Nas últimas duas décadas a teoria dos sistemas eletrônicos correlacionados teve enorme progresso, que sustentou o paralelo desenvolvimento da pesquisa experimental dos sistemas de férmions pesados. Dada a complexidade do problema proposto pelas correlações fortes, diversas técnicas complementares de cálculo foram desenvolvidas no período. O presente plano se propõe a explorar uma extensão de uma das mais antigas, a técnica do grupo de renormalização numérico (GRN), tratando perturbativamente o modelo de Kondo para uma impureza magnética em um hospedeiro metálico. É bem conhecido que a expansão perturbativa de propriedades físicas, como a susceptibilidade, em termos do acoplamento de troca diverge logaritmicamente próxima da temperatura de Kondo. A abordagem do GRN para isto considera a transformação discreta, T[HN] = HN+1, onde {HN} é uma seqüência de Hamiltonianos. Neste trabalho, para regularizar a expansão da susceptibilidade, usamos um procedimento alternativo considerando a transformação contínua análoga, T&#948z[HN(z)] = HN(z+&#948z), onde z é um parâmetro arbitrário que generaliza a discretização logarítmica do GRN. Ao contrário do procedimento de Wilson, nós esperamos que este novo procedimento possa ser mais facilmente aplicável a Hamiltonianos mais complexos, complementando a diagonalização numérica. / In the last two decades the theory of electronic correlated systems has had an enormous progress, which has sustained the parallel development of the experimental research in heavy fermion systems. Given the complexity imposed by the strong correlations, several techniques appeared. The present work explores an extension of one of the oldest, the Numerical Renormalization Group (NRG), treating perturbatively the Kondo model for a magnetic impurity in a metallic host. It is well known that perturbative expansion of physical properties, like susceptibility, in terms of the exchange coupling diverges logarithmically near the Kondo temperature. The NRG approach for this consider the discrete transformation, T[HN] = HN+1, where {HN}, is a sequence of Hamiltonians. In this work we use an alternative procedure to regularize the expansion, using an analogous continuum transformation T&#948z[HN(z)] = HN(z+&#948z), where z is an arbitrary parameter which generalizes the NRG logarithmic discretization. Unlike Wilson\'s procedure, we hope this new one can be easily applicable to more complex Hamiltonians, complementing the numerical diagonalization.

Este estudo teve como objetivo central identificar quais fatores locacionais influenciaram a tomada de decisão de expandir os investimentos da atividade vitivinícola por parte dos empresários atuantes na Serra Gaúcha - principal pólo vitivinícola do país. Observou-se um movimento de expansão territorial da atividade vitivinícola para novas regiões do Rio Grande do Sul (Serra do Sudeste e Campanha) e para o Vale do São Francisco (Bahia e Pernambuco), regiões em que, anteriormente, não havia a prática de tal cultura. As informações da presente pesquisa foram obtidas através de entrevista direta, orientada por um questionário, com representantes das vinícolas. A abrangência da pesquisa foi de 73,3% da população alvo e foi realizada nos meses de dezembro/2005 no Rio Grande do Sul e janeiro/2006 no Vale do São Francisco. Os dados das entrevistas foram tratados com aplicação da estatística descritiva, pois grande parte das perguntas foi de ordem qualitativa. A hipótese que circunda este estudo é de que na agroindústria, as variáveis que envolvem a matéria-prima (qualidade, local de fornecimento) são os principais fatores que influenciam a tomada de decisão do sítio de produção. Como referencial teórico, associou-se as teorias relacionadas aos fatores locacionais com a teoria de Bowersox (1978). Através da pesquisa, pode-se verificar que a atividade vitivinícola brasileira mostrou estar condicionada à distribuição espacial dos recursos produtivos, destacando-se os fatores edafoclimáticos, qualidade da matéria-prima, fator comportamental do empresário e disponibilidade de terras. A pesquisa revelou que as empresas estão preocupadas com a qualidade final do produto (vinho), a qual é otimizada pela qualidade da matéria-prima (uva) que, por sua vez, depende das condições edafoclimáticas da região produtiva. Tal preocupação e/ou necessidade provocou esta expansão geográfica da atividade para a Serra do Sudeste e Campanha (no estado do Rio Grande do Sul) e no Vale do São Francisco. Esta última região também se mostrou alvo de investimentos estrangeiros e tornou-se (e ainda se torna) atrativa por apresentar excelentes condições edafoclimáticas, capacidade de duas safras por ano e produção constante no decorrer do ano, além de instalações processadoras de menor porte. / The purpose of this work is to identify which locational variables influenced the decision made by producers from the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), main viticulturist state in Brasil, to expand investments on the wine industry. There was a movement of territorial expansion of wine production to new regions in RS (Serra do Sudeste and Campanha) and to Vale do São Francisco, in the states of Bahia and Pernambuco, regions in which he grape agriculture hadrit started yet. The direct-interview with viticulturists was the main source of information used by this work. This research embraced 73,3% of the producers investing in those new regions, and it was conducted during December/2005, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, and January/2006, in Vale do São Francisco. Descriptive statistic has been applied to summarize the data obtained with the interviews, due to qualitative variables representing most of the questions. The main hypothesis of this work suggests that in the agroindustry, variables involving raw material (quality, supplier) are the main factors in making the decision as to production area. A review of Bowersox Theory (1978) associated with the theory of locational factors was employed as theoretical referential. As for results, it was possible to validate that Brazilian viticulture was conditioned to the place distribution of productive resources, standing out the following factors: edaphoclimatics, raw material quality, manager behavior and land availability. Thus, the research revealed that companies have been concerned regarding the quality of the final product (wine), which is optimized through raw material quality (grape) that depends on edaphoclimatic conditions of the productive area. Indeed, the need to achieve a higher level of quality forced the viticulture to expand its production area to Serra do Sudeste and Campanha (RS) and Vale do São Francisco, which has recently turned into an attractive area to foreign investment, because of its excellent edaphoclimatic conditions, two harvests a year, continuous output year round and a small agroindustry.

