The State of Mississippi wants to manage its oyster resource to increase production, quality, ecological, and economic benefits. In this study, we employ modern portfolio theory (MPT) to test if there are potential gains to hold multiple oyster resources for multiple benefits to aid the state's effort in achieving its goal. Using a Delphi approach, we elicit complete sets of data on ecosystem services (on oxygen, nutrients, sedimentation, and salinity) across multiple oyster resources (traditional plantings, off-bottom farms, and restored reefs). A benefit transfer method is used later to assigned money-metric value to each service estimate. The multiple service values are then aggregated into net service value. We compute the means, standard deviations, and correlations of benefits across all resources using the net service values, and generate efficient frontiers from that information. Results indicate that Mississippi could benefit from holding multiple oyster resources while focusing more on off-bottom oyster farms.

Submitted by Cláudia Bueno (claudiamoura18@gmail.com) on 2015-10-27T15:54:55Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Dianne Dias Silva - 2015.pdf: 2508002 bytes, checksum: caf4c84566bed1bb6b673f295e99b317 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2015-10-28T14:09:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Dianne Dias Silva - 2015.pdf: 2508002 bytes, checksum: caf4c84566bed1bb6b673f295e99b317 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-10-28T14:09:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Dianne Dias Silva - 2015.pdf: 2508002 bytes, checksum: caf4c84566bed1bb6b673f295e99b317 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The software products developed by micro and small brazilian enterprises have stood out on the world IT market which mostly are dedicated to the development, the production, the software distribution and the provision of services. However, new software products available on the market fail because most of these micro and small enterprises are more focused on product quality rather than the processes used in its development. Despite these organizations realize the importance of improving their processes and their working techniques, lack resources and knowledge so that this practice is applied. In recent decades, increasing demand and complexity of software products made that micro and small software development enterprises worry and invest more in quality assurance to provide continuous improvement of the techniques, the criteria, the methods and the tools used in the construction of software products. Through some national initiatives maturity models and international standards such as the Freetest Method, the MPT.BR and the ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2 can satisfy the needs and expectations of users of these products. However, the implementation and institutionalization of structured testing process maturity in these models and this standard are costly and complex for micro and small software development enterprises. This work developed a maturity model considering the limitations of micro and small software development enterprises, and an approach to implement the test procedures defined in this model. / Os produtos de software desenvolvidos pelas micro e pequenas empresas brasileiras têm se destacado no mercado mundial de TI que em sua maioria estão dedicadas ao desenvolvimento, à produção, à distribuição de software e à prestação de serviços. No entanto, os novos produtos de software disponibilizados no mercado falham devido a maioria dessas micro e pequenas empresas estarem mais centradas na qualidade do produto em vez dos processos adotados no seu desenvolvimento. Apesar dessas organizações perceberem a relevância de melhorar os seus processos e suas técnicas de trabalho, faltam recursos e conhecimento para que essa prática seja aplicada. Nas últimas décadas, a crescente demanda e a complexidade dos produtos de software fizeram com que as micro e pequenas empresas de desenvolvimento de software se preocupassem e, investissem cada vez mais na garantia da qualidade para prover a melhoria contínua das técnicas, dos critérios, dos métodos e das ferramentas empregadas na construção dos produtos de software. Através de algumas iniciativas nacionais de modelos de maturidade e normas internacionais tais como, o Método Freetest, o MPT.BR e a ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2 é possível satisfazer as necessidades e expectativas dos usuários desses produtos. Porém, a implementação e a institucionalização do processo de teste estruturado nesses modelos de maturidade e, nessa norma são onerosas e complexas para as micro e pequenas empresas de desenvolvimento de software. Neste trabalho foi desenvolvido um modelo de maturidade considerando as limitações das micro e pequenas empresas de desenvolvimento de software, e uma abordagem para implementar os processos de teste definidos nesse modelo.

