CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / O presente trabalho, teve por objetivo avaliar a influÃncia da aplicaÃÃo foliar de prolina no crescimento e desenvolvimento das plantas de milho, sob condiÃÃes de salinidade, analisando as alteraÃÃes fisiolÃgicas e bioquÃmicas envolvidas. Foram utilizadas sementes de milho (Zea mays), genÃtipo BR 205, sendo realizados dois experimentos em casa de vegetaÃÃo. No primeiro, foram avaliadas as respostas fisiolÃgicas e bioquÃmicas em plantas de milho, sob condiÃÃes de salinidade e submetidas à aplicaÃÃo foliar de prolina. Para isso, plantas de milho com 10 dias de idade crescendo em baldes plÃsticos individuais de 10 L, contendo soluÃÃo nutritiva de Clarck, foram distribuÃdas em quatro tratamentos: 1. plantas crescendo em soluÃÃo nutritiva e pulverizadas nas folhas com Ãgua destilada; 2. plantas crescendo em soluÃÃo nutritiva e pulverizadas nas folhas com prolina a 30 mM; 3. plantas crescendo em soluÃÃo nutritiva contendo NaCl a 80 mM e pulverizadas nas folhas com Ãgua destilada; e 4. plantas crescendo em soluÃÃo nutritiva contendo NaCl a 80 mM e pulverizadas nas folhas com prolina a 30 mM. O delineamento experimental foi o inteiramente casualizado, com dois nÃveis de prolina (0 ou 30 mM), dois nÃveis de salinidade (0 ou 80 mM de NaCl) e dois tempos de coleta (plantas com 7 e 14 dias apÃs a aplicaÃÃo dos tratamentos.), com seis repetiÃÃes. Nesse experimento, foram coletadas plantas aos 7 e 14 dias apÃs a imposiÃÃo dos tratamentos, sendo as plantas separadas em folhas, colmos + bainha e raÃzes. Foram analisadas: as massas secas da parte aÃrea, raÃzes e da planta inteira; a Ãrea foliar; os teores de solutos inorgÃnicos (Na+, K+ e Cl-) e orgÃnicos (carboidratos solÃveis, proteÃnas solÃveis, N-aminossolÃveis e prolina). Como resultado, observou-se que a aplicaÃÃo foliar de prolina, por si sÃ, nÃo causou efeito no crescimento das plantas de milho. Entretanto, em condiÃÃes salinas, tal tratamento foi eficaz em minorar a reduÃÃo no crescimento pela salinidade. Isso se deveu, em parte, pelo menor acÃmulo de Ãons tÃxicos (Na+ e Cl-), principalmente na parte aÃrea, aliado a uma menor reduÃÃo na relaÃÃo K+/Na+ das plantas tratadas com prolina exÃgena. O tratamento com prolina reverteu à reduÃÃo nos teores de proteÃnas solÃveis pela salinidade, na parte aÃrea, enquanto nas raÃzes esses teores foram aumentados a nÃveis maiores do que os dos prÃprios controles. Os teores de carboidratos solÃveis e de prolina foram alterados de formas diferentes pelo tratamento com prolina, dependendo do ÃrgÃo analisado. O segundo experimento foi realizado em condiÃÃes semelhantes Ãs do primeiro e seguindo-se os mesmos tratamentos e delineamento experimental. Ele teve como finalidade avaliar os efeitos da aplicaÃÃo foliar de prolina a 30 mM nas trocas gasosas, nos teores de malondialdeÃdo e de H2O2, e nas atividades das enzimas do sistema de proteÃÃo oxidativa e do metabolismo da prolina, em folhas e raÃzes de plantas de milho sob condiÃÃes de salinidade. A salinidade reduziu as trocas gasosas e a prolina exÃgena nÃo provocou alteraÃÃes nesses parÃmetros, exceto por uma pequena elevaÃÃo na taxa de transpiraÃÃo. Nas folhas e raÃzes, a salinidade aumentou os teores de H2O2 e de malondialdeÃdo, sendo ambos os efeitos parcialmente reduzidos pela aplicaÃÃo foliar de prolina nas plantas de milho. Esse tratamento aumentou as atividades das enzimas dismutase do superÃxido e catalase, especialmente dessa Ãltima nas folhas, tendo revertido sua reduÃÃo em atividade pela salinidade e, possivelmente, isso pode ter contribuÃdo para a reduÃÃo dos teores de H2O2 e de malondialdeÃdo, que à um indicador confiÃvel de danos de membrana. Por outro lado, no estudo sobre as enzimas do metabolismo da prolina, observou-se, nas folhas, que a atividade da sintetase da Δ1-pirrolina-5-carboxilato (P5CS), enzima da via de sÃntese da prolina, teve sua atividade aumentada pela salinidade, porÃm o tratamento com prolina exÃgena reduziu fortemente sua atividade aos 14 dias de tratamento. Jà a prolina desidrogenase (PDH), enzima da via catabÃlica da prolina, foi fortemente estimulada pela prolina exÃgena, em condiÃÃes controle ou de estresse salino, fato que sugere que essa enzima à induzida pelo excesso de prolina nos tecidos. O papel dessas enzimas nos nÃveis de prolina dos tecidos nÃo pÃde ser