Many problems related to information systems implementation are psychological rather than technical. It is necessary to adapt good enough to the current situation in the business to avoid bad user reactions. One of the most important quality factors of an information system is user acceptance. Information system implementation projects have been historically bothered by failures for which user resistance has been identified as an important reason. A poor adaptation of old data may cause user frustration. But the most important problem perhaps is how to deal with the people and know their psychological constraints involved in the system change, their lack of competence And also their reluctance to accept the new system. A poorly designed system interface also becomes an obstacle for the users and they would become more unwilling to tolerate it. This study presents a theoretical and empirical understanding of user acceptance during the implementation of an information system and provides suggestions to an individual and also organizations for tackling such resistance and enhances user satisfaction. / Program: Magisterutbildning i informatik

Bakgrund:Inflammatoriska tarmsjukdomar (IBD) är ett samlingsnamn för både Ulcerös kolit och Crohns sjukdom. Dessa sjukdomar är kroniska och kommer i skov, vilket innebär en tillfällig försämring i sjukdomsförloppet. Sjuksköterskans roll i omvårdnaden av kroniska sjukdomar är att lyssna, se patienten och inte sjukdomen samt att försöka uppnå och främja hälsa hos patienten. Syfte: Att belysa unga vuxnas upplevelser av att leva med en inflammatorisk tarmsjukdom. Metod:Uppsatsen är baserad på en kvalitativ metod där data har samlats in via bloggar. 14 bloggar har utgjort källan för den kvalitativa innehållsanalysen.  Resultat:Presenteras via kategorier och subkategorier.Redogör för ungas upplevelser av att drabbas av en kronisk tarmsjukdom. De beskrev svårigheter med att få rätt diagnos och att det bidrog till försämrad livskvalité. Sjukdomarna medförde sociala begränsningar på grund symtomen som uppstod. Konklusion:Med ökad kunskap hos sjuksköterskor och omgivning kan det bidra till en förbättrad livskvalité och kan leda till att dessa individer vågar öppna upp sig och känna sig mindre ensamma i deras sjukdom. Sjuksköterskor har ett stort ansvar att stödja patienter i deras hälsoprocess. I samförstånd med patient och närstående ska sjuksköterskor tillhandahålla vård utifrån dennes behov. Genom att individernas upplevelser uppmärksammas får sjuksköterskor en bättre inblick och förståelse för hur det är att leva med IBD. / Background: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) are a term for both Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. These diseases are chronic and come in flares, which means a temporary deterioration in the course of the disease. The nurse's role in nursing people with chronic diseases is to listen, see the patient and not the disease, and to try to achieve and promote health. Aim: To illuminate young adult people's experiences of living with an inflammatory bowel disease. Method: The thesis is a qualitative method where data have been collected via blogs. 14 blogs have been the source of the narrative analysis. Result: Presented via categories and subcategories. Describes young people's experiences of suffering from a chronic bowel disease. They described difficulties in getting the right diagnosis which contributed to a deterioration in quality of life. The diseases caused social constraints due to the symptoms that arose. Conclusion: With increased knowledge from nurses and the society, it can contribute to improved quality of life and make these individuals dare to open and feel less lonely in their illness. Nurses have a responsibility to support patients in their health process. In consultation with the patient and the relative, nurses should perform care based on their needs. By paying attention to their experiences, nurses will get a better insight and understanding into how it is to live with IBD.

This thesis investigates three topics in empirical corporate finance. In the first essay, the focus is on the role of financial constraints in the market for corporate control. In the second and third essays, we explore the effect of personal connections at board and executive levels on corporate credit rating and initial public offering (IPO) underpricing respectively. In the first essay, using a large sample of US acquisitions made between 1985 and 2013, we study the effect of financial constraints on acquisition gains and acquisition likelihood. Our findings show that financial constraints of target companies significantly increase acquisition premiums and abnormal returns for both parties. Our results further show that the presence of financial constraints in the target is one of the most important determinants of a takeover bid. This supports the idea that acquisitions may improve the ability of financially constrained companies to access capital through a better reallocation of resources within segments of the same company (e.g., internal capital market) or through better access to external markets. This would eventually benefit bidders too, as new capital would be invested in valuable growth opportunities that otherwise would expire unexercised. In the second essay, using a large sample of US public debt issues we show that personal connections between directors of issuing companies and rating agencies result in higher credit ratings. We estimate the average effect to be about one notch. The results are robust to several alternative tests including additional controls for managerial traits, placebo tests and propensity score matching. Moreover, our tests on default rates and bond yields do not appear to reflect a favourable treatment by the rating agency. Rather, they suggest that personal connections act as a mechanism to reduce asymmetric information between the rating agency and the issuer. In the final essay, using a large sample of IPOs in the U.S. we show that interpersonal connections between directors and top executives in issuers and underwriting banks result in significantly lower levels of IPO underpricing. We also examine the issuers' long-term stock returns following their IPOs. Our results indicate that the connected companies' long-term returns are not significantly different from the non-connected companies. This suggests that underwriters set lower levels of underpricing for the connected companies not to treat them favourably, but due to better flow of and stronger reliance on soft information and lower risk exposure.

