Assessment of the ergonomic design of diagnostic ultrasound transducers through wrist movements and subjective evaluation

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Inserção do Design em Micro e Pequenas Empresas: o caso de duas indústrias moveleiras no Estado do Rio Grande do Norte /

This work aims to promote design aspects into furniture Small and Medium Enterprises (SME s) at Rio Grande do Norte State. The final outcome will be an increasing on their competitiveness as well as consider design as key strategic aspect for their business. As a consequence, the results are based on two SME companies from the furniture sector located at Natal/RN. The study is based on a literature research followed by a management diagnosis for each company. The diagnosis was base don interviews with the entrepreneurs and their employees as well as meetings, participant observations and document analysis. Based on this analysis, specific aspects were implement in order to boost the production line as well as the product development process (PDP) and the development of a prototype. The results have indicated some limitation of these companies regarding their low technological on their production line, poor management and work skills as well as low perception of design as a competitive tool. Regardless these results, it was observed that design has brought an important contribution for cultural changes within companies as well as for the development of better quality and competitive products

Análise funcional do design das órteses para rizartrose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the utilization of two models of orthotics used in the conservative treatment of rizartrose in patients/consumers that were referred by the medical clinic to the LAI (Laboratory of Integrated Accessibility). It describes this group s perception related to the functional aspects of the two models, evaluates the value of the product attributed by the patient/consumer and describes the importance attributed to each model. The research s objective consists in identifying which model this is preferred from the point of view by the patients that use either the dorsal or ventral models used in the conservative treatment of rizartrose . This work is then based on the exploratory research through the investigation of the bibliography available and in the research field. The research field used the case study methodology to investigate the phenomenon in the real context. The data were collected using a patient questionnaire during two times after the use of the dorsal orthotic and after the use of the ventral orthotic. The questionnaire was used to identify the relationship between the patients/consumers and the two different types of orthotics. A general descriptive analysis was used in order to verify the patient s abilities executing certain activities daily living using the dorsal and ventral orthotics, the product s functional aspects and its value from the patient s/consumer s point of view. The results show that the preference for the dorsal or ventral models is determined by the individual needs of each person. The results also show that other variables, such as the use of the orthotic on the dominant or non-dominant hand, play a role in the preferred model by the patient/consumer and need to be further investigated

Integrating strategic and sustainable design approach for innovation process: a cement case study

Global society and technology have changed the relationships of the market. Quality and cost are not the main aspects of any industrial product. On the other hand, design, innovation and sustainability became significant requirements to company’s competitiveness. In this context, the design approach has shown evolutions, integrating social and environmental aspects beside traditional aspects such as technical and economic. Still, design has been becoming a strategic opportunity for companies, improving their competitiveness and increasing their market share. Thus, this research has analyzed the integration of both the Sustainable Design and Strategic Design Coaching (SDC) method in the making decision activities of companies. A cement company (BQMIL) was assigned as case study, in which the previous results have pointed out the significant hole of those concepts to generate Eco-innovation and Eco-Brand to increase its market share, corroborating the expectative of the design team

Economic design of (X)over-bar and R charts under Weibull shock models

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Product development process: Using real options for assessments and to support the decision-making at decision gates

Enterprises need continuous product development activities to remain competitive in the marketplace. Their product development process (PDP) must manage stakeholders' needs - technical, financial, legal, and environmental aspects, customer requirements, Corporate strategy, etc. -, being a multidisciplinary and strategic issue. An approach to use real option to support the decision-making process at PDP phases in taken. The real option valuation method is often presented as an alternative to the conventional net present value (NPV) approach. It is based on the same principals of financial options: the right to buy or sell financial values (mostly stocks) at a predetermined price, with no obligation to do so. In PDP, a multi-period approach that takes into account the flexibility of, for instance, being able to postpone prototyping and design decisions, waiting for more information about technologies, customer acceptance, funding, etc. In the present article, the state of the art of real options theory is prospected and a model to use the real options in PDP is proposed, so that financial aspects can be properly considered at each project phase of the product development. Conclusion is that such model can provide more robustness to the decisions processes within PDP.

Use of a semantically grained database system for distribution and control within design environments

This paper presents a technique to share the data stored in an object-oriented database aimed at designing environments. This technique shares data between two related databases, called the Original and Product databases, and is composed of three processes: data separation, evolution and integration. Whenever a block of data needs to be shared, it is spread into both databases, resulting in a block on the original database, and another into the Product database, with special links between them controlled by the Object Manager. These blocks do not need to be maintained identical during the evolution phase of the sharing process. Six types of links were defined, and by choosing one, the designer control the evolution and reintegration of the block in both databases. This process uses the composite object concept as the unit of control. The presented concepts can be applied to any data model with support to composite objects.

Geometric modeling from the medical images in the CAD system to support prosthesis design

This paper presents an individual designing prosthesis for surgical use and proposes a methodology for such design through mathematical extrapolation of data from digital images obtained via tomography of individual patient's bones. Individually tailored prosthesis designed to fit particular patient requirements as accurately as possible should result in more successful reconstruction, enable better planning before surgery and consequently fewer complications during surgery. Fast and accurate design and manufacture of personalized prosthesis for surgical use in bone replacement or reconstruction is potentially feasible through the application and integration of several different existing technologies, which are each at different stages of maturity. Initial case study experiments have been undertaken to validate the research concepts by making dimensional comparisons between a bone and a virtual model produced using the proposed methodology and a future research directions are discussed.

Enzyme effects on extruded diets for dogs with soybean meal as a substitute for poultry by-product meal

The effects of exogenous enzymes supplementation on kibble diets for dogs formulated with soybean meal (SBM) as a substitute for poultry by-product meal (PM) was investigated on nutrient digestibility, fermentation products formation, post-prandial urea response and selected faecal bacteria counts. Two kibble diets with similar compositions were used in two trials: PM-based diet (28.9% of PM; soybean hulls as a fibre source) and SBM-based diet (29.9% of SBM). In experiment 1, the SBM diet was divided into three diets: SBM-0, without enzyme addition; SBM-1, covered after extrusion with 7500U protease/kg and 45U cellulase/kg; and SBM-2, covered with 15000U protease/kg and 90U cellulase/kg. In experiment 2, the SBM diet was divided into three diets: SBM-0; SBM-1, covered with 140U protease/kg; 8U cellulase/kg, 800U pectinase/kg, 60U phytase/kg, 40U betaglucanase/kg and 20U xylanase/kg; and SMB-2, covered with 700U protease/kg, 40U cellulase/kg, 4000U pectinase/kg, 300U phytase/kg, 200U betaglucanase/kg and 100U xylanase/kg. Each experiment followed a block design with six dogs per diet. Data were submitted to analysis of variance and means compared by orthogonal and polynomial contrasts (p<0.05). In both experiments, nutrients and energy digestibility did not differ between diets (p>0.05). SBM consumption resulted in increased faecal moisture and production (p<0.05), without effect on faecal score. Higher concentration of propionate, acetate and lactate, and lower ammonia and pH were found in the faeces of dogs fed SBM (p<0.05). Higher post-prandial urea was verified in dogs fed SBM (p<0.05). In experiment 2, the addition of enzymes increased faecal concentration of propionate, acetate and total short-chain fatty acid (p<0.05) and tended to reduce post-prandial urea concentration (p=0.06). Although with similar digestibility, SBM shows a worse utilization of absorbed amino acids than the PM. Soybean oligosaccharides can beneficially change gut fermentation product formation. Enzymes can increase the gut fermentation activity and improve the SBM proteic value. © 2013 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Realidade virtual aplicada à ergonomia por meio do design participativo

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

O Design nos jogos geométricos aplicados ao ensino infantil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Design da notícia: o desenvolvimento da indústria gráfica e a comunicação visual no Jornal Diário

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Design com identidade: por meio de estudos sócio-culturais e dos signos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Avaliação de força de torção manual infantil: o design ergonômico aplicado ao desenvolvimento de tampas seguras para embalagens de domissanitários

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)