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Submitted by Jorge Silva (jorgelmsilva@ufrrj.br) on 2018-12-06T15:33:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2013 - Tatiane Pinto de Oliveira.pdf: 9317541 bytes, checksum: 679ad8a2ef29c5f4173b89c71984becf (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-06T15:33:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2013 - Tatiane Pinto de Oliveira.pdf: 9317541 bytes, checksum: 679ad8a2ef29c5f4173b89c71984becf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-01-31 / The objective of this dissertation was to propose, implement and validate a tool for managing continuous process improvement through integration of two well-known tools in the market, the Omega 8 Orca, aimed to assess the maturity of processes, and the BSC, as manager of the results, in order to give these organizations a more targeted tool for the Brazilian. From an integrated view of these methods was designed Iris - Manager of Organizational Process Maturity. In general, this tool proposes to assess the maturity levels of six strategic elements - top management commitment, organization and structure, training, performance indicators, customer relationship and integration of information system - representing the management structure of organizations, mapping the current levels of maturity and realizing the projected future levels, desired by companies. To address the gap between the company's current stages and the stages desired are proposed action plans, which designate what measures, should be taken to ensure that the objectives are achieved. To follow up the evolution of these maturity levels, it was proposed to use the method of measuring the BSC, which has its four perspectives linked to the strategic elements of the 8 Omega ORCA. Action research was chosen as the implementation methodology of this study, to propose a suitable method of preparation and implementation of organizational studies. Thus, this methodology allowed the study objectives were achieved in the implementation of the tool in the two selected companies. The development of the research took place in two stages to validate the proposed tool. In this study validated the phases of implementation, regarding the evaluation of the maturity of organizational processes. The validation step of measuring the evolution of the elements was not possible in this study because tracking the development of maturity of the companies? demand more time than willing to complete this survey. However, the results of the three phases, related to the maturity of the companies studied were validated through interviews with their representatives, and the issues raised were arranged in a conceptual map, which summarizes the perceptions of companies about the proposed tool. The tool was considered an ally to the strategic decisions of firms and organizational development. / O objetivo desta disserta??o foi propor, implantar e validar uma ferramenta para gerenciamento da melhoria cont?nua de processos por meio da integra??o de duas ferramentas conhecidas no mercado, o Omega 8 Orca, voltada para avaliar a maturidade de processos, e o BSC, como gerenciador dos resultados, de modo a dotar essas organiza??es de uma ferramenta mais direcionada ? realidade brasileira. A partir de uma vis?o integrada destes m?todos foi idealizado o ?ris - Gerenciador de Maturidade de Processos Organizacionais. De um modo geral, esta ferramenta prop?e avaliar os n?veis de maturidade de seis elementos estrat?gicos - comprometimento da alta dire??o, organiza??o e estrutura, treinamento, indicadores de desempenho, relacionamento com os clientes e integra??o do sistema de informa??o - que representam a estrutura gerencial das organiza??es, mapeando os n?veis atuais de maturidade e realizando a proje??o dos n?veis futuros, desejados pelas empresas. Para solucionar a dist?ncia, entre os est?gios atuais da empresa e os est?gios desejados, s?o propostos planos de a??o, que designam quais medidas devem ser tomadas para que os objetivos sejam alcan?ados. Para realizar o acompanhamento da evolu??o de maturidade desses n?veis, foi proposta a utiliza??o do m?todo de mensura??o do BSC, que possui as suas quatro perspectivas atreladas aos elementos estrat?gicos do 8 Omega ORCA. A pesquisa-a??o foi escolhida como metodologia de implanta??o deste estudo, por propor um m?todo adequado de elabora??o e implanta??o de estudos organizacionais. Assim, essa metodologia permitiu que os objetivos do estudo fossem alcan?ados na implanta??o da ferramenta nas duas empresas selecionadas. O desenvolvimento da pesquisa se deu em dois momentos para a valida??o da ferramenta proposta. Neste trabalho foram validadas as fases de implanta??o, referentes ? avalia??o da maturidade dos processos organizacionais. A etapa de valida??o da mensura??o da evolu??o dos elementos n?o foi poss?vel neste estudo, pois o acompanhamento do desenvolvimento de maturidade das empresas demanda mais tempo do que o disposto para a conclus?o desta pesquisa. Por?m, os resultados das tr?s fases, referentes ? maturidade das empresas estudadas, foram validados atrav?s de entrevistas com os seus representantes, e os temas levantados foram dispostos num mapa conceitual, que resumiu as percep??es das empresas sobre a ferramenta proposta. A ferramenta foi considerada como uma aliada ?s decis?es estrat?gicas das empresas e ao desenvolvimento organizacional.

