Univ., Diss.--Paris., 2002.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 171 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-153). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Expert Opinion and Its Assessment Abstract Expert opinion is an important institute for professional evaluation of facts and is widely used in public and private law. This thesis primarily focuses on the examination of expert opinion as a means of proof from the point of view of civil procedural law. In civil procedure, an expert opinion often serves as a basis for issuing a court decision. For this reason, high requirements are placed not only on the persons of experts but on expert opinion itself as well. This thesis focuses on the judicial assessments of an expert opinion, i.e. the judicial evaluation of whether the expert opinion meets all the requirements that it should meet by law. Special emphasis is placed on the reviewability of the expert opinion, as it is a prerequisite for any evaluation. Furthermore, the criteria for judicial review of expert conclusions are determined and defined in this thesis. They include legality, relevance and truthfulness. The criterion of factual correctness is examined in more detail, as its application is the most conflicting within the academic circles. However, this work argues and concludes that the court should subject the expert opinion to a full assessment, including the review of factual correctness, otherwise a court decision could ultimately be a...

Submitted by Elba Lopes (elba.lopes@fecap.br) on 2016-04-12T22:21:56Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Pedro_Borborema_de_Araujo.pdf: 1384030 bytes, checksum: fb4ef32f4e8484d647bc2ba97fe6fd3b (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-12T22:21:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Pedro_Borborema_de_Araujo.pdf: 1384030 bytes, checksum: fb4ef32f4e8484d647bc2ba97fe6fd3b (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-28 / Mergers and acquisitions have their origins between the end of the XVIII century and the beginning of XIX century, passing through cyclical period. They are markedly recognized as strategic ways used for the growth of companies. This paper was developed under the Resource-Based View theory and, from it, we analyzed how the phenomenon of mergers and acquisitions is used by the companies for improvement of process or increase of its resource base and generation of competitive advantages. The objective of this paper was to analyze, under the Resource-Based View, how a process of acquisition makes the creation of competitive advantages possible through the access to great amount of resources for the studied company. As specific objectives, this paper seeks to identify the company resource base gains to the acquired company from the acquisition process; it also describes if it occurs an increment of the competitive advantage from the acquisition and broadens the theory of mergers and acquisitions enlightening a successful case study and allowing other companies to be based on at least parts of it. In order to reach these objectives, a qualitative research was carried, as an exploratory experiment, having Liquig??s Distribuidora S.A case study, company which was acquired by the Petrobras Distribuidora S. A., to confirm the generation of competitive advantage based on theories of mergers and acquisitions and the resource-based view. The study was based on primary and secondary data. The primary data was obtained from interviews realized with managers of the company, specially oriented to those who experienced the acquisition and post-acquisition period. These interviews were developed over a semi-structured script. The secondary data was got from many different publications like company???s web site, news from specialized media and public data as accounting balance e any other data that can be published by the force of the law 6.404/1976 or Lei das Sociedades por A????es. As results, this paper identified that the acquisition of Liquig??s Distribuidora S.A. by Petrobras Distribuidora S.A. brought an increase of its resource base and, as consequence, the generation of sustained competitive advantages. / Fus??es e aquisi????es t??m sua origem identificada entre o final do s??culo XVIII e o in??cio do s??culo XIX, passando por per??odos c??clicos ou ondas. S??o notoriamente reconhecidos meios estrat??gicos utilizados como forma de crescimento para as empresas. Este trabalho foi desenvolvido sob a ??tica da Vis??o Baseada em Recursos (RBV) e, partindo desta teoria, foi analisado como o fen??meno de Fus??es e Aquisi????es (F&A), como um meio pelo qual uma empresa faz uso deste processo para a melhora ou amplia????o da sua base de recursos e gera????o de vantagem competitiva. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar, sob a ??tica da Vis??o Baseada em Recursos, como um processo de aquisi????o possibilitou a cria????o de vantagens competitivas, atrav??s do acesso a uma maior quantidade de recursos para a empresa estudada. Como objetivos espec??ficos, o estudo busca identifcar quais os ganhos na base de recursos de uma empresa a partir de um processo de aquisi????o, para a empresa adquirida; descrever se ocorre um incremento da vantagem competitiva a partir de um processo de aquisi????o; e ampliar a teoria sobre Fus??es e Aquisi????es, ilustrando um caso considerado bem-sucedido, permitindo assim que outras firmas possam basear-se ao menos em parte. Para atingir esses objetivos foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa, de car??ter explorat??rio, com a realiza????o de um estudo de caso sobre o processo de aquisi????o da Liquig??s Distribuidora S.A pela Petrobras Distribuidora S.A., buscando constatar a gera????o de vantagem competitiva sob a ??tica de teorias sobre Fus??es e Aquisi????es e da Vis??o Baseada em Recursos. O estudo utilizou-se de dados prim??rios e secund??rios. Os dados prim??rios foram obtidos a partir de entrevistas realizadas com os gestores da companhia, direcionadas ??queles que vivenciaram o per??odo de aquisi????o e p??s-aquisi????o. Estas entrevistas foram desenvolvidas sobre um roteiro semiestruturado. Os dados secund??rios foram obtidos atrav??s de publica????es diversas, como a p??gina de internet da companhia, not??cias de m??dia especializada e dados p??blicos, como o balan??o cont??bil da companhia e demais que possam ser publicados por for??a da lei 6.404/1976 ou Lei das Sociedades por A????es. Como resultado, este trabalho identificou que a aquisi????o da Liquig??s Distribuidora S. A pela Petrobras Distribuidora trouxe uma amplia????o em sua base de recursos e, como consequ??ncia, a gera????o de vantagens competitivas sustent??veis.

A atribuição de autoria a falas provenientes de gravações ambientais e interceptações telefônicas de falas que provêm de crimes como tráfico de drogas, estelionato, sequestro, abuso sexual, pedofilia, e corrupção pode apresentar à perícia vários dificultadores para a obtenção de medidas acústicas. Um desses dificultadores pode ser o disfarce de voz. Com a possibilidade de ter suas vozes gravadas, o disfarce tem se tornado comum entre os perpetradores de crimes. Quando a voz é gravada, poderá servir como prova a partir do exame de comparação de locutor (ECL), que reúne metodologias para determinar se duas amostras de fala provêm do mesmo falante. O ECL é realizado por meio de análise perceptivo-auditiva, acústico-instrumental e de reconhecimento automático. Embora já tenham sido desenvolvidas tecnologias de verificação automática, as análises sem interferência humana não apresentam respaldo suficiente, seja pela má qualidade do sinal ou pela escassez de amostras de fala em banco de dados e, por isso, as pesquisas que ancorem as outras modalidades de análise são essenciais. A análise acústico-instrumental emprega ferramentas computacionais para avaliação quantitativa e qualitativa da fala e a engenharia biomédica possibilita o desenvolvimento de tecnologias para instrumentação da análise do sinal de fala. Em busca de um parâmetro acústico que seja robusto em análises de disfarce de voz, este trabalho utilizou medidas de duração de fases de segmentos, que têm sido pouco exploradas em ECL. As consoantes oclusivas não vozeadas do português brasileiro [p, t, k] são produzidas em três fases distintas: fase de oclusão, fase de soltura e transição formântica. As duas primeiras fases apresentam correlatos acústicos que se destacam na visualização do oscilograma: silêncio relativo e produção de ondas aperiódicas. Nesta pesquisa, foram analisadas instrumentalmente as falas de 20 sujeitos, 10 do sexo masculino e 10 do sexo feminino, com idades entre 25 e 55 anos, durante a leitura, com e sem o uso de disfarce, de um texto que simulava uma situação criminosa. Foram obtidas medidas dos tempos de oclusão e soltura das consoantes não vozeadas e constatou-se que o contexto fonológico posterior influencia o tempo de produção. Verificaram-se medidas diferentes entre a primeira e a segunda leitura com uso do disfarce, indicando que o falante apresentou dificuldade na manutenção do ajuste fonatório e que, embora tenham sido encontradas diferenças entre as medidas obtidas em fala com e sem disfarce, a correlação é forte entre as mesmas. O tempo de oclusão aparentou comportamento menos influenciável pelo uso do disfarce para as sílabas [pi, pu, te, tɛ], enquanto o tempo de soltura demonstrou maior suscetibilidade, exceto em [pi, te]. Os resultados permitem que alguns dos segmentos analisados sejam considerados vestígios de autoria dentro de um conjunto probatório. / Authorship attribution of speech, from environmental recordings and telephone interceptions, which can be evidence of crimes related to drug dealing, racketeering, kidnapping, sexual abuse, pedophilia, and corruption, may present difficulties to experts in obtaining acoustic measures. One of these difficulties may be the use of disguise. With the possibility of being recorded, voice disguise has become common among crime perpetrators. When a voice is recorded, it can be an evidence after speaker comparison examination (SCE), which adopts methodologies to determine whether two speech samples have been produced by the same speaker. SCE can be perceptual, acoustic-instrumental and through automatic recognition. Although automatic recognition technologies have already been developed, analyses without human interference do not have enough support, both for poor signal quality or for lack of speech samples. Therefore, research that is anchored in other analysis methods are essential. Acoustic-instrumental analyses use computational tools for quantitative and qualitative evaluation of speech, and biomedical engineering enables the development of technologies and instrumentation for speech signal analyses. In search of an acoustic parameter that is robust in disguise analyses, this research used segment phase measurements, which have been little explored in SCE. Brazilian Portuguese voiceless stops [p, t, k] are produced in three distinct phases: occlusion phase, release phase and formant transition. The first two phases have acoustic correlates that are visually distinct in the oscillogram: relative silence and aperiodic wave production. In this research, the speech of 20 subjects were instrumentally analyzed, 10 males and 10 females, aged between 25 and 55 years, while reading, with and without the use of disguise, a text that simulated a criminal situation. Occlusion and release duration of the voiceless stop consonants were measured and it was found that the phonological context influences the production time. Different measures were found between the first and the second reading with disguised voice, indicating that the speaker had difficulty in maintaining the phonation setting, and that, although there were differences between the measures in speech with and without disguise, the correlation between them was strong. Occlusion time appeared to be less influenced by the use of disguise for the syllables [pi, pu, te, tɛ], while the release time showed greater susceptibility, except for [pi, te]. The results allow that some of the segments analyzed be considered vestiges of authorship within a body of evidence.

A atribuição de autoria a falas provenientes de gravações ambientais e interceptações telefônicas de falas que provêm de crimes como tráfico de drogas, estelionato, sequestro, abuso sexual, pedofilia, e corrupção pode apresentar à perícia vários dificultadores para a obtenção de medidas acústicas. Um desses dificultadores pode ser o disfarce de voz. Com a possibilidade de ter suas vozes gravadas, o disfarce tem se tornado comum entre os perpetradores de crimes. Quando a voz é gravada, poderá servir como prova a partir do exame de comparação de locutor (ECL), que reúne metodologias para determinar se duas amostras de fala provêm do mesmo falante. O ECL é realizado por meio de análise perceptivo-auditiva, acústico-instrumental e de reconhecimento automático. Embora já tenham sido desenvolvidas tecnologias de verificação automática, as análises sem interferência humana não apresentam respaldo suficiente, seja pela má qualidade do sinal ou pela escassez de amostras de fala em banco de dados e, por isso, as pesquisas que ancorem as outras modalidades de análise são essenciais. A análise acústico-instrumental emprega ferramentas computacionais para avaliação quantitativa e qualitativa da fala e a engenharia biomédica possibilita o desenvolvimento de tecnologias para instrumentação da análise do sinal de fala. Em busca de um parâmetro acústico que seja robusto em análises de disfarce de voz, este trabalho utilizou medidas de duração de fases de segmentos, que têm sido pouco exploradas em ECL. As consoantes oclusivas não vozeadas do português brasileiro [p, t, k] são produzidas em três fases distintas: fase de oclusão, fase de soltura e transição formântica. As duas primeiras fases apresentam correlatos acústicos que se destacam na visualização do oscilograma: silêncio relativo e produção de ondas aperiódicas. Nesta pesquisa, foram analisadas instrumentalmente as falas de 20 sujeitos, 10 do sexo masculino e 10 do sexo feminino, com idades entre 25 e 55 anos, durante a leitura, com e sem o uso de disfarce, de um texto que simulava uma situação criminosa. Foram obtidas medidas dos tempos de oclusão e soltura das consoantes não vozeadas e constatou-se que o contexto fonológico posterior influencia o tempo de produção. Verificaram-se medidas diferentes entre a primeira e a segunda leitura com uso do disfarce, indicando que o falante apresentou dificuldade na manutenção do ajuste fonatório e que, embora tenham sido encontradas diferenças entre as medidas obtidas em fala com e sem disfarce, a correlação é forte entre as mesmas. O tempo de oclusão aparentou comportamento menos influenciável pelo uso do disfarce para as sílabas [pi, pu, te, tɛ], enquanto o tempo de soltura demonstrou maior suscetibilidade, exceto em [pi, te]. Os resultados permitem que alguns dos segmentos analisados sejam considerados vestígios de autoria dentro de um conjunto probatório. / Authorship attribution of speech, from environmental recordings and telephone interceptions, which can be evidence of crimes related to drug dealing, racketeering, kidnapping, sexual abuse, pedophilia, and corruption, may