As the aviation industry expands, consuming oil reserves, generating carbon dioxide gas and adding to environmental concerns, there is an increasing need for drag reduction technology. The ability to maintain a laminar flow promises significant reductions in drag, with economic and environmental benefits. Whilst development of flow control technology has gained interest, few studies investigate the impacts that uncertainty, in flow properties, can have on flow stability. Inclusion of uncertainty, inherent in all physical systems, facilitates a more realistic analysis, and is therefore central to this research. To this end, we study the stability of stochastic shear flows, and adopt a framework based upon the Wiener Chaos expansion for efficient numerical computations. We explore the stability of stochastic Poiseuille, Couette and Blasius boundary layer type base flows, presenting stochastic results for both the modal and non modal problem, contrasting with the deterministic case and identifying the responsible flow characteristics. From a numerical perspective we show that the Wiener Chaos expansion offers a highly efficient framework for the study of relatively low dimensional stochastic flow problems, whilst Monte Carlo methods remain superior in higher dimensions. Further, we demonstrate that a Gaussian auto-covariance provides a suitable model for the stochasticity present in typical wind tunnel tests, at least in the case of a Blasius boundary layer. From a physical perspective we demonstrate that it is neither the number of inflection points in a defect, nor the input variance attributed to a defect, that influences the variance in stability characteristics for Poiseuille flow, but the shape/symmetry of the defect. Conversely, we show the symmetry of defects to be less important in the case of the Blasius boundary layer, where we find that defects which increase curvature in the vicinity of the critical point generally reduce stability. In addition, we show that defects which enhance gradients in the outer regions of a boundary layer can excite centre modes with the potential to significantly impact neutral curves. Such effects can lead to the development of an additional lobe at lower wave-numbers, can be related to jet flows, and can significantly reduce the critical Reynolds number.

The aim of the thesis is to describe and analyze the potential in a new and foreign market and the market we chose to define is Lebanon. We want to see if there is any potential for Swedish fashion companies to establish there and what kind of problems and barriers the companies could bump into if they decide to expand their operations to Lebanon.The theories that the study is based on are Push & Pull, The Uppsala-model, the Internationalization model, international market environments and the entry modes.Lebanon is a potential market for Swedish fashion companies. It is a market with a big consumer group that likes to spend money on fashion. Since Sweden is famous for fashion that comes with both good quality and price, it would profit them if they entered the Lebanese market. Companies should travel to Lebanon and experience the market and the potential there by themselves, before they enter it. It is important that companies which are in the starting hole to expand to a newmarket collect as much information as possible about it before establishing there to be able to succeed. / Program: Magisterutbildning i Fashion Management

The purpose of this thesis is to compare five different ranking algorithms for query expansion. The algorithms compared are f4, f4mod, porter, wpq, and emim. This is done using a TREC collection, a selection of topics, and relevance judgements. Relative recall is measured before and after the expansion of the query. The study shows that all of the algorithms manage to increase the relative recall, f4 being the one most successful. / Uppsatsnivå: D

Thesis (Sc.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 1979. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND SCIENCE. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 120-126. / by John Edward Blendell. / Sc.D.

