É conhecido que, atualmente, o Brasil possui uma demanda substancial de obras de engenharia, como por exemplo, o Trem de Alta Velocidade (TAV) entre as cidades do Rio de Janeiro e de Campinas, necessárias para suportar as presentes e futuras demandas para o desenvolvimento do país. Este projeto governamental do TAV deverá requerer produção elevada de agregados de alta qualidade para emprego como lastro e também para concreto. No tocante ao uso como lastro, o agregado fica exposto e sujeito à ação constante das intempéries, fazendo com que estudos envolvendo alterabilidade sejam tão importantes quanto os de caracterização geomecânica dos materiais pétreos, levando-se em conta as condições intempéricas típicas de uma zona tropical que estarão submetidos. Estas constatações motivaram investigar as relações entre as propriedades tecnológicas de nove tipos de rochas cristalinas (micro-gabro, gnaisse e variedades de granitos) e suas utilizações como lastro do trecho Campinas/São Paulo do traçado do TAV. Em termo práticos, estas rochas foram submetidas a ensaios físicos, mecânicos e de alterabilidade acelerada, sendo que os testes de ciclagem água-estufa foram conjugados aos ensaios de abrasão Los Angeles, choque Treton e esmagamento. Os resultados indicaram que alguns materiais apresentaram valores de resistência inferiores ou próximos aos limites normatizados para lastros de ferrovia, além da perda de qualidade verificada nos ensaios de resistência à intempérie, inviabilizando ou restringindo a utilização de três dos materiais estudados para lastro. De modo geral, tais informações poderão servir de subsídio aos órgãos governamentais para tomada de decisões, quanto ao emprego dos materiais disponíveis na área onde será construído o TAV brasileiro, uma vez que os custos de manutenção da camada de lastro da ferrovia são críticos quando se opta por uma via lastrada ou em laje. / It is well known that Brazil currently shows a high number of engineering projects that are necessary to the development of the country. The projects include the High-Speed Rail (HSR) that will connect Rio de Janeiro and Campinas cities and requires a great production of high-quality construction aggregates to be used in track ballast and also in concrete. In the case of the track ballast, previous studies about the weathering of the aggregates together with a mechanical characterization are important and have to take in consideration that the material will be submitted to weathering conditions typical of a tropical environment. These assumptions motivated the investigation of the technological properties of nine types of crystalline rocks (microgabbro, gneiss and varied granitic rocks) considering their potential to be used as track ballast in the HSR between Campinas and São Paulo. The rock samples were submitted to physical, mechanical and accelerated weathering tests. The soundness by artificial weathering, drying water were conjugated to the Los Angeles abrasion tests, Treton shock and crushing. The results indicate that some materials present resistance values bellow or near the limit normalized for track ballast, besides the loss of the quality verified in weathering resistance tests, making it impossible or restricting the use of the three studied materials as track ballast. In general, such information can be used by government agencies to make decisions about the materials available in the area where the brazilian HSR will be built once the maintenance costs of the track ballast are critical to the choice between a track ballast or slab track.

A proposta desse estudo foi avaliar in vitro a alteração de cor e a rugosidade superficial de três marcas de resinas indiretas de nova geração, após serem submetidas ao processo de envelhecimento artificial acelerado. Foram confeccionados 12 corpos-de-prova (15 mm diâmetro e 2 mm espessura) para as resinas: Artglass (Heraeus Kulzer), Solidex (Shofu), Targis (Ivoclar Vivadent) que receberam acabamento e polimento com discos Sof-Lex - 3M. As primeiras mensurações para o teste de rugosidade e de espectrofotometria colorimétrica foram realizadas, respectivamente, com Rugosímetro Surfcorder SE 1700 (Kosakalab) e Espectrofotômetro PCB 6807 (BYK GARDNER), que utiliza a escala CIE L*a*b* para determinação da cor. As amostras foram submetidas ao processo de envelhecimento artificial acelerado por 384 horas, e após esse período foram novamente submetidas ao processo de leitura de cor e de rugosidade. A estabilidade de cor foi determinada pela diferença (&#916;E) entre coordenadas L*, a* e b* obtidas das amostras antes e após o envelhecimento. Os resultados foram submetidos à ANOVA (Tukey) e mostraram que todas as resinas apresentaram alterações de cor, sem significância estatística (p>0,05). A resina Solidex foi a que apresentou maior valor de alteração de cor (&#916;E = 4,31), e que apresentou um padrão de rugosidade (Ra= 0,079) estatisticamente diferente das resinas Art-Glass (Ra=0,141) e Targis (Ra=0,124) (p<0,001). Conclusão: Todas as resinas apresentaram alteração de cor e aumento de rugosidade após o envelhecimento artificial acelerado. A resina Solidex apresentou a maior alteração de cor e a menor rugosidade após o envelhecimento acelerado. / This study had the aim of assessing in vitro color change and surface roughness of three brands of new generation indirect resins, after being submitted to accelerated aging process. Twelve specimens were constructed (15 mm diameter and 2 mm width) for the resins: Artglass (Heraeus Kulzer), Solidex (Shofu), Targis (Ivoclar Vivadent) which were finished and polished with the disks Sof-Lex - 3M. The first measurements for the roughness and spectrophotometer colorimeter tests were performed, respectively, with the Surfcorder Profilometer SE 1700 (Kosakalab) and Spectrophotometer PCB 6807 (BYK GARDNER), which uses the scale CIE L*a*b* for color determination. The samples were submitted to the accelerated artificial aging process for 384 hours, and then submitted once again to the process of color and roughness reading. Color stability was determined by the difference (&#916;E) between coordinates L*, a*, and b* obtained from the samples before and after aging. The results were submitted to ANOVA (Tukey) and showed that all resins presented color changes with no statistical significance (p>0.05). Solidex resin showed the highest value of color change (&#916;E = 4.31), and a roughness pattern (Ra= 0.079) statistically different from the resins Art-Glass (Ra=0.141) and Targis (Ra=0.124) (p<0,001). Conclusion: All resins showed color change and an increase of roughness after artificial accelerated aging. Solidex resin showed the highest color change and the lowest roughness after accelerated aging.

A reação álcali-agregado é uma patologia do concreto conhecida há mais de 60 anos no meio técnico, e envolve os álcalis, provenientes em maior parte do cimento, e certos constituintes mineralógicos dos agregados. O produto desta reação é um gel higroscópico, que, em contato com a água, aumenta de volume consideravelmente. Os danos decorrentes da reação envolvem principalmente o desenvolvimento de um quadro de fissuração intenso, o que acarreta outras diversas manifestações patológicas, e movimentações de peças estruturais. Os relatos mais freqüentes de ocorrência da reação sempre foram em estruturas hidráulicas, tais como as barragens, em função do permanente contato com a água. Entretanto, nos últimos anos, diversos outros tipos de estruturas têm sido afetados, inclusive fundações de edificios, deixando o problema em evidência. O único modo de combater a reação é prevení-la através do uso de adições minerais, e para tal se faz necessário avaliar o agregado em questão, dispondo de um método de ensaio confiável. Este trabalho buscou analisar um dos métodos de ensaio mais utilizados no mundo todo para avaliar a reação álcali-agregado, a ASTM C 1260. Foram modificados alguns parâmetros de moldagem para verificar a influência destes nos resultados de expansão fornecidos pelo ensaio. Avaliaram-se os fatores: relação água/cimento, consistência da argamassa e forma do grão de agregado, e no total foram conduzidos 63 diferentes ensaios de expansão para analisar a influência destes fatores. Ensaios auxiliares foram realizados para justificar os resultados, e utilizou-se tratamento estatístico para verificação da validade dos mesmos. Foi observado que a forma de britagem do agregado, para posterior realização do ensaio, interfere diretamente nas condições de moldagem. E, o mais importante: isto resulta em expansões diferenciadas na idade de avaliação do agregado. Para evitar classificações errôneas de agregados através do uso da ASTM C 1260, uma norma usada em vários países, sugere-se que sejam fixados o maior número possível de parâmetros de moldagem. / The alkali-aggregate reaction 1s a concrete pathology known for more than 60 years, involving the alkalis (mostly from the cement), and some mineralogical components of the aggregates. The product o f this reaction is a hygroscopic gel that, in contact with water, has its volume greatly increased. The damage resulting from this reaction is mainly a situation of intense craking, which causes other pathological manifestations and movements of the structure. The most frequent reports o f this reaction have always been in hydraulic structures, such as dams, caused by the permanent contact with water. However, in the last few years, many other kinds of structures have been affected, including building foundations; which brought the problem to international evidence. The only way to prevent the expansion caused by the reaction is the use o f mineral admixtures as a substitute o f part o f the cement content, but first it is necessary to evaluate the aggregate in use, with a satisfactory test method. This work' s purpose is to analyze one o f the test methods commonly used throughout the world to evaluate the alkali-aggregate reaction, the ASTM C 1260. Some molding parameters have been modified so as to check their influence on the results of expansion obtained through this test. These factors have been evaluated: water/cement ratio, mortar consistency and shape of the aggregate particle. A total of 63 different tests of expansion were conducted to evaluate their influence. Additional tests were done so as to justify the results, and statistical analysis was used to validate the results. It was observe that the way the aggregate is crushed, for subsequent execution of the test, directly interferes in the conditions of molding. And, the most important: the way the aggregate is crushed results in different expansions and it is increased with the age of the evaluation of the test. To prevent a erroneous classification o f the aggregates through the use of ASTM C 1260, a standard used in many countries, it is suggested that test conditions should be better defined.

Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) often complain of a fading of new memories over days to weeks. This is particularly the case for patients with transient epileptic amnesia (TEA), a subtype of TLE. Objective memory testing sometimes corroborates this complaint, demonstrating normal or near-normal recall after standard delays (10-30 minutes), followed by a rapid decline in recall over longer delays (i.e. 1 week). This ‘nonstandard’ form of memory impairment has been termed accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF). It may reflect impairment of memory encoding, consolidation or retrieval. The aim of this thesis was to characterise the cognitive basis of ALF in TEA/TLE. The objectives were to: (a) determine the time scale of ALF of words (Chapter 3), (b) establish whether ALF affects picture recognition (Chapter 4), (c) establish whether ALF is affected by repeated retrieval (Chapter 2), number of learning trials (Chapter 5) and post-learning sensory stimulation (interference) (Chapter 5), (d) investigate ALF under incidental encoding conditions (Chapter 6), and (e) examine ALF associated with baclofen, a GABAB – receptor agonist (Chapter 7). A range of experimental paradigms and materials were applied to test memory function in several samples of TEA/TLE patients complaining of ALF and in healthy controls. The experiments revealed the following: ALF for word lists became apparent after 3–8 hours of daytime wakefulness, suggesting that disturbance of sleep related consolidation processes is not necessary for ALF to emerge in TEA. ALF for verbal information occurred both under incidental and intentional encoding conditions, and this rapid forgetting was not prevented by cued or recognition tests or by the matching of encoding conditions for patients and controls. This suggests that ALF is not associated primarily with an encoding or retrieval deficit. Although multiple learning trials and reduced sensory stimulation after learning reduced early forgetting (over 15-30 minutes) in TEA/TLE, neither factor reduced long-term forgetting. Moreover, in contrast to verbal recall, picture recognition was impoverished after minutes, but declined normally thereafter, demonstrating a subtle ‘early’ memory deficit in TEA, which might or might not be related to ALF. Overall, the present research suggests that ALF reflects a consolidation deficit, which results in accelerating forgetting the first few hours to days after memory acquisition, without a requirement for intervening sleep.

This work is focused on project management and methodology of implementation of the SAP AG company information systems. The aim is to create a distinctive, more beneficial methodology of medium-size software project management for a consulting firm. The author uses well-known rules and principals of the project management, which chooses and analyses according to the appropriateness of their use, particularly in the management of SAP projects. Their contribution demonstrates on the real project, whose leadership was the author delegated in the past. In this thesis the theory is continuously mingled with practice, where each rule is confronted with real situations. The core of information is, in addition to general rules, methodology Accelerated SAP of SAP AG company. The result of this work is a comprehensive set of rules and recommendations to facilitate the process of implementation of software to enhance work efficiency and meet the objectives of the project.