present difficulties to experts in obtaining acoustic measures. One of these difficulties may be the use of disguise. With the possibility of being recorded, voice disguise has become common among crime perpetrators. When a voice is recorded, it can be an evidence after speaker comparison examination (SCE), which adopts methodologies to determine whether two speech samples have been produced by the same speaker. SCE can be perceptual, acoustic-instrumental and through automatic recognition. Although automatic recognition technologies have already been developed, analyses without human interference do not have enough support, both for poor signal quality or for lack of speech samples. Therefore, research that is anchored in other analysis methods are essential. Acoustic-instrumental analyses use computational tools for quantitative and qualitative evaluation of speech, and biomedical engineering enables the development of technologies and instrumentation for speech signal analyses. In search of an acoustic parameter that is robust in disguise analyses, this research used segment phase measurements, which have been little explored in SCE. Brazilian Portuguese voiceless stops [p, t, k] are produced in three distinct phases: occlusion phase, release phase and formant transition. The first two phases have acoustic correlates that are visually distinct in the oscillogram: relative silence and aperiodic wave production. In this research, the speech of 20 subjects were instrumentally analyzed, 10 males and 10 females, aged between 25 and 55 years, while reading, with and without the use of disguise, a text that simulated a criminal situation. Occlusion and release duration of the voiceless stop consonants were measured and it was found that the phonological context influences the production time. Different measures were found between the first and the second reading with disguised voice, indicating that the speaker had difficulty in maintaining the phonation setting, and that, although there were differences between the measures in speech with and without disguise, the correlation between them was strong. Occlusion time appeared to be less influenced by the use of disguise for the syllables [pi, pu, te, tɛ], while the release time showed greater susceptibility, except for [pi, te]. The results allow that some of the segments analyzed be considered vestiges of authorship within a body of evidence.

The fastest growing field of law is undoubtedly that of Medical Law with the civil and disciplinary cases flowing from it. Globalization, international communication, development and evolution of Law as well as Medicine, cause this worldwide rising medical litigation. Humanitarian rights, post-modern scepticism and even iconoclastic attitudes contribute to this phenomenon. Medico-legal litigation and disciplinary complaints rise (in South Africa) up to 10 per cent per year. To assist the courts and legal profession, in medico-legal issues, helping the parties where the plaintiff has the burden of proof and the defendant for rebuttal, a medical expert witness must be used. The dilemmas and pitfalls arise, in that although knowledgeable medical experts could be used to guide the courts to the correct decision, the lack of a legal mind setting, court procedure and legal knowledge could affect the relevance, credibility and reliability, making the medical evidence of poor quality. The legal profession, deliberately, could “abuse” medical expert witnesses with demanding and coercion of results, which have unrealistic and unreasonable expectations. “Case building” occurs, especially in the adversarial systems of law, making the medical expert vulnerable under cross-examination, when it is shown that the witness has turned into a “hired gun” or is unfair. Thus, lacunae develop, making reasonable cases difficult and a quagmire of facts have to be evaluated for unreasonableness, credibility and appropriateness, compounded by the fact that seldom, cases are comparable. The danger is that the presiding officer could be misled and with limited medical knowledge and misplaced values, could reach the wrong findings. Several cases arguably show that this has led to wrongful outcomes and even unacceptable jurisprudence. The desire to “win” a case, can make a medical witness lose credibility and reasonableness with loss of objectivity, realism and relevance. With personality traits and subjectivity, the case becomes argumentative, obstinate and could even lead to lies. The miasmatic, hostile witness emerges, leading to embarrassing, unnecessary prolongation of court procedures. The medical expert witness should be well guided by the legal profession and well informed of the issues. Medical witnesses should have legal training and insight into the legal and court procedures. At the time of discovery of documents, via arbitration or mediation, medical experts should strive to reach consensus and then present their unified finding, helping the parties fairly and expediting the legal procedure and processes. / Private Law / LLM

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