Adaptação e sensibilidade ao contexto andam juntos em diferentes tipos de aplicações. A sensibilidade ao contexto não necessariamente implica em adaptação, mas para que um sistema sensível ao contexto possa guiar uma adaptação efetiva, precisa acompanhar a ocorrência de determinados eventos no sistema e reagir de forma adequada a estes eventos. Este caráter adaptativo tem sido buscado em sistemas Web, de forma a se comportarem de maneira personalizada em atendimento às necessidades particulares do usuário. Dentre uma diversidade de sistemas Web que se propõem a apresentar como diferencial caráter sensível ao contexto do usuário, este trabalho estuda um domínio de aplicação específico: os sistemas de educação adaptativos baseados na Web. Este domínio se mostra crítico, pois necessita ser personalizado tendo em vista um usuário não comum e com uma série de particularidades que devem ser levadas em conta: o aluno. O objetivo principal deste trabalho é apresentar uma solução para o problema da adaptação de ações sensíveis às situações vivenciadas por alunos em um sistema de educação adaptativo baseado na Web. Este problema engloba diversas questões que são atualmente foco de pesquisa em áreas relacionadas à sensibilidade ao contexto, entre elas: (i) as formas de obtenção dos dados relativos ao contexto do aluno; (ii) a análise dos diferentes grupos e modelos de contexto que descrevem a situação em si, vivenciada pelo aluno no momento atual; (iii) as formas de avaliação e relacionamento dos dados de contexto do aluno, de forma a permitir inferência de sua situação atual. Para este fim, foi desenvolvida uma solução capaz de auxiliar o funcionamento de sistemas de educação adaptativos, de forma a apresentarem caráter reativo à situação vivenciada pelo aluno. A solução desenvolvida consiste de um módulo de sensibilidade à situação, construído com o objetivo de analisar as diversas particularidades existentes no cotidiano atual do aluno, se mantendo útil a ele independentemente do seu local atual, do dispositivo computacional utilizado e da tarefa em curso, respeitando as características individuais do aluno. De acordo com a situação detectada, ações de adaptação são fornecidas à mídia adaptativa, com intuito de prover uma experiência educacional voltada às necessidades reais do aluno. Ao final, o funcionamento da solução proposta foi simulado em conjunto a um ambiente de ensino real, de forma a verificar sua aplicabilidade prática. / Adaptation and context awareness walk together in different kinds of applications. Context awareness doesn’t imply necessarily in adaptation, but an adaptive system in order to guide an effective adaptation need to be aware about the occurrence of specific events and properly react to them. This adaptive character has been looked in web systems, in order to behave in a personalized way in attending the particular needs of the user. Among a variety of web systems that propose to present a context aware character, this work presents a case study in a specific application domain: web-based adaptive educational systems. This area is critical because the system needs to be customized in order to attend a not common user, with a variety of particularities that should be taken into account: the student. The main objective of this work is to present a solution to the problem of adaptation of situation-aware actions lived by students in a web-based adaptive educational system. This problem involves several issues that are currently focus of research in areas related with context-awareness, like: (i) the ways of obtaining student’s context data, which often lead to uncertain and ambiguous analysis (ii) the analysis of different groups and context models that describe the situation itself, experienced by the student at the present time, (iii) the ways of evaluating and correlating student’s context data, to allow the inference of their current situation. To this end, we developed a solution capable to assist the functioning of adaptive educational systems; in order to present a reactive character to the situations lived by the student. The solution consists on situation-aware module which aiming at evaluating the several particularities of the student’s actual routine to remain useful to him, regardless of his current location, the computing device used, day of week and the ongoing task, respecting the individual characteristics of the student. According to the detected situation, adaptive actions are presented to the adaptive hypermedia, aiming at providing a better educational experience to the student. At the end of this work, the solution developed is tested with a real e-learning environment to verify its practical appliance.

