R&D spending and patents: levers of national development

Purpose – The level of R&D spending of a country tends to increase the national patent rate and, inconsequence, can collaborate with its economic development. However, there are a few empirical studiesinvestigating this phenomenon by comparing countries from all over the globe. The purpose of this paper is todisassemble the sources of R&D spending and identify the role of national patent applications as a mediatorin the relationship between R&D spending and national development.Design/methodology/approach – Panel data on patent applications in 35 countries of all continents(except Africa) over 15 years (from 1999 to 2013) regarding four levels of national R&D intensity (i.e. byenterprises, governments, higher education institutions and private non-profit organisations), gross domesticproduct (GDP) per capita, gross national income (GNI) and human development index (HDI) were collectedfrom the OCDE. Then, two-stage panel regressions were conducted to test the hypotheses.Findings – The empirical findings indicated that R&D spending from firms and higher educationinstitutions (public and private) help to directly improve national patent applications, thus contributing to thenational development (measured by GDP per capita, GNI per capita and HDI).Originality/value – The importance of this study was to show that the investments in R&D made byuniversities and firms are more effective in leading to patent applications, which contributes to promotingnational development. With these findings, governments can focus their efforts on stimulating these types ofinvestments if they want to foster the growth of national patent rates

Efeitos de estimulação multissensorial pelo método Snoezelen em adultos com paralisia cerebral

Mestrado em FisioterapiaAs patologias de Multideficiência, nas quais a PC se integra, são uma realidade presente na sociedade Contemporânea. Atualmente, o tratamento da PC é vocacionado essencialmente para a área da Estimulação e Neuro-Desenvolvimento infantil, sendo o investimento nesta área para a pessoa adulta, ainda insuficiente. Surge, assim, o interesse em dar relevância à Intervenção do Fisioterapeuta nesta área com base na evidência, através da Estimulação Multissensorial pelo Método Snoezelen (EMS) enquanto técnica pouco divulgada entre os Fisioterapeutas. Os objetivos do estudo consistem em avaliar os efeitos da EMS em adultos com PC, nas seguintes funções fisiológicas: Frequência Cardíaca (FC), Tensão Arterial (TA), Frequência Respiratória (FR), Dor e Tónus Muscular. Pretende-se ainda identificar alterações de comportamento percecionadas pelos pais após EMS. Foram cinco jovens adultos participantes no estudo, com diagnóstico de PC e com quadro de multideficiência a frequentarem as sessões de EMS. A FC e TA foram avaliados por Esfigmomanómetro e Estetoscópio, a FR foi avaliada por Observação dos movimentos respiratórios da grelha costal; Dor foi avaliada através Versão Portuguesa da Escala Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability – Revised (FLACC-R/PT); o Tónus Muscular foi avaliado através do dispositivo Myoton e o comportamento por um questionário subjetivo dirigido aos pais. O estudo realizado foi pertinente pois permitiu atingir alguns objetivos preponderantes no campo da Estimulação Multissensorial em indivíduos adultos no âmbito da multideficiência, nomeadamente no que respeita à elaboração de um protocolo minucioso que permita uma intervenção eficaz e uma avaliação de caráter objetivo dos sinais vitais, tónus muscular e dor. Os resultados observados parecem indicar uma tendência das sessões de EMS produzirem efeitos positivos nas pessoas com PC nos diferentes parâmetros em estudo, apesar de se registarem situações onde se observa uma variabilidade dos resultados, o que é congruente com as caraterísticas específicas dos sujeitos participantes e eventualmente porque este estudo representa um trabalho realizado em contexto de prática clínica e não em ambiente controlado de laboratório. Este trabalho demonstra a importância de serem realizados mais estudos na população com PC, no âmbito da avaliação dos parâmetros vitais (FC, TA, FR, dor), tónus muscular e comportamento atendendo à produção científica disponível ser ainda reduzida.Pathologies such as Cerebral Palsy (CP) are a present reality in contemporary society. Currently, the treatment for cerebral palsy consists essentially of pediatric stimulation and neuro-development, however there is insufficient investment in this area for adults. For this reason, interest rose to give importance to a physical therapy intervention in this area based on evidence, by focusing on multi-sensorial stimulation (Snoezelen) which is a technique little known by physiotherapists. This study aims to evaluate the effects of snoezelen multisensory stimulation method in adults with cerebral palsy, in the following physiological functions: heart rate (HR), Blood Pressure (BD), Respiratory Rate (FR), pain and muscle tone. Another objective is to identify behavioral changes perceived by parents following these sessions. The subjects were five young adults diagnosed with cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities who attend Snoezelen multisensory stimulation therapy sessions. The data concerning Cardiac Frequency and Blood Pressure were evaluated using a sphygmomanometer and stethoscope and the Respiratory Rate was assessed by observation of respiratory movements of the rib cage; pain was measured by the Portuguese version of the scale Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability - Revised (FLACC-R / PT), the muscle tone was evaluated with a Myoton device and the behavioural aspets were assed through a questionnaire given to the parents. This study was relevant because some important goals were achieved in the field of multisensory stimulation therapy for adults with multiple disabilities, in particular with regard to the development of a detailed protocol that allows for effective intervention and an objective evaluation of vital signs, muscle one and pain. Our results seem to indicate that Snoezelen Multiple Sensory sessions contribute to a tendency of creating a positive effect in people with CP in the different parameters studied, even though there are records in which variability is observed in the results, which is congruent with the specific characteristics of the participating subjects and eventually because this study is carried out in the context of clinical practice and not in a controlled laboratory environment. This work clearly demonstrates the importance of further studies in people with CP, within the evaluation of vital parameters (HR, BP, FR, pain), muscle tone and behaviour due to the scarcity of scientific literature available

