Repositório RCAAP

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES

This research made an application of the Theory of Constraints' Thinking Process for the decision making in administrative processes in a unit of the Brazilian Air Force. It approaches the organizations' difficulties in dealing with non-structuralized problems in the setting of Brazil's Public Administration. From the bibliographic survey of published studies in scientific papers, this research intended to propose solutions at a strategic level in order to help the decision making in administrative acquisition processes of the unit of the Brazilian Air Force of Santa Maria, RS. The research method used was a qualitative approach through focused group meetings with the intention of making a case study of analytic character, the procedure of data research and analysis being composed of three steps, representative of an application of the Theory of Constraints' Thinking Process. Among the main results, problems related to bad leading of the acquisition processes were identified, resulting in errors in the elaboration of documents that compose the processes, associated with low capacity of human resources at the Planning Teams motivated by factors such as high staff turnover, lack of qualification at the administrative area and prioritization of operational activities in detriment of the elaboration of the proper documents of the process, causing delays and reworks by those involved. The problems' solution measures proposed were actions envisioning the headcount capacitation, improvement of the standardization and guidance for the elaboration of documents, as well as specific advisement by military with deeper knowledge of the topic of public acquisitions. Lastly, it is presented an action plan to be utilized by the public managers, in order to improve the execution of the acquisition processes in the setting of BASM.

Air quality has been discussed for some time among the scientific community. Air pollution in the external environment and that of the indoor environment have been caused for concern. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the pollutants that most contribute to inadequate indoor air quality. Formaldehyde (FA) is the VOC with the highest emission indoors and is found in industrial environments, building materials and consumer products such as cosmetics, detergents and disinfectants. Exposure to FA has been related to several toxic effects. Studies have shown associations between exposure to FA and clinical symptoms such as eye and upper respiratory tract irritation, immunological changes, and mutagenic changes. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate for 28 days the FA 5 ppm inhalation effects on oxidative stress, inflammation process, genotoxicity, and global DNA methylation in mice as well as to investigate the potential protective effects of melatonin. For that, analyses were performed on lung, liver and kidney tissues, blood, and bone marrow. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was used to measure inflammatory parameters. Lipid peroxidation (TBARS), protein carbonyl (PCO), non-protein thiols (NPSH), catalase activity (CAT), comet assay, micronuclei (MN), and global methylation were determined. In addition, the possible protective effect of melatonin 20 mg/kg against exposure to FA was evaluated in modulating the damage induced by exposure, since the effects of melatonin are related to its antioxidant activity, thus being able to play a bioprotective effect. The experimental in vivo results showed that FA induces a significant increase in TBARS (p<0.05) and NO (p<0.05) levels and a decrease in NPSH levels (p<0.01). In addition, there were observed increases in inflammatory cells recruited for BAL and remodeling of the lung parenchyma, evidenced by histology analysis. These findings possibly characterize oxidative and inflammatory damage to the lung. Likewise, in the liver tissue, the exposure to 5 ppm FA increased TBARS (p<0.0001) and PCO (p<0.05) levels and decreased NPSH levels. Besides, FA significantly induced DNA damage, evidenced by the increase of % tail moment (p<0.01) and MN frequency (p<0.05). The pretreatment of mice exposed to FA applying melatonin improved inflammatory and oxidative damage in lung and liver tissues and attenuated MN formation in bone marrow cells. The pulmonary histological study reinforced the results observed in biochemical parameters, demonstrating the potential beneficial melatonin role. Therefore, our results demonstrated that FA exposure with repeated doses might induce oxidative damage, inflammatory and genotoxic effects, and melatonin minimized the toxic effects caused by FA inhalation in mice.