claramente estabelecido, desde que o padrÃo de resposta em suas atividades pelo tratamento com prolina exÃgena nÃo foi consistente entre os dois tempos de coleta das plantas de milho. / The present study aimed to evaluate the influence of foliar application of proline in growth and development of maize plants under saline conditions, analyzing physiological and biochemical alterations involved. Seeds of maize (Zea mays) genotype BR 205, being carried two experiments in greenhouse. At first experiment, we evaluated the physiological and biochemical responses in maize plants under saline conditions and subjected to foliar application of proline. For this, the maize plants with 10 days old growing in individual buckets with 10 L, containing nutrient solution of Clark. Four treatments were conducted: 1. plants growing in nutrient solution and leaves sprayed with distilled water, 2. plants growing in nutrient solution and leaves sprayed with 30 mM proline 3.plants growing in nutrient solution containing 80 mM of NaCl and leaves sprayed with distilled water, and 4. plants growing in nutrient solution containing 80 mM NaCl and leaves sprayed with 30 mM proline. The experimental design was completely randomized, with two levels of proline (0 or 30 mM), two levels of salinity (0 or 80 mM NaCl) and two haverst times (plants 7 and 14 days after treatment application. ) with six replications. In this experiment, plants were collected at 7 and 14 days after the imposition of the treatments, the plants were separated into leaves, stems and sheath and roots. Were analyzed: dried weight of shoots, roots and whole plant, leaf area, concentrations of inorganic solutes (Na+, K+ and Cl-) and organic (soluble carbohydrates, soluble proteins, N-aminosolubles and proline). As result, it was found that the foliar application of proline itself had no effect on the growth of maize plants. However, in saline conditions, such treatment was effective in alleviating the reduction in growth by salinity. This was due, in part, by lower accumulation of toxic ions (Na+ and Cl-), mainly in shoot, combined with a smaller reduction in K+/Na+ plants treated with exogenous proline. Treatment with proline reversed the reduction in soluble protein content by salinity in shoots, roots while these levels were increased to levels higher than those of the controls themselves. The soluble carbohydrates and proline have been changed in different ways by treatment with proline, depending on the organ examined. The second experiment was conducted under similar conditions to the first and following the same treatments and experimental design. The objective was to evaluate the effect of foliar application of proline 30 mM in gas exchange, the levels of malondialdehyde and H2O2, and the activities of protection enzyme system and oxidative metabolism of proline in leaves and roots of maize plants under saline conditions. Salinity reduced gas exchange and exogenous proline caused no changes in these parameters, except for a small increase in the rate of transpiration. In leaves and roots, salinity increased the levels of H2O2 and malondialdehyde, both effects being partially reduced by foliar application of proline in maize plants. This treatment increased the activities of the enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase, this last especially in leaves, having reversed its reduction in activity by salinity and possibly this may have contributed to the reduction of the levels of H2O2 and malondialdehyde, an indicator reliable membrane damage. Moreover, the study on the enzymes of the metabolism of proline was observed in leaves, which activity Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase (P5CS), enzyme of proline anabolic pathway, had increased his activity by salinity, but the treatment with exogenous proline strongly reduced its activity after 14 days of treatment. Already proline dehydrogenase (PDH), the enzyme proline catabolic pathway, was strongly stimulated by exogenous proline, under control or salt stress, which suggests that this enzyme is induced by excess proline in tissues. The role of these enzymes in tissue levels of proline could not be clearly established, since the response pattern in their activities by treatment with exogenous proline was not consistent between the two haverst times for maize.

