Saint Lucia: survey of living conditions and household budgets 2005/2006. User's manual.

This manual contains information on the dataset compiled from the Survey of Living Conditions and Household Budgets (SLC/HBS) conducted in Saint Lucia by the Kairi Consultants Limited and National Assessment Team between 2005 and 2006. The SLC/HBS is a sample survey which generates data on households and individuals in the country. This manual was developed by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) – Subregional Headquarters in the Caribbean as a supplementary document for the Caribbean Household Surveys Database (CHSD). It is sectioned out into two main parts- section one provides brief description of the survey and section two contains a concise data dictionary of variables generated from the survey as well as additional variables created by ECLAC. In addition, for ease of reference, an index of all variables in the database is included at the end of the document.

Infra-estrutura de esgoto sanitário no município de Belém: cobrança por serviços de esgotamento sanitário nas bacias hidrográficas do Reduto e do Una

A remuneração dos serviços de esgotamento sanitário no Brasil é feita geralmente através de tarifas calculadas proporcionalmente ao consumo de água, e empregada para a realização de serviços de operação e manutenção da coleta e tratamento dos esgotos sanitários, e também como fonte de recursos para provisão dessa importante infra-estrutura. O percentual varia de concessionária e corresponde ao volume de esgoto gerado após o consumo de água. Com esse critério de cobrança as concessionárias de saneamento têm demonstrado de forma indireta, o grau de utilização diferenciada que cada usuário faz do sistema de esgoto, porém também tem levantado questionamentos se o valor cobrado na tarifa de esgoto, com base num percentual do consumo de água, corresponde realmente à contribuição efetiva de esgoto às redes coletoras. Por outro lado, não se tem conhecimento de quais fatores interferem na cobrança por serviços de esgotamento sanitário e de como os diferentes percentuais adotados representam efetivamente a contribuição de esgoto à rede coletora, o que levou ao questionamento sobre sua legitimidade, já que nem toda água consumida retorna ao meio ambiente na forma de esgoto. O estudo realizado nesta dissertação tem como objetivo identificar quais os fatores e de que forma podem interferir na cobrança pela utilização de serviços de esgotamento sanitário. Foram adotados indicadores urbanísticos, técnicos e ambientais relacionados ao sistema de cobrança pelos serviços de esgotamento sanitário nas bacias do Reduto e do Una em Belém. Para analisar tais fatores, foram utilizados dados obtidos sobre a estrutura tarifária da concessionária estadual de saneamento, referentes ao serviço de esgoto, associados a índices urbanísticos adotados pelo planejamento urbano em Belém. Os resultados sustentaram a influência dos fatores identificados neste estudo na forma de cobrança por serviços de esgotamento, relacionados à contribuição de esgoto, a existência de sistema de tratamento e a cobrança pelo uso da água, não sustentando totalmente enquanto relacionados ao uso e ocupação do solo.

Green-Markov models - new optimization strategies: a case study for user allocation in co-channel macro/femto networks

ABSTRACT: The femtocell concept aims to combine fixed-line broadband access with mobile telephony using the deployment of low-cost, low-power third and fourth generation base stations in the subscribers' homes. While the self-configuration of femtocells is a plus, it can limit the quality of service (QoS) for the users and reduce the efficiency of the network, based on outdated allocation parameters such as signal power level. To this end, this paper presents a proposal for optimized allocation of users on a co-channel macro-femto network, that enable self-configuration and public access, aiming to maximize the quality of service of applications and using more efficiently the available energy, seeking the concept of Green networking. Thus, when the user needs to connect to make a voice or a data call, the mobile phone has to decide which network to connect, using the information of number of connections, the QoS parameters (packet loss and throughput) and the signal power level of each network. For this purpose, the system is modeled as a Markov Decision Process, which is formulated to obtain an optimal policy that can be applied on the mobile phone. The policy created is flexible, allowing different analyzes, and adaptive to the specific characteristics defined by the telephone company. The results show that compared to traditional QoS approaches, the policy proposed here can improve energy efficiency by up to 10%.

Fractional fermion charges induced by axial-vector and vector gauge potentials and parity anomaly in planar graphenelike structures

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Online Shopping Websites: An Evaluation of User Experience and Interface Ergonomic Criteria from the Perspective of Older Users

This paper presents a user experience evaluation of two online shopping websites from the perspective of older users (those aged 50 and older). Two online shopping websites were evaluated using methodological procedures established in prior research [1]. The methodology consists of four steps: (1) heuristic interface evaluation using an ergonomic criteria checklist, (2) online identification and experience questionnaire, (3) evaluation of user experience and interface interaction, and (4) satisfaction questionnaire. Results of the study revealed the analyzed websites are not suitable for older users, who find it difficult to interact with these interfaces.

Demochargia: Dilma Rousseff e seu primeiro ano de mandato pelas charges jornalísticas

Pós-graduação em Comunicação - FAAC

Charges: um olhar estereotipado dos professores

O presente trabalho de conclusão de curso, intitulado Charges um olhar estereotipado dos professores, é o resultado de um interesse sobre esse tipo de arte gráfica desde a adolescência atrelada à curiosidade sobre a imagem construída historicamente sobre os professores e sobre sua vida profissional. Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar os estereótipos que são atribuídos aos professores nas charges procurando observar características de gênero, de vestuário e de caráter psicológico. Para atingir esse objetivo, teve-se o intuito de utilizar como material de pesquisa as charges do autor italiano Francesco Tonucci que publicou mais de mil charges na Itália e na Espanha. Esse autor procura abordar em seus desenhos temas que mostram a educação formal e informal em seu país, criticando à forma como a educação é tratada, essas realidades se encaixam com a do Brasil em muitos aspectos, e são estes aspectos que forneceram dados para analise. Para desenvolver essa pesquisa se utilizara a abordagem qualitativa, seguindo a metodologia de pesquisa documental e bibliográfica. Neste trabalho foram observados os estereótipos atribuídos aos professores e discutiu-se que imagem é transmitida desse profissional por esse suporte de leitura tão popular. Para aprofundar a questão dos estereótipos se realizou leituras de artigos que abordaram a questão dos estereótipos no contexto educacional, além de fontes que forneceram explicações sobre o fundamento histórico que deram razões para que esses estereótipos acontecessem. Quanto às charges se realizou um breve apanhado histórico de como esse tipo de arte gráfica surgiu e porque faz tanto sucesso nos meios de comunicação

Open innovation and user s involvement in new product development: a case study in the automotive sector

Innovation is an essential factor for obtaining competitive advantages. The search for external knowledge sources for product creation, which can contribute to the innovation process, has become a constant among companies, and users play an important role in this search. In this study, we aimed to analyze user’s involvement in the product development process based on open innovation concepts. We used the unique case study research method. This study was carried out in an automotive company that has developed a project of a concept car involving user’s through the Web 2.0. With such scope, the research demonstrates that users can contribute not only with generation of ideas but also with the innovation process itself.

An Empirical Study of Fault Localization for End-User Programmers

End users develop more software than any other group of programmers, using software authoring devices such as e-mail filtering editors, by-demonstration macro builders, and spreadsheet environments. Despite this, there has been little research on finding ways to help these programmers with the dependability of their software. We have been addressing this problem in several ways, one of which includes supporting end-user debugging activities through fault localization techniques. This paper presents the results of an empirical study conducted in an end-user programming environment to examine the impact of two separate factors in fault localization techniques that affect technique effectiveness. Our results shed new insights into fault localization techniques for end-user programmers and the factors that affect them, with significant implications for the evaluation of those techniques.

Helping End-User Programmers “Engineer” Dependable Software

Not long ago, most software was written by professional programmers, who could be presumed to have an interest in software engineering methodologies and in tools and techniques for improving software dependability. Today, however, a great deal of software is written not by professionals but by end-users, who create applications such as multimedia simulations, dynamic web pages, and spreadsheets. Applications such as these are often used to guide important decisions or aid in important tasks, and it is important that they be sufficiently dependable, but evidence shows that they frequently are not. For example, studies have shown that a large percentage of the spreadsheets created by end-users contain faults, and stories abound of spreadsheet faults that have led to multi-million dollar losses. Despite such evidence, until recently, relatively little research had been done to help end-users create more dependable software.

