Desenvolvimento, pobreza e meio ambiente no seridó potiguar: um estudo centrado nas micro-regiões do seridó oriental e ocidental

This research work intends to carry out a study focused on the dynamic between development, poverty reduction and conservation of natural resources. To consider this relationship to the region chosen was the micro-region of Eastern and Western Seridó in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. In recent years, several studies (Araújo, 2011; BASTOS, 2009) have pointed out that after a period of economic crisis in its tripodproductive, formed by the activities of farming, cotton farming, mining and faced in the eighties, this region of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, has not only shown signs of economic recovery but also improve their social indicators. On the other hand, studies of desertification as the view of the state of RN (produced in cooperation between the Government of RN and research institutions) and the Sustainable Development Plan of Seridó (ADES, 2000), indicate that there is an ongoing French process of degradation of natural resources that is capable of compromising the ability of sustaining such a system. To verify this reality and likely finding this relationship, this work is adopted for this study, the analysis of evolution of secondary data from official bodies such as the IBGE on HDI, per capita income and other social indicators between 2000 and 2009. Here is another time of the survey analysis of qualitative data collected from interviews with institutions of academic intervention in nature, researchers at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) State agencies that address the issue of the Middle Environment in Seridó: Institute for Sustainable Development of the NB (IDEMA) and the Brazilian Institute of Environment and the Amazon (IBAMA) and institutions of direct intervention in the region, as the Agency's Sustainable Development Seridó (adhesive) and the Joint Semi-Arid (ASA). After crossing data from quantitative and qualitative, it was found that the dynamics of the region's economic Seridó Potiguar partially answers the improvement of social indicators of poverty. Contribution by the State in this shared stock transfer income. Regarding the influence of productive restructuring in the region on issues of environment, it is noted that the ceramic tile industry, responsible for the absorption percentage of the population with limited ingress into the urban economy, given the low education, accounts for the increase of susceptibility to the ongoing process of desertification in North Seridó Rio Grande. We conclude finally that the guarantee of increased income, freedom and conservation of natural resources ensures primarily by changing the beliefs and values, especially on the part of the business sector, which use natural resources so predatory, aimed at maintaining their rates of return on investment. And concomitantly, the synchronization between technological change, through the use of new energy sources, and institutional change.

Emprego de redes neurais artificiais supervisionadas e não supervisionadas no estudo de parâmetros reológicos de excipientes farmacêuticos sólidos

In this paper artificial neural network (ANN) based on supervised and unsupervised algorithms were investigated for use in the study of rheological parameters of solid pharmaceutical excipients, in order to develop computational tools for manufacturing solid dosage forms. Among four supervised neural networks investigated, the best learning performance was achieved by a feedfoward multilayer perceptron whose architectures was composed by eight neurons in the input layer, sixteen neurons in the hidden layer and one neuron in the output layer. Learning and predictive performance relative to repose angle was poor while to Carr index and Hausner ratio (CI and HR, respectively) showed very good fitting capacity and learning, therefore HR and CI were considered suitable descriptors for the next stage of development of supervised ANNs. Clustering capacity was evaluated for five unsupervised strategies. Network based on purely unsupervised competitive strategies, classic "Winner-Take-All", "Frequency-Sensitive Competitive Learning" and "Rival-Penalize Competitive Learning" (WTA, FSCL and RPCL, respectively) were able to perform clustering from database, however this classification was very poor, showing severe classification errors by grouping data with conflicting properties into the same cluster or even the same neuron. On the other hand it could not be established what was the criteria adopted by the neural network for those clustering. Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) and Neural Gas (NG) networks showed better clustering capacity. Both have recognized the two major groupings of data corresponding to lactose (LAC) and cellulose (CEL). However, SOM showed some errors in classify data from minority excipients, magnesium stearate (EMG) , talc (TLC) and attapulgite (ATP). NG network in turn performed a very consistent classification of data and solve the misclassification of SOM, being the most appropriate network for classifying data of the study. The use of NG network in pharmaceutical technology was still unpublished. NG therefore has great potential for use in the development of software for use in automated classification systems of pharmaceutical powders and as a new tool for mining and clustering data in drug development

