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El equipo Cuidem-nos («Cuidémonos»), del ICE de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, trabaja en proyectos orientados a ayudar a los docentes a desarrollar una vivencia positiva y saludable del trabajo en el ámbito de la educación

The Brazilian Economy Position on the Investment Development Path

The hypothesis that inward and outward FDI positions of a country are related to the level and structure of economic development in relation to other economies, was first showed by Dunning (1979. The IDP suggests that countries tend to pass through five main development stages and that these phases can be classified according to the propensity of countries to host and/or invest abroad. This article attempts to measure the position of Brazil in the IDP. The investment by Brazilian firms abroad, in relation to emerging countries, was the first until 90s. However, Brazil's outward FDI increased substantially from 2000. In 2006 the Outward FDI exceeded inward FDI for the first time in the history of the country. Nowadays, the Brazilian economy seems to be in phase 2 and give signs of entry to stage 3, and some signs of evolution to phases 4 and 5. This paper intends to measure the Brazilian economy position on IDP especially between emerging countries context and the importance of a new stage of Brazilian economy: the systematic internationalization of domestic firms. This paper has the following structure: an evolution of FDI in recent years; after that we explain the phases of Investment Developmet Path Theory and measure de Brazilian economy position on IDP. Finally, the final considerations are related

A validity measure for hard and fuzzy clustering derived from Fisher's linear discriminant

Cluster analysis has a growing importance in many research areas, especially those involving problems of pattern recognition. Generally, in real world problems, the number of classes is unknown in advance, being necessary to have criterions to Identify the best choice of clusters. Here we propose an extension to Fisher Linear Discriminant, the EFLD that does not impose limits on the minimum number of samples, can be applied to fuzzy and crisp partitions and can be calculated more efficiently. We also propose a nem fast and efficient validity method based in the EFLD that measures the compactness and separation of partitions produced by any fuzzy or crisp clustering algorithm. The simulations performed indicate that it's a efficient and fast measure even when the overlapping between clusters is high. Finally, we propose an algorithm that applies the new validity measure to the problem of finding the patterns for the fuzzy K-NN classifier. This algorithm is applied to the problem of cursive digits recognition

A static load balancing software for parallel applications

This work describes the implementation and benchmarks applied to a load balancing software designed to improve perfonnance of parallel applications running on networks of heterogeneous and non-dedicated workstations. A user leveI mechanism to gather workload infonnation about each node and the policy to treat this infonnation in order to generate a precise snapshot of the workload of each node of the parallel machine are described throughout this work. An analysis of the main issues concerning workload evaluation is provided, along with a brief explanation on the support o.ffered by current operating systems and ways to overcome their problems. Finally, results and interpretations of comparative tests made between BEC/PVM applications and PVM applications are presented

Exploring core cognitive skills of Computational Thinking

Although still innovative and not largely disseminated, Computational Thinking is being considered as a critical skill for students in the 21st century. It involves many skills, but programming abilities seem to be a core aspect since they foster the development of a new way of thinking that is key to the solution of problems that require a combination of human mental power and computing power capacity. This paper presents an exploratory study developed to select psychological assessment tests that can be used to identify and measure Computational Thinking cognitive processes, associated to the programming component, so that strategies can be developed to promote it. After the literature review, we identified four central cognitive processes implied in programming, therefore important to Computational Thinking, and accordingly selected a set of four tests that were administered to a sample of 12 introductory programming students. Our results suggest that spatial reasoning and general intelligence are crucial dimensions for introductory programming, being also correlated to the students’ academic success in this area. However, arithmetic reasoning and attention to detail tests did not correlate. Based on these results, directions for future research have been defined in order to effectively identify and develop the core cognitive processes of programming, ergo, to help develop Computational Thinking.University of Susse

Estudo in vitro da capacidade de selamento apical de cimento endodôntico modificado com clorhexidina

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre no Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde Egas MonizObjectivos: Análise in vitro da capacidade de selamento apical de um cimento endodôntico quando modificado ou não com solução de digluconato de clorhexidina a concentrações de 2% e 3%. Materiais e métodos: Foram utilizados 40 incisivos inferiores de bovino, distribuídos aleatoriamente em três grupos de estudo (n=10) e dois grupos de controlo (n=5). Para estandardizar a amostra, os dentes foram seccionados a 15 mm de comprimento, a partir do ápex radicular. De seguida, foram preparados biomecanicamente e posteriormente obturados, segundo a técnica de condensação lateral a frio. O cimento foi preparado de acordo com o grupo de teste: Grupo 1- AH Plus®; Grupo 2- AH Plus® + CHX 2%; Grupo 3- AH Plus® + CHX 3%. A capacidade de selamento apical dos diferentes cimentos endodônticos foi testada utilizando o teste de filtração passiva por tinta. De seguida, foi realizado o processo de diafanização. Posteriormente, as amostras foram observadas na lupa estereoscópica. Os resultados foram analisados estatisticamente no programa IBM SPSS Statistics (versão 22.0) com recurso ao teste Kruskal-Wallis. O nível de significância foi de p ≤ 0,05. Resultados: O grupo 2 foi o grupo que apresentou menor infiltração com um valor médio de 0,2mm, o grupo 3 apresentou valores médios de 0,55mm e o grupo 1, o que apresentou maior infiltração de tinta, obteve um valor médio de 0,85mm. Apesar das diferenças nos valores médios de cada grupo, estas não são estatisticamente significativas. Conclusões: Não existem diferenças na capacidade de selamento apical entre o cimento endodôntico AH Plus, AH Plus + CHX 2% e AH Plus + CHX 3%