The financial markets have a complex structure and the modelling techniques have recently been more and more complicated. So for a portfolio manager it is very important to find better and more sophisticated modelling techniques especially after the 2007-2008 banking crisis. The idea in this thesis is to find the connection between the components in macroeconomic environment and portfolios consisting of assets from OMX Stockholm 30 and use these relationships to perform Tactical Asset Allocation (TAA). The more specific aim of the project is to prove that dynamic modelling techniques outperform static models in portfolio theory. / Den finansiella marknaden är av en väldigt komplex struktur och modelleringsteknikerna har under senare tid blivit allt mer komplicerade. För en portföljförvaltare är det av yttersta vikt att finna mer sofistikerade modelleringstekniker, speciellt efter finanskrisen 2007-2008. Idéen i den här uppsatsen är att finna ett samband mellan makroekonomiska faktorer och aktieportföljer innehållande tillgångar från OMX Stockholm 30 och använda dessa för att utföra Tactial Asset Allocation (TAA). Mer specifikt är målsättningen att visa att dynamiska modelleringstekniker har ett bättre utfall än mer statiska modeller i portföljteori.

Por estar diretamente sujeita a fatores econômicos de nível global, a mineração tende a se desenvolver para buscar processos produtivos mais enxutos, aliando menores custos operacionais a melhores taxas produtivas. Neste contexto, o objetivo principal deste trabalho é avaliar o comportamento geral da curva de tempo em manutenção preventiva de uma frota de caminhões em uma mineração de grande porte, sendo a análise realizada em uma janela temporal baseada em um período econômico de mínimo local nos preços do cobre. A partir do comportamento observado é feita uma discussão sob as premissas da metodologia de gestão nomeada Manutenção Produtiva Total de forma a se debater os possíveis principais riscos e/ou consequências que podem ser enfrentadas pelo projeto e como estas decisões qualitativamente indicam o grau de maturidade na integração operacional entre produção e manutenção em um projeto minerário. Ao final, pode-se concluir que ainda é necessário um intenso trabalho em se traduzir as premissas da MPT para a indústria mineral, buscando-se adaptar processos e métricas que sejam mais condizentes ao ambiente da indústria extrativa (que é muito diferente da indústria de manufatura, onde o programa teve início). Além disso, fica claro que a aplicação da MPT é possível e bem-vinda na mineração já havendo de vários estudos acadêmicos na área - ou seja, o ponto em questão mais desafiador provavelmente é que seja desenvolvido um programa de MPT de forma endógena em um projeto mineral. / As it is directly under global economic factors, the mining industry tends to develop to seek leaner production processes, combining lower operational costs to better productive rates. In this context, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the general behavior of the time spend in preventive maintenance of a truck fleet from a large-scale mining project, being the analysis performed in a time window based on an economic period of local minimum in copper prices. From the observed behavior a discussion is made under the assumptions of the management methodology named Total Productive Maintenance in order to discuss the possible main risks and/or consequences that can be faced by the project and how these decisions qualitatively indicate the degree of maturity between production and maintenance in a mining project. In the end, it can be concluded that an intense work is still needed to translate the TPM premises into the mineral industry, being necessary to seek ways to adapt processes and metrics that are more suited to the extractive industry environment (which is very different from the manufacturing industry, where the program started). In addition, it is clear that the application of TPM is possible and welcome in mining since there are several academic studies in the area - in other words, the most challenging point in question is probably that an endogenous TPM program is developed within a mineral project.