The method of steepest descent is applied to a nonlinearly constrained optimization problem which arises in the study of liquid crystals. Let Ω denote the region bounded by two coaxial cylinders of height 1 with the outer cylinder having radius 1 and the inner having radius ρ. The problem is to find a mapping, u, from Ω into R^3 which agrees with a given function v on the surfaces of the cylinders and minimizes the energy function over the set of functions in the Sobolev space H^(1,2)(Ω; R^3) having norm 1 almost everywhere. In the variational formulation, the norm 1 condition is emulated by a constraint function B. The direction of descent studied here is given by a projected gradient, called a B-gradient, which involves the projection of a Sobolev gradient onto the tangent space for B. A numerical implementation of the algorithm, the results of which agree with the theoretical results and which is independent of any strong properties of the domain, is described. In chapter 2, the Sobolev space setting and a significant projection in the theory of Sobolev gradients are discussed. The variational formulation is introduced in Chapter 3, where the issues of differentiability and existence of gradients are explored. A theorem relating the B-gradient to the theory of Lagrange multipliers is stated as well. Basic theorems regarding the continuous steepest descent given by the Sobolev and B-gradients are stated in Chapter 4, and conditions for convergence in the application to the liquid crystal problem are given as well. Finally, in Chapter 5, the algorithm is described and numerical results are examined.

O fator temporal é uma variável natural da maioria dos sistemas de informação, pois no mundo real os eventos ocorrem de maneira dinâmica, modicando continuamente os valores dos seus objetos no decorrer do tempo. Muitos desses sistemas precisam registrar essa modicação e atribuir os instantes de tempo em que cada informação foi válida no sistema. Este trabalho reúne as características relacionadas aos Bancos de Dados Temporais e Bancos de Dados Objeto-Relacionais. O objetivo primordial é propor uma forma de implementar alguns aspectos temporais, desenvolvendo um módulo que faça parte das características e funcionalidades internas de um SGBD. O módulo temporal contempla principalmente a parte de restrições de integridade temporal que é utilizada para manter a consistência da informação temporal armazenada. Para isso, é proposto um novo tipo de dado que melhor representa as marcas temporais dos objetos. Uma parte importante para a implementação desse projeto é a utilização de um SGBD objeto-relacional que possui algumas características orientadas a objetos que permitem a extensão de seus recursos, tornando-o capaz de gerenciar alguns aspectos temporais. O módulo temporal desenvolvido torna esses aspectos temporais transparentes para o usuário. Por conseqüência, esses usuários são capazes de utilizar os recursos temporais com maior naturalidade. / The temporal factor is a natural variable of the majority of the information systems, therefore in the real world the events occur in dynamic way, modifying continuously the values of its objects in elapsing of the time. Many of these systems need to register this modication and to attribute the instants of time where each information was valid in the system. This work congregates the characteristics related to the Temporal Databases and Object-Relational Databases. The primordial objective is to consider a form to implement some temporal aspects, developing a module that is part of the characteristics and internal functionalities of a DBMS. The temporal module mainly contemplates the part of restrictions of temporal integrity that is used to keep the consistency of the stored temporal information. For this, a new data type is proposed that better represent the objects timestamps. An important part for the implementation of this project is the use of a object-relational DBMS that has some object-oriented characteristics that allow the extension of its resources, becoming capable to manage some temporal aspects. The developed temporal module becomes these transparent temporal aspects for the user. For consequence, these users are capable to use the temporal resources more naturally.