Menopause, the cessation of female reproduction well before death, is a puzzling phenomenon, because evolutionary theory suggests there should be no selection for survival when reproduction has ended. Nevertheless, menopause does exist in a limited number of species, and besides humans it has predominately evolved among toothed whales (Odontoceti). The aim of this thesis is to review both adaptive and non-adaptive theories. Of the latter, the most prominent proposes that menopause is a product of a physiological trade-offs between reproductive benefits early in life and negative late-life reproduction. Among the adaptive theories the grandmother hypothesis is the most acknowledged. This theory is based on inclusive fitness benefits gained from increasing the reproductive success of kin at an advanced age, when prospects of successfully raising additional offspring is reduced. Alternatively, the mother hypothesis suggests that increased investment in already produced offspring at late life explains menopause. There are support for both the care of mothers and grandmothers, but whether this is enough to compensate for repressed reproduction is debated. The reproductive conflict hypothesis provides a complementary explanation, and suggests that inter-generational conflict between either in-laws or kin selects the older female to shift investment into the younger female’s offspring due to asymmetries in how older and younger females are related to one another’s offspring. The evolution of menopause is a complex issue, containing many factors, kinship dynamics among the most important. Theories apply unequally to various species and populations, meaning an integrated approach is necessary for decrypting the evolution of menopause.

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An animal’s foraging ecology can vary over a range of temporal scales, mirroring seasonal and longer term changes in prey availability, as well as ontogenetic shifts in diet and distribution. Obtaining individual-based, longitudinal diet information through direct observation, however, is logistically challenging for marine mammals that pursue and consume prey underwater, and are often widely distributed. Isotopic profiling along continuously growing tissues like teeth and baleen, which archive dietary inputs at the time of growth in their stable isotope composition, allows for chronological dietary reconstructions over multi-year timespans. This thesis reports longitudinal diet studies of three Arctic whale species, killer whales (Orcinus orca), bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) and beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas), derived from serial isotopic measurements along teeth and baleen. Study objectives varied by species, but general goals were to characterize seasonal, ontogenetic, and/or individual diet variation. Results revealed similar trophic-level diet, but regional spatial separation, among eastern Canadian Arctic/Northwest Atlantic killer whales. However, isotope and tooth wear differences between two individuals and the rest of the sampled whales suggested potential specialisation on sharks, while the other whales likely had diets comprising marine mammals. Cyclic isotopic variation along Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowhead whale baleen was consistent with year-round foraging, although at a reduced rate during winter. Resting zooplankton could be an important food resource outside of periods of peak productivity, and accessibility likely drives winter habitat selection. Isotopic cycling did not differ between female and male bowheads, or among age classes, indicating similar seasonal foraging patterns despite reported spatial segregation throughout their summer range. Individual beluga whales from three eastern Canadian Arctic populations varied in timing of ontogenetic diet shifts (i.e. weaning age), as well as overall trophic position, which could reflect size-specific energetic requirements and foraging capabilities. Population-specific beluga whale diet trends over a period of several decades likely reflected climate-related expansions of southern forage fish. Collectively, findings of seasonal, ontogenetic, and/or individual diet variation contribute a greater understanding of intrapopulation variation in foraging ecology of these species, and of large-scale structuring of Arctic marine ecosystems.

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Previous work was successful at delineating reaction pathways for the photoactivated synthesis of an amine, [CztBu(PyriPr)(NH2−PyriPr)], by double intramolecular C−H activation and functionalization via irradiating a metal(II) azido complex, [CztBu(PyriPr)2NiN3. The present work seeks to expand upon earlier research, and to substitute the metal with iron or cobalt, and to expand the study to photocatalyzed intermolecular C−H activation and functionalization of organic substrates. Density functional theory (DFT) – B3LYP/6-31+G(d') and APFD/Def2TZVP – and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) were used to propose a detailed pathway comprised of intermediates of low, intermediate, or high spin multiplicity and photo-generated excited states for the reaction of the azido complex, [CztBu(PyriPr)2MN3] to form the amine complex [CztBu(PyriPr)M(NH2−PyriPr)], M = Co, Ni or Fe, and the intermediates along the reaction pathway. For applications on quantum computing, the photophysical properties of photoactive d8 nickel(II) complexes are modeled. Such systems take advantage of a two-level system pathway between ground to excited state electronic transitions and could be useful for the discovery of successful candidates for a room temperature qubit, the analogue of a classical computational bit. A modified organometallic model, inspired by a nitrogen vacancy selective intersystem crossing model in diamond, was developed to take advantage of the formation of excited states. Tanabe-Sugano diagrams predict areas where these excited states may relax via phosphorescent emission. Under Zeeman splitting, these transitions create the conditions required for a two-level system needed to design a functional organometallic qubit.

