Training courses for teachers through the distance learning: practice reports used virtual environment TELEDUC

This paper describes the experiences of long-distance courses, it focused on the continuing education of basic education teachers in all Brazilian territory. Such courses were offered by CECEMCA (Center for Continuing Education in Mathematics Education, Science and Environment), linked to the Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho - Campus de Rio Claro during 15/01/2009 to 30/11/2009. The subjects report to the theme of Education, Geography and Environment, it was organized in four courses: "Introduction to Cartography," Environment and climate change - thinking a new paradigm of sustainable green planet "," Remote Sensing in environmental studies Environment "and" Methodological Alternatives for Inclusive Classroom: Experimenting with visual and hearing impairments". So, we show here, the feasibility and importance of distance learning tools for education, specifically teacher training, based on the results obtained in these courses.

Fuel consumption of road commercial vehicles in the driving schedule

The fuel consumption is an important factor in the vehicle development due the fact that it has a direct effect on its trade aims. Besides that, it is known that the petrol is a scarce fuel. In this paper it is presented a procedure of fuel consumption calculation for a vehicle traveling in driving schedule. In such calculation it has been taken into account the operational conditions (load, pavement, climbing road, among others) and the building characteristics (map engine, transmission, frontal area, tire, among others) of road vehicles. There has also been an application of the theoretical model developed in a sample Mercedes-Benz do Brasil vehicle which has been compared with the values of experimental tests. Copyright © 1997 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

Stabilizing an attractive Bose-Einstein condensate by driving a surface collective mode

Bose-Einstein condensates with attractive interatomic interactions undergo collective collapse beyond a critical number. We show theoretically that if the low-lying collective modes of the condensate are excited, the radial breathing mode further destabilizes the condensate. Remarkably, excitation of the quadrupolar surface mode causes the condensate to become more stable, imparting quasiangular momentum to it. A significantly larger number of atoms may then occupy the condensate. Efforts are under way for the experimental realization of these effects. ©2001 The American Physical Society.

Students' preferred teaching techniques for biochemistry in biomedicine and medicine courses

The aim of this study was to investigate the students' preferred teaching techniques, such as traditional blackboard, power-point, or slide-projection, for biochemistry discipline in biomedicine and medicine courses from São Paulo State University, UNESP, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. Preferences for specific topic and teaching techniques were determined from questionnaires on a Liquert scale from 1 to 5 (strongly disagree; disagree; neither agree, nor disagree; agree; strongly agree) distributed at the end of biochemistry discipline to 180 biomedical students (30 students/year) and 540 medical students (90 students/year), during the years 2000-2005. Despite of the different number of hours applied to the course topics for the two groups of students, the majority of undergraduates from biomedicine and medicine preferred metabolic topics. Although the perception of a medical student is expected to be different than that of a biomedical student, as the aims of the two programs are different, 92.4% of students from each course agreed or strongly agreed with the biochemistry topics, and 92.1% thought highly on this subject. The majority of students, a number of 139 undergraduates from biomedicine and 419 from medicine course, preferred traditional blackboard teaching than slide-projection, or power-point class. In conclusion, it is imperative that the health courses reflect on sophisticated technology and data presentation with high density of information in biochemistry discipline. The traditional classes with blackboard presentation were most favored by students from biomedicine and medicine courses. The use of students' preferred teaching techniques might turn biochemistry more easily understood for biomedical and medical students. © 2007 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Colors and some morphological traits as defensive mechanisms in anurans

Anurans may be brightly colored or completely cryptic. Generally, in the former situation, we are dealing with aposematism, and the latter is an example of camouflage. However, these are only simple views of what such colorations really mean and which defensive strategy is implied. For instance, a brightly colored frog may be part of a mimicry ring, which could be either Batesian, Müllerian, or Browerian. These are only examples of the diversity of color-usage systems as defensive strategies. Unfortunately, reports on the use of colors as defensive mechanisms are widespread in the available literature, and the possible functions are rarely mentioned. Therefore, we reviewed the literature and added new data to this subject. Then, we the use of colors (as defensive mechanism) into categories. Mimicry was divided into the subcategories camouflage, homotypy, and nondeceitful homotypy, and these groups were also subcategorized. Dissuasive coloration was divided into behavioral display of colors, polymorphism, and polyphenism. Aposematism was treated apart, but aposematic colorations may be present in other defensive strategies. Finally, we propose functions and forms of evolution for some color systems in post-metamorphic anurans and hope that this review can be the basis for future research, even on other animal groups. © 2009 L. F. Toledo and C. F. B. Haddad.

