Investigation of AgCo Nanoparticles As a Useful Plasmonic Material

Developing Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) sensors that are cost-effective, sensitive, and long lasting has been an important goal for those in the field of plasmonics. The starting point in creating improved sensors is finding the right materials that will overcome these major challenges. Presently Au and Ag are the most important LSPR metals because of their excellent plasmonic properties. However Au is expensive and has weaker plasmons than Ag, which suffers from environmental degradation. This thesis describes the investigations of a promising new plasmonic material, bimetallic AgCo, that can be used to solve some outstanding problems in LSPR sensing. The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) characteristics of arrays of near hemispherical shaped AgCo nanoparticles (NPs) were investigated using broadband optical spectroscopy measurements. Arrays with varying NP size and composition were made by our collaborators using pulsed laser dewetting self-organization. The LSPR wavelength was significantly red-shifted from the value of pure Ag, consistent with predictions of effective medium models. The normalized bandwidth of the Ag-Co plasmons for compositions between 20 to 30% Co was comparable to that of pure Ag indicating the high quality of LSPR in this material. The sensitivity to detecting refractive index change was measured by immersion in liquids of various refractive index. The Ag-Co system showed comparable or better sensitivity than pure Ag NPs and was in the range of 50-100 nm/Refractive Index Units (RIU) for the range of size and composition studied. Another key result was the significantly improved stability of the LSPR wavelength and sensitivity values of the AgCo system as compared to Ag following storage of the samples for long times under ambient conditions or following annealing in air for 100 minutes at various temperatures. While pure Ag nanoparticles degraded substantially, the AgCo wavelength and sensitivity remained virtually unchanged. In total, these results showed that the AgCo system is substantially superior to pure Ag in many respects and could potentially replace Au and Ag as the materials of choice in future plasmonic applications

Automatic classification of medical images based on functional connectivity measurements - methodological exploration

The study of patterns of neuronal activity constitutes a tool of extreme value in the attempt to unveil neural pathological mechanisms. Hence, functional connectivity studies using images from Resting State fMRI (rs-fMRI) are crucial, and there are several metrics which can be used to assess brain connections. Nonetheless, no clear evidence exists that some may be better than others. In this study, in an attempt to discover if certain metrics better characterized certain connections, two different approaches were followed. Data from a public dataset was used - Addiction Connectome Preprocessed Initiative (ACPI) - as well as one toolbox for matrix construction - Multiple Connectivity Analysis (MULAN) - and another for statistical comparison - GraphVar. Both toolboxes run in MATLAB. Metrics under analysis were: correlation, coherence, mutual information, transfer entropy and non-linear correlation. To that end, 116 brain regions were considered. First, considering only healthy subjects, it was done a pairwise comparison between results from different metrics. It was verified that each of them led to different results regarding the same connections. Then, connectivity results between a healthy and a pathological group of subjects with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) were compared. Concerning the differences, several similarities with the known affected areas described amongst the literature were found. However, discrepancies were observed which may be related to differences in sample size and/or the metric used in these studies. In general, it was shown that there is indeed variability between functional metrics and regional specificity. Still, the anatomical and physiological reasons for these differences remain unknown. It was clear that using more than one metric may be important and that the use of more general metrics may have advantages in the study of the pathological brain as it may have more complex dynamics. Furthermore, ensemble tools that have into consideration more than one metric to characterize brain connections may represent invaluable tools for autonomic image classification

O MARKETING A SERVIÇO DA EDUCAÇÃO - PROJETO CONHECENDO A UFSC: UMA VOLTA PELO CAMPUS SEM SAIR DE SALA DE AULA

O objetivo deste artigo é analisar o impacto de ações de marketing voltadas para a promoção do ensino superior, através da avaliação do programa de divulgação dos cursos de graduação da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina - UFSC, junto a alunos de algumas escolas do ensino médio de Santa Catarina. As ações são operacionalizadas através de palestras realizadas nos colégios ou na UFSC que visam apresentar as diferentes áreas de conhecimento e os cursos oferecidos por esta instituição e conscientizar os adolescentes quanto à importância da formação acadêmica, das opções existentes no vestibular e da escolha de uma profissão na vida de um cidadão. Os procedimentos metodológicos utilizados caracterizam a pesquisa como qualitativa e quantitativa do tipo descritiva, bibliográfica, com amostragem não probabilística e utilização de questionário como técnica de coleta de dados e tratamento qualitativo das respostas. É também, um estudo de caso. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que, por exemplo, tanto em escolas públicas quanto em privadas, boa parte dos alunos, 62,38%, consideraram que a palestra expandiu significativamente os conhecimentos sobre a UFSC. Dessa forma, foi possível inferirmos que as ações de divulgação de cursos de graduação em uma instituição de ensino superior junto ao público alvo traduzem-se numa estratégia de marketing capaz de expandir consideravelmente os conhecimentos dessa população sobre os serviços oferecidos pela instituição, já que os jovens têm necessidades prementes de esclarecimentos e subsídios para a escolha do seu futuro profissional. Além disso, observa-se que existem lacunas de comunicação que podem ser preenchidas pelo desenvolvimento de projetos que estabeleçam vínculos mais estreitos entre as instituições de ensino superior e o seu público em potencial

