RCAAP Repository

This experimental study tries to develop models of behavioral tests to rodents as a mean to evaluate the three domains that characterize autism: loss in social interaction; verbal and non-verbal communication; behavior patterns, interest, restrict activity, repetitive behavior and stereotype. One of these models is based on the pre-natal exposition to teratogenics agents, like valproic acid, considered a risk factor for autism. The objective of this research was to analyze the interference of valproic acid in the learning process and flexibility of routines in winstar rats. This study is experimental and the sample is composed by 20 male rats 10 from the control group and 10 from the experiment group. The learning capacity and the capacity of maintaining flexible routines are evaluated by the T maze test. The capacity of habituate is measured by the open field test. The learning, discrimination and reversions capacity is evaluated by the box of conditioning working. The results shows that the valproic acid interfered in the capacities of learning, flexibility of routine, habituate and reversion of what is learned. These behavior alterations are compatible with those observed in autistic individuals.

Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa

Debt financing policies within business conglomerates have been one of the most debated issues in corporate finance throughout the years. Diverse theories that deal with capital structure actually justify multiple variables that could ultimately influence picking a particular type of financing mechanism. This study uses the Trade-off and Pecking Order theories as it tries to identify determinant factors in the capital structure of companies in the areas of civil construction and at-large real estate development in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, United States, Mexico and Peru. As such, some variables were taken from the work performed by Morri and Cristanziani (2009) and Morri and Artegiani (2015) in order to appropriately select the corresponding survey hypotheses. The study undertakes Panel Data methodology and uses company data extracted from Compustat, Economática and Capital IQ databases from 2007 to 2017. The results demonstrate American companies having a negative relationship between the level of debt and profit margins, and also between growth and volatility from operations; and, a positive relation between the level of debt and the size of the considered companies. However, companies in Latin America portray a negative relationship between the level of debt and profit margins, and between the level of debt and the cost of debt. Furthermore, the results show that during the post-crisis period (2011-2017), companies in Latin America produced greater debt leverage. When the sample size was analyzed by individual sectors, the statistical analyses confirm that debt leverage is greater for developers and real estate than it is for heavy construction companies.

CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível

The service sector plays a key role in the world economy and in Brazil, country in which it has accounted for more than a half of total value added in 2004. Specifically, the micro and small enterprises reached an expansion of almost 25% between 2000 and 2004. However, the lack of know-how of new business owners causes the mortality of more than a half of micro and small enterprises during the first two years; also, this lack of know-how contributes to a lower level of innovation. A company s innovation process consists of some innovative activities, such as the investment in assets (machinery, equipment, plants, and expansions) and the human resources training, both of them are indicators which can be used to measure the innovation level of firm. This work aims to examine if the entrepreneurial small-sized firms of food-service which have innovative activities presents a business performance (net income and value added) higher than the firms that do not have these kind of activities. Besides that, it intends to examine if the firms that have innovative activities pay higher salaries than the firms which do not have innovative activities. In order to do this quantitative study, it was used the Paep 2001 Database, the first survey in Brazil regarding the service innovation; also, it was based on the OECD works about service innovation, more specifically the Oslo Manual, the main international guidelines for collecting and interpreting innovation activities. The conclusion of this study is that the sample of firms which have innovative activities, such as investment in assets and training, do not have higher business performance (net income and value added) than the sample of firms that do not have this kind of activities; it also concludes, that these firms do not pay higher salaries in comparison to the sample of firms which do not have innovative activities. This conclusion reflects, in part, the difficulty found by the majority of researchers in determining indicators that capture the effects of innovation, mainly in the service sector, because of the heterogeneity and complexity of the activities of this sector; besides, the service innovation database in Brazil is still being constructed. The available data refers to the year of 2001 and is restricted to the state of São Paulo. Following this, it is recommended new studies with regard the innovation effects in time and the usage of new indicators in order to measure the relationship between innovative activities and business performance of small-sized firms of the service sector, mainly with respect the organizational and market aspects.

Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

Este artigo descreve um estudo e construção de um chatbot que forneça informações através de web services acerca do conteúdo de uma base de dados sobre filmes. Este estudo possibilita a abordagem de temáticas como a construção de chatbots e a Arquitetura Orientada a Serviços.

Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa

Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa

The objective of this study is to understand the interaction role between learner and instructor in learning processes related to professional training using e-learning. The research, based on qualitative design, used semi-structured interview to collect data. The research subjects are sales representatives and sales managers of an international pharmaceutical company, established more than 50 years ago in Brazil. As main results of this study, there is a preference for presential interaction between learners theirselves, and low interaction between learner and instructors in e-learning trainings. Both managers and sales representatives support e-learning trainings but with a strong preference for a mix of distance and presential training classes. Individual learning in e-learning trainings is thereafter shared with team mates and its applicability on daily activities.