La programmation par contraintes est un cadre puissant utilisé pour modéliser et résoudre des problèmes combinatoires, employant des techniques d'intelligence artificielle, de la recherche opérationnelle, de théorie des graphes,..., etc. L'idée de base de la programmation par contraintes est que l'utilisateur exprime ses contraintes et qu'un solveur de contraintes cherche une ou plusieurs solutions.Les problèmes de satisfaction de contraintes (CSP), sont au cœur de la programmation par contraintes. Ce sont des problèmes de décision où nous recherchons des états ou des objets satisfaisant un certain nombre de contraintes ou de critères. Ces problèmes de décision revoient vrai, si le problème admet une solution, faux, sinon. Les problèmes de satisfaction de contraintes sont le sujet de recherche intense tant en recherche opérationnelle qu'en intelligence artificielle. Beaucoup de CSPs exigent la combinaison d'heuristiques et de méthode d'inférences combinatoires pour les résoudre dans un temps raisonnable.Avec l'amélioration des ordinateurs, la résolution de plus grands problèmes devient plus facile. Bien qu'il y ait plus de capacités offertes par la nouvelle génération de machines, les problèmes industriels deviennent de plus en plus grand ce qui implique un espace _norme pour les stocker et aussi plus de temps pour les résoudre.Cette thèse s'articule autour des techniques d'optimisation de la résolution des CSPs en raisonnant sur plusieurs axes.Dans la première partie, nous traitons la compression des contraintes table. Nous proposons deux méthodes différentes pour la compression des contraintes de table. Les deux approches sont basées sur la recherche des motifs fréquents pour éviter la redondance. Cependant, la façon de définir un motif, la détection des motifs fréquents et la nouvelle représentation compacte diffère significativement. Nous présentons pour chacune des approches un algorithme de filtrage.La seconde partie est consacrée à une autre façon d'optimiser la résolution de CSP qui est l'utilisation d'une architecture parallèle. Nous proposons une méthode où nous utilisons une architecture parallèle pour améliorer le processus de résolution en établissant des cohérences parallèles. En fait, les esclaves envoient à leur maître le résultat obtenu après avoir établi la cohérence partielle en tant que nouveaux faits. Le maître, à son tour essaye de profiter d'eux en enlevant les valeurs correspondantes. / Constraint Programming (CP) is a powerful paradigm used for modelling and solving combinatorial constraint problems that relies on a wide range of techniques coming from artificial intelligence, operational research, graph theory,..., etc. The basic idea of constraint programming is that the user expresses its constraints and a constraint solver seeks a solution. Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSP), is a framework at the heart of CP problems. They correspond to decision problems where we seek for states or objects satisfying a number of constraints or criteria. These decision problems have two answers to the question they encode: true, if the problem admits a solution, false, otherwise. CSPs are the subject of intense research in both artificial intelligence and operations research. Many CSPs require the combination of heuristics and combinatorial optimization methods to solve them in a reasonable time.With the improvement of computers, larger and larger problems can be solved. However, the size of industrial problems grow faster which requires a vast amount of memory space to store them and entail great difficulties to solve them. In this thesis, our contributions can be divided into two main parts. In the first part, we deal with the most used kind of constraints, which are table constraints. We proposed two compressed forms of table constraints. Both of them are based on frequent patterns search in order to avoid redundancy. However, the manner of defining pattern, the patterns-detecting process and the new compact representation differ significantly. For each form, we propose a filtering algorithm. In the second part, we explore another way to optimize CSP solving which is the use of a parallel architecture. In fact, we enhance the solving process by establishing parallel consistencies. Different workers send to their master the result of establishing partial consistencies as new discovered facts. The master, in its turns tries to benefit from them by removing corresponding values.

Com um quinto da água doce do planeta, o sistema fluvial da Amazônia apresenta um enorme potencial para piscicultura. De acordo com a FAO, em função das suas condições geográficas, o Brasil é um dos poucos países que tem condições de atender à crescente demanda mundial, podendo tornar-se um dos maiores produtores de peixes do mundo. A observação desse potencial amazônico motivou o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa que se debruça sobre a questão da competitividade da cadeia produtiva de Arapaima gigas, o pirarucu da Amazônia brasileira. As pesquisas de campo levaram ao mapeamento de duas cadeias: a cadeia extrativista e a piscicultura. A abordagem sistêmica permitiu a verificação das características dos atores e as bases sob as quais as transações se estabelecem. À luz da teoria das restrições foram identificados os gargalos que impedem a competitividade do sistema, inclusive alertando para os recursos com restrição de capacidade. Comprovou-se que a falta de uma cadeia produtiva devidamente organizada pode provocar graves prejuízos a determinados elos, enquanto outros membros aproveitam-se de ações oportunistas para ampliar suas margens de lucro. Da mesma forma, a ausência de uma cadeia produtiva completa impede a fixação do valor gerado na região de origem das matérias-primas. No entanto, também foi possível comprovar que há possibilidade de desenvolver o extrativismo atribuindo valor econômico aos recursos naturais e gerando renda para a comunidade local. Além de apresentar o panorama do setor na região delimitada, este estudo culminou em reflexões capazes de orientar políticas públicas para o desenvolvimento de cadeias produtivas completas na região da Amazônia brasileira. / With roughly a fifth of the planet\'s fresh water, Amazon fluvial system has a huge potential for fish farming. According to FAO, Brazil is one of the few countries that is able to meet the growing global demand and could become one of the world\'s largest fish producer. This research was motivated by the acknowledge of this huge potential. The focus of analysis is related to the competitiveness of the Arapaima gigas productive chain, a large fish called the \"pirarucu of Brazilian Amazon\". Field research led to the mapping of two distinct chains: the extractivism-based chain and fish farming chain. The systemic approach allowed the researcher to gain knowledge on players individual characteristics and on the ground under which the transactions are established. In light of the theory of constraints it were identified some bottlenecks that hinder system competitiveness, including a warning against some resources with capacity constraint. It was found also that the lack of a properly organized production chain can cause serious damage to certain links, while other members take opportunistic advantage. Likewise, the absence of a complete production chain prevents locals to properly accrue all value generated in the region of origin of the raw materials. However, it was also possible to demonstrate that it is possible use the economic potencial of Amazonian Region delivering economic value to local community. In addition, this study also contributes ellaborating some reflections to support public policies concerned with the development of a complete production chain in Brazil\'s Amazon region.