A síndrome da imunodeficiência adquirida é causada pelo vírus da imunodeficiência humana e é caracterizada por provocar depleção física e funcional do sistema imune do organismo, através da infecção citopática de células CD4+. Muitos fármacos anti-retrovirais tem sido desenvolvidos e estão disponíveis comercialmente. Para atuar no controle de qualidade de medicamentos deve-se continuamente estudar o desenvolvimento e a validação de novas metodologias para quantificação de fármacos, para serem aplicadas nos estudos de estabilidade de formulações farmacêuticas e na análise de produtos de degradação. Neste trabalho foram utilizadas duas técnicas analíticas, a espectrofotometria direta no UV/VIS e a cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência (CLAE), para a determinação quantitativa de zidovudina (AZT) e estavudina (d4T).em medicamentos. Ambos os métodos foram validados com relação à linearidade, exatidão, precisão, especificidade e limite de detecção e quantificação. O método validado para a CLAE foi também empregado para a determinação quantitativa da timina, produto de degradação do AZT e da d4T. A metodologia validada por CLAE foi utilizada na realização de estudos de estabilidade acelerada dos anti-retrovirais contidos nas diferentes preparações farmacêuticas. Realizou-se o estudo da estabilidade em três diferentes condições: temperatura ambiente, 40 oC / 75% UR e 50 oC / 90% UR. Tanto a zidovudina (Fabricante A) e estavudina (Fabricante B) apresentaram decaimento cinético de zero ordem com prazos de validade a 50 oC / 90% UR de 10, 3 e 2 meses, respectivamente. / The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is characterized by causing physical and functional depletion of the organism’s immune system, through the cytophatic infection of CD4+ cells. Several antiretroviral drugs has been developed and commercially made available. In order to assure the quality control of drugs it is necessary to develop and validate new analytical methodologies to perform the quantitative determination of drugs and stability studies of pharmaceutical formulations by determining the drug itself and its degradation products. In this research two analytical techniques, direct UV/VIS spectrophotometry and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), were used for the quantitative determination of zidovudine (AZT) and stavudine (d4T) in pharmaceutical preparations. Both methods were validated and parameters like linearity, precision, accuracy, specificity, limit of detection and limit of quantification, were determined. The validated HPLC method was also applied for quantitative determination of timine, a degradation product of AZT and d4T. The validated HPLC method was applied to accelerate stability studies of AZT and d4T in different pharmaceutical preparations. The stability studies were performed at three different conditions: room temperature, 40 oC / 75% RH and 50 oC / 90% RH. Both AZT and d4T (Industry A) and d4T (Industry B) pharmaceutical preparations presented a zero order degradation reaction. The three formulations presented a shelf-life of 10, 3 and 2 months, respectively, at 50 oC / 90% RH.

Neste trabalho estudou-se a influência da substituição de TiO2 por Ta2O5 nas propriedades estruturais e eletrocatalíticas do sistema RuO2/Ta2O5. Uma investigação sistemática das propriedades estruturais, morfológicas, eletroquímicas e eletrocatalíticas para a produção de O2 em meio ácido foi conduzida usando ânodos de composição nominal Ti/(x)RuO2(1 – x)Ta2O5 (x = 0,1; 0,3; 0,5; 0,8), preparados por decomposição térmica (450 e 500 oC por 1h sob fluxo de 5 L min-1 de O2) das misturas precursoras preparadas em isopropanol (Aldrich). Os sais de cloretos precursores foram (RuCl3.xH2O e TaCl5 – Aldrich). Análises da composição e da morfologia da camada de óxidos foram feitas antes e após os testes acelerados de vida (TAV), através das técnicas de EDX (Energia dispersiva de raios-X) e MEV (Microscopia eletrônica de varredura) respectivamente. A microscopia mostrou estrutura de “barro-rachado” para a maioria dos filmes. As análises de EDX evidenciaram uma redução do conteúdo do Ru após o TAV. Os dados sobre a estrutura foram obtidos por DRX (Difração de raios-X) e mostraram forma rutílica para o RuO2 e ortorrômbica para Ta2O5. Os voltamogramas cíclicos deste sistema em meio ácido (0,5 mol dm-3 de H2SO4) apresentaram as bandas características da dupla Ru(III) / Ru(IV). Em baixos sobrepotenciais, o coeficiente de Tafel, b, apresenta valores entre 40 mV e 60 mV. Os valores de resistência ôhmica (0,5 – 2,0 W) sugerem que a queda ôhmica do sistema pode ser atribuída principalmente à resistência da solução. A atividade eletrocatalítica apresentou uma forte dependência em relação ao conteúdo de RuO2 no filme, aumentando conforme o aumento da quantidade de RuO2 na composição. A estabilidade do sistema foi avaliada pelo TAV, utilizando eletrólise a corrente constante (750 mA cm-2 e T = 80 oC em solução de H2SO4 0,5 mol dm-3). As análises dos resultados mostraram uma relação entre o tempo de operação do eletrodo e a quantidade do componente ativo (RuO2). A substituição de titânio por tântalo (x = 0,5) apresentou uma melhora considerável (54%) no tempo de operação destes óxidos. Estes resultados apontam o sistema Ru/Ta como um recobrimento bastante promissor para operação em condições drásticas. / In this work it was investigated the structural and electrochemical properties of the RuO2/Ta2O5 system. A systematic investigation of structural, morphologic, electrochemical and eletrocatalytic properties for O2 evolution from acidic solutions was conducted using anodes of nominal composition Ti/(x)RuO2(1 + x) Ta2O5 (x = 0.1; 0.3; 0.5; 0.8), prepared from appropriate mol ratio by thermal decomposition (450 and 500 oC for 1 h under O2-flux of 5 L min-1) from alcoholic (isopropanol – Aldrich) solutions of the precursors mixtures (RuCl3.xH2O and TaCl5 - Aldrich). Analyses of the composition and the morphology of the oxide layer were investigated before and after accelerated life tests (ALT), through EDX techniques (Energy Dispersive X-rays) and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) respectively. SEM results showed typical mud-flat-cracking morphology for the majority of the films. EDX analyses even after total deactivation evidenced the reduction of the content of Ru in the coating. Structure data have been obtained by XRD (X-rays diffraction) and which showed the rutile-type struture for RuO2 and orthorhombic one for Ta2O5. Cyclic voltammograms of this system where registered in acidic solutions (0.5 mol dm-3 of H2SO4). The observed peak has been attributed to the solid-state redox transition of Ru(III)/Ru(IV). At low overpotentials, Tafel slope, b, ranges from 40 - 60 mV. The RW-values found (0.5 – 2.0 W), are in agreement with other RuO2-based oxide electrodes. This is a good evidence that the ohmic drop of the system can be attributed mainly to solution resistance. The eletrocatalytic activity shows a strong dependence with the RuO2 content in the film. The stability of the electrodes are evaluated by the ALT, performed at 0.5 mol dm-3 in aqueous H2SO4 (750 mA cm-2 and T = 80 oC). The results shows a straight relation between the ALT-values and the amount of active component (RuO2) presented in the coating. Changing TiO2 by Ta2O5 (x = 0.5) showed a considerable improvement (54%) in the ALT-values of these oxides. These results it is a good indication that Ru/Ta system might be a promising coating to operate under drastic conditions.

