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A utilização de dados para a tomada de decisão sempre foi, em grande medida, adotada pelas corporações empresariais e, nas últimas décadas, pelas gestões das cidades. A elaboração do Plano Plurianual e demais Planos das diversas dimensões do desenvolvimento contam com os dados das diversas plataformas de dados setoriais do governo estadual e federal. Com recursos da Consulta Popular e acompanhamento da Secretaria Estadual de Inovação, Ciência e Tecnologia foi possível disponibilizar aos gestores municipais uma única plataforma onde é possível verificar 68 indicadores que traduzem a fotografia atual dos ODS – Objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável, dos indicadores que mostram o que é uma cidade inteligente (baseada na ISO 37.122) e os indicadores que mostram os capitais existentes nas cidades e que possibilitam a estruturação de redes que apoiam o desenvolvimento. Além dos indicadores oficiais, a plataforma disponibiliza dados de percepção dos cidadãos do COREDE SERRA. Foram mais de 1500 respondentes, que expuseram as suas percepções sobre aspectos de suas cidades nos três diferentes modelos: ODS, Cidades Inteligentes e Sistema de Capitais. Será possível olhar para cada cidade e compará-la com cidades vizinhas, com a região, com o estado do RS e com o país. Caso a cidade decida perseguir os indicadores da cidade mais bem colocada numa determinada variável, haverá possibilidade de criar estratégias para alcançar tais indicadores. Neste momento em que a UCS - Universidade de Caxias do Sul oferece o Observatório das Cidades aos gestores municipais, o COREDE SERRA sente-se honrado por ter possibilitado esta construção, no momento da escolha do projeto. Entende que os números em si são altamente relevantes para o planejamento do futuro que se deseja. Associar a análise dos dados a Pareceres do grupo de especialistas envolvidos com o Observatório demonstrará, de fato, a integração entre a UCS e o setor público buscando elevar, ainda mais, o compromisso com o desenvolvimento regional. O Observatório de Cidades agregará, no curto prazo, muitas possibilidades de apoio à construção de Planos de Desenvolvimento Locais estruturados e baseados no estado da arte. Nossa expectativa é que agentes públicos, instituições, cidadãos e o setor empresarial se apropriem das informações para que, em aliança, se busque qualificar as cidades para atendimento de uma sociedade em profunda transformação. Este relatório vem em complemento à Plataforma Web do Observatório de Cidades, trazendo uma versão resumida dos dados da região.

PurposeThe raised competitiveness among technology companies, especially for being able to work with markets physically distant from their final consumer, makes it important to know the employee’s perception about the built environment since the physical workspaces influence productivity. This paper aims to analyze the attributes and dimensions of the built environment of a development software company that most impact the employee’s satisfaction through their perception. It allows the company to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the built environment, enhancing the employee’s satisfaction, productivity and, consequently, the company revenues.Design/methodology/approachThis research applied a survey by the drop off method and analyzed data through confirmatory factor analysis and multiple linear regression. Therefore, these methods explain how the attributes behave in each theoretical dimension and evaluate the relation between the dependent and independent dimensions.FindingsThe theoretical result of this research concerns the employee’s satisfaction with the built environment of a software development company. Overall, employee satisfaction is related to the dimensions of functionality, appearance and personal relationships, not being significant aspects of configuration. On the other hand, the employee’s overall satisfaction with the built environment is related to the functional dimension.Research limitations/implicationsThis research limitation is related to the size of the sample, which is a pre-determined and fixed population: all the company’s employees.Originality/valuePerceived quality applied to a work environment of a software development company.

As tecnologias computacionais vem sendo introduzidas na pratica pedagogica com a finalidade de auxiliar no processo de construcao do saber. Assim, a utilizacao de uma ferramenta computacional no ambiente escolar requer analise sobre aspectos pedagogicos e da interacao do usuario com a ferramenta. Esse tipo de avaliacao torna-se relevante na analise de um Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizado (AVA), uma vez que dificuldades na interacao com o ambiente contribuem para o sentimento de frustracao e diminuicao de produtividade. Alem disso, pode levar o aluno a conclusoes equivocadas ou ate mesmo causar desinteresse pelas atividades desenvolvidas. Considerando esse contexto, o objetivo deste artigo foi analisar a utilizacao de um AVA por estudantes e professores da educacao basica. A metodologia aplicada foi de natureza qualitativa e de nivel exploratorio. A coleta de dados ocorreu por meio da observacao das interacoes dos usuarios com o AVA e sua analise foi guiada pelo framework DECIDE. Como resultado, percebeu-se que ha aceitabilidade do ambiente virtual pelo grupo de usuarios analisados, apesar dos diferentes niveis de utilizacao dos recursos disponiveis pela ferramenta. Adicionalmente, foram verificadas necessidades de melhorias a serem implementadas de modo a aprimorar a interacao educador-educando. Palavras-chave: Avaliacao de Software Educacional. Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem. Usuario Final.

