Task Complexity and Variation in L2 Learner’s Oral Discourse

There are many factors which affect the L2 learner’s performance at the levels of phonology, morphology and syntax. Consequently when L2 learners attempt to communicate in the target language, their language production will show systematic variability across the above mentioned linguistic domains. This variation can be attributed to some factors such as interlocutors, topic familiarity, prior knowledge, task condition, planning time and tasks types. This paper reports the results of an on going research investigating the issue of variability attributed to the task type. It is hypothesized that the particular type of task learners are required to perform will result in variation in their performance. Results of the statistical analyses of this study investigating the issue of variation in the performance of twenty L2 learners at the English department of Tabriz University provided evidence in support of the hypothesis that performance of L2 learners show systematic variability attributed to task.

The use of strategic visioning to enhance local tourism planning in periphery communities

Tourism has had a profound impact upon destinations worldwide, and although this impact has been positive for many destinations, there are numerous examples where tourism has adversely impacted upon the environment and social fabric of the destination community (Coccossis 1996; Murphy 1985). The negative impacts of tourism have been attributed, among other things, to inadequate or non-existent planning for development (Gunn 1994; Hall2000). This has led to increased calls for tourism planning to offset some of the negative impacts that tourism can have on the destination community. While a number of approaches have been advocated, a collaborative philosophy, based on the principles of sustainability, is more likely to result in acceptable and successful policies and programmes for tourism destinations (Farrell1986; Jamal & Getz 1995; Maitland 2002; Minca & Getz 1995). Such an approach focuses on cooperation and broader based participation in tourism planning and decision-making between stakeholders to lead to agreement on planning directions and goals, with one of the primary objectives of collaborative arrangements being to develop a strategic vision for a destination (Bramwell & Lane 2000). [Extract from introduction]

Otologic symptoms of temporomandibular disorder and effect of orofacial myofunctional therapy

The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of otologic symptoms and their relationship to orofacial signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorder (TMD), and the effect of orofacial myofunctional therapy. The study was conducted on eight asymptomatic subjects (Group C) and 20 subjects with articular TMD, randomly distributed over two groups: one treated using orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT Group) and a control group with TMD (Group CTMD). Patient selection was based upon the Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (RDC/TMD). All subjects submitted to a clinical examination with self-reporting of symptom severity, and to orofacial myofunctional and electromyographic evaluation at diagnosis and again, at the end of the study. Correlations were calculated using the Pearson test and inter- and intragroup comparisons were made (p<0.05). In the diagnosis phase, subjects with TMD reported earache (65%), tinnitus (60%), ear fullness (90%), and 25% of the asymptomatic subjects reported tinnitus. The otologic symptoms were correlated with tenderness to palpation of the temporomandibular muscles and joints and with orofacial symptoms. Only the OMT group showed a reduction of otologic and orofacial symptoms, of tenderness to palpation and of the asymmetric index between muscles. OMT may help with muscle coordination and a remission of TMD symptoms.

Beyond sex and cooking: Health education for individuals with intellectual disability

Issues of health education programming for people with intellectual disability are discussed. As environments in which such individuals live become more inclusive, and they are encouraged to make their own choices, the issue of whether current health education is sufficient to enable them to make healthy life choices is considered. More attention should be focused on programs in schools and the community to fulfill this need. Three aspects of health education programming are considered: physical activity, general health knowledge, and social supports for health. Continuity of information is viewed as important in policy development as well as in interprofessional coordination and cooperation to assure that these individuals are not further handicapped by poor health.

As trajet??rias do planejamento governamental no Brasil: meio s??culo de experi??ncias na administra????o p??blica

Este artigo tem como objetivo analisar o papel do Estado na formula????o do planejamento no Brasil a partir dos anos 30, per??odo que deu origem ??s primeiras iniciativas de planejamento, at?? os anos 80, momento em que se inicia a decad??ncia do planejamento governamental no pa??s. Optou-se por uma retrospectiva hist??rica que levantasse os principais aspectos inerentes ao planejamento como instrumento do desenvolvimento econ??mico deste per??odo, verificando as principais mudan??as ocorridas na sociedade. O artigo n??o pretende dar conta de todas as dimens??es e complexidades do tema nem esgotar o assunto, que ?? pol??mico e envolve muitas articula????es te??ricas com outras ??reas, como administra????o p??blica, economia e ci??ncia pol??tica. Desse modo, o artigo aponta na dire????o de que este balan??o de an??lises das experi??ncias de planejamento no Brasil demonstrou grandes avan??os econ??mico-financeiros e alguns fracassos de coordena????o e articula????o com outras esferas, como a executiva e a financeira. Assim, desde os anos 80, em detrimento da crise do Estado, o planejamento entra em decl??nio nas agendas governamentais, impossibilitado, por quest??es de ordem financeira, de realizar suas fun????es de racionaliza????o e efici??ncia econ??mica. Dessa forma, o Estado, nesse contexto, sempre representou, de forma geral, as diversas articula????es de interesses capitaneados pelo planejamento como instrumento de interven????o e controle social no Brasil.