Este estudo transversal teve o objetivo de investigar o conhecimento de adolescentes de diferentes contextos sobre os seus próprios direitos. Participaram do estudo 101 adolescentes, com idades entre 12 e 17 anos (M=14,18; SD=1,09), sendo 68,3% do sexo feminino e 31,7% do sexo masculino. Os adolescentes foram agrupados por contextos: o G1 composto por aqueles que residem com suas famílias e freqüentam escolas públicas (45,5%), o G2, por jovens que vivem com suas famílias e estudam em escolas particulares (32,7%) e o G3 de adolescentes que moram em abrigos (21,8%). Foram aplicados um questionário para levantamento de dados biosociodemográficos, um sobre o conhecimento em direitos e um inventário de auto-relato sobre a situação de direitos. Houve diferença entre os contextos em relação a alguns dos direitos investigados. Os participantes que relataram perceber mais direitos não respeitados foram os não-brancos e cujos pais apresentavam escolaridade mais baixa, resultado que ressalta o legado de exclusão étnico-racial presente no país. Foi encontrada diferença significativa em relação à presença/ausência de conhecimento dos direitos, por sexo, idade, nível socioeconômico, grupo e vínculo com a família. Os direitos mais conhecidos foram: inclusão, participação, expressão, educação, lazer e proteção contra a violência e o trabalho. Já os direitos menos conhecidos foram: respeito, tratamento diferenciado do adulto quando em conflito com a lei, proteção contra o trabalho doméstico, liberdade de reunião e associação e de buscar orientação. Os resultados indicam que o macrossistema e o microssistema estão relacionados à visão dos adolescentes sobre seus direitos. Apontam, ainda, à necessidade de intervenções, enfatizando valores, os direitos menos reconhecidos e deveres da população infanto-juvenil. / This crossectional study aimed to investigate adolescents' knowledge, of different contexts, on their own rights. 101 adolescents, aged from 12 to 17 years old (M=14,18; SD=1,09), 68,3% female and 31,7% male were grouped by context: G1 - adolescents who live with their families and attend public schools (45,5%), G2 - those who live with their families and attende private school (32,7%) and G3 - those who live in shelters (21,8%). A biosociodemographic and knowledge of rights questionnaires and to a self report on adolescents' rights were administered. There was difference among the contexts regarding certain rights investigated. More not respected rights were found among no-white participants and those whose parents presented lower education level, result that emphasizes the historical legacy of present ethnic-racial exclusion in Brazil. The results revealed statistically significant sex, age, socioeconomic status, group and family links differences what refers to the knowledge of rights. The knownest rights were: inclusion, participation, expression, education, leisure and protection against the violence and the work. The less known rights were: respect, adult's differentiated treatment when in conflict with the law, the protection against the domestic work, the freedom of reunion/association and concerning searching for orientation. Results indicate that the macrossistem and the microssistem are associated with the adolescents' perception of their own rights. The results highlight the need for interventions, emphasizing values, recognition of rights and duties of the child-juvenile population.

Esta dissertação busca o entendimento sobre o papel que o Ensino de Design possui no Brasil, frente à nova abordagem do mercado de bens de consumo, onde a inspiração da origem criativa se tornou mais importante que o local da manufatura. A importância que o simbólico um produto traz em si, de ligar ou estabelecer um status de origem. É neste cenário que se buscará, na origem e na evolução do Ensino do Design no Brasil, evidenciar uma atividade profissional que evoluiu junto com a atividade industrial. Traça-se um paralelo evolutivo com o uso e com os ensinamentos de métodos clássicos e de outras áreas técnicas, diante da necessidade de começar a se formar o contexto brasileiro como um fator criativo no desenvolvimento de Projetos de Produto, a partir da visão acadêmica, propondo um método que tenha em sua estrutura de desenvolvimento a utilização da contextualização da linguagem brasileira como inspiração criativa em projetos de produtos de design. / In search of understanding the role that design education in Brazil represents, towards to the new approach in the market of consumption goods, where the source of creative inspiration has became more important than the place of manufacture. The importance of what symbolic a product can represent in itself can connect or establish the source's status. It is in this scenario where will be the lookout in the origin and growth of the design education in Brazil, presenting a professional activity which had grown next to the industry and evolves along with the use of foreign methods and other technical areas, facing the need to form a Brazilian context as a creative factor for the development of projects of the product from the academic perspective, proposing a method based on structure development using the context of the Brazilian language and creative inspiration in projects designed products.

