Free-living marine nematodes are the most ubiquitous, abundant and diverse meiofaunal component of benthic communities. These are excellent model organisms, due to its short life span, wide availability and feasibility to cultivate with minimum laboratory facilities. In this study, a population of Diplolaimella dievengatensis Jacobs 1991 (Nematoda, Monhysteridae) from the relatively Pristine estuary of the Guaratuba River in São Paulo, Brazil was isolated and cultivated. The goals were; i- to apply an integrative taxonomic approach in order to compare this population from Brazil with another from the species type-locality in the Belgian Coast, with regard to morphological, life-cycle and the 18S gene of the rDNA molecular data; and ii- to compare, at the light of life history theory, the responses of life history parameters such as; fecundity, growth and survivorship of D. dievengatensis (here as a slower species) and Litoditis marina (Bastian, 1865) (Nematoda, Rhabditidae) (as a faster species) under sublethal exposition to the sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant. The population from Brazil was similar to that from Belgium coast in all parameters. Although morphometric analyses considered the Brazilian D. dievengatensis isometrically larger than the Belgian population regarding some characters, the presence of all diagnostic characters confirmed the similarity of both species. The life-cycle, hatching time, final body length, and biomass parameters were similar in both populations, in which females were larger than males. The population growth, measured as intrinsic rate of natural increase was slightly higher for the D. dievengatensis from Brazil (rm=0.41), than the European population (rm =0.348). Molecular comparison on Genbank showed 99.4% of similarity between both populations, indicating therefore, that D. dievengatensis from Brazil is similar to those from Belgium. In the chapter ii, both species responded differently to SDS exposition. Growth and reproduction rate of D. dievengatensis surprisingly were enhanced at low and intermediate concentrations of SDS (0.001 and 0.003%), while for L. marina these parameters were reduced in all SDS concentrations tested (0.001, 0.003 and 0.006%). The SDS did not affect the survivorship of adults of the slower specie. On the other hand, survivorship of adults of the fast species was significantly affected by SDS and this effect was dependent on adult gender, with reduced rates of males exposed to 0.006% SDS. Although both species are located nearby along the fast-slow continuum, they responded distinctly to of the toxic SDS effect. Effects over L. marina met the trend of faster species in allocating fewer investments in defenses against physiological injuries and on their own somatic maintenance. We propose that the apparent lower resistance of this faster species under stress at the individual level is balanced by their higher reproductive rates, conferring higher resilience to this species at the population level. Finally, it was demonstrated that the marine nematode D. dievengatensis is an important native model organism which can be used in a wide range of studies and experimental tests. Identifying and understanding differential effects of stress in the context of life-history theory is an important aspect which enhanced our understanding about the threats posed by anthropogenic activities on natural communities / Nematodas marinhos de vida livre são o mais onipresentes, abundantes e diversos componentes da meiofauna em comunidades bênticas. São excelentes organismos modelo devido a seu curto ciclo de vida, ampla disponibilidade e viabilidade de cultivo com mínima estrutura laboratorial. Neste estudo, uma população de Diplolaimella dievengatensis Jacobs 1991 (Nematoda, Monhysteridae) do estuário relativamente prístino do rio Guaratuba, São Paulo, Brasil foi isolada e cultivada. Os objetivos foram: ii- aplicar uma abordagem taxonômica integrativa a fim de comparar esta população do Brasil com outra da localidade tipo dessa espécie, da costa da Bélgica, com relação à dados morfológicos, do ciclo de vida e molecular do gene 18S do rDNA; e ii-comparar, à luz da teoria da historia de vida, repostas de parâmetros do ciclo de vida tais como: fecundidade, crescimento e sobrevivência de D. dievengatensis (aqui como espécies mais lenta) e Litoditis marina (Bastian, 1865) (Nematoda, Rhabditidae) (como espécie rápida) sob exposição subletal ao surfactante dodecil sulfato de sódio (DSS) . A população do Brasil foi similar a da costa da Bélgica em todos os parâmetros. Embora analises morfométricas consideraram D. dievengatensis do Brasil isometricamente maior que a população belga em relação em algumas características, a presença de todos os caracteres diagnósticos confirmaram a similaridade de ambas as espécies. Os parâmetros de ciclo de vida, tempo de eclosão, comprimento corporal final e biomassa foram similares em ambas as populações, nas quais