Packaging concept development for an assortment of medical device products

Diplomityön tavoitteena oli kehittää Wipak Oy:n valmistamille sterilointipakkauksille tulevaisuuden pakkauskonsepti. Sterilointipakkaukset luokitellaan lääkelaitedirektiivin mukaan lisätarvikkeiksi luokan 1 lääkelaitteille, ja tämä näkökulma oli vahvasti mukana konseptin kehityksessä. Lähtökohtana pakkauskonseptin suunnittelulle oli tuotteiden arvoketjussa, eli pakata tuotteet siten että pakkausten avulla voidaan tuottaa lisäarvoa arvoketjun toimijoille. Tavoitteena oli parantaa pakkausten viestintää, toimivuutta/tehokkuutta toimitusketjussa sekä vahvistaa brändin imagoa myynti- ja kuljetuspakkauksen avulla. Lääkinnälliset laitteet ja tarvikkeet ovat lainsäädännön ja normien avulla tarkasti säädeltyjä. Näiden normien vaatimukset asettavat perusteet myynti- ja kuljetuspakkausten kehittämiselle. Tämän lisäksi suunnittelussa on huomioitu asiakkaiden toiveet ja kehitystarpeet. Kirjallisuusosuudessa on keskitytty lääkinnällisten laitteiden pakkausyksiköiden toimintoihin sekä niiden kehitysnäkymiin. Pääpaino on ollut pakkausmerkintöjen ja jäljitettävyyden kehittämisellä, koska tietojen automaattisen tunnistuksen hyödyntäminen lääkintälaitteiden pakkausten arvoketjussa on kasvava trendi. Manuaalisesti tehtävät tuotevirtojen kirjaukset ketjun eri toimijoiden osalta lisäävät riskejä jäljitettävyyden kannalta ja aiheuttavat lisätyötä ja – kustannuksia ketjun kaikille osapuolille. Ehdotus uudesta pakkauskonseptista on kehitetty näiden tietojen pohjalta. Ehdotuksessa on huomioitu lainsäädännöstä ja ketjun toimijoilta tulevat tarpeet, sekä alan tulevaisuuden kehitysnäkymät. Ehdotetun pakkauskonseptin avulla saadaan lisättyä myynti- ja kuljetuspakkausten tehokkuutta, parannettua jäljitettävyyttä ja helpotettu arvoketjun alavirran toimijoiden työtä lisäämällä erillinen sisäpakkaus myyntiyksikön sisälle. Työssä on lisäksi selvitetty pakkauskonseptin kustannusvaikutukset tuotteiden hintaan. Lopussa on ehdotettu jatkotoimenpiteet suunnitelman implementoimisesta käytäntöön.

Efecto de las pérdidas y ganancias recientes en el riesgo asumido por los automovilistas

Se analiza el efecto de las pérdidas y ganancias recientes sobre la conducta arriesgada y el riesgo percibido en la ejecución del simulador de conducción TIC/PC. Los modelos teóricos analizados coinciden en predecir aumento de la conducta arriesgada tras la pérdida y no modificación tras la ganancia. Los resultados obtenidos no confirman estas predicciones en cuanto al efecto de las pérdidas recientes. Tras las ganancias los sujetos no se diferencian de los controles. En cuanto al riesgo percibido, sólo la Teoría de Riesgo-Cero predice modificaciones tras la pérdida. Si bien nuestros sujetos experimentales perciben menos riesgo tras la pérdida, ello no se traduce en un aumento de la conducta arriesgada. Parece ser que percepción y conducta se rigen por mecanismos diferentes

Educomunicação: uma estratégia para promover o ambiente em uma área de proteção ambiental costeira

This study aimed to evaluate the potential of two public schools in Educommunication related to Environmental Protection Area Jenipabu (APAJ) located in Rio Grande do Norte / Brazil, based on perceptions of educommunicatives practices on the environment as well as perform an action included in the school APAJ. In the first phase of the research were three separate questionnaires designed to identify the actions, practices and experiences of three sets of audiences: teachers, students and parents from both schools. In the second phase, activities were carried out as educomunicatives class actions involving ride, maps of environmental design and construction of a mural on the school newspaper APAJ. We opted for the participant, making the observation in a previous visit to knowledge of the schools, where they made the first contacts with the administrative team, teachers and students, and then the application of semi-structured questionnaire to teachers, students and parents of the 4th and 5 years of elementary school the morning hours. The results showed the detachment of these actors in the knowledge, participation and involvement with APAJ, caused by the absence of actions and actions involving teaching practices educomunicatives students to interact with the environment, taking as its starting point the living space.

