Structural dynamics education in the new millennium

Structural Dynamics is the study of the response of structures to dynamic or time varying loads. This topic has emerged to be one of importance to all structural engineers due to three important issues with structural engineering in the new millennium. These are: (1) vibration and problems in slender structures that have emerged due to new material technology and aesthetic requirements, (ii) ageing structures such as bridges whoese health needs to be monitored and appropriate retrofitting carried out to prevent failure and (iii) increased vulnerability of structures to random loads such as seismic, impact and blast loads. Knowledge of structural dynamics is necessary to address these issues and their consequences. During the past two decades, research in structural dynamics has generated considerable amount of new information to address these issues. This new knowledge is not readily made available to practicing engineers and very little or none of it enters the classrooms. There is no universal emphasis on including structural dynamics and their recently generated new knowledge into the civil/structural curriculum. This paper argues for the need to include structural dynamics into the syllabus of all civil engineering courses especially those having a first or second major in structural engineering. This will enable our future structural engineers to design and maintain safe and efficient structures.

A educação permanente no processo de organização em serviços de saúde: as repercussões do curso introdutório para equipes de saúde da família experiência do município de Juiz de Fora

O presente estudo analisa um processo educativo de serviço de saúde Curso Introdutório para as equipes de Saúde da Família CI, apoiado e recomendado pelo Ministério da Saúde, como forma de informar e divulgar a política de Saúde da Família. Parte-se da premissa de que o Curso Introdutório da Saúde da Família é uma estratégia inicial de organização da implantação do trabalho das equipes. É um estudo de caso, de natureza qualitativa, realizada com as equipes de Saúde da Família do município de Juiz de Fora, que foram sensibilizadas pelo CI do Polo de Capacitação, Formação e Educação Permanente de Pessoal para a Saúde da Família da Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora MG. Foram realizadas entrevistas com os formuladores, implementadores e executores das políticas de saúde do nível federal, estadual e municipal; grupo focal e questionários com as equipes de Saúde da Família. Essa pesquisa revelo que foi consensual entre os sujeitos que o CI estimulou, incentivou e sensibilizou as equipes a desenvolverem a estratégia da SF, a partir de algumas diretrizes implantadas, que auxiliaram na operacionalização e organização do processo de trabalho. O CI é o início da educação permanente, porque apresenta características que o qualificam como tal, apesar de não ser percebido como início e sim como fim, porque não houve continuidade do processo no município. São evidenciadas contradições entre o discurso e a prática, de forma e intensidade diferentes, devido às subjetividades do processo de trabalho em cada uma das equipes. As mudanças sofrem interferências diretas de tecnologia material e não material presente nos serviços, encontrando na categoria apoio da gestão a maior fragilidade para o desenvolvimento da proposta. Mas, pode-se inferir que promoveu crescimento individual e coletivo visualizado através das atividades realizadas. No ensino, levou a discussão da SF para o interior dos cursos de graduação nas disciplinas de conteúdos afins. Os conteúdos agregados na prática foram: saúde, família, território. No discurso: trabalho em equipe, planejamento e diagnóstico. A pesquisa que, em Juiz de Fora, pelo menos três formas de desenvolvimento da SF, após a sensibilização do CI: equipe atuando de acordo com o modelo assistencial proposto, equipe em processo de retrocesso ao modelo assistencial tradicional e outra em que o modelo tradicional está fortemente sobreposto ao da SF. O estudo apontou ainda: a necessidade de fortalecimento da área de recursos humanos, devolvendo ao município a autonomia de gestão dos seus projetos; a educação permanente de pessoal de saúde como estratégia para área de recursos humanos; o grupo focal como ferramenta de acompanhamento e avaliação dos processos educativos e a necessidade de se instituir um processo educativo inicial para as equipes de atenção primária, no qual o CI é um produto a ser considerado.

Developing a stakeholder analysis to aid bio-based product innovation

Purpose – The results which that study seeks to report are the first part of a larger research programme funded by the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science & Technology (FRST) aimed at gaining a better understanding of stakeholder perceptions in relation to bio-based products.

Design/methodology/approach – Utilising three chemically modified wood products, data were collected from focus groups and questionnaires and centred primarily on perceptions surrounding the acceptability of building materials that have been bio-modified. Irrespective of the type of chemical modification, family health and durability were the most important factors identified.

Findings – The study finds that product cost rated lower in the 16 factors evaluated, and energy used in production was of little concern. When comparing the three products to one another, two distinct groups with quite differing purchasing philosophies were identified and these perspectives significantly influenced perceptions of product acceptability and willingness to purchase. Utilising a paired comparison technique, an investigation of trade-offs indicated preference for performance over cost and product familiarity. Similarly, low chemical emissions were also preferred over cost considerations. Among the findings, there was scepticism regarding trust in manufacturers to adequately safeguard health and safety and to have a minimum impact on the environment. Low levels of trust were expressed in regard to manufacturers' concern for future generations.

Originality/value – The paper develops an investigative framework which could be applied to the evaluation of products arising from bio-material technology innovation and recommendations for future research directions.

A study of building materials to create an identity of traditional Balinese architecture for urban housing

The use or local architecture characteristics is regulated by the spatial planning and building code of Indonesia. Balinese tmditional architecture has existed, coloured the traditional architecture of Indonesia and can be used as Bali's identity that is different from other regions in Indonesia.On the other hand, the cost of such building is high and most of people in urban areas are unable to afford to build in the traditional architecture style, especially in the residential housing sector .. Some of the major components that determine the price of housing units are the price of land, building materials, labour and technology. In developing countries, the first and second components that affect the unit price of the building are building materials representing about 70% and skilled labour respectively (Ural, 1980). Based on this, a good strategy to adopt in order to minimize the price is to manipulate these two components.Based on a literature review and observation, this study will explain which aspects of building material technology can reduce the building cost and how it can maintain the identity of local architecture.The results of the study indicate that the building material can be created to both reduce cost and adopt traditional architecture style as an identity. The materials have some shapes that can be joined easily to facilitate the skill of the worker and yet still be able to adopt the forms of traditional Balinese architecture.

Vigilância eletrônica no trabalho bancário: do controle consentido ao totalitarismo corporativo

This dissertation addresses the electronic surveillance theme in the banking context. The research that originated it, which was held in an organization called for the fiction name Banco Total, started from the following driving question: How do workers at a bank perceive electronic surveillance at their process of work? The research s main objective was to comprehend how workers perceive electronic surveillance at their process of work. The study adopted an interdisciplinary perspective, having Management as the original field, establishing a dialogue with others disciplines, like Philosophy and Sociology. About its methodology, it s a qualitative research that addressed its object in oral (interviews with live history elements) way. . Ten individuals were interviewed. The analytical process utilized the hermeneutical-dialectics technique.. From the analyses (hermeneutics) of the data, the following themes have emerged: (i) Acquiescence ; (ii) Monitoring; (iii) Time and Motion; (iv) Fear; (v) Interdiction; and (vi) Resistance . From the discussion (dialectic) of the results, this work presents three synthetic propositions that culminate in the following dimensions (i) control; (ii) acquiescence; (iii) corporative totalitarianism. It can be concluded that electronic surveillance is one mechanism of control emerged from the apply of technology at Total Bank; that information technology has been improving the control mechanisms of management theories; and that the imbrications between management and material technology control mechanisms at a context where there is acquiescence by workers contribute for the emergency of corporative totalitarianism components

Atenção ao usuário em um centro de referência HIV/Aids: perspectiva de profissionais e usuários

We study the health care focused on care in an intercessor and dialogical relationship with the User, which involves the construction of therapeutic projects essential to the quality of the treatment of the user in health services, and it is necessary individual and collective actions. It is intended to acknowledge and analyze the perception of social subjects, users and professionals on the treatment given to a user of a Specialized Outpatient Service (Serviço Ambulatorial Especializado SAE) in STD/HIV/AIDS state reference in Natal, RN. The study is structured in a transdisciplinary vision of science and knowledge, theoretical and methodological principles that give meaning to the expression of the institutional features of care and health care reconnecting them to the social context. As a research strategy we seek the expressions of 56 subjects of social research, which agreed to participate in the sample, from a symbolic map of the attention, coupled with the techniques of observation and semi-structured interview. For the analysis of the results, five categories of analysis were established: the meaning of the service, care perception, process of communication and interaction, treatment perception and organization and evaluation of the service. It is argued that the attention and care are developed in a technical health care assistance to the disease, focusing on attention based on treatment, on diagnostic and drug therapy of antiretroviral drugs, reflecting the traditional biomedical paradigm of attention to the disease. This is also the mode of organization of practical actions in daily SAE: the therapy proves to be fragmented in several specialties, vertical and feeds the same model, generating tension and overload for professionals; showing impersonal care focused on structured and informative technology, unrelated to an interactive dialogic. From the speech of the subjects, the SAE is understood as the place of confrontation with the disease, but also enables greater elaboration of the illness by meeting their peers. Living with HIV and AIDS is living with concern, apprehension and fear, but mainly with the stigma, prejudice and exclusion, which require that the disease is kept in secret. There is a movement of forces and power, expressed in the knowledge-power of those who dominate the technical and administrative capabilities, devices that concentrate the maintenance of the medicalization of care, rapid consultations and with little attention, making it difficult to interact with and listen to, combined with structural failures, organizational and inadequate management of the service. We conclude that there are dimensions that are not considered in the internal dynamics of the care service multiple forms, characterized by care conflicting models, marked by individual interventions related to the disease. The subject is not considered together with his speech as technical discourse is imposed and care production based on material technology is observed

Structural FRF acquisition via electric impedance measurement applied to damage location

Continuing development of new materials makes systems lighter and stronger permitting more complex systems to provide more functionality and flexibility that demands a more effective evaluation of their structural health. Smart material technology has become an area of increasing interest in this field. The combination of smart materials and artificial neural networks can be used as an excellent tool for pattern recognition, turning their application adequate for monitoring and fault classification of equipment and structures. In order to identify the fault, the neural network must be trained using a set of solutions to its corresponding forward Variational problem. After the training process, the net can successfully solve the inverse variational problem in the context of monitoring and fault detection because of their pattern recognition and interpolation capabilities. The use of structural frequency response function is a fundamental portion of structural dynamic analysis, and it can be extracted from measured electric impedance through the electromechanical interaction of a piezoceramic and a structure. In this paper we use the FRF obtained by a mathematical model (FEM) in order to generate the training data for the neural networks, and the identification of damage can be done by measuring electric impedance, since suitable data normalization correlates FRF and electrical impedance.

Optimal design of smart structures using bonded plezoelectrics for vibration control

Smart material technology has become an area of increasing interest for the development of lighter and stronger structures which are able to incorporate actuator and sensor capabilities for collocated control. In the design of actively controlled structures, the determination of the actuator locations and the controller gains, is a very important issue. For that purpose, smart material modelling, modal analysis methods, control and optimization techniques are the most important ingredients to be taken into account. The optimization problem to be solved in this context presents two interdependent aspects. The first one is related to the discrete optimal actuator location selection problem which is solved in this paper using genetic algorithms. The second is represented by a continuous variable optimization problem, through which the control gains are determined using classical techniques. A cantilever Euler-Bernoulli beam is used to illustrate the presented methodology.

Optimal placement of piezoelectric sensor/actuators for smart structures vibration control

Smart material technology has become an area of increasing interest for the development of lighter and stronger structures that are able to incorporate actuator and sensor capabilities for collocated control. In the design of actively controlled structures, the determination of the actuator locations and the controller gains is a very important issue. For that purpose, smart material modeling, modal analysis methods, and control and optimization techniques are the most important ingredients to be taken into account. The optimization problem to be solved in this context presents two interdependent aspects. The first is related to the discrete optimal actuator location selection problem, which is solved in this paper using genetic algorithms. The second is represented by a continuous variable optimization problem, through which the control gains are determined using classical techniques. A cantilever Euler-Bernoulli beam is used to illustrate the presented methodology.

Optimal design of smart structures using bonded piezoelectrics for vibration control

Smart material technology has become an area of increasing interest for the development of lighter and stronger structures which are able to incorporate actuator and sensor capabilities for collocated control. In the design of actively controlled structures, the determination of the actuator locations and the controller gains, is a very important issue. For that purpose, smart material modelling, modal analysis methods, control and optimization techniques are the most important ingredients to be taken into account. The optimization problem to be solved in this context presents two interdependent aspects. The first one is related to the discrete optimal actuator location selection problem, which is solved in this paper using genetic algorithms. The second is represented by a continuous variable optimization problem, through which the control gains are determined using classical techniques. A cantilever Euler-Bernoulli beam is used to illustrate the presented methodology.

Detecção de falhas estruturais usando sensores e atuadores piezelétricos e algoritmos genéticos

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

Análise de inconformidades em obras recentes

Due to the large number of pathologies in the civil constructions justified to highlight the reasons for problems encountered and subsequently the most appropriate way of implementing procedures for certain services performed in civil construction. The intention here is to explain each of the subjects studied, identify and distinguish the conditions presented in the post delivery of civil constructions from construction X, through research and company documents, and highlight steps of the executives of some services civilians highlighted in this work to minimize, or cancel, future maintenance. Studies will be conducted in a more narrow, focused more specifically in the most happening pathologies in the constructions and how to perform each service to prevent future problems with masonry (non-structural cracks and crevices), waterproofing, window frames and cladding. Thus, this study seeks to protect the building, using material technology and equipment, to allow an increase in the service time of the building,

Las empresas regionales : ¿Nuevo actor innovador?

En este trabajo se intenta reflexionar, a partir de un estudio de caso, sobre los desafíos que enfrentan los empresarios regionales para la introducción de una respuesta original aplicada tanto a sus procesos y productos como a la estructura total de la empresa. Pensar en el estudio de las diferentes tecnologías que posee una región en particular requiere, al menos, la consideración y el análisis de distintas dimensiones, siendo una de ellas la economía regional y, en especial, las actividades productivas, su dinámica empresarial y el desarrollo de las instituciones presentes dentro de la región. En este sentido, parece apropiado preguntarnos si, en las actuales condiciones sociales y económicas de la región, los actores organizacionales asumen un papel activo o pasivo frente a la necesidad de incorporación de innovación en las organizaciones empresariales. En función de lo planteado, el punto nodal debe ubicarse en la relación que se establece entre las políticas internas de las empresas regionales, la incorporación de innovación y su impacto en las instituciones locales

Las empresas regionales : ¿Nuevo actor innovador?

En este trabajo se intenta reflexionar, a partir de un estudio de caso, sobre los desafíos que enfrentan los empresarios regionales para la introducción de una respuesta original aplicada tanto a sus procesos y productos como a la estructura total de la empresa. Pensar en el estudio de las diferentes tecnologías que posee una región en particular requiere, al menos, la consideración y el análisis de distintas dimensiones, siendo una de ellas la economía regional y, en especial, las actividades productivas, su dinámica empresarial y el desarrollo de las instituciones presentes dentro de la región. En este sentido, parece apropiado preguntarnos si, en las actuales condiciones sociales y económicas de la región, los actores organizacionales asumen un papel activo o pasivo frente a la necesidad de incorporación de innovación en las organizaciones empresariales. En función de lo planteado, el punto nodal debe ubicarse en la relación que se establece entre las políticas internas de las empresas regionales, la incorporación de innovación y su impacto en las instituciones locales