Os conceitos e métodos provindos das teorias de integração morfológica e de genética quantitativa formam o arcabouço teórico para o estudo da evolução de estruturas complexas, compostas de múltiplos caracteres que interagem entre si. Nesse trabalho, utilizamos o crânio como modelo de estrutura complexa e estudamos sua diversificação nas espécies de sapo do grupo Rhinella granulosa. As perguntas do trabalho foram: (1) A organização da (co)variação é similar entre as espécies?; (2) A organização da (co)variação é modular nas espécies, conforme expectativas baseadas em desenvolvimento ou função?; (3) Fatores externos, como filogenia e clima, estruturam a similaridade no padrão de covariação entre as espécies?; (4) A diversificação da morfologia média do crânio se deu por deriva ou seleção natural?; (5) A divergência na morfologia média do crânio está associada à variação climática entre as espécies?; e finalmente (6) Restrições evolutivas atuaram na divergência entre as espécies? Os espécimes foram escaneados e validamos o uso de imagens 3D para a mensuração de 21 distâncias lineares. Os crânios das espécies foram representados como matrizes fenotípicas (P) de covariância e de correlação entre as distâncias. A similaridade entre as P das espécies é alta. As P de todas as espécies se conformam a um padrão modular compatível com interações funcionais entre ossos. As diferenças entre as P concentram-se no rostro e são associadas a diferenças no clima entre as espécies. Detectamos sinal de seleção natural nos nós mais basais da filogenia e variação local no crânio está associada à variação na sazonalidade da chuva entre as espécies. Restrições evolutivas atuaram na diversificação do crânio das espécies, defletindo as respostas evolutivas para tamanho. Concluímos que tanto seleção estabilizadora e direcional, conectadas à variação climática, quanto restrições evolutivas atuaram na diversificação do crânio das espécies / Concepts and methods within the theories of morphological integration and quantitative genetics characterize the foundation to study the evolution of complex structures, composed of several traits that interact with each other. In this work, we used the skull as a model of complex structure and we studied its diversification in toad species belonging to the Rhinella granulosa group. The questions addressed were: (1) Is the (co)variance structure similar across species?; (2) Is the (co)variance structure modular in the species, and compatible with developmental or functional interactions among traits?; (3) Do external factors, such as phylogeny and climate, structure the similarity in covariance pattern across species?; (4) Was the diversification of skull mean morphology driven by drift or natural selection?; (5) Is skull divergence associated to climatic variation across species?; and finally, (6) Is there a role for evolutionary constraints in species skull divergence? We scanned all specimens and we validated the use of 3D images to measure 21 linear distances. The skull was represented as covariance and correlation phenotypic matrices (P) among distances. P similarity is very high among species. All species\' P had a modular pattern compatible with functional interactions among bones. Differences in P were concentrated in the snout and associated to differences in climate across species. We detected a selection signal in the three most basal nodes of the phylogeny and local variation in the skull is explained by between-species variation in precipitation seasonality. Evolutionary constraints played a major role in species skull diversification, biasing evolutionary responses towards the direction of size. We conclude that stabilizing and directional selection, connected to climatic variation, as well as evolutionary constraints, acted in species skull diversification

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-22T22:10:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 fernanda.pdf: 756095 bytes, checksum: d71d2fe80fb4ed12bd1db79e4ca8e398 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-08-30 / This paper presents a mathematical model and a computational algorithm based on the Theory of Constraints (TOC), using techniques of discrete event simulation by a tooling production, achieving a reduction of the production cycle, allowing better use of equipment. This work demonstrates that the application of TOC in a manufacturing environment simulated using discrete event techniques is feasible for companies such as study, when these schedule changes proposed by the software to improve their production processes. The work demonstrates a mathematical model for the task and its algorithm. It is an experimental, quantitative, with the goal of an applied nature explanatory and deductive methods. The system helps improve the solutions continuously to exhaust the possibility of eliminating bottlenecks. One major benefit is the reduction of risk of