O trabalho discorre no objetivo principal da pesquisa é elucidar a maneira com a qual as cidades contemporâneas adquiriram as características que possuem atualmente e sua influência em seus moradores, e desta maneira projetar um fragmento de cidade que englobe as premissas deste modelo requalificando uma área central da cidade de São Paulo, já prevista para este tipo de configuração e estudar sua dinâmica com a interação pública. O propósito então seguirá um caminho de compreensão da evolução das cidades ao longo do tempo com um enfoque na cidade de São Paulo ao mesmo tempo de uma investigação sobre a melhor maneira de inserção de um edifício em um local consolidado, criando hipóteses entre as interações com o existente e com o que virá existir de maneira à perscrutar as mudanças de comportamento e convívio com a cidade...

Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa

The objects of study in this research are projects of residential architecture with capture and use of rainwater. The research aims to address the use of rainwater as a condition for architectural projects; shows how the systems, which captures and use the rainwater, impacts on architecture and in the city; raise, through interviews, the architect´s "design stance" to guide and reference new architectural proposals. The results of the research detects the importance of these systems in architectural projects, shows that its design should be started already in the stage of preliminary study, also shows changes in the architect s design stance ; and concludes that, in São Paulo, the volume of rainwater that can be captured and used in residential edifications, for not potable purposes, is very significant. The research s conclusions and data can support future researches and disseminate the proposition of the use of rainwater in architectural projects.

El objetivo de esta disertación es analizar la aplicación efectiva del principio constitucional de la dignidad de la persona humana en las relaciones de empleo. La globalización de la economía afecta directamente las relaciones entre el capital y el trabajo. El poder económico se puso más exigente, y el trabajo, por las circunstancias, se puso más sumiso. En Brasil, el legislador constituyente el aumento del principio constitucional de la dignidad de la persona humana como derecho fundamental, núcleo esencial de los derechos humanos. El respeto a la dignidad de la persona, en las relaciones de empleo, debe sobreponerse a las exigencias del capital. Así, partiendo de esas presuposiciones, se espera mostrar la importancia del principio constitucional de la dignidad de la persona como límite de los poderes del empleador. Como posibilidad de solución de posibles conflictos laborales, se sugiere la creación de derechos humanos, por ocasión de las negociaciones colectivas de trabajo y, en el ámbito del judiciario, la propositura de acciones que puedan garantizar a los empleados la permanencia en el empleo con tranquilidad y sin constreñimientos. Con esto, se intenta estimular la discusión impostergable sobre este tema que es imprescindible no apenas a los involucrados en la área de Derechos Humanos, pero también a la sociedad en general, que necesita estar consciente de las leyes que garantizan la dignidad del trabajador en el ámbito de los principios humanos.

Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa

For years, the movie Cinderella has enchanted people from all over the world. Since Disney’s first version, in the 1950’s, Cinderella stands for the most celebrated princess of gilrs’ and women’s dreams. However, considering the changes of paradigm which existed in relation to the feminine figure, as well as their social role, it became necessary for Disney to produce a more consistent and significant rereading of the famous fairy tale movie, which should be in agreement to the post-modern world. The objective was to meet the needs of the current new public. It is the namesake live action version. This research has appeared from this context. This study wanted to discuss, with High School students from a private school, matters that concerned to these changes, based on the Feminist Movement, whose height happened from the second half of the XX Century. In this way, initially, it was necessary to study theoretical reference about the teaching of Portuguese Language in Brazil, since the arrival of the Jesuit mission until nowadays. After this, there was a comparative analysis between both Disney’s Cinderella versions – the one from 1950 and the 2015 one – and this primary study enabled the elaboration of a didactical-methodologial proposal, descripted throughout this research, in which the production of a Cinderella trailer considering the version of the story that the students would like to watch. In function of the acknowledgement of the students’ reality, the entire proposal was based on ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies). As theoretical reference, Alloa (2015), Brasil (2000) Freire (2011, 2012) and Pastoureau (2007) were used. Lastly, it was reflected about the need of the teacher, concerned about the significant formation of one’s students, to observe the cultural products consumed by them, in order to use them as an effective tool for the discussion of nowadays transverse themes.

