We present several possible forms of mathematical competitions for University students. One of them is Blitz Mathematical Olympiad. It is a team competition, when all teams receive the same problem and are allotted 10-15 minutes to come up with a solution. This cycle is repeated 6-8 times with different problems. Modern Internet technologies allow us to organize Blitz Mathematical Olympiads for the teams which are in different cities and even countries.

Proefschrift--Utrecht. / Includes bibliographical references.

Proefschrift--Utrecht. / Includes bibliographical references.

La aplicación del Lean Management en las organizaciones conlleva la implicación de todo el personal en la mejora de todas las operaciones para disminuir, o eliminar, todo aquello que no aporte valor en las operaciones, mejorando la eficiencia de cada operación y, como consecuencia, del conjunto de la organización. Bien sea que las propuestas de mejora provengan de las aportaciones de los grupos de trabajo, a través de los Programas de Sugerencias, o de acciones Kaizen-blitz surge la necesidad de objetivar el proceso de toma de decisiones sobre su implantación. Conforme aumenta el tamaño de la organización también lo hace el volumen de proyectos de mejora y, con ello, la necesidad de gestionar eficazmente el sistema a través del cual fluyen, son analizadas y, en su caso, puestas en funcionamiento. En la práctica este sistema de sugerencias cubre tres funciones básicas. En primer término canaliza todas las propuestas de mejora desde las líneas de producción, y áreas de servicios, hasta la toma de decisión sobre su implantación. En segundo lugar, estos procesos permiten que parte del conocimiento tácito, acumulado en los miembros del grupo, pase a conocimiento explícito y pueda transmitirse y extenderse en la organización. Finalmente, constituye un importante factor para el enriquecimiento del trabajo del operario de línea que, por naturaleza, se caracteriza por su monotonía. Para mantener el empuje a través de toda la organización y a largo plazo el principal problema radica en mantener activa la participación del personal en el programa. Para soslayarlo todas las sugerencias deben ser evaluadas mediante criterios objetivos, sin que se generen dudas sobre su aplicación, y todo ello debe ser realizado en el mínimo plazo posible y manteniendo la comunicación eficaz con los equipos cuyas propuestas son evaluadas. Si estos elementos no son percibidos positivamente por el personal se pierde parte de la necesaria participación, lo que afecta directamente a la ....... / Barberá Ribera, MT. (2012). Propuesta de un modelo de cartera para la valoración de proyectos de mejora asociados a acciones kaizen-blitz y al programa de sugerencias. Aplicación en el sector de automoción bajo un enfoque multicriterio [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/18434 / Palancia

The diploma thesis is concerned with the portrayal of the female experience with the Second World War in The Night Watch (2006) by contemporary British writer Sarah Waters. The theoretical part outlines the socio-historical background of the novel with particular attention to the female experience of the Second World War in various fields, such as their family lives, job opportunities, and everyday life during the Blitz. Special attention is also given to the description of the female experience with abortion during the war and the lifestyles of female homosexuals in that historical period. The thesis further presents the theoretical delimitation of the neo-historical genre, of which the novel is a representative, and briefly introduces the novel in the context of Sarah Waters's other works in order to establish the basis for the analysis. The practical part of the thesis relies on the theoretical part and examines how the fictional portrayal of the female experience corresponds with the outlined reality. Simultaneously, the work considers how Waters uses the Second World War in her fictional story and which elements she chooses to highlight. Moreover, it discusses the reasons behind emphasising these elements in the novel and how it corresponds to the neo-historical genre. KEYWORDS Sarah Waters;...

This article suggests that the formal elements of Elizabeth Bowen's novel The Heat of the Day underscore both the changing practice of propaganda and the extant tension about Irish neutrality during World War II. Bowen has often been cited as an author who embraces opacity in her fiction, and often this practice is connected in her work to political tensions that she first experienced in Ireland as a result of colonial conflict. The article suggests that a similar strategy, at use in this London-based World War II novel about espionage, highlights this history of tension. Bowen's own position as an intermediary between the Ministry of Information and Irish public opinion provided her a keen insight into British strategy towards Ireland's neutrality. Her Blitz novel, The Heat of the Day, mirrors much of Bowen's formal techniques in her letters to the Ministry of Information, and this article suggests that this reflects the impact of modern propaganda techniques on her war-time novel.

