CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Devido ao rÃpido crescimento e os agressivos requisitos de vazÃo nas atuais redes sem fio, como os sistemas celulares de 4 a GeraÃÃo, a interferÃncia se tornou um problema que nÃo pode mais ser negligenciado. Neste contexto, o Alinhamento de InterferÃncia (IA) tem surgido como uma tÃcnica promissora que possibilita transmissÃes livres de interferÃncia com elevada eficiÃncia espectral. No entanto, trabalhos recentes tÃm focado principalmente nos ganhos teÃricos que esta tÃcnica pode prover, enquanto esta dissertaÃÃo visa dar um passo na direÃÃo de esclarecer alguns dos problemas prÃticos de implementaÃÃo da tÃcnica em redes celulares, bem como comparÃ-la com outras tÃcnicas bem estabelecidas. Uma rede composta por trÃs cÃlulas foi escolhida como cenÃrio inicial de avaliaÃÃo, para o qual diversos fatores realistas foram considerados de modo a realizar diferentes anÃlises. A primeira anÃlise foi baseada em imperfeiÃÃes de canal, cujos resultados mostraram que o IA à mais robusto aos erros de estimaÃÃo de canal que o BD (do inglÃs, Block Diagonalization), enquanto as duas abordagens sÃo igualmente afetadas pela correlaÃÃo entre as antenas. O impacto de uma interferÃncia externa nÃo-coordenada, que foi modelada por diferentes matrizes de covariÃncia de modo a emular vÃrios cenÃrios, tambÃm foi avaliado. Os resultados mostraram que as modificaÃÃes feitas nos algoritmos de IA podem melhorar bastante seus desempenho, com uma vantagem para o algoritmo que suprime um Ãnico fluxo de dados, quando sÃo comparadas as taxas de erro de bit alcanÃadas por cada um. Para combinar os fatores das anÃlises anteriores, as variaÃÃes temporais de canal foram consideradas. Neste conjunto de simulaÃÃes, alÃm da presenÃa da interferÃncia externa, os prÃ-codificadores sÃo calculados atravÃs de medidas atrasadas de canal, levando a resultados que corroboraram com as anÃlises anteriores. Um fato recorrente percebido em todas as anÃlises anteriores à o dilema entre aplicar os algoritmos baseados em BD, para que se consiga alcanÃar maiores capacidades, ou enviar a informaÃÃo atravÃs de um enlace mais confiÃvel utilizando o IA. Uma maneira de esclarecer este dilema à efetivamente realizar simulaÃÃes a nÃvel sistÃmico, para isto foi aplicado um simulador sistÃmico composto por um grande nÃmero de setores. Como resultado, todas as anÃlises realizadas neste simulador mostraram que a tÃcnica de IA atinge desempenhos intermediÃrios entre a nÃo cooperaÃÃo e os algoritmos baseados na prÃ-codificaÃÃo conjunta. Uma das principais contribuiÃÃes deste trabalho foi mostrar alguns cenÃrios em que a tÃcnica do IA pode ser aplicada. Por exemplo, quando as estimaÃÃes dos canais nÃo sÃo tÃo confiÃveis à melhor aplicar o IA do que os esquemas baseados no processamento conjunto. TambÃm mostrou-se que as modificaÃÃes nos algoritmos de IA, que levam em consideraÃÃo a interferÃncia externa, podem melhorar consideravelmente o desempenho dos algoritmos. Finalmente, o IA se mostrou uma tÃcnica adequada para ser aplicada em cenÃrios em que a interferÃncia à alta e nÃo à possÃvel ter um alto grau de cooperaÃÃo entre os setores vizinhos. / Due to the rapid growth and the aggressive throughput requirements of current wireless networks, such as the 4th Generation (4G) cellular systems, the interference has become an issue that cannot be neglected anymore. In this context, the Interference Alignment (IA) arises as a promising technique that enables transmissions free of interference with high-spectral efficiency. However, while recent works have focused mainly on the theoretical gains that the technique could provide, this dissertation aims to go a step further and clarify some of the practical issues on the implementation of this technique in a cellular network, as well as compare it to other well-established techniques. As an initial evaluation scenario, a 3-cell network was considered, for which several realistic factors were taken into account in order to perform different analyses. The first analysis was based on channel imperfections, for which the results showed that IA is more robust than Block Diagonalization (BD) regarding the Channel State Information (CSI) errors, but both are similarly affected by the correlation among transmit antennas. The impact of uncoordinated interference was also evaluated, by modeling this interference with