The principal objective of the research is to diagnose the causes and symptoms of company failure and to investigate whether a pattern of failure could be determined to enable management and other interested parties to identify the risks threatening the survival of the company. The current research divides into three main areas 1. Development of a Data Bank and a study of the age structure of failed companies. 2. An application of reliability management techniques to the analysis of company failure data. 3. Identification of causes and symptoms of company failure based on risk management methodology. Data were collected and analysed for approximately 2000 manufacturing companies which had undergone either compulsory or creditors' voluntary liquidation during the period 1970 to 1977. A Data Bank was established with classified information for 16 different groups of companies making up the manufacturing industry. The classification was based on the Standard Industrial Classification. A study of the age structure of each group was carried out and compared with previous studies. Reliability methodology was applied to the analysis of company failure data for the identification of the failure pattern. Best distributions describing failure behaviour of companies were also determined and the validity and application of various statistical distributions were examined. A detailed examination of the histories of some large companies which failed during the period 1970-1977 was carried out. Risks, weaknesses and possible causes and symptoms of failure were investigated and discussed. A list of the causes of failure emerged from the analysis is drawn and the non-financial symptoms are highlighted in a tabular form. Illustrative models for the appraisal of change and identification of causes and symptoms are developed and critical factors discussed. Finally, general conclusions arising out of the research are-presented, along with recommendations for further research and study.

The principal objective of the research is to diagnose the causes and symptoms of company failure and to investigate whether a pattern of failure could be determined to enable management and other interested parties to identify the risks threatening the survival of the company. The current research divides into three main areas 1. Development of a Data Bank and a study of the age structure of failed companies. 2. An application of reliability management techniques to the analysis of company failure data. 3. Identification of causes and symptoms of company failure based on risk management methodology. Data were collected and analysed for approximately 2000 manufacturing companies which had undergone either compulsory or creditors' voluntary liquidation during the period 1970 to 1977. A Data Bank was established with classified information for 16 different groups of companies making up the manufacturing industry. The classification was based on the Standard Industrial Classification. A study of the age structure of each group was carried out and compared with previous studies. Reliability methodology was applied to the analysis of company failure data for the identification of the failure pattern. Best distributions describing failure behaviour of companies were also determined and the validity and application of various statistical distributions were examined. A detailed examination of the histories of some large companies which failed during the period 1970-1977 was carried out. Risks, weaknesses and possible causes and symptoms of failure were investigated and discussed. A list of the causes of failure emerged from the analysis is drawn and the non-financial symptoms are highlighted in a tabular form. Illustrative models for the appraisal of change and identification of causes and symptoms are developed and critical factors discussed. Finally, general conclusions arising out of the research are-presented, along with recommendations for further research and study.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

In regards to health care, the civil tort system serves to both deter negligent behavior on the part of the provider and compensate victims for losses which must include bodily harm attributable to negligent medical care. Due to the unique malpractice landscape that evolved in the United States, national tort reform has increased over the last several decades and a need for reliable data exists. This paper matches claims from the National Practitioner's Data Bank to an independent state data bank to determine is systematic, nonrandom differences between the observations exist. The paper found that systematic differences existed and their existence was implicitly proven in a paper published in 2013. This calls into question the current state of knowledge surrounding medical malpractice liability reform.

Canada established its National DNA Data Bank (NDDB) in 2000. Since that time, the NDDB has assisted in the solving of numerous criminal investigations. The NDDB has two indexes: the convicted offender index, which holds the identifiable DNA of persons convicted of designated crimes, and the anonymous crime scene index, which holds anonymous DNA collected from crime scenes. A match to a crime scene profile provides criminal investigators with extremely valuable evidence linking a suspect to a crime scene and the NDDB has been used to identify perpetrators in thousands of crimes in Canada. By limiting the identifiable DNA in the NDDB to convicted offenders, Canada has aimed to balance the crime-solving benefits of the data bank with competing rights issues, particularly the individual right to privacy. Some have encouraged expansions to the NDDB scheme in order to increase the number of crimes that can be resolved through the use of DNA evidence. One possible expansion is to introduce familial searching, a technique in DNA analysis that enables suspect identification based on the existence of a partial match between an identifiable DNA profile and an anonymous profile retrieved from the scene of a crime. Where closely matching profiles indicate that a close genetic relationship likely exists between the identifiable offender and an anonymous perpetrator, police will have a useful lead for follow-up and may be able to locate a suspect by testing the DNA of the identified offender’s close relatives. The use of familial searching is controversial. As a crime-solving tool, it has helped solve crimes in other jurisdictions in which it is currently used. At the same time, it introduces legal and ethical questions that have not been fully explored in Canada. One of the crucial questions is whether and to what extent familial searching may discriminate against Canada’s Aboriginal peoples, who suffer the effects of systemic bias in the criminal justice system generally and who are likely to be overrepresented in the NDDB. Applied in an inherently unequal system, familial searching would disproportionately impact Aboriginal peoples and perpetuate or possibly worsen this existing inequality. To help inform Canada’s decision about the use of familial searching as part of NDDB operations, this dissertation examines the issue from a Critical Race Theory perspective. It outlines the various ways in which familial searching would disproportionately impact Aboriginal peoples. The dissertation further examines international approaches to familial searching and evaluates the extent to which these policies protect against racial inequality concerns relating to the use of familial searching in each jurisdiction considered. It argues that Canada should prohibit familial searching of NDDB data in order to avoid a situation in which the technique would perpetuate or worsen systemic bias against Aboriginal peoples in the Canadian criminal justice system.