Por estar diretamente sujeita a fatores econômicos de nível global, a mineração tende a se desenvolver para buscar processos produtivos mais enxutos, aliando menores custos operacionais a melhores taxas produtivas. Neste contexto, o objetivo principal deste trabalho é avaliar o comportamento geral da curva de tempo em manutenção preventiva de uma frota de caminhões em uma mineração de grande porte, sendo a análise realizada em uma janela temporal baseada em um período econômico de mínimo local nos preços do cobre. A partir do comportamento observado é feita uma discussão sob as premissas da metodologia de gestão nomeada Manutenção Produtiva Total de forma a se debater os possíveis principais riscos e/ou consequências que podem ser enfrentadas pelo projeto e como estas decisões qualitativamente indicam o grau de maturidade na integração operacional entre produção e manutenção em um projeto minerário. Ao final, pode-se concluir que ainda é necessário um intenso trabalho em se traduzir as premissas da MPT para a indústria mineral, buscando-se adaptar processos e métricas que sejam mais condizentes ao ambiente da indústria extrativa (que é muito diferente da indústria de manufatura, onde o programa teve início). Além disso, fica claro que a aplicação da MPT é possível e bem-vinda na mineração já havendo de vários estudos acadêmicos na área - ou seja, o ponto em questão mais desafiador provavelmente é que seja desenvolvido um programa de MPT de forma endógena em um projeto mineral. / As it is directly under global economic factors, the mining industry tends to develop to seek leaner production processes, combining lower operational costs to better productive rates. In this context, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the general behavior of the time spend in preventive maintenance of a truck fleet from a large-scale mining project, being the analysis performed in a time window based on an economic period of local minimum in copper prices. From the observed behavior a discussion is made under the assumptions of the management methodology named Total Productive Maintenance in order to discuss the possible main risks and/or consequences that can be faced by the project and how these decisions qualitatively indicate the degree of maturity between production and maintenance in a mining project. In the end, it can be concluded that an intense work is still needed to translate the TPM premises into the mineral industry, being necessary to seek ways to adapt processes and metrics that are more suited to the extractive industry environment (which is very different from the manufacturing industry, where the program started). In addition, it is clear that the application of TPM is possible and welcome in mining since there are several academic studies in the area - in other words, the most challenging point in question is probably that an endogenous TPM program is developed within a mineral project.

La modification post-traductionnelle par les « Small Ubiquitin-Like MOdifyers (SUMOs) » est un processus majeur de régulation qui influence plus d’une centaine de protéines. Cette modification (SUMOylation) touche plusieurs fonctions nucléaires telles que la réparation de l’ADN, la réplication et la transcription. La SUMOylation affecte une protéine le plus souvent en permettant la formation de nouvelles interactions protéine-protéines avec des facteurs de régulations qui possèdent un court segment hydrophobe dans leur séquence connu sous le nom de « SUMO interacting motif (SIM) ». Bien que les interactions SUMO-SIMs soient bien documentées, la description de leur régulation n’est pas complète. Cette thèse décrit des études fonctionnelles et structurales sur différents mécanismes de régulation des interactions SUMO-SIMs. Plus précisément, elle décrit les effets de l’acétylation et de la queue N-terminale des protéines SUMOs sur leur capacité à réguler les interactions entre SUMOs et les SIMs de trois protéines : le suppresseur de tumeur « promyelocytic leukemia (PML) », le corépresseur de transcription « Death Domain Associated Protein 6 (Daxx) » et « Protein Inhibitor of Activated STAT (PIAS) », une ligase E3 pour SUMO. La première étude décrit l’effet de l’acétylation de SUMO1 sur sa capacité à interagir avec les SIMs de PML et de Daxx. À partir d’expériences de titrage calorimétrique et d’études cristallographiques, nous avons démontré que l’acétylation précise de certains résidus conservés chez SUMO1 (K39 et K46) réduit fortement l’affinité avec les deux SIMs testés. En contraste, nous démontrons que l’acétylation du résidu K37 sur SUMO1 à un effet inhibiteur spécifique pour le SIM de Daxx. Les structures cristallographiques des complexes formés entre les variants acétylés de SUMO1 avec les SIMs concordent avec les données des titrages et suggère une plasticité dans la formation des liens sur la surface d’interaction. Partant