Since ten members of ASEAN are moving towards ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 which ten member countries are integrating competitively into regional and global markets as well as continuing to build a people-oriented AEC. From this integration the unemployment rate will be affected through the mechanism of the export and GDP. With economics and econometrics models used, this paper will discuss and prove that the implication of AEC will lead to the decrease in unemployment rate.

A tuberculose (Tb) é uma doença infecciosa crônica ocasionada pelo bacilo Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). No espaço alveolar, o bacilo entra em contato com células do sistema imune inato como as células dendríticas (DCs), assim como células epiteliais (AEC). Na Tb, o fator de transcrição HIF-1? (Fator Induzido por Hipóxia 1 alfa) se encontra elevado em macrófagos infectados e células epiteliais alveolares adjacentes. Por isso, o objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar o papel de HIF-1? na resposta pró- inflamatória de AEC do tipo II (AEC-II) e na modulação da função de DCs em contato com AEC-II durante a infecção por Mtb. Células MLE-15 foram infectadas com Mtb H37Rv (MOI10) para avaliação da permissividade à infecção (microscopia eletrônica), crescimento dos bacilos (CFU) e ativação através da análise de citocinas (ELISA), nitrito (ensaio de Griess), TLR2, TLR9 e HIF-1? (qPCR e/ou Western blotting). A modulação DCs derivadas da medula óssea (BMDCs) por AEC-II, foi analisada de forma direta (contato) ou indireta (meio condicionado - CM) de MLE-15 não infectadas (CM - NIC) ou infectadas (CM - IC). Foram determinadas citocinas (ELISA), nitrito (Ensaio de Griess), expressão de HIF-1?, enzimas glicolíticas, moléculas co-estimuladoras e CCR7 (citometria de fluxo). Ensaio de migração foi realizando em câmera de boyden. A proliferação de células T CD4+ naive em co-cultura com BMDCs e a manutenção da Th17 foram avaliadas por citometria de fluxo. Eventualmente, BMDCs foram previamente infectadas com Mtb (MOI2) e, em seguida, estimuladas com CM-NIC ou CM-IC. Células MLE-15 mostraram-se permissivas à infecção, não conseguindo controlar o crescimento dos bacilos. A infecção induziu aumento da produção de IL-6, NO2-,CCL5, S100A9 e IFN- ?. Apesar do acúmulo inicial de HIF-1?, a expressão gênica caiu com o passar do tempo. A expressão gênica de TLR2 e TLR9 também estava aumentada. A regulação positiva10 de HIF-1? em células epiteliais induziu uma redução de IL-6 e NO, sem, no entanto, interferir significativamente no número de CFU. BMDCs estimuladas com CM - IC mostraram maior produção de IL-1?, IL-12, IL-6 e IL-10, maior expressão gênica de GLUT1 e HK2, além do acúmulo inicial de HIF-1?, que foi degradado em 24 horas, acompanhado de baixa expressão de iNOS. A expressão MHC-II, CD80, CD86 e CCR7 estava aumentada em BMDCs submetidas ao CM - IC, enquanto a indução do acúmulo de HIF-1? através do seu estabilizador, DMOG, foi capaz de reverter negativamente essa resposta. A maior maturação de BMDCs ocasionou maior proliferação de células TCD4+ naive, desfavorecendo a indução de células T CD4+ IFN?+. Entretanto, as citocinas produzidas favorecerem a manutenção de células TCD4+ produtoras de IL-17. No entanto, o fenótipo de maior maturação foi perdido em BMDCs infectadas estimuladas com CM - IC, aliado à baixa produção de TNF e alta produção de IL-10. Em conclusão, HIF-1? mostrou uma função anti-inflamatória, reduzindo a produção de moléculas pró- inflamatórias por AEC-II e regulando negativamente a maturação e a migração de DCs. Além disso, apesar de AEC-II infectadas por Mtb favorecerem a maturação e migração de DCs, o Mtb é capaz de subverter essa resposta / Tuberculosis (Tb) is a chronic infectious disease caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). In the alveolar space, the bacillus contacts cells from the immune system, such as dendritic cells (DCs), as well as alveolar epithelial cells (AEC). In Tb, the transcription factor HIF-1? (Hypoxia-inducible factor 1- alpha) is accumulated in infected macrophages and adjacent alveolar epithelial cells. Therefore, the aim of this work was to investigate the role of HIF-1? in the proinflammatory response of type II AEC (AEC-II) and modulation of DCs function upon contact with AEC-II during Mtb infection. MLE-15 cells were infected with Mtb H37Rv (MOI10) to evaluate the permissiveness to infection (electron microscopy), killing ability (CFU) and cell activation through cytokine analysis (ELISA), nitrite (Griess assay), TLR2, TLR9 and HIF-1? (qPCR and / or Western blotting). Bone marrow derived DCs (BMDCs) modulation by AEC-II, were analyzed directly (contact) or indirectly (conditioned medium - CM) of uninfected (CM-NIC) or infected (CMIC) MLE-15. We determined cytokines (ELISA), nitrite (Griess Assay), HIF-1? expression, glycolytic enzymes, co-stimulatory molecules and CCR7 (flow cytometry). Chemotaxie assay was performed on Boyden camera. Proliferation of naive CD4 + T cells in co-culture with BMDCs and maintenance of Th17 were assessed by flow cytometry. Eventually, BMDCs were previously infected with Mtb (MOI2) and then stimulated with CM-NIC or CM-IC. MLE-15 cells were permissive to infection, failing to control the bacilli growth. Infection induced increased production of IL-6, NO2-, CCL5, S100A9 and IFN-?. Despite the initial accumulation of HIF-1?, gene expression dropped over time. The gene expression of TLR2 and TLR9 was also increased. Positive regulation of HIF-1? in epithelial cells induced a reduction of IL-6 and NO, but did not significantly interfere with the number of CFU. BMDCs stimulated with CM-IC showed higher production of IL-1?, IL-12, IL-6, and IL-10, greater GLUT1 and HK2 gene expression, in addition to the initial12 accumulation of HIF-1?, which was degraded within 24 hours, accompanied by low iNOS expression. The expression of MHC-II, CD80, CD86 and CCR7 was increased in BMDCs undergoing CM-IC, while the induction of HIF-1? accumulation through its stabilizer, DMOG, was able to negatively revert this response. The higher maturation of BMDCs resulted in a greater proliferation of naive CD4 + T cells, but hampered induction of CD4 + IFN? + T cells. However, cytokines produced favor the maintenance of IL-17 producing CD4 + cells. The phenotype of higher maturation was lost in Mtb-infected BMDC, accompanied by low TNF production and high IL-10 production. In conclusion, HIF-1? showed an anti-inflammatory function, reducing the production of proinflammatory molecules by AEC-II and negatively regulating the maturation and migration of DCs. In addition, although Mtb-infected AEC-II favor maturation and migration of DCs, Mtbinfection of DCs is capable of subverting this response

As atuais tecnologias de informação permitem a manipulação de um volume grande de dados por diversas pessoas simultaneamente, representando uma valiosa ajuda aos profissionais de AEC (Arquitetura, Engenharia Civil e Construção). Para servir de base a essa manipulação é imprescindível que os dados estejam organizados em um conjunto harmônico, consistente e compartilhável. Os benefícios são numerosos, principalmente advindos da maior facilidade, rapidez e segurança na comunicação entre os indivíduos diretamente atuantes no ciclo de vida da edificação. A complexidade de um conjunto de informações desse tipo é muito grande, tanto pelo número de informações necessárias e de pessoas envolvidas, quanto pela quantidade e diversidade de interesses relacionados ao uso dessas informações. Nos últimos anos surgiram diversas propostas desses conjuntos de informações, em vários níveis de complexidade. Algumas propostas tiveram continuidade chegando a dar suporte a ferramentas computacionais muito utilizadas hoje em dia. É o caso do IES LM-63, sigla utilizada para se referir ao arquivo padrão de intercâmbio de dados relacionados às luminárias (IES Standard File Format for Electronic Transfer of Photometric Data and Related Information), elaborado pela IESNA (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America) e aprovado pelo ANSI (American National Standards Institute), e do IFC (Industry Foundation Classes), que é um modelo amplo dos elementos do ciclo de vida de uma edificação elaborado pela IAI (International Alliance for Interoperability) e aprovado pela ISO (International Organization for Standardization). Esta tese apresenta uma proposta de ampliação do modelo IFC na qual se inclui uma especificação mais ampla e eficiente do elemento luminária, baseada na descrição do IES LM-63. Analisam-se os caminhos possíveis para essa proposta e demonstra-se a viabilidade e as vantagens dessa ampliação ao utilizá-la no cálculo de iluminação de ambientes. / Recent information technologies allow handling of a large data volume by a number of people concurrently, representing a valuable help to AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) professionals. Organizing data in a harmonic, consistent and shareable set is essential to base the handling. Benefits are numerous, mainly due to easier, faster and securer communication between directly acting people in building lifecycle. This kind of information set is very complex, caused by the number of necessary information and involved people, and by multiple and distinct aspirations related with the use of this information. In the last years, many and diverse information set proposals took place, in different level of complexity. Some proposals have continuity and even reached support computational tools broadly utilized. It is the case of IES LM-63, sequence that designate a standard file to luminaire data exchange (IES Standard File Format for Electronic Transfer of Photometric Data and Related Information), elaborated by IESNA (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America) and approved by ANSI (American National Standards Institute), and IFC (Industry Foundation Classes), a wide range building lifecycle elements model elaborated by IAI (International Alliance for Interoperability) and approved by ISO (International Standardization Organization). This doctoral thesis presents a proposal to extend IFC model in which is included a wider and more efficient specification of the luminaire element, based in IES LM-63 description. Possible ways to implement the proposal are analyzed and the feasibility and advantages of the extended data set are demonstrated.