Programmed cell death processes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are altered by GUP1 deletion

During the past years, yeast has been successfully established as a model to study mechanisms of programmed cell death regulation. Saccharomyces cerevisiae commits to cell death showing typical hallmarks of metazoan apoptosis, in response to different stimuli. Gup1p, an O-acyltransferase, is required for several cellular processes that are related to apoptosis development, such as rafts integrity and stability, lipid metabolism including GPI anchor correct remodeling, proper mitochondrial and vacuole function, bud site selection and actin dynamics. We used two known apoptosis inducing conditions, chronological aging and acetic acid, to assess several apoptotic markers in gup1∆ mutant strain. We found that this mutant presents a significantly reduced chronological life span, comparing to Wt and it is also highly sensitive to acetic acid treatment. Although both chronological aging and acetic acid lead to identical effects, the differences between the strains in the levels/types of apoptotic markers are notorious. In addition, ROS levels of gup1∆ mutant strain were extremely high. According to our results, cells lacking GUP1 seem to be incapable of undergoing apoptosis. Instead this mutant appears to be experiencing a necrotic cell death process. Gup1p has been described to have an important function on lipid rafts assembly/integrity as well as on cell lipid profile. On the other hand, in the literature, rafts have been increasingly implicated on apoptotic signaling. The present results reinforce such idea.Este trabalho é financiado por Fundos FEDER através do Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade – COMPETE e por Fundos Nacionais através da FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia no âmbito do projecto PEst-C/BIA/UI4050/201

Internet-of-Things: strategic research agenda evolution

Em 2007 foi constituído o European Research Cluster on the Internet of Things, com o objetivo de abordar o grande potencial de recursos baseados em Internet of Things na Europa e coordenar a convergência das atividades em curso. Esta instituição publica periodicamente Agendas Estratégicas de Investigação com previsões de tópicos de desenvolvimento e investigação tanto a curto, médio e longo prazo. É objetivo deste artigo, estudar essas Agendas e efetuar um levantamento dos tópicos, de forma a perceber a sua evolução ao longo do tempo, isto em termos de áreas que foram já investigadas (ou que a investigação já foi iniciada) bem como aquelas ainda não foram exploradas.The aim of European Research Cluster on the Internet of Things, established in 2007, is to address the large potential for Internet of Things-based capabilities in Europe and to coordinate the convergence of ongoing activities. This organization regularly publishes Strategic Research Agendas with short, medium and long term forecasts of development and research topics. The aim of this paper is to study these agendas and make an identification of topics, in order to understand its evolution over time, that in terms of areas that have already been researched (or the research has already started) as well as those not yet explored.Este trabalho foi financiado pelo projeto QVida+: Quality of Life Continuous Estimation for Effective Clinical Decision Support, Nº2015/003446 P2020 SI I&DT, (NUP, NORTE-01- 0247-FEDER-003446). Foi também suportado pela OptimizerLda, e pelo COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 e FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia UID/CEC/00319/2013Optimizer, Ldainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Padronização e eficácia dos procedimentos de controle externo em obras rodoviárias de contenção de taludes

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso (especialização)—Tribunal de Contas da União, Instituto Serzedello Corrêa, Universidade de Brasília, Centro de Formação de Recursos Humanos em Transportes, 2018. Curso de Especialização em Auditoria de Obras Públicas Rodoviárias.As obras de contenção de taludes têm grande importância nas rodovias implantadas em terrenos ondulados e montanhosos. Do ponto de vista funcional, a garantia de estabilidade dos taludes rodoviários assegura a movimentação dos veículos de forma segura e econômica, do ponto de vista econômico, nesses tipos de terreno figuram entre os serviços mais onerosos das obras rodoviárias. Diante da importância dessas obras, buscou-se estudar se a forma de atuação do controle externo exercido pelo TCU era sistêmica e organizada, permitindo a detecção de erros relevantes de projeto, orçamentação e execução. Como objetivo buscou-se a melhora dos resultados obtidos pelas auditorias do tribunal nessas obras. Concluiu-se que os procedimentos de auditoria realizados pelo TCU são dependentes do conhecimento técnico dos seus auditores e não são sistematizados. Dessa forma, buscou-se identificar os pontos principais de estudos, projetos, orçamentação e execução que contribuem para o sucesso das obras de contenção de taludes. Após o entendimento desses pontos, elaborou-se uma matriz de planejamento contendo quatro questões sobre as obras de contenção de taludes e os procedimentos a serem executados para responde-las. Tomou-se o cuidado para que os procedimentos elaborados pudessem ser utilizados, em grande parte, por auditores não especializados em engenharia civil ou geotecnia.Slope containment works are of great importance on highways set up in rolling and hilly terrain. From a functional point of view, the guarantee of stability of the road slopes assures the movement of the vehicles in a safe and economical way, from the economic point of view, in these types of terrain they are among the most expensive services of the road works. Considering the importance of these works, it was sought to study if the form of external control exercised by the TCU was systemic and organized, allowing the detection of relevant errors of design, budgeting and execution. The objective was to improve the results obtained by the court's audits in these works. It was concluded that the audit procedures performed by the TCU are dependent on the technical knowledge of its auditors and are not systematized. In this way, it was sought to identify the main points of studies, projects, budgeting and execution that contribute to the success of the slope containment works. After the understanding of these points, a planning matrix was elaborated containing four questions on the works of contention of slopes and the procedures to be executed to answer them. Care was taken to ensure that the procedures developed could be used to a large extent by auditors not specialized in civil engineering or geotechnics

Modernização do Ensino de Biologia Tecidual

We report in this paper the paradigm shift in Tissue Biology education arising from the adoption of digital technologies acting as content visualization and interaction tools. This modernization process took place in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, on which has been applied in various disciplines and restructured the education offered to thousands of students, making it more efficient and positioning the student as an active agent in the learning process.Relatamos no presente artigo a mudança de paradigma no ensino de Biologia Tecidual advinda da adoção de tecnologias digitais como ferramentas de visualização e interação com o conteúdo a ser ministrado. Tal processo de modernização ocorreu no âmbito do Departamento de Biologia Celular e do Desenvolvimento da USP, onde já foi utilizado em diversas disciplinas e remodelou o ensino oferecido a milhares de estudantes, tornando-o mais eficiente e posicionando o aluno como um agente ativo no processo de aprendizado

A module for the FTT-SE protocol in ns-3

Demo in Workshop on ns-3 (WNS3 2015). 13 to 14, May, 2015. Castelldefels, Spain.The Flexible Time Triggered Switched Ethernet (FFT-SE) protocol allows the concurrent transmission of both real-time (i.e., synchronous and asynchronous) traffic and best-effort traffic over Ethernet. Communications within an FTT-SE network are done based on the reservation of fixed duration time slots called Elementary Cycles (ECs). The construction of the ECs and the media access control are managed by the master node. The FTTSE protocol uses the master/slave paradigm, in which the slave nodes make petitions for transmission to the master node, and the master node grants them access for transmission according to the scheduling algorithm chosen by the master node (e.g., Rate Monotonic, Earliest Deadline First, etc.)

A Percepção e as Estratégias de Ação do Pesquisador de Café em sua Rede Colaborativa

This study examined the role of perception, its grounds and effects on the logic of the action of researchers when forming partnerships in their underlying Brazilian Consortium network for Coffee Research and Development. Supported by the institutional theory and the network theory, it started out with the assumption that the perception of agents (regarding the structural position/location, the network resources and the dynamics of resource appropriation) is relevant as it would be a determining factor when it came to inserting researchers in their collaborative network. The study resorted to: (a) the content analysis of interviews with researchers; (b) the sociometric analysis of co-authorship; (c) the sociometric analysis of the preferential choice among coffee researchers; and (d) the multivariate analysis of a database of the consortium sub-projects and responses to a survey of those responsible for subprojects. The results point out that the structural position of the agent in its network, though significant, does not determine the perception of these agents and this may have implications for their strategies. Along with this statement, it was possible to identify a group of regularities as well as a set of logical actions on the part of the scientists under study. It would be in this field that the researcher would practice his agency, where he monitors and perceives the resources and limitations of the network in which he and his colleagues are included and form partnerships