A fosforilação da histona 3 na serina 10 (H3S10) e a acetilação da histona 3 lisina 14 (H3K14) tem sido relacionadas com a formação da memória em paradigmas de medo condicionado. Estudos demonstram que o exercício é capaz de melhorar o desempenho em testes de memória além de modular marcadores epigenéticos. O objetivo desse estudo foi investigar o efeito de um protocolo de corrida em esteira (20min/dia durante 2 semanas) sobre os níveis de acetilação da H3K14 e de fosforilação da H3S10 em hipocampo de ratos expostos ou não expostos a um contexto de aprendizado.Ratos Wistar de 3 meses de idade foram submetidos a um protocolo de exercício crônico (grupo exercitado) ou submetidos a esteira desligada (grupo sedentário) e após parte dos animais foram expostos a um contexto de aprendizado (esquiva inibitória). Os animais foram eutanasiados por decapitação e os níveis da fosforilação da serina 10 e da acetilação da lisina 14 na histona 3 (H3 foram avaliados em hipocampos. A ANOVA de duas vias mostrou um efeito significativo dos fatores “contexto de aprendizado” e “exercício” nos níveis de acetilação da H3K14, assim como uma interação entre esses fatores. Houve uma diminuição nos níveis de acetilação 24h após o treino da esquiva inibitória (30 minutos após o teste) no hipocampo do grupo submetido ao contexto de aprendizado. Além disso, o exercício crônico aumentou os níveis de acetilação no hipocampo dos ratos expostos ao contexto de aprendizado. Os níveis de fosforilação da H3S10 não foram alterados pelo contexto de aprendizado nem pelo exercício. Nossos dados apoiam a hipótese de que a modulação da acetilação na H3K14 em hipocampo de ratos pode estar relacionada,pelo menos em parte, aos efeitos do exercício sobre memória aversiva. / The phosphorylation of histone H3 at serine 10 (H3S106) and acetylation of histone 3 at lysine 14 (H3K14) have been linked to memory processes in fear conditioning paradigms. Some studies demonstrated that exercise was able to improve the performance in memory tasks and modulate epigenetic markers. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of treadmill exercise protocol (20min/day during 2 weeks) on H3K14 acetylation and H3S10 phosphorylation levels in hippocampi from rats exposed or not exposed to learning context. Wistar rats with 3-months-old were submitted to chronic exercise protocol (exercised group) or left on the treadmill turned off (sedentary group) and after it, some animal were exposed to learning context (inhibitory avoidance). Rats were euthanized by decapitation and the levels of serine 10 phosphorylation and lysine 14 acetylation on histone 3 (H3) were evaluated in hippocampi. Two-way ANOVA showed a significant effect of “learning context” and “exercise factors” on acetylation levels of H3K14, as well as an interaction between these factors. There was a decrease in acetylation levels twenty four hours after inhibitory avoidance training (30 minutes after test), in hippocampus from exposed to learning context groups. Besides, the chronic exercise increased acetylation levels in hippocampi from rats exposed to learning context. The H3S10 phosphorylation levels were not altered by of learning context and exercise. Our data support the hypothesis that the modulation on acetylation levels of H3K14 acetylation in hippocampus might be related, at least partially, to exercise effects on aversive memory.