As atuais tecnologias de informação permitem a manipulação de um volume grande de dados por diversas pessoas simultaneamente, representando uma valiosa ajuda aos profissionais de AEC (Arquitetura, Engenharia Civil e Construção). Para servir de base a essa manipulação é imprescindível que os dados estejam organizados em um conjunto harmônico, consistente e compartilhável. Os benefícios são numerosos, principalmente advindos da maior facilidade, rapidez e segurança na comunicação entre os indivíduos diretamente atuantes no ciclo de vida da edificação. A complexidade de um conjunto de informações desse tipo é muito grande, tanto pelo número de informações necessárias e de pessoas envolvidas, quanto pela quantidade e diversidade de interesses relacionados ao uso dessas informações. Nos últimos anos surgiram diversas propostas desses conjuntos de informações, em vários níveis de complexidade. Algumas propostas tiveram continuidade chegando a dar suporte a ferramentas computacionais muito utilizadas hoje em dia. É o caso do IES LM-63, sigla utilizada para se referir ao arquivo padrão de intercâmbio de dados relacionados às luminárias (IES Standard File Format for Electronic Transfer of Photometric Data and Related Information), elaborado pela IESNA (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America) e aprovado pelo ANSI (American National Standards Institute), e do IFC (Industry Foundation Classes), que é um modelo amplo dos elementos do ciclo de vida de uma edificação elaborado pela IAI (International Alliance for Interoperability) e aprovado pela ISO (International Organization for Standardization). Esta tese apresenta uma proposta de ampliação do modelo IFC na qual se inclui uma especificação mais ampla e eficiente do elemento luminária, baseada na descrição do IES LM-63. Analisam-se os caminhos possíveis para essa proposta e demonstra-se a viabilidade e as vantagens dessa ampliação ao utilizá-la no cálculo de iluminação de ambientes. / Recent information technologies allow handling of a large data volume by a number of people concurrently, representing a valuable help to AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) professionals. Organizing data in a harmonic, consistent and shareable set is essential to base the handling. Benefits are numerous, mainly due to easier, faster and securer communication between directly acting people in building lifecycle. This kind of information set is very complex, caused by the number of necessary information and involved people, and by multiple and distinct aspirations related with the use of this information. In the last years, many and diverse information set proposals took place, in different level of complexity. Some proposals have continuity and even reached support computational tools broadly utilized. It is the case of IES LM-63, sequence that designate a standard file to luminaire data exchange (IES Standard File Format for Electronic Transfer of Photometric Data and Related Information), elaborated by IESNA (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America) and approved by ANSI (American National Standards Institute), and IFC (Industry Foundation Classes), a wide range building lifecycle elements model elaborated by IAI (International Alliance for Interoperability) and approved by ISO (International Standardization Organization). This doctoral thesis presents a proposal to extend IFC model in which is included a wider and more efficient specification of the luminaire element, based in IES LM-63 description. Possible ways to implement the proposal are analyzed and the feasibility and advantages of the extended data set are demonstrated.