Color polymorphism in Leptodactylus fuscus (Anura, Leptodactylidae): A defensive strategy against predators?

Color patterns are strongly related to defensive strategies in anurans. Some anurans present more than one morphotype. Leptodactylus fuscus, for example, present two morphotypes (with and without vertebral white line). The proportion of each pattern in nature is different, whereby there are always more individuals without stripes. Therefore, we speculated if this difference in the observed color pattern is due to unequal predation pressures (i.e. stronger over the striped morphotype), and/or if there is a genetic component related to autossomic heritage. To test the selective predation over the morphotypes, we prepared plasticine models of L. fuscus with both phenotypes and placed them in the field. We did not find evidence of predation selection and as we found significant relationships between the proportions of the phenotypes and Mendelian proportions, we suggest that the phenotypes observed in this species are genetically determined (involving dominant and recessive alleles) and may not have a defensive function.

Power electronics courses for the new paradigms of the electrical system

This paper presents a historical perspective of the Power Electronics education that has lead to the present situation in which such technology is indispensable for the exploitation of almost all type of clean energy primary sources. Some academic initiatives in Brazil are here discussed focusing the institutions grouped in a CAPES-Pró-Engenharia program. The curricula aspects and innovations are presented, emphasizing the multidisciplinary character of this field of Power Electronics application. © 2011 IEEE.

A multi-agent system with a percolation approach to simulate the driving pattern of Plug-In ELectric Vehicles

A multi-agent system with a percolation approach to simulate the driving pattern of Plug-In Electric Vehicle (PEV), especially suited to simulate the PEVs behavior on any distribution systems, is presented. This tool intends to complement information about the driving patterns database on systems where that kind of information is not available. So, this paper aims to provide a framework that is able to work with any kind of technology and load generated of PEVs. The service zone is divided into several sub-zones, each subzone is considered as an independent agent identified with corresponding load level, and their relationships with the neighboring zones are represented as network probabilities. A percolation approach is used to characterize the autonomy of the battery of the PVEs to move through the city. The methodology is tested with data from a mid-size city real distribution system. The result shows the sub-area where the battery of PEVs will need to be recharge and gives the planners of distribution systems the necessary input for a medium to long term network planning in a smart grid environment. © 2012 IEEE.

Development of a support vector machine-based navigation system for driving a mobile robot through paths in plantations

The use of mobile robots turns out to be interesting in activities where the action of human specialist is difficult or dangerous. Mobile robots are often used for the exploration in areas of difficult access, such as rescue operations and space missions, to avoid human experts exposition to risky situations. Mobile robots are also used in agriculture for planting tasks as well as for keeping the application of pesticides within minimal amounts to mitigate environmental pollution. In this paper we present the development of a system to control the navigation of an autonomous mobile robot through tracks in plantations. Track images are used to control robot direction by preprocessing them to extract image features. Such features are then submitted to a support vector machine in order to find out the most appropriate route. The overall goal of the project to which this work is connected is to develop a real time robot control system to be embedded into a hardware platform. In this paper we report the software implementation of a support vector machine, which so far presented around 93% accuracy in predicting the appropriate route. © 2012 IEEE.

Productive development in open economies

Includes bibliography

O Plano Nacional de Qualificação do Trabalhador: formulação, implementação e as práticas pedagógicas dos professores do CEFET/PA

