Gravitational waves : a 100-year tool applied to the dark energy problem

Recent observations from type Ia Supernovae and from cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies have revealed that most of the matter of the Universe interacts in a repulsive manner, composing the so-called dark energy constituent of the Universe. Determining the properties of dark energy is one of the most important tasks of modern cosmology and this is the main motivation for this work. The analysis of cosmic gravitational waves (GW) represents, besides the CMB temperature and polarization anisotropies, an additional approach in the determination of parameters that may constrain the dark energy models and their consistence. In recent work, a generalized Chaplygin gas model was considered in a flat universe and the corresponding spectrum of gravitational waves was obtained. In the present work we have added a massless gas component to that model and the new spectrum has been compared to the previous one. The Chaplygin gas is also used to simulate a L-CDM model by means of a particular combination of parameters so that the Chaplygin gas and the L-CDM models can be easily distinguished in the theoretical scenarios here established. We find that the models are strongly degenerated in the range of frequencies studied. This degeneracy is in part expected since the models must converge to each other when some particular combinations of parameters are considered.

Adaptação para língua portuguesa do questionário Tinnitus Handicap Inventory: validade e reprodutibilidade

O zumbido traz grande repercussões a qualidade de vida dos pacientes, e temos dificuldade em quantificá-los. OBJETIVO: Determinar a reprodutibilidade e validade da tradução para língua portuguesa do Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), um questionário auto-aplicável que avalia a repercussão do zumbido na qualidade de vida dos pacientes. MATERIAL E MÉTODOS: Neste estudo do tipo transversal prospectivo foi traduzido e adaptado culturalmente o questionário THI para a população brasileira de acordo com metodologia internacionalmente aceita e, então, respondido por 180 pacientes com zumbido. A avaliação de reprodutibilidade foi feita através do cálculo do alfa de Cronbach, enquanto que a validade foi testada através da comparação do THI com escala de depressão de Beck, calculando o coeficiente de correlação de Pearson. RESULTADOS: A tradução do THI apresenta boa validade interna, comparável com a demonstrada na versão original. Correlação alta foi observada entre o THI e a escala de Beck. CONCLUSÃO: A versão para a língua portuguesa é um instrumento válido e reprodutível para ser utilizado para quantificar o impacto do zumbido na qualidade de vida dos pacientes brasileiros que nos procuram com esse sintoma.

Análise da correlação entre a escala visual-análoga e o Tinnitus Handicap Inventory na avaliação de pacientes com zumbido

Um dos tópicos mais questionado nos estudos clínicos sobre zumbido é o método de mensuração do mesmo. As Escalas Visual-Análogas (EVAs) e o Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) são freqüentemente utilizados para este fim. OBJETIVO: Verificar a correlação entre os escores da EVA e do THI em pacientes com zumbido neurossensorial através de um estudo prospectivo. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: 43 pacientes com zumbido neurossensorial quantificaram o zumbido pelos dois métodos, sendo os escores comparados através do Coeficiente de Relação de Spearman. RESULTADOS: Foi observada correlação entre os escores da EVA e do THI. CONCLUSÃO: Em pacientes com zumbido neurossensorial existe correlação entre os escores da EVA e do THI.

The GUISurfer tool: towards a language independent approach to reverse engineering GUI code

Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are critical components of today's software. Developers are dedicating a larger portion of code to implementing them. Given their increased importance, correctness of GUIs code is becoming essential. This paper describes the latest results in the development of GUISurfer, a tool to reverse engineer the GUI layer of interactive computing systems. The ultimate goal of the tool is to enable analysis of interactive system from source code.

COORDINSPECTOR: a tool for extracting coordination data from legacy code

More and more current software systems rely on non trivial coordination logic for combining autonomous services typically running on different platforms and often owned by different organizations. Often, however, coordination data is deeply entangled in the code and, therefore, difficult to isolate and analyse separately. COORDINSPECTOR is a software tool which combines slicing and program analysis techniques to isolate all coordination elements from the source code of an existing application. Such a reverse engineering process provides a clear view of the actually invoked services as well as of the orchestration patterns which bind them together. The tool analyses Common Intermediate Language (CIL) code, the native language of Microsoft .Net Framework. Therefore, the scope of application of COORDINSPECTOR is quite large: potentially any piece of code developed in any of the programming languages which compiles to the .Net Framework. The tool generates graphical representations of the coordination layer together and identifies the underlying business process orchestrations, rendering them as Orc specifications