The rapid growth of technology in recent decades has changed the whole dimension of communications. Today people are more interested in hands-free communication. In such a situation, the use a regular loudspeaker and a high-gain microphone, in place of a telephone receiver, might seem more appropriate. This would allow more than one person to participate in a conversation at the same time such as a teleconference environment. Another advantage is that it would allow the person to have both hands free and to move freely in the room. However, the presence of a large acoustic coupling between the loudspeaker and microphone would produce a loud echo that would make conversation difficult. Furthermore, the acoustic system could become instable, which would produce a loud howling noise to occur. The solution to these problems is the elimination of the echo with an echo suppression or echo cancellation algorithm. The echo suppressor offers a simple but effective method to counter the echo problem. However, the echo suppressor possesses a main disadvantage since it supports only half-duplex communication. Half-duplex communication permits only one speaker to talk at a time. This drawback led to the invention of echo cancellers. An important aspect of echo cancellers is that full-duplex communication can be maintained, which allows both speakers to talk at the same time. This objective of this research was to produce an improved echo cancellation algorithm, which is capable of providing convincing results. The three basic components of an echo canceller are an adaptive filter, a doubletalk detector and a nonlinear processor. The adaptive filter creates a replica of the echo and subtracts it from the combination of the actual echo and the near-end signal. The doubletalk detector senses the doubletalk. Doubletalk occurs when both ends are talking, which stops the adaptive filter in order to avoid divergence. Finally, the nonlinear processor removes the residual echo from the error signal. Usually, a certain amount of speech is clipped in the final stage of nonlinear processing. In order to avoid clipping, a noise gate was used as a nonlinear processor in this research. The noise gate allowed a threshold value to be set and all signals below the threshold were removed. This action ensured that only residual echoes were removed in the final stage. To date, the real time implementation of echo an cancellation algorithm was performed by utilizing both a VLSI processor and a DSP processor. Since there has been a revolution in the field of personal computers, in recent years, this research attempted to implement the acoustic echo canceller algorithm on a natively running PC with the help of the MATLAB software.

<p>This master thesis consists of implementation and evaluation of an AEC, Acoustic Echo Canceller, algorithm in a floating-point architecture. The most important question this thesis will try to answer is to determine benefits or drawbacks of using a floating-point architecture, relative a fixed-point architecture, to do AEC. In a telephony system there is two common forms of echo, line echo and acoustic echo. Acoustic echo is introduced by sound emanating from a loudspeaker, e.g. in a handsfree or speakerphone, being picked up by a microphone and then sent back to the source. The problem with this feedback is that the far-end speaker will hear one, or multiple, time-delayed version(s) of her own speech. This time-delayed version of speech is usually perceived as both confusing and annoying unless removed by the use of AEC. In this master thesis the performance of a floating-point version of a normalized least-mean-square AEC algorithm was evaluated in an environment designed and implemented to approximate live telephony calls. An instruction-set simulator and assembler available at the initiation of this master thesis were extended to enable; zero-overhead loops, modular addressing, post-increment of registers and register-write forwarding. With these improvements a bit-true assembly version was implemented capable of real-time AEC requiring 15 million instructions per second. A solution using as few as eight mantissa bits, in an external format used when storing data in memory, was found to have an insignificant effect on the selected AEC implementation’s performance. Due to the relatively low memory requirement of the selected AEC algorithm, the use of a small external format has a minor effect on the required memory size. In total this indicates that the possible reduction of the memory requirement and related energy consumption, does not justify the added complexity and energy consumption of using a floating-point architecture for the selected algorithm. Use of a floating-point format can still be advantageous in speech-related signal processing when the introduced time delay by a subband, or a similar frequency domain, solution is unacceptable. Speech algorithms that have high memory use and small introduced delay requirements are a good candidate for a floating-point digital signal processor architecture.</p>

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / O conceito de alinhamento vem ganhando forÃa visto o mercado competitivo em que as empresas entÃo inseridas, estas nÃo poderÃo mais desperdiÃar seus recursos com estratÃgias mal formuladas, processos que nÃo atendam Ãs necessidades dos clientes ou com pessoas que nÃo compreendam ou nÃo contribuam para a realizaÃÃo da estratÃgia da empresa. Nas empresas de construÃÃo civil esta realidade nÃo à diferente, a concorrÃncia tem se mostrado relevante. A justificativa para este trabalho se relaciona com a importÃncia da estratÃgia no contexto competitivo e com a dificuldade da sua operacionalizaÃÃo oriunda da complexidade do processo de formulaÃÃo e implementaÃÃo e à quantidade limitada de estudos sobre os temas: alinhamento estratÃgico e estratÃgia na construÃÃo civil. Este trabalho se classifica como exploratÃrio, visto que desenvolve estudos que dÃo uma visÃo geral do fato ou fenÃmeno estudado. A referida pesquisa consiste em analisar qual o alinhamento estratÃgico interno em construtoras a partir do desenvolvimento de um mÃtodo para analisar, medindo e comparando/visualizando o alinhamento estratÃgico em empresas construtoras, focando na estratÃgia competitiva e na estratÃgia de produÃÃo, destacando quais os critÃrios competitivos priorizados nas empresas. Realizaram-se estudos de casos, em trÃs construtoras da cidade de Fortaleza/CE. Analisaram-se as empresas a partir do mÃtodo desenvolvido, chegando ao grau de alinhamento em cada uma, possibilitando uma comparaÃÃo e melhor visualizaÃÃo dos resultados. Por fim, apresentam-se as principais conclusÃes do estudo, sobre o mÃtodo desenvolvido, e sugestÃes para pesquisas futuras, por exemplo, aplicar o modelo em outras empresas, com o intuito de melhorar a compreensÃo e colaborar com proposiÃÃes sobre o tema supracitado, assim como buscar explicar o porquà das diferentes visÃes entre os representantes dentro da mesma empresa e as reais possÃveis conseqÃÃncias destas distorÃÃes de prioridades e seus reflexos no desempenho da empresa.

