Originally presented as the author's Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Mainz, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [486]-503) and index.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:57:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo3161_1.pdf: 1109714 bytes, checksum: 63bb826b538cafab9528cb9cb8274bdc (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Com a adoção pelo mercado dos processadores de nucleos multiplos, o uso de threads em Java se torna cada vez mais proveitoso. O desenvolvimento de sistemas paralelos e, entretanto, uma tarefa que poucos desenvolvedores estão capacitados a enfrentar. Dado esse contexto, foi desenvolvida uma abordagem de paralelizaçaao de programas java baseada em leis de transformação, com o intuito de facilitar esse processo e permitir uma paralelização sistemática. O primeiro passo da abordagem utiliza leis de transformação para converter um programa Java em uma forma normal que utiliza um conjunto restrito de recursos da linguagem. Neste passo, foram definidas leis de transformação adaptadas de trabalhos anteriores, assim como novas leis foram propostas. A partir de um programa na forma normal, são utilizadas regras de transformação focadas em introduzir paralelismo. Após a aplicação dessas regras de acordo com a estretégia desenvolvida, um programa paralelo e produzido. Dois casos de estudo foram realizados para validar a abordagem: calculo de series de Fourier e o algoritmo de criptografia IDEA. Ambos códigos foram obtidos do Java Grande Benchmark Suite. A execução dos estudos de caso comprova o êxito da abordagem em melhorar a performance do cóodigo original

Orientador: Carlos Alonso Barbosa de Oliveira / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-06T18:05:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Biavaschi_MagdaBarros_D.pdf: 59651202 bytes, checksum: e32c7c96a15f844f0889c5653e6fb400 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: Esta tese busca, em síntese, resgatar os fundamentos do Direito do Trabalho em tempos em que os direitos sociais sofrem forte abalo e em que as instituições republicanas parecem sucumbir à força de um desejo implacável de remover todos os obstáculos ao livre fluxo do capital, à expansão das grandes corporações e do capital financeiro internacional, tendo como foco um país de capitalismo tardio como o Brasil. Com a preocupação de desvendar as principais fontes materiais de um ramo do Direito com princípios e fisionomia própria e de verificar como foram impulsionadas as instituições do Estado aptas a fiscalizá-lo e a concretizá-lo, demonstra que a idéia de que a legislação trabalhista brasileira é cópia da Carta Del Lavoro é insustentável tanto teórica quanto empiricamente. Com ênfase no período de 1930-42, mas com um espectro maior de duração, apresenta uma leitura de um período específico da ¿Era Vargas¿, em que esse Direito se afirmou no Brasil como um estatuto jurídico universal. Procedendo a uma abordagem mais geral do quadro socioeconômico do Brasil de então, busca compreender o papel do Estado na institucionalização das regras sociais de proteção ao trabalho e as razões de sua ação coordenadora ter sido decisiva para que esses direitos e as instituições que os concretizam se criassem, sem que essa abordagem signifique, ao contrário, adesão ao ¿mito da outorga¿ / Doutorado / Economia Social e do Trabalho / Doutor em Desenvolvimento Economico

LL.M

The thesis covers aspects of the law relating to letters of credit. It deals with the operation of letters of credit with particular reference to the doctrine of strict compliance, the principle of independence, the fraud exception and conflict of laws. According to the principle of independence, banks must make payment in terms of the letter of credit irrespective of any dispute that may exist between the buyer and the seller in an underlying contract or other contracts. Although the principle of independence is clearly established, it is not absolute. An exception occurs in the case of fraud. Thus, if the seller has committed fraud, such as tendering forged documents, the buyer can instruct the bank not to make payment in terms of the credit. If the bank refuses to dishonour the letter of credit, the buyer can apply to a court to interdict the bank from making payment. In South African law the buyer must establish that the seller was party to fraud in relation to the documents presented to the bank for payment before the court can grant an interdict. This thesis also examines the standard of proof of fraud required in letters of credit transactions and proposes a standard of proof which will not unduly favour the seller whose good faith is in dispute. The fast growing technology of computers and telecommunications is rapidly changing the methods of transacting business by paper documentation and letter of credit transactions are no exception. At present the buyer can apply to the bank to issue a letter of credit through the computer and banks also communicate letter of credit transactions through computer networks. However, the beneficiary still has to present documents to the bank for payment in paper form. It is proposed that the Uniform Custom and Practice For Documentary Credits (UCP) be amended to provide for fully computerised letters of credit transactions. Another objective of the thesis is to examine the doctrine of strict compliance. In terms of the doctrine of strict compliance documents presented under the credit must comply strictly with the requirements set out in the credit. If banks are satisfied that the documents presented by the seller strictly conform with the requirements of the credit they are obliged to make payment as required by the credit. It is proposed that the doctrine of strict compliance should not be applied strictly. In other words, the banks should make payment in terms of the credit if the discrepancy in the documents is trivial. The thesis also covers conflict of laws issues. As the UCP does not have rules dealing with conflict of laws, most jurisdictions have developed their own rules to be applied by the courts in cases of conflict of laws. The thesis examines the different rules of conflict of laws as developed and practiced by different jurisdictions.