This thesis asks how neoliberal enclavisation produces precarity. It focuses on eight months of fieldwork on large-scale dispossession of rural and peri-urban populations caused by the coal mining enclave in Tete, Mozambique, and my interpretation of Judith Butler's work on precarity, Henri Lefebvre's conceptualisation of the production of capitalist social space and Jacque Ranciere's understanding of politics. Bringing theory and empirical research together, I construct an original theoretical approach to explore how precarity as a condition of life, as well as the (im)possibility of politics, is constituted by contemporary capitalist expansion in Mozambique. I explore how precarity is produced through the interplay of structural, symbolic and direct violence of contemporary capitalist expansion, such as the coal mining enclave and resettlement sites inhabited by the dispossessed populations, in Tete. These processes of precarisation, I argue, result in the non-politics of abandonment that, whilst enabling life to be lived on precarious terms at the margins of the neoliberal mining enclave, does not openly challenge and only unwillingly reinforces the socio-material order of the neoliberal enclave. I demonstrate how this dynamic reconstitutes the precarity created by the violence of the neoliberal enclave and overshadows possibly different and progressively anti-neoliberal imaginaries of life and space in Tete. I conclude that these dynamics of precarity disactivate the possibility of transformative politics, and thus sustain and stabilise global capitalist expansion in Tete, and Mozambique more broadly. This reading of precarity makes several contributions to the literatures on the politics of precarity. It explores the condition of precarity outside the usual empirical and analytical focus of labour relations in the Global North, as well as developing a spatial reading of precarity. The thesis also challenges these, as well as broader literatures on agency in the context of structural inequalities and opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa, for overestimating possibilities of resistance in situations characterised by extreme precarity. Finally, the thesis contributes to the literature on contemporary neoliberal capitalist expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa by demonstrating how neoliberal enclaves result in human suffering outside of their own exclusionary spaces of accumulation.

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is a neurodegenerative disorder that is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. The most common FRDA mutation is hyperexpansion of a GAA triplet repeat sequence in the first intron of the affected gene, frataxin (FXN), resulting in decreased frataxin protein expression. The hyperexpanded GAA repeats can adopt unusual DNA structures and induce aberrant epigenetic changes leading to heterochromatin mediated gene silencing. Several epigenetic changes, including increased levels of DNA methylation, histone modifications, repressive chromatin formation and elevated levels of non-coding RNA have been reported in FRDA. It has been reported that a novel FXN antisense transcript (FAST-1), is present at higher levels in FRDA patient-derived fibroblasts and its overexpression is associated with the depletion of CTCF, a chromatin insulator protein, and heterochromatin formation involving the critical +1 nucleosome. Previously, characteristics of FAST-1 were investigated in our lab and a full-length FAST-1 transcript containing a poly (A) tail was identified. To investigate any possible effects of FAST-1 on FXN expression, I first overexpressed this FAST-1 transcript in three different non-FRDA cell lines and a consistent decrease of FXN expression was observed in each cell type compared to control cells. I also identified that FAST-1 copy number is positively correlated with increased FAST-1 expression, which in turn is negatively correlated with FXN expression in FAST-1 overexpressing cells. Additionally, we found that FAST-1 overexpression is associated with increased levels of DNA methylation at CpG sites U6 and U11 of the FXN upstream GAA repeat region, together with CTCF depletion and heterochromatin formation at the 5'UTR of the FXN gene. To further investigate the role of FAST-1 in FXN gene silencing, I used a small hairpin RNA (shRNA) strategy to knock down FAST-1 expression in FRDA fibroblast cells. I found that knocking down FAST-1 increases FXN expression, but not to the level of control cells. Lastly, I investigated the pattern of FAST-1 expression and histone modifications at the FXN transgene in our new FRDA mouse model, designated YG8LR. The YG8LR mice showed decreased levels of FXN expression and H3K9ac and increased levels of FAST-1 expression and H3K9me3. Our data suggest that since FAST-1 is associated with FXN gene silencing, inhibition of FAST-1 may be an approach for FRDA therapy.

The aim of the diploma thesis was to describe the conditions of entry Holidays Czech Airlines the Icelandic market, specifically the establishing of direct air service from Prague to Keflavik. The thesis is divided into six chapters, which are devoted to both theoretical expectations for companies entering foreign markets, and practical sections. The general reasons which lead a company to expansion and the associated risks are described in the first chapter as well as the macroeconomic analysis of the market, the PESTEL analysis, which I used to analyze the Icelandic market. The second chapter discusses the various forms of entry the foreign markets and compares their advantages and shortcomings. The third chapter was related to the specific cooperation of airlines. The practical part of the thesis introduces companies HCA and IEX, focuses primarily on the evaluation of HCA Company based on the SWOT analysis. The following chapter is devoted to cooperation of mentioned companies. The final chapter evaluates the Icelandic market using the above mentioned PESTEL analysis.

Shareholder investments declined in Jordanian pharmaceutical business expansion between 2007 and 2014, which included a reduction in the supply of essential medicines in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore effective applications of expansion strategies to satisfy demand in the MENA markets among Jordanian generic pharmaceutical companies' managers. The conceptual framework for this study was based on the transformational leadership theory and stakeholders' theory. The purposive sample consisted of 4 chief executive officers and 8 managers from Jordanian pharmaceutical companies who practiced the expansion strategy in the MENA for more than 10 years. The data were triangulated from semi structured interviews and cash flow financial statements. Interpretation summaries of the participants' answers were applied for the member-checking process to bolster the trustworthiness of interpretations. Four themes emerged from the analysis process: leaders' adaptability to change, financial capacity and stability, stakeholders' business awareness, and managers' engagements and knowledge. The findings may provide the generic pharmaceutical business leaders and managers with increased growth capabilities for catalyzing beneficial positive capacity expansion strategies. The subsequent expansion could provide adequate, affordable, and accessible medications for effecting social changes by fighting disease in remote and low-income MENA communities.