de ce constat, nous postulons que la plasticité observée dans la structure des complexes acétylés démontre un mécanisme de régulation des interactions SUMO-SIMs par l’acétylation de résidus conservés chez SUMO1. Dans la deuxième étude, nous avons identifié un deuxième SIM à l’extrémité C-terminale de protéines de la famille (PIAS1-2-3). Nous démontrons que ce SIM est capable de lier SUMO1 et que structurellement la phosphorylation de résidus clés dans ce domaine ainsi que l’acétylation de SUMO1 peut contrôler cette interaction. Une comparaison avec le premier SIM des variants PIAS démontre que les deux SIMs sont affectés différemment par la phosphorylation et l’acétylation. En outre, nous avons déterminé que le nouveau SIM identifié joue un rôle important dans la formation d’un complexe ternaire répresseur de la transcription, formé des protéines PIAS, SUMO1 et de l’enzyme de conjugaison « UBiquitin Conjugating enzyme E2I (UBC9) ». Pris ensemble, ces résultats donnent une description atomique de l’interaction d’un nouveau SIM chez PIAS avec SUMO1 et décris comment la phosphorylation et l’acétylation peuvent sélectivement réguler la spécificité des SIM trouvés chez les variants PIAS. Finalement, dans la dernière étude, nous avons exploré le rôle de la queue N-terminale des paralogues SUMO1 et 2 sur sa capacité à moduler les interactions SUMO-SIMs. Nous avons démontré que la queue N-terminale de SUMO1, mais pas SUMO2, avait un effet auto-inhibiteur sur les interactions SUMO-SIMs et que cet effet dépendait de la présence de résidus chargés négativement présent dans le SIM. Aussi, nous avons démontré que l’effet auto-inhibiteur était spécifique à la surface d’interaction des SIMs sur SUMO1. De plus à partir d’études cristallographiques et de calorimétrie, nous avons démontré que l’effet auto-inhibiteur de la queue N-terminale de SUMO1 peut être neutralisé par la présence de zinc. La structure cristallographique du complexe entre SUMO1 et le SIM de PML démontre que le zinc stabilise la formation de liens entre des résidus chargés négativement du SIM et de la queue N-terminale de SUMO1. De plus, le zinc induit la formation d’une hélice α dans la queue N-terminale de SUMO1 qui est normalement intrinsèquement désordonnée. En résumé, cette étude donne une description atomique de l’effet de l’acétylation sur les interactions SUMO-SIMs, décris un nouveau SIM dans la famille de protéines PIAS et identifie un nouveau rôle de la queue N-terminale de SUMO1 ainsi que comment cette région peut définir la sélectivité des paralogues SUMOs. / Post-translational modification with the « Small Ubiquitin-Like MOdifyer (SUMO) » is a major regulatory process (commonly referred to as SUMOylation) that regulates hundreds of proteins associated with a diverse array of biological activities including several nuclear functions such as DNA repair, replication and transcription. SUMOylation of a protein can impact its function in many ways most often by providing an additional binding surface for forming protein-protein interactions with regulatory factors through short hydrophobic regions on their binding partners known as « SUMO interacting motif (SIM) ». Although SUMO-SIM interactions are well documented, there are nevertheless outstanding questions that still need to be addressed regarding their controlling mechanisms. This thesis reports functional and structural studies on the regulatory mechanisms that govern SUMO-SIM interactions. More precisely, we studied how acetylation and the amino-terminal tail of SUMO proteins affects the interaction of SUMO with model SIMs from three proteins: the « promyelocytic leukemia (PML) » tumor suppressor, the transcriptional corepressor « Death Domain Associated Protein 6 (Daxx) » and the SUMO E3 ligase « Protein Inhibitor of Activated STAT (PIAS) ». The first study reports the role that acetylation of SUMO1 plays on its binding to the SIMs of PML and Daxx. Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) experiments demonstrated that acetylation of SUMO1 at conserved residues (K39 and K46) dramatically reduces the binding to the SIMs of PML and Daxx. In contrast, SUMO1 acetylation at K37 dramatically reduced binding to the SIM of Daxx but only had minimal impact on binding to the SIM of PML. Crystal structures of the SUMO1 acetylated variants bound to the two SIMs support the ITC titrations and suggest that there is plasticity in SUMO-SIM interactions. The plasticity observed in the structures of these complexes would provide a robust mechanism for regulating SUMO-SIM interactions using a combination of signalling mechanisms that control post-translational modifications. In the second study, we identified and characterized a novel SIM at the C-terminal extremity of three of the four known variants of the PIAS-family proteins (PIAS1-2-3). We demonstrated that this SIM binds to SUMO1 and structurally show that