IT governance frameworks: A literature review of Brazilian publications

IT (Information Technology) governance has been a widely studied subject. This has generated different definitions and conceptual models to explain it. We conduct a concept-centric literature review based on a literature reference model. We used three literature frameworks to identify key-variables to evaluate and classify Brazilian IT governance publications. These variables were used to classify 90 Brazilian publications from 2004 to 2012. The authors chose Brazil due to its economic growth and companies’ internationalization on the last years. The organizations are fonder to regulatory and compliance marks due to market visibility, driving them towards IT governance practices due to growing dependence on IT. The frameworks used in the country are usually developed abroad - then verification on how they fit with Brazilian organizations is relevant to business management. The study shows that; the most used methodology is the case study; 90% of the papers were written in Portuguese; the IT alignment is cited, but not evaluated; few cases are related to small and medium business; and decision structures are not discussed. The authors conclude presenting a conceptual model summarizing all the models and Brazilian companies’ particularities

Sound and noise in high school gymnasiums

The goal of this research was to characterize the interior acoustics of high schools sports facilities using objective parameters. In situ measurements were done in 68 school gymnasiums in Portugal (Volume from 450 to 16,190 m3 with a median of 4,720 m3) regarding LAeqBN (background noise without gym classes), LAeqPE (ongoing Physical Education classes), RT, and RASTI. The results for LAeqBN were from 30 to 59 dB with a median of 42 dB. For the LAeqPE were found values from 68 to 90 dB with a median of 80 dB. For the RT(500/1k/2k), room values from 2.5 to 8.1 s with a median of 4.8 s, were measured. The room average RASTI values were from 0.26 to 0.54 with a median of 0.34. These sports rooms proved to be highly reverberant, almost without sound absorbing materials, which might be harmful, especially for the PE teachers. The subjective perception of the PE teachers was analyzed through questionnaires where it was verified that they feel most discomfort when it comes for noise conditions. This was supported by the objective results obtained. A multicriteria method to assess the overall acoustic quality of school gymnasiums is presented. Ideal values for those acoustic parameters are presented

Squid – a simple bioinformatics grid

BACKGROUND: BLAST is a widely used genetic research tool for analysis of similarity between nucleotide and protein sequences. This paper presents a software application entitled "Squid" that makes use of grid technology. The current version, as an example, is configured for BLAST applications, but adaptation for other computing intensive repetitive tasks can be easily accomplished in the open source version. This enables the allocation of remote resources to perform distributed computing, making large BLAST queries viable without the need of high-end computers. RESULTS: Most distributed computing / grid solutions have complex installation procedures requiring a computer specialist, or have limitations regarding operating systems. Squid is a multi-platform, open-source program designed to "keep things simple" while offering high-end computing power for large scale applications. Squid also has an efficient fault tolerance and crash recovery system against data loss, being able to re-route jobs upon node failure and recover even if the master machine fails. Our results show that a Squid application, working with N nodes and proper network resources, can process BLAST queries almost N times faster than if working with only one computer. CONCLUSION: Squid offers high-end computing, even for the non-specialist, and is freely available at the project web site. Its open-source and binary Windows distributions contain detailed instructions and a "plug-n-play" instalation containing a pre-configured example

Design of a collaborative virtual environment for training security agents in big events

This paper describes a design of a collaborative virtual environment (CVE) for training security agents in big events. The CVE was modelled with Autodesk 3ds Max, while Unity 3D was used to create the terrain and implement the features that make up a virtual environment. The Brazilian soccer stadium known as Maracana˜ and its surroundings were chosen as the real counterparts of the CVE. The usability of the CVE was evaluated through simulations involving security agents dealing with threats related to suspects carrying radioactive material in big events. In order to perform these simulations, we use the same procedures used during 2014 FIFA World Cup and planned to be used in Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The main objective of this work is to verify the feasibility of designing a CVE and its usability for training security agents involved in big events issues. Results indicated that the proposed CVE has been successful concerning both, design and usability, besides of helping to improve the ability of each member of the security team on performing his duty

