Conference: 16th International Conference, CAAD Futures 2015 - "The next city". São Paulo, Brazil, July 8-10, 2015, At São Paulo, Brazil., Volume: Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures. The Next City - New Technologies and the Future of the Built Environment ( Communications in Computer and Information Science, Volume 527 - 2015) / The present paper is a mapping study of digital fabrication laboratories in Latin America. It presents and discusses results from a survey with 31 universities’ fab labs, studios and independent initiatives in Latin America. The objective of this study is fourfold: firstly, to draw the cultural, social and economic context of implementation of digital fabrication laboratories in the region; secondly, to synthesize relevant data from correlations between organizational structures, facilities and technologies, activities, types of prototypes, uses and areas of application; thirdly, to draw a network of people and institutions, recovering connections and the genealogy of these fab labs; and fourthly, to present some fab labs that are intertwined with local questions. The results obtained indicate a complex “homo faber” network of initiatives that embraces academic investigations, architectural developments, industry applications, artistic propositions and actions in social processes.

This dissertation presents the results of an experiment that measured the learning outcomes associated with three different pedagogical approaches to introductory physics labs. These three pedagogical approaches presented students with the same apparatus and covered the same physics content, but used different lab manuals to guide students through distinct cognitive processes in conducting their laboratory investigations. We administered post-tests containing multiple-choice conceptual questions and free-response quantitative problems one week after students completed these laboratory investigations. In addition, we collected data from the laboratory practical exam taken by students at the end of the semester. Using these data sets, we compared the learning outcomes for the three curricula in three dimensions of ability: conceptual understanding, quantitative problem-solving skill, and laboratory skills. Our three pedagogical approaches are as follows. Guided labs lead students through their investigations via a combination of Socratic-style questioning and direct instruction, while students record their data and answers to written questions in the manual during the experiment. Traditional labs provide detailed written instructions, which students follow to complete the lab objectives. Open labs provide students with a set of apparatus and a question to be answered, and leave students to devise and execute an experiment to answer the question. In general, we find that students performing Guided labs perform better on some conceptual assessment items, and that students performing Open labs perform significantly better on experimental tasks. Combining a classical test theory analysis of post-test results with in-lab classroom observations allows us to identify individual components of the laboratory manuals and investigations that are likely to have influenced the observed differences in learning outcomes associated with the different pedagogical approaches. Due to the novel nature of this research and the large number of item-level results we produced, we recommend additional research to determine the reproducibility of our results. Analyzing the data with item response theory yields additional information about the performance of our students on both conceptual questions and quantitative problems. We find that performing lab activities on a topic does lead to better-than-expected performance on some conceptual questions regardless of pedagogical approach, but that this acquired conceptual understanding is strongly context-dependent. The results also suggest that a single “Newtonian reasoning ability" is inadequate to explain student response patterns to items from the Force Concept Inventory. We develop a framework for applying polytomous item response theory to the analysis of quantitative free-response problems and for analyzing how features of student solutions are influenced by problem-solving ability. Patterns in how students at different abilities approach our post-test problems are revealed, and we find hints as to how features of a free-response problem influence its item parameters. The item-response theory framework we develop provides a foundation for future development of quantitative free-response research instruments. Chapter 1 of the dissertation presents a brief history of physics education research and motivates the present study. Chapter 2 describes our experimental methodology and discusses the treatments applied to students and the instruments used to measure their learning. Chapter 3 provides an introduction to the statistical and analytical methods used in our data analysis. Chapter 4 presents the full data set, analyzed using both classical test theory and item response theory. Chapter 5 contains a discussion of the implications of our results and a data-driven analysis of our experimental methods. Chapter 6 describes the importance of this work to the field and discusses the relevance of our research to curriculum development and to future work in physics education research.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The progressive development of scintillator detectors has made it possible to perform direct electronic lifetime determination up to a few hundred nanoseconds. The 2" by 2" LaBr3:Ce detectors provide a combination of excellent time resolution and good energy resolution. Recently a fast timing array has been commissioned at iThemba LABS, Cape Town consisting of eight 2" by 2" LaBr3:Ce detectors. Test measurements using radioactive sources produced at the laboratory were conducted. Six 2" by 2" LaBr3:Ce detectors were coupled to the AFRODITE array as their rst in-beam experiment. AFRODITE consisted of eight HPGe clover detectors as well as two 3.5" x 8" LaBr3:Ce detectors. A particle telescope was used to select the desired reaction channels. The reactions of interest 45Sc(p,d)44Sc and 45Sc(p, )42Ca were carried out at a beam energy of 27 MeV. The current analysis also investigates the rare earth nucleus 150Gd which was populated through 150Sm( ,4n)150Gd at a beam energy of 48 MeV.