Quantificação de macronutrientes no solo e em folhas de cana-de-açúcar em função de doses de resíduo da mineração de bauxita

The experiment was carried out in green house with the objective of evaluating the effect of the bauxite mining residue in the rates of macronutrients in sugarcane and soil. Containers of 10 L were used. They received the following rates of bauxite residue: 0; 28; 56; 84; 112 and 140 t ha(-1). The used culture was the sugarcane (SP92 4221). The incorporation of the bauxite residue in the soil provided an increase in the levels of the soil macronutrients, and only for sulphur levels above 83 t ha(-1), it was possible to provide reductions of this nutrient. For rates of determined macronutrients in the leaf, levels above 70, 5; 125; 101; 56 t ha (-1) diminished the rates of nitrogen, phosphorum, potassium and sulphur, respectively. However, for calcium and magnesium the use of the residue provided the reduction of leaf rates. The level of the bauxite residue which had the largest production of dry mass was 64 t ha(-1).

Sobre a ação do docente: os sentidos dados ao planejamento e formação continuada por professores de uma escola pública municipal de Natal

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo comprender los sentidos dados a la relación entre el planeamiento y el proceso de formación continuada por profesores de una escuela pública municipal de la ciudad de Natal (RN). La conjetura guía es la percepción de que los profesores parecen no concebir el planeamiento escolar como espacio de formación colectiva y continuada. Así, esta conjetura es motivo de reflexión a medida que el planeamiento puede ser visto como un proceso cargado por tensiones y conflictos estructurales reprimidos en la escuela. Nuestro principio teórico metodológico es una interpretación de múltiples referencias que parte de conceptos en diferentes modelos de análisis en la comprensión de una realidad en que diferenciadas dimensiones están entremezcladas. Adoptamos como metodología de investigación la Entrevista Comprensiva, en que el objeto de la investigación se construye por medio de la elaboración teórica de las hipótesis surgidas en el campo de la investigación. El investigador busca dominar y personaliza los instrumentos y teoría a un proyecto concreto de investigación, cuya imagen más cercana es lo que se denomina de artesanía intelectual . En el proceso de construcción comprendemos la necesidad de entender el registro de un saber social incorporado por los individuos a su historicidad, a sus orientaciones y definiciones de su acción en relación al conjunto de la sociedad. En este sentido, los profesores entrevistados comentan su entendimiento revelando sentidos sobre cómo hacer efectivo un planeamiento que atienda las realidades del cotidiano de los alumnos. Observamos en nuestros análisis que parte del grupo de profesores tiene consciencia de hacer del planeamiento como base del trabajo docente no apenas dirigido al aspecto práctico elaboración y ejecución -, sino relacionado a un proceso de otros aspectos simultáneos como la reflexión acción-reflexión sobre la acción. De este modo, existe la posibilidad de mejorar el planeamiento transformándolo en más dinámico y participativo a través de los proyectos de trabajo como alternativa de enseñanza y de acercar la práctica pedagógica a la realidad de los alumnos, por ese motivo el planeamiento diario es de fundamental relevancia, ya que el espacio escolar es complejo y dinámico. Sin embargo, percibimos que existe incomprensión del planeamiento como espacio de formación continuada en la escuela en consecuencia de prácticas sin reflexión, y por eso, el proceso de planeamiento tiende a ser visto apenas como técnico y no un proceso político que apunta hacia la acción reflexiva. Por estas razones surgen tensiones externas e internas, unidas a las incertidumbres del trabajo docente en el cotidiano escolar, asociada a los sentimientos antagónicos que pueden ser elementos que dificultan y limitan el trabajo profesional de los docentes, llevándolos a la improvisación. Los profesores sugieren la construcción de la propuesta pedagógica dirigida a la formación continuada, coligada a la introducción de una práctica reflexiva que considere a la colectividad, siendo incluidas la autonomía, la flexibilidad y la abertura del planeamiento, y resaltan la actuación mediadora del coordinador pedagógico como de fundamental importancia para fortalecer el trabajo colectivo en la escuela y de enfatizar practicas reflexivas