fêmeas foram maiores que machos. Crescimento populacional, mensurado como taxa intrínseca de crescimento natural foi ligeiramente mais alta para D. dievengatensisdo Brasil (rm=0.41), que para a população europeia (rm=0.348). Comparações moleculares no Genbank mostraram 99.4% de similaridade entre ambas populações, indicando portanto que a população do Brasil é similar a D. dievengatensis belga. No capítulo ii, ambas as espécies responderam distintamente a exposição ao SDS. Supreendentemente as taxas de crescimento e de reprodução de D. dievengatensis foram incrementadas sob concentrações mais baixas e intermediárias (0.001 e 0.003%), enquanto para L. marina esses parâmetros foram reduzidos em todas as concentrações de DSS testadas (0.001, 0.003 e 0.006%). O DSS não afetou a sobrevivência de adultos da espécie mais lenta. Por outro lado, a sobrevivência de adultos da espécie mais rápida foi significativamente afetada pelo SDS e esse efeito foi dependente do sexo, com taxas reduzidas em machos expostos a 0.006 % de DSS. Embora ambas as espécies estejam proximamente dispostas ao longo do gradiente \"rápido-lento\", elas responderam diferentemente ao efeito tóxico do DSS. Efeitos sobre L marina se enquadram no padrão de espécies mais rápidas ao alocar menores investimentos para as defesas contra danos fisiológicos e para sua própria manutenção somática. Nós propomos que a aparente menor resistência desta espécie rápida sob estresse ao nível individual é balanceada por suas altas taxas reprodutivas, conferindo mais alta resiliência a essa espécie ao nível populacional. Por fim, foi demonstrado que D. dievengatensis é um importante organismo modelo nativo que pode ser usado em uma ampla diversidade estudos e testes experimentais. Identificar e compreender diferentes efeitos do estresse dentro do contexto da teoria da história de vida é um aspecto importante, o qual tem aumentado nosso conhecimento sobre as ameaças de atividades antropogênicas sobre comunidades naturais

Esta pesquisa apresenta um sistema de suporte a decisão (SSD) para o planejamento e gerenciamento integrado de bacias hidrográficas, denominado Riverhelp!, e também sugere nova metodologia para o uso desse tipo de ferramenta de análise. O objetivo geral é desenvolver um SSD que possa auxiliar a gestão de recursos hídricos. Para isso o SSD utiliza e integra tecnologias avançadas em um só sistema computacional flexível e que pode ser utilizado e entendido por especialistas e outros participantes do processo decisório. O programa é composto por quatro módulos principais e tem código aberto baseado na tecnologia OpenMI o que permite aos usuários alterar e incluir funções. Outra propriedade que merece destaque é sua completa integração com um sistema de informações geográficas permitindo a análise temporal e espacial da bacia hidrográfica. Essa ferramenta pode, por exemplo, ser usada para análises de disponibilidade de água em quantidade e qualidade, para o estudo de ecossistemas, para a otimização e operação de reservatórios e para auxiliar no processo de outorga de direito de uso da água. Uma aplicação do Riverhelp! para as bacias hidrográficas dos rios Piracicaba, Capivari e Jundiaí ilustra as diversas possibilidades de uso do sistema. Os resultados dessa investigação reforçam a importância e a necessidade de uma nova geração de SSD que considerem e analisem de maneira integrada os complexos assuntos relacionados à gestão da bacia hidrográfica. O desenvolvimento do Riverhelp! contribui significativamente para o avanço das pesquisas relacionadas ao tema de planejamento e gerenciamento integrado de recursos hídricos fornecendo um SSD com características únicas, que associa ferramentas para avaliação ambiental, modelos de simulação e otimização de qualidade e quantidade de água superficial e subterrânea, sistema de informações geográficas, diferentes bancos de dados, funções para análises estatísticas e técnicas multiobjetivo para análise de cenários. / This research presents a decision support system (DSS) for integrated water resources planning and management (IWRM) named Riverhelp! and suggests new methodology for the use of this kind of analysis tool as well. The general goal is to develop an appropriate DSS that can help IWRM process. In order to do so, the DSS uses and combines advanced technologies and techniques currently available. It integrates different methodologies in just one computational system, which is flexible and can be used and understood not only by specialists but also by general users who are not familiar with modelling. The DSS Riverhelp! has four main building blocks and an open computational core based on the OpenMI technology which allows users to access it programmatically and to add new tools or to change computations in almost any way they want. Another important characteristic is that the DSS Riverhelp! is fully integrated with a geographic information system (GIS). Most of all, it puts time and spatial information together