O presente estudo teve como objetivo verificar o efeito do uso de gonadotrofinas exógenas na indução do estro à puberdade em marrãs, e \"flushing\" alimentar no ciclo estral que antecede a primeira inseminação artificial na vida útil reprodutiva. O experimento foi realizado na Granja Barreiro (Suinocultura Rosetto) Cerqueira César/SP. Foram utilizadas 96 fêmeas da puberdade ao 1° parto, e 68 fêmeas selecionadas das 96 com ordem de parto do primeiro ao sexto para a avaliação associativa com a vida útil reprodutiva. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado em um fatorial 2x2 sendo um fator a combinação hormonal H,( 600 UI de eCG e após 72 horas, 2,5 mg de LH porcino) (H) e o estímulo do macho (M). O fator \"flushing\" alimentar correspondeu ao esquema com restrição (R) e o adotado na granja (G). Os tratamentos foram: HR - hormônio e \"flushing\"; HG - hormônio e esquema alimentar da granja; MR - macho e \"flushing\" e MG - macho e esquema alimentar da granja. As informações foram obtidas a partir do banco de dados existente na propriedade onde o experimento foi realizado. As variáveis análisadas foram: número de estros pós-indução, total de nascidos (TN), nascidos vivos (NV), natimortos (NT), mumificados (MM) e intervalo entre partos (ITP). Cinco dias após a aplicação do tratamento hormonal, 31,37% (H) das fêmeas manifestaram características de estro quando comparado ao tratamento M, onde 11,62% apresentaram estro. O tratamento H mostrou maior sincronismo nas manifestações dos estros, diferente do tratamento M que apresentou maior dispersão ao longo dos ciclos. Não houve diferença estatística nas características de primeiro parto entre os tratamentos hormônio e \"flushing\", tanto quanto nas suas interações (P>0,05). Não houve influência dos tratamentos na produtividade dos animais nas diferentes parições (P>0,05). Portanto, apesar do maior sincronismo apresentado pela combinação hormonal em comparação com o estímulo natural somente pela presença do macho, não houve diferenças quanto à produtividade associativa do primeiro parto e demais partos nas características avaliadas. / The present study objective to verify the effect of the use of exogenous gonadotropins in oestrus induction of puberty in gilts, and \"flushing\" feed the estrous cycle before the first artificial insemination in lifetime reproductive. The experiment was conducted at the Granja Barreiro (Swine Rosetto) - Cerqueira César / SP. A total of 96 females from puberty to the 1st delivery, and 68 of the 96 selected females with birth order from first to sixth for assessing association with lifetime reproductive. The experimental design was completely randomized in a 2x2 factorial being a combination hormonal factor H (600 IU eCG and after 72 hours, 2.5 mg porcine LH) (H) and the stimulation of the male (M). The factor \"flushing\" food matched the schema constraint (R) and adopted on the farm (G). The treatments were: HR - hormone and \"flushing\"; HG - hormone regimen and feed the farm; MR - male and \"flushing\" and MG - male and feed the farm scheme. The information was obtained from the existing database on the property where the experiment was conducted. The variables analyzed were: number of post-estrus induction, total born (TN) live births (NV), stillbirths (NT), mummified (MM) and calving interval (ITP). Five days after application of the treatment, 31,37% (H) of estrus females showed characteristics when compared to treatment M, where 11,62% showed estrous. The H treatment showed greater synchronization of estrus in the demonstrations, unlike the M treatment with the highest dispersion along the cycles. There was no statistical difference in the characteristics of first birth among hormone treatments and \"flushing\" as well as their interactions (P>0.05). No influence of the treatments on the productivity of animals in different parities (P>0.05). Therefore, despite the higher timing presented by combination hormonal stimulation compared with only natural for the presence of males, there were no differences in yield associative first birth and other birth characteristics evaluated.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-08-20T14:38:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_veronica_lisboa_santos.pdf: 1521617 bytes, checksum: 22e6fe07f10db8cba96cc690f42e78ed (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-16 / In poultry production systems, molting procedure and the use of substitutes for corn and soybean meal represents good ways to reduce feed costs in poultry production. That s true because farmers skip rearing phase of layers life using molting procedure and the use of grains with similar nutritional requirements as corn and soybean meal are less expensive than those usual used in poultry diets. In this case, whole rice brain (WRB) it s consider a good choice due to its high production and lower market price, justifying the use in animal diets. However, higher levels of WRB in poultry diets show negatives effects due to antinutritional factors as phytic acid and non-starch polysaccharides. Adding enzymes in WRB diets it s a way to increase digestibility and reduce the negative aspects of this factors. During 112 days, divided in four production cycles of 28 days each, performance and egg quality of layers after molting and fed with WRB diets with different energy valorization levels and supplemented with enzymes were evaluated. A total of 480 Hisex Brown layers with 95 weeks old were randomly distributed in groups of five birds per cage in a dark house poultry facility. Treatments consists in 8 different diets, with 12 replicates per treatment, as following: T1: control corn and soybean meal (C+SBM); T2: C+SBM with enzyme supplementation (ES) on top; T3: C+SBM, without ES (100 kcal ME/Kg); T4: C+SBM, with ES (100 kcal ME/Kg); T5: C+SBM, 20% WRB, without ES; T6: C+SBM, 20% WRB, with ES on top; T7: C+SBM, 20% WRB, without ES (100 kcal ME/Kg); T8: C+SBM, 20% WRB, with ES (100 kcal ME/Kg). Performance parameters evaluated were body weight (BW), feed intake (FI), egg production (%EP), feed conversion per dozen (FC/dz) and per mass (FC/m). The parameters used to determine egg quality were egg weight (EW), egg mass (EM), specific gravity (SG), shell thickness (ST), shell weight (SW), Haugh unit (HU), yolk weight (YW), albumen weight (AW) and yolk color (YC). Results showed higher FI, BW, EW and AW in layers fed with WRB diets, which also showed a decrease in YC. Enzyme supplementation and energy valorization (100 kcal ME/Kg) in C+SBM diets improved FC/dz. / Algumas alternativas aparecem em destaque quando o objetivo é diminuir os custos com a ração, entre elas, está a realização da muda forçada e o uso de alimentos alternativos ao milho e farelo de soja. Aves que passam pela prática da muda forçada entram em um segundo ciclo produtivo, dispensando o investimento do produtor em um novo lote. O farelo de arroz integral (FAI) é uma boa alternativa ao milho em função do seu volume de produção, por não competir com outras culturas e por possuir custos de produção relativamente baixos, justificando-se deste modo, sua utilização em rações para animais Entretanto, sua utilização na alimentação animal é limitada, devido a presença de fatores antinutricionais, tais como o ácido fítico e os polissacarídeos não amiláceos. As enzimas são acrescentadas à ração animal com a finalidade de aumentar a sua digestibilidade, remover fatores antinutricionais, melhorar a disponibilidade dos nutrientes, bem como por razões. Durante 112 dias experimentais, divididos em quatro ciclos produtivos, de 28 dias cada, avaliou-se a inclusão de farelo de arroz integral (FAI) e de um complexo enzimático (CE), com diferentes valorizações energéticas, na dieta de poedeiras em segundo ciclo de produção sobre desempenho produtivo e qualidade dos ovos. O estudo contou com 480 poedeiras semipesadas da linhagem Hisex brown, com idade inicial de 95 semanas. As aves foram mantidas em galpão tipo dark house e alojadas cinco a cinco em gaiolas de postura. O delineamento utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado com oito tratamentos e 12 repetições, sendo: T1: controle milho e farelo de soja (M + FS), sem FAI e sem CE, T2: controle, com CE (sem valorização energética on top), T3: controle, sem CE (100 kcal EM/kg), T4: controle, com CE (100 kcal EM/kg), T5: controle + 20% FAI, sem CE, T6: controle + 20% FAI, com CE (sem valorização energética on top), T7: controle + 20% FAI, sem CE (100 kcal EM/kg) e, T8: controle + 20% FAI, + CE (100 kcal EM/kg). Foram avaliadas as seguintes variáveis de desempenho: peso vivo (PV), consumo de ração (CR), percentual de ovos produzidos (PDOV), conversão alimentar por dúzia (CA/Dz) e conversão alimentar por massa (CA/M); para as variáveis de qualidade externa dos ovos considerou-se: peso dos ovos (POV), massa dos ovos (MOV), gravidade específica (GE), espessura das cascas (EC) e peso da casca(PC) e, para as variáveis de qualidade interna dos ovos: unidade Haugh (UH), pesos da gema (PG), do albúmen (PA) e coloração da gema (CG). Os resultados indicaram que as aves que receberam dietas contendo farelo de arroz integral consumiram mais ração, apresentaram maior peso vivo, aumento no peso do ovo e do albúmen, mas gemas menos pigmentadas. O complexo enzimático valorizado em 100kcal⁄EM adicionado em dietas a base de milho e farelo de soja melhorou a conversão alimentar por dúzia de ovos.

L’huile d’olive est un produit ancestral largement reconnu pour ses effets bénéfiques sur la santé humaine. Sa technique de fabrication a beaucoup évolué au cours des siècles, notamment ces dernières années avec l’automatisation croissante des chaînes de production. La première partie de ce manuscrit fait le bilan de ces différentes évolutions, puis la seconde partie détaille l’impact de chacune des étapes de fabrication sur la composition nutritionnelle de l’huile. Nous avons ainsi étudié l’influence du broyage, des séparations liquide-liquide et solide-liquide. L’optimisation de ces étapes permet l’obtention d’une huile enrichit de façon endogène puisque tous les nutriments étaient présents dans l’olive. En complément nous avons également développé des méthodes d’enrichissement exogène de l’huile. Dans ce cas des molécules bioactives issues de plantes ou de légumes sont ajoutées à l’huile d’olive. Afin de limiter les étapes d’extraction et de bannir l’utilisation de solvants organiques, l’huile est utilisée en tant que solvant d’extraction et l’enrichissement se fait de façon directe dans l’huile. Pour accélérer des cinétiques d’extraction qui pourraient être très longues, nous avons utilisé des ultrasons. Les résultats obtenus sont très encourageants et ils permettent d’imaginer un élargissement de la gamme de produits oléicoles disponibles / Olive oil is an ancestral product widely known for its benefic effects on human health. Its processing has changed a lot through centuries, especially these past few years with the increasing automation of the production lines. The first part of this manuscript describes these evolutions while the second part gives details on the influence of each processing step on the nutritional composition of the olive oil. We have studied the influence of the crushing systems, liquid-liquid and solid-liquid separations. The optimization of each of these steps allows the endogenous enrichment of the oil with nutrients extracted from the olive fruit. Then, we have also developed exogenous olive oil enrichment methods by bioactive compounds issued from plants and vegetables. In order to restrain the number of extraction steps and avoid the use of petroleum solvents, the olive oil is used as the extraction solvent so the enrichment is directly performed in the oil. To accelerate extraction kinetics that could be very long we developed ultrasound accelerated extraction techniques. The results obtained in this work are very promising and extensions of olive oil available product ranges are possible

Leder hårdare straff till färre brott? Det sambandet ämnar vi undersöka i denna uppsats. För att att göra det analyserar vi 2010 års straffmätningsreform som förlängde straffen för allvarliga våldsbrott. Reformen påverkade vissa brott men inte alla, vilket vi utnyttjar som ett naturligt experiment i en difference-indifferencesansats. De brottstyper som påverkades används som behandlingsgrupp, medan de som inte påverkades används som jämförelsegrupp. Därefter tolkas skillnaden i förändring hos de båda gruppernas brottsfrekvenser ut. När hela efterperioden analyseras finner vi ingen statistiskt signifikant effekt. Analyseras varje år i efterperioden för sig finner vi en negativ och statistiskt signifikant effekt på 14,9 % av reformen året efter den trädde i kraft (2011). / Do longer prison sentences lead to fewer committed crimes? This paper pursues to evaluate this causation through a difference-in-differences analysis. In 2010, there was a reform in Sweden that meant to make prison sentences longer for some crimes. The fact that the reform affected some crimes but not others is exploited as a natural experiment. We use the types of crime that were affected by the reform as a treatment group and the types of crime that were not affected as a control group. Then we assess the difference in frequency change of the two groups of crimes after the reform took effect. When the whole post reform period is analyzed, we find no statistically significant effects. When the effect is isolated one year after the reform was implemented (2011) we find a statistically significant effect of 14.9 %. There is no statistically significant result when the reform is isolated for 2012 and 2013.

Abstract: The objective of this dissertation was to evaluate dephytinizated defatted rice bran for feeding broilers under performance parameters, carcass yield, tibiae resistance and apparent digestibility of protein, calcium and phosphorus. We used 576 male Cobb one day old broiler chicks. The experimental design was completely randomized, with four treatments (basal diet - DB; basal diet with addition of 10% defatted rice bran - FAD; basal diet with addition of 10% defatted dephytinizated rice bran - FADD; basal diet with the addition of 10% defatted rice bran treated with phytase - FADFIT) with 6 replicates of 24 birds each. Growth performance of the lot was not significantly different (P>0.05) among different treatments, as well as carcass yield. The tibiae of birds fed diets with added FADD showed less resistance to breakage compared with those fed the DB (P<0.05). Apparent protein digestibility was higher in birds fed FADD (P<0.05) when compared to those receiving FAD. It can be concluded that the addition of 10% of FADD in the diet, does no damage and has benefits in the digestibility of the protein, allowing the incorporation of this ingredient in feed for broilers. / O objetivo desta dissertação foi avaliar o farelo de arroz desengordurado desfitinizado na alimentação de frangos de corte, sob parâmetros zootécnicos, rendimento de carcaça, resistência de tíbias e digestibilidade aparente de proteína, cálcio e fósforo. Foram utilizados 576 pintos de corte machos, de um dia de idade, da linhagem Cobb. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado, composto por 4 tratamentos (dieta basal DB; dieta basal com adição de 10% de farelo de arroz desengordurado FAD; dieta basal com adição de 10% de farelo de arroz desengordurado desfitinizado FADD; dieta basal com adição de 10% de farelo de arroz desengordurado tratado com fitase FADFIT) com 6 repetições de 24 aves cada. O desempenho zootécnico do lote não apresentou diferença significativa (P>0,05) entre os diferentes tratamentos, assim como o rendimento de carcaça. As tíbias das aves que receberam dietas com adição de FADD apresentaram menor resistência a quebra quando comparadas as alimentadas com DB (P<0,05). A digestibilidade aparente da proteína foi superior nas aves alimentadas com FADD (P<0,05) quando comparada as que receberam FAD. Podese concluir que a adição de 10% de FADD nas dietas, não causa prejuízos a criação e apresenta benefícios na digestibilidade da proteína, permitindo a incorporação deste ingrediente na alimentação de frangos de corte.

The purpose of this research was to determine if the introduction of a competitive and collaborative computer-based gaming software system into middle school classrooms would result in improved attendance and grades, and motivate students to have a greater interest in their studies. This study was conducted over a 6 week period, with attendance and performance data being collected from 284 students. Two quantitative surveys were used to measure course interest and motivation: (a) the Course Interest Survey (CIS), and (b) the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS). Participation in these surveys consisted of 84 students taking the CIS and 40 students taking the IMMS. The results indicated that the experimental group showed statistically better scores than the comparison group in attendance and performance. Students participating in the experimental group had significantly lower mean ranks of absenteeism compared to students in the comparison group. Results also revealed significant differences on grades. Students that were in the experimental group had significantly higher grades compared to students that were in the comparison group. Results of the CIS suggest that a statistically significant difference does not exist on Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction between the experimental and comparison groups. Results of the means and standard deviations for the IMMS Motivation Scores fell somewhere between Moderately true and Mostly true. This research study suggests that student's attendance and performance can be improved when quiz based gaming software that is both collaborative and competitive is used regularly in the classroom. However, for student's that participated in the gaming software, their interest in studying the subject doesn't appear to be significantly different from students that did not participate.