Crime, ordem e violência em São Paulo: a percepção do nível de violência urbana no município de Assis

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Caracterização de motor aeronaútico utilizando misturas de gasolina de aviação e etanol: aspectos fluidodinâmicos, termodinâmicos e ecológicos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Integrating Visual and Verbal Literacies in the Early Childhood Classroom

Young children have the strong desire to use all of the communicative tools their cultures and families offer them. They want to be able to do all of the things that the powerful people they admire can do, including talking, writing, drawing, using the computer, and otherwise creating and sharing ideas, memories, solutions, even jokes and feelings. Today, we live in a time when the communicative tools are changing rapidly, practically exploding before our eyes in terms of the formats and media available to us in complex combinations not seen before. What do these technological changes mean for how we can support children's development toward literacy? An integrated arts curriculum has long been favored by many educators, but today there are more reasons than ever to implement such a philosophy. From communications theory comes a new understanding of how modern technologies demand that children learn to "read" and "write" messages involving complex combinations and integrations of visual and verbal formats. From psychology come insights about intelligence being multiple not unitary, as well as ecological perception theory offering a well-accepted framework for analyzing the affordances and expressive possibilities of different media. From education come fresh approaches to integrated curriculum, including a philosophy and pedagogy from Reggio Emilia, Italy, that combines well with current thinking by North Americans. Altogether, we have many rationales and exciting strategies at hand for launching young children toward an integrated visual and verbal literacy that involves substance, challenge, and discipline, as well as innovation, creativity, and freedom.

Psychological predictors of eco-driving: A longitudinal study

Eco-driving has well-known positive effects on fuel economy and greenhouse-gas emissions. Moreover, eco-driving reduces road-traffic noise, which is a serious threat to the health and well-being of many people. We investigated the psychological predictors of the adoption of eco-driving from the perspective of road-traffic noise abatement. The data came from 890 car drivers who participated in a longitudinal survey over four months. Specifically, we tested the effects of the intention to prevent road-traffic noise, variables derived from the theory of planned behavior (social norm, perceived behavioral control, and attitude), and variables derived from the health action process approach (implementation intention, maintenance self-efficacy, and action control) on the intention to practice eco-driving and on eco-driving behavior. The intention to prevent road-traffic noise was not linked to the intention to practice eco-driving. The strongest predictors of the intention to practice eco-driving were attitude and perceived behavioral control. The strongest predictor of eco-driving behavior was action control. The link between behavioral intention and behavior was weak, indicating that drivers have difficulties putting their intention to practice eco-driving into action. Therefore, intervention efforts should directly address and support the transition from intention to behavior. This could be accomplished by providing reminders, which help to maintain behavioral intention, and by providing behavior feedback, which helps car drivers to monitor their behavior.

The results of a barrier analysis on complementary feeding practices among mothers in the Central River Division of the Gambia

Currently, the barriers to appropriate infant feeding practices are largely unknown in the Central River Division of the Gambia. A questionnaire was developed and implemented by a local Non Governmental Organization (NGO), the Gambia Food and Nutrition Agency, in order to gain more information and ultimately to improve the child mortality rate of the country. There were two participant groups: 88 Doers who are women who had adopted the appropriate complementary feeding practice guidelines as defined by the World Health Organization and 87 Non Doers who are women who had in some way strayed from the appropriate complementary feeding practice guidelines. The questionnaire included aspects of the Health Belief Model which can be used in the development of a future intervention. The Yes/No questions were analyzed using the Chi-square statistical method and the open-ended questions used a descriptive analysis method of evaluation. The constructs for perceived susceptibility, perceived action efficacy, perceived self efficacy, cues for action and perception of divine showed significant differences between the Doers and the Non Doers (p<0.05). The descriptive analysis revealed that both participant groups had a limited understanding of the preventative qualities of the adoption of appropriate complementary feeding practices. The women in both of groups also showed a strong perception of divine will. Women in the Central River Division perceive their husband and in-laws to be the most influential in the decision-making process regarding infant feeding practices. Recommendations for future interventions must acknowledge the importance and influence of the community surrounding the women in their adoption of the appropriate infant feeding practices. It would also be important to educate women about of the specific guidelines of the appropriate complementary feeding practices, specifically the delay in early initiation of complementary feeding. The results of this barrier analysis provide useful information to plan and implement an effective intervention to improve the child mortality rate in the Gambia. ^

Synergistic interaction between leptin and cholecystokinin to reduce short-term food intake in lean mice

Leptin is a circulating protein involved in the long-term regulation of food intake and body weight. Cholecystokinin (CCK) is released postprandially and elicits satiety signals. We investigated the interaction between leptin and CCK-8 in the short-term regulation of food intake induced by 24-hr fasting in lean mice. Leptin, injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) at low doses (4–120 μg/kg), which did not influence feeding behavior for the first 3 hr postinjection, decreased food intake dose dependently by 47–83% during the first hour when coinjected with a subthreshold dose of CCK. Such an interaction was not observed between leptin and bombesin. The food-reducing effect of leptin injected with CCK was not associated with alterations in gastric emptying or locomotor behavior. Leptin–CCK action was blocked by systemic capsaicin at a dose inducing functional ablation of sensory afferent fibers and by devazepide, a CCK-A receptor antagonist but not by the CCK-B receptor antagonist, L-365,260. The decrease in food intake which occurs 5 hr after i.p. injection of leptin alone was also blunted by devazepide. Coinjection of leptin and CCK enhanced the number of Fos-positive cells in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus by 60%, whereas leptin or CCK alone did not modify Fos expression. These results indicate the existence of a functional synergistic interaction between leptin and CCK leading to early suppression of food intake which involves CCK-A receptors and capsaicin-sensitive afferent fibers.

Un modelo ecológico integrado para comprender la violencia contra las mujeres

Referencia del artículo comentado: Heise, Lory L. «Violence against women: An integrated, ecological framework». Violence against Women 1998; 4: 262-290.

Evolução da perceção parental da imagem corporal da criança : análise retrospetiva de dois estudos

Introdução: A obesidade é reconhecida pela OMS como um importante problema de saúde pública, que afeta adultos, crianças e adolescentes e que tem tomado proporções epidémicas em todo o mundo. Os estudos revelam que os pais, mas sobretudo as mães se mostram preocupadas e concordam com a adoção de hábitos alimentares saudáveis, no entanto a perceção que estas têm do estado nutricional dos filhos nem sempre é adequada e frequentemente a imagem corporal é distorcida, percebendo-se contudo que esta distorção tem vindo a diminuir. Foi neste âmbito que emergiu como objetivo geral deste estudo, explorar a evolução da perceção parental da imagem corporal da criança em dois estudos, estudo A (Graça Aparício) e estudo B (Graça Aparício, Madalena Cunha, João Duarte; Anabela Pereira, Jorge Bonito, Carlos Albuquerque), publicados respetivamente, em 2012 e 2013 e relacioná-la com o comportamento alimentar da criança do estudo B. Material e métodos: Este estudo de carácter retrospetivo e transversal, foi realizado com as crianças que participaram no estudo A e no estudo B, num total de 2216 crianças em idade pré-escolar, média idade= 4.51 anos (±0.97Dp), residentes as crianças do estudo A na região de Viseu e Dão e as do estudo B, nas regiões Viseu, Lamego, Vila Real, Évora e Leiria, tendo sido efetuada pelos autores originais, uma avaliação antropométrica e classificação nutricional das crianças com base no referencial NCHS (CDC, 2000). Para a recolha de dados os autores originais, utilizaram um Questionário de Caracterização Sociodemográfica das Crianças e dos Progenitores; o Questionário de Avaliação da Perceção Parental da Imagem Corporal da criança (Collins, 1991) e o Questionário de Caracterização do Comportamento Alimentar Infantil (CEBQ), traduzido e validado para a população portuguesa por Viana & Sinde (2008). Resultados: Comparativamente ao estudo A, no estudo B os pais revelaram-se significativamente mais preocupados com o estado nutricional dos seus filhos (p= 0,000). Ainda no estudo B uma maior percentagem de pais assinala as imagens representativas de pré-obesidade (27,5%) e obesidade (0,6%), comparativamente ao estudo A, onde se verifica o oposto; uma maior sinalização das crianças no grupo da normalidade e baixo-peso (56,3% e 20,4% respetivamente). Apurou-se uma diferença de médias significativa da perceção parental da imagem corporal da criança entre o estudo A e o estudo B, evidenciando a perceção dos pais, a uma maior aproximação com os valores mais elevados de IMC dos filhos, ou seja, os pais têm uma perceção menos distorcida da imagem corporal dos filhos, quando estes apresentam valores de IMC mais elevados. Relativamente ao comportamento alimentar, apesar dos comportamentos de “atração pela comida” se associarem a uma perceção parental de imagem corporal maior, e de alguns dos comportamentos de “evitamento da comida” se associarem a uma perceção parental de imagem corporal menor, a relação entre o comportamento alimentar e a perceção parental da imagem corporal criança não se revelou significativa. Conclusões: Os resultados indicam uma maior acurácia da perceção da imagem corporal dos pais ao real estado nutricional dos filhos, podendo este facto ser o primeiro passo para o seu reconhecimento do excesso de peso dos seus filhos e facilitar a adequação a um estilo de vida mais saudável entre as crianças em idade pré-escolar, e maior sensibilização da família para o controlo do excesso de peso na infância. Palavras-chave: Perceção parental, imagem corporal, Obesidade infantil.

Evaluation of the Intelligent Cruise Control System. Volume I: study results.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Driving performance after an extended period of travel in an automated highway system.

Federal Highway Administration, Office of Safety and Traffic Operations, Washington, D.C.

Human factors design of automated highway systems: first generation scenarios. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Office of Safety and Traffic Operations Research and Development, McLean, Va.

Mirror neurons in the tree of life, development and evolution of sensorimotor matching responses

Mirror neurons in the tree of life rappresenta lo sviluppo e l' evoluzione del sistema dei neuroni specchio nei primati umani, non - umani e di alcune specie di uccelli, utilizzando metodi cooptati dalla filosofia della biologia e la biologia teorica, per integrare dati relativi al sistema nervoso e al comportamento delle specie in esame.