Economic burden of expected epidemiological changes in diseases related to tobacco, Mexico

OBJECTIVE: To determine health care costs and economic burden of epidemiological changes in diseases related to tobacco consumption. METHODS: A time-series analysis in Mexico (1994-2005) was carried out on seven health interventions: chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, lung cancer with and without surgical intervention, asthma in smokers and non-smokers, full treatment course with nicotine gum, and full treatment course with nicotine patch. According with Box-Jenkins methodology, probabilistic models were developed to forecast the expected changes in the epidemiologic profile and the expected changes in health care services required for selected interventions. Health care costs were estimated following the instrumentation methods and validated with consensus technique. RESULTS: A comparison of the economic impact in 2006 vs. 2008 showed 20-90% increase in expected cases depending on the disease (p<0.05), and 25-93% increase in financial requirements (p<0.01). The study data suggest that changes in the demand for health services for patients with respiratory diseases related to tobacco consumption will continue showing an increasing trend. CONCLUSIONS: In economic terms, the growing number of cases expected during the study period indicates a process of internal competition and adds an element of intrinsic competition in the management of preventive and curative interventions. The study results support the assumption that if preventive programs remain unchanged, the increasing demands for curative health care may cause great financial and management challenges to the health care system of middle-income countries like Mexico.

O ensino de matemática em duas escolas profissionalizantes: Brasil e Portugal, no período de 1942 a 1978

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Sustentabilidade em escolas - um caso de estudo

Devido à actual conjuntura sócio económica e às crescentes preocupações ambientais e sociais houve a necessidade de construir e desenvolver indicadores de sustentabilidade que registassem e avaliassem o desempenho, ano após ano, da comunidade escolar, de modo a melhorá-lo, pois as escolas devem ser elas próprias, modelos de sustentabilidade. Os indicadores formulados e desenvolvidos são ferramentas de gestão pois facultam a identificação de prioridades, o estabelecimento de metas e a tomada de decisões além de possibilitarem a elaboração de um historial que pode ajudar a melhorar o desempenho económico, ambiental e social das escolas, de acordo com os três pilares do desenvolvimento sustentável. Foram aplicados, ao caso de estudo, os indicadores considerados mais relevantes, tendo em conta a globalidade da sua aplicação, a sua clareza, mensurabilidade, compreensibilidade e reprodutibilidade. Obtiveram-se 185 indicadores de eficiência distribuídos pelas áreas ambiental (46), social (85), económica (18) e ensino / aprendizagem (36) e 63 indicadores descritivos distribuídos pelas áreas social (39), económica (9) e ensino / aprendizagem (15). Através de um inquérito realizado para avaliar as expectativas globais da comunidade escolar e dos dados disponibilizados pelo gabinete de qualidade e pela administração da escola, que serviu de caso de estudo, conseguiram-se calcular 71% dos indicadores de eficiência e 70% dos indicadores descritivos propostos.

Between theory and practice – teaching maths to elementary school students in Poland

The development of children's school achievements in mathematics is one of the most important aims of education in Poland. The results of research concerning monitoring of school achievements in maths is not optimistic. We can observe low levels of children’s understanding of the merits of maths, self-developed strategies in solving problems and practical usage of maths skills. This article frames the discussion of this problem in its psychological and didactic context and analyses the causes as they relate to school practice in teaching maths

Sistema de teste de transístores bipolares de junção e de efeito de campo

O estudo das curvas características de um transístor permite conhecer um conjunto de parâmetros essenciais à sua utilização tanto no domínio da amplificação de sinais como em circuitos de comutação. Deste estudo é possível obter dados em condições que muitas vezes não constam na documentação fornecida pelos fabricantes. O trabalho que aqui se apresenta consiste no desenvolvimento de um sistema que permite de forma simples, eficiente e económica obter as curvas características de um transístor (bipolar de junção, efeito de campo de junção e efeito de campo de metal-óxido semicondutor), podendo ainda ser utilizado como instrumento pedagógico na introdução ao estudo dos dispositivos semicondutores ou no projecto de amplificadores transistorizados. O sistema é constituído por uma unidade de condicionamento de sinal, uma unidade de processamento de dados (hardware) e por um programa informático que permite o processamento gráfico dos dados obtidos, isto é, traçar as curvas características do transístor. O seu princípio de funcionamento consiste na utilização de um conversor Digital-Analógico (DAC) como fonte de tensão variável, alimentando a base (TBJ) ou a porta (JFET e MOSFET) do dispositivo a testar. Um segundo conversor fornece a variação da tensão VCE ou VDS necessária à obtenção de cada uma das curvas. O controlo do processo é garantido por uma unidade de processamento local, baseada num microcontrolador da família 8051, responsável pela leitura dos valores em corrente e em tensão recorrendo a conversores Analógico-Digital (ADC). Depois de processados, os dados são transmitidos através de uma ligação USB para um computador no qual um programa procede à representação gráfica, das curvas características de saída e à determinação de outros parâmetros característicos do dispositivo semicondutor em teste. A utilização de componentes convencionais e a simplicidade construtiva do projecto tornam este sistema económico, de fácil utilização e flexível, pois permite com pequenas alterações