One of the main challenges to improve the quality of Brazilian education is to promote reading and an understanding of what is read. This situation is more complex in Youth and Adult Education, which has focused on students who exhibited academic failure in mainstream classes or had not engaged in reading and writing for many years. In addition to adolescents, adults and elderly individuals have the same interests when they are in school; however, the identification of a way to engage these different audiences is a challenge. Thus, we propose reading newspapers online to generate an interest in reading, as well as determining how to select updated texts that are able to draw the attention of students. The findings indicated 100% of the students were satisfied with the activity. Nevertheless, when the times of reading performed in the Educational Computer Laboratory and classroom were compared, the evaluation that employed computer tools was far superior to the classroom. We conclude that although online newspaper reading is quite simple and easy to perform, it is an important tool capable of stimulating and developing the taste and habit of reading and is effective for different audiences. http://dx.doi.org/10.18226/23185279.v5iss2p51

O uso do conhecimento no desenvolvimento e crescimento estrategico das cidades proporciona diferentes formas de atuacao sobre situacoes que vivenciamos no dia a dia. Esse tipo de abordagem esta crescendo por causa dos continuos investimentos e pesquisas em Cidades Inteligentes e Cidades do Conhecimento. O seu principal objetivo e a criacao e manutencao de cidades que possuem alta capacidade de aprendizagem, geracao, compartilhamento, avaliacao, renovacao, atualizacao e gestao do conhecimento. Com o intuito de contribuir com a identificacao, avaliacao e desenvolvimento de Cidades do Conhecimento no Brasil, em 2014 na Universidade de Caxias do Sul criou-se um projeto que propos um modelo de gerenciamento de conhecimento baseado no Sistema de Capitais Generico. O presente trabalho buscou desenvolver uma aplicacao web com o objetivo de automatizar a entrada de dados e geracao de graficos e tabelas comparativas atraves do levantamento de casos de uso juntamente ao usuario chave. Os resultados obtidos com a aplicacao demonstraram que a mesma resolveu problemas que eram enfrentados pelo projeto, alem de automatizar tarefas que antes eram feitas de forma manual.

Promoters are DNA sequences located upstream of the transcription start site of genes. In bacteria, the RNA polymerase enzyme requires additional subunits, called sigma factors (σ) to begin specific gene transcription in distinct environmental conditions. Currently, promoter prediction still poses many challenges due to the characteristics of these sequences. In this paper, the nucleotide content of Escherichia coli promoter sequences, related to five alternative σ factors, was analyzed by a machine learning technique in order to provide profiles according to the σ factor which recognizes them. For this, the clustering technique was applied since it is a viable method for finding hidden patterns on a data set. As a result, 20 groups of sequences were formed, and, aided by the Weblogo tool, it was possible to determine sequence profiles. These found patterns should be considered for implementing computational prediction tools. In addition, evidence was found of an overlap between the functions of the genes regulated by different σ factors, suggesting that DNA structural properties are also essential parameters for further studies.

Bacterial Promoter Prediction (BacPP) is a tool used to predict given sequences as promoters of Gram-negative bacteria according to the σ factor that recognizes it. The first version of BacPP was implemented in Python language in a desktop version without a friendly interface. For this reason, a web version of BacPP is now available with the purpose of improving its usability and availability. The present paper describes the implementation of the web version of this tool, focusing on its software architecture and user functionalities. The software is available at www.bacpp.bioinfoucs.com/home.

Experiments in bioinformatics are based on protocols that employ different steps for data mining and data integration, collectively known as computational workflows. Considering the use of databases in the biomedical sciences software that is able to query multiple databases is desirable. Systems biology, which encompasses the design of interactomic networks to understand complex biological processes, can benefit from computational workflows. Unfortunately, the use of computational workflows in systems biology is still very limited, especially for applications associated with the study of disease. To address this limitation, we designed Dis2PPI, a workflow that integrates information retrieved from genetic disease databases and interactomes. Dis2PPI extracts protein names from a disease report and uses this information to mine protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. The data gathered from this mining can be used in systems biology analyses. To demonstrate the functionality of Dis2PPI for systems biology analyses, the authors mined information about xeroderma pigmentosum and Cockayne syndrome, two monogenic diseases that lead to skin cancer when the patients are exposed to sunlight and neurodegeneration.

A whole genome contains not only coding regions, but also non-coding regions. These are located between the end of a given coding region and the beginning of the following coding region. For this reason, the information about gene regulation process underlies in intergenic regions. There is no easy way to obtain intergenic regions from current available databases. IntergenicDB was developed to integrate data of intergenic regions and their gene related information from NCBI databases. The main goal of INTERGENICDB is to offer friendly database for intergenic sequences of bacterial genomes. Availability http://intergenicdb.bioinfoucs.com/

The physiological and molecular effects of tobacco smoke in adult humans and the development of cancer have been well described. In contrast, how tobacco smoke affects embryonic development remains poorly understood. Morphological studies of the fetuses of smoking pregnant women have shown various physical deformities induced by constant fetal exposure to tobacco components, especially nicotine. In addition, nicotine exposure decreases fetal body weight and bone/cartilage growth in addition to decreasing cranial diameter and tibia length. Unfortunately, the molecular pathways leading to these morphological anomalies are not completely understood. In this study, we applied interactome data mining tools and small compound interaction networks to elucidate possible molecular pathways associated with the effects of tobacco smoke components during embryonic development in pregnant female smokers. Our analysis showed a relationship between nicotine and 50 additional harmful substances involved in a variety of biological process that can cause abnormal proliferation, impaired cell differentiation, and increased oxidative stress. We also describe how nicotine can negatively affect retinoic acid signaling and cell differentiation through inhibition of retinoic acid receptors. In addition, nicotine causes a stress reaction and/or a pro-inflammatory response that inhibits the agonistic action of retinoic acid. Moreover, we show that the effect of cigarette smoke on the developing fetus could represent systemic and aggressive impacts in the short term, causing malformations during certain stages of development. Our work provides the first approach describing how different tobacco constituents affect a broad range of biological process in human embryonic development.