different covariance matrices in order to mimic several scenarios. The results showed that modifications on the IA algorithms can boost their performance, with an advantage to the approach that suppresses one stream, when the Bit Error Rate (BER) is compared. To combine both factors, the temporal channel variations were taken into account. At these set of simulations, besides the presence of an external interference, the precoders were calculated using a delayed CSI, leading to results that corroborate with the previous analyses. A recurring fact on the herein considered analyses was the dilemma of weather to apply the Joint Processing (JP)-based algorithms in order to achieve higher sum capacities or to send the information through a more reliable link by using IA. A reasonable step towards solving this dilemma is to actually perform the packet transmissions, which was accomplished by employing a system-level simulator composed by a large number of Transmission Points (TPs). As a result, all analyses conducted with this simulator showed that the IA technique can provide an intermediate performance between the non-cooperation and the full cooperation scheme. Concluding, one of the main contributions of this work has been to show some scenarios/cases where the IA technique can be applied. For instance, when the CSI is not reliable it can be better to use IA than a JP-based scheme. Also, the modifications on the algorithms to take into account the external interference can boost their performance. Finally, the IA technique finds itself in-between the conventional transmissions and Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP). IA achieves an intermediate performance, while requiring a certain degree of cooperation among the neighboring sectors, but demanding less infrastructure than the JP-based schemes.

Este trabalho tem o objetivo de entender e analisar o processo de alinhamento da estratégia de negócio e a gestão de pessoas para obtenção de vantagem competitiva nas organizações. A gestão das pessoas tornou-se um desafio estratégico de muitas organizações na atualidade, em decorrência das mudanças importantes que acontecem no cenário competitivo. A gestão das pessoas é um processo complexo, que deve ser arquitetado com estratégias, políticas e práticas e uma estrutura de Recursos Humanos que contribua na capacitação dos gestores organizacionais no exercício desse papel. Muitos trabalhos acadêmicos, a partir do fim do século XX, se concentram em estudar estratégias, políticas e práticas de gestão de pessoas que contribuem para a melhoria dos resultados organizacionais ou, em analisar modelos de Recursos Humanos que mais colaboram para a implementação das estratégias organizacionais; direcionando achados considerados universais, por meio de abordagens quantitativas. Aspectos como os impactos das demandas do ambiente de negócio, a relação com a estratégia organizacional, o alinhamento entre estratégia, políticas e práticas de gestão de pessoas e a transição da estrutura de Recursos Humanos como área de suporte ao modelo de gestão escolhido, foram pouco analisados de forma inter-relacionada. Esta pesquisa optou por um estudo exploratório, analisando relações, contextos, dificuldades e posicionamento empresarial. Como suporte, revisou boa extensão dos trabalhos acadêmicos mencionados enfocando estratégias e abordagens teóricas de gestão de pessoas, consistência e alinhamento das políticas e práticas de gestão de pessoas, a evolução e o papel das estruturas de Recursos Humanos e abordagens para analisar resultados em gestão de pessoas. O estudo de caso foi realizado na Oxiteno, empresa brasileira do setor químico. A coleta de dados baseou-se em entrevistas em profundidade, questionários, grupos de foco e coleta de dados secundários para viabilizar o aprofundamento dos dados e a sua triangulação. Os resultados sugerem que o alinhamento é um processo na Oxiteno. Algumas estratégias de gestão de pessoas existentes (gestão de competências, transformação cultural e gestão de talentos) podem ser associadas a outras, ainda em desenvolvimento (gestão do conhecimento e da comunicação e ambiente) para suportar o processo de crescimento da empresa. Políticas e práticas podem ser revisadas e mais extensamente comunicadas para reforçar essas estratégias como: o desenvolvimento de sucessores, o reconhecimento de desempenhos e contribuições