Road damage identification is still largely based on visual inspection methods and profilometer data. Visual inspection methods heavily rely on expert knowledge which is often very subjective. They also result in traffic flow interference due to the need for redirection of traffic to alternative routes during inspection. In addition to this, accurate high-speed profilometers, such as scanning vehicles, are extremely expensive often requiring strong economic justifications for their acquisition. The low-cost profilometers are very slow, typically operating at or less than walking speeds, causing their use to be labour-intensive if applied to large networks.This study aims at developing a road damage identification methodology for both paved and unpaved roads based on modelling the road-vehicle interaction system with an artificial neural network. The artificial neural network is created and trained with vehicle acceleration data as inputs and road profiles as targets. Then the trained neural network is consequently used for reconstruction of road profiles upon simulating it with vertical vehicle accelerations. The simulation process is very fast and can often be completed in a very short time thus making it possible to implement the methodology in real-time. Three case studies were used to demonstrate the feasibility of the methodology and the results on field tests carried out on mine vehicles with crudely measured road profiles showed a majority of the tested roads were reconstructed to within a fitting accuracy of less than 40% at a correlation level of greater than 55% which in this study was found to be practically acceptable considering the limitations imposed by the sizes of the haul trucks and their tyres as well as the quality of the road profiles and lack of control in the vehicle operation. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / Unrestricted

We present an extension of the popular probabilistic model checker PRISM with multi-actions that enables the modeling of complex coordination between stochastic components in an exogenous manner. This is supported by tooling that allows the use of the exogenous coordination language Reo for specifying the coordination glue code. The tool provides an automatic compilation feature for translating a Reo network of channels into PRISM's guarded command language. Additionally, the tool supports the translation of reward monitoring components that can be attached to the Reo network to assign rewards or cost to activity within the coordination network. The semantics of the translated model is then based on weighted Markov decision processes that yield the basis, e.g., for a quantitative analysis using PRISM. Feasibility of the approach is shown by a quantitative analysis of an energy-aware network system example modeled with a role-based modeling approach in Reo.

Bakgrund: Covid-19 har lett till förödande konsekvenser på individer, samhällen och organisationer. Nya konsumentbeteenden har trätt fram vilket utmanat detaljhandeln att agera och reagera som svar till påträffade marknadsförändringar. Därmed har företag inom detaljhandeln behövt förändra sitt strategiska arbete för att fortsätta vara konkurrenskraftiga men även för att anpassa sig till nya förutsättningar som uppstått. Det så kallade “nya normala” har präglat samhället vilket skapar möjligheter och svårigheter för detaljhandelsbolag att fortsätta bedriva verksamheten och förbli lönsamma. Med anledning av detta är strategisk förändring i en pågående pandemi ett intressant och aktuellt ämne att studera då det även råder avsaknad av vetenskaplig forskning inom detta område.   Syfte: Syftet med studien är att få en ökad förståelse för hur detaljhandelsbolag har förändrat sin strategi under pandemin och om dessa strategiska förändringar anses vara framgångsrika eller inte.  Metod: Denna kvalitativa uppsats tar avstamp i ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv i kombination med en abduktiv ansats. Den insamlade empirin baseras på semistrukturerade intervjuer med sju respondenter från sex olika fallföretag inom detaljhandeln. Respondenterna har valts utifrån tre olika urval; målstyrt-, bekvämlighets- samt snöbollsurval.    Slutsats: I slutsatsen fastställs att de strategiska förändringarna i detaljhandelsbolag genomsyrats av ökad e-handel och fallföretagen har även lagt stor vikt på att skifta fokus till en säker butiksverksamhet. Vidare konstateras att ett förändrat konsumentbeteende och digitalisering har varit de mest förekommande omvärldsfaktorerna som, bortsett från covid-19, bidragit till de strategiska förändringarna. Hur framgångsrika dessa förändringar anses grundas slutligen i det faktum att fallföretagen lyckats genomföra de strategiska förändringarna som i sin tur minimerat de negativa konsekvenserna till följd av pandemin. / Background: Covid-19 has resulted in devastating consequences for individuals, societies and organizations. A new form of consumer behavior has emerged which has challenged retail companies to act and react to these new changes. Hence, retail companies have been required to change their strategy to stay competitive and adapt to the new circumstances. A “new normal” has imprinted the society which, therefore, creates both opportunities and difficulties in the continuation of conducting business and generating profitability in retail companies. Examining strategic changes as a result of Covid-19 then becomes a relevant and interesting subject due to the lack of scientific research within this field.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to gain an increased understanding of what strategic changes retail companies have conducted during the pandemic and whether or not these changes have been successful.  Methodology: This qualitative study is based on a phenomenological perspective with an abductive approach. The collection of empirical data was conducted through semi-structured interviews with seven different managers from six different retail companies. The respondents were selected based on three different selection methods which are goal-oriented-, convenience- and a snowball method.  Conclusion: In the conclusion, it is determined that the strategic changes in retail companies are characterized by an increase in e-commerce as well as a focus on conducting a safe in-store environment. Further, it is stated that the most common exogenous factors, besides Covid-19, contributing to strategic change in the retail companies are changed consumer behavior and increased digitization. Whether these changes are successful or not is being determined by the completion of the implementation of these changes as well as mitigating the negative effects caused by the pandemic.