In this study an effort is made to bring more clear insights into the effect of management control systems on strategy formation. The content of management control systems does not have a final conclusion. Primary components of management control systems include managerial accounting and other controls. In the other hand, the process of strategy formulation mainly divided into two ways which are deliberate strategy and emergent strategy. The deliberate strategy is more applied to stable and predictable conditions while emergent strategy is a prompt response of enterprise to strategic uncertainties. Different perspectives of management control systems will separately help for two kinds of strategy formulation. This is an exploratory study which is contingent on size of organizations. Choosing steel industry as interviewers, the study divided them into two groups that are three large companies and three middle & small companies and proceeded elite interview separately. The conclusions are as follows: 1. High formalization of management control systems help for the need of information of deliberate strategy formulation. 2. The degree of participation and communication of interactive control systems in large companies are higher, while those of interactive control systems in small companies are lower. 3. No matter what the size of an organization is, the initial stages of strategic activities are shaped by management control systems. 4. No matter what the size of an organization is, boundary systems do not serve as a strategy filter. 5. The top management of interviewer companies tends to not realize that employees may make up the key performance indicator (KPI) due to the changes in the priority of KPI for responding to strategic uncertainties. 6. No matter what the size of an organization is, complete management control systems will help for higher performance in organization.

Computational modeling of part relations of shapes is a challenging problem that has been addressed by many researchers since sixties. The most important source of the difficulty is the continuous nature of shapes, which makes the expression of shape very difficult in terms of discrete parts. When discrete parts are combined, they fuse and yield new parts, i.e. parts emerge. There is a number of methods that support emergent part detection. However all of these methods are based on strong assumptions in terms of what constitute a part. There is a need for a generic solution that treats a shape independently of any restriction resulting from analytical, geometrical, or logical abstractions. To this end, we have developed two novel strategies, which can be used both separately and jointly. Both strategies are relatable to the algebraic formalization of shape grammars (by Stiny). In the course of this thesis work, we have introduced a novel data structure called Over-Complete Graph to address the problem of part embedding in the existence of discrete registration marks / and we have developed a novel and robust method for the automatic selection of registration marks. Both developments are certainly useful for other visual problems. On the application side, we have tested our techniques on puzzling Seljuk patterns (from Kayseri) to demonstrate how the developed techniques give way to computational creativity. Apart from the techniques we have developed, the most important contribution of our work is that shapes are treated as perceived wholes rather than composed, as compellingly demonstrated by Seljuk pattern experiments.

In 2011 Manitoba experienced an extreme flood. The operation of the Assiniboine River Diversion resulted in the addition of approximately 1.72 million cubic decameters of water to Lake Manitoba and an increase in water levels to 1.5 m above normal. Although this event resulted damage to farmland and many local homes, it also provided me the unique opportunity to utilize previously impractical methods of bathymetric and substrata distribution analysis in the adjoining Delta Marsh. Combined with satellite imagery taken in 2011 I was able to classify the vegetation classes within the study area and explore the relationship between vegetation distributions and water depth as well as those between water depth and substrata distribution. A seed bank study was carried out to explore the diversity of viable seeds in the area. In addition, satellite imagery taken in 2009 was used to evaluate the effects of the flood event experienced in 2011. / October 2015