A scenario of constant transformations demands from public managers new ways of managing the public sector, it’s up for public managers understanding society's needs and implementing managerial concepts capable of carrying out their policies and government programs in response to society's, aiming for an agile, transparent and consistent public management with the volume of resources that are competent. In this way, governance offers mechanisms and instruments capable of supporting public organizations towards a more efficient management focused on the public interest. Inserted in this context, and object of this study, are the federal universities. This paper aims to identify the best governance practices for federal universities in southern Brazil based on the governance principles and practices proposed by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) . With a study universe encompassing the eleven federal universities in southern Brazil, this work falls within the field of applied research and, according to its objectives, is classified as descriptive. Thus, a verification of three of the four dimensions of governance proposed by Study 13 (IFAC, 2011) was carried out on university websites, and a questionnaire was applied to the members of university councils to verify a fourth dimension. To collect data from the International Framework: Good Governance in the Public Sector (IFAC; CIPFA, 2014), a questionnaire was applied to the members of university councils. Among the main results, a medium level of adherence to the Study 13 model was identified, and a high level of adherence to the International Framework of good governance in the public sector. It was detected that the greatest strengths refer to the annual management and accounting reports, issued annually in accordance with a series of regulations that guarantee a standard in the presentation of these documents, which are important instruments of transparency and accountability of federal universities. Another positive point refers to the list of documentation implemented or developed, to a greater or lesser degree, by the institutions themselves, as well as the creation of bodies/sectors/commissions responsible for matters related to governance. Regarding the most deficient points, it was found that no university has an Audit Committee, a body that could act as an auxiliary instance and/or additional line of control, in view of the massive list of attributions covered by the Internal Audit bodies, which may run the risk of acting as the only instance of internal control in these institutions. Nor were found documents establishing the financial strategy. It was noted that the universities with the highest scores in one framework had the worst results in the other, which may represent a gap between the perception of the board of directors and the governance practices undertaken by the institutions. The results obtained indicate an evolution, since the research by Sales (2014), in the adoption of governance practices by universities, which suggests that the development is due to the intensification of regulations issued by the control bodies. This panorama provides support for proposing a model of good governance practices in federal universities.

Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic drug, which blocks NMDA glutamatergic receptors for restricted clinical use due to its high addictive potential. Studies have shown neurotoxicity and memory impairments development after acute- and chronic-KET exposure. Gallic acid (AG) is a natural antioxidant, whose activity has shown benefits over memory. The current study was designed to evaluate possible beneficial actions of GA on the harmful consequences of acute and sub-chronic ketamine administration in male adolescent rats. Forty-five Wistar rats were assigned to two experimental protocols (UFSM/8629131218): In the protocol 1 (acute/binge exposure; Binge-KET group), animals received five doses of KET (ketamine) (10 mg/kg, ip) every three hours for the first 12 hours of the day, receiving three doses of GA (13.5 mg/ kg, po) or vehicle in the following 12 hours; In protocol 2 (sub-chronic exposure to KET; SbChro-KET group), animals received a daily dose of KET (10 mg/kg, ip) for 10 days and they were sequentially treated with one dose of GA (13.5 mg/kg, po) or vehicle daily for three consecutive days. In protocol I, KET impaired the working memory of the animals by reducing the percentage of alternation in the Y labyrinth test. Biochemical analyzes showed that these animals showed increased levels of plasma creatinine, lipoperoxidation (LP) in the kidney and hippocampus, in addition to increased catalase (CAT) activity in the liver and hippocampus, which was reduced in the kidney. Acute exposure to KET also changed molecular parameters, increasing hippocampal immunoreactivity of pro BDNF and TrkB. Treatment with AG did not reverse the impaired memory by acute KET, but it completely reversed the levels of creatinine (plasma), CAT activity (liver and hippocampus) and LP (kidney), in addition to reversing the immunocontent of pre BDNF and TrKB. In protocol II, animals subchronically exposed to KET showed impaired memory, increased levels of AST and ALT in plasma, LP in the liver, kidney and hippocampus, in addition to increased CAT activity in the liver and kidney. At the molecular level, such exposure to KET increased the pro-BDNF immunoreactivity and reduced the levels of BDNF and TrkB in the hippocampus. The AG recovered working memory, previously impaired by the drug in the acute protocol, fully recovered the levels of AST and ALT in plasma, and also of LP in the kidney, liver and hippocampus in addition to CAT activity in the liver and kidney. All hippocampal molecular changes (pro BDNF, BDNF and TrkB) induced by subchronic KET exposure were reversed by AG. Interestingly, BDNF levels showed a negative correlation with LP levels in the hippocampus and positive with the percentage of alternation in the Y labyrinth, while the latter showed a negative correlation with the hippocampal levels of LP. Given these outcomes, it is possible to suggest that, following clinical studies, GA may be considered a natural antioxidant agent of promising usefulness for reversing damages induced by both acute and subchronic-KET abuse.