During the course of this PhD thesis, it will be argued that it is misconceived to think of jurisdiction and choice of law agreements as unilaterally enforced domestic private law obligations within an English 'dispute resolution' paradigm because multilateral private international law rules are essentially secondary rules for the allocation of regulatory authority which may not permit a separation of functions or the relative effect of such agreements. In other words, a multilateral system for the public ordering of private law will assume priority over or trump the existence of the private law rights and obligations of the parties to the jurisdiction and choice of law agreement and the unilateral enforcement of such rights via anti-suit injunctions and the damages remedy. Otherwise, the private law enforcement of the mutual contractual obligation not to sue in a noncontractual forum attributed to an exclusive jurisdiction agreement may operate as a 'unilateral private international law rule' with a controversial and confrontational allocative function of its own. It may lead to the 'privatization of court access' by dubiously perpetuating and prioritizing the unilateral private ordering of private law over the multilateral public ordering of private law. Moreover, the enforcement of jurisdiction and choice of law agreements by private law remedies within a multilateral system will necessarily distort the allocative or distributive function of private international law rules by giving precedence to the redistributive will of the parties premised on principles of corrective justice inter partes of questionable applicability. International structural order is compromised in the unilateral private law enforcement of jurisdiction and choice of law agreements as such enforcement gives rise to a clash of sovereign legal orders and also the possibility of 'regime collision' by interfering with the jurisdiction, judgments and choice of law apparatus of foreign courts which a multilateral conception of private international law is supposed to prevent in the first place. However, this PhD thesis will argue that outside the confines of the EU private international law regime, the variable geometry that is characteristic of the international commercial litigation sphere may not impede the separation of functions within such agreements. Whether an English court ought to grant a pragmatic private law remedy enforcing such agreements is of course another matter. Ultimately, a more comprehensive concept of transnational justice in private international law disputes informed by methodological pluralism needs to be developed. A notion of transnational justice which seeks to simultaneously balance the competing demands of the notion of 'conflicts justice' which prioritizes ex ante multilateral allocative imperatives and the idea of an ex post material justice between the litigating parties in the individual instance.

In the field of planning and policy-making, there is often insufficient concern for the nature and patterns of decision-making in the private sector. It is felt that improved knowledge of these patterns would provide an additional significant input to aid policy-makers in the difficult task of assembling the most appropriate program from a host of available alternatives. To develop this theme, this thesis has focused upon private sector response to housing code enforcement as a tool for eliminating substandard housing and increasing the supply of standard housing for low income tenants. Two models of rehabilitation decision-making by absentee owners of multiple rental housing (i.e., house operating firms) are presented and operationalized. The first model assumes that a community does not enforce a set of minimum housing standards. Consequently, house operating firms are free to adjust their operating, replacement and remodelling expenditures, thereby raising or lowering the position occupied by their buildings in a distribution of rental housing quality. Since each position in this quality distribution generates a different level of rent, the firm must choose that position which maximizes profit from its building. In the case where minimum housing regulations are not enforced, this pattern of decision-making often implies the existence of a significant quantity of profitable substandard rental housing. Since firms in this instance are free to decide to operate their buildings at substandard levels without fear of prosecution, we have termed this the "unrestricted decision-making model." The second model, which we have described as the "restricted decision-making model," assumes that a housing code has been enacted and is strictly enforced. In this case, house operating firms owning substandard buildings have certain restrictions placed on their decision-making. These restrictions require that the firm either increase its expenditures on its building to raise the level of quality to a certain minimum standard or withdraw the building from occupancy. The result is that such firms face a potential loss in profit which they will attempt to minimize in their decision-making. An examination of the housing code enforcement experience of selected communities points toward a number of serious issues which must be resolved if such programs are to succeed in restricting house operating firm decision-making. These issues include administration, inspection, staffing, legal, land use and vacancy problems. All but the latter problem appear to be soluble, given the appropriate steps. However, under conditions of low vacancy rates in non-luxury rental housing, the strict enforcement of a housing code threatens to dislocate significant numbers of low income tenants. This undesirable outcome is to be expected according to the restricted decision-making model; however, it is contrary to the stated aims of code enforcement. To alter this outcome, it is contended that communities should concentrate on manipulating the important variables in the house operating firm decision-making process by introducing a range of policies into their code enforcement programs. In the final chapter of this thesis, then, certain policy alternatives are considered with respect to their potential impact upon the decisions of house operating firms, with the emphasis placed on stimulating rehabilitation where it might otherwise not occur. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