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Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Can one measure the value of knowledge sharing? How does one assess the effectiveness of a knowledge network with regard to supporting knowledge sharing? These are pertinent questions that knowledge managers are faced with, because geographically dispersed organizations rely on knowledge networks to integrate its dispersed knowledge. These questions must be understood in the context of a knowledge management approach, for the approach determines how one navigates the complex landscape of knowledge sharing. This complexity is driven by the social dynamics that exist between organizational members. If the intricacies of these social dynamics can be highlighted, it will assist management in deciding which interventions to implement to increase a knowledge network’s effectiveness. Firstly, a pragmatic approach to knowledge management proposes that management can switch between a bottom-up and top-down view of knowledge sharing in a knowledge network. Secondly, management requires a vehicle to implement the pragmatic approach. The proposed vehicle is the knowledge network framework, for it plays a central role in the design, implementation and maintenance of a knowledge network. Finally, the embeddedness-measuring framework is developed to analyze the social dynamics between knowledge network members and the content they share amongst one another. The implementation of this framework allows for the analysis of interviews that were conducted in a case study at A Chemicals Company (ACC). Five communities of ACC’s knowledge network are investigated and the results emphasize the dynamics of knowledge sharing between network members. The implications of the results are as follows: • A navigation system is proposed that enables the implementation of the pragmatic approach. • A schedule for the evaluation of a knowledge network enables management to assess the effects of interventions. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Kan die waarde van die proses om kennis te deel, gemeet word? Hoe word ‘n kennis-netwerk se doeltreffendheid gemeet met betrekking tot die ondersteuning wat dit bied vir netwerk-lede om hul kennis te deel? Dit is die tipe vrae wat kennis-bestuurders mee gekonfronteer word, want organisasies wat geografies versprei is maak staat op kennis-netwerke om verspreide kennis te integreer. Om hierdie vrae te verstaan, moet dit gesien word in die konteks van 'n kennisbestuur-strategie. Die kennisbestuur-strategie bepaal hoe ‘n mens die kompleksiteit van kennis-skepping en -uitruiling benader. ‘n Groot faktor wat dié kompleksiteit beïnvloed, is die sosiale dinamika tussen netwerk-lede. Daar word dus geredeneer, dat as sin gemaak kan word van dié dinamika, bestuur se vermoë om in te gryp in die kennis-netwerk verbeter sal word. Gevolglik kan die doeltreffendheid van ‘n kennis-netwerk verbeter word. Eerstens word die pragmatiese benadering tot kennisbestuur voorgestel. Dié strategie gee bestuur die vermoë om te wissel tussen ‘n top-down benadering en ‘n bottom-up benadering tot kennisbestuur. Tweedens word die kennis-netwerk raamwerk bespreek. Hierdie raamwerk beskryf die ontwerp, implimentering en instandhouding van ‘n kennis-netwerk. Dit bied bestuur die vermoë om die pragmatiese benadering te volg. Ten slotte word die geïntegreerde metings raamwerk ontwikkel. Hierdie raamwerk stel mens instaat om ‘n analise te doen van die sosiale dinamika tussen netwerk-lede en die inhoud wat hulle met mekaar deel. Die geïntegreerde metings raamwerk word gebruik om onderhoude te analiseer van die lede van ‘n kennis-netwerk gevallestudie. Hierdie gevallestudie is gesentreer rondom die bedryf A Chemical Company (ACC) se kennisnetwerk. Vyf kennis-uitruil gemeenskappe van ACC se kennis-netwerk word ondersoek. Die resultate beklemtoon die dinamika tussen netwerk-lede in die proses om kennis uit te ruil. Die gevolgtrekking van die navorsing is soos volg: • ‘n Strategie word ontwikkel wat die implimentering van die pragmatiese benadering tot kennis-bestuur beskryf. • ‘n Skedule vir die evaluering van ‘n kennis-netwerk word voorgestel wat bestuur die vermoë bied om die gevolge van veranderinge in ‘n kennisnetwerk te assesseer.

Weed competition occurs during potato planting and development, demanding for the application of specific herbicides, especially pre-emergent ones. There are few herbicides registered for this crop and the cultivars present different selectivity levels to them. Thus, the study of selectivity and weed management are fundamental for obtaining high yields. This study evaluated the selectivity and weed control with the use of pre-emergent herbicides on potatoes. Two experiments were done in Perdizes-MG, using the cultivar Innovator. The first one was installed on August 2014 to evaluate pre-emergent herbicide selectivity to potatoes. Treatments consisted of a control, a hoed control, metribuzin (240 g ha-1), metribuzin (480 g ha-1), linuron (450 g ha-1), linuron (990 g ha-1), diclosulan (25.2 g ha-1), imazetapir (700 g ha-1), prometrine (1000 g ha-1), clomazone (360 g ha-1), clomazone + carfentrazone (300 + 7.5 g ha-1), clomazone + carfentrazone (600 + 15 g ha-1) and sulfentrazone (125 g ha-1). The second experiment was installed on March 2015 using pre-emergent herbicides to evaluate the control of weeds. Treatments consisted of a control, a hoed control, clomazone (360 g ha-1), metribuzin (480 g