The purpose of this study was to investigate the practice of performance measurement systems (PMS) in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) operating in the service sector in Brunei Darussalam. A further aim was to find the drivers and barriers of PMS adoption for such companies. Quantitative and qualitative methods were applied in this research. Documentary data, questionnaires, and interviews were used to collect the data. 357 questionnaires were sent out to service SME and a total of 62 responses were received. 29 managers from four case study companies were interviewed and semi-structured questions were used during the interviews. The results from the questionnaires showed that 26 per cent of the sample practice advanced PMS, 16 per cent still use a traditional PMS and the rest use a balanced system. The results of the interviews showed two additional drivers and one additional barrier to those found in the literature review. Business process and external stakeholders were identified as the additional drivers of PMS adoption and the former was also identified as the additional factor that could block such adoption. The additional findings indicated that organizational strategy, appropriate management style and management experience and qualifications were the core factors that could either drive or block the adoption of PMS. The lack of a clear mission and vision influenced all the other blocking forces. At the same time, the existence of a clear policy, such as a mission and vision statement, influenced the other driving forces. Furthermore, exercising an appropriate management style which takes into account the current organizational culture of the company has a significant positive impact on the acceptance of performance measurement. The employment of a qualified and experienced management team that understands the concept of performance measurement is also valuable in ensuring that the design of the PMS is appropriate and the implementation successful. A practical framework based on the findings was created to overcome the key identified problems associated with PMS adoption. From these findings, the research results offer both useful and actionable implications for practitioners such as managers and external consultants involved in PMS, particularly in Brunei. Consideration was given to the breadth of the interviews and the use of other documentary data, as well as the limitations of the case study method employed in the research. This should ensure the findings will be useful for companies currently implementing PMS or those intending to in the future. Given the context of this research, the findings will predominantly be of use in developing countries.

Using isolation and noise immunity techniques, this thesis designs and constructs a low cost measurement system to safely and accurately measure high voltage, high frequency pulses in harsh EM environments. High voltage pulses apply to medical, plasma, and food industries. The difficulty of accurately measuring high voltage pulses continues to pose an issue. Measuring high voltage systems can cause damage to the system, the measurement system, and the user. High voltage and high frequency pulses create a harsh environment of electromagnetic fields that can disrupt the circuitry of the measurement system and harm the user. Implementing isolation from the high voltage system protects the measurement and user. An ideal pulse has sharp rising and falling edges, introduction high frequencies that prove difficult to sense and characterize. The measurement system requires a sufficiently large bandwidth to accurately measure the pulse edges. Commercial off the shelf pulse measurement systems such as oscilloscopes and multimeters cost thousands of dollars. Cheaper but simpler designs fail to provide isolation for safety. The measurement system in this thesis addresses all of these issues, allowing people to measure and characterize high voltage pulses. Technologies used in this measurement network include optocouplers, transimpedance amplifiers, and analog-to-digital converters. The development process describes design, simulations, characterizations, construction, testing, and troubleshooting. Simulations show expected operations of components and characterizations assist in determining performance parameters of the system. Testing involves performing a low voltage test and a high voltage test and identifying limitations of the design. Finally, this thesis suggests future work to improve performance and lower cost of the measurement system.

A critical and important part of the medical diagnosis is the montioring of the biopotential signals. Patients are always connected to a bulky and mains-powered instrument. This not only restricts the mobility of the patients but also bring discomfort to them. Meanwhile, the measureing time can not last long thus affecting the effects of the diagnosis. Therefore, there is a high demand for low-power and small size factor ambulatory biopotential measurement systems. In addtion, the system can be configured for different biopotential applications.The ultimate goal is to implement a system that is both invisible and comfortable. The systems not onlyincrease the quality of life, but also sharply decrease the cost of healthcare delivery. In this paper, a continuously tunable gain and bandwidth analog front-end for ambulatory biopotential measurement systems is presented. The front-end circuit is capable of amplifying and conditioning different biopsignals. To optimize the power consumption and simplify the system architecture, the front-end only adopts two-stage amplifiers. In addition, careful design of the critical transistors eliminates the need of chopping circuits. The front-end is pure analog without interference from digital parts like chopping and switch capacitor circuits. The chip is fabricated under SMIC 0.18 μm CMOS process. The input-referred noise of the system is only 1.19 μVrms (0.48-2000Hz).Although the power consumption is only 32.1 μW under 3V voltage supply, test results show that the chip can successfully extract biopotential signals.