Orientador: Adriane Pinto Wasko / Resumo: O Brasil apresenta umas das maiores diversidades de avifauna do mundo, sendo estimada a ocorrência de 1.919 espécies distribuídas em todo seu território. Entretanto, a destruição de habitats, poluição e captura excessiva, muitas vezes associadas ao comércio ilegal, têm levado a um declínio no número de indivíduos desse grupo animal. Uma das formas de combater esse tipo de crime ambiental e de reverter ou minimizar seus efeitos concerne à implementação de um banco de dados forenses com registros de ocorrências e informações biológicas sobre os animais apreendidos e desenvolvimento de ações de conscientização da população sobre esta problemática. Desta forma, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo desenvolver estratégias multidisciplinares para a proteção jurídica à conservação biológica de aves oriundas do tráfico de animais. Amostras de DNA de aves comercializadas ilegalmente e encaminhadas ao Centro de Medicina e Pesquisa em Animais Silvestres (CEMPAS), mantido pela Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia da Universidade Estadual Paulista, foram utilizadas para geração de perfis genéticos sexo-específicos, por meio da amplificação de segmentos dos genes CHD-Z e CHD-W (Chromo Helicase DNA Binding). Adicionalmente, perfis de duas subespéciesde papagaio-verdadeiro (Amazona aestiva aestiva e Amazona aestiva xanthopteryx foram gerados por meio da amplificação e sequenciamento nucleotídico de segmentos dos genes mitocondriais citocromo C oxidase subunidade I (COI) e citocrom... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Brazil has one of the largest avifauna diversity in the world, with estimated 1,919 species distributed throughout its territory. However, habitat destruction, pollution and over-harvesting, often associated with illegal trade, have led to a decline in the number of individuals of this animal group. One possible approach to combat this type of environmental crime and to reverse or minimize its effects concerns the implementation of a forensic database with records of occurrences and biological information about the captured animals and the development of actions to raise population awareness about this problem. Therefore, the present work aimed to develop multidisciplinary strategies for the legal protection to the biological conservation of birds originated from the animal traffic. DNA samples of illegally traded birds, that were sent to the Center for Medicine and Research in Wild Animals (CEMPAS) maintained by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science of the São Paulo State University, were used to generate sex-specific genetic profiles, through the amplification of segments of the CHD-Z and CHD-W (Chromo Helicase DNA Binding) genes. In addition, profiles of two subspecies of the Blue-fronted Amazon (Amazona aestiva aestiva and Amazona aestiva xanthopteryx) were generated, through amplification and nucleotide sequencing of segments of the mitochondrial genes cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (COI) and cytochrome b (CYB) and a segment of the 5S ribosomal DNA gene (... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Submitted by BIANCA PICADO GONÇALVES null (bi_picado@hotmail.com) on 2018-03-27T19:06:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_versão final 1.pdf: 3691717 bytes, checksum: 54912fed5f6b404afadb8be90dd16bf8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Pizzani null (luciana@btu.unesp.br) on 2018-03-28T15:29:07Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 gonçalves_bp_dr_bot.pdf: 3691717 bytes, checksum: 54912fed5f6b404afadb8be90dd16bf8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-28T15:29:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 gonçalves_bp_dr_bot.pdf: 3691717 bytes, checksum: 54912fed5f6b404afadb8be90dd16bf8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-02 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O Brasil apresenta umas das maiores diversidades de avifauna do mundo, sendo estimada a ocorrência de 1.919 espécies distribuídas em todo seu território. Entretanto, a destruição de habitats, poluição e captura excessiva, muitas vezes associadas ao comércio ilegal, têm levado a um declínio no número de indivíduos desse grupo animal. Uma das formas de combater esse tipo de crime ambiental e de reverter ou minimizar seus efeitos concerne à implementação de um banco de dados forenses com registros de ocorrências e informações biológicas sobre os animais apreendidos e desenvolvimento de ações de conscientização da população sobre esta problemática. Desta forma, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo desenvolver estratégias multidisciplinares para a proteção jurídica à conservação biológica de aves oriundas do tráfico de animais. Amostras de DNA de aves comercializadas ilegalmente e encaminhadas ao Centro de Medicina e Pesquisa em Animais Silvestres (CEMPAS), mantido pela Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia da Universidade Estadual Paulista, foram utilizadas para geração de perfis genéticos sexo-específicos, por meio da amplificação de segmentos dos genes CHD-Z e CHD-W (Chromo Helicase DNA Binding). Adicionalmente, perfis de duas subespéciesde papagaio-verdadeiro (Amazona aestiva aestiva e Amazona aestiva xanthopteryx foram gerados por meio da amplificação e sequenciamento nucleotídico de segmentos dos genes mitocondriais citocromo C oxidase subunidade I (COI) e citocromo b (CYB) e de um segmento do gene de DNA ribossomal 5S (DNAr 5S), a partir de amostras de animais mantidos no CEMPAS. A sexagem molecular, em exemplares de aves de diferentes famílias, permitiu a identificação de um ou de dois fragmentos de DNA em machos e fêmeas, respectivamente. Entre os marcadores moleculares utilizados para caracterizar Amazona aestiva, apenas o citocromo b evidenciou diferenças nucleotídicas entre as duas subespécies. Os dados dos perfis genéticos foram utilizados para implementação de uma plataforma online denominada de Forensic Bird Base, com acesso para fins de pesquisa e criminalística. Como produtos adicionais desse trabalho, foram gerados uma cartilha educativa visando popularizar a aplicação das Ciências Forenses no combate ao tráfico de aves silvestres e um manual jurídico para profissionais das áreas de biológicas, visando demonstrar as normas e leis vigentes no país acerca dos direitos dos animais, e as condutas que podem ser tipificadas ou não como crime contra a fauna. Os resultados e produtos gerados podem servir de subsídio para o delineamento de programas de manutenção e/ou reprodução de espécies de aves em cativeiro, elaboração de estratégias de reintrodução de exemplares em ambiente natural e para combater ou minimizar o tráfico ilegal de animais e seus efeitos, / Brazil has one of the largest avifauna diversity in the world, with estimated 1,919 species distributed throughout its territory. However, habitat destruction, pollution and over-harvesting, often associated with illegal trade, have led to a decline in the number of individuals of this animal group. One possible approach to combat this type of environmental crime and to reverse or minimize its effects concerns the implementation of a forensic database with records of occurrences and biological information about the captured animals and the development of actions to raise population awareness about this problem. Therefore, the present work aimed to develop multidisciplinary strategies for the legal protection to the biological conservation of birds originated from the animal traffic. DNA samples of illegally traded birds, that were sent to the Center for Medicine and Research in Wild Animals (CEMPAS) maintained by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science of the São Paulo State University, were used to generate sex-specific genetic profiles, through the amplification of segments of the CHD-Z and CHD-W (Chromo Helicase DNA Binding) genes. In addition, profiles of two subspecies of the Blue-fronted Amazon (Amazona aestiva aestiva and Amazona aestiva xanthopteryx) were generated, through amplification and nucleotide sequencing of segments of the mitochondrial genes cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (COI) and cytochrome b (CYB) and a segment of the 5S ribosomal DNA gene ((DNAr 5S), from animal samples kept at CEMPAS. Molecular sexing, in different Family birds, allowed the identification of one or two fragments of DNA in males and females, respectively. Among the molecular markers used to characterize Amazona aestiva, only cytochrome b evidenced nucleotide differences between the two subspecies. Genetic profile data were used to implement an online platform called Forensic Bird Base, with access for research and criminalistic purposes. As an additional product of this work, an educational booklet was created, to popularize the application of Forensic Sciences against the traffic of wild birds, and a legal manual for professionals of the biological areas, aiming to demonstrate the norms and laws in force in the country regarding animals rights, and conducts that may be criminalized as a crime against wildlife. The generated results and products can be used as a subsidy to the design of programs for the maintenance and/or reproduction of bird species in captivity, the elaboration of strategies to reintroduce specimens in natural environments and to combat or minimize animals´s illegal trade and its consequences.

Estudos teóricos dos mecanismos moleculares responsáveis pela formação e estabilidade de complexos moleculares vêm ganhando relevância pelas possibilidades práticas que oferecem, por exemplo, na compreensão de diversas doenças e no desenho racional de fármacos. Neste projeto, nossa ênfase está no estudo de complexos de proteínas, extraídos do banco de dados de proteínas (PDB), onde desenvolvemos ferramentas computacionais as quais permitem efetuar análises em duas direções: 1) efetuar previsões básicas, através do emprego de propriedades eletrostáticas de proteínas, em diferentes condições e níveis preditivos e 2) realização de um conjunto de análises estatísticas, como freqüência de contato, em busca de preditores de complexos de proteínas e identificar padrões de interação entre seus aminoácidos em função da distância de separação. Com base nos resultados obtidos por ambos os estudos, objetivamos quantificar as forças físicas envolvidas na formação dos complexos protéicos. O foco do projeto, a longo prazo, é prever o fenômeno da complexação através da fusão dessas duas linhas de estudos: preditor básico de complexos protéicos e análise do potencial estatístico entre os aminoácidos que formam o complexo. O presente projeto é concluído com a construção de portais web que disponibilizarão os resultados obtidos por nossos trabalhos bem como a possibilidade de qualquer usuário, efetuar consultas por propriedades de proteínas e/ou grupo de proteínas. / Theoretical studies of the molecular mechanisms responsible for the formation and stability of molecular complexes are gaining relevance for the practical possibilities that they offer, for example, in the understanding of diverse diseases and rational drug design. In this project, our emphasis is on the study of protein complexes, extracted from protein data bank (PDB). We have developed computational tools which allow to perform analyses in two directions: 1) to make basic complexation forecasts, through the use of electrostatics properties of proteins, in different conditions and predictive levels, and 2) to carry out a set of statistical analyses, as contacts frequency, in order to build up predictor of protein complexes and to identify patters of interactions between the amino acids as a function of their separation distance. Based on the results obtained on both studies, we aim quantify the physical forces involved in the formation of protein complexes. The focus of the project, in the long run, is to foresee the phenomenon of the protein complexes through the fusing of these two study lines: a coarse-grained predictor of protein complexes and analysis of the statistical potentials between the amino acids that form the complex. The present project is concluded with the construction of web services where we make available the results obtained on our works. This server also has the possibility to be used by any computer user, that wishes to perform search on protein and/or protein group properties

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T14:16:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Odecio Souza.pdf: 1132556 bytes, checksum: 86cffae67d3bdc81e3ece242d06316fc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-02 / In this essay, we intend to analyze the participation of Edgar Frank "Ted" Codd in the organization of the theoretical foundations that allowed the creation of the "Technological Object" known as "Relational Data Base Management System", thus offering a contribution to the History of Computing / No presente ensaio, pretendemos analisar a participação de Edgar Frank Ted Codd na organização das bases teóricas que permitiram a criação do "Objeto Tecnológico" conhecido como "Sistema Gerenciador de Banco de Dados Relacional", oferecendo assim uma contribuição para a História da Computação

Thesis (DPhil (Logistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / South Africa currently experiences the double jeopardy problem of catching up to global economic competitiveness whilst at the same time feeling the pressures of sustainability management spearheaded by a global agenda. Global sustainability is defined as growth that is shared without depleting natural resources or damaging the environment. Academic disciplines are challenged to make a contribution and economics as such should contribute by providing the lead and lag indicators for the planning and measurement of scarce resources usuage. This integrative view includes economic sub-disciplines, such as logistics. This integrative view is an acknowledged part of the economics discipline, except that the macro-economic context of some sub-disciplines, such as logistics, often receives less attention during the course of academic activities. The distribution of resources and outputs in the economy is a logistics controlled cross-cutting factor, but suffers from a lack of macro-economic perspective, and lead and lag orientated measurement. This state of the affairs is a historic backlog of logistics and its specific position within economics. During the primary economic era the world began to configure networks and markets, which became more pronounced and settled with the dawn and settling of the industrial era. Logistics then was a “given” and did not receive much thought even as industrial, market economies developed. Transport was regarded as an administered cost, i.e. inefficiencies in logistics systems were evenly distributed between competitors, not giving any specific entity an advantage. With the advent of global competition and the diminishing returns on other cost saving measures, companies began to collaborate and integrate logistics functions within value chains, but the administered part of transport costs failed to receive the attention it required. In this way, global competitors did begin to experience disadvantages on a national level as whole economies suffered from inefficiencies in logistics and specifically transport systems.