ha-1), linuron (990 g ha-1), clomazone + metribuzin (360 + 480 g ha-1), and clomazone + linuron (360 + 990 g ha-1). Both experiments were done as randomized blocks with four replications. Plant vegetative development, phytotoxicity and weed control were evaluated 10 and 30 days after shoot emergence (DAE), while total soluble solids, yield and classification were evaluated after harvest. Averages were compared by the Tukey test at 5% significance. The herbicides evaluated for selectivity, in the first trial, did not affect plant development. The herbicides metribuzin, diclosulan and imazetapir presented high phytotoxicity, lowe soluble solids contents and lower yield, and were considered as less selective. In contrast, the herbicides linuron and clomazone were not phytotoxic, did not affect soluble solids contents and did not cause crop yield reduction, and were considered more selective to this potato cultivar. The herbicides evaluated for weed control, in the second experiment, alone or in association, provided 100% control for the species Eleusine indica and Digitaria horizontalis. The best control of Commelina benghalensis, was obtained with clomazone alone or in association with metribuzin or linuron. Plots treated with clomazone presented phytotoxicity at 10 DAE; however, plants recovered from it at the 30 DAE evaluation. . The greatest yields were observed in treatments with clomazone and metribuzin applied by themselves. However, metribuzin reduced total solids contents, which affects potato industrial yield. Therefore, for this potato cultivar, the herbicides conserved more selective were clomazone and linuron, applied alone or in association. / Durante a implantação e o desenvolvimento da cultura da batata ocorre competição por plantas infestantes, exigindo aplicações de herbicidas específicos, principalmente pré-emergentes. Existem poucos herbicidas registrados para esta cultura e as cultivares apresentam diferentes níveis de seletividade a esses herbicidas. Por tanto, o estudo da seletividade e o manejo das plantas infestantes são fundamentais para obtenção de elevadas produtividades. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a seletividade e o controle de plantas infestantes com a utilização de herbicidas pré-emergentes na cultura da batata. Para isto, foram instalados dois experimentos em Perdizes-MG utilizando a cultivar Innovator. O primeiro foi instalado em agosto de 2014 com o objetivo de avaliar a seletividade dos herbicidas pré-emergentes na cultura da batata. Os tratamentos consistiram em testemunha, testemunha capinada, metribuzin (240 g ha-1), metribuzin (480 g ha-1), linuron (450 g ha-1), linuron (990 g ha-1), diclosulan (25,2 g ha-1), imazetapir (700 g ha-1), prometrina (1000 g ha-1), clomazone (360 g ha-1), clomazone + carfentrazone (300 + 7,5 g ha-1), clomazone + carfentrazone (600 + 15 g ha-1) e sulfentrazone (125 g ha-1). O segundo experimento foi instalado em março de 2015 utilizando os herbicidas pré-emergentes com objetivo de avaliar o controle de plantas infestantes. Os tratamentos consistiram em testemunha, testemunha capinada, clomazone (360 g ha-1), metribuzin (480 g ha-1), linuron (990 g ha-1), clomazone + metribuzin (360 + 480 g ha-1), clomazone + linuron (360 + 990 g ha-1). Os dois experimentos foram realizados em delineamento de blocos casualizados com quatro repetições. Foram realizadas avaliações de desenvolvimento vegetativo, fitotoxicidade e controle de plantas infestantes aos 10 e 30 dias após emergência das hastes (DAE), teor de sólidos solúveis, produtividade e classificação após a colheita. As médias foram comparadas pelo teste de Tukey a 5% de significância. Com relação à seletividade avaliada no primeiro ensaio, os herbicidas não afetaram desenvolvimento das plantas. Os herbicidas metribuzin, diclosulan e imazetapir apresentaram elevada fitotoxicidade, menor teor de sólidos solúveis e menor produtividade, sendo assim considerados menos seletivos. Ao passo que linuron e clomazone, não proporcionaram fitotoxicidade, não afetaram o teor de sólidos solúveis e não proporcionaram redução de produtividade, sendo dessa forma considerados mais seletivos para esta cultivar. Já no segundo ensaio, no qual objetivou-se avaliar o manejo de plantas infestantes, os herbicidas tanto isolados como em associação apresentaram controle de 100% para as espécies Eleusine indica e Digitaria horizontalis. Para o controle de Commelina benghalensis, clomazone isolado ou em associação com metribuzin ou linuron proporcionaram melhor controle. Parcelas tratadas com clomazone apresentaram sintomas de fitotoxicidade aos 10 DAE, porém as plantas se recuperaram aos 30 DAE. Os maiores níveis de produtividade foram observados nos tratamentos com clomazone e metribuzin aplicados isolados. No entanto, metribuzin reduziu o teor de sólidos solúveis, o que afeta o rendimeno industrial. Dessa forma, para esta cultivar os herbicidas considerados mais seletivos foram clomazone e linuron, aplicados isolados ou em associação. / Mestre em Agronomia