Banco de dados relacional para cadastro, avaliação e manejo da arborização em vias públicas

A arborização urbana em calçadas é fundamental para manutenção da qualidade de vida, proporcionando conforto aos habitantes das cidades. Contudo, existem problemas causados principalmente pela falta de planejamento na implantação e no manejo da arborização. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi a criação de um banco de dados relacional para auxiliar no cadastro informatizado, na avaliação e no manejo da arborização de vias públicas. Apresenta resultados sobre a valoração de indivíduos cadastrados, cálculo da diversidade entre os bairros, introdução de fotos digitais e relatórios para manejo em interface amigável, podendo servir de instrumento à manutenção da arborização e de vetor de comunicação para educação ambiental.

Avaliação de economias de escala e escopo no desempenho de equipes de serviços aplicando Análise de Envoltória de Dados DEA: um estudo em Empresa de Telecomunicações no Brasil

This Master s Thesis proposes the application of Data Envelopment Analysis DEA to evaluate economies of scale and economies of scope in the performance of service teams involved with installation of data communication circuits, based on the study of a major telecommunication company in Brazil. Data was collected from the company s Operational Performance Division. Initial analysis of a data set, including nineteen installation teams, was performed considering input oriented methods. Subsequently, the need for restrictions on weights is analyzed using the Assurance Region method, checking for the existence of zero-valued weights. The resulting returns to scale are then verified. Further analyses using the Assurance Region Constant (AR-I-C) and Variable (AR-I-V) models verify the existence of variable, rather than constant, returns to scale. Therefore, all of the final comparisons use scores obtained through the AR-I-V model. In sequence, we verify if the system has economies of scope by analyzing the behavior of the scores in terms of individual or multiple outputs. Finally, conventional results, used by the company in study to evaluate team performance, are compared to those generated using the DEA methodology. The results presented here show that DEA is a useful methodology for assessing team performance and that it may contribute to improvements on the quality of the goal setting procedure.

Análise de retorno de escala e tamanho do mercado no desempenho de equipes de vendas aplicando análise de envoltória de dados DEA: um estudo em empresa de Telecomunicações no Brasil

This Master s Thesis proposes the application of Data Envelopment Analysis DEA to evaluate the performance of sales teams, based on a study of their coverage areas. Data was collected from the company contracted to distribute the products in the state of Ceará. Analyses of thirteen sales coverage areas were performed considering first the output-oriented constant return to scale method (CCR-O), then this method with assurance region (AR-O-C) and finally the method of variable returns to scale with assurance region (AR-O-V). The method used in the first approach is shown to be inappropriate for this study, since it inconveniently generates zero-valued weights, allowing that an area under evaluation obtain the maximal score by not producing. Using weight restrictions, through the assurance region methods AR-O-C and AR-O-V, decreasing returns to scale are identified, meaning that the improvement in performance is not proportional to the size of the areas being analyzed. Observing data generated by the analysis, a study is carried out, aiming to design improvement goals for the inefficient areas. Complementing this study, GDP data for each area was compared with scores obtained using AR-O-V analysis. The results presented in this work show that DEA is a useful methodology for assessing sales team performance and that it may contribute to improvements on the quality of the management process.

Modelagem de dados de falhas de equipamentos de sub-superfície em poços de petróleo da Bacia Potiguar

This master´s thesis presents a reliability study conducted among onshore oil fields in the Potiguar Basin (RN/CE) of Petrobras company, Brazil. The main study objective was to build a regression model to predict the risk of failures that impede production wells to function properly using the information of explanatory variables related to wells such as the elevation method, the amount of water produced in the well (BSW), the ratio gas-oil (RGO), the depth of the production bomb, the operational unit of the oil field, among others. The study was based on a retrospective sample of 603 oil columns from all that were functioning between 2000 and 2006. Statistical hypothesis tests under a Weibull regression model fitted to the failure data allowed the selection of some significant predictors in the set considered to explain the first failure time in the wells

Importância do gerenciamento com base em dados estudo de caso : farmácias de manipulação do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte

Last century Six Sigma Strategy has been the focus of study for many scientists, between the discoveries we have the importance of data process for the free of error product manufactory. So, this work focuses on data quality importance in an enterprise. For this, a descriptive-exploratory study of seventeen pharmacies of manipulations from Rio Grande do Norte was undertaken with the objective to be able to create a base structure model to classify enterprises according to their data bases. Therefore, statistical methods such as cluster and discriminant analyses were used applied to a questionnaire built for this specific study. Data collection identified four group showing strong and weak characteristics for each group and that are differentiated from each other

Aplicando análise de envoltória de dados -DEA à avaliação de desempenho acadêmico: um estudo em programas de pós-graduação em engenharia mecânica e produção no Brasil

This Master of Science Thesis deals with applying DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) to the academic performance evaluation of graduate programs in Brazil, exploring it on a Mechanical and Production Engineering Program 2001-2003 data. The data used is that of the national assessment carried by CAPES, the governmental body in charge for graduate program assessment and certification. It is used the CCR output oriented DEA model, the CCR-Output with Assurance Region, and Window Analysis. The main findings are first that the CCR has the concerning problem of zero values of weights of outputs that is not appropriate in a sense that a graduate program has the higher efficiency score zeroing some output (e.g., number of academic papers published). Secondly, the Assurance Region method proved useful. Third, the Window Analysis also gave some light to the consistency of the performance in the time frame analysed. Also, the analysis results in the understanding that the Mechanics and Production Engineering should not be assessed jointly like currently applied by CAPES and rather should be assessed in its own field separately. Finally, the result of the DEA analysis showed some serious inconsistencies with the CAPES method. Graduate programs considered excellent has got low performance score and vice versa. This Thesis provides a strong argument in order to use DEA at least as a complimentary methodology for graduate program performance evaluation in Brazil

Avaliação da eficiência dos investimentos do programa Inova-RN em micro e pequenas empresas Uma integração da análise envoltória de dados e índice Malmquist

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

EIT: Escalonador Inteligente de Transações

In order to guarantee database consistency, a database system should synchronize operations of concurrent transactions. The database component responsible for such synchronization is the scheduler. A scheduler synchronizes operations belonging to different transactions by means of concurrency control protocols. Concurrency control protocols may present different behaviors: in general, a scheduler behavior can be classified as aggressive or conservative. This paper presents the Intelligent Transaction Scheduler (ITS), which has the ability to synchronize the execution of concurrent transactions in an adaptive manner. This scheduler adapts its behavior (aggressive or conservative), according to the characteristics of the computing environment in which it is inserted, using an expert system based on fuzzy logic. The ITS can implement different correctness criteria, such as conventional (syntactic) serializability and semantic serializability. In order to evaluate the performance of the ITS in relation to others schedulers with exclusively aggressive or conservative behavior, it was applied in a dynamic environment, such as a Mobile Database Community (MDBC). An MDBC simulator was developed and many sets of tests were run. The experimentation results, presented herein, prove the efficiency of the ITS in synchronizing transactions in a dynamic environment

Controle vetorial de velocidade de uma máquina de indução sem mancais trifásica com bobinado dividido utilizando estimação neural de fluxo