A CMMI-compliant requirements management and development process

Requirements Engineering has been acknowledged an essential discipline for Software Quality. Poorly-defined processes for eliciting, analyzing, specifying and validating requirements can lead to unclear issues or misunderstandings on business needs and project’s scope. These typically result in customers’ non-satisfaction with either the products’ quality or the increase of the project’s budget and duration. Maturity models allow an organization to measure the quality of its processes and improve them according to an evolutionary path based on levels. The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) addresses the aforementioned Requirements Engineering issues. CMMI defines a set of best practices for process improvement that are divided into several process areas. Requirements Management and Requirements Development are the process areas concerned with Requirements Engineering maturity. Altran Portugal is a consulting company concerned with the quality of its software. In 2012, the Solution Center department has developed and applied successfully a set of processes aligned with CMMI-DEV v1.3, what granted them a Level 2 maturity certification. For 2015, they defined an organizational goal of addressing CMMI-DEV maturity level 3. This MSc dissertation is part of this organization effort. In particular, it is concerned with the required process areas that address the activities of Requirements Engineering. Our main goal is to contribute for the development of Altran’s internal engineering processes to conform to the guidelines of the Requirements Development process area. Throughout this dissertation, we started with an evaluation method based on CMMI and conducted a compliance assessment of Altran’s current processes. This allowed demonstrating their alignment with the CMMI Requirements Management process area and to highlight the improvements needed to conform to the Requirements Development process area. Based on the study of alternative solutions for the gaps found, we proposed a new Requirements Management and Development process that was later validated using three different approaches. The main contribution of this dissertation is the new process developed for Altran Portugal. However, given that studies on these topics are not abundant in the literature, we also expect to contribute with useful evidences to the existing body of knowledge with a survey on CMMI and requirements engineering trends. Most importantly, we hope that the implementation of the proposed processes’ improvements will minimize the risks of mishandled requirements, increasing Altran’s performance and taking them one step further to the desired maturity level

Documentación de la Norma ISO-9001:2008 y la NTCGP-1000:2009 en el hospital San Rafael del municipio de Pueblo Rico

La calidad es un concepto que tiene múltiples significados, ya que depende de la percepción que tienen los clientes de un producto ó servicio; por tal motivo, es una fijación mental del consumidor que asume conformidad con dicho producto o servicio y la capacidad del mismo para satisfacer sus necesidades. Es por ello que en la actualidad las organizaciones utilizan los Sistemas de Gestión de Calidad para satisfacer las necesidades y requerimientos de sus clientes, además de superar sus expectativas con el fin de fidelizarlos y ofrecer garantías de los productos o servicios ofrecidos. Por tal motivo, éste proyecto tiene como fin documentar un Sistema de Gestión de Calidad en el E.S.E Hospital San Rafael del municipio de Pueblo Rico basados en los lineamientos de la norma ISO 9001:2008 y NTGP 1000, cumpliendo con todos sus requisitos a través de la documentación de los siguientes elementos: 4. Sistema de Gestión de la Calidad, 5. Responsabilidad de la Dirección, 6. Gestión de los Recursos, 7. Realización del Producto, 8. Medición, análisis y mejora. Adicionalmente, con este proyecto se busca impulsar el mejoramiento en el diseño, desarrollo, instalación y servicio que ofrece el Hospital a sus usuarios. A su vez, busca que cada uno de sus colaboradores se comprometan con la cultura de la calidad para proporcionar un servicio que responda a las necesidades y expectativas de los clientes y permita que la organización sea más efectiva en el desarrollo de sus actividades a través de la mejora continua en cada uno de sus procesos.Quality is a concept that has multiple meanings, as it depends on the customers' perception of a product or service, for this reason, is a consumer mind-set that assumes under that product or service and the ability of it to meet their needs. That is why organizations currently using Quality Management Systems to meet the needs and requirements of its customers and to exceed their expectations in order to retain them and provide assurance of the products or services offered. Therefore, The target of this project is to document a Quality Management System in the E.S.E. Hospital San Rafael in the municipality of Pueblo Rico, based on the guidelines of ISO 9001:2008 and NTGP 1000, keeping all their requirements through documentation of the following elements: 4. System Quality Management, 5. Management Responsibility, 6. Resource Management, 7. Product Realization, 8. Measurement, analysis and improvement. Additionally, this project seeks to promote improvements in the design, development, installation and service provided by the hospital to its users. In turn, find that each of its employees are committed to a culture of quality to provide a service that meets the needs and expectations of customers and allow the organization more effective in carrying out its activities through continuous improvement in each of its processes

Violencia del crimen organizado relacionada a los sectores económicos en México. Una propuesta de categorización

La violencia ocasionada por el crimen organizado se ha constituido como uno de los principales problemas en México en los últimos años; adicionalmente a las pérdidas humanas que ocasiona, afecta a las actividades económicas, lo cual disminuye la calidad de vida de la población. En el presente documento se presenta una clasificación de las conductas violentas que el crimen organizado realiza y que afectan a los sectores económicos en México, la cual se elaboró mediante un análisis de contenido con la ayuda del software MaxQDA. La clasificación final consiste en 17 conductas, las que son descritas identificándose el sector gubernamental que resulta ser el más afectado