Avaliação da performance empresarial: o economic value added (EVA®) e a sua relação com o valor da empresa

Mestrado em Contabilidade e Gestão das Instituições Financeiras

Economic, environmental and mixed objective functions in non-linear process optimization using simulated annealing and tabu search

Screening of topologies developed by hierarchical heuristic procedures can be carried out by comparing their optimal performance. In this work we will be exploiting mono-objective process optimization using two algorithms, simulated annealing and tabu search, and four different objective functions: two of the net present value type, one of them including environmental costs and two of the global potential impact type. The hydrodealkylation of toluene to produce benzene was used as case study, considering five topologies with different complexities mainly obtained by including or not liquid recycling and heat integration. The performance of the algorithms together with the objective functions was observed, analyzed and discussed from various perspectives: average deviation of results for each algorithm, capacity for producing high purity product, screening of topologies, objective functions robustness in screening of topologies, trade-offs between economic and environmental type objective functions and variability of optimum solutions.

Empreendedorismo no Ensino Superior: o caso do Instituto Politécnico do Porto

Dissertação apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Gestão das Organizações, Ramo de Gestão de Empresas Orientada por Professor Doutor José Freitas Santos

Food consumption, physical activity and socio-economic status related to BMI, waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio in adolescents

Objective: To examine the association between obesity and food group intakes, physical activity and socio-economic status in adolescents. Design: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2008. Cole’s cut-off points were used to categorize BMI. Abdominal obesity was defined by a waist circumference at or above the 90th percentile, as well as a waist-to-height ratio at or above 0?500. Diet was evaluated using an FFQ, and the food group consumption was categorized using sex-specific tertiles of each food group amount. Physical activity was assessed via a self-report questionnaire. Socio-economic status was assessed referring to parental education and employment status. Data were analysed separately for girls and boys and the associations among food consumption, physical activity, socio-economic status and BMI, waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio were evaluated using logistic regression analysis, adjusting the results for potential confounders. Setting: Public schools in the Azorean Archipelago, Portugal. Subjects: Adolescents (n 1209) aged 15–18 years. Results: After adjustment, in boys, higher intake of ready-to-eat cereals was a negative predictor while vegetables were a positive predictor of overweight/ obesity and abdominal obesity. Active boys had lower odds of abdominal obesity compared with inactive boys. Boys whose mother showed a low education level had higher odds of abdominal obesity compared with boys whose mother presented a high education level. Concerning girls, higher intake of sweets and pastries was a negative predictor of overweight/obesity and abdominal obesity. Girls in tertile 2 of milk intake had lower odds of abdominal obesity than those in tertile 1. Girls whose father had no relationship with employment displayed higher odds of abdominal obesity compared with girls whose father had high employment status. Conclusions: We have found that different measures of obesity have distinct associations with food group intakes, physical activity and socio-economic status.

Technical and economic assessment of energy from Tidal Currents

The present work aims to study the feasibility of deploying a farm of sea current turbines for electricity generation in Portugal. An approach to the tides, which are they, how they are formed, its prediction, is held. It is also conducted a study about the energy of sea currents and it is presented some technology about ocean currents too. A model of tidal height and velocity of the currents it is also developed. The energy produced by a hypothetical park, built in Sines (Portugal), is calculated and afterwards, an economical assessment is performed for two possible scenarios and a sensitivity analysis of NVP (Net Present Value) and LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy) is figured. The conclusions about the feasibility of the projects are also presented. Despite being desired due to its predictability, this energy source is not yet economically viable as it is in an initial state of development. To push investment in this technology a feed-in tariff of, at least €200/MWh, should be considered.

Technical and economic assessment of energy from Tidal Currents

The present work aims to study the feasibility of deploying a farm of sea current turbines for electricity generation in Portugal. An approach to the tides, which are they, how they are formed, its prediction, is held. It is also conducted a study about the energy of sea currents and it is presented some technology about ocean currents too. A model of tidal height and velocity of the currents it is also developed. The energy produced by a hypothetical park, built in Sines (Portugal), is calculated and afterwards, an economical assessment is performed for two possible scenarios and a sensitivity analysis of NVP (Net Present Value) and LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy) is figured. The conclusions about the feasibility of the projects are also presented. Despite being desired due to its predictability, this energy source is not yet economically viable as it is in an initial state of development. To push investment in this technology a feed-in tariff of, at least €200/MWh, should be considered.

Services innovation and economic performance: An analysis at the firm

In this paper we estimate a model linking innovation effort and economic performance, along the lines of the Mairesse and Mohnen (2003) model. We examine this relationship in the context of services sectors instead of Research and Development intensive manufacturing sectors. Much effort has already been made to explore the innovation-performance relationship for manufacturing sectors but it is still much understudied for services, particularly for Portugal. In this paper we aim to take a step in fulfilling this gap. We use new firm level data for ten services sectors from the Second Community Innovation Survey of Portugal, to estimate the model.

Economic analysis of surgical treatment of hip fracture in older adults

OBJECTIVE To analyze the incremental cost-utility ratio for the surgical treatment of hip fracture in older patients.METHODS This was a retrospective cohort study of a systematic sample of patients who underwent surgery for hip fracture at a central hospital of a macro-region in the state of Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2011. A decision tree creation was analyzed considering the direct medical costs. The study followed the healthcare provider’s perspective and had a one-year time horizon. Effectiveness was measured by the time elapsed between trauma and surgery after dividing the patients into early and late surgery groups. The utility was obtained in a cross-sectional and indirect manner using the EuroQOL 5 Dimensions generic questionnaire transformed into cardinal numbers using the national regulations established by the Center for the Development and Regional Planning of the State of Minas Gerais. The sample included 110 patients, 27 of whom were allocated in the early surgery group and 83 in the late surgery group. The groups were stratified by age, gender, type of fracture, type of surgery, and anesthetic risk.RESULTS The direct medical cost presented a statistically significant increase among patients in the late surgery group (p < 0.005), mainly because of ward costs (p < 0.001). In-hospital mortality was higher in the late surgery group (7.4% versus 16.9%). The decision tree demonstrated the dominance of the early surgery strategy over the late surgery strategy: R$9,854.34 (USD4,387.17) versus R$26,754.56 (USD11,911.03) per quality-adjusted life year. The sensitivity test with extreme values proved the robustness of the results.CONCLUSIONS After controlling for confounding variables, the strategy of early surgery for hip fracture in the older adults was proven to be dominant, because it presented a lower cost and better results than late surgery.

Identifying economic periods and crisis with the multidimensional scaling

This paper applied MDS and Fourier transform to analyze different periods of the business cycle. With such purpose, four important stock market indexes (Dow Jones, Nasdaq, NYSE, S&P500) were studied over time. The analysis under the lens of the Fourier transform showed that the indexes have characteristics similar to those of fractional noise. By the other side, the analysis under the MDS lens identified patterns in the stock markets specific to each economic expansion period. Although the identification of patterns characteristic to each expansion period is interesting to practitioners (even if only in a posteriori fashion), further research should explore the meaning of such regularities and target to find a method to estimate future crisis.

An integrated reusable remote laboratory to complement electronics teaching

The great majority of the courses on science and technology areas where lab work is a fundamental part of the apprenticeship was not until recently available to be taught at distance. This reality is changing with the dissemination of remote laboratories. Supported by resources based on new information and communication technologies, it is now possible to remotely control a wide variety of real laboratories. However, most of them are designed specifically to this purpose, are inflexible and only on its functionality they resemble the real ones. In this paper, an alternative remote lab infrastructure devoted to the study of electronics is presented. Its main characteristics are, from a teacher's perspective, reusability and simplicity of use, and from a students' point of view, an exact replication of the real lab, enabling them to complement or finish at home the work started at class. The remote laboratory is integrated in the Learning Management System in use at the school, and therefore, may be combined with other web experiments and e-learning strategies, while safeguarding security access issues.