and is therefore a great package for data management of river basins. This system can be used for hydrological analyses, assessment of water availability, water resources planning, water quality and quantity studies, reservoir systems nonlinear optimization and so on. In this research a Riverhelp! application for the Piraciaba, Capivari and Jundiaí river basins shows several possibilities for its use. The results of this study emphasize the importance and necessity of a new generation of decision support systems that are able to analyze and take into account the complex issues associated to river basin management in an integrated approach. The Riverhelp! development makes significant contributions for research advance in the integrated water resources planning and management field providing a DDS with unique characteristics that combines environmental assessment tools, water quality and quantity simulation and optimization models for surface water and groundwater, geographic information system, sophisticated databases, statistical tools and multicriteria techniques for scenario analyses.

The main purpose of this research is to use Hermeneutic research approach to find out how Decision Support System (DSS) is used in banks and financial services. The research started from one stance, from which the further process could be extended to reach more complete picture of Decision Support System’s usage in strategic decision makings in banks. The research is also trying to find out the drawbacks and benefits of the DSS which have been used nowadays in banks. Furthermore, the future improvements of using DSS to make better decisions related with moral and different environments are also being discussed in the research findings. During the primary data collection, resources from different channels have been used to support the research. The primary data sources include lectures and discussion in three banks’ visiting opportunities in Stockholm, Sweden, one interview with IT Vice president from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, New York, two interviews with a professor and a director respectively from Lund University and Financial Services Innovation Centre in University College Cork, Ireland. Experiences from both academic and practical have been shared to strength the research’s validity and trustworthiness. Hermeneutic research approach addresses through the whole research process which needs to be open-minded and flexible. Unawareness of DSS for people who are working in banks is one of the issues today. Different embedded models regarding various functions are not so clear to bank staff; thus there is a gap between human decisions and system decisions. There is a variation of requirements between central banks, retail banks, commercial banks, investment banks. Hence there should be a differentiation when implementing a system. Banking systems are widespread systems which are influenced by environment factors, political, economic, socio-cultural and technological variables.

Det finns metoder som har en fokus på användarmedverkan under utvecklingen och införande av informationssystem. Det kan vara svårt under utvecklingsprocessen att bekräfta hur en specifik systemtyp som beslutstödssystem kan anses vara framgångsrikt. Det kan, utöver de tekniska, finnas ytterligare faktorer som påverkar användningen av systemen som dessutom kan vara svåra att hantera under utvecklingen. Tar de användarcentrerade utvecklingsmetoder som används idag för att implementera och driftsätta ett beslutsstödssystem hänsyn till mjuka faktorer som kan vara specifika eller särskilt viktiga för denna typ av system? Kan effekten av faktorer som påverkar beslutsfattandet t.ex. stress, ångest och grupptänkande minimeras i högre grad då metoder som fokuserar på användarnas medverkan används? Att bekräfta existensen av dessa faktorer samt minimera den påverkan de har på beslutsfattandet under användningen kan göra stora skillnader i en verksamhets effektivitet. De systemutvecklingsmetoder som används idag lägger stor vikt på att utvecklare ska utföra en noggrann kravhantering, behovsanalys och utvärdering av det tänkta systemet, och i vissa metoder inkluderas en aktivanvändarmedverkan, men det tycks inte finnas mycket information om hur hänsyn tas till systemanvändningen under drift påverkas av mjuka faktorer och dess effekter. I detta arbete sker en litteraturstudie med syfte att analysera hur en användarcentrerad metod kan hantera mjuka faktorers påverkan på användarna under systemutvecklingsprocessen och vilka strategier som används för att undvika att dessa faktorer kan påverka användandet i ett senare skede då systemet är i satt i drift. Resultatet av studien visar att visst kan en ökad medverkan också öka insikterna runt de mjuka faktorer och effekter som är typiska för beslutsstödssystem. Men det är tveksamt om den kunskapen tas tillvara så att användarna under driften kan dra nytta av dessa erfarenheter och kunskaper.