This article suggests that the formal elements of Elizabeth Bowen's novel The Heat of the Day underscore both the changing practice of propaganda and the extant tension about Irish neutrality during World War II. Bowen has often been cited as an author who embraces opacity in her fiction, and often this practice is connected in her work to political tensions that she first experienced in Ireland as a result of colonial conflict. The article suggests that a similar strategy, at use in this London-based World War II novel about espionage, highlights this history of tension. Bowen's own position as an intermediary between the Ministry of Information and Irish public opinion provided her a keen insight into British strategy towards Ireland's neutrality. Her Blitz novel, The Heat of the Day, mirrors much of Bowen's formal techniques in her letters to the Ministry of Information, and this article suggests that this reflects the impact of modern propaganda techniques on her war-time novel.

This work is rooted in a need for dermatologists to explore skin characteristicsin depth. The inuence of skin disease such as acne in dermal tissues is stilla complex task to assess. Among the possibilities, high frequency ultrasoundimaging is a paradigm shift to probe and characterizes upper and deep dermis.For this purpose, a cohort of 58 high-frequency 3D images has been acquiredby the French laboratory Pierre Fabre in order to study acne vulgaris disease.This common skin disorder is a societal challenge and burden aecting late adolescentsacross the world. The medical protocol developed by Pierre Fabre wasto screen a lesion every day during 9 days for dierent patients with ultrasoundimaging. The provided data features skin epidermis and dermis structure witha fantastic resolution. The strategy we led to study these data can be explainedin three steps. First, epidermis surface is detected among artifacts and noisethanks to a robust level-set algorithm. Secondly, acne spots are located on theresulting height map and associated to each other among the data by computingand thresholding a local variance. And eventually potential inammatorydermal cavities related to each lesion are geometrically and statistically characterizedin order to assess the evolution of the disease. The results presentan automatic algorithm which permits dermatologists to screen acne vulgarislesions and to characterize them in a complete data set. It can hence be a powerfultoolbox to assess the eciency of a treatment. / Detta arbete är grundat i en dermatologs behov att undersöka hudens egenskaperpå djupet. Påverkan av hudsjukdomar så som acne på dermala vävanderär fortfarande svårt att bedöma. Bland möjligheterna är högfrekvent ultraljudsavbildningett paradigmskifte för undersökning och karakterisering av övre ochdjupa dermis. I detta syfte har en kohort av 58 högfrekventa 3D bilder förvärvatsav det Franska laboratoriet Pierre Fabre för att studera sjukdomen acne vulgaris.Denna vanliga hudsjukdom är en utmaning för samhället och en bördasom påverkar de i slutet av tonåren över hela världen. Protokollet utvecklatav Pierre Fabre innebar att undersöka en lesion varje dag över 9 dagar förolika patienter med ultraljudavbildning. Den insamlade datan visar hudens epidermisoch dermis struktur med en fantastiskt hög upplösning. Strategin vianvände för att studera denna data kan förklaras i tre steg. För det första,hittas epidermis yta bland artifakter och brus tack vare en robust level-set algoritm.För det andra, acne äckar hittas på höjdkartan och associeras tillvarandra bland mätdatan genom en tröskeljämförelse över lokala variationer.Även potentiellt inammatoriska dermala hålrum relaterade till varje lesion blirgeometriskt ochj statistiskt kännetecknade för att bedöma sjukdomens förlopp.Resultaten framför en automatisk algoritm som gör det möjligt för dermatologeratt undersöka acne vulgaris lesioner och utmärka de i ett dataset. Detta kandärmed vara en kraftfull verktygslåda för att undersöka inverkan av en behandlingtill denna sjukdom.