Screening indicators of learning difficulties in the early years of formal schooling is a demand that requires the use of standardized tests. Basic education is one of the appropriate contexts for the implementation of such instruments. The general objective of the study was to evaluate the sensitivity of a standardized model for the use of Basic Education teachers in the identification of students with complaints of Specific Learning Disorder (SLD). The sample was composed by 32 teachers from 16 schools (a classroom teacher of 2nd year and one of the 4th year); the respective students who presented signs of SLD, but without diagnostic report according to the school records; and parents of these students. The instruments for data collection were the Checklist for identification of signs of SLD; Brief Problem Monitor/Form for parents and teachers (BPM-T and BPM-P); Wechsler Abbreviated Intelligence Scale (WASI); Word-Pseudoword Reading Competence Test (WPRCT), School Performance Test (SPT); Phonological Awareness Test. The instruments WASI, WPRCT, SPT, Phonological Awareness Test, BPM-T and BPM-P were corrected according to the specific standardization. Kappa coefficients were calculated for the analysis of the agreement between the teachers and parents in the checklist, and the student's t test was used to compare scores in the tests between the children of the 2nd and the 4th grade. The teachers identified 31 students with suspected SLD, 4 had indicators of intellectual impairment by the WASI, they were excluded of the sample and evaluated for intellectual disability. The results showed that 64,28% of the 4th grade students classified in low and very low range at Phonological Awareness Test. The t-student test results showed that there were statistically significant differences between students in the 2nd and 4th grades in alliteration test (p = 0.007), phonemic segmentation (p = 0.02), syllabic manipulation (p = 0,02), phonemic manipulation (p = 0.01), syllabic transposition (p = 0.00), phonemic transposition (p = 0.008) and total score (p = 0.003). In the WPRCT, both groups had the best means in the strange pseudowords (the 4th grade had the highest mean with 9.71 of 10 score). On the other hand, the lowest performances were observed in the pseudowords homophones with 4.46 and 4.71, in the 2nd and 4th grades, respectively. The performance of all students in the SPT writing test was low, only 7.14% (2nd grade) and 3.85% (4th grade) of the students were classified into the middle range in the test. In the mathematic test, 16 students had a confirmed suspicion of SLD (11 children of the 4th grade and 5 children of the 2nd grade). The Kappa coefficients indicated concordances with statistical significance (from low to moderate quality) between parents and teachers in most signs of the checklist of the SLD. The best indexes of agreement with statistical significance were in comprehension difficulties (Kappa = 0.66) and grammar difficulties (Kappa = 0.61). The t-student test did not identify statistically significant differences between parent’s and teacher’s reports on behavioral and emotional problems. The model identified 9 children with confirmed impairment in reading (33.33%), 18 children with confirmed impairment in written expression (69.23%), 9 with reading and writing impairments (34.61%), 16 with impairment in mathematics (61.54%), and only 4 students did not show any impairment according to the tests. The data confirmed the sensitivity of the model evidencing the importance of the teacher having skills and appropriate instruments for an objective evaluation of students with suspected SLD.

This Master’s Dissertation has as objective to present a new approach about the fight against Slave Labor in products sold by Supply Chain in Brazil. Having as paradigm the Traceability in Supply Chain, the Dissertation, analyzing the Kimberley Protocol, states that with certain policies it is possible to eradicate from the market, goods which offend the human dignity and the own lives of those who produced it. Brazil, one of the most important countries on fight against the Slave Labor, despite of its policies, still does not have one rule about Supply Chains and legal and constitutional guarantees of labor. Analyzing the Brazilian Federal Laws (12.097/2009 and 11.903/2009), the Dissertation presents the possibility of tracing all Supply Chain, from raw material to sale, and its efficiency on public policies (São Paulo State Law nº 15.276/2014). However, even in countries (USA and United Kingdom) where there are laws to disclose the Supply Chains, those legislations are still far to represent a Global Governance on the fight against Slave Labor. The conflict of interest between those who defend a common labor rights standard from those who see in those standards, commercial restrictions, causes several damages on stipulation of legislation involving Supply Chains and Slave Labor. This dissidence leads us to the conclusion that only the Sovereignty holds the fundamental part on regulation of Supply Chain as a form to eradicate the Slave Labor in Brazil and in the world.

O presente artigo pretende analisar, sob uma perspectiva crítica, os limites da atuação do Ministério Público, por meio da Ação Civil Pública, como “guardião” do meio ambiente, em especial, no que tange ao processo de licenciamento ambiental, haja vista que, muitas vezes, o Ministério Público ultrapassa os seus limites previstos em lei, visando discutir o mérito do ato administrativo perante o Poder Judiciário. Para tanto, será apresentada uma breve introdução sobre o que se trata o licenciamento ambiental, a sua complexidade e, por fim, a sua dinamicidade que, muitas vezes, se confunde com o não cumprimento das obrigações que são impostas ao empreendedor.