This master thesis consists of implementation and evaluation of an AEC, Acoustic Echo Canceller, algorithm in a floating-point architecture. The most important question this thesis will try to answer is to determine benefits or drawbacks of using a floating-point architecture, relative a fixed-point architecture, to do AEC. In a telephony system there is two common forms of echo, line echo and acoustic echo. Acoustic echo is introduced by sound emanating from a loudspeaker, e.g. in a handsfree or speakerphone, being picked up by a microphone and then sent back to the source. The problem with this feedback is that the far-end speaker will hear one, or multiple, time-delayed version(s) of her own speech. This time-delayed version of speech is usually perceived as both confusing and annoying unless removed by the use of AEC. In this master thesis the performance of a floating-point version of a normalized least-mean-square AEC algorithm was evaluated in an environment designed and implemented to approximate live telephony calls. An instruction-set simulator and assembler available at the initiation of this master thesis were extended to enable; zero-overhead loops, modular addressing, post-increment of registers and register-write forwarding. With these improvements a bit-true assembly version was implemented capable of real-time AEC requiring 15 million instructions per second. A solution using as few as eight mantissa bits, in an external format used when storing data in memory, was found to have an insignificant effect on the selected AEC implementation’s performance. Due to the relatively low memory requirement of the selected AEC algorithm, the use of a small external format has a minor effect on the required memory size. In total this indicates that the possible reduction of the memory requirement and related energy consumption, does not justify the added complexity and energy consumption of using a floating-point architecture for the selected algorithm. Use of a floating-point format can still be advantageous in speech-related signal processing when the introduced time delay by a subband, or a similar frequency domain, solution is unacceptable. Speech algorithms that have high memory use and small introduced delay requirements are a good candidate for a floating-point digital signal processor architecture.

Purpose: The purpose was to contribute to increased understanding on the use of VR, where integration is an essential and crucial part of whether it is an effective tool. The aim is to investigate VR as a tool between architect, client and engineer from sketch to planning permission, as well as to investigate applications from an engineering perspective. Method: Data has been collected through action research with the VR-hardware HTC Vive and interviews with architects, engineers and clients within the AEC-industry. A parallel literature study has been conducted. The three methods do thereafter make it possible to answer the questions and fulfill the goal. Findings: By communicating information through VR, a common ground is created, whereby different parties can work from. Coordination is facilitated when decisionmaking can be carried out on the same basis. The use of VR therefore promotes communication between involved parties. However, the tool is limited by its availability and due to the fact that it is new a technology which does not yet permit multiple users. I addition, the compatibility of the tool varies depending on the choice of plug-ins. IrisVR was noted to support all CAD programs, which means increased usability. Furthermore, the evaluated plug-ins have similar features. Implementation of VR can support building decisions by communicating how these affect other design aspects. As BIM is used to a greater extent, this imposes higher standards on the model. VR can thus serve as a tool for self-monitoring. Implications: The tool has been shown to provide increased understanding of volume, scale and concept, which can result in improved communication opportunities. Improved communication enables coordination between professional groups, which in turn provides better decision making. Despite advantages, there are limiting factors that cause VR not to be used to a greater extent. As a recommendation, VR should be integrated through appropriate evaluation of functions as well as a complement to today's tools. Limitations: This study was limited to the architecture office on which it was carried out and to selected hardware and software. The technology is developing at a high pace, which causes problems regarding the relevance of the results. Despite method triangulation, difficulties arise in maintaining objectivity when researchers are partly participating. Furthermore, the role of the client is less represented because of them not having as much experience in using VR. Keywords: Building Information Model (BIM), Computer Aided Design (CAD), Virtual Reality (VR), Information Communication Technology (ICT), Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Content is described in Swedish below.

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