individuais e em grupo, além da busca da participação e do exercício constante da comunicação. A área de RH deve ser vista como um parceiro estratégico, não como ator principal na gestão de pessoas. A aferição dos processos de gestão e do exercício dos papéis dos gestores de pessoas pode contribuir para direcionar os comportamentos individuais das pessoas para que estas sejam vistas e percebidas como fonte de vantagem competitiva, demanda prioritária da Organização. Algumas indagações são decorrentes do estudo de caso: É possível obter um alinhamento permanente entre gestão de pessoas e desafios organizacionais? O esforço organizacional na busca de engajamento e comprometimento das pessoas por si só é um posicionamento estratégico? Como efetivamente aferir pessoas como fonte de vantagem competitiva? Futuros trabalhos com abordagem quantitativa ou qualitativa podem contribuir com a busca das respostas a essas perguntas. A gestão das pessoas, um ativo tão complexo e único, deve ser arquitetada e representar um desafio estratégico nas Organizações para consolidá-las como fonte de vantagem competitiva. / This study has the objectives of study and analyzes the alignment process of business strategy and people management to assure competitive advantage in organizations. People management has become a strategic challenge for many organizations nowadays, due to important changes in the competitive arena. People management is a complex process, which needs to be designed with strategies, policies, practices and a Human Resource structure that contributes to the development of the leaders in exercising their roles. Many academic studies, since late XX century, are concentrated in studying people management strategies, policies and practices that contribute to maximize organizational results or, in analyzing Human Resource models that support organizational strategies implementation; leading to universal findings by researching under quantitative methods. In those studies, aspects like business environment demands, relationships with organizational strategies, the alignment of people management strategy, polices and practices and, the transition of Human Resource structure were not analyzed in an interrelated way. This research was an exploratory study, using as a framework: relationships, context, difficulties and organizational positioning. As a theoretical reference, this study revisited a good extension of academic papers related to people management strategies and schools; consistency and alignment process of Human Resource policies and practices; the evolution and the role of Human Resource structures and approaches to analyze human resource results. A case study was developed in Oxiteno, a Brazilian chemical company. Interviews, questionnaires, focus groups and secondary data collection were approaches used to guide deep analysis and data triangulation. The findings of the research suggest that the alignment is in process at Oxiteno. Some existing people management strategies (competency management, culture transformation and talent management) can be associated with others, still in development (knowledge, communication and environment management) to sustain the company growing process. To reinforce the strategies, policies and practices like successors planning, individual and group performance and contribution recognition, participatory management and communication can the reviewed and more extensile executed. The Human Resource area must be considered a strategic partner, and not the main actor in the people management process. The measurement effort of the managerial processes and of the exercise of people managers role can contribute to direct individual behaviors that will drive the competitive advantage recognition, key demand of Oxiteno. Some questions rise from the case study: Is it possible to achieve a permanent alignment between people management and organizational challenges? Can the organizational effort for people engagement and commitment be considered a strategic position? How effectively can people competitive advantage be measured? Future studies using quantitative or qualitative methods can be done and will contribute to answer these questions. The management process of people, a so unique and complex asset, must be designed and represent a strategic challenge in the organizations to convert people in competitive advantage.

