Comment évaluer la qualité d’une formation pour l’améliorer ?

Dans l’enseignement supérieur, les outils d’évaluation de la qualité, notamment ceux qui donnent la parole aux étudiants, se sont largement répandus ces dernières années. Ces outils, et les processus dans lesquels ils s’inscrivent, visent à évaluer la qualité de divers objets : l’enseignement, les programmes, les apprentissages, etc. Si l’évaluation est pensée dans une perspective formative, visant le développement professionnel de l’objet évalué (formateur ou filière de formation par exemple), alors il est légitime de se demander si les outils évaluatifs utilisés servent effectivement ce développement. Dans cet article, nous nous interrogeons sur la qualité de la formation dans une institution de l’enseignement supérieur et commençons par identifier trois niveaux d’éléments qui sont supposés l’influencer. Nous proposons ensuite une démarche d’analyse d’outils évaluatifs visant à déterminer dans quelle mesure ceux-ci interrogent la perception des étudiants sur ces éléments d’influence. En présentant cette démarche de manière aussi générale que possible, nous visons sa transférabilité à divers contextes de formation supérieure. En illustrant enfin cette approche par une mise en pratique dans le contexte d’une haute école pédagogique suisse, destinée à former des enseignants, nous montrons en quoi elle améliore la compréhension de l’outil évaluatif étudié, en favorise son évolution ou encore soutient le pilotage d’une filière de formation. Nous finissons par identifier certaines limites de cette démarche et en esquissons quelques pistes d’évolution possibles.In higher education, the tools which aim to evaluate quality, especially those that hand over to students, spread these last years. These tools and the process in which they are part of aim to evaluate the quality of various objects as for example teaching, school curricula, learning etc. If evaluation is thought in a formative way aiming the professional development of the evaluated object (teacher or training stream for example) then it’s legitimate to ask oneself if the tools used for evaluation are really favourable for this development. In this article we are questioning the quality of the training in a University of Teacher Education and are beginning with identifying three levels of elements which are supposed to have effect on the quality of training. Then we are showing an analysis process of evaluative tools aiming to determine to what extent they are asking the students’ perceptions about these influent levels. We are showing this process in its most general features in order to let it be transferable to other contexts of higher education. And then we are showing the way this process has operated in our University of Teacher Education in Switzerland in letting show to what extent it contributes to the understanding of the studied evaluating tool, its evolution, or its impact on the management of a training stream. Finally, we are identifying some limits associated to this process and pointing some possible ways of evolution

Effects of product usage scenarios on environmental performance for road transport refrigeration units

A significant issue for the transport refrigeration industry is its high use of non-renewable energy for both motion and refrigeration. With the goal of reducing the environmental footprint, this study is focused on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Truck Refrigeration Units (TRU). Contrary to most studies about TRU, this study considers alternative impact categories, including energy consumption, refrigerant fluids and their associated impacts. The LCA reveals that the operation phase is a significant source of environmental impact, while the usage-scenario also has a high influence on the impact. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the weight of the transported product profile (frozen or fresh), type of transport (distribution or long haul) and the operating mode (continuous run, start/stop) on the environmental footprint of transport refrigeration. Finally, the LCA results highlight the necessity to consider the role of customer behavior on the environmental performance of transport refrigeration units