In killer whales, fish- versus mammal-eating ecological differences are regarded as key ecological drivers of sociality, but the potential influence of specific target prey characteristics remains unclear. This thesis aimed to study the social patterns and dynamics of Icelandic killer whales feeding upon herring, a schooling prey that undergoes frequent changes in distribution and school size. I used a multi-disciplinary approach combining photo-identification and genetic data to understand the sociality, role of kinship and genetic differentiation within the population. Individuals sighted in summer-spawning and overwintering herring grounds during at least five separate days (N = 198) were considered associated if photographed within 20 seconds of each other. Photo-identified individuals were genotyped (N = 61) for 22 microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA control region (611 bp). The population had weak but non-random associations, fission-fusion dynamics at the individual level and seasonal patterns of preferred associations. The society was significantly structured but not hierarchically. Social clusters were highly diverse and, whilst kinship was correlated with association, it was not a prerequisite for social membership. Indeed, some cluster members had different mitochondrial haplotypes, representing separate maternal lineages. Individuals with different observed movement patterns were genetically distinct, but associated with each other. No sex-biased dispersal or inbreeding was detected. This study revealed that the Icelandic population has a multilevel society without clear hierarchical tiers or nested coherent social units, different from the well-studied salmon- (‘residents') and seal-eating populations in the Northeast Pacific. In the Icelandic population kinship drives social structure less strongly than in residents. These findings suggest effective foraging on schooling herring in seasonal grounds promotes the formation of flexible social groupings which can include non-kin. Killer whale sociality may be strongly influenced by local ecological context, such as the characteristics of the specific target prey (e.g., predictability, biomass, and density) and subsequent foraging strategies of the population.

Killer whales are the oceans’ apex predator and are known to have important effects on ecosystems. At Subantarctic Marion Island, southern Indian Ocean, they have only been studied opportunistically, resulting in limited knowledge of their ecosystem impact here. This dissertation describes the prey and seasonal abundance, estimates the population size and assesses the predatory impact of killer whales on seals and penguins at Marion Island, using dedicated and opportunistic shore-based observations and photographic identification, from 2006 to 2009. During 823 sightings of killer whales at Marion Island (2006 to 2009) 48 predation events were recorded; in only 10 cases could prey be identified. Killer whales fed on fur seals, elephant seals and penguins. Constant effort (dedicated) observations (259 hours, 2008 to 2009) showed that killer whale abundance, which peaked in September to December with a secondary peak in April to May, is linked to the abundance of seals and penguins. Mark-recapture analyses were performed using nearly 10 000 photographs taken from 2006 to 2009. Following careful quality control criteria 37 individuals were identified and a population size of 42 (95% CI = 35-50) individuals estimated using the open population POPAN parameterization in the software program MARK. The analytical approach is more rigorous than that used in any previous population size assessment at Marion Island. Finally, the above data were integrated to assess whether top-down control of seal and penguin populations at Marion Island is generally plausible using a simple process of elimination. Based on published data I predicted the energetic ingestion requirements of adult male and female killer whales as 1 394 MJ.day-1 and 1 028 MJ.day-1, respectively. Expanding these requirements to the 37 killer whales photographically identified at Marion Island, the population requires 40 600MJ.day-1. Based on available energy density and mass data, I predicted the energy content of available seal and penguin prey and calculated the rates at which killer whales would consume these prey in various scenarios. Penguins and Subantarctic fur seals are relatively insensitive to killer whale predation owing to their large population sizes (10 000s to 100 000s), conversely, the smaller populations (100s to 1 000s) of Antarctic fur seals and southern elephant seals are sensitive to predation, particularly the latter as they have a high energy content (approximately 2 000 to 9 000 MJ). Populations of these seals are currently increasing or stable and I conclude that presently killer whale predation is not driving population declines, although they clearly have the potential for regulation of these smaller populations. Thus, if population sizes were reduced by bottom-up processes, if killer whale diet shifted, or if prey availability changed, top-down control by killer whales could become significant. This study provides baseline information for the informed management and conservation of killer whales at Marion Island, identifies avenues for further research, and provides a foundation for the continuation of structured and dedicated killer whale research at Marion Island. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted