Year in review 2007: Critical Care – intensive care unit management

With the development of new technologies and drugs, health care is becoming increasisngly complex and expensive. Governments and health care providers around the world devote a large proportion of their budgets to maintaining quality of care. During 2007, Critical Care published several papers that highlight important aspects of critical care management, which can be subdivided into structure, processes and outcomes, including costs. Great emphasis was given to quality of life after intensive care unit stay, especially the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder. Significant attention was also given to staffing level, optimization of intensive care unit capacity, and drug cost-effectiveness, particularly that of recombinant human activated protein C. Managing costs and providing high-quality care simultaneously are emerging challenges that we must understand and meet

The Discovery of Binary White Dwarfs that will Merge within 500 Myr

We present radial velocity observations of four extremely low-mass (0.2 Msol) white dwarfs. All four stars show peak-to-peak radial velocity variations of 540 - 710 km/s with 1.0 - 5.9 hr periods. The optical photometry rules out main-sequence companions. In addition, no milli-second pulsar companions are detected in radio observations. Thus the invisible companions are most likely white dwarfs. Two of the systems are the shortest period binary white dwarfs yet discovered. Due to the loss of angular momentum through gravitational radiation, three of the systems will merge within 500 Myr. The remaining system will merge within a Hubble time. The mass functions for three of the systems imply companions more massive than 0.46 Msol; thus those are carbon/oxygen core white dwarfs. The unknown inclination angles prohibit a definitive conclusion about the future of these systems. However, the chance of a supernova Ia event is only 1% to 5%. These systems are likely to form single R Coronae Borealis stars, providing evidence for a white dwarf + white dwarf merger mechanism for these unusual objects. One of the systems, SDSS J105353.89+520031.0 has a 70% chance of having a low-mass white dwarf companion. This system will probably form a single helium-enriched subdwarf O star. All four white dwarf systems have unusal mass ratios of < 0.2-0.8 that may also lead to the formation of AM CVn systems.Comment: ApJ, accepted versio

Functional Locomotor Consequences of Uneven Forefeet for Trot Symmetry in Individual Riding Horses

ABSTRACT: Left-right symmetrical distal limb conformation can be an important prerequisite for a successful performance, and it is often hypothesized that asymmetric or uneven feet are important enhancing factors for the development of lameness. On a population level, it has been demonstrated that uneven footed horses are retiring earlier from elite level competition, but the biomechanical consequences are not yet known. The objectives of this study were to compare the functional locomotor asymmetries of horses with uneven to those with even feet. Hoof kinetics and distal limb kinematics were collected from horses (n = 34) at trot. Dorsal hoof wall angle was used to classify horses as even or uneven (1.5° difference between forefeet respectively) and individual feet as flat (55°). Functional kinetic parameters were compared between even and uneven forefeet using MANOVA followed by ANOVA. The relative influences of differences in hoof angle between the forefeet and of absolute hoof angle on functional parameters were analysed using multiple regression analysis (P<0.05). In horses with uneven feet, the side with the flatter foot showed a significantly larger maximal horizontal braking and vertical ground reaction force, a larger vertical fetlock displacement and a suppler fetlock spring. The foot with a steeper hoof angle was linearly correlated with an earlier braking-propulsion transition. The conformational differences between both forefeet were more important for loading characteristics than the individual foot conformation of each individual horse. The differences in vertical force and braking force between uneven forefeet could imply either an asymmetrical loading pattern without a pathological component or a subclinical lameness as a result of a pathological development in the steeper foot

Measuring the Changing Cost of Cybercrime

In 2012 we presented the first systematic study of the costs of cybercrime. In this paper, we report what has changed in the seven years since. The period has seen major platform evolution, with the mobile phone replacing the PC and laptop as the consumer terminal of choice, with Android replacing Windows, and with many services moving to the cloud. The use of social networks has become extremely widespread. The executive summary is that about half of all property crime, by volume and by value, is now online. We hypothesised in 2012 that this might be so; it is now established by multiple victimisation studies. Many cybercrime patterns appear to be fairly stable, but there are some interesting changes. Payment fraud, for example, has more than doubled in value but has fallen slightly as a proportion of payment value; the payment system has simply become bigger, and slightly more efficient. Several new cybercrimes are significant enough to mention, including business email compromise and crimes involving cryptocurrencies. The move to the cloud means that system misconfiguration may now be responsible for as many breaches as phishing. Some companies have suffered large losses as a side-effect of denial-of-service worms released by state actors, such as NotPetya; we have to take a view on whether they count as cybercrime. The infrastructure supporting cybercrime, such as botnets, continues to evolve, and specific crimes such as premium-rate phone scams have evolved some interesting variants. The overall picture is the same as in 2012: traditional offences that are now technically ‘computer crimes’ such as tax and welfare fraud cost the typical citizen in the low hundreds of Euros/dollars a year; payment frauds and similar offences, where the modus operandi has been completely changed by computers, cost in the tens; while the new computer crimes cost in the tens of cents. Defending against the platforms used to support the latter two types of crime cost citizens in the tens of dollars. Our conclusions remain broadly the same as in 2012: it would be economically rational to spend less in anticipation of cybercrime (on antivirus, firewalls, etc.) and more on response. We are particularly bad at prosecuting criminals who operate infrastructure that other wrongdoers exploit. Given the growing realisation among policymakers that crime hasn’t been falling over the past decade, merely moving online, we might reasonably hope for better funded and coordinated law-enforcement action

Aspectos atuais dos investimentos estrangeiros e sua regulação

- Divulgação dos SUMÁRIOS das obras recentemente incorporadas ao acervo da Biblioteca Ministro Oscar Saraiva do STJ. Em respeito à Lei de Direitos Autorais, não disponibilizamos a obra na íntegra.- Localização na estante: 341:339.727.22 A838a- Organizado por: Clayton Vinicius Pegoraro de Araujo e Joaquim Carlos Rac

OS IMPACTOS DAS ATIVIDADES TURÍSTICAS, RECREATIVAS E ESPORTIVAS NA BACIA HIDROGRÁFICA DO RIO DAS ANTAS, BACIAS CONTÍGUAS E AFLUENTES DO RIO PEPERI-GUAÇU

A gestão de recursos hídricos está relacionada às políticas públicas, práticas, tecnologias aplicadas na distribuição, uso e conservação da água. O alto custo ambiental resultante da má gestão dos recursos passou a exigir de todos os setores uma rigorosa regulação de atividades e mitigação dos impactos por elas causados. Os impactos negativos aos recursos hídricos geram danos irreversíveis, graves conflitos, sendo a solução nestes casos lenta, extensa e demandando altos investimentos.  Neste cenário, a demanda do turismo, lazer e esporte figuram de forma complementar, entretanto, se as áreas forem observadas pela perspectiva ambiental, estas atividades se tornam representativas, pois são impactadas pelos demais problemas oriundos dos outros setores. Do método, através de levantamento bibliográfico, pesquisa primária, secundária, exploratória, saídas de campo in loco e busca quali e quantitativa, este estudo de caso identificou os usos dos recursos hídricos em 35 municípios que compõem a Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio das Antas, bacias contíguas e afluentes do Rio Peperi-Guaçu / Região Hidrográfica 01, no Oeste de Santa Catarina, observou suas potencialidades turísticas, esportivas, recreativas e culturais, avaliou os impactos de cada atividade. Estas sofrem diretamente com escassez e com a falta de qualidade dos recursos hídricos. Ainda que neste estudo de caso os resultados representem baixos impactos aos recursos hídricos por conta do baixo grau de desenvolvimento turístico da região, as atividades devem observar e mensurar seus impactos atuais, a fim mitigar os impactos ambientais, reduzir conflitos dos usos múltiplos das águas, elaborar o planejamento e ações efetivas de desenvolvimento sustentável.

CENTRALITY AND DENSITY IN INTERFIRM NETWORKS: A STUDY OF AN ETHANOL LOCAL PRODUCTIVE ARRANGEMENT DOI:10.5773/rai.v8i1.456

Este artigo analisa a centralidade e a densidade da rede de empresas que compõe o Arranjo Produtivo Local do Álcool de Piracicaba (APLA). O estudo identifica o conjunto de empresas que compõe o arranjo e a possibilidade de formação das redes verticais, horizontais e interpessoais. Embora o estudo das formas de aglomerações seja tradicionalmente tratado no campo da economia, tem crescido essa preocupação nos estudos em administração, sob a perspectiva das redes. Porém, ao estudar um Arranjo Produtivo Local (APL) por meio da análise de redes leva-se em conta que os posicionamentos estrutural e relacional dos atores em uma determinada rede influenciam os processos de troca e as possibilidades de inovação em processos e produtos. A metodologia de pesquisa se caracteriza sob perspectiva cognitivista, descritiva, exploratória e qualitativa, realizada por meio de uma pesquisa de campo baseada numa amostragem não probabilística por conveniência com 7 empresas diretas e 22 indiretas. Foram utilizados matrizes, sociogramas e gráficos para mensuração das propriedades de centralidade e densidade do APLA, descrição e compreensão da rede de empresas que compõe o Arranjo. Como resultado da pesquisa pode-se afirmar a existência de uma rede integrada de relações no contexto do APLA, embora difusa, sendo caracterizada pela maior frequência de relações cooperativas e interpessoais em relação às interações comerciais. Também é possível ponderar que a formalização do APLA e as ações realizadas a partir deste marco institucional contribuíram com fundamental importância para constituição das diferentes redes de relações. O estudo propicia ainda o levantamento das estratégias de posicionamento de diferentes atores no arranjo e contribui para o entendimento da articulação das empresas e instituições em Arranjos Produtivos Locais (APLs).This paper analyzes centrality and density in a network of companies belonging to the Local Ethanol Productive Arrangement of Priacicaba. The study identifies the set of companies that make up the arrangement and the potential for formation of the vertical, horizontal and interpersonal networks. Although the study of industrial clusters has traditionally belonged to the field of the economics, it has recently begun to receive increasing attention by network analysts in the management studies area. We conclude that network position influences exchange possibilities as well as change and innovation processes. Our methodology is descriptive, exploratory and qualitative, accomplished through field research which samples 7 direct and 22 indirectly linked companies nonrandomly. We used matrices, sociograms and graphs to measure centrality and density in the LPA and describe the network.. These techniques uncovered a diffuse but integrated network characterized by personal cooperative relationships which supported commercial agreements. We also concluded that the establishment of a formal local productive arrangement was very important for the development of a variety of network linkages. Our study further identified different strategic postures on the part of different actors in the LPA and it contributes to an understanding of the relationship between firms and institutions in LPAs

BULLYING NO CONTEXTO DA ESCOLA: INQUIRINDO PAIS E PROFESSORES SOBRE AS RAZÕES PROMOTORAS DOS CONFLITOS INTERPESSOAIS

Considerando que os problemas relacionados aos conflitos interpessoais na escola, como desavenças, indisciplina, bullying, violência, entre outros, constituem desafio no campo educacional, efetuamos uma investigação com o objetivo de analisar a compreensão de pais e de professores acerca das razões promotoras do bullying no ambiente escolar; a natureza das razões que podem promover as manifestações desse fenômeno; como estes avaliam as manifestações de bullying na escola e quais as estratégias utilizadas pela escola para resolver conflitos do cotidiano escolar. A base empírica deste artigo é uma investigação de Iniciação Científica (PIBIC/CNPQ), de cunho exploratório e de natureza quanti-qualitativa. A amostra foi composta por professores que atuam na 8ª série/ 9º ano do ensino fundamental e com pais de alunos que frequentam essa série/ano letivo, de um município localizado na região Oeste de Santa Catarina. Como procedimento de coleta de dados, tanto para os professores quanto para os pais, foi utilizado um questionário composto por questões abertas e fechadas. Como procedimento de análise dos dados foi utilizada a análise de conteúdo para questões abertas e a ferramenta google docs para as questões fechadas. A análise efetuada nos permite afirmar que ainda existe um contexto de desinformação em relação ao foco deste trabalho. No que se refere aos pais dos alunos, também faltam informações suficientes para que consigam manejar situações de bullying que ocorrem com seus filhos, bem como, por vezes, demonstram não saber reconhecer quando a criança e/ou o adolescente está envolvido em uma situação de bullying (quer seja ele agressor, vítima ou testemunha). Evidenciamos que a convivência familiar, o preconceito e a falta de diálogo são apontados pelos professores como as principais causas para o desenvolvimento do bullying. Referente aos pais, estes acreditam que fatores como a mídia, a Internet e a cultura podem ser os principais responsáveis pelo desencadeamento de comportamentos violentos. Observamos, ademais, que os pais acreditam que os professores de seus filhos estão preparados para lidar com essas situações no cotidiano escolar e, em contrapartida, estes, por diversas vezes, não se sentem preparados para manejar situações envolvendo conflitos interpessoais, entre elas, principalmente, as situações de bullying. Consideramos necessário elaborar propostas curriculares que subsidiem os futuros profissionais, prioritariamente nos cursos de licenciatura, para que conheçam e debatam cientificamente não somente sobre o bullying, mas sobre todos os tipos de violência que podem ocorrer no ambiente escolar e que, por conseguinte, são relativos às relações interpessoais no ambiente escolar. A escola pode se constituir, portanto, como o cenário responsável a informar e a esclarecer aos pais sobre o bullying, podendo elaborar, inclusive, ações de prevenção ao fenômeno em conjunto com estes, principalmente considerando que entre as escolas participantes da pesquisa, a maioria dos professores pesquisados afirmou não haver projetos de intervenção/prevenção ao bullying.Palavras-chave: Inquirindo pais e professores. Bullying na escola. Adolescentes

Physics of Ultra-Peripheral Nuclear Collisions

Moving highly-charged ions carry strong electromagnetic fields that act as a field of photons. In collisions at large impact parameters, hadronic interactions are not possible, and the ions interact through photon-ion and photon-photon collisions known as {\it ultra-peripheral collisions} (UPC). Hadron colliders like the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), the Tevatron and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produce photonuclear and two-photon interactions at luminosities and energies beyond that accessible elsewhere; the LHC will reach a $\gamma p$ energy ten times that of the Hadron-Electron Ring Accelerator (HERA). Reactions as diverse as the production of anti-hydrogen, photoproduction of the $\rho^0$, transmutation of lead into bismuth and excitation of collective nuclear resonances have already been studied. At the LHC, UPCs can study many types of `new physics.'Comment: 47 pages, to appear in Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Scienc

Does social value guidance influence the decision of payment terms to suppliers? An experiment study

This study investigated whether professionals with different social orientation profiles make different decisions in an environment with relative autonomy. To test this, an experiment with 114 undergraduate students was carried out to identify the social value guidance profile (SVO) and to capture information in a simulation of decision-making simulation regarding extending the payment term to suppliers. The results show that different profiles do not influence decisions, even in environments of relative autonomy.  The results also suggests that organizations can continue to hire people with different social orientation profiles, favoring diversity, without harming organizational goals. To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first study that investigated this phenomenon considering different profiles of social orientation in the decision to choose the payment term to suppliers.This study investigated whether professionals with different social orientation profiles make different decisions in an environment with relative autonomy. To test this, an experiment with 114 undergraduate students was carried out to identify the social value guidance profile (SVO) and to capture information in a simulation of decision-making simulation regarding extending the payment term to suppliers. The results show that different profiles do not influence decisions, even in environments of relative autonomy.  The results also suggests that organizations can continue to hire people with different social orientation profiles, favoring diversity, without harming organizational goals. To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first study that investigated this phenomenon considering different profiles of social orientation in the decision to choose the payment term to suppliers