This thesis deals relationship between geographical information systems and decision support systems. Its objective is to verify hypothesis, if it is possible to consider geographical information systems as decision support systems. Opening chapter attends to explanation what is GIS and its usage in practise. Second part is engaged in definition of decision support systems. There are some examples from practise, which help us confirm or refuse the hypothesis, in the last chapter.

Conformément aux principes de la médecine factuelle, les guides de bonne pratique clinique (GBPC) sont élaborés dans un but d'amélioration de la qualité des soins. Pourtant, le suivi des recommandations par les médecins reste faible, même lorsqu'elles sont intégrées dans des systèmes informatisés d'aide à la décision. En effet, elles sont souvent critiquées pour leur manque de flexibilité, et leur incapacité à gérer la singularité des patients rencontrés en pratique clinique. En particulier, leur orientation monopathologique est en inadéquation avec la réalité de patients bien souvent polypathologiques. Nos travaux portent sur la proposition d'une méthode basée sur un raisonnement ontologique pour permettre la conciliation de GBPC pour la prise en charge flexible de patients polypathologiques au sein d'un système d'aide à la décision. Les bases de connaissances reposent sur des règles construites par formalisation des recommandations, dont les critères patients sont organisés par une ontologie du domaine, permettant de produire un graphe des profils cliniques structuré par généralisation. Le raisonnement ontologique permet une juste adaptation des connaissances aux niveaux d'abstraction variables de la description du patient. Cette méthode a été implémentée dans un système d'aide à la décision, appelé GO-DSS, et appliquée à la prise en charge de patients diabétiques et hypertendus, à partir des GBPC produits par la société VIDAL (VIDAL Recos). Le prototype et ses interfaces ont été évalués qualitativement par un échantillon d'utilisateurs comprenant à la fois des informaticiens avec des connaissances médicales et des médecins avec des compétences en informatique. / Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are elaborated according to evidence-based medicine principles in order to improve healthcare quality. However, even when they are integrated into clinical decision support systems, recommendations are poorly implemented by physicians. Indeed, CPGs are often criticized for their lack of flexibility, and their inability to handle the singularity of patients encountered in clinical practice. In particular, CPGs are usually elaborated for a single pathology whereas patients usually suffer from multiple pathologies and comorbidities. We have proposed a method based on an ontological reasoning to enable the reconciliation of single-pathology CPGs to support the flexible management of patients with multiple pathologies. Knowledge bases are made of decision rules that formalize the content of single-pathology CPGs. Patient criteria are organized by a domain ontology, which allows the generation of a generalization-ordered graph of clinical patient profiles. The ontological reasoning allows to reason at different levels of abstraction to process clinical cases described with different levels of completeness. This method has been implemented in a decision support system called GO-DSS, and applied to the management of patients suffering from both arterial hypertension and type 2 diabetes, on the basis of CPGs produced by the VIDAL company (VIDAL Recos). The prototype and its user interfaces have been qualitatively evaluated by a sample of users including both computer scientists with medical knowledge and physicians with computer skills.

Esta pesquisa apresenta um sistema de suporte a decisão (SSD) para o planejamento e gerenciamento integrado de bacias hidrográficas, denominado Riverhelp!, e também sugere nova metodologia para o uso desse tipo de ferramenta de análise. O objetivo geral é desenvolver um SSD que possa auxiliar a gestão de recursos hídricos. Para isso o SSD utiliza e integra tecnologias avançadas em um só sistema computacional flexível e que pode ser utilizado e entendido por especialistas e outros participantes do processo decisório. O programa é composto por quatro módulos principais e tem código aberto baseado na tecnologia OpenMI o que permite aos usuários alterar e incluir funções. Outra propriedade que merece destaque é sua completa integração com um sistema de informações geográficas permitindo a análise temporal e espacial da bacia hidrográfica. Essa ferramenta pode, por exemplo, ser usada para análises de disponibilidade de água em quantidade e qualidade, para o estudo de ecossistemas, para a otimização e operação de reservatórios e para auxiliar no processo de outorga de direito de uso da água. Uma aplicação do Riverhelp! para as bacias hidrográficas dos rios Piracicaba, Capivari e Jundiaí ilustra as diversas possibilidades de uso do sistema. Os resultados dessa investigação reforçam a importância e a necessidade de uma nova geração de SSD que considerem e analisem de maneira integrada os complexos assuntos relacionados à gestão da bacia hidrográfica. O desenvolvimento do Riverhelp! contribui significativamente para o avanço das pesquisas relacionadas ao tema de planejamento e gerenciamento integrado de recursos hídricos fornecendo um SSD com características únicas, que associa ferramentas para avaliação ambiental, modelos de simulação e otimização de qualidade e quantidade de água superficial e subterrânea, sistema de informações geográficas, diferentes bancos de dados, funções para análises estatísticas e técnicas multiobjetivo para análise de cenários. / This research presents a decision support system (DSS) for integrated water resources planning and management (IWRM) named Riverhelp! and suggests new methodology for the use of this kind of analysis tool as well. The general goal is to develop an appropriate DSS that can help IWRM process. In order to do so, the DSS uses and combines advanced technologies and techniques currently available. It integrates different methodologies in just one computational system, which is flexible and can be used and understood not only by specialists but also by general users who are not familiar with modelling. The DSS Riverhelp! has four main building blocks and an open computational core based on the OpenMI technology which allows users to access it programmatically and to add new tools or to change computations in almost any way they want. Another important characteristic is that the DSS Riverhelp! is fully integrated with a geographic information system (GIS). Most of all, it puts time and spatial information together and is therefore a great package for data management of river basins. This system can be used for hydrological analyses, assessment of water availability, water resources planning, water quality and quantity studies, reservoir systems nonlinear optimization and so on. In this research a Riverhelp! application for the Piraciaba, Capivari and Jundiaí river basins shows several possibilities for its use. The results of this study emphasize the importance and necessity of a new generation of decision support systems that are able to analyze and take into account the complex issues associated to river basin management in an integrated approach. The Riverhelp! development makes significant contributions for research advance in the integrated water resources planning and management field providing a DDS with unique characteristics that combines environmental assessment tools, water quality and quantity simulation and optimization models for surface water and groundwater, geographic information system, sophisticated databases, statistical tools and multicriteria techniques for scenario analyses.

This diploma thesis is focused on the issue of connecting new sources to the distribution system and their subsequent operation in the network. The theoretical part describes the conditions of connection and operation of resources in the network according to the established rules. In the practical part, a number of photovoltaic sources and battery vehicles are implemented into the current system according to selected scenarios. Subsequently, the daily course of power flow and voltage conditions in the network is calculated.

I detta examensarbete beskrivs processen för att designa, implementera och utvärdera ett webbgränssnitt som syftar till att hjälpa lantbrukare att ta fram en skräddarsydd kvävegödslingsstrategi. Målet med examensarbetet var att utforska hur ett sådant verktyg kan bli implementerat och brukas av målgruppen. I synnerhet granskades vilken data som är meningsfull för att ta beslut om kvävegödsling, hur gränssnittet kan implementeras för att vägleda användaren till ett beslut samt hur verktyget kan uppmana till mer effektiv växtodling.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(生命科学) / 甲第19871号 / 生博第352号 / 新制||生||47(附属図書館) / 32907 / 京都大学大学院生命科学研究科高次生命科学専攻 / (主査)教授 稲葉 ｶﾖ, 教授 米原 伸, 教授 杉田 昌彦 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy in Life Sciences / Kyoto University / DFAM