INTERACTIONS: DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION OF A COMPUTATIONAL TOOL FOR TEACHING INTERMOLECULAR FORCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Intermolecular forces are a useful concept that can explain the attraction between particulate matter as well as numerous phenomena in our lives such as viscosity, solubility, drug interactions, and dyeing of fibers. However, studies show that students have difficulty understanding this important concept, which has led us to develop a free educational software in English and Portuguese. The software can be used interactively by teachers and students, thus facilitating better understanding. Professors and students, both graduate and undergraduate, were questioned about the software quality and its intuitiveness of use, facility of navigation, and pedagogical application using a Likert scale. The results led to the conclusion that the developed computer application can be characterized as an auxiliary tool to assist teachers in their lectures and students in their learning process of intermolecular forces.

Identity and the concept of the West: the case of Brazil and India

This study aims to provide insights about how Brazil and India view and relate to the concept of the West, and how this affects their identity and foreign policy. Both countries' notions about the West are the subject of lively domestic discussion both in academia and the media, reflecting the struggle these countries find themselves in to define their identity as they rise. I argue that the concept of the West serves, in both Brazil and India, as a crucial concept to articulate their own identity-by a complex combination of criticizing, distancing itself from, or attempting to emulate the West.

Fatores visuais de design e sua influência nos valores de compra do consumidor

Este artigo explora o tema das experiências dos consumidores nos ambientes físicos oferecidos pelas empresas de serviços, avaliando o impacto de fatores visuais de design sobre a percepção de valor por parte dos clientes de um ponto de venda com autosserviço. Foram identificados os valores de compra dos usuários e as características de design percebidas no âmbito do varejo de autosserviço, envolvendo leiaute, sinalização e iluminação presentes no ambiente. O valor de compra, considerado uma resposta interna do consumidor ao ambiente de varejo, incluiu dimensões utilitárias e hedônicas. O método aplicado foi o cross-sectional survey, com a aplicação de questionário a 274 estudantes universitários, os quais manifestaram sua percepção de três diferentes livrarias com autoatendimento, ilustradas por fotos. Os resultados obtidos apontaram quatro características de design com influência significativa na formação de valor de compra dos consumidores sob a perspectiva utilitária e hedônica.

Child-care attendance and common morbidity: evidence of association in the literature and questions of design

Papers on child-care attendance as a risk factor for acute respiratory infections and diarrhea were reviewed. There was great variety among the studies with regard to the design, definition of exposure and definition of outcomes. All the traditional epidemiological study designs have been used. The studies varied in terms of how child-care attendance in general was defined, and for different settings. These definitions differed especially in relation to the minimum time of attendance required. The outcomes were also defined and measured in several different ways. The analyses performed were not always appropriate, leading to sets of results of uneven quality, and composed of different measures of association relating different exposures and outcomes, that made summarizing difficult. Despite that, the results reported were remarkably consistent. Only two of the papers reviewed failed to show some association between child-care attendance and increased acute respiratory infections, or diarrhea. On the other hand, the magnitude of the associations reported varied widely, especially for lower respiratory infections. Taken together, the studies so far published provide evidence that children attending child-care centers, especially those under three years of age, are at a higher risk of upper respiratory infections, lower respiratory infections, and diarrhea. The studies were not consistent, however, in relation to attendance at child-care homes. Children in such settings were sometimes similar to those in child-care centers, sometimes similar to those cared for at home, and sometimes presented an intermediate risk.

BASS 4: a software system for ergonomic design and evaluation of working hours

OBJECTIVE: To extend an existing computer programme for the evaluation and design of shift schedules (BASS 3) by integrating workload as well as economic aspects. METHODS: The redesigned prototype BASS 4 includes a new module with a suitable and easily applicable screening method (EBA) for the assessment of the intensity of physical, emotional and cognitive workload components and their temporal patterns. Specified criterion functions based on these ratings allow for an adjustment of shift and rest duration according to the intensity of physical and mental workload. Furthermore, with regard to interactive effects both workload and temporal conditions, e.g. time of day, are taken into account. In a second new module, important economic aspects and criteria have been implemented. Different ergonomic solutions for scheduling problems can now also be evaluated with regard to their economic costs. RESULTS: The new version of the computer programme (BASS 4) can now simultaneously take into account numerous ergonomic, legal, agreed and economic criteria for the design and evaluation of working hours. CONCLUSIONS: BASS 4 can now be used as an instrument for the design and the evaluation of working hours with regard to legal, ergonomic and economic aspects at the shop floor as well as in administrative (e.g. health and safety inspection) and research problems.

Assessing usual dietary intake in complex sample design surveys: the National Dietary Survey

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) method allows the distributions of usual intake of nutrients and foods to be estimated. This method can be used in complex surveys. However, the user must perform additional calculations, such as balanced repeated replication (BRR), in order to obtain standard errors and confidence intervals for the percentiles and mean from the distribution of usual intake. The objective is to highlight adaptations of the NCI method using data from the National Dietary Survey. The application of the NCI method was exemplified analyzing the total energy (kcal) and fruit (g) intake, comparing estimations of mean and standard deviation that were based on the complex design of the Brazilian survey with those assuming simple random sample. Although means point estimates were similar, estimates of standard error using the complex design increased by up to 60% compared to simple random sample. Thus, for valid estimates of food and energy intake for the population, all of the sampling characteristics of the surveys should be taken into account because when these characteristics are neglected, statistical analysis may produce underestimated standard errors that would compromise the results and the conclusions of the survey.

Health survey on the Ilha da Conceição, state of Rio de Janeiro: I. Study design and report of selected demographic and environmental characteristics

During July and August of 1968, a Health survey was conducted on the Ilha da Conceição, an area of Niterói containing approximately one thousand households. The survey was conducted by students from the Universidade Federal Fluminense and the University of Maryland, and was under the supervision of faculty of the Department of Tropical Medicine at U.F.F. and from the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. The survey was focused on a 25 percent random sample of the households on the island. Information was obtained from a responsible adult at each Household for completion of a Health questionnaire. Physical measurements, as well as laboratory study information were obtained from, all children in these households. A number of environmental sanitation problems were identified on the Ilha da Conceição. In addition, the survey indicated that approximately half the children had not been adequately immunized against diphteria, pertussis and typhoid. Preventable communicable diseases were the major cause of reported deaths which had occurred in infants ou Household members. The Health of the population on the Ilha da Conceição could well be enhanced by the development of an intelligence system indicating the immunization status of all children in the area. In addition a Health education program for the residents could well be beneficial for improvement of sanitary conditions on the island, as well as maternity and well baby care.

SPf66 vaccine trial in Brazil: conceptual framework study design and analytical approach

This paper describes the study population and the study design of the phase III field trial of the SPf66 vaccine in Brazil. Assessment of validity and precision principles necessary for the appropriate evaluation of the protective effect of the vaccine are discussed, as well as the results of the preliminary analyses of the gathered data. The analytical approach for the estimation of the protective effect of the vaccine is presented. This paper provides the conceptual framework for future publications.

Revisiting the concept of hepatosplenic schistosomiasis and its challenges using traditional and new tools

Different aspects of hepatosplenic schistosomiasis are revisited here. Manson's schistosomiasis causes periportal fibrosis and portal hypertension in approximately 6% of infected subjects, usually with preservation of their hepatic function. The assessment of liver involvement is of major importance in determining the prognosis and risk of complications from schistosomiasis, such as upper digestive bleeding secondary to variceal rupture. For many years, the diagnosis of hepatosplenic schistosomiasis and liver fibrosis was made by abdominal palpation and the finding of liver and/or spleen enlargement. However, there is no consensus regarding the clinical parameters of the liver and spleen to be considered in this physical evaluation. For the last three decades, abdominal ultrasound (US) has become the best imaging technique to evaluate liver fibrosis caused by schistosomiasis mansoni. However, US is a subjective procedure and is therefore examiner-dependent. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings have provided valuable information in addition to ultrasound and clinical examination. The combination of a comprehensive history and physical examination, basic laboratory tests (a stool examination for Schistosoma mansoni eggs and a blood cell count), biomarkers for liver fibrosis/portal hypertension and imaging methods seem to offer the best approach for evaluating patients with this disease. In situations where research is involved or in patients with severe disease, MRI may be considered.

Contribution to the marine propeller hydrodynamic design for small boats in the Amazon region

ABSTRACTIn the Amazon, river navigation is very important due to the length of navigable rivers and the lack of alternative road networks. Boats usually operate in unfavorable conditions, since there is no hydrodynamic relation among propellers, geometry, and the dimensions of the boat hull. Currently, there is no methodology for propeller hydrodynamic optimization with low computational cost and easy implementation in the region. The aim of this work was to develop a mathematical approach for marine propeller design applied to boats typically found on Amazon rivers. We developed an optimized formulation for the chord and pitch angle distributions, taking into account the classical model of Glauert. A theoretical analysis for the thrust and torque relationships on an annular control volume was performed. The mathematical model used was based on the Blade Element Momentum Theory (BEMT). We concluded that the new methodology proposed in this work demonstrates a good physical behavior when compared with the theory of Glauert and the experimental data of the Wageningen B3-50 propeller.