Hand-held robotic device for laparoscopic surgery and training

Laparoscopic surgery (LS) has revolutionized traditional surgical techniques introducing minimally invasive procedures for diagnosis and local therapies. LSs have undeniable advantages, such as small patient incisions, reduced postoperative pain and faster recovery. On the other hand, restricted vision of the anatomical target, difficult handling of the surgical instruments, restricted mobility inside the human body, need of dexterity to hand-eye coordination and inadequate and non-ergonomic surgical instruments may restrict LS only to more specialized surgeons. To overcome the referred limitations, this work presents a new robotic surgical handheld system – the EndoRobot. The EndoRobot was designed to be used in clinical practice or even as a surgical simulator. It integrates an electromechanical system with 3 degrees of freedom. Each degree can be manipulated independently and combined with different levels of sensitivity allowing fast and slow movements. As other features, the EndoRobot has battery power or external power supply, enables the use of bipolar radiofrequency to prevent bleeding while cutting and allows plug-and-play of the laparoscopic forceps for rapid exchange. As a surgical simulator, the system was also instrumented to measure and transmit, in real time, its position and orientation for a training software able to monitor and assist the trainee’s surgical movements.

Health education: the role and functions of the specialist and the generalist

Education for health is a process in which all public health and medical care personnel are involved. People learn both formally (planned learning experiences) and informally (unplanned learning experiences). Since the patient, the client, the consummer and the community expect public health and medical care personnel to assist them with health and disease issues and problems, the response of the professional "educates" the customer whether the professional intends to educate or not. Therefore, it is incumbent on all public health and medical care professionals to understand their educational functions and their role in health education. It is also important that the role of the specialist in education be clear. The specialist, as to all other specialists, has an in-depth knowledge of his area of expertise, i.e., the teaching/learning process; s/he may function as a consultant to others to enhance the educational potential of their role or s/he may work with a team or with communities or groups of patients. Specific competencies and knowledge are required of the health education specialist; and there is a body of learning and social change theory which provides a frame of reference for planning, implementing and evaluating educational programs. Working with others to enhance their potential to learn and to make informed decisions about health/disease issues is the hallmark of the health education specialist.

Prestação de serviços de assessoria e fiscalização da obra de "reabilitação das coberturas, acessibilidades e segurança da antiga escola Veiga Beirão - Palácio Valadares, em Lisboa"

O presente relatório diz respeito a um estágio de natureza profissional realizado com o objectivo de constituir Trabalho Final de Mestrado para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Civil no perfil de Edificações, do Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa. O estágio subordinado ao tema “Prestação de serviços de Assessoria, Fiscalização e Coordenação de Segurança da Obra de REABILITAÇÃO DAS COBERTURAS, ACESSIBILIDADES E SEGURANÇA DA ANTIGA ESCOLA VEIGA BEIRÃO – PALÁCIO VALADARES, EM LISBOA”, decorreu na Pengest – Planeamento, Engenharia e Gestão, S.A., empresa vocacionada para a prestação de serviços de Assessoria, Gestão, Coordenação e Fiscalização de Obras, sector no qual possui vasta e diversificada experiência, e reconhecidos mérito e competência. O objectivo da empreitada é o de recuperação deste imóvel, intervenção necessária à instalação no local da Exposição “República e Ensino” enquadrada no âmbito das Comemorações do Centenário da República. A empreitada foi adjudicada ao Empreiteiro Teixeira Duarte, S.A, pelo valor de €998.072,76. O prazo é de 4,5 meses prevendo-se a conclusão para 18 de Março de 2010. Embora a proposta de estágio tenha decorrido no início de 2010, no âmbito do tema que viria a ser proposto e de forma a integrar a Estagiária numa empresa em pleno funcionamento, o estágio teve início aquando do início da empreitada, em Novembro de 2009. Exceptuando os trabalhos de montagem da grua-torre e dos andaimes para a cobertura provisória, que decorreram antes da consignação, foi acompanhado todo o processo de Fiscalização. A Estagiária participou na análise do Plano de Trabalhos, nas vistorias às fracções autónomas e edifícios adjacentes, nas visitas à obra e na elaboração de relatórios mensais. Acompanhou os procedimentos da Pengest no Controlo do Planeamento, da Qualidade e Financeiro. Em relação à Coordenação de Segurança em obra, por ser um tema tão vasto e específico, teve acesso aos relatórios, não tendo efectivamente participado nas actividades desenvolvidas sobre esta matéria. Sob a co-orientação da Eng.ª Isabel Vicente, responsável da Fiscalização e orientação do Eng.º José Pedro Fernandes do ISEL, a estagiária desenvolveu este estágio de forma proveitosa, sempre com o auxílio de uma equipa experiente em Gestão e Fiscalização.

Elaboração técnica de propostas para concursos de obras públicas

Relatório de Estágio para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Civil na Área de Especialização de Edificações

The invisible factors that can make the difference. Language management and knowledge transfer in multinational sites

The knowledge-based society we live in has stressed the importance of human capital and brought talent to the top of most wanted skills, especially to companies who want to succeed in turbulent environments worldwide. In fact, streams, sequences of decisions and resource commitments characterize the day-to-day of multinational companies (MNCs). Such decision-making activities encompass major strategic moves like internationalization and new market entries or diversification and acquisitions. In most companies, these strategic decisions are extensively discussed and debated and are generally framed, formulated, and articulated in specialized language often developed by the best minds in the company. Yet the language used in such deliberations, in detailing and enacting the implementation strategy is usually taken for granted and receives little if any explicit attention (Brannen & Doz, 2012) an can still be a “forgotten factor” (Marschan et al. 1997). Literature on language management and international business refers to lack of awareness of business managers of the impact that language can have not only in communication effectiveness but especially in knowledge transfer and knowledge management in business environments. In the context of MNCs, management is, for many different reasons, more complex and demanding than that of a national company, mainly because of diversity factors inherent to internationalization, namely geographical and cultural spaces, i.e, varied mindsets. Moreover, the way of functioning, and managing language, of the MNC depends on its vision, its values and its internationalization model, i.e on in the way the MNE adapts to and controls the new markets, which can vary essentially from a more ethnocentric to a more pluricentric focus. Regardless of the internationalization model followed by the MNC, communication between different business units is essential to achieve unity in diversity and business sustainability. For the business flow and prosperity, inter-subsidiary, intra-company and company-client (customers, suppliers, governments, municipalities, etc..) communication must work in various directions and levels of the organization. If not well managed, this diversity can be a barrier to global coordination and create turbulent environments, even if a good technological support is available (Feely et al., 2002: 4). According to Marchan-Piekkari (1999) the tongue can be both (i) a barrier, (ii) a facilitator and (iii) a source of power. Moreover, the lack of preparation for the barriers of linguistic diversity can lead to various costs, including negotiations’ failure and failure on internationalization.. On the other hand, communication and language fluency is not just a message transfer procedure, but above all a knowledge transfer process, which requires extra-linguistic skills (persuasion, assertiveness …) in order to promote credibility of both parties. For this reason, MNCs need a common code to communicate and trade information inside and outside the company, which will require one or more strategies, in order to overcome possible barriers and organization distortions.

Simulation model for driving dynamics, energy use and power supply

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica Ramo de Energia

Relatório de estágio

Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

Handling random errors and biases in methods used for short-term dietary assessment

Epidemiological studies have shown the effect of diet on the incidence of chronic diseases; however, proper planning, designing, and statistical modeling are necessary to obtain precise and accurate food consumption data. Evaluation methods used for short-term assessment of food consumption of a population, such as tracking of food intake over 24h or food diaries, can be affected by random errors or biases inherent to the method. Statistical modeling is used to handle random errors, whereas proper designing and sampling are essential for controlling biases. The present study aimed to analyze potential biases and random errors and determine how they affect the results. We also aimed to identify ways to prevent them and/or to use statistical approaches in epidemiological studies involving dietary assessments.