A situaÃÃo crÃtica na qual vive grande parte das crianÃas da capital cearense â sujeitas a todo tipo de violÃncia â falta de moradia, educaÃÃo precÃria, trabalho precoce, abuso sexual, prostituiÃÃo, alcoolismo, drogas, pais desempregados, constitui-se numa das expressÃes mais consistentes de uma sociedade agonizante. Esta investigaÃÃo de natureza qualitativa objetivou compreender qual o impacto da violÃncia no psiquismo de crianÃas inseridas desde cedo num contexto sÃcio-econÃmico de misÃria. Participaram da pesquisa 27 sujeitos de 5 a 12 anos, de ambos os sexos, moradores da favela Verdes Mares, localizada na zona leste de Fortaleza. AtravÃs de um olhar clÃnico, amparado em uma das tÃcnicas de anÃlise de conteÃdo â anÃlise temÃtica, onde foram privilegiadas as entrevistas abertas, a utilizaÃÃo de jogos, encenaÃÃes teatrais, assim como tÃcnicas projetivas (desenhos), emergiram aspectos latentes significativos acerca da estruturaÃÃo psÃquica das crianÃas. Tais aspectos confirmaram a hipÃtese inicial de que o psiquismo dessas crianÃas està sendo estruturado de forma desarmÃnica e que uma âfratura psÃquicaâ pode ser cogitada, termo que sinaliza um descompasso entre os campos noÃtico e afetivo do desenvolvimento. / The critical situation in which the greater part of the capital of CearÃ‟s children live â subject to every form of violence â homelessness, precarious educations, child labor, sexual abuse, prostitution, alcoholism, drug abuse, unemployed parents, constitute in one of the most consistent expressions, a dying society. This qualitative investigation aims at understanding the impact of violence upon the psyche of children subjected to it from an early age in a socioeconomic environment of poverty. Twenty-seven subjects from 5 to 12 years of age, of both sexes, residents of Verdes Mares (Green Seas) slum, located in an area east of the city of Fortaleza, participated in the study. From a clinical point of view, aided by one the techniques of content analysis â thematic analysis, where open interviews, games, theatrical enactment as well as projective techniques (drawings) were conducted, and through which significant latent aspects emerged concerning the children‟s psychic structuring. These aspects confirmed the initial hypothesis that these children‟s psyches are being disharmoniously structured and that a âpsychic fratureâ might result, an expression that signals a misstep in the noetic and affective areas of development.

Abstract In this thesis, we will study very small full trios and full AFLs inside the family of context-free languages. Especially, we are interested in the existence of the smallest nontrivial full trios and full AFLs. This is an old research subject, and it has not been studied much since the 1970s. A conjecture by Autebert et al. states that there does not exist a nontrivial minimal full trio inside the family of context-free languages (2) (see also (1)). First, we will show that there does not exist a nontrivial minimal full trio or a nontrivial minimal full AFL with respect to the bounded context-free languages. This result solves another old conjecture stated by Autebert et al. (1). Then we will try to generalize our result to also concern unbounded context-free languages. We will make some progress, but the problem still remains open.

This thesis argues that the concept of spatial proximity offers a viable and practical option for the development of context-aware systems for highly mobile and dynamic environments. Such systems would overcome the shortcomings experienced by today’s location-based and infrastructure dependent systems whose ability to deliver context-awareness is prescribed by their infrastructure. The proposed architecture will also allow for scalable interaction as against the single level of interaction in existing systems which limits services to a particular sized area. The thesis examines the concept of spatial proximity and demonstrates how this concept can be exploited to take advantage of technological convergence to offer mobility and scalability to systems. It discusses the design of a proximity-based system that can deliver scalable context-aware services in highly mobile and dynamic environments. It explores the practical application of this novel design in a proximity-sensitive messaging application by creating a proof-of-concept prototype. The proof-of-concept prototype is used to evaluate the design as well as to elicit user views and expectations about a proximity-based approach. Together these provide a valuable insight into the applicability of the proximity-based approach for designing context-aware systems. The design and development work discussed in the thesis presents a Proximity-Sensitive System Architecture that can be adapted for a variety of proximity-sensitive services. This is illustrated by means of examples, including a variety of context-aware messaging applications. The thesis also raises issues for information delivery, resource sharing, and human-computer interaction. While the technological solution (proximity-based messaging) offered is only one among several that can be developed using this architecture, it offers the opportunity to stimulate ideas in the relatively new field of proximity and technological convergence research, and contributes to a better understanding of their potential role in offering context-aware services.