Using Source-Code Analysis to Help End-user Programmers Create Dependable Software

Not long ago, most software was written by professional programmers, who could be presumed to have an interest in software engineering methodologies and in tools and techniques for improving software dependability. Today, however, a great deal of software is written not by professionals but by end-users, who create applications such as multimedia simulations, dynamic web pages, and spreadsheets. Applications such as these are often used to guide important decisions or aid in important tasks, and it is important that they be sufficiently dependable, but evidence shows that they frequently are not. For example, studies have shown that a large percentage of the spreadsheets created by end-users contain faults. Despite such evidence, until recently, relatively little research had been done to help end-users create more dependable software. We have been working to address this problem by finding ways to provide at least some of the benefits of formal software engineering techniques to end-user programmers. In this talk, focusing on the spreadsheet application paradigm, I present several of our approaches, focusing on methodologies that utilize source-code-analysis techniques to help end-users build more dependable spreadsheets. Behind the scenes, our methodologies use static analyses such as dataflow analysis and slicing, together with dynamic analyses such as execution monitoring, to support user tasks such as validation and fault localization. I show how, to accommodate the user base of spreadsheet languages, an interface to these methodologies can be provided in a manner that does not require an understanding of the theory behind the analyses, yet supports the interactive, incremental process by which spreadsheets are created. Finally, I present empirical results gathered in the use of our methodologies that highlight several costs and benefits trade-offs, and many opportunities for future work.

Next Generation Catalogs (NGCs) : Meeting User Needs with Metadata and Search Technology

Recommendations • Become a beta partner with vendor • Test load collections before going live • Update cataloging codes to benefit your community • Don’t expect to drastically change cataloging practices

Towards a Model of Information Systems User Competency

The ability to utilize information systems (IS) effectively is becoming a necessity for business professionals. However, individuals differ in their abilities to use IS effectively, with some achieving exceptional performance in IS use and others being unable to do so. Therefore, developing a set of skills and attributes to achieve IS user competency, or the ability to realize the fullest potential and the greatest performance from IS use, is important. Various constructs have been identified in the literature to describe IS users with regard to their intentions to use IS and their frequency of IS usage, but studies to describe the relevant characteristics associated with highly competent IS users, or those who have achieved IS user competency, are lacking. This research develops a model of IS user competency by using the Repertory Grid Technique to identify a broad set of characteristics of highly competent IS users. A qualitative analysis was carried out to identify categories and sub-categories of these characteristics. Then, based on the findings, a subset of the model of IS user competency focusing on the IS-specific factors – domain knowledge of and skills in IS, willingness to try and to explore IS, and perception of IS value – was developed and validated using the survey approach. The survey findings suggest that all three factors are relevant and important to IS user competency, with willingness to try and to explore IS being the most significant factor. This research generates a rich set of factors explaining IS user competency, such as perception of IS value. The results not only highlight characteristics that can be fostered in IS users to improve their performance with IS use, but also present research opportunities for IS training and potential hiring criteria for IS users in organizations.

Analysis and Transformation of Pipe-like Web Mashups for End User Programmers

Mashups are becoming increasingly popular as end users are able to easily access, manipulate, and compose data from several web sources. To support end users, communities are forming around mashup development environments that facilitate sharing code and knowledge. We have observed, however, that end user mashups tend to suffer from several deficiencies, such as inoperable components or references to invalid data sources, and that those deficiencies are often propagated through the rampant reuse in these end user communities. In this work, we identify and specify ten code smells indicative of deficiencies we observed in a sample of 8,051 pipe-like web mashups developed by thousands of end users in the popular Yahoo! Pipes environment. We show through an empirical study that end users generally prefer pipes that lack those smells, and then present eleven specialized refactorings that we designed to target and remove the smells. Our refactorings reduce the complexity of pipes, increase their abstraction, update broken sources of data and dated components, and standardize pipes to fit the community development patterns. Our assessment on the sample of mashups shows that smells are present in 81% of the pipes, and that the proposed refactorings can reduce that number to 16%, illustrating the potential of refactoring to support thousands of end users developing pipe-like mashups.

Riverbed: A Novel User-Steered Image Segmentation Method Based on Optimum Boundary Tracking

This paper presents an optimum user-steered boundary tracking approach for image segmentation, which simulates the behavior of water flowing through a riverbed. The riverbed approach was devised using the image foresting transform with a never-exploited connectivity function. We analyze its properties in the derived image graphs and discuss its theoretical relation with other popular methods such as live wire and graph cuts. Several experiments show that riverbed can significantly reduce the number of user interactions (anchor points), as compared to live wire for objects with complex shapes. This paper also includes a discussion about how to combine different methods in order to take advantage of their complementary strengths.