This work describes the study and the implementation of the vector speed control for a three-phase Bearingless induction machine with divided winding of 4 poles and 1,1 kW using the neural rotor flux estimation. The vector speed control operates together with the radial positioning controllers and with the winding currents controllers of the stator phases. For the radial positioning, the forces controlled by the internal machine magnetic fields are used. For the radial forces optimization , a special rotor winding with independent circuits which allows a low rotational torque influence was used. The neural flux estimation applied to the vector speed controls has the objective of compensating the parameter dependences of the conventional estimators in relation to the parameter machine s variations due to the temperature increases or due to the rotor magnetic saturation. The implemented control system allows a direct comparison between the respective responses of the speed and radial positioning controllers to the machine oriented by the neural rotor flux estimator in relation to the conventional flux estimator. All the system control is executed by a program developed in the ANSI C language. The DSP resources used by the system are: the Analog/Digital channels converters, the PWM outputs and the parallel and RS-232 serial interfaces, which are responsible, respectively, by the DSP programming and the data capture through the supervisory system

Classificação de imagens de ambientes coralinos: uma abordagem empregando uma combinação de classificadores e máquina de vetor de suporte

The use of the maps obtained from remote sensing orbital images submitted to digital processing became fundamental to optimize conservation and monitoring actions of the coral reefs. However, the accuracy reached in the mapping of submerged areas is limited by variation of the water column that degrades the signal received by the orbital sensor and introduces errors in the final result of the classification. The limited capacity of the traditional methods based on conventional statistical techniques to solve the problems related to the inter-classes took the search of alternative strategies in the area of the Computational Intelligence. In this work an ensemble classifiers was built based on the combination of Support Vector Machines and Minimum Distance Classifier with the objective of classifying remotely sensed images of coral reefs ecosystem. The system is composed by three stages, through which the progressive refinement of the classification process happens. The patterns that received an ambiguous classification in a certain stage of the process were revalued in the subsequent stage. The prediction non ambiguous for all the data happened through the reduction or elimination of the false positive. The images were classified into five bottom-types: deep water; under-water corals; inter-tidal corals; algal and sandy bottom. The highest overall accuracy (89%) was obtained from SVM with polynomial kernel. The accuracy of the classified image was compared through the use of error matrix to the results obtained by the application of other classification methods based on a single classifier (neural network and the k-means algorithm). In the final, the comparison of results achieved demonstrated the potential of the ensemble classifiers as a tool of classification of images from submerged areas subject to the noise caused by atmospheric effects and the water column

Análise e classificação de imagens de lesões da pele por atributos de cor, forma e textura utilizando máquina de vetor de suporte

The skin cancer is the most common of all cancers and the increase of its incidence must, in part, caused by the behavior of the people in relation to the exposition to the sun. In Brazil, the non-melanoma skin cancer is the most incident in the majority of the regions. The dermatoscopy and videodermatoscopy are the main types of examinations for the diagnosis of dermatological illnesses of the skin. The field that involves the use of computational tools to help or follow medical diagnosis in dermatological injuries is seen as very recent. Some methods had been proposed for automatic classification of pathology of the skin using images. The present work has the objective to present a new intelligent methodology for analysis and classification of skin cancer images, based on the techniques of digital processing of images for extraction of color characteristics, forms and texture, using Wavelet Packet Transform (WPT) and learning techniques called Support Vector Machine (SVM). The Wavelet Packet Transform is applied for extraction of texture characteristics in the images. The WPT consists of a set of base functions that represents the image in different bands of frequency, each one with distinct resolutions corresponding to each scale. Moreover, the characteristics of color of the injury are also computed that are dependants of a visual context, influenced for the existing colors in its surround, and the attributes of form through the Fourier describers. The Support Vector Machine is used for the classification task, which is based on the minimization principles of the structural risk, coming from the statistical learning theory. The SVM has the objective to construct optimum hyperplanes that represent the separation between classes. The generated hyperplane is determined by a subset of the classes, called support vectors. For the used database in this work, the results had revealed a good performance getting a global rightness of 92,73% for melanoma, and 86% for non-melanoma and benign injuries. The extracted describers and the SVM classifier became a method capable to recognize and to classify the analyzed skin injuries