La Tunisie est un pays endémique pour la leishmaniose. En 1980, Rioux, Pratlong et Lanotte décrivent en Tunisie une espèce de leishmanie jugée nouvelle et qu'ils nomment alors Leishmania (L.) killicki sur la base d'une trentaine de souches présentant toutes un même nouveau profil isoenzymatique, le zymodème MON-8. Ces souches avaient été isolées à la suite d'une épidémie de leishmaniose cutanée apparue dans les environs de Tataouine. Cependant, le vecteur et le réservoir impliqués dans le cycle de ce parasite demeuraient inconnus.Plus récemment, fin 2010, nous avons pu identifier plusieurs cas de leishmaniose cutanée à L. killicki en dehors du foyer historique de Tataouine, chez des patients originaires de la délégation de Metlaoui, pourtant connue jusqu'alors uniquement comme foyer historique et endémique de leishmaniose cutanée à L. major. Ceci nous encouragea à approfondir nos prospections concernant ce nouveau foyer émergent à L. killicki .C'est dans ce contexte que l'objectif principal de notre thèse fut d'identifier les vecteurs et les réservoirs potentiels de la leishmaniose cutanée à L. killicki et de caractériser le cycle de transmission dans ces foyers par des études parasitologiques, moléculaires et isoenzymatiques.Nos travaux de thèse se sont articulés autour de trois principaux axes de recherche :1) Nous avons mené une étude élargie permettant une caractérisation moléculaire des souches de leishmanies isolées à partir de prélèvements cutanés de patients originaires non seulement de Metlaoui mais également des autres délégations composant le gouvernorat de Gafsa. Dans un premier temps, l'analyse des données nous a ainsi permis d'actualiser la répartition géographique de la leishmaniose cutanée à L. killicki en Tunisie.2) Des études entomologiques recherchant les vecteurs de la leishmaniose cutanée à L killicki nous ont permis :-de réaliser un inventaire faunistique des phlébotomes présents dans les deux foyers principaux, le foyer historique de Tataouine et le foyer émergent de Metlaoui ;-de mettre en évidence le rôle probable de vecteur des phlébotomes de l'espèce Phlebotomus sergenti pour L. killicki ;-d'étudier la variabilité intraspécifique chez les espèces Phlebotomus sergenti et Sergentomyia. minuta en comparant nos spécimens de Tunisie à ceux de nombreux autres pays ;-d'étudier les préférences trophiques des femelles de phlébotomes mettant en évidence leur large spectre d'hôtes lors de la prise de repas sanguin et le caractère non exclusivement herpétophile de Sergentomyia minuta, contrairement à ce qui est souvent rapporté.3) Enfin, nous avons étudié les réservoirs potentiels de la leishmaniose cutanée dans ces foyers en capturant les espèces de rongeurs principalement présentes en milieux urbain et selvatique (Metlaoui et alentours). Une caractérisation moléculaire et isoenzymatique des leishmanies isolées a été réalisée et nous faisons ici état, pour la première fois, de l'identification de L. killicki chez Ctenodactylus gondii et de son rôle probable dans le cycle de transmission de la leishmaniose cutanée à L. killicki en Tunisie. / Tunisia is an endemic country for leishmaniasis. In 1980, Rioux, Pratlong & Lanotte described from Tunisia a new species they called Leishmania (L.) killicki based on the typing of 30 strains isolated from an outbreak of cutaneous leishmaniasis occuring in the Tataouine area and exhibiting a zymodeme: MON-8. The vector and the reservoir if exixting were still uncknown. Human cases have been mentioned out of this area. Gafsa is a province were cutaneous leishmanaisis due to L. major is endemic.The recent identification of L. killicki as the causative agent of a cutaneous leishmaniasis occuring patients from Metlaoui incitated us to explore this focus. This is the aim of our Ph. D. thesis: identification of the Phlebotomine sand flies vector(s) and possible role of reservoirs using both parasitological, isoenzymatical and molecular approaches.Three main topics have been developed during this work:i) To characterize the Leishmania strains from cutaneous lesions obtained from patients from Gafsa area using molecular tools. We updated epidemiological, spatial and clinical data related to L. killicki leishmaniasis in Tunisia.ii) To carry out entomological studies:-to do sand flies inventories in two distinct areas,-to study the molecular intraspecific variablility in Phlebotomus sergenti and Sergentomyia. minuta by comparison of Tunisian specimens with other ones coming from several countries,-to show the probable role of P. sergenti in the transmission of L. killicki,-to study blood meal origin of engorged females: many Phlebotomus are opportunistic species and Sergentomyia minuta is not exclusively herpetophilic.iii) Lastly, we carried out a study on the Leishmania infection on wild and urban rodents in Metlaoui and around this city. The isoenzymatic and molecular typing show the role of Ctenodactylus gondii in the cycle of L. killicki in Tunisia.