erroneous changes made without the simulation. Random variables are used to simulate time and product waste. The work shows the results in production orders four different scenarios that simulate real, obtaining improvements in processing time. It also presents a statistical study showing how the simulator presented is efficient in terms of results. At the end concludes that the proposed model is feasible for the environment studied, limited to one cycle of analysis based on TOC, and this application is part of a larger system, outside the context of this. / Este trabalho foi elaborado dentro de uma empresa de desenvolvimento de software na cidade de Manaus. Esta empresa desenvolve sistemas para fábricas em várias cidades do Brasil. O presente trabalho apresenta um modelo matemático e um algoritmo computacional baseado na Teoria das Restrições (TOC), utilizando técnicas de eventos discretos, por meio da simulação da produção de uma ferramentaria, obtendo redução do ciclo de produção, permitindo melhor uso dos equipamentos. O trabalho demonstra que a aplicação da TOC em um ambiente de produção simulada utilizando técnicas de eventos discretos é viável para empresas como a estudada, quando estas programam as alterações proposta pelo software para melhoria de seus processos produtivos. O trabalho demonstra um modelo matemático para a tarefa e seu algoritmo. É uma pesquisa experimental, quantitativa, de natureza aplicada com objetivo explicativo e métodos dedutivos. O sistema ajuda a aprimorar as soluções continuamente até exaurir a possibilidade de eliminar gargalos. Um dos maiores benefícios é a redução dos riscos de alterações equivocadas realizadas sem a simulação. São usadas variáveis aleatórias para simular tempos e produtos refugados. O trabalho evidencia os resultados em quatro ordens de produção que simulam diferentes cenários reais, obtendo melhorias no tempo de processamento. Também é apresentado um estudo estatístico demonstrando quanto o simulador apresentado é eficiente do ponto de vista dos resultados. Ao final conclui que o modelo proposto é viável para o ambiente estudado, limitando-se a um ciclo de análise com base na TOC, sendo que esta aplicação é parte de um sistema maior, fora do contexto deste.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-22T22:11:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Claudia Moxoto.pdf: 748499 bytes, checksum: 79ddfb97f7a28eaddce5f2a8804814ff (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-12-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / One of the management decisions more complex and important to the success of the company is determining the mix of products to be sold and manufactured. The product mix directly influences business competitiveness. The information system of management accounting to make the connection between the actions of local managers and profitability. It is necessary that this measure properly the impact of local decisions on the overall performance of the organization. This study aimed to verify the implementation of Accounting Earnings, tool of the Theory of Constraints (TOC), to calculate the result of a financial company in the metallurgical industry, trying to analyze the relevance of it in management decisions. For teaching purposes, the simulations were done through scenarios which examined the various proposed solutions to the problems encountered, such as determining the mix of sales. It is possible that, by accounting earnings, decisions aimed at profitability and profitability of the company and due to the simple understanding by managers of production, can assist in making day-to-day manufacturing. Correctly measure the impact of local decisions on the overall performance / Uma das decisões gerenciais mais complexas e importantes para o sucesso da empresa é a determinação do mix de produtos a ser vendidos e fabricados. O mix de produtos influencia diretamente a competitividade empresarial. O sistema de informação de contabilidade gerencial deve fazer a conexão entre as ações locais dos gestores e a lucratividade da empresa. É necessário que este meça corretamente o impacto de decisões locais no desempenho global da organização. Objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a aplicação da Contabilidade de Ganhos, ferramenta da Teoria das Restrições (TOC), para apuração resultado do financeiro de uma Empresa do ramo metalúrgico, buscando analisar a relevância da mesma na tomada de decisões gerenciais. Para fins didáticos, as simulações foram feitas através de cenários onde se analisou as várias propostas de solução para os problemas encontrados, tal como determinação do Mix de Vendas. Verificou-se que é possível, através da contabilidade de ganhos, a tomada de decisões orientadas para rentabilidade e lucratividade da empresa. Esta ferramenta é de simples entendimento pelos gestores de produção, podendo assim auxiliar em decisões do dia-a-dia da manufatura