Suchergebnisse

The present paper aims to investigate the incentives posed by the legal regimen that regulates the civil service in several Latin American countries. The case of Brazil is studied most closely. One of the main features of this system is the existence of broad tenure guarantees which directly affect the way incentives are offered to public officials. The paper discusses the origins and the importance of the tenure system to the administrative state, constitutional democracy and the rule of law in these countries and presents six objectively designed proposals to realign the incentives to which civil servants are subject to without, at least for now, dismantling the tenure system.

O escopo do presente trabalho reside em verificar se, em momentos de grave crise econômica, as medidas de austeridade que restrinjam direitos fundamentais, especialmente os de cunho social, podem ser consideradas constitucionalmente válidas, à luz do pragmatismo jurídico e da realidade fática e econômica em que são editadas. Para tanto, investigaremos se princípios como isonomia e vedação ao retrocesso podem ser considerados impeditivos a essas restrições, bem como buscaremos oferecer parâmetros para a análise da validade jurídica de tais medidas. A partir dessa moldura, pretendemos demonstrar que, embora haja margem para a conformação do direito pela realidade, as ações de enfrentamento a crises econômicas não podem ser consideradas espaços ajurídicos, devendo ser permeadas por valores caros ao ordenamento, sobretudo a dignidade da pessoa humana e a democracia participativa. Por fim, pretendemos trazer balizas para contextos em que, diante da gravidade do cenário de crise, o mínimo existencial não possa ser resguardado, visando a seu restabelecimento ou, ao menos, ao não agravamento da situação de escassez.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop a lexicon for 3-D hand gestures for common human–computer interaction (HCI) tasks by considering usability and effort ratings. Background: Recent technologies create an opportunity for developing a free-form 3-D hand gesture lexicon for HCI. Method: Subjects ( N = 30) with prior experience using 2-D gestures on touch screens performed 3-D gestures of their choice for 34 common HCI tasks and rated their gestures on preference, match, ease, and effort. Videos of the 1,300 generated gestures were analyzed for gesture popularity, order, and response times. Gesture hand postures were rated by the authors on biomechanical risk and fatigue. Results: A final task gesture set is proposed based primarily on subjective ratings and hand posture risk. The different dimensions used for evaluating task gestures were not highly correlated and, therefore, measured different properties of the task–gesture match. Application: A method is proposed for generating a user-developed 3-D gesture lexicon for common HCIs that involves subjective ratings and a posture risk rating for minimizing arm and hand fatigue.

Objective: The objective was to evaluate the effects of vertical key spacing on a conventional computer keyboard on typing speed, percentage error, usability, forearm muscle activity, and wrist posture for both females with small fingers and males with large fingers. Background: Part 1 evaluated primarily horizontal key spacing and found that for male typists with large fingers, productivity and usability were similar for spacings of 17, 18, and 19 mm but were reduced for spacings of 16 mm. Few other key spacing studies are available, and the international standards that specify the spacing between keys on a keyboard have been mainly guided by design convention. Method: Experienced female typists ( n = 26) with small fingers (middle finger length ≤ 7.71 cm or finger breadth of ≤ 1.93 cm) and male typists ( n = 26) with large fingers (middle finger length ≥ 8.37 cm or finger breadth of ≥ 2.24 cm) typed on five keyboards that differed primarily in vertical key spacing (17 × 18, 17 × 17, 17 × 16, 17 × 15.5, and 18 × 16 mm) while typing speed, error, fatigue, preference, forearm muscle activity, and wrist posture were recorded. Results Productivity and usability ratings were significantly worse for the keyboard with 15.5 mm vertical spacing compared to the other keyboards for both groups. There were few significant differences on usability ratings between the other keyboards. Reducing vertical key spacing, from 18 to 17 to 16 mm, had no significant effect on productivity or usability. Conclusions: The findings support the design of keyboards with vertical key spacings of 16, 17, or 18 mm. Applications: These findings may influence keyboard design and standards.

Esse estudo avaliou o nível de comer intuitivo e os fatores associados em universitários brasileiros durante a pandemia do COVID-19. Trata-se de um estudo observacional transversal realizado via formulário on-line com estudantes de graduação de uma universidade federal do sudeste brasileiro. Foi aplicado o instrumento Intuitive Eating Scale 2 (IES-2). Participaram 876 estudantes, a maioria do sexo feminino (n=647; 73,9%). Morar sozinho (OR=0,356; IC=0,176-0,719; p=0,004), apresentar sobrepeso/obesidade (OR=0,414; IC=0,261-0,656; p0,001) e comer motivado por "controle de peso" (OR=0,457; IC=0,337-0,618; p0,001) ou "controle de emoções" (OR=0,178; IC=0,129-0,245; p0,001) reduziram as chances de uma alimentação mais intuitiva. As motivações por "preferências" (OR=1,565; IC=1,037-2,364; p=0,033), "necessidade e fome" (OR=1,875; IC=1,227-2,865; p=0,004), por "saúde" (OR=1,464; IC=1,011-2,119; p=0,044) e "questões naturais" (OR=1,461; IC=1,086-1,964; p=0,012), favoreceram uma alimentação mais intuitiva. Entender essas associações pode auxiliar no rastreamento de comportamentos alimentares desordenados e estabelecimento de estratégias pautadas em uma alimentação intuitiva, principalmente no contexto de pandemia atual.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of key gap (distance between edges of keys) on computer keyboards on typing speed, percentage error, preference, and usability. Background: In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, a small key pitch (center-to-center distance between keys) was found to reduce productivity and usability, but the findings were confounded by gap. In this study, key gap was varied while holding key pitch constant. Method: Participants ( N = 25) typed on six keyboards, which differed in gap between keys (1, 3, or 5 mm) and pitch (16 or 17 mm; distance between centers of keys), while typing speed, accuracy, usability, and preference were measured. Results: There was no statistical interaction between gap and pitch. Accuracy was better for keyboards with a gap of 5 mm compared to a 1-mm gap ( p = .04). Net typing speed ( p = .02), accuracy ( p = .002), and most usability measures were better for keyboards with a pitch of 17 mm compared to a 16-mm pitch. Conclusions: The study findings support keyboard designs with a gap between keys of 5 mm over 1 mm and a key pitch of 17 mm over 16 mm. Applications: These findings may influence keyboard standards and design, especially the design of small keyboards used with portable devices, such as tablets and laptops.

Objective: In this study, we evaluated the effects of key spacing on a conventional computer keyboard on typing speed, percentage error, usability, and forearm muscle activity and wrist posture. Background: International standards that specify the spacing between keys on a keyboard have been guided primarily by design convention because few studies have evaluated the effects of key spacing on productivity, usability, and biomechanical factors. Method: Experienced male typists ( N = 37) with large fingers (middle finger length ≥ 8.7 cm or finger breadth of ≥ 2.3 cm) typed on five keyboards that differed only in horizontal and vertical key spacing (19 × 19 mm, 18 × 19 mm, 17 × 19 mm, 16 × 19 mm, and 17 × 17 mm) while typing speed, percentage error, fatigue, preference, extensor carpi ulnaris and flexor carpi ulnaris muscle activity, and wrist extension and ulnar deviation were recorded. Results: Productivity and usability ratings were significantly worse for the keyboard with spacing of 16 × 19 mm compared with the other keyboards. Differences on these measures between the other keyboards were not significant. Muscle activity tended to increase in the left forearm and decrease in the right with decreasing horizontal key spacing. There was also a trend for left wrist extension to increase and left ulnar deviation to decrease with decreasing horizontal key spacing. Reducing vertical key spacing from 19 to 17 mm had no significant effect on productivity or usability ratings. Conclusions: The study findings support key spacing on a computer keyboard between 17 and 19 mm in both vertical and horizontal directions. Applications: These findings may influence keyboard standards and the design of keyboards.

The rupture of the Brumadinho mining tailings dam in Brazil is considered one of the largest mining disasters in the world, resulting in 244 deaths and 26 missing people, in addition to the environmental consequences. The present study aims to evaluate the concentrations of multiple elements and the biological effects on water and sediments of the Paraopeba River after the Brumadinho Dam rupture. The tailings are formed by fine particulate material with large amounts of Fe, Al, Mn, Ti, rare earth metals and toxic metals. In the water, the levels of Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd and U were higher than those allowed by Brazilian legislation. In the sediments, Cr, Ni, Cu and Cd levels were higher than the established sediment quality guidelines (TEL-NOAA). The differences in metal concentrations in the water and sediments between the upstream and downstream sides of the dam illustrate the effect of the tailings in the Paraopeba River. Toxicological tests demonstrated that the water and sediments were toxic to different trophic levels, from algae to microcrustaceans and fish. The fish exposed to water and sediments containing mine ore also accumulated metals in muscle tissue. This evaluation emphasizes the necessity of long-term monitoring in the affected area.