O presente estudo foi desenvolvido no porto de Santos em que a empresa que o administra passou por profunda reestruturação administrativa e operacional na última década, em função da Publicação da Lei de Modernização dos Portos, em 1993. A empresa na necessidade de procurar um melhor controle das informações como fator principal para o seu faturamento no qual não existia um alinhamento estratégico de negócios com a tecnologia de informação, firmou um convênio e parceiras para o desenvolvimento de um sistema para atender as suas necessidades. Esta dissertação aborda através de levantamento bibliográfico a utilização de sistemas de informações gerenciais nas empresas do setor portuário. O objeto do estudo é o sistema supervia eletrônica de dados, que consiste em receber via internet essa massa de dados, sua metodologia de desenvolvimento e integração com os demais sistemas existentes. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, como objetivo pretendeu-se analisar as vantagens com a implantação das transmissões eletrônicas de dados, os ganhos na eficiência dos processos e a redução nos custos operacionais. Os dados foram levantados através da análise da base de dados e planilhas fornecidas pela empresa e posteriores levantamentos estatísticos. / This study was developed in the port of Santos, where the company that manages the port went through a thorough managerial and operational restructuring process during the last decade, as a result of the publication of the Port Modernization Law in 1993. The company due to the need to seek better information control as a prime factor for its revenues, which had not so far been strategically aligned with information technology, entered an agreement and established partnerships to develop a system to meet its requirements. This dissertation contemplates by way of a bibliographic survey the use of management information systems in the port companies industry. The object of this study is the electronic data superhighway, which consists in receiving through the internet this volume of data, its development methodology and integration with the other existing systems. This is a qualitative research effort, and its purpose is to analyze the advantages of the implementation of electronic data upload, the gains in efficiency of processes and the reduction of operating costs. Data has been collected by means of database analysis raised by analyzing database and spreadsheets provided by the company and further statistical surveys.

A Bioinformática tem se desenvolvido de forma intensa nos últimos anos. A necessidade de se processar os grandes conjuntos de sequências, sejam de nucleotídeos ou de aminoácidos, tem estimulado o desenvolvimento de diversas técnicas algorítmicas, de modo a tratar este problema de maneira factível. Os algoritmos de alinhamento de alinhamento múltiplo de sequências assumiram um papel primordial, tornando a execução de alinhamentos de conjuntos com mais de duas sequencias uma tarefa viável computacionalmente. No entanto, com o aumento vertiginoso tanto da quantidade de sequencias em um determinado conjunto, quanto do comprimento dessas sequencias, a utilização desses algoritmos de alinhamento múltiplo, sem o acoplamento de novas estratégias, tornou-se algo impraticável. Consequentemente, a computação de alto desempenho despontou como um dos recursos a serem utilizados, através da paralelização de diversas estratégias para sua execução em grandes sistemas computacionais. Além disso, com a contínua expansão dos conjuntos de sequências, outras estratégias de otimização passaram a ser agregadas aos algoritmos de alinhamento múltiplo paralelos. Com isso, o desenvolvimento de ferramentas para alinhamento múltiplo de sequencias baseadas em abordagens híbridas destaca-se, atualmente, como a solução com melhor aceitação. Assim, no presente trabalho, pode-se verificar o desenvolvimento de uma estratégia híbrida para os algoritmos de alinhamento múltiplo progressivos, cuja utilização e amplamente difundida, em Bioinformática. Nesta abordagem, conjugou-se a paralelização e o particionamento dos conjuntos de sequências, na fase de construção da matriz de pontuação, e a otimização das fases de construção da árvore filogenética e de alinhamento múltiplo, através dos algoritmos de colônia de formigas e simulated annealling paralelo, respectivamente. / Bioinformatics has been developed in a fast way in the last years. The need for processing large sequences sets, either nucleotides or aminoacids, has stimulated the development of many algorithmic techniques, to solve this problem in a feasible way. Multiple sequence alignment algorithms have played an important role, because with the reduced computational complexity provided by them, it is possible to perform alignments with more than two sequences. However, with the fast growing of the amount and length of sequences in a set, the use of multiple alignment algorithms without new optimization strategies became almost impossible. Therefore, high performance computing has emerged as one of the features being used, through the parallelization of many strategies for execution in large computational systems. Moreover, with the continued expansion of sequences sets, other optimization strategies have been coupled with parallel multiple sequence alignments. Thus, the development of multiple sequences alignment tools based on hybrid strategies has been considered the solution with the best results. In this work, we present the development of a hybrid strategy to progressive multiple sequence alignment, where its using is widespread in Bioinformatics. In this approach, we have aggregated the parallelization and the partitioning of sequences sets in the score matrix calculation stage, and the optimization of the stages of the phylogenetic tree reconstruction and multiple alignment through ant colony and parallel simulated annealing algorithms, respectively.

This dissertation is an extended argument for the syntactic structure proposed in (1), referred to as the 'VICTR Hierarchy' after the initials of the five functional heads it comprises: (1) [VolitionP Volition [InitiationP Initiation [ConsecutionP Consecution [TransitionP Transition [ResultP Result [VP ] ] ] ] ] ] The VICTR Hierarchy is a hierarchy of functional heads corresponding to the part of the clause generally known in the minimalist literature as `vP' or the `thematic domain'. Nominal arguments are merged in the specifiers of one or more of these heads and receive their thematic interpretations on the basis of their merged positions. Evidence for a model of thematic roles and syntactic argument structure based in the VICTR Hierarchy is presented for a range of domains, with a focus on 'split intransitivity'. Split intransitivity is explored initially in regard to English, with close consideration of a range of split intransitive diagnostics (e.g. 'out'-prefixation, the resultative construction); a VICTR account of these patterns is presented. A VICTR account of auxiliary selection patterns in Western European languages is also given. This is followed by analysis of split intransitive case and agreement systems. A formal account of the case and agreement patterns in these languages based in the VICTR hierarchy is presented, derived in part from the inherent case theory of ergativity (Legate 2002, Aldridge 2004 and others) and drawing on a detailed typology. The dissertation then proceeds to detailed analysis of the semantic basis of split intransitive alignment in two languages, Basque and Georgian. Other split intransitive behaviours in these languages are also considered in VICTR terms. Throughout, the VICTR approach is compared to other approaches to split intransitivity following Perlmutter's (1978) Unaccusative Hypothesis. The VICTR Hierarchy is also compared to the similar proposal of Ramchand (2008). It is argued that the VICTR Hierarchy accounts more readily than these other approaches for the particular classes of verbs identified by split intransitivity diagnostics in the languages considered, and also for cross-linguistic variation in split intransitive behaviours. Much support, with some caveats, is also found in the data considered for the applicability of Sorace's (2000) Auxiliary Selection Hierarchy (ASH) to a range of split intransitive phenomena cross-linguistically. Together with acquisitional considerations, the VICTR features are argued to allow for a formalisation of the patterns described by the ASH.

This thesis focuses on the international hotel industry as part of the global economy and examines the implications that the strategic management of human capital has within the five-star sector of the hotel industry in Dubai, an emirate of the United Arab Emirates, and an economy based on the service sector. It examines the macro environmental factors influencing the potential strategic directions of two recognized international five-star hotel brands and considers the challenges this creates for the alignment of strategy, and the implications this has for management of human capital(people) as a key determinant of success that enhances organisational outcomes. In selecting this area of research, the author has adopted a grounded theory approach to the generation of new knowledge, allowing the literature to be guided by concerns raised by hotel managers and industry consultants working in the context of Dubai. This approach led to the employment of a case study method, through which the key influences of organisational culture and ownership are considered. Two international hotel chains were identified to represent the two strategic modes of entry into the destination. The first case being a locally owned and managed chain with 7 hotels in Dubai. The second case is a European chain operating 6 hotel properties under management contract in Dubai, with 6 different owners from the Middle East. Both companies operate within the luxury five-star market that is so prevalent in Dubai. The hospitality industry, by definition, relies heavily on human capital, both as a resource and a capability that may allow for the development of competitive advantage. However, the dynamics of the Dubai hotel environment, the strength of the Arab cultural values and the organisational conditions that exist in Dubai present HR managers with a number of unique challenges, including high levels of pastoral care, and approaches to managing the workforce that may be at odds with traditional ‘Western’ ideals. This thesis adds to the existing debate on the value and utilisation of existing theoretical frameworks attached to the alignment of strategy and the implications for managing human capital in the face of globalisation and presents a model of their application in a city that is characterised by power and control, predictability and change aversion.

高通量大規模並行測序技術，又称為二代測序（NGS），極大的加速了生物和醫學研究的進程。隨著測序通量和複雜度的不斷提高，在分析大量的資料以挖掘其中的資訊的過程中，生物訊息學變得越發重要。在我的博士研究生期間（及本論文中），我主要從事於以下兩個領域的生物訊息學演算法的開發：DNA甲基化資料分析和基因間區長鏈非編碼蛋白RNA（lincRNA）的鑒定。目前二代測序技術在這兩個領域的研究中有著廣泛的應用，同時急需有效的資料處理方法來分析對應的資料。 / DNA甲基化是一種重要的表觀遺傳修飾，主要用來調控基因的表達。目前，全基因組重亞硫酸鹽測序（BS-seq）是最準確的研究DNA甲基化的實驗方法之一，該技術的一大特點就是可以精確到單個堿基的解析度。為了分析BS-seq產生的大量測序數據，我參與開發並深度優化了Methy-Pipe軟體。Methy-Pipe集成了測序序列比對和甲基化程度分析，是一個一體化的DNA甲基化資料分析工具。另外，在Methy-Pipe的基礎上，我又開發了一個新的用於檢測DNA甲基化差異區域（DMR）的演算法，可以用於大範圍的尋找DNA甲基化標記。Methy-Pipe在我們實驗室的DNA甲基化研究項目中得到廣泛的應用，其中包括基於血漿的無創產前診斷（NIPD）和癌症的檢測。 / 基因間區長鏈非編碼蛋白RNA（lincRNA）是一種重要的調節子，其在很多生物學過程中發揮作用，例如轉錄後調控，RNA的剪接，細胞老化等。lincRNA的表達具有很強的組織特異性，因此很大一部分lincRNA還沒有被發現。最近，全轉錄組測序技術（RNA-seq）結合基因從頭組裝，為新的lincRNA鑒定以及構建完整的轉錄組列表提供了最有力的方法。然而，有效並準確的從大量的RNA-seq測序數據中鑒定出真實的新的lincRNA仍然具有很大的挑戰性。為此，我開發了兩個生物訊息學工具：1）iSeeRNA，用於區分lincRNA和編碼蛋白RNA（mRNA）；2）sebnif，用於深層次資料篩選以得到高品質的lincRNA列表。這兩個工具已經在多個生物學系統中使用並表現出很好的效果。 / 總的來說，我開發了一些生物訊息學方法，這些方法可以幫助研究人員更好的利用二代測序技術來挖掘大量的測序數據背後的生物學本質，尤其是DNA甲基化和轉錄組的研究。 / High-throughput massive parallel sequencing technologies, or Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies, have greatly accelerated biological and medical research. With the ever-growing throughput and complexity of the NGS technologies, bioinformatics methods and tools are urgently needed for analyzing the large amount of data and discovering the meaningful information behind. In this thesis, I mainly worked on developing bioinformatics algorithms for two research fields: DNA methylation data analysis and large intergenic noncoding RNA discovery, where the NGS technologies are in-depth employed and novel bioinformatics algorithms are highly needed. / DNA methylation is one of the important epigenetic modifications to control the transcriptional regulations of the genes. Whole genome bisulfite sequencing (BS-seq) is one of the most precise methodologies for DNA methylation study which allows us to perform whole methylome research at single-base resolution. To analyze the large amount of data generated by BS-seq experiments, I have co-developed and optimized Methy-Pipe, an integrated bioinformatics pipeline which can perform both sequencing read alignment and methylation state decoding. Furthermore, I’ve developed a novel algorithm for Differentially Methylated Regions (DMR) mining, which can be used for large scale methylation marker discovery. Methy-Pipehas been routinely used in our laboratory for methylomic studies, including non-invasive prenatal diagnosis and early cancer detections in human plasma. / Large intergenic noncoding RNAs, or lincRNAs, is avery important novel family of gene regulators in many biological processes, such as post-transcriptional regulation, splicing and aging. Due to high tissue-specific expression pattern of the lincRNAs, a large proportion is still undiscovered. The development of Whole Transcriptome Shotgun Sequencing, also known as RNA-seq, combined with de novo or ab initio assembly, promises quantity discovery of novel lincRNAs hence building the complete transcriptome catalog. However, to efficiently and accurately identify the novel lincRNAs from the large transcriptome data stillremains a bioinformatics challenge.To fill this gap, I have developed two bioinformatics tools: I) iSeeRNAfor distinguishing lincRNAs from mRNAs and II) sebnif for comprehensive filtering towards high quality lincRNA screening which has been used in various biological systems and showed satisfactory performance. / In summary, I have developed several bioinformatics algorithms which help the researchers to take advantage of the strength of the NGS technologies(methylome and transcriptome studies) and explore the biological nature behind the large amount of data. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Sun, Kun. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-126). / Abstracts also in Chinese.