phosphorylation of the SIM or acetylation at select lysine residues of SUMO1 alters this interaction. In addition, we determined that it plays an important role in the formation of ternary complex made of SUMO1, PIAS1 and the « UBiquitin Conjugating enzyme E2I (UBC9) » in human cells. Together, these results provide an atomic description of the interaction between the C-terminal SIM of PIAS proteins and SUMO1 as well as important insight into how posttranslational modifications selectively regulate the specificity of the SIMs found in PIAS1-2-3. Finally, our third study explores the intrinsically disordered N-terminal tail of SUMO paralogs and their ability to regulate SUMO-SIM interactions. We demonstrate that the N-terminal region of SUMO1, but not SUMO2, has an auto-inhibitory effect on the binding to SIMs and that this effect is dependent on the presence of acidic or phosphorylated residues that within the SIM. In addition, we also determined that this inhibition does not affect the interaction of SUMO1 with its E2 conjugating enzyme UBC9. Using titration calorimetry and crystallographic screening, we identified zinc as a negative regulator of this auto-inhibitory effect. The crystallographic structure of the complex between SUMO1 and the SIM of PML shows that zinc stabilises the formation of interactions with the negatively charged residues within the SIM and the N-terminal tail of SUMO1. Interestingly, zinc also appears to stabilize the formation of an α-helix within the N-terminal tail of SUMO1 which is normally intrinsically disordered. In summary, this thesis describes the underlying atomic regulatory mechanisms of SUMO-SIM interactions by acetylation, reveals a novel SIM within the PIAS SUMO E3 ligase family and describes an unprecedented role of the N-terminal region of SUMO1 and provides important insight on how this region can define SUMO paralog specificity.

Real estate is an attractive asset class in the mixed-asset portfolio due to favorable risk return characteristics and low correlations with other asset classes like stock and bonds. Unlike financial assets, real estate is a physical asset where large lot sizes/indivisibility, heterogeneity, low liquidity and high transaction costs make applying financial models like modern portfolio theory (MPT) challenging. Optimal allocations to real estate found in literature are generally lower than actual allocations by investors and portfolio managers indicating there are aspects of the application of MPT to real estate that are not fully understood. Since management of real estate is costly and requires expert skills, the question on whether to outsource property management functions is of paramount interest for the real estate industry. The aim of the thesis is to contribute to the literature on strategic decisions for real estate investors on allocation and management, Apart from reviewing literature relevant for strategic decisions at different levels and using a top-down approach to illustrate how selected allocation and management decisions are connected, four separate empirical studies are made to investigate the nature of selected strategic decisions for real estate investors. / <p>QC 20170515</p>

Syfte: Studera sju portföljer och notera den bästa typen av portfölj med högst avkastning till lägst risk. Metod: Sekundärdata är grunden för uträkning av samtliga portföljers avkastningar, risker och korrelation. Studien är deduktiv med kvantitativa inslag av kända teorier av nobelpristagare i ekonomisk vetenskap.  Slutsats: Studien visar att stora bolag i olika branscher är ett vinnande portföljinnehåll för denna studie. Stora bolags aktier har visat högre avkastning till lägre risk jämfört med små bolag under studiens tid då ekonomiska kriser drabbade marknaden. Den mest presterande portföljen var därför storbolagsportföljen. Vidare forskning: Längre tidsperspektiv och nya teorier som Jensens alfa samt Treynorkvot är av intresse för vidare forskning för att styrka vår slutsats. / Intention: To study seven portfolios and note the best type of portfolio with the maximum return at a minimum risk. Method: Secondary data is the basis for calculation of the total portfolio returns, risk and correlation. This study is deductive based using a quantitative method of world-known theories of Nobel laureates in economic sciences. Conclusion: The study shows that the best efficient portfolio contains large companies in different lines of business. Large companies' shares have higher returns at lower risk compared to small companies in circumstances to difficult economic situations globally. The best performed portfolio was the portfolio with large companies.                                       Further Research: Longer period of time study and a study of new theories such as Jensens Alfa and Tretnor ratio would be interesting for further research.