Implanted prosthetics osseous Conduction (BAHA): reported cases

INTRODUÇÃO: A Prótese Implantável de Condução Óssea (BAHA) consiste em uma excelente opção na reabilitação auditiva de pacientes com perda auditiva condutiva e mista uni ou bilateral, e sensorioneural unilateral. Tem sido uma alternativa vantajosa sobre os aparelhos de condução óssea convencionais e os aparelhos de amplificação sonora individuais (AASI) quando o uso dos mesmos fica impossibilitado pela presença de otite externa crônica de difícil controle clínico. OBJETIVO: Apresentar o primeiro caso de BAHA realizado no Brasil, após a autorização da ANVISA, para a reabilitação da perda auditiva mista com episódios de otite externa crônica. MÉTODO: Paciente do sexo feminino, 50 anos, com perda auditiva de grau moderado à direita e severo à esquerda, zumbido bilateral, decorrente de otosclerose, submetida a quatro cirurgias de estapedotomia e com impossibilidade de uso de AASI devido a otorreia e otalgia bilateral. A avaliação médica e audiológica indicaram o benefício do BAHA. Realizada a cirurgia e implantação do sistema BAHA, a paciente apresentou melhora significativa nos limiares audiométricos, na percepção e discriminação da fala, além de relatar extrema satisfação relacionada ao fator estético. COMENTÁRIOS FINAIS: O processo cirúrgico do BAHA é seguro, simples e rápido, proporcionando excelentes resultados audiológicos e alto grau de satisfação por parte dos pacientes.INTRODUCTION: The implanted prosthetics osseous conduction (BAHA) consists an excellent option in the auditive rehabilitation of the patients with conductive and mixed auditive lost uni or bilateral, and sensoriumneural unilateral. Has been a good alternative over the osseous conduction conventional apparatus and individual sonorous amplification apparatus (ISAA) when the usage of them is impossible because of the chronic external otitis of hard clinic control. OBJECTIVE: To present the BAHA first case done in Brazil, after the ANVISA's authorization, for the rehabilitation's mixed auditive lost with chronic external otitis episodes. METHOD: Female gender patient, 50 years old, with auditive lost in moderate degree at right and severe at left, bilateral buzz, originated of otosclerosis, submitted to 04 cirurgies, stapedotomy and that can not use the ISAA due to an otorrhea and bilateral otalgia. The medical and audiologic evaluation indicated the BAHA benefit. The cirurgy was done and the BAHA system implanted, the patient showed significative improvement in audiometric limens, in perception and speech discrimination, beyond to present extreme satisfaction related to esthetic factor. COMMENTS FINAIS: The BAHA cyrurgic process is safe, simple and quick, offering excellent audiologic results and high degree of satisfaction in patients

Inventário e avaliação quantitativa de geossítios: exemplo de aplicação ao patrimônio geológico do município de Caçapava do Sul (RS, Brasil)

This paper presents an inventory and quantitative assessment of 46 geosites, which compose the geological heritage of the municipality of Caçapava do Sul, important center of geoscience research in the Rio Grande do Sul State. The selected sites comprise large areas, single outcrops and potential highway viewpoints that represent the four main geological contexts of the considered territory. The applied quantitative assessment system considers six sets of criteria: geoscience, ecology, culture, esthetics, economy and potential use. Its application results in educational (Veduc), tourist (Vtur) and protection need (Vprot) indexes in the scale from 1 to 10, for each of the geosites. The study highlighted the sites Pedras das Guaritas, Pedra do Segredo, and Pedra do Leão as having great potential for education and tourism, as well as for outdoor sports. Sites with conflict between geoheritage significance and economic exploration, as the Caieiras and Minas do Camaquã mining districts, resulted in the most expressive protection need indexes. The obtained results allowed the definition and suggestion of priorities for public, private, and third-sector institutions concerning possible geoconservation initiatives. Such initiatives shall integrate education, tourism, infrastructure development, and the establishment of protected areas for this region of singular natural heritage with a huge potential for sustainable development.Este trabalho apresenta um inventário, com valoração quantitativa, de 46 geossítios componentes do patrimônio geológico do Município de Caçapava do Sul, região importante na pesquisa geocientífica no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Os lugares selecionados para avaliação, contemplando grandes áreas, afloramentos simples e potenciais miradores em rodovias, representam os quatro grandes contextos geológicos inseridos no território municipal. O sistema de valoração aplicado considera critérios geocientíficos, ecológicos, culturais, estéticos, econômicos e de uso potencial, resultando em índices (na escala de 1 a 10) de valor educativo (Veduc), turístico (Vtur) e de necessidade de proteção (Vprot) para cada um dos geossítios. Os destaques do estudo são as Pedras das Guaritas, a Pedra do Segredo e a Pedra do Leão, entre diversos outros geossítios com grande potencial para educação, turismo e esportes de aventura na natureza. Lugares de conflito entre sua importância geopatrimonial e sua exploração econômica, como a área das Caieiras e as Minas do Camaquã, resultam nos maiores valores de necessidade de proteção. Os resultados permitiram a definição e sugestão de prioridades de atuação para instituições públicas, privadas e do terceiro setor em suas iniciativas de geoconservação. Tais iniciativas devem integrar projetos educacionais e turísticos, implantação da infraestrutura necessária, e ainda estabelecimento de unidades de conservação da natureza (UC) naquela região de patrimônio natural singular e de grande potencial para o desenvolvimento sustentável

Dispositivo de acoplamento entre embarcações

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulEngenhariaDepositad

The Evolutionary Dynamics of a Rapidly Mutating Virus within and between Hosts: The Case of Hepatitis C Virus

Many pathogens associated with chronic infections evolve so rapidly that strains found late in an infection have little in common with the initial strain. This raises questions at different levels of analysis because rapid within-host evolution affects the course of an infection, but it can also affect the possibility for natural selection to act at the between-host level. We present a nested approach that incorporates within-host evolutionary dynamics of a rapidly mutating virus (hepatitis C virus) targeted by a cellular cross-reactive immune response, into an epidemiological perspective. The viral trait we follow is the replication rate of the strain initiating the infection. We find that, even for rapidly evolving viruses, the replication rate of the initial strain has a strong effect on the fitness of an infection. Moreover, infections caused by slowly replicating viruses have the highest infection fitness (i.e., lead to more secondary infections), but strains with higher replication rates tend to dominate within a host in the long-term. We also study the effect of cross-reactive immunity and viral mutation rate on infection life history traits. For instance, because of the stochastic nature of our approach, we can identify factors affecting the outcome of the infection (acute or chronic infections). Finally, we show that anti-viral treatments modify the value of the optimal initial replication rate and that the timing of the treatment administration can have public health consequences due to within-host evolution. Our results support the idea that natural selection can act on the replication rate of rapidly evolving viruses at the between-host level. It also provides a mechanistic description of within-host constraints, such as cross-reactive immunity, and shows how these constraints affect the infection fitness. This model raises questions that can be tested experimentally and underlines the necessity to consider the evolution of quantitative traits to understand the outcome and the fitness of an infection

SARS-CoV-2 uses CD4 to infect T helper lymphocytes

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the agent of a major global outbreak of respiratory tract disease known as Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 infects mainly lungs and may cause several immune-related complications, such as lymphocytopenia and cytokine storm, which are associated with the severity of the disease and predict mortality. The mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2 infection may result in immune system dysfunction is still not fully understood. Here, we show that SARS-CoV-2 infects human CD4+ T helper cells, but not CD8+ T cells, and is present in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage T helper cells of severe COVID-19 patients. We demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (S) directly binds to the CD4 molecule, which in turn mediates the entry of SARS-CoV-2 in T helper cells. This leads to impaired CD4 T cell function and may cause cell death. SARS-CoV-2-infected T helper cells express higher levels of IL-10, which is associated with viral persistence and disease severity. Thus, CD4-mediated SARS-CoV-2 infection of T helper cells may contribute to a poor immune response in COVID-19 patients.</p

SARS-CoV-2 uses CD4 to infect T helper lymphocytes

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the agent of a major global outbreak of respiratory tract disease known as Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 infects mainly lungs and may cause several immune-related complications, such as lymphocytopenia and cytokine storm, which are associated with the severity of the disease and predict mortality. The mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2 infection may result in immune system dysfunction is still not fully understood. Here, we show that SARS-CoV-2 infects human CD4+ T helper cells, but not CD8+ T cells, and is present in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage T helper cells of severe COVID-19 patients. We demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (S) directly binds to the CD4 molecule, which in turn mediates the entry of SARS-CoV-2 in T helper cells. This leads to impaired CD4 T cell function and may cause cell death. SARS-CoV-2-infected T helper cells express higher levels of IL-10, which is associated with viral persistence and disease severity. Thus, CD4-mediated SARS-CoV-2 infection of T helper cells may contribute to a poor immune response in COVID-19 patients.</p