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To define the profile of the Brazilian physical therapy researcher in terms of training, productive outcomes, and grants and fellowships awarded by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), an agency linked to the Ministry of Science and Technology and dedicated to promoting scientifi c research and developing human resources for research in Brazil. Methods: We assessed the online curricula vitae of every Ph.D. physical therapy researcher available in the Lattes database (CNPq). This public source of information was chosen because it is where every Brazilian researcher interested in grants and fellowships or involved with graduate education must fill out an electronic curriculum vitae providing detailed career and academic productivity information. To ensure the precision of information provided, a password and a formal statement are required for the researcher to feed the database. General statistics on financial support available in the CNPq homepage were also consulted. A binary regression was run to investigate the influence of career and general productivity aspects on the publication of ISI/JCR indexed papers. Results: In the past ten years, there was an extraordinary increase (900%) in physical therapists with a Ph.D. in traditional and new fields of practice. There was also an increase in publications, dissertations and theses supervised by physical therapists. The variables investigated by the regression analysis explained 49.8% of the occurrence of indexed papers. Statistics on grants and fellowship showed a small investment by CNPq in physical therapy compared to other allied health areas. Conclusions: We expect that the information provided here will help the academic community to gain a perspective on their identity and to define future priorities for the furtherance of knowledge and professional practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes a PhD-project that is currently under completion at Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, Building Physics Group. The general problem addressed in this project is the integration of building simulation tools and building design. This problem has been narrowed down to computational support for one specific type of building design decision: the selection and integration of one or more energy saving building components like solar walls, advanced glazing systems, sunspaces and photovoltaic arrays into a given building design.The paper provides an overview of the main research efforts that were carried out during the research [Computational Support for the Selection of Energy Saving Building Components, PhD thesis (in preparation), Building Physics Group, Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology, 2004]. Based on results and on views that have been described in earlier publications (e.g. [Beter ontwerp door gebouwprestatie-simulatie? in: Proceedings of the Third IBPSA-NVL Conference, Petten, The Netherlands, December 2001]), the paper then will identify relevant, challenging issues for future research in the area of integration of building simulation tools into the building design process. Specific attention will be paid to issues related to the use of different categories of tools (simulation tools as well as other instruments) for the development of new, energy-efficient building design concepts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper discusses the formation of a common will among a group of people from two separate points of view: that of social choice theory and that of discourse ethics. The paper evaluates the formation of a common will by "silent" mechanisms for aggregating individual wishes and preferences, traditionally the domain of social choice theory, from a procedural perspective. I will consider--and answer in the negative--the question of whether or not there exists a mechanism for aggregating individual preferences that is perfectly reflective--in the sense that it can be applied recursively in order to justify or legitimate its own application. I will then consider discourse ethics from a consequentialist standpoint--rather than the traditional, process-oriented perspective from which it usually advanced and defended--and show that its insistence on dialogue as a means for the formation of a common will is based on underlying assumptions about the nature of preferences--such as the discussability of tastes and the malleability of time scales--which run counter to the view of preferences normally associated with standard economic theory. I conclude that, although neither approach to the formation of a common will fares well by the standards normally used to justify the other, proponents of either approach have much to learn from a dialogue with proponents of the other. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Student attrition from distance and limited-residency doctoral programs is significantly higher than that from traditional programs. The focus of this paper is the development and application of a survey instrument, the Doctoral Student Connectedness Scale, designed to identify students at risk of dropout. The study focused exclusively on students currently working on their dissertations with results indicating that low feelings of student-to-student and student-to-faculty connectedness in the learning environment may be predictive of departure from the program. This study supports the work of Lovitts (2001) and others who have also recognized connectedness as an integral part of the dissertation experience. Recommendations are made for addressing these issues through various initiatives that administrators, faculty, and students can support including the design and development of a doctoral student community of practice (CoP). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]