Qualifound – a modular tool developed for quality improvement in foundries

Purpose – Castings defects are usually easy to characterize, but to eradicate them can be a difficult task. In many cases, defects are caused by the combined effect of different factors, whose identification is often difficult. Besides, the real non-quality costs are usually unknown, and even neglected. This paper aims to describe the development of a modular tool for quality improvement in foundries, and its main objective is to present the application potential and the foundry process areas that are covered and taken into account. Design/methodology/approach – The integrated model was conceived as an expert system, designated Qualifound, which performs both qualitative and quantitative analyses. For the qualitative analyses mode, the nomenclature and the description of defects are based on the classification suggested by the International Committee of the Foundry Technical Association. Thus, a database of defects was established, enabling one to associate the defects with the relevant process operations and the identification of their possible causes. The quantitative analysis mode deals with the number of produced and rejected castings and includes the calculation of the non-quality costs. Findings – The validation of Qualifound was carried out in a Portuguese foundry, whose quality system had been certified according to the ISO 9000 standards. Qualifound was used in every management area and it was concluded that the application had the required technological requisites to provide the necessary information for the foundry management to improve process quality. Originality/value – The paper presents a successful application of an informatics tool on quality improvement in foundries.

Survival analysis: a tool in the study of post-harvest diseases in peaches

Survival analysis is applied when the time until the occurrence of an event is of interest. Such data are routinely collected in plant diseases, although applications of the method are uncommon. The objective of this study was to use two studies on post-harvest diseases of peaches, considering two harvests together and the existence of random effect shared by fruits of a same tree, in order to describe the main techniques in survival analysis. The nonparametric Kaplan-Meier method, the log-rank test and the semi-parametric Cox's proportional hazards model were used to estimate the effect of cultivars and the number of days after full bloom on the survival to the brown rot symptom and the instantaneous risk of expressing it in two consecutive harvests. The joint analysis with baseline effect, varying between harvests, and the confirmation of the tree effect as a grouping factor with random effect were appropriate to interpret the phenomenon (disease) evaluated and can be important tools to replace or complement the conventional analysis, respecting the nature of the variable and the phenomenon.

Surface plasmon resonance as a tool in the functional analisys of an immunodominant site in foot-and-mouth disease virus

A fast and direct surface plasmon resonance (SPR) method for the kinetic analysis of the interactions between peptide antigens and immobilised monoclonal antibodies (mAb) has been established. Protocols have been developed to overcome the problems posed by the small size of the analytes (< 1600 Da). The interactions were well described by a simple 1:1 bimolecular interaction and the rate constants were self-consistent and reproducible. The key features for the accuracy of the kinetic constants measured were high buffer flow rates, medium antibody surface densities and high peptide concentrations. The method was applied to an extensive analysis of over 40 peptide analogues towards two distinct anti-FMDV antibodies, providing data in total agreement with previous competition ELISA experiments. Eleven linear 15-residue synthetic peptides, reproducing all possible combinations of the four replacements found in foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) field isolate C-S30, were evaluated. The direct kinetic SPR analysis of the interactions between these peptides and three anti-site A mAbs suggested additivity in all combinations of the four relevant mutations, which was confirmed by parallel ELISA analysis. The four-point mutant peptide (A15S30) reproducing site A from the C-S30 strain was the least antigenic of the set, in disagreement with previously reported studies with the virus isolate. Increasing peptide size from 15 to 21 residues did not significantly improve antigenicity. Overnight incubation of A15S30 with mAb 4C4 in solution showed a marked increase in peptide antigenicity not observed for other peptide analogues, suggesting that conformational rearrangement could lead to a stable peptide-antibody complex. In fact, peptide cyclization clearly improved antigenicity, confirming an antigenic reversion in a multiply substituted peptide. Solution NMR studies of both linear and cyclic versions of the antigenic loop of FMDV C-S30 showed that structural features previously correlated with antigenicity were more pronounced in the cyclic peptide. Twenty-six synthetic peptides, corresponding to all possible combinations of five single-point antigenicity-enhancing replacements in the GH loop of FMDV C-S8c1, were also studied. SPR kinetic screening of these peptides was not possible due to problems mainly related to the high mAb affinities displayed by these synthetic antigens. Solution affinity SPR analysis was employed and affinities displayed were generally comparable to or even higher than those corresponding to the C-S8c1 reference peptide A15. The NMR characterisation of one of these multiple mutants in solution showed that it had a conformational behaviour quite similar to that of the native sequence A15 and the X-ray diffraction crystallographic analysis of the peptide ? mAb 4C4 complex showed paratope ? epitope interactions identical to all FMDV peptide ? mAb complexes studied so far. Key residues for these interactions are those directly involved in epitope ? paratope contacts (141Arg, 143Asp, 146His) as well as residues able to stabilise a particular peptide global folding. A quasi-cyclic conformation is held up by a hydrophobic cavity defined by residues 138, 144 and 147 and by other key intrapeptide hydrogen bonds, delineating an open turn at positions 141, 142 and 143 (corresponding to the Arg-Gly-Asp motif).

Preliminary Validation of the Portuguese Version of the Eating Inventory for Athletes

The field of eating disorders among athletes has recently been Preliminary Validation of the Portuguese Version of the Eating Inventory for Athletes Palmeira, A.L.(1); Veloso, S.(1); Falcão, M.J.(1); and Dosil, J.(2) Table 2. Exploratory Factor Analysis and Cronbach’s Alpha the focus of several publications, reflecting a growing field of interest and research (Dosil, 2008). Some sports demand a strict compliance to restrictive diets at different times of the competitive season, while others like, some types of gymnastics emphasize the thinness of the athletes. Hence there is a need to develop sound measures to evaluate the athletes eating habits and possible eating disorders. The Cuestionario de Hábitos Alimentarios del Deportista (CHAD), is one of these measures. It comprises 5 dimensions: i) Weight Gain Anxiety (e.g. If I eat too much I regret it afterwards; 12 items); ii) Body Image Worries (e.g., I’m always thinking about my body; 6 items,); iii) Irritability (e.g., If the coach speaks about weight matters, I feel anxious; 7 items); iv) Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction with Body Image (e.g., I’m satisfied with my appearance; 5 items); and v) Dieting (e.g., When the season ends, I keep practicing so that I don’t gain weight, 4 items).

Estresse e desordem temporomandibular (DTM) : incidência e relação em docentes de nível

RESUMO: O trabalho docente exige dedicação em sala de aula e fora dela, pois o professor vê-se na missão de educador, formador de opiniões e de futuros profissionais no mercado de trabalho. Uma das patologias que pode ocorrer devido ao estresse gerado pela docência é o desenvolvimento de Desordens Temporomandibulares, que acarretará cefaleias, dores musculares na região cervical e facial e alterações posturais. Tivemos a pretensão de conduzir nossas reflexões sobre o estresse do docente para procurar responder às nossas inquietações. Para isso, formulamos o seguinte questionamento: qual a incidência e a relação entre o estresse e o desenvolvimento de Desordens Temporomandibulares no docente de nível superior? O objetivo geral desta investigação foi descrever e analisar a relação entre o estresse e a incidência de Desordem Temporomandibular (DTM) em docentes de nível superior da cidade de Palmas – Tocantins – Brasil. Para contemplar o objetivo geral, buscamos verificar a presença ou não de estresse e os principais sintomas de estresse nos docentes de Ensino Superior, identificando a fase do estresse em que os professores se encontravam e verificar a presença ou não de DTM e seus graus. Procuramos, ainda, avaliar a relação entre sexo e presença de estresse, estado civil e presença de estresse, o tempo de docência e a presença de estresse e a relação entre a carga horária em sala de aula e a carga horária total de trabalho e a presença de estresse, entre sexo e presença de DTM, estado civil e presença de DTM, o tempo de docência e a presença de DTM e a relação entre a carga horária em sala de aula e carga horária total de trabalho e a presença de DTM. A metodologia utilizada, para a realização deste trabalho, foi de caráter exploratório e descritivo com uma abordagem quantitativa dos dados obtidos. A pesquisa caracterizou-se num estudo de campo, fundamentada em um instrumento denominado “Inventário de Sintomas de Stress Lipp – ISSL” da autora Marilda Lipp (2005), versão para adulto, ao qual acrescentamos dados sociodemográficos (estado civil, tempo de docência, carga horária de sala de aula e de trabalho total). Recorremos, ainda, ao Questionário Índice de Helkimo para identificar a ocorrência de DTMs. A coleta dos dados foi realizada a partir de uma amostra de duzentos e trinta e três (233) docentes de Ensino Superior, com idade entre 23 e 74 anos. Com base na análise realizada, os resultados revelaram que a presença de sintomas de estresse se encontra em 106 (45,49%) docentes, com predomínio da fase de resistência. Verificamos que 127 (54,5%) docentes não apresentam estresse. A sintomatologia predominante são sintomas psicológicos. Vimos que o tempo de docência e a jornada de trabalho não contribuem como um valor preditivo da presença de estresse, bem como o estado civil, e verificamos que o sexo feminino apresentou mais sintomas de estresse. Ao analisarmos a presença ou não de DTM, vimos que os docentes apresentam sintomas de DTM em sua maioria, encontrada em 187 docentes (80,25%), com predomínio do grau de DTM leve. Vimos que o tempo de docência e a jornada de trabalho não contribuem como um valor significativo para a presença de DTM, mas que o sexo feminino apresentou mais sintomas de DTM, bem como os casados. Buscando responder ao problema norteador desta 6 investigação, vimos que, mesmo nos docentes sem presença de estresse, havia sintomas de DTM. Esses dados indicam que a profissão docente pode causar sobrecargas e gerar a DTM. Diante dessa amostra de docentes pesquisados, concluímos que os dados aqui apresentados sugerem uma ampliação do estudo. Considerando a relevância do papel desempenhado pelos docentes das Instituições de Ensino Superior na formação dos acadêmicos e em sua efetiva transformação em futuros profissionais, nossa contribuição para o conhecimento do processo de estresse e os graus de DTM na atividade docente proporcionará oportunidade aos profissionais das diversas áreas do conhecimento e, principalmente, aos docentes para despertarem para a elaboração de programas de combate, controle e prevenção do estresse e do desenvolvimento de DTMs, resultando, dessa forma, na conquista de uma vida mais saudável, tanto na área física quanto na área psicológica. ABSTRACT: Abstract The teacher’s job requires dedication in and out of the classroom for a teacher is in a education mission, he/she is an opinion maker and responsible for future professionals in the market. One of the pathologies that may take place due to the stress caused by this job is the Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMD) that will trigger cephaleas, muscle pain in the cervical and facial area and posture changes. The purpose of this paper is to conduct reflections about teachers’ stress trying to answer the following question: What is the incidence rate and correlation between stress and the occurrence of Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (DTM) in teachers of institutions of higher learning in the city of Palmas – Tocantis – Brazil. To fulfill the general purpose we tried to verify the presence or not of stress and the principal symptoms in teachers in universities and colleges, identifying the levels of stress that they were, and verifying the presence or not of TMD and its levels. We tried to evaluate the correlation between gender and the occurrence of stress, marital status and the presence of stress, career time and the presence of stress, and time working in classroom and the total time of work and the presence of stress. The methodology used to perform this was an exploratory and descriptive study with a quantitative approach of the data gathered. The research was characterized by a field study, fundamented by a tool called “Lipp Stress Symptom Inventory – ISSL” from the author Marilda Lipp (2005), adult version, which we also added social-demographic data (marital status, time teaching, hours working in the classroom, and total time of work). We also used the Helkimo Index Questionnaire to identify the occurrence of TMD’s. The data was collected from a sample of two hundred three (233) teachers of universities and colleges between 23 to 74 years of age. Based on the analysis performed, the results showed the presence of stress among 106 (45.49%) of the teachers, with the predominance of the resistance level. We observed that some 127 teachers (54.5%) did not show stress. The predominant symptomology were psychological ones. We observed that time of experience and the schedule do not influence as a predictive value for the stress presence, neither does the marital status and we also observed that the female gender showed more stress symptoms. When we analyzed the presence or not of TMD, we observed that most of the teachers showed symptoms of TMD, some 187 teachers (80.25%), with the predominance of first level TMD. We observed that the time as teacher and the schedule do not influence with an important value for the TMD presence, however the feminine gender as well as married teachers showed more symptoms of TMD. Trying to answer the most important issue of this study, we saw that even without the occurrence of stress the TMD was present showing that the profession can cause overwork and consequently TMD. With this sample of teachers studied we conclude that the found data suggest a wider research. Considering the role performed by teachers of universities and colleges in the development of students and future professionals, our contribution for the understanding of the stress development and TMD levels in the teaching activity will enable the opportunity for professionals of different areas of knowledge, and 8 principally for teachers, to awaken to the need to develop programs to fight, control, and prevent stress and the development of TMD, therefore resulting in a healthier life, both a physical as well as a psychological one.

Public hearings as a tool to improve participation in regulatory policies: case study of the National Agency of Electric Energy

The participation of citizens in public policies is an opportunity not only to educate them, but also to increase their empowerment. However, the best way for deploying participatory policies, defining their scope and approach, still remains an open and continuous debate. Using as a case study the Brazilian National Agency of Electric Energy (Aneel), with its public hearings about tariff review, this paper aims at analyzing the democratic aspects of these hearings and challenges the hypothesis of many scholars about the social participation bias in this kind of procedure. This study points out a majority participation of experts, contrasting with the political content of discussions. And, this way, it contributes to a critical analysis of the public hearings as a participatory tool, indicating their strengths and their aspects which deserve a special attention.

Environmental life cycle assessment of concrete made with fine recycled concrete aggregates

The majority of worldwide structures use concrete as its main material. This happens because concrete is economically feasible, due to its undemanding production technology and case Of use. However, it is widely recognized that concrete production has a strong environmental impact in the planet. Natural aggregates use is one of the most important problems of concrete production nowadays, since they are obtained from limited, and in some countries scarce, resources. In Portugal, although there are enough stone quarries to cover coarse aggregates needs for several more years, Supplies of fine aggregates are becoming scarcer, especially in the northern part of the country. On the other hand, as concrete structures' life cycle comes to an end, an urgent need emerges to establish technically and economically viable solutions for demolition debris, other than for use as road base and quarry fill. This paper presents a partial life cycle assessment (LCA) of concrete made with fine recycled concrete aggregates performed with EcoConcrete tool. EcoConcrete is a tailor-made, interactive, learning and communications tool promoted by the Joint Project Group (JPG) on the LCA of concrete, to qualify and quantify the overall environment impact of concrete products. It consists of an interactive Excel-spreadsheet in which several environmental inputs (material quantities, distances from origin to production Site, production processes) and outputs (material, energy, emissions to air, water, soil or waste) are collected in a life cycle inventory, and are then processed to determine the environmental impact (assessment) of the analysed concrete, in terms of ozone layer depletion, smog or "greenhouse" effect.

Versão portuguesa do Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults: dados preliminares

Perda auditiva: elevada prevalência da perda auditiva (14,1%), efeitos na comunicação, efeitos em aspectos psicossociais, cognitivos, da fala e linguagem. Avaliação da perda auditiva: baseia-se nos testes audiométricos psicoacústicos, base audiometria tonal, que permite estimar a sensibilidade auditiva (normal vs anormal), permite classificar o tipo e grau de perda auditiva, avaliação qualitativa com a utilização de escalas desenvolvidas para esse efeito, HHIA (Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults), instrumento desenvolvido a partir do HHIE (Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly), para ser usado com pacientes de idade inferior a 65 anos.

Some translation difficulties in the use of false friends in english

This paper will focus on some aspects of translation based on blending distinct linguistic domains such as English Language and Portuguese in using false friends in the English class in tertiary level students, reflecting namely on: 1. the choice of a word suitable to the context in L2 ; 2. the difficulties encountered by choice of that word that could be misleading, by relying in a false L1 reality that is going to adulterate reality in the L2 domain; 3. the difficulty in making such type of distinctions due to the lack of linguistic and lexical knowledge. 4. the need to study the cause of these difficulties by working, not only with their peers, but also with their language teacher to develop strategies to diminish and if possible to eradicate this type of linguistic and, above all, translation problem by making an inventory of those types of mistakes. In relation to the first point it is necessary to know that translation tasks involve much more than literal concepts ( Ladmiral, 1975) : furthermore it is necessary and suitable to realise that lexicon relies in significant contexts (Coseriu 1966), which connects both domains, that, at first sight do not seem to be compatible. In other words, although students have the impression they dominate lexicon due to the fact that they possess at least seven years of foreign language exposure that doesn’t mean they master the particularities engaged in such a delicate task as translation is concerned. There are some chromaticisms in the words (false friends), that need to be researched and analysed later on by both students and language teachers. The reason for such state of affairs lies in their academic formation, of a mainly general stream, which has enabled them only for knowledge of the foreign language, but not for the translation as a tool as it is required only when they reach the tertiary level. Besides, for their translations they rely, most of the times, on glossaries, whose dominant language is portuguese of Brazil, which is, obviously, much different from the portuguese mother tongue reality and even more of English. So it seems necessary to use with caution the working tools (glossaries) that work as surpluses, but could bring translation problems as we will see.

Multiple-choice tests: a tool in assessing knowledge

The purpose of this paper is to analyse if Multiple-Choice Tests may be considered an interesting alternative for assessing knowledge, particularly in the Mathematics area, as opposed to the traditional methods, such as open questions exams. In this sense we illustrate some opinions of the researchers in this area. Often the perception of the people about the construction of this kind of exams is that they are easy to create. But it is not true! Construct well written tests it’s a hard work and needs writing ability from the teachers. Our proposal is analyse the construction difficulties of multiple - choice tests as well some advantages and limitations of this type of tests. We also show the frequent critics and worries, since the beginning of this objective format usage. Finally in this context some examples of Multiple-Choice Items in the Mathematics area are given, and we illustrate as how we can take advantage and improve this kind of tests.