Column generation has during the last years been popular in vehicle scheduling as it for larger problems can find an optimum faster than using an ordinary mixed-integer programming (MIP) model. We study the problem of finding optimal schedules for electric buses by means of column generation. The motive for this approach is that when the size of the problem becomes very large in terms of variables and different solutions, solving it with a mixed- integer programming model can take a lot time. The purpose of this work is to investigate how the best found integral solution and the solution time vary between different column generation methods and how these methods perform compared to a MIP. This has been done by implementing these methods on a test problem for scheduling of electric buses. The results indicate that column generation methods can be very efficient in terms of time and best found integral solution for larger problems. A modified column generation method has been created in order to accelerate the generation of columns, which is better than standard column generation in terms of solution time and best found integral solution.

The purpose of this study was to determine if an association exists between reading methodologies and reading achievement as measured by the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) for sixth-grade students. The four reading methodology groups were: developmental reading, literature-based reading, Accelerated Reader program, and Accelerated Reader program with vocabulary study. The sample included 236 students in one middle school located in Northeast Tennessee during the 2004-2005 school year. Comparisons were made using TCAP criterion-referenced test reading/language arts scores, TCAP proficiency levels for content, meaning, and vocabulary categories for 2005, and pretest and posttest scores on the student assessment of reading. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings indicated significant differences in the reading methodology groups. The developmental group performed much lower than the other three groups. The literature-based group performed much higher than the other groups. Even when the analysis of the gain scores showed no statistical difference among groups, the literature-based group had the largest gain. The students in this study exceeded the state's annual goal of scoring 80% proficient or higher. The literature-based group and both Accelerated Reader groups exceeded the goal by achieving 90% on proficiency levels, whereas the developmental group failed to meet the state's goal in content and meaning but met the goal for vocabulary. Overall, the Accelerated Reader and Accelerated Reader with vocabulary groups were similar across all dependent variables.

A plethora of stressors are known to be related to the process of transition to professional nursing practice as the neophyte registered nurse (RN) transitions from student to professional nurse. Although not new, accelerated second-degree baccalaureate nursing (ASDBN) programs have opened in record numbers in recent years in the wake of the current nursing shortage. Little is known about the experience of professional practice for accelerated second-degree baccalaureate graduate nurses (ASDBGNs). The stressful graduate nurse transition, current nursing shortage, and lack of an empirical base for ASDBN programs illustrate the significance of the research problem. This modified grounded theory study generated a substantive Theory of Overcoming: ASDBGN Transition to Professional Nursing Practice. Constant comparative method of joint data collection, analysis, theoretical sampling, and memoing was used. Data were collected through semistructured interviews using open-ended questions that were conducted over the telephone or in person. The identified basic social process (BSP), overcoming, encompasses 5 stages: reality check, goaling, getting started, coming out on top, and mastering. Study findings provide a beginning evidence-base for nursing education, policy, and clinical practice related to this growing student population.