The character of woven textiles is dependent on both the materials and the loom technology used. While digitally-controlled jacquard looms are a major development in weaving technology, they have mostly been used in developing representational and pictorial weaving. Such three-dimensional weaving as exists, utilises materials in predictably similar ways. Here, through systematic experimentation, three shrinking and two resisting yarns have been combined in multi-layer weaves in order to explore their potential for form-generating behaviour. Three-dimensional form occurs when the shrinking yarn/s place the resisting yarn/s under tension. To relieve this tension, the resisting yarn moves within the weave, creating waves or folds. The resulting form is highly sensitive to variation, demonstrating emergent behaviour, and identifying the woven textile as a complex system. Demonstrating the variety of form possible from a limited number of materials, the results represent a small body of work aiming to re-form weaving. The exploration of synergistic material combinations is therefore shown to be an exercise of value to fields from art textiles through to industry. It demonstrates that there is great development potential in woven textiles. Understanding the behaviour of materials is fundamental to furthering form-based weaving.

The purpose for this study is to examine the impact score has on free-form designed games:games without designed goals. The study is aimed towards smaller products and is meant tohelp designers who are looking to implement score into their game with how it could affect theplayer’s relationship to the defined goal, their intrinsic goal, and the purpose of the game. Aprototype game was created that would simulate the free-form design method. The game hadtwo modes: mode A without score and mode B with score added to one of the actions. Resultsfrom observations and semi-structured interviews show that score has a direct impact on theway participants defined both their intrinsic goals and the one set by the game. Participants’perception of the game defined goal shifts as score is added by giving them a clear andunambiguous extrinsic reward.

Agentes atuando em sociedade devem agir de maneira coerente para atingir um objetivo comum. A coordenação nos sistemas multiagente previne o comportamento caótico dos agentes, permite que o sistema lide com restrições globais e a interdependência entre os agentes, e faz com que o sistema possa ser composto por agentes com diferentes competências. A coordenação pode ser baseada na estrutura organizacional, onde a comunidade de agentes atua a favor de um objetivo comum através da forma como estão organizados. Em ambientes dinâmicos a organização dos agentes deve se adaptar a mudanças nos objetivos do sistema, na disponibilidade de recursos, nos relacionamentos entre os agentes, e assim por diante. Esta flexibilidade é um problema chave nos sistemas multiagente e está relacionada a modelos de adaptação como os observados nos insetos sociais. O presente trabalho propõe uma abordagem para a geração e adaptação da organização de um sistema multiagente, em tempo de execução, utilizando como base os modelos teóricos de organização das colônias de insetos sociais. Esta abordagem enfoca a alocação e o escalonamento dinâmicos de tarefas distribuídos entre agentes com diferentes competências e em ambientes de larga escala. Dois cenários principais são utilizados para experimentar e validar a abordagem proposta. Estes cenários estão baseados em problemas de pesquisa operacional denominados Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (RCPSP) e o Generalized Assignment Problem (GAP). Este trabalho contribui para o avanço do estado-da-arte no estudo e desenvolvimento de sistemas multiagente e na modelagem e aplicação de técnicas de inteligência de enxames em problemas computacionais. A abordagem proposta para coordenação de agentes em cenários complexos é nova, eficaz e robusta. De maneira geral, esta abordagem contribui para busca da solução de problemas de coordenação de sistemas multiagente aplicados a problemas reais. / A community of individual agents must work in a coherent manner to reach some common goal. The coordination process in multiagent systems prevents chaotic behavior of agents, makes the system able to deal with global constraints and inter-agents dependencies, and allows the system to be composed of agents with different capabilities. This process is normally based on the organizational structure, where the community of agents works towards the system goal through the manner they are organized. However, in dynamic environments, agents must be able to adapt to the changing goals of the system, to the resources available, to their relationships with another agents, to changes on the environment and so on. This problem is a key one in multiagent systems and relates to models of adaptation, such as those observed among social insects. This work proposes a new approach to generate and adapt the multiagent organization on the fly based on the theoretical models of social insects colonies organization. This approach focuses on distributed dynamic scheduling and task allocation using agents with different capabilities in large scale environments. Two main scenarios have been used to experiment and validate the proposed approach: the Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (RCPSP) and the Generalized Assignment Problem (GAP). This work contributes to advancing the state-of-the-art in the study and development of multiagent systems and in the modeling and application of swarm intelligence techniques. The proposed approach to coordinate agents in complex scenarios is novel, effective and robust. This approach contributes to the search of coordination solutions to multiagent systems real applications.