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:16:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2006-Alziro Vasconcelos Carneiro.pdf: 455403 bytes, checksum: 96b519d909bc30f30ddc42546978acfb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-07-31 / There are several pathogens causing bovine mastitis, but only Streptococcus agalactiae is feasible to be eradicated from a herd. Two herd data ( A and B ) were used to evaluate the economic and technical viability of the eradication of this pathogen, based on this pathogen attack program. It was used a 24 month period data from production; somatic cells count (SCC), clinical mastitis and expenditures. A cost-benefit analysis was carried out through mathematical models. It was identified 16 infected cows with S. agalactiae in herd A , and in herd B , there were 42, from which 31 associated with Staphylococcus aureus. The therapy effectiveness in eliminating S. agalactiae was about 100% in both herds. However, 18 cows kept the infection of S. aureus after the therapy (42% of effectiveness). The number of cases and cows with mastitis decrease was about 18% and 21%, respectively. For herd B it was found a SCC growing tendency on infected group and on total milk, 12 months before the therapy (980x10P 3 P and 968x10P 3 P cells/ml averages, respectively) and stabilization after treatment (577x10P 3 P cells/ml and 563x10P 3 P cells/ml averages, respectively). Treatment cost was about R$ 175.95 per cow considering the following higher cost items: laboratory exams (39%); milk discard (31%); veterinary medicaments and labor for additional operations (20%); and veterinary fees (10%). Payment due to quality and to the decrease in clinical mastitis cases represented about 55% e 34% of total benefit. However, it was not found significant milk production increase for treatment program (p>0.05), in treated group, nor in herd B . It was estimated about 11.67; 6.45 and 2.61 monetary unit return for each unit invested. Prophylactic procedures were important to eradicate and maintain the herd free from S. agalactiae, they have also contributed for lower incidence of clinical mastitis, decreasing SCC and discard/precocious mortality, so its adoption is recommended. Considering Brazilian requirements relative to somatic cells and milk total bacterial as well as S. agalactiae role in increasing these parameters, it is suggested an eradication program of this pathogen, which may help farmers to maintain production under standard requirements, as well as the consumers reducing risk and Government income loss due to taxes collection. / Entre os v?rios pat?genos causadores de mastite, o ?nico que pode ser erradicado do rebanho ? Streptococcus agalactiae. Dados de dois rebanhos, 'A' e 'B', foram utilizados para avaliar a viabilidade t?cnica e econ?mica de um programa de erradica??o deste pat?geno. Foram utilizados dados de produ??o, contagem de c?lulas som?ticas (CCS), mastite cl?nica e financeiros, de 24 meses. An?lise custo/benef?cio foi realizada com aux?lio de modelos matem?ticos. Identificaram-se 16 vacas infectadas com S. agalactiae no rebanho 'A' e 42 no rebanho 'B', sendo que destas ?ltimas, 31 apresentaram infec??o associada com Staphylococcus aureus. A efic?cia da terapia de ataque foi de 100% nos dois rebanhos. Entretanto, 18 vacas no rebanho B mantiveram a infec??o por S. aureus ap?s a terapia (42% de efic?cia). No rebanho 'B', a redu??o do n?mero de casos e de vacas com mastite cl?nica foi de 18 e 21%, respectivamente. A CCS apresentou tend?ncia crescente no grupo infectado e no leite total, nos 12 meses antecedentes ? terapia, com as m?dias de 980x103 e 968x103 c?l/ml, respectivamente. Ap?s o tratamento, as m?dias estabilizaram-se em 541x103 e 563x103 c?l/ml, respectivamente. O custo do tratamento foi de R$ 175,95 por vaca/tratada, sendo 39% deste com exames laboratoriais, 31% descarte de leite, 20% medicamentos e m?o-de-obra devido a opera??es adicionais e 10% honor?rios do m?dico veterin?rio. O pagamento por qualidade e a redu??o dos custos com a mastite cl?nica representaram 55% e 34% do benef?cio. Aumento significativo n?o foi observado (p>0,05) na produ??o m?dia de leite dos grupos tratados e do rebanho 'B'. Estimaram-se retornos de 11,67, 6,45 e 2,63 unidades monet?rias para cada unidade investida no programa de erradica??o de S. agalactiae. As medidas terap?uticas e profil?ticas foram eficazes para erradicar e manter o rebanho livre de S. agalactiae, al?m de contribu?rem para reduzir a CCS do leite, a incid?ncia de mastite cl?nica, o descarte/mortalidade precoce e proporcionou ganhos em programa de pagamento por qualidade, sendo sua ado??o recomend?vel. Considerando as exig?ncias brasileiras com rela??o ao limite de c?lulas som?ticas e de bact?rias totais no leite e o papel de S. agalactiae no aumento desses par?metros, o programa de erradica??o deste pat?geno pode significar a perman?ncia do produtor na atividade formal, al?m de reduzir risco para os consumidores e perdas de receitas do Governo com recolhimento de impostos.