Impact of SiO2 nanoparticle morphology on scattering efficiency for random lasers

In this work, we compared the effect of Quartzite nanoparticles (QtzNP - crystalline SiO2) and amorphous silica nanoparticles (ASNP) as scatters in a random laser (RL), correlating the laser efficiency to the morphology and refractive index (RI) of the scatterers. The RL was based on a laser media containing suspensions of QtzNPs or ASNPs in Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) and ethylene glycol (EG) suspension. It was observed a considerable increase in RL efficiency for QtzNPs, as compared to ASNPs, even for concentrations as low as 0.5mg/mL. Such grow in the RL eficiency is attributed to the higher RI of QtzNPs (n=1.54), which in-creases the reflectance of light on the particles surface and the high field scattering intensity in the sharp edges of the flat slab shapes, associated to the particle's morphology. Finite Element Method (FEM) simu-lations were also performed for different particle size and shapes and an output increase is noticed for QtzNPs when compared with the ASNP confirming the experimental results. The comparison between the morphology of QtzNPs and ASNPs on scattering efficiency reported here contribute to optimize the performance of laser systems with natural and synthetic nanomaterials

Endotracheal tube cuff pressure assessment maneuver induces drop of expired tidal volume in the postoperative of coronary artery bypass grafting

Background: Previous investigations reported that the cuff pressure (CP) can decrease secondary to the CP evaluation itself. However is not established in literature if this loss of CP is able to generate alterations on expired tidal volume (ETV). Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the potential consequences of the endotracheal CP assessment maneuver on CP levels and ETV in the early postoperative of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).Methods: A total of 488 patients were analyzed. After the operation, the lungs were ventilated in pressure-assist control mode and the same ventilatory settings were adjusted for all patients. After intensive care unit arrival, the cuff was fully deflated and then progressively inflated by air injection, to promote a minimal volume to occlude the trachea. To assist the cuff inflation and the air leakage identification, the graphical monitoring of the volume-time curve was adopted. After 20 minutes a first cuff pressure evaluation was performed (P1) and a second measurement (P2) was taken after 20 minutes with an analog manometer. ETV was obtained always pre and post P1 measurement.Results: the CP assessment maneuver promoted a significant drop of P2 in relation to P1 when the manometer was attached to the pilot balloon (p < 0.0001). When compared the moments, pre-P1 versus post-P1, a significant drop of the ETV was also observed (p < 0.0001).Conclusion: the CP assessment maneuver promoted a significant decrease in CP values and occurrence of air leakage with reduction of ETV in the early postoperative of CABG.Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Med, Cardiol Discipline, Pirajussara Hosp,Escola Paulista Med, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Med, Cardiol Discipline, São Paulo Hosp,Escola Paulista Med, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Physiotherapy Sch, Dept Human Movement Sci, BR-11060001 Santos, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Med, Pneumol Discipline, São Paulo Hosp,Escola Paulista Med, BR-04039002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Med, Cardiovasc Surg Discipline, Pirajussara Hosp,Escola Paulista Med, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Med, Cardiovasc Surg Discipline, São Paulo Hosp,Escola Paulista Med, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Cardiol Discipline, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Med, Cardiol Discipline, Pirajussara Hosp,Escola Paulista Med, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Med, Cardiol Discipline, São Paulo Hosp,Escola Paulista Med, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Physiotherapy Sch, Dept Human Movement Sci, BR-11060001 Santos, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Med, Pneumol Discipline, São Paulo Hosp,Escola Paulista Med, BR-04039002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Med, Cardiovasc Surg Discipline, Pirajussara Hosp,Escola Paulista Med, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Med, Cardiovasc Surg Discipline, São Paulo Hosp,Escola Paulista Med, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Cardiol Discipline, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Tracking the US business cycle with a singular spectrum analysis

In this paper we resort to singular spectrum analysis to disentangle the US GDP into several underlying components of interest. The business cycle indicator yielded through this method is shown to bear a resemblance with band-pass filtered output, and our results suggest it possesses better revision performance than other commonly applied filters. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved