Orientador: Angélica Góis Morales / Coorientador: Fernando Ferrari Putti / Coorientador: Sandra Cristina de Oliveira / Resumo: O objetivo geral desta pesquisa é analisar a relação entre a gestão dos recursos hídricos, praticada em duas fecularias de mandioca do Escritório de Desenvolvimento Rural de Assis, e a Pegada Hídrica do produto final. Portanto, neste estudo multicasos, foi mensurada a Pegada Hídrica da mandioca, do processamento da mandioca para a produção de fécula e da fécula, e comparadas, por meio do coeficiente de correlação por postos de Spearman, as práticas de gerenciamento da água consideradas ideais em cada uma das fecularias estudadas. Ademais, foram identificadas as práticas efetivamente empreendidas. A coleta de dados ocorreu por meio da aplicação de formulários semiestruturados e entrevistas. Como resultado, na Fecularia A, o total da Pegada Hídrica do produto final foi de 2.607,25 m³.ton-1 de fécula e na Fecularia B de 1.764,13 m³.ton-1 de fécula, enquanto as práticas consideradas ideais, segundo o Coeficiente de Spearman de 0,5857, possuem correlação positiva de moderada a forte. Igualmente, as práticas efetivamente realizadas são semelhantes e sugerem exercer influência sobre o resultado da Pegada Hídrica. Este trabalho possibilitou o conhecimento do consumo hídrico na produção da fécula de mandioca, de forma a evidenciar fatores, de ordem interna e externa às fecularias, influentes na apropriação do recurso hídrico nas mesmas. / Abstract: The general objective of this research is to analyze the relationship between the management of water resources, practiced in two cassava starch of the Office of Rural Development of Assis, and the Water Footprint of the final product. Therefore, in this multi-level study, was measured the Water Footprint of cassava, cassava processing for starch production, and starch, and were compared, by means of the Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient, water management practices considered ideal in each of the farms studied. In addition, the practices actually undertaken were identified. Data collection took place through the application of semi-structured forms and interviews. As a result, in Cassava Starch A, the total Water Footprint of the final product was 2,607.25 m³.ton-1 starch and in Cassava Starch B, 1,764.13 m³.ton-1 starch, while the practices considered ideal, according to the Spearman Coefficient of 0.5857, have a moderate to strong positive correlation. Equally, the practices actually carried out are similar and suggest influence on the result of the Water Footprint. This work made possible the knowledge of water consumption in the production of cassava starch, in order to show factors, internal and external to the cassava starch, influential in the appropriation of water resources in them. / Mestre

A resistência de cinco microrganismos presentes na microbiota da área de produção estéril (Cristalização Estéril), frente a ação do gás de peróxido de hidrogênio foi determinada e o valor O obtido para cada microrganismo foi comparado ao valor D do Bacillus stearothermophilus ATCC 12980 exposto ao mesmo agente. Os microrganismos testados foram Bacillus sp, M. luteus, Corynebacterium, Staphylococcus sp e Penicillium sp. Este teste tinha a finalidade de comprovar que a resistência do Bacillus stearothermophilus é maior quando da exposição ao peróxido de hidrogênio se comparada a outros microrganismos presentes na área produtiva. A metodologia consistiu da inoculação de 0,01 mL da suspensão de cada microrganismo na contagem de 102UFC/0,01 mL em cupons de aço inoxidável, previamente esterilizados por calor seco e posterior exposição ao gás de peróxido de hidrogênio. O experimento demonstrou que o valor D obtido para o Bacillus stearothermophilus ésuperior aos obtidos para os outros microrganismos em teste comprovando que a escolha deste microrganismo para o desafio contra o peróxido de hidrogênio é apropriada. Também executou-se o teste que visava garantir que o aço inoxidável é o material de suporte mais recomendado para este fim, utilizando-se suportes de diversos materiais normalmente encontrados no interior dos isoladores (PVC, aço inoxidável, CKC, teflon, polipropileno, látex, silicone, Hypalon, vidro, nylon, saco de alumínio) com 0,01 mL de inóculo de Bacillus stearothermophilus na contagem de 102UFC/O,01 mL, o que foi devidamente comprovado. / The resistance of tive microrganisms found in the sterile production area (Crystallization Area) flora was tested against the hydrogen peroxide gas and the D value of each microrganism was compared to the Bacillus stearothermophilus D Value ATCC 12980 exposed to the same agent. The microrganisms tested were Bacillus sp, M. luteus, Corynebacterium, Staphylococcus sp e Penicillium sp. The purpose of this test was to prove that the resistance of Bacillus stearothermophilus against the exposition the hydrogen peroxide is higher when compared to others microrganisms found in the production area. The methodology consisted in inoculating 0.01 mL of microrganisms suspension with 102UFC/0,01 mL count in stainless steel coupons, treated previously with dry heat and further exposition to the hydrogen peroxide. The experiment demonstrated that the Bacillus stearothermophilus D value is higher against all others microrganisms tested proving that the use of this microrganism for the challenge is appropriate. It was also pertormed a test to guarantee that the stainless steel support is the most recommended one for this purpose, using supports of different materials normally found in the interior of the isolators (PVC, stainless steel, CKC, Teflon, polypropylene, latex, silicon, Hypalon, glass, nylon, aluminum foil) with 0,01 mL Bacillus stearothermophilus inoculum with the count of 102UFC/O,01 mL, that was properly veritied.

Health care providers gather and track quality patient indicator scores to monitor patients' safety and outcomes and decrease the number of adverse events. Nursing leaders implemented a Quality Workbook Committee (QWC) within a hospital setting to improve patient outcomes and the facility's reported scores for nurse-sensitive patient indicators. The practice-focused question for this quality improvement evaluation project examined whether the implementation of the QWC improved nurse-sensitive patient indicator scores. Watson's theory of human caring was used to evaluate the gap in practice, and Rosswurm and Larabee's model for evidence-based practice change provided guidance for planning the project. Sources of evidence were 2017 end-of-year organization report cards. The 4 specific areas chosen for evaluation were: patient falls, hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, pain reassessment scores, and medication scanning rates. Results from an analysis of variance showed improvements in 3 of the 4-nurse-sensitive patient indicator scores. Hospital-acquired pressure ulcers decreased by 13 pressure ulcers, pain reassessment rates increased by 18.42%, and medication scanning scores increased by 4.03%. However, patient falls increased by 15, suggesting the need for further evaluation measures. Project findings may help nursing leaders to improve nurse-sensitive patient indicator scores and promote social change by reducing hospital adverse events, length of hospitalization stays, and wasted healthcare resources.

Clostridium perfringens (CP) was evaluated as an additional indicator in assessing impacts and sources of microbial pollution in the Idaho-Utah Cache Valley . Point , nonpoint, river water, and animal fecal samples were analyzed for CP, total coliforms, fecal collforms, and fecal streptococci. Monthly river samples consistently contained <20 CP/100 mL , but concentrations of the other indicators varied significantly by location and date. Two sample stations consistently had CP concentrations greater than 20 / 100 mL . One of these stations was influenced by an upstream wastewater discharge . Chlorinated effluent from this trickling filter plant contained greater than 103 CP / 100 mL, but met a 400 FC/100 mL discharge standard. A consistent decrease in CP concentrations in samples taken downstream from this wastewater source were fo und, despite significant impact from adjacent nonpoint pollution. Lagoon and oxidation ditch wastewater effluents sampled contained <20 CP/100 mL. Nonpoint sources sampled (e.g . , cattle feedlot runoff) contained <20 CP / 100 mL and 102-104/100 mL coliforms and fecal streptococcus. Cattle, horse, and sheep feces analyzed contained 104-107/g coliforms and fecal streptococcus, but less than 102 CP/g. Nonpoint pollution from such animals may contribute significant coliforms and streptococci but not CP. Wastewater treatment effluents may or may not contain elevated levels of CP depending on factors such as wastewater residence time and particular treatment process employed. The occurrence of relatively high, i.e., >102 CP/100 mL, in areas impacted by nonpoint sources may suggest a municipal wastewater input. Coliform and streptococci indicators may not be able to distinguish municipal or domestic microbial loading in the presence of nonpoint source interferences in many circumstances.

Objective: To investigate the association between hospital investment in human resources variables and patient safety, specifically after surgery adverse events in Florida hospitals. We performed the analysis to identify the association of after surgery complication rates with full time equivalent employees (FTEs) per admission and per patient day, expenses per admission and per patient day and, the percent of total operating expense accounted for by payroll expenses. Design: A cross sectional analysis using inpatient hospital discharge data and financial data from seventy short-term general hospitals, both for-profit and not-for-profit. Methods: Discharge data from year 2000 was obtained from Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). This data was used to calculate Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) related to after surgery complications in 840,945 hospital discharge records from 70 short-term general hospitals across the state of Florida. The predictor variables include: payroll expenditures per admission, payroll expenditures per patient day, personnel (FTE) per admission, personnel (FTE) per patient day and payroll expense as a percent of total operating expenses. Main outcome measures: Nine patient safety indicators defined by AHQR and specific to after surgery complications: complications of anesthesia, foreign body left during procedure, postoperative hemorrhage or hematoma, postoperative physiologic and metabolic derangement, postoperative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis, postoperative respiratory failure, postoperative sepsis, postoperative wound dehiscence. Results: Patient safety indicator rate showed an inverse relationship with the percent of total operating expense represented by payroll, Personnel per patient day and personnel per admission. The patient safety indicators showing significant relationship with hospital human resource characteristics are postoperative hemorrhage or hematoma (p=0.0002), postoperative hip fracture (p<0.0001), and postoperative sepsis (p=0.0371). Conclusion: Human resource investment is positively related to favorable outcomes, although the effect varies across the type of outcomes.

<p>Påverkar personligheten lönesättningen? Kan chefen vara objektiv eller belönar chefen omedvetet dem som liknar honom/henne själv? Det saknas tidigare forskning om hur personligheten påverkar lön och lönesättning. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om det föreligger ett samband mellan hög lön och en personlighet som liknar den lönesättande chefen. Studien är genomförd hos 4 chefer och 55 medarbetare inom handikapp-omsorgen i Ängelholms kommun. Undersökningen genomfördes med hjälp av Myers-Briggs standardiserade frågeformulär, intervjuer samt egna enkäter. Vi hittar inga klara bevis för att cheferna premierar medarbetare som liknar dem själva. Däremot finner vi ett samband mellan hög lön och upplevelsen av att lönen är rättvis samt att ett gott samarbete med chefen också ger en uppfattning av en rättvis lön, dock inte nödvändigtvis hög. Dessutom fann vi att utbildning och lång erfarenhet inom yrket ger högre lön. Lite förvånande fann vi att personer med introverta personlighetsdrag hade signifikant högre lön än extraverta personer, trots att cheferna uppgett att de framförallt uppskattar egenskaper som korrelerar med extraversion. Vi tror att Introverta egenskaper inte har lika positiv klang som Extraverta egenskaper. Det är intressant att chefernas egen uppfattning om personlighetens betydelse vid lönesättning inte stämde överens med våra resultat. Vi har i vår studie inte gjort några mätningar på vare sig vad eller hur arbetet utförs av den enskilde medarbetaren. Personligheten behöver inte nödvändigtvis vara kopplad till prestationen.</p>