Natural products are a drug discovery source for both humans and veterinary treatment. Consequently, in the last decade, essential oils have been researched as fish anesthetics and sedatives, however, there are a small number of antinociceptive drug development studies using fish as an animal model. Also, the essential oils use is limited in pisciculture maybe due to the physicochemical limitations, such as high hydrophobicity. Thus, nanotechnology can protect and facilitate these compounds dispersion in water. Therefore, through this dissertation, it is expected to improve the volatile compounds use as anesthetic and sedative agents, even as increase the antinociceptive use as well-being promoters for fish. Firstly, silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen) nociceptive method was standardized with acetic acid 15 % (3μL), formalin 1 % (10 μL) and menthol 0.5 % (1 μL) administered in the lips. Additionally, due to the Nectandra grandiflora essential oil anesthetic/sedative activity, it was suggested to evaluate the antinociceptive activity, as well as linalool. In addition, we developed a N. grandiflora essential oil nanoemulsion formulation (NEN), and evaluate the anesthetic, sedative and toxicity by immersion bath in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) compared with the free essential oil (FEO). Chemical analyses were performed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and flame ionization detector. Among the results, to induce the nociceptive-like behavior in silver catfish we used 15 % acetic acid (3 μL), 1 % formalin (10 μL) and 0.5 % menthol (1 μL). Nociceptive-like behavior was verified in ten locomotor parameters that were reversed with intramuscular morphine (5 mg/kg) injection, and this antinociceptive activity was antagonized by naloxone (5 mg/kg). However, only acetic acid-induced the nociceptive-like behavior at the maximum speed parameter. Given this, the volatile compounds treatment was performed only against acetic acid and the N. grandiflora essential oil (10 mg/kg) had low activity. Linalool (50 mg/kg), on the other hand, has strong antinociceptive activity by reversing all locomotors parameters, with a related mechanism to opioid receptors. Secondarily, through the spontaneous emulsification process, we developed thirteen NEN and the nanoemulsification process protected the oil chemical composition for 60 days and reduced the FEO side effects. Therefore, the NEN 100 mg/L concentration for anesthetic and 30 mg/L for sedation application are safe. Thus, FEO depressant activity was improved and also refined for tilapia. Moreover, the two fish species use covers not only nociceptive-like behavior in an unknown species but also a new O. niloticus pharmacological alternative for sedation and anesthesia. Consequently, the silver catfish new nociception experimental model proposed demonstrated specificity, since the nociceptive-like behavior was reverted by linalool and morphine, which have described analgesic activity. Briefly, this dissertation contributes to research that aims to combine volatile compound and nanotechnological knowledge into an effective and safe anesthetic drug development.

Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq

Air conditioning has a growing participation in electricity consumption in Brazil and worldwide. It presents the possibility of storage in moments of generation of energy surplus or low thermal load. This possibility can be very useful for removing loads at times of peak demand, providing smoothing of the electrical load curve at any time, especially during peak hours. This master's dissertation presents a methodology for measuring the thermal conductivity of soil by using a window-type air conditioner adapted for this and its respective results. This research used a plate heat exchanger to replace the condenser coil of a window-type air conditioner adapted to heat flow measurement. Initially, the soil was cooled for a while, waiting for it to return to the previous temperature to start a new cycle. This process was called thermal pulse. Later, thermo-accumulation tests were carried out, when the soil was cooled with the simulation of scenarios of availability of excess energy generated by photovoltaic sources and/or with low thermal load for later recovery during peak hours. The equations of the curves generated by these processes were obtained and adapted to simulate the calculated load in a test room of the prototype house, located in geothermal site 1, of CEESP-UFSM. It was concluded that the short duration thermal pulses have greater heat recovery and that they are sufficient to acclimatize the test room during the duration of peak hours. Heat exchange is more efficient after thermo-accumulation cycles and no soil thermal saturation was observed. The inactivation time after each cycle was enough to maintain the same level of efficiency in the geothermal heat exchange. This situation is very promising for acclimatization whith the use of geothermal energy, as it allows the dimensioning of smaller heat exchangers or use in larger areas. The impact of a exchanger’s downtime or the thermo-accumulation time on it are challengin issues, and it is advisable to conduct longer tests and extend the results to the other geothermal sites.

