Workloads and strain process in Community Health Agents

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To identify the workloads present in the work activities of community health agents (CHAs) and the resulting strain processes. METHOD A descriptive, exploratory, cross-sectional and quantitative study conducted with 137 CHAs. Data were collected through a questionnaire and interview guided by the health surveillance software called SIMOSTE (Health Monitoring System of Nursing Workers), following the ethical codes of the current law. RESULTS In total, were identified 140 workloads involved in 122 strain processes, represented by the occurrence of health problems of the CHAs. The mechanical (55.00%) and biological (16.43%) loads stood out. The most common strain processes were the external causes of morbidity and mortality (62.31%) and diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (10.66%). CONCLUSION From the identified overloads, it became evident that all workloads are present in the work process of CHAs, highlighting the mechanical load, represented mainly by external causes of morbidity and mortality that are related to occupational accidents.

Polarímetro virtual: desenvolvimento, utilização e avaliação de um software educacional

Optical activity is the ability of chiral substances to rotate the plane of plane-polarized light and is measured using an instrument called a polarimeter. An educational software application to explore, both interactively and visually, the concepts related to polarimetry to facilitate their understanding was developed. The software was field-tested and a questionnaire evaluating the graphics interface, usability and the software as an educational tool, was answered by students. The results characterized the computer application developed as an auxiliary tool for assisting teachers in lectures and students in the learning process.

Ressonância: desenvolvimento, utilização e avaliação de um software educacional

Resonance is a useful concept that shows how electrons are shared between two or more atoms and allows a prediction of the chemical reactivity and relative stability of reagents, intermediates, and products. An educational software that enables interactive exploration of the concepts related to resonance and thereby facilitates its understanding was developed. The software was field-tested, and an evaluation questionnaire concerning the software as an educational tool was answered by the students and professors involved in the test. The results led to the conclusion that the developed computer application can be characterized as an auxiliary tool that assists teachers in their lectures and students in their learning process.

Potentiometric quantification and speciation of oxygenated groups in humic substances using BEST7 software

In this study the BEST7 software was employed to quantify different classes of functional groups and to model the proton titration behavior of humic substances. To illustrate the process, the Suwannee River fulvic acid of the IHSS (International Humic Substances Society) was used. Five categories - two classes of phenolic groups (phenol and cathecol), two classes of carboxylic groups (benzoic and phtalic) and the combination between them (salicylic) - of oxygenated groups were considered as being responsible for the potentiometric behavior of the sample and were quantitatively determined. The most and the least abundant groups were cathecol (3.300 ± 0.010 mmol g-1) and phenol (1.225 ± 0.070 mmol g-1), respectively. The estimated equilibrium constants were also determined and were in good agreement with the literature values for phenol and cathecol groups and for benzoic, phtalic and salicylic acids. Distribution diagrams of the species were generated with the software SPE and SPEPLOT.

On the Efficiency of Alternatives in Process Plans

Process planning is a very important industrial activity, since it determines how a part or a product is manufactured. Process planning decisions include machine selection, tool selection, and cutting conditions determination, and thus it is a complex activity. In the presence of unstable demand, flexibility has become a very important characteristic of today's successful industries, for which Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMSs) have been proposed as a solution. However, we believe that FMS control software is not flexible enough to adapt to different manufacturing system conditions aiming at increasing the system's efficiency. One means to overcome this limitation is to include pre-planned alternatives in the process plan; then planning decisions are made by the control system in real time to select the most appropriate alternative according to the conditions of the shop floor. Some of the advantages of this approach reported in the literature are the reduction of the number of tool setups, and the selection of a replacement machine for executing an operation. To verify whether the presence of alternatives in process plans actually increases the efficiency of the manufacturing system, an investigation was carried out using simulation and design of experiments techniques for alternative plans on a single machine. The proposed methodology and the results are discussed within this paper.

China's proposing behavior in Global Governance: the cases of the WTO Doha Round negotiation and G-20 process

This article examines China's proposals on the reform of global governance, and discusses the main features of China's proposing behavior in the cases of the WTO Doha Round negotiation and G-20 Process. The main findings are: (1) in the critical junctures of global governance reform, China engaged the reform of the global governance institutions proactively, and put forward a series of reform proposals; (2) in proposing behavior, China argued the global governance institutions should be properly adjusted without intention to change the basic principles, refrained from playing a leadership role while proposing jointly with other countries, and upheld the principled idea of pro-development.

The UN peacebuilding process: an analysis of its shortcomings in Timor-Leste

This paper brings a comprehensive analysis of the peacebuilding process conducted by the UN in Timor-Leste. Drawing on fieldwork, interviews, and secondary sources, the paper brings light to the main fragilities of this process. Firstly, the paper briefly outlines the scholarly debate around UN peacebuilding process. Then, the paper brings an overview of the UN missions deployed to Timor-Leste. Finally, the paper identifies the major limitations of such engagement. By highlighting the main flaws of this peacebuilding process, the paper opens the space for (re)thinking alternative ways of building peace in post-conflict scenarios.

Uso do software Estradas para determinação do espaçamento entre desaguadouros em estradas não pavimentadas do interior de Goiás

Estradas não pavimentadas correspondem a aproximadamente 90% da malha rodoviária brasileira. Estas, na maioria das vezes, são construídas sem a realização de estudos prévios, estando sujeitas a vários tipos de problemas. Um dos principais fatores de deterioração dessas vias é a ineficiência do sistema de drenagem. Neste trabalho simulou-se o espaçamento entre desaguadouros em estradas não pavimentadas, utilizando-se um software desenvolvido com base num modelo matemático de dimensionamento de sistemas de drenagem em estradas não pavimentadas. Utilizaram-se valores de erodibilidade, tensão crítica de cisalhamento e massa específica para diferentes solos de estradas, localizadas no Estado de Goiás. Simularam-se cenários considerando alterações na declividade (1, 5, 10 e 15%) e na seção transversal do canal com relações entre altura e largura de 1:1, 1:2, 1:5 e 1:10. O modelo respondeu sensivelmente às alterações na declividade, na seção transversal do canal e nas de resistência do solo. Os espaçamentos obtidos indicaram que, estradas com declividades inferiores a 5%, mesmo com elevados valores de erodibilidade permitiram espaçamentos viáveis em aspectos construtivos. No entanto, para as declividades de 10 e 15%, os espaçamentos, na maioria dos casos, apresentaram dimensões reduzidas, tornando-se impraticáveis, sendo necessário, nestes casos, proteção do canal ou alteração de suas características hidráulicas.

Dinâmica da acumulação de capacidades inovadoras: evidências de empresas de software no Rio de janeiro e em São Paulo

São escassos estudos sobre a dinâmica da acumulação de capacidades inovadoras. Este artigo examina o tema em oito empresas de software em São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro, encontrando: diferenças inter e intraempresariais em termos da direção e taxa de acumulação de capacidade para funções tecnológicas específicas; acúmulo de capacidade tecnológica mais rápido em empresas mais jovens; e decréscimo das taxas de acumulação tecnológica à medida que as empresas se aproximam de níveis mais inovadores de capacidades, demonstrando a potencialidade para aceleração do processo. Tais evidências são relevantes para o entendimento da acumulação tecnológica e fornecem uma noção do tempo necessário para se obterem benefícios de esforços de aprendizagem e construção de capacidade inovadora.

How middle managers contribute to strategy formation process: connection of strategy processes and strategy practices

The role of middle management is essential when managing integrative and emergent strategy formation processes. We stand out the importance of its role connecting micro and macro organizational level offering a very important contribution when examining the strategy-as-practice perspective and integrative strategy formation process. The main goal of this research is to analyse the relationship between the integrative strategy formation process and the roles of middle management under the strategy-as-practice perspective. To check it out we adopted a qualitative methodology droving a case analysis in a Spanish University. Data was collected by means of personal interviews with members of different levels of the Institution, documents analysis and direct observation. In advance of some results we find out that the University develops an integrative strategy formation process and confers to middle management an important role extended all over the organization.

Atratividade de projetos de software livre: importância teórica e estratégias para administração

Milhares de Projetos de Software Livre (PSL) foram e continuam sendo criados na Internet. Esse cenário aumenta as oportunidades de colaboração tanto quanto acirra a concorrência por usuários e contribuidores, que elevariam esses projetos a níveis superiores aos que seriam alcançados por seus fundadores sozinhos. E dado que o aprimoramento por meio de colaboração é o principal objetivo dos fundadores de PSL, a importância de entender e administrar a capacidade de atrair usuários e contribuidores fica estabelecida. Para auxiliar pesquisadores e fundadores nesse desafio, o conceito de atratividade é introduzido neste artigo, que desenvolve um ferramental teórico-gerencial sobre as causas, indicadores e consequências da atratividade, viabilizando sua administração estratégica.

Knowledge cities: a taxonomy for analyzing software and information service clusters

Software and information services (SIS) have become a field of increasing opportunities for international trade due to the worldwide diffusion of a combination of technological and organizational innovations. In several regions, the software industry is organized in clusters, usually referred to as "knowledge cities" because of the growing importance of knowledge-intensive services in their economy. This paper has two primary objectives. First, it raises three major questions related to the attractiveness of different cities in Argentina and Brazil for hosting software companies and to their impact on local development. Second, a new taxonomy is proposed for grouping clusters according to their dominant business segment, ownership pattern and scope of operations. The purpose of this taxonomy is to encourage further studies and provide an exploratory analytical tool for analyzing software clusters.

PROPOSTA DE INVESTIGAÇÃO SOBRE O USO DE SOFTWARE NO SUPORTE À INOVAÇÃO EM SERVIÇOS

RESUMOEste artigo examina os objetivos, instrumentos e características das inovações habilitadas por Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TICs) no Brasil, enfatizando as tecnologias utilizadas, os canais habilitados pelas ferramentas digitais, os processos de aprendizado para inovação e as mudanças organizacionais necessárias para o uso de ferramentas avançadas. A metodologia consiste na adaptação de taxonomias existentes para os propósitos específicos da pesquisa e a realização de uma pesquisa de campo com o auxílio do software Atlas.ti. Os resultados mostram que as inovações habilitadas por TIC não constituem eventos isolados e pontuais, uma vez que alteram processos, formas de relacionamento com parceiros e clientes, e requerem uma maior integração de funções organizacionais. Importantes diferenças foram observadas em função do porte da empresa, da internacionalização das operações, da capacitação técnica e do grau de acesso a ferramentas proprietárias.

The process of implementing answerability in contemporary Brazil

Abstract: The aim of this study was to characterize the trajectory of answerability in Brazil. In the light of studies based on the historical neo-institutionalism approach, formal institutional changes adopted at federal level between 1985 and 2014, and which favor the typical requirements of answerability - information and justification - were identified and analyzed through the content analysis technique. The conclusion is that the trajectory of answerability in contemporary Brazil can be characterized as continuous, primarily occurring through the layering strategy, and whose leitmotif, since its origin, has consisted of matters of financial and budgetary nature. Nevertheless, a recent influence of deeper democratic subjects on it has been observed.