The purpose of this research was to determine if there were any relationships between measured personality traits and vocational interests between the Adult Learner with Learning Disabilities (ALLD) and without Learning Disabilities (ALNLD). Instruments utilized to measure personality traits and vocational interests included the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Self-Directed Search-Form Easy (SDS-E). Additionally, the ALLD's assessed personality traits were compared with their overall grade point average (GPA) at the post-secondary level. Lastly, this study allowed an analysis of the level of congruence between the ALLD's expected vocational goal upon college completion and their vocational interests, as measured by the SDS-E. The population investigated included ninety adult learners from Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon. Forty of these student participants were learning disabled while the remaining fifty students were not learning disabled. Both groups completed the MBTI, the SDS-E, and a student questionnaire to provide the necessary data. The log linear analysis indicated significant interactions between the ALLD and ALNLD groups on the MBTI with a three-way interaction of learning status, age, and MBTI preference pair Thinking-Feeling (p=.046); and a three way interaction of learning status, age and MBTI preference pair Sensing Intuition (p=.028). The ALLD presented preference for Thinking (T) and Sensing (S) profiles while the ALNLD presented preference for Feeling (F) and equally for Intuitive (N) and Sensing (S) preferences. The log linear analysis also found no significance between the ALLD and ALNLD groups vocational interests as measured by the SDS-E. This finding supports literature reviewed that purports individuals with LD have personalities and vocational interests as varied as their "non-disabled" peers. The multiple regression test found no significant relationships between personality traits as defined by the MBTI and the GPA of the ALLD. Perhaps further investigation with a larger sample size might provide increased insight on the relationship between personality patterns and GPA of the ALLD. Lastly, this research which compared the highest surveyed and expressed vocational interests of the ALLD, demonstrated that the SDS-E was a good interest inventory to use with persons who were learning disabled. The SDS-E presented a strong relationship (55% perfect match) between expressed and measured interests of persons who were ALLD. This finding supports use of the SDS-E as a career counseling tool for the ALLD population. / Graduation date: 1997

Soil properties play important roles in a lot of environmental issues like diffuse pollution, erosion hazards or precision agriculture. With the developments of soil process models and geographical information systems, the need for accurate knowledge about soil properties becomes more acute. However, while the sources of information become each year more numerous and diversified, they rarely provide us with data at the same time having the required level of spatial and attribute accuracy. An important challenge thus consists in combining those data sources at best so as to meet the high accuracy requirements. The Bayesian Maximum Entropy (BME) approach appears as a potential candidate for achieving this task: it is especially designed for managing simultaneously data of various nature and quality ("hard" and "soft" data, continuous or categorical). It relies on a two-steps procedure involving an objective way for obtaining a prior distribution in accordance with the general knowledge at hand (the ME part), and a Bayesian conditionalization step for updating this prior probability distribution function (pdf) with respect to the specific data collected on the study site. At each prediction location, an entire pdf is obtained, allowing subsequently the easy computation of elaborate statistics chosen for their adequacy with the objectives of the study. In this thesis, the theory of BME is explained in a simplified way using standard probabilistic notations. The recent developments towards categorical variables are incorporated and an attempt is made to formulate a unified framework for both categorical and continuous variables, thus emphasizing the generality and flexibility of the BME approach. The potential of the method for predicting continuous variables is then illustrated by a series of studies dealing with the soil texture fractions (sand, silt and clay). For the categorical variables, a case study focusing on the prediction of the status of the water table is presented. The use of multiple and sometimes contradictory data sources is also analyzed. Throughout the document, BME is compared to classic geostatistical techniques like simple, ordinary or indicator kriging. Thorough discussions point out the inconsistencies of those methods and explain how BME is solving the problems. Rather than being but another geostatistical technique, BME has to be considered as a knowledge processing approach. With BME, practitioners will find a valuable tool for analyzing their spatio-temporal data sets and for providing the stake-holders with accurate information about the environmental issues to which they are confronted. Read one of the articles extracted from Chapter V at : D'Or D., Bogaert P. and Christakos, G. (2001). Application of the BME Approach to Soil Texture Mapping. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment 15(1): 87-100 ©Springer-2001. http://springerlink.metapress.com/app/home/contribution.asp?wasp=cbttlcpaeg1rqmdb4xv2&referrer=parent&backto=issue,6,6;journal,13,29;linkingpublicationresults,1,1

Beach advisories are issued at recreational beaches when the water quality exceeds regulatory limits for the indicator organism, enterococci. Elevated levels of enterococci have been observed at Hobie Cat Beach, the study marine beach site, located on Virginia Key, Florida. The study site represents a classic non-point source sub/tropical marine recreational beach area with high human and animal use, representative of many beaches worldwide in sub/tropical areas. The dissertation consisted of two separate but related studies: the first to identify environmental and geographic factors, and the second to evaluate the impact of known animal sources of enterococci. The first efforts were made to identify the geographic location of the source of enterococci to the beach waters and to assess the environmental factors that impact the variation in concentrations observed at the site. These environmental factors and conditions include: proximity to shoreline, tidal changes, impacts of runoff, and sunlight intensity. Enterococci were enumerated by traditional membrane filtration or the chromogenic substrate method. Overall, results showed that the source of enterococci to the study beach was geographically located within the inter-tidal zone. These results suggest that the wash-in of sediments and accompanying pore waters (where the pore water is the water filling the spaces between grains of sediment) from the inter-tidal zone play a major role in controlling enterococci levels within the water column. Wash-in occurs through both tidal fluctuations and runoff. The second effort evaluated non-point sources, including animals, which are known to contribute to elevated levels of enterococci in recreational marine beach waters. Specifically, feces from dogs, birds, and shrimp mounds were collected from the beach; additional bird fecal samples were collected from both a local zoo and bird rehabilitation center. Fecal samples were weighed gravimetrically, and enumerated for enterococci using traditional membrane filtration method. The total numbers of animals which frequented the site were obtained through camera image analysis and in-field visual counting surveys. The highest enterococci concentrations were observed in dog feces (avg. 7.4 x 10^6 CFU/g dry feces), then birds (avg. 3.3 x 10^5 CFU/g dry feces) and the lowest measured levels of enterococci were observed in shrimp fecal mounds (2.0 CFU/g dry feces on average). A comparison of the microbial load (CFU per fecal event) showed that 1 dog fecal event was equivalent to 6,940 bird fecal events or 3.2 x 10^8 shrimp fecal events. Given the abundance of animals observed on the beach, these study results suggest that dogs are the largest contributing source of enterococci to the beach site (6.3 x 10^11 CFU per day during weekends and 2.9 x 10^11 CFU per day during weekdays), with humans (4.6 x 10^9 CFU per day during weekends and 4.8 x 10^8 CFU per day during weekdays) and birds (2.7 x 10^8 CFU per day) serving as secondary contributors. Shrimp served as an insignificant source (1.9 x 10^4 CFU per day). When maximum daily contributions were considered, dogs contributed the highest proportion of enterococci (99.2%) compared to humans (0.72%), birds (0.04%), and shrimp (<0.04%). Beach management efforts at the study site should thus focus on requiring dog owners to properly dispose of dog feces deposited at the beach.

Abstract Recently the printing industry in Taiwan has experienced great difficulty in the business, as a result of industry relocation, drastic decrease in demand, increase in manpower cost and massive use of commercial high speed machinery, contributing to an unbalance of supply and demand, quick drop in gross profit, falling into unfavorable price cut, and immense market competition. In the era of knowledge economy and lean profit, if lacking of strategic thought, selecting a Key Performance Indicator (KPI), suitable for its own industrial strategic execution, one would bound to face great difficulty in sustaining its business. In this regard, this study targets at selection of KPI in the printing industry and attempts to use four prospective of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) with Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for exploring the implementation feasibility. In order to verify and refine the first outcomes of AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) analysis, this stuy did the second AHP analysis and adopts the second outcomes as the conclusion.They are as follows: 1. These are the priorities of the four factors on the second layer: ¡§Internal Business Process Perspective¡¨ goes first, ¡§Learning and Growth Perspective¡¨ second, ¡§Financial Perspective¡¨ third, and ¡§Customer Perspective¡¨ last . 2. The top six prioities of the 16 indicators on the third layer are the below: ¡§Short cycle time¡¨ goes first, ¡§Passing rate of skill examination¡¨ second, ¡§Value in wastage of raw material¡¨ third, ¡§Customer complaint figures¡¨ fourth, ¡§Improvement plan figures¡¨ fifth and ¡§Sales growth rate¡¨ sixth. Keyword: Key Performance Indicator, Balanced Scorecard, Analytic Hierarchy Process