Nesta pesquisa, elegemos como objeto de estudo o PLANFOR, a fim de identificarmos as intenções, o projeto e as diretrizes orientadoras para a formação profissional estabelecidas por esse Programa no CEFET/PA, analisando se ele contribuiu para a renovação no desenvolvimento das práticas pedagógicas dos professores da Educação Profissional no âmbito dessa instituição. Os procedimentos metodológicos adotados para a realização da pesquisa priorizaram os aspectos qualitativos da investigação, por meio de uma revisão da literatura sobre o tema, que incluía a pesquisa e os trabalhos mais significativos sobre o PLANFOR, tais como os de Almeida (2003), Azeredo (1998), Bulhões (2001), Frigotto (2002), Manfredi (2002); e sobre a ação docente: Candau (2005), Cunha (2004), Martins (2000) e Rays (1996) que se constituem em nossas principais referências de análise. A pesquisa bibliográfica foi realizada paralelamente à pesquisa documental, a fim de reunir informações acerca do processo de implementação do PLANFOR no CEFET/PA. Também utilizamos a observação empírica para o desenvolvimento deste estudo. A geração dos dados foi realizada por meio de entrevistas com roteiro semi-estruturado, aplicadas a seis professores de cursos técnicos, envolvidos no processo de implementação do plano. As falas dos entrevistados foram analisadas e, por sua vez, suscitou as conclusões : a) o CEFET/PA executava os Cursos indicados pela SETEPS, que definia toda a organização e desenvolvimento dos cursos o que impossibilitou a inovação por iniciativa própria do CEFET IP A; b) a falta de esclarecimentos sobre as intenções, metas e diretrizes do programa, informações sobre o públicoalvo não possibilitou um direcionamento para a renovação pedagógica, pois para os professores não ficou claro o que era o PLANFOR; c) em relação aos projetos dos cursos e as práticas pedagógicas, estes continham carga horária pequena, impedindo seu aprofundamento; a pouca quantidade de aulas teóricas; a pouca articulação entre a teoria e a prática; predominância do conservadorismo das metodologias de ensino reproduzindo práticas pedagógicas ultrapassadas; deficiente integração entre as habilidades básicas, especifica e de gestão enfatizando as habilidades específicas, no "saber fazer" e no conhecimento instrumental.

Laboratório remoto para ensino de eficiência energética em um sistema de bombeamento de água

A utilização racional da energia elétrica é um tema bastante discutido na atualidade. Uma das principais preocupações é com o setor industrial brasileiro, o qual é responsável pela maior parte do consumo desse tipo de energia, devido à utilização de sistemas motrizes. Aliado a esse fato, a falta de uma abordagem adequada ao ensino de eficiência energética e conservação de energia, em muitos cursos de Engenharia das universidades brasileiras, contribui para o aumento do desperdício de energia elétrica. Neste sentido, este trabalho apresenta um laboratório remoto voltado a realização de ensaios de eficiência energética em um sistema motriz de bombeamento d’água. Para isto, foi desenvolvido um software que permite acionar e monitorar o protótipo de bombeamento d’água pertencente ao LAMOTRIZ da Universidade Federal do Pará. Ainda, foi elaborado um ensaio piloto para testar a experimentação remota com alunos de graduação e pós-graduação da referida universidade e foi realizada uma avaliação desta experimentação pelos referidos alunos.

A capacitação de servidores técnico-administrativos: desenvolvendo na UFPA competências por meio do conhecimento

Para enfrentar os desafios do novo milênio, as instituições, organizações e de modo geral o mundo do trabalho, deverão preocupar-se mais com as pessoas, investindo, sobretudo, no seu bem-estar, sua realização pessoal e profissional, por meio da capacitação e qualificação, sendo o conhecimento considerado a mola mestre do desenvolvimento. Este estudo tem como objetivo geral investigar se a capacitação dos servidores Técnico-Administrativos (TA) da Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA) que realizaram os cursos de Especialização em Administração Estratégica e Gestão de Pessoas, no período de 2002 a 2004, na UFPA, Campus de Belém, contribuiu para a melhoria do desempenho de suas unidades por meio do conhecimento adquirido. A partir da metodologia de pesquisa bibliográfica e pesquisa de campo, tem-se a apresentação da fundamentação teórica acerca da temática sob estudo, tendo como base a abordagem qualitativa, utilizando para coleta de dados, documentos e a entrevista. Teve como informantes gestores das Pró-Reitorias de Planejamento (PROPLAN) e Pró-Reitoria de Desenvolvimento e Gestão de Pessoal (PROGEP) que atuaram durante o período da pesquisa, e ainda, quinze servidores técnicos egressos dos cursos de especialização. Para interpretação dos dados foi utilizada a análise de conteúdo, possibilitando uma melhor interpretação das falas dos entrevistados, cujo resultado indica que os referidos cursos se constituíram em premente necessidade para o quadro dos servidores técnico-administrativos, a partir de um processo de Educação Continuada visando um melhor desempenho das atividades laborais, além de maior satisfação e motivação para o trabalho, concluindo-se que a UFPA, como um centro de prestação de serviços públicos educacionais destinados ao cidadão, deve primar por uma política efetiva e continuada de profissionalização e valorização de seu servidor, observando-se que o conhecimento é ferramenta essencial na política de recursos humanos dos servidores para gerar competência, tendo em vista que a própria UFPA se beneficia na medida em que a profissionalização e a valorização do servidor têm apresentado como resultado maior eficiência na prestação dos serviços direcionados a sociedade, objetivo primeiro das instituições governamentais.