A origem dos novos genes é um processo importante para a evolução dos organismos, pois ela fornece fontes singulares para a inovação evolutiva. As abordagens que mostram como esses novos genes surgem e adquirem novas funções no curso da evolução são de fundamental importância, por exemplo, elas podem ajudar a correlacionar mutações com alterações metabólicas, fisiológicas e/ou morfológicas, indicando quais mutações podem ser importantes funcionalmente. Recentemente, uma nova abordagem, nomeada de filoestratigrafia, foi desenvolvida para estabelecer origem evolutiva dos genes. Neste método a emergência de novas sequências de um nó filogenético particular em uma linhagem ancestral-descente é inferida geralmente utilizando algoritmos de similaridade. No presente trabalho, nós fizemos uma pesquisa filoestratigráfica de dois bancos de dados de domínios proteicos, CATH e Pfam, para todas as entradas humanas descrevemos a origem dos domínios e arquiteturas humanas. Também realizamos uma nova abordagem para refinar os resultados por Male-PSI-BLAST, em um estudo de caso dos domínios príons e ADHs. A análise das duas bases de dados mostrou que existiram três períodos importantes de aparecimento de domínios proteicos humanos: a origem do organismo celular, Eucarioto e Euteleostomi, nos quais há um elevado número de surgimento de novos genes na linhagem ancestral-descente de humanos. Quando analisamos o aparecimento de arquiteturas, elas são evidentemente mais recentes que o aparecimento de domínios, embora, em seu conteúdo, possa haver domínios muito antigos misturados com domínios novos. Não notamos nenhuma tendência de acréscimo de novos domínios para arquiteturas que compreendem domínios antigos ou recentes. Para medir o grau de versatilidade de domínio, nós utilizamos a frequência ponderada de bigrama, uma combinação específica de dois domínios adjacentes. O teste de correlação de Spearman mostrou que existe uma baixa correlação negativa entre a idade de domínios e índices de versatilidade. Em um estudo de caso, demonstramos que é possível caracterizar descontinuidades evolutivas nos resultados de Male-PSI-BLAST entre domínios que surgiram a partir de outros. Pela primeira vez, a origem de todos os domínios e arquiteturas proteicas presentes nas bases de dados estudadas foi descrita, fornecendo um cenário evolutivo que pode ser mais explorado a partir das abordagens aqui desenvolvidas. / The origin of new genes is an important process for the evolution of organisms because they provide singular sources for evolutionary innovation. The approaches that show how these new genes arise and acquire new functions in the course of evolution are of fundamental importance: they can help to correlate mutations with metabolic, physiological, and morphological changes, indicating which mutations are likely to be functionally important. Recently, a new approach, named phylostratigraphy, was developed to establish the evolutionary origin of the genes. In this method the emergence of novel sequences at a particular phylogenetic node in a descendent-ancestor lineage is infer usually by using the similarity search algorithm. In the present work, we did a phylostratigraphical search of two protein domain databases, CATH and Pfam, for all human entries and depicted the origin of human domains and architectures. We also conducted a new approach to refine results by Male-PSI-BLAST in a case study of prions and ADH\'s domains. The analysis of two databases showed that there are three important periods of appearance of human gene domains: the origin of cellular organism, Eukaryote, and Euteleostomi appear to be important for production of new genes at the ancestor-descendent lineages that lead to the human species. However, when we analyze the appearance of architectures, they are by far more recent than the appearance of domains, although they might contain very ancient domains mixed with recent ones. We did not notice a bias of addition of new domains to architectures comprising either ancient or recent domains. To measure the degree of domain versatility, we used the weighted bigram frequency, where bigram is defined as a specific combination of two adjacent domains. The Spearman correlation test showed that there is a low negative correlation between the age of domains and versatility indexes. In the study of case, we have demonstrated that it is possible to characterize evolutionary ruptures in results of Male-PSI- BLAST between domains that emerged from others. For the first time the origin of all protein domains and architectures was depicted, providing an evolutionary scenario that can be further explored.

<p>Doktorska disertacija se bavi istraživanjima koja imaju za cilj da unaprede<br />obrazovanje nastavničkog kadra iz oblasti informatike. Predmet istraživanja disertacije je<br />razvoj platforme koja će olak&scaron;ati sinhronizaciju razvoja nastavničkog kurikuluma iz<br />informatičke oblasti sa aktuelnim srednjo&scaron;kolskim informatičkim standardima i<br />savremenim kurikulumima za nastavnike informatike. Prvi pravac istraživanja je<br />identifikovanje stanja u oblasti obrazovanja nastavnika informatike (modaliteti<br />obrazovanja nastavnika i kompetencije koje se tim modalitetima stiču). U disertaciji se<br />stanje identifikuje na osnovu analize savremene literature, aktuelnih standarda,<br />reprezentativnih kurikuluma i preliminarnog istraživanja nad populacijom sada&scaron;njih<br />nastavnika informatike na teritoriji Vojvodine. Drugi pravac istraživanja je<br />obezbeđivanje (tehničke) pretpostavke za objektivnije i efikasnije kreiranje,<br />upoređivanje i razmenu kurikuluma. Taj pravac se odnosi na razvoj ma&scaron;inski čitljive<br />ontologije kurikuluma bazirane na većpostojećim standardima u domenu obrazovanja i<br />softverske podr&scaron;ke za upoređivanje takvih reprezentacija kurikuluma bazirane na<br />tehnologijama Semantičkog Weba.<br />Ciljevi istraživanja u disertaciji su specifikacija ma&scaron;inski čitljivog modela informatičkog<br />kurikuluma za obrazovanje nastavnika informatike, ma&scaron;inski&nbsp; čitljivog modela<br />informatičkog kurikuluma za srednjo&scaron;kolski nivo obrazovanja i razvoj prototipa<br />softverske aplikacije za verifikaciju predloženih modela.</p> / <p>The doctoral thesis deals with researches that aim to improve the education of&nbsp;teaching staff in the field of informatics. The subject of the dissertation research is to&nbsp;develop a platform that will facilitate the synchronization of the development of teaching&nbsp; curricula in the informatics field with the current secondary informatics standards and modern curricula for informatics teachers of informatics. The first research direction is to identify the state in the informatics teacher education (modalities of teacher education and competences acquired through these modalities). In the dissertation, the state is identified from the review of literature, currentstandards, representative curricula and a preliminary research on population of current informatics teachers in Vojvodina. Another research direction is to provide (technical) prerequisites for more objective and more efficient creation, comparison and exchange of curricula. That direction is related to the development of a machine-readable ontological representation of a curriculum based on existing standards in the field of education and to developing software support for comparing such representations of curricula based on the Semantic Web technologies.<br />The goals of the research in the dissertation are to specify a machine readable model of the informatics teacher education curriculum, a machine-readable model of the informatics curriculum for secondary level education and the development of a software application prototype in order to verify the proposed models.</p>

Carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer composite sheets can be extremely high strength and lightweight, which makes them attractive for fabrication of mechanical structures. This thesis demonstrates a method whereby smooth, thin CNT/polymer composite sheets can be fabricated and patterned on the microscale using a process of photolithography and plasma etching. CNT/polymer composites were made from CNTs grown using chemical vapor deposition using supported catalyst growth and floating catalyst growth. The composite sheets had a roughness of approximately 30nm and were about 61¼m or 261¼m depending on whether they were made from supported catalyst grown or floating catalyst grown CNTs. The composites were patterned using an oxygen plasma as the etchant and a hard mask of silicon nitride.