In order for the benefits of a behavior management skills training program to reach clients, caregivers must use the behavior management skills in the natural environment. The current study took place at a large residential facility for adults with disabilities, in which caregivers had received prior training in which they demonstrated behavior management skills and maintained those skills in contrived role plays. The current study represents a preliminary analysis of generalization of these skills in the natural environment; thus, a measurement system for when caregivers should demonstrate the tools was developed. The specific purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a program to establish stimulus control over observers' measurement of appropriate behaviors. Researchers systematically developed and validated a measurement system of "good behaviors" that could be used across clients. The process of development and refinement of the measurement system is described. When the system was finalized, three observers' accuracy in using the system was assessed by comparing measured values to that of the code writer. Following feedback on individual instances of behavior, all observers scored the three target behaviors accurately. Ecological validity was assessed by surveying professionals at the facility and ecological validity results suggested a valid measurement system was developed.

A major method in object tracking systems and other inertial measurement devices resolves around the use of one, two, or three axis accelerometers. A leader in the field such devices is Microstrain Incorporated. They have developed a three axis accelerometer that uses a three axis magnetic sensor array to compute the pitch, roll, and yaw of a compact inertial measurement unit. In researching such devices, it became apparent that data collected using such units is extremely sensitive both to local magnetic fields and human interactions with the devices. It is therefore of great importance to ensure the device or devices are properly calibrated. In the construction of an effective calibration program, it is necessary to measure and zero out even minor discrepancies, as even small misalignments have deleterious effects on device performance.

No description available.

Existing thrust measurement systems (TMSs) at NASA Stennis Space Center use strain gauges and flux plates to measure forces produced by a test article. Alignment and calibration can take two weeks or more every time a piece of hardware or test article is changed. Cross axis loading is also problematic because it is impossible to perfectly align the flex plates and strain gauges in the thrust direction. In response to these problems, a magnetically levitated thrust measurement system has been proposed and a 300lb capacity demonstrator has been designed and built. In this design, the magnetic bearings work concurrently as support bearings and force measurement devices. The demonstrator consists of a floating frame that is completely levitated within a fixed frame by four support bearings carrying loads in the x- and y-direction and seven thrust bearings carrying loads in the z- or thrust direction. Joe Imlach of Imlach Consulting Engineering designed the demonstrator and magnetic bearing components, while Virginia Tech's role has been the application of the multipoint calibration technique including code development, the implementation of a 128-channel data acquisition system, and the overall test verification of the TMS demonstrator.A turnbuckle assembly and magnetostrictive actuator are used in series with a conventional load cell for static and dynamic testing, respectively. Both current based and flux based force equations were used to measure the reaction forces at the bearings. The static results using the current based equations including the current based fringing equations resulted in accuracies of 93% of full load, while the static results using the flux based equations including the flux based fringing equations resulted in accuracies of 99.5% of full load. These accuracies can be compared to accuracies of 83-90% seen in previous work using magnetic bearings to measure forces by monitoring currents and to accuracies of about 99% in previous work using magnetic bearings to measure forces by monitoring fluxes. All of the improved accuracies were made possible through the implementation of a calibration technique known as the multipoint method and the implementation of a gap dependent fringing correction factor developed by Joe Imlach. The demonstrator was not outfitted with accelerometers so the inertia of the floating frame could not be accounted for, limiting the scope of dynamic testing. However, the tests confirmed the ability of the demonstrator to measure dynamic loads in general. / Master of Science

The demands for greater capacity and lower transmitted power have historically motivated research in spatial diversity systems. Diversity techniques have been implemented in many current systems and have been shown to reduce the transmit power required to maintain acceptable system performance. Traditionally spatial diversity is based on the transmission and reception of a single stream of symbols through independent and spatially separated propagation channels. In more recent developments, space-time coding and array processing techniques use diversity concepts to resolve multiple independent streams of data and increase the potential data-rate. This new space-time research investigates the unprecedented ability to simultaneously transmit separate data streams from many closely-spaced antennas on a common carrier frequency. The effectiveness of these multi-element arrays in communication systems has been found to depend on antenna design and specific characteristics of the propagation channels. This thesis describes an effort to characterize an indoor office environment with respect to these applications. Theoretical analyses have demonstrated a relationship between the theoretical capacity of multi-element array systems with the cross-correlation of spatially separated channels. Historical measurements have also shown that in the presence of Rayleigh fading, antenna spacing may be used to control the level of correlation between propagation channels and maximize the diversity gain, or potential system capacity of a space-time system. Both the design of the antenna arrays and characteristics of the propagation environment influence a system's potential capacity. This thesis describes the construction of a measurement system and the use of this system to evaluate the capacity gains of multi-element arrays in a wireless communication system. The presented system is capable of measuring the channel gains between a number of transmitter and receiver antenna elements and calculating both the cross-correlation between channel gains and the theoretical system capacity. After a discussion of previous research, the measurement system and subsequent measurement results are described. / Master of Science

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:50:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6538.pdf: 3408162 bytes, checksum: 85cea22acdce40da79f51ce8f67bafd7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-10-30 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / The research in performance measurement (PM) systems have reacted to changes in organizations environments. In recent years, in response to the pressures of society, the organizations are increasingly implementing sustainability practices. Following this context, this study aims to investigate empirically the changes in PM systems caused by the implementation of sustainability practices in organizations. The bibliometric studies and systematic literature review have showed that there is no clear relationship between the research on sustainability and PM systems. Hence, it is necessary to develop more empirical studies to close the identified gap. In the first research effort of this thesis, a case study was carried out in a company which is ranked as sustainability company in Brazil index. The empirical findings indicate that the PM system changes have occurred in three elements: performance measures, how the companies communicate their results, and the process of information management. These findings were the foundation for developing the survey, the second research effort. The survey was carried out in a population of 182 companies which publish sustainability reports in Brazil, according to the Global Reporting Initiative standards . After the data collection, 81 valid responses were received. The data analyzes demonstrate that the respondents who perceived change in PM systems work in companies which has more implemented environmental practices. Additionally, this perception is influenced by PM systems variables: use of social indicators, the relevance of social/environmental indicators, the new social/environmental performance indicators, the internal communication among all hierarchical classes of roles, the external communication to several groups of stakeholders, the use of benchmarking, the compliance with regulations issues, the information provided from PM system about social/environmental performance measures and the interpretation of the social/environmental performance indicator results. Therefore, the sustainability practices have acted as triggers for changes in performance measurement systems. / Historicamente, as pesquisas em sistemas de medição de desempenho (SMDs) têm se comportado de forma reativa às mudanças que ocorrem nas organizações. Nos últimos anos, em resposta às pressões da sociedade, as organizações estão introduzindo práticas de sustentabilidade aos seus negócios. Dentro deste contexto, este trabalho tem como objetivo investigar empiricamente as mudanças nos sistemas de medição de desempenho causadas pela implantação de práticas de sustentabilidade nas organizações. Estudos realizados, com uso de análises bibliométricas e revisão sistemática, mostraram que não existe uma forte aderência entre artigos científicos sobre SMDs e sustentabilidade. Ficou clara a necessidade de mais estudos empíricos. A primeira parte empírica desta tese trata-se de um estudo de caso realizado em uma empresa listada em um ranking brasileiro de sustentabilidade. Os resultados apontaram que as mudanças no SMD da empresa ocorreram principalmente em três elementos: nos indicadores de desempenho, na forma como resultados são comunicados, e no processo de gestão da informação. Esses resultados foram a base para o desenvolvimento da survey conduzida na etapa seguinte com uma população de 182 empresas que publicaram relatórios de sustentabilidade no Brasil, de acordo com os padrões estabelecidos pela Global Reporting Initiative. Após a coleta de dados, 81 respostas válidas foram recebidas. As análises dos dados comprovaram que respondentes que tiveram a percepção de mudanças nos SMDs estão em empresas que implantaram mais práticas ambientais. Tal percepção é influenciada pelas variáveis do SMD: monitoramento de indicadores sociais, relevância estratégica de indicadores sociais e/ou ambientais, a definição desses tipos de indicadores ser realizada a partir de objetivos estratégicos, a divulgação interna e externa dos resultados da empresa para diferentes níveis hierárquicos e stakeholders, a utilização de benchmarking para a decisão sobre a implantação de novas práticas sociais e/ou ambientais, o cumprimento de requisitos de divulgação legal, o fornecimento de informações sociais e/ou ambientais precisas e atualizadas e o acompanhamento periódico desses resultados. Portanto, é possível concluir que as práticas de sustentabilidade funcionam como alavancas para a mudança nos sistemas de medição de desempenho.