Identifying cognitive abilities to improve CS1 outcome

Introductory programming courses entail students’ high failure and dropout rates. In an effort to tackle this problem, we carried out a qualitative study aiming to shed some light on the programming phase that is most challenging for students, in order to elicit the specific difficulties they experience while learning to program. In doing so, distinctive cognitive abilities, differentiating subjects in terms of the way they handle programming tasks, were detected. Such aptitudes are represented in three groups of students: those who learn easily, those who never seem to fully grasp what programming requires despite true effort, and those who experience a sudden insight, making them leap from a point were they had difficulties to another where they overcome them. By interviewing teachers and students, abstraction and sequencing elaboration were found to be the two core skills for programming. These results impelled us to consider the mental models’ approach, concluding that there are very specific cognitive functions that are more favorable to learn programming and that are fostered by more adequate schemas of representing reality. Some conclusions involving Problem-based learning as a fit teaching methodology to overcome students’ difficulties are also presented

POLÍTICA MONETÁRIA ÓTIMA EM UM CONTEXTO DE ELEVADA DÍVIDA PÚBLICA: O CASO DO BRASIL

This paper calculates the optimal monetary policy rule for Brazilian economy, assuming that monetary authority adopts a flexible inflation targeting regime in which, besides the inflation target, there is also a target for public debt/GDP ratio. According to the open economy proposed model, risk premium is generated by high public debt. After estimating the parameters, Bellman equation is applied to determine the optimal monetary policy rule. Results suggest that when a target for public debt/GDP is taken into account in the loss function, monetary policy responds less aggressively to inflation shocks, while easing monetary policy becomes optimal response to positive shocks to public debt and risk premium.

Empirical investigation of the effects of industry type and firm size on export barriers

This study aims to explore the importance of export barriers and to achieve this by comparing different industry types and firm sizes. We performed a cross-sectional study of 529 Portuguese export firms drawn from the database held by a Portuguese Industrial Association – Business Confederation. From multivariate analysis of variance and the Tukey’s HSD (Honestly Significant Difference) test, we conclude that the more important export barriers mentioned by the firms proved more external than internal. Our results also show that the service and retail trade sectors were the sectors reporting the greatest peculiarities regarding export barriers. Thus, we identify an “industry effect” as regards export barriers even while our findings do not indicate any “size effect”. Knowing the industry-specific export barriers enables companies not only to better coordinate and perform export processes but also to better anticipate the behaviour of their competitors. Other practical and theoretical implications will also be presented

Oregano essential oil: influence of the chemical composition on the inhibitory activity against Salmonella Enteritidis

Este trabalho avaliou a interferência da origem e do teor de compostos fenólicos de óleo essencial de orégano (OEO) de cinco marcas comerciais provenientes de diferentes regiões do mundo, na atividade inibitória frente à Salmonella Enteritidis (SE). A composição de cada OEO foi determinada por cromatografia gasosa acoplada ao espectrômetro de massas (CG-IE-MS). A atividade inibitória frente SE in vitro foi avaliada pela técnica de difusão em poços, empregando-se soluções alcoólicas a 0,1; 0,2; 0,5; 1,0; ou 2,0%, observando-se a formação de halo de inibição após incubação a 30 °C por 24 horas. Como resultado da análise por CG-IE-MS, foram identificados dezessete componentes voláteis. Todos OEO analisados neste trabalho possuíam carvacrol como componente principal e apresentaram atividade antimicrobiana frente a SE nas cinco concentrações testadas. A ação inibitória das cinco marcas comerciais avaliadas não apresentou diferença estatística significativa (p > 0,05), porém o OEO proveniente da região do Mediterrâneo com p-cimeno e γ-terpineno, além de carvacrol, apresentou maiores halos de inibição de SE que os demais OEO. Concluiu-se que a multiplicação de Salmonella Enteritidis in vitro pode ser inibida por OEO cuja ação antimicrobiana independe da região produtora de orégano. No entanto, óleos essenciais que possuem p-cimeno e γ-terpineno, além de carvacrol, podem ter o seu efeito antimicrobiano potencializado.This study evaluated the influence of the origin and content of phenolic compounds in five Oregano Essential Oil (OEO) brands, from different part of the world, on the inhibitory activity against Salmonella Enteritidis (SE). The composition of each OEO was determined by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS-IE). The inhibitory activity on SE was evaluated by the agar well diffusion test using alcoholic solutions at 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0%, observing the formation of inhibition halos after 24 hours of incubation at 30 °C. Using a GC-MS-IE seventeen volatile components were identified. Carvacrol was the major component of all OEO samples. They were active against SE in all tested concentrations. The differences in the inhibitory activity presented by the five brands were not significant (p > 0.05), but the OEO from the Mediterranean, which contained p-cymene and γ-terpinene besides carvacrol, resulted in larger inhibition halos than the other OEO. It was concluded that the in vitro growth of Salmonella Enteritidis can be inhibited by OEO, regardless the region in which oregano is produced. However, the essential oils that contain carvacrol, p- cymene, and γ-terpinene may present a more effective antimicrobial effect.CNPq - MES