The present study aimed to propose a schedule of courses, to fill the skills gaps found, to technical-administrative servants in education (TAES) of the Federal University and Santa Maria (UFSM). The theoretical framework guiding this study covered the following topics: (i) public administration and people management; (ii) main regulations for people management in the federal administration; (iii) competency management; (iv) management by competencies in the public sector; (v) competency management and training needs and (vi) competencies in federal educational institutions. Regarding the method, the study was characterized as a qualitative research, making use of different sources of evidence such as: documentary research, registration in files, direct observation and participant observation. The main results show that UFSM started the studies for the implementation of the competency management model in 2015, through a work group formed by employees working in the University's Dean of Personnel Management. In 2017, a commission was formally constituted through a specific ordinance, to act more effectively in the implementation of the model in the institution. The work started by mapping the competencies of the servers, which were classified and divided into four phases. The first three phases, already completed, correspond to the mapping of organizational, common and managerial skills. The fourth phase, referring to the mapping of specific competencies, which are those necessary for each of the UFSM units, is still being carried out by the current commission. The results also revealed that the implementation of the competency management model at UFSM is among the strategic objectives foreseen in its current Institutional Development Plan - PDI (2016-2026), which brings the intention to develop managerial, technical and leadership skills necessary to maintain a level of excellence. Still, the results showed that the compatibility between the skills required by UFSM and the skills developed through the training courses offered to TAES servers, based on the years 2018 and 2019, proved not to be fully met, as from the analysis of the 115 courses offered in these two years, only 07 of them worked on the development of managerial and / or leadership skills. Finally, it was presented the proposal to carry out a course schedule to be promoted by the Center for Education and Development (NED) of the Pro-Rectory for People Management at UFSM, aiming to fill the identified skills gaps.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES

This master thesis presents a comparison between two alternatives for the design of optimized robust proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers, with fixed control gains, computed offline, suitable for application in power converters with parametric uncertainties. Different from conventional designs, which obtain control gains for a nominal model of the plant and verify a posteriori the robustness against parametric uncertainties, the approaches used in this work guarantee robust performance in the design stage, for the plant with interval parameters. The first approach uses a linear programming problem, based on a target closed-loop polynomial and a linear objective function, to find the PID gains. The second approach uses a non-linear optimization algorithm, with an objective function based on specifications in the frequency domain, to find, through a meta-heuristic, the controller gains. Both approaches are guided by design criteria widely used in power converters, given by pole location, and crossover frequency and phase margin. The design procedures of the robust PID controllers are presented and illustrated by means of simulation and experimental results, allowing a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of each technique.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES

Distance Education is characterized by the flexibility of study hours, no need to attend to traditional classrooms and the reach of long distances. These characteristics have been expanding continuously this teaching modality; however, problems such as dropout have been accompanying this evolution. Based on this, the study analyzed the dropout determinants from courses offered at the Open University of Brazil (UAB), Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) providing management and pedagogical policies to retain the student until the course conclusion. Methodologically, the study had a mixed approach, as it presents both quantitative characteristics – when working with the data obtained through an online survey sent to the evaded students – and qualitative – when analyzing the legal and institutional documentation, which was complemented by a consultation performed using the course coordinators. In the results, from 520 respondents, the evaded student profile of the public that seeks UAB/UFSM courses was: women, over 30 years old, exclusively from public high school and who studied Pedagogy. Still, it was found that almost 50% of the evaded student did not even complete the first semester, and more than half of them were in their first experience in distance learning. Following, the analysis, five factors was obtained for the dropout of UAB/UFSM students, as a) academic aspects; b) domestic conditions and skills; c) competing situations and adversity; d) individual performance; e) complexity of the course and its activities. The competing situations and adversities were the most influential to evaded students, while the factor domestic conditions and skills contributed the least. Thus, it is evident that there is a difficulty in managing time or the erroneous idea about the dedication that an EaD course demands, as well as that distance education students feel displaced as members of the institution. Therefore, it is necessary to invest in a constant disclosure about the teaching-learning process and the course development, as well as helping the student with time management so that they can reconcile all their activities. The institution must develop ways to get closer to the student and, considering the specificity of the EaD audience, seek greater knowledge about he context in which their study is developed, anticipating an intervention that inhibits evaded students.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES

Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq

The present study aimed to carry out a comparative study between the policies of the Happy Child Program (PCF) and the Best Early Childhood Program (PIM) in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. In the theoretical framework, the main conceptual strands and theories about the theme of early childhood for human development were presented, national and international programs were addressed regarding public policies that help in the development of early childhood and, finally, comparison models to evaluate the public policies of the Programa Criança Feliz e Primeira Infância Melhor, emphasized by the Scriven (2007) model. As for the method, the study was characterized as a descriptive field research, applied, with a qualitative approach, carried out with the coordinators of the PCF and PIM programs. Data were collected through two individual semi-structured interviews, in addition to document analysis. In order to analyze the data, Content Analysis based on Bardin (2016) was applied, aiming, through these systematic procedures, to highlight the most important and relevant excerpts from the interviews. The main results showed that although both programs target early childhood, they presented different criteria for adherence, origin and resources. In the PCF, it was observed that the criteria are established by the Ministry of Health, with its origin being Federal, while in the PIM, they are established by the State. Furthermore, it was proven that, in general, both programs had compatible instruments to measure the evaluation of process and results. As for the general importance of the programs, it was possible to see a direct link between the PCF and PIM, especially with regard to comprehensive child development, as well as cognitive, behavioral and health development, with the family as one of the main focuses of the program, in addition to the child. From the perspective of the PCF and PIM Coordinators, it was evident that both programs complement each other, as they work with the same look at both health, assistance and education, which allows their actions to be developed together with the same bias.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES

The management of municipal solid waste has proved to be one of the major challenges for municipal administrations, especially those of small municipalities. Thus, this dissertation had as general objective to develop, in partnership with the municipal administration, a project for environmentally adequate final disposal of municipal solid waste in the municipality of São João do Polêsine-RS, and what problem it presents for this study is: how can a small municipality improve the collection and final disposal of municipal solid waste? Seeking to answer this question, action research was developed with residents of eleven multifamily condominiums located in the urban area of the headquarters of the municipality of São João do Polêsine-RS. The action research was the development of a pilot project with the objective of verifying the possible barriers and facilitators that can be presented to managers of a small municipality during the process of implementation of selective collection and environmentally appropriate final disposal of municipal solid waste. For this, we used the application of questionnaires, collections, separation and weighing of municipal solid waste, as forms of diagnosis and evaluation, and information and awareness campaigns, in addition to the installation of standardized bins and identified as ways to encourage the participation of the target public in selective collection actions. During the development of the pilot project, 70.89% of the waste that can be reused (organic and dry recyclable) was reused, and 47.54% of the total mass of municipal solid waste generated by the target public stopped going to the landfill. Also, as a result, the municipal administration of São João do Polêsine-RS was presented to the municipal administration of São João do Polêsine-RS a set of actions to be developed aiming at the implementation of selective collection for other citizens, thus improving the environmentally adequate final destination of waste generated in the municipality. As a product of this work, a "Guide for the implementation of selective collection in small municipalities" was elaborated, which can serve as a support tool for municipal managers of any municipality characterized as such.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES