCTION: The correct identification of the underlying cause of death and its precise assignment to a code from the International Classification of Diseases are important issues to achieve accurate and universally comparable mortality statistics These factors, among other ones, led to the development of computer software programs in order to automatically identify the underlying cause of death. OBJECTIVE: This work was conceived to compare the underlying causes of death processed respectively by the Automated Classification of Medical Entities (ACME) and the "Sistema de Seleção de Causa Básica de Morte" (SCB) programs. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The comparative evaluation of the underlying causes of death processed respectively by ACME and SCB systems was performed using the input data file for the ACME system that included deaths which occurred in the State of S. Paulo from June to December 1993, totalling 129,104 records of the corresponding death certificates. The differences between underlying causes selected by ACME and SCB systems verified in the month of June, when considered as SCB errors, were used to correct and improve SCB processing logic and its decision tables. RESULTS: The processing of the underlying causes of death by the ACME and SCB systems resulted in 3,278 differences, that were analysed and ascribed to lack of answer to dialogue boxes during processing, to deaths due to human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] disease for which there was no specific provision in any of the systems, to coding and/or keying errors and to actual problems. The detailed analysis of these latter disclosed that the majority of the underlying causes of death processed by the SCB system were correct and that different interpretations were given to the mortality coding rules by each system, that some particular problems could not be explained with the available documentation and that a smaller proportion of problems were identified as SCB errors. CONCLUSION: These results, disclosing a very low and insignificant number of actual problems, guarantees the use of the version of the SCB system for the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases and assures the continuity of the work which is being undertaken for the Tenth Revision version.

Linking better shiftwork arrangements with safety and health management systems

OBJECTIVE: Various support measures useful for promoting joint change approaches to the improvement of both shiftworking arrangements and safety and health management systems were reviewed. A particular focus was placed on enterprise-level risk reduction measures linking working hours and management systems. METHODS: Voluntary industry-based guidelines on night and shift work for department stores and the chemical, automobile and electrical equipment industries were examined. Survey results that had led to the compilation of practicable measures to be included in these guidelines were also examined. The common support measures were then compared with ergonomic checkpoints for plant maintenance work involving irregular nightshifts. On the basis of this analysis, a new night and shift work checklist was designed. RESULTS: Both the guidelines and the plant maintenance work checkpoints were found to commonly cover multiple issues including work schedules and various job-related risks. This close link between shiftwork arrangements and risk management was important as shiftworkers in these industries considered teamwork and welfare services to be essential for managing risks associated with night and shift work. Four areas found suitable for participatory improvement by managers and workers were work schedules, ergonomic work tasks, work environment and training. The checklist designed to facilitate participatory change processes covered all these areas. CONCLUSIONS: The checklist developed to describe feasible workplace actions was suitable for integration with comprehensive safety and health management systems and offered valuable opportunities for improving working time arrangements and job content together.

Social protection systems in vulnerable families: their importance for the public health

OBJECTIVE To analyze the effectiveness of the Chilean System of Childhood Welfare in transferring benefits to socially vulnerable families. METHODS A cross-sectional study with a sample of 132 families from the Metropolitan Region, Chile, stratified according to degree of social vulnerability, between September 2011 and January 2012. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with mothers of the studied families in public health facilities or their households. The variables studied were family structure, psychosocial risk in the family context and integrated benefits from the welfare system in families that fulfill the necessary requirements for transfer of benefits. Descriptive statistics to measure location and dispersion were calculated. A binary logistic regression, which accounts for the sample size of the study, was carried out. RESULTS The groups were homogenous regarding family size, the presence of biological father in the household, the number of relatives living in the same dwelling, income generation capacity and the rate of dependency and psychosocial risk (p ≥ 0.05). The transfer of benefits was low in all three groups of the sample (≤ 23.0%). The benefit with the best coverage in the system was the Single Family Subsidy, whose transfer was associated with the size of the family, the presence of relatives in the dwelling, the absence of the father in the household, a high rate of dependency and a high income generation capacity (p ≤ 0.10). CONCLUSIONS The effectiveness of benefit transfer was poor, especially in families that were extremely socially vulnerable. Further explanatory studies of benefit transfers to the vulnerable population, of differing intensity and duration, are required in order to reduce health disparities and inequalities.

Hospitalization flow in the public and private systems in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil

OBJECTIVE To describe the migration flows of demand for public and private hospital care among the health regions of the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. METHODS Study based on a database of hospitalizations in the public and private systems of the state of Sao Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, in 2006. We analyzed data from 17 health regions of the state, considering people hospitalized in their own health region and those who migrated outwards (emigration) or came from other regions (immigration). The index of migration effectiveness of patients from both systems was estimated. The coverage (hospitalization coefficient) was analyzed in relation to the number of inpatient beds per population and the indexes of migration effectiveness. RESULTS The index of migration effectiveness applied to the hospital care demand flow allowed characterizing health regions with flow balance, with high emigration of public and private patients, and with high attraction of public and private patients. CONCLUSIONS There are differences in hospital care access and opportunities among health regions in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Economic crisis and counter-reform of universal health care systems: Spanish case

The economic crisis that has been affecting Europe in the 21st century has modified social protection systems in the countries that adopted, in the 20th century, universal health care system models, such as Spain. This communication presents some recent transformations, which were caused by changes in Spanish law. Those changes relate to the access to health care services, mainly in regards to the provision of care to foreigners, to financial contribution from users for health care services, and to pharmaceutical assistance. In crisis situations, reforms are observed to follow a trend which restricts rights and deepens social inequalities.

New delivery systems for amphotericin B applied to the improvement of leishmaniasis treatment

Leishmaniasis is one of the six major tropical diseases targeted by the World Health Organization. It is a life-threatening disease of medical, social and economic importance in endemic areas. No vaccine is yet available for human use, and chemotherapy presents several problems. Pentavalent antimonials have been the drugs of choice to treat the disease for more than six decades; however, they exhibit high toxicity and are not indicated for children, for pregnant or breastfeeding women or for chronically ill patients. Amphotericin B (AmpB) is a second-line drug, and although it has been increasingly used to treat visceral leishmaniasis (VL), its clinical use has been hampered due to its high toxicity. This review focuses on the development and in vivo usage of new delivery systems for AmpB that aim to decrease its toxicity without altering its therapeutic efficacy. These new formulations, when adjusted with regard to their production costs, may be considered new drug delivery systems that promise to improve the treatment of leishmaniasis, by reducing the side effects and the number of doses while permitting a satisfactory cost-benefit ratio.