Applications that can change their behaviour based on the user’s contextual appearance are called context-aware applications. Applications developed for smart phones, which carry a multitude of different sensors, and actuators have gained a huge penetration within the market. Frequent usage of mobile applications such as home automation, friend finder, car accident notification and tracking etc; have seen an increased growth from the user’s perspective. However, for such applications, it is necessary to have knowledge of the performance and cost parameters, which directly affect the QoE of the application users.  This thesis investigates possible context aware behaviours in real time situations and measures the Quality of Experience (QoE) as well as identifying the Packet Delay Variation (PDV). The background and some state-of-the-art technologies are studied, and based on these studies, three scenarios are designed and implemented and based on their QoE, results and conclusions are presented, with the  results obtained  shown by means of   graphical representations of the QoE and PDV values.

Background: Children continue to experience pain in hospital. Few studies examine pediatric pain management in the rural context. Objectives: 1) To explore nurses’ experiences providing pain care to pediatric inpatients in Northern Ontario. 2) To identify institutional resources to support nurses’ pain care practices. Method: Across methods approach. Study I used qualitative description completed with 10 nurses using semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Study II was an exploratory descriptive online survey using a study-specific questionnaire that was completed by 8 hospital administrators. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and narrative synthesis was used for open-ended questions. Findings: Pediatric pain management presents challenges in Northern Ontario, including competing priorities, gaps in pain knowledge, unclear policies, and resource constraints. Potential facilitators include nurses’ motivation to improve pain management, leveraging local resources, and an increase in context specific standards. Conclusion: Context specific strategies need to be designed and implemented to support nurses’ practices in delivering recommended pediatric pain management to their patients.

Mobile devices with Internet access and large amounts of sensors, pushes the development of intelligent services towards new forms of pervasive applications. These applications are made context-aware by utilizing information from sensors and hence the context of a situation, in order to provide a better service. Based on this, the focus of this thesis is on the challenge of creating context awareness in mobile applications. That both utilizes dynamic context information from globally available sensors and provides adaptive views of relevant context information to applications. The first challenge is to identify the properties of an architecture that provides scalable access to information from global sensors within bounded time, because existing systems do not support these properties in a satisfactory manner. The majority of related systems employ a centralized approach with limited support for global sensor information due to poor scalability. Therefore, this thesis proposes a distributed architecture capable of exchanging context between users and entities on a peer-to-peer overlay. Pervasive applications can thus utilize global sensor information in a scalable and manageable way within predictable time bounds. The second challenge to support continually changing and evolving context information, while providing it as both adaptive and manageable views to applications. To address this particular problem, this thesis proposes the usage of a locally stored evolving context object called a context schema. In detail, this schema contains all context information that is considered as being relevant for a specific user or entity. Furthermore, this thesis proposes an application interface that can provide snapshots of the evolving context schemas as adaptive views. These views can then be used in context-aware mobile applications, without inducing unnecessary delays. By successfully addressing the challenges, this thesis enables the creation of pervasive and adaptive applications that utilize evolving context in mobile environments. These capabilities are made possible by enabling access to global sensor information based on a distributed context exchange overlay, in combination with evolving context schemas offered as views through an application interface. In support of these claims, this thesis has developed numerous proof-of-concept applications and prototypes to verify the approach. Hence, this thesis concludes that the proposed approach with evolving context information has the ability to scale in a satisfactory manner and also has the ability to dynamically offer relevant views to applications in a manageable way. / MediaSense