M. Sc. / The substitution series CeCu5−xAlx where x 2 {1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4} was synthesized and characterized via x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope analysis. All the compounds formed single phase in the P6/mmm hexagonal crystal structure, which pushed the solubility limit of Al within this structure from CeCu3Al2 to CeCu2.6Al2.4. The ascast samples were annealed, but the annealing process had no visible effect on the crystalline nature nor on the physical properties of the samples. The electric, magnetic and thermal properties were measured on Quantum Design’s Physical Properties Measurement System and Magnetic Properties Measurement System. The electrical resistivity showed single-ion Kondo scattering at intermediate temperatures with no signs of coherence for x 2 {1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3} CeCu2.6Al2.4 on the other hand showed a weak maximum at 2 K, which was the onset of antiferromagnetic ordering confirmed by other measurements. The magnetoresistance was fitted by the Beth´e ansatz spin-1/2 model and the obtained Kondo temperatures had a maximum at CeCu3Al2, with linear dependencies on Al concentration on either side of this point. The Kondo moments followed an exponential dependence on the Al concentration, but these effective moments were far lower than the free-ion value, due to the Kondo interaction. The thermal conductivity in this series was phonon dominated with the magnitude of the electronic component being inversely proportional to the Kondo temperature, showing the effect that the Kondo scattering mechanism has on the availability of the conduction electrons to participate in heat transport. The magnitude of the peak in the thermoelectric power S(T) was strongly dependent on the Al concentration, having a maximum at CeCu2.8Al2.2. Below the peak there were two temperature dependencies: S(T) / T for x 2 {1.0, 1.5, 2.4} which is metallic and for x 2 {2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3} S(T)/T /−ln(T) which is characteristic of a quantum critical point. The data were also fitted with a phenomenological model and the obtained Kondo temperatures were quantitatively similar to those obtained from the Beth´e ansatz. The heat capacity Cp(T) data confirmed these compounds to be heavy fermions and also showed Cp(T)/T /−ln(T) below 10 K, which is the hallmark for a magnetically tuned quantum critical point. The magnetic susceptibility showed a Curie-Weiss temperature dependence at temperatures above 100 K, with magnetic moments close to the free-ion value, indicating the presence of localized magnetic moments. The low temperature data found (T) /−ln(T) for Al concentrations near CeCu3Al2 and the ordering present in CeCu2.6Al2.4 was suppressed by 0.3 K in going from 0.01 T to 2 T, suggesting that the ground state is antiferromagnetic in this compound.