Cyberlearning has the ability to connect learners from diverse settings to educational resources regardless of the learners' proximities to traditional classroom environments. Prior research has shown that hybrid learning systems more effectively improve student learning than do either traditional or cyberlearning approaches used individually. The Online Watershed Learning System (OWLS) is an interactive cyberlearning system for use in hybrid education. It serves as the end user interface of the Learning Enhanced Watershed Assessment System (LEWAS), a watershed monitoring system for use in research and education. The LEWAS/OWLS has been integrated into 26 courses. Within the theoretical framework of situated learning, the OWLS uses data and imagery to situate users at the LEWAS site. The current research has the dual goals of developing the OWLS and evaluating its effectiveness within a hybrid learning environment as part of watershed monitoring education. Within goal 1, HTML5, CSS and JavaScript code (11,112 lines) were used to achieve platform independence, and student and faculty feedback suggests a hierarchy of cyberlearning interface features, where anywhere/anytime access is the most important class of features for these users followed by real-time data visualization, system background information and how-to-use information in descending order. For students at the community college freshmen, university senior and graduate levels, goal 2 investigated how much the OWLS increases student learning of environmental monitoring topics and motivates them to study these topics. For this goal, use of the LEWAS/OWLS increased learning and motivation for most students with the caveats that the these gains were not always statistically significant and that these gains may be caused by use of the LEWAS in general rather than by the OWLS component of it. Additional studies are needed to resolve these issues. Additionally, a pilot test of anonymous user tracking (11,231 page views) showed how it can be used to obtain general information about which groups of users are accessing a cyberlearning system, how they are accessing it, and how navigation through the system can be improved to better match user goals. The full results and their limitations are included along with areas for future work. / Ph. D.

A pressão pela publicação e divulgação de mais dados governamentais produzidos pelos governos tem contribuído não só para aprimoramento dos níveis de transparência pública, mas também como forma de potencializar o desenvolvimento de serviços públicos digitais por meio de novas plataformas TIC. Em São Paulo, a criação de um ambiente de inovação, pautado pela criação de ferramentas e soluções digitais do tipo, desenvolvidas através da coparticipação entre o governo municipal e demais partes interessadas, se baseou essencialmente na utilização de dados abertos de transporte e mobilidade urbana. Dessa forma, nasceu o MobiLab, um laboratório vivo (living lab), pautado pela copartipação de setor público, empresas, universidades e demais potenciais usuários que juntos, passaram a direcionar seus esforços para a criação de soluções digitais voltadas para solucionar problemas de locomoção presentes hoje no cotidiano do município de São Paulo. Esta dissertação, portanto, buscou lançar um olhar para o MobiLab, de modo a poder realizar um estudo de caso que contemplasse as questões envolvendo a utilização de dados governamentais abertos, a partir da utilização de um living lab, o MobiLab, como catalisador de diferentes oportunidades e desafios que governos, empresas e a sociedade podem enfrentar engajadas no uso de novas tecnologias criadas a partir do uso de dados abertos. Como forma de melhor analisar as atividades realizadas no MobiLab, a pesquisa realizou um estudo de caso junto à startups participantes de um programa de residência, onde foi possível acompanhar parte do processo de criação de aplicativos digitais e a percepção dos usuários do laboratório a respeito da utilização de um ambiente de inovação tecnológica, caracterizado pelo uso de dados abertos e a forma como ele incide no desenvolvimento das soluções propostas / The pressure for the publication and dissemination of more government-produced government data has contributed not only to improved levels of public transparency, but also as a way of leveraging the development of digital public services through new ICT platforms. In São Paulo, the creation of an innovative environment, based on the creation of digital tools and solutions of the kind, developed through the co-participation between the municipal government and other interested parties, based on the use of open transport data and urban mobility. MobiLab was born, a living lab, based on the co-participation of the public sector, companies, universities and other potential users, who together began to direct their efforts towards the creation of digital solutions aimed at solving problems of Urban mobility present today in the daily life of the municipality of São Paulo. This dissertation, therefore, sought to look at MobiLab, as a case study that contemplated the issues involving the use of open government data, focused on urban mobility, and guided by the use of a living lab, the MobiLab, as a catalyst for different opportunities and challenges that governments, startups and society may face while using new technologies created from the use of open government data. As a way to better analyze the activities developed at MobiLab, the research carried out a case study with startups participants of a residence program, where it was possible to follow part of the creation process of the applications and the perception of the users regarding the use of an environment of technological innovation, based on the use of open data and the way in which it focuses on the development of the proposed solutions

A pressão pela publicação e divulgação de mais dados governamentais produzidos pelos governos tem contribuído não só para aprimoramento dos níveis de transparência pública, mas também como forma de potencializar o desenvolvimento de serviços públicos digitais por meio de novas plataformas TIC. Em São Paulo, a criação de um ambiente de inovação, pautado pela criação de ferramentas e soluções digitais do tipo, desenvolvidas através da coparticipação entre o governo municipal e demais partes interessadas, se baseou essencialmente na utilização de dados abertos de transporte e mobilidade urbana. Dessa forma, nasceu o MobiLab, um laboratório vivo (living lab), pautado pela copartipação de setor público, empresas, universidades e demais potenciais usuários que juntos, passaram a direcionar seus esforços para a criação de soluções digitais voltadas para solucionar problemas de locomoção presentes hoje no cotidiano do município de São Paulo. Esta dissertação, portanto, buscou lançar um olhar para o MobiLab, de modo a poder realizar um estudo de caso que contemplasse as questões envolvendo a utilização de dados governamentais abertos, a partir da utilização de um living lab, o MobiLab, como catalisador de diferentes oportunidades e desafios que governos, empresas e a sociedade podem enfrentar engajadas no uso de novas tecnologias criadas a partir do uso de dados abertos. Como forma de melhor analisar as atividades realizadas no MobiLab, a pesquisa realizou um estudo de caso junto à startups participantes de um programa de residência, onde foi possível acompanhar parte do processo de criação de aplicativos digitais e a percepção dos usuários do laboratório a respeito da utilização de um ambiente de inovação tecnológica, caracterizado pelo uso de dados abertos e a forma como ele incide no desenvolvimento das soluções propostas / The pressure for the publication and dissemination of more government-produced government data has contributed not only to improved levels of public transparency, but also as a way of leveraging the development of digital public services through new ICT platforms. In São Paulo, the creation of an innovative environment, based on the creation of digital tools and solutions of the kind, developed through the co-participation between the municipal government and other interested parties, based on the use of open transport data and urban mobility. MobiLab was born, a living lab, based on the co-participation of the public sector, companies, universities and other potential users, who together began to direct their efforts towards the creation of digital solutions aimed at solving problems of Urban mobility present today in the daily life of the municipality of São Paulo. This dissertation, therefore, sought to look at MobiLab, as a case study that contemplated the issues involving the use of open government data, focused on urban mobility, and guided by the use of a living lab, the MobiLab, as a catalyst for different opportunities and challenges that governments, startups and society may face while using new technologies created from the use of open government data. As a way to better analyze the activities developed at MobiLab, the research carried out a case study with startups participants of a residence program, where it was possible to follow part of the creation process of the applications and the perception of the users regarding the use of an environment of technological innovation, based on the use of open data and the way in which it focuses on the development of the proposed solutions

No description available.

Este trabalho consiste na elaboração de um conjunto de sistemas eletro-eletrônicos. aplicados principalmente na área de ótica, com a finalidade de se criar recursos tais que possibilitem a realização de experimentos com maior facilidade. confiabilidade e versatilidade. Ele está dividido em 2 partes principais. A primeira apresenta a construção de um sistema completo para acionamento de um laser de Argônio/Criptônio incluindo fonte de alimentação e cavidade ressonante com a utilização de um tubo importado. A segunda consta de um sistema de aquisição de dados baseado em um microcomputador da linha IBM-PC/XT-AT com um modulo para aquisição de pulsos rápidos, placa de interface para o microcomputador e software de controle. / This work describes the development of a electric-electronically system applied principally in the Optics area. Its purpose is to create the means such that experiments can be realized with greater facility, reliability and versatility. It is divided into two parts. The first introduces the construction of an Argon/Krypton laser system its power supply and the resonance cavity, with the use of an import tube. The second consists of a data acquisition system, based on an IBM-PC/XT-AT microcomputer, with a module for fast pulse acquisition, an interface board to the microcomputer and control software.

Over 110,000 known methamphetamine (meth) clandestine labs were reported in the U.S. from 1999 to 2008. The production of meth is regarded as a national epidemic, and can lead to substantial contamination of indoor materials. Due to its chemical and physical properties, meth residual can persist on indoor surfaces and in indoor air for prolonged periods. Unfortunately, most remediation techniques lack strong scientific support and cleanup standards are inconsistent across different states. A better understanding of the mechanistic interactions between meth and indoor environment can help improve remediation strategies and the development of regulations. In this study, equilibrium partitioning coefficients (Ke) between a meth surrogate and wall materials were estimated based on laboratory experiments. The resulting Ke values were then used in a screening model to predict meth decay rates from wall materials and indoor air. The effects of ventilation and indoor air mixing on meth off gassing were explored. / text

Este trabalho consiste na elaboração de um conjunto de sistemas eletro-eletrônicos. aplicados principalmente na área de ótica, com a finalidade de se criar recursos tais que possibilitem a realização de experimentos com maior facilidade. confiabilidade e versatilidade. Ele está dividido em 2 partes principais. A primeira apresenta a construção de um sistema completo para acionamento de um laser de Argônio/Criptônio incluindo fonte de alimentação e cavidade ressonante com a utilização de um tubo importado. A segunda consta de um sistema de aquisição de dados baseado em um microcomputador da linha IBM-PC/XT-AT com um modulo para aquisição de pulsos rápidos, placa de interface para o microcomputador e software de controle. / This work describes the development of a electric-electronically system applied principally in the Optics area. Its purpose is to create the means such that experiments can be realized with greater facility, reliability and versatility. It is divided into two parts. The first introduces the construction of an Argon/Krypton laser system its power supply and the resonance cavity, with the use of an import tube. The second consists of a data acquisition system, based on an IBM-PC/XT-AT microcomputer, with a module for fast pulse acquisition, an interface board to the microcomputer and control software.