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:44:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5320.pdf: 5956888 bytes, checksum: 67eae96e1067532d65f03521087bd4e3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-05-08 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / The latest international researches seek to understand the factors that influencing the successful use of assistive technology devices through studies regarding the systematizing of assessments; abandonment of devices; or theoric models that consider the aspects of those devices implementation. In Brazil the researches are focused on developing new technologies and there are still not sufficient studies related to the successful use of devices and ways of assistive technology implementation. The main objective of this study was to identify and provide a way to implement assistive technology devices for use in Brazil. There was identified and analyzed the major conceptual and practical approaches related to the implementation of AT devices, choosing the more structured model cited in the literature to be analyzed and made available for use. Thus, this research involved two studies. The first focused on the literature review that revealed conceptual models and the most common assessments used for indication and implementation of assistive technology devices. The second study aimed to select a conceptual model and assessment tool for indicating AT, and cross-cultural validation of this instrument. The results showed that among 29 selected articles, 17 conceptual models used in the area of AT were found, of these, 14 were specific to AT. Regarding the assessments identified only 7 of the 15 were specific of AT. The conceptual model Matching person and Technology MPT and the assessment Assistive Technology Device Predisposition Assessment - ATD PA were selected for analysis and cross-cultural adaptation. Thus, this study has resulted in the manual and the assessment ATD PA Br - adapted version for Brazil, providing a systematic way of indication of AT devices related to the national reality. / Pesquisas internacionais mais recentes buscam compreender os fatores que influenciam o uso bem sucedido dos recursos de tecnologia assistiva (T.A.), seja através de estudos de sistematização de avaliações, de estudos sobre as causas de abandono dos recursos, ou através de estudos de modelos teóricos que abordam aspectos presentes na implementação dos mesmos. No Brasil, as pesquisas estão focadas no desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias, sendo ainda escassos os estudos sobre o uso bem sucedido dos recursos e as formas de implementação de T.A. O objetivo desse estudo foi identificar e disponibilizar uma forma de implementação de recursos de tecnologia assistiva para uso no Brasil. Para tanto, foram identificados e analisados os principais modelos conceituais e abordagens práticas relacionados à implementação de recursos de T.A., elegendo-se o modelo mais estruturado e citado na literatura para ser analisado e disponibilizado para uso. Desta forma, esta pesquisa envolveu a realização de dois estudos. O primeiro, focou a revisão da literatura que revelou modelos conceituais e avaliações mais utilizadas para a indicação e implementação de recursos de tecnologia assistiva. O segundo estudo, objetivou a seleção de um modelo conceitual e do instrumento de avaliação para indicação de T.A., e da validação transcultural deste instrumento. Os resultados mostraram que dentre 29 artigos selecionados, 17 modelos conceituais utilizados na área de T.A. foram encontrados, destes, 14 eram específicos de T.A. Em relação às avaliações localizadas apenas 7 das 15 eram específicas de T.A. O modelo conceitual Matching person and Technology MPT e a avaliação Assistive Technology Device Predisposition Assessment ATD PA foram selecionados para análise e adaptação transcultural. Assim, este estudo apresenta como resultado o manual e a avaliação ATD PA Br versão adaptada para o Brasil, oferecendo uma forma sistematizada de indicação de recursos de T.A. pertinente à realidade nacional.

Výkonností testování aplikací nabírá v poslední době na důležitosti během vývoje všeho druhu. Tato práce mapuje základy testování výkonu, které jsou aplikovatelné na libovolné aplikace a následně analýzuje testování výkonu komponent používaných v Messaging systémech a to konkrétně Apache ActiveMQ Artemis a Qpid-Dispatch. Využívané metody testování výkonu je zaměřeno zejména na Apache ActiveMQ Artemis pomocí systému Messaging Performance Tool s názvem Maestro. Práce navrhuje vylepšení této aplikace o rozšíření testování systému Qpid-Dispatch a její možnosti při automatizovaném testování. Řešení je demonstrováno na sérii experimentů s různými topologiemi. Výsledná zpráva závěrem vyhodnocuje navržené rozšíření systému Maestro, zhodnocuje výkon komponenty Qpid-Dispatch a rozvíjí myšlenky pro další rozšíření.