M.Phil. / Whistleblowers have become known as being disloyal employees and troublemakers. This perception has caused whistle blowing to be despised rather than encouraged. Whistle blowing is effectively raising a concern about an impropriety that assists in ensuring individual responsibility and organisational accountability. Making disclosures causes employees to be victimised by their employers as well as fellow employees. Employees generally did not feel protected enough to come forward with information on corruption, even though the witness protection system had been reformed and was working well. A well functioning hotline system is of importance and should be linked to the implementation of a protection regime for whistle blowers. Employees making anonymous disclosures are difficult to investigate, in that problems in corroborating the information as well as in not being able to remedy the underlying cause of the disclosure exist. Hotlines through which the public and employees anonymously report suspected corruption does not satisfactory deal with the issues when the purpose of whistle blowing is to promote a culture of transparency and accountability. The aim is to provide provisions for employees to disclose information about suspected criminals or other irregular conduct without fear or reprisals. The Protected Disclosures Act is an important step in providing protection for those who expose corruption in the workplace. Employers and employees should be treated on an equal basis with regards to whistle blowing. It is in the best interest of both employees and employers to have internal channels that encourage protected disclosures, providing protection to both employers and employees. Different measures exist to protect whistleblowers. One such measure is by means of legislation. Secondly, courts have also developed principles in this regard. However, in certain instances, the labour law will not provide protection were a professional individual acts in breach of the confidentiality obligation vested upon him within the client professional relationship. Legislation relating to general protection such as the right to freedom of association and access to information, also provide protection. The codes of conduct and ethical rules of professional bodies can also be adapted to provide protection to professionals, including employment contracts that provide for protection in certain instances. Despite all of the above, instances will always arise where tensions exist and problems arise, such as the continuous tension between the monopoly of the state in respect of certain information and the question on which information should be protected under legislation. It is therefore clear that many instances arise where protection is not afforded to whistleblowers. To apply the protection afforded by the Protected Disclosure Act horizontally between private bodies, private bodies should be protected from detriment. A tax consultant aware that a client is defrauding the South African Revenue Service will fear that if it challenges the client or threatens to report the fraud, the client will cancel the contract. It is recommended that a more inclusive approach to employment is to be followed as "atypical" employment is on the increase in South Africa as in many other countries. Homework, where a person undertakes to work on contract from home as well as workers supplied by temporary employment services, enable the organisations to vary the number of workers deployed so as to ensure flexibility. Independent contractors are often in a good position to uncover and disclose irregular conduct in the private or public sector. In addition, it is also advised that applicants for employment in the definition of an employee in the Protected Disclosures Act be included. In order to protect whistle blowers further, the definition of occupational detriment in the above act should also be extended to include reprisal by employers such as the use or treat to use defamation suites and suites based on the alleged breach of confidentiality, a loss of a contract or the inexplicable failure to be given a contract in the instance of contract workers. In addition, the list of forms of occupational detriment to be suffered should be left open ended to allow recognition of further types of victimisation. The effectiveness of measures put in place within organisations to encourage employees to speak out against impropriety and misconduct will be difficult to determine as only when there has been non-adherence to the Protected Disclosures Act and the whistle blower has been detrimentally affected, will it come into force to protect bona fide whistleblowers.

Patent law creates economic incentives for individuals and companies to invest in research and development, as well as to disclose publicly and commercialize new inventions. In creating these incentives, patents also impose costs on society through reduced access to new inventions. Generally, the benefits of the patent system outweigh the costs, but in new and rapidly developing industries the patent system itself can act as a barrier to the development of new technologies. This is of particular concern in the biotechnology industry where a proliferation of patents on basic and fundamental research tools risks hindering further innovation. This problem was first noted by US academics where patent rights are generally considered absolute. In contrast to the US, there are mechanisms already in place within the Canadian patent system that can be used to balance the public interest in access to technologies with the private interest promoted by patents. Two such mechanisms are studied in depth and compared: experimental use and compulsory licensing. Current conceptions of the experimental use exception to patent infringement are inadequate to deal with abuses found when research tools are patented and an expanded experimental use exception is therefore proposed to address the deficiencies found in the current law. In comparison, existing compulsory licensing provisions within the Competition and Patent Acts are generally sufficient to ensure access to needed research tools. The essential facilities doctrine developed through US antitrust laws provides assistance in determining when such compulsory licences should be granted. Compulsory licensing has certain advantages over an expanded experimental use exception: it would only be used for tools where there are no reasonable alternatives available to the scientist; and it is more likely to be compliant with Canada's international obligations. Ultimately, however, an expanded experimental use exception is preferred since it more quickly and easily puts the tools required for research into the hands of the scientists. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate