Electrical impedance of biological matter is known as electrical bio-impedance or simply as bio-impedance. Bio-impedance devices are of great value for monitoring the pathological and physiological status of biological tissues in clinical and home environments. The technological progress in instrumentation has significantly contributed to the progress that has been observed during the last past decades in impedance spectroscopy and electrical impedance cardiograph. Although bio-impedance is not a physiological parameter, the method enables tissue characterization and functional monitoring and can contribute to the monitoring of the health status of a person. In this paper an inexpensive portable multi frequency impedance cardiograph device based on impedance spectroscopy technique has been developed. By means of this system the basic thoracic impedance range and the heart-action-caused changes of impedance can be measured and the hemodynamic parameters of the heart function can be determined. This system has small size and low current consumption. The impedance cardiograph signals of the electrodes configuration by Sramek, Penney and Qu in this work was measured; compared and summarized. The differences of the measuring method, the schematic circuit diagram, the measurement results and area of application between impedance cardiograph and impedance spectroscopy were discussed and compared. The performance of this sensor-system was evaluated.

The thesis aims to explore and describe the relationships between scientific results and research projects, both in general and in three given sources: the National Repository of Grey Literature (NUSL) in the Czech Republic, the Czech Research, Development and Innovation Information System (IS VaVaI) and OpenAIRE. The theoretical part presents relationships between results and projects in the field of research information in the Czech Republic and the EU, as well as the Levels of Conceptual Interoperability Model (LCIM) and its application to the relationships between results and projects. Furthermore, the thesis examines the analyzed resources in terms of acquisition, technical processing and interoperability of links between results and projects. The research part quantifies the presence of these links in the given sources, examines the multiplicity of the links to projects, and a possible dependence of the occurrence and quantity of these links on language and type of the research results.

Performance and accrual-based financial management systems as envisaged in the 1990 Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act, the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), the 1996 Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA) and related legislation have been in place since prior to the turn of the millennium. Nevertheless, although performance has been measured and financial accountability improved in U.S. federal government agencies, there remains a gap in reporting on operational efficiency and effectiveness. This dissertation extends research into performance management to determine the extent to which performance measurement systems report on operational efficiency and effectiveness and thereby further facilitate performance management. It examines outputs as the unit-of-analysis within the input-output-outcome framework of performance measurement and reporting systems and their integration with accrual-based financial management systems in assessing government operations. It challenges the predominantly outcomes-focused reporting system as insufficient to the objective of improved operational efficiency and effectiveness. The research methodology employs qualitative analysis of selected agency performance reports, interviews of selected agency senior managers and oversight officials, analysis of previous research on performance reporting, and analysis of GAO survey data. The research examines an increased focus on output reporting as a means to improve operational efficiency and the linkage of outputs to outcomes as an effectiveness measure. The research leads to the conclusion that very little output efficiency or effectiveness measurement and reporting is occurring. The failure to measure performance in this manner is to the considerable detriment of operational efficiency, effectiveness and cost reduction in the federal government. / Ph. D.

No / Study is presented into the performance of Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and MIMO-DWT with transmit beamforming. Feedback loop has been used between the equalizer at the transmitter to the receiver which provided the channel state information which was then used to construct a steering matrix for the transmission sequence such that the received signals at the transmitter can be combined constructively in order to provide a reliable and improved system for next generation wireless systems. As convolution in time domain equals multiplication in frequency domain no such counterpart exist for the symbols in space, means linear convolution and Intersymbol Interference (ISI) generation so both zero forcing (ZF) and minimum mean squared error (MMSE) equalizations have been employed. The results show superior performance improvement and in addition allow keeping the processing, power and implementation cost at the transmitter which has less constraints and the results also show that both equalization algorithms perform alike in wavelets and the ISI is spread equally between different wavelet domains.

The rapidly growing demand for UWB as high data rates wireless communications technology, since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocated the bandwidth of UWB from 3.1GHz to 10.6 GHz. Antenna also plays an essential role in UWB system. However, there are some difficulties in designing UWB antenna as compared to narrowband antenna. The primary requirement of UWB antennas is be able to operate over frequencies released by the FCC. Moreover, the satisfaction of radiation properties and good time domain performance over the entire frequency range are also necessary. In this thesis, designing and analysing printed crescent shape monopole antenna, Planar Inverted F-L Antenna (PIFLA) and Planar Inverted FF Antenna (PIFFA) are focused. A Planar Inverted FF Antenna (PIFFA) can be created to reduce the potential for interference between a UWB system and other communications protocols by using spiral slot. The antennas exhibits broadside directional pattern. The performances such as return loss, radiation pattern and current distribution of the UWB antennas are extensively investigated and carried out. All the results have been demonstrated using simulation and experimentally whereby all results satisfy the performance under - 10dB point in the bandwidth of UWB. In addition the miniaturization of MIMO/diversity Planar Inverted-F antenna (PIFA) which is suitable for pattern diversity in UWB applications is presented. This antenna assembly is formed by two identical PIFAs, a T-shaped decoupling structure which connects the two PIFAs and a finite ground plane with a total compact envelope dimension of 50 x 90 x 7.5mm³. The radiation performance of the proposed MIMO antenna was quite encouraging and provided an acceptable agreement between the computed and measured envelope correlation coefficient and channel capacity loss.

<p>Cilj &ndash; Prvi cilj istraživanja je kreiranje modela podataka i implementacija informacionog sistema zasnovanog na modelu za potrebe vrednovanja publikovanih naučno-istraživačkih rezultata. Model bi bio primenjen u CRIS UNS informacionom sistemu, kao podr&scaron;ka sistemu vrednovanja.<br />Drugi cilj istraživanja je utvrđivanje u kojoj meri i na koji način se može automatizovati proces evaluacije koji se zasniva na različitim pravilima i pravilnicima.<br />Metodologija &ndash; Kako bi se definisalo pro&scaron;irenje CERIF modela neophodno je bilo identifikovati različite aspekte podataka koji su prisutni u evaluaciji naučno-istraživačkih publikacija. Stoga, zarad potreba istraživanja, odabrana su i analizirana su dokumenta koja predstavljaju različite nacionalne pravilnike, okvire i smernice za evaluaciju.<br />Za modelovanje specifikacije arhitekture sistema za vrednovanje kori&scaron;ćeni su CASE alati koji su bazirani na objektno-orijentisanoj metodologiji (UML 2.0). Za implementaciju pro&scaron;irenja CERIF modela u CRIS UNS sistemu kori&scaron;ćena je Java platforma i tehnologije koji olak&scaron;avaju kreiranje veb aplikacija kao &scaron;to su AJAX, RichFaces, JSF itd. Pored navedene op&scaron;te metodologije za razvoj softverskih sistema kori&scaron;ćeni su primeri dobre prakse u razvoju informacionih sistema. To se pre svega odnosi na principe kori&scaron;ćene u razvoju institucionalnih repozitorijuma, bibliotečkih informacionih sistema, informacionih sistema naučno-istraživačke delatnosti, CRIS sistema, sistema koji omogućuju evaluaciju podataka itd.<br />Ekspertski sistem koji bi podržao automatizaciju procesa evaluacije po različitim pravilnicima odabran je na osnovu analize postojećih re&scaron;enja za sisteme bazirane na pravilima i pregleda naučne literature.<br />Rezultati &ndash; Analizom nacionalnih pravilnika i smernica dobijen je skup podataka na osnovu kojeg je moguće evaluirati publikovane rezultate po odabranim pravilnicima.<br />Razvijen je model podataka kojim se predstavljaju svi podaci koji učestvuju u procesu evaluacije i koji je kompatibilan sa CERIF modelom podataka.<br />Predloženi model je moguće implementirati u CERIF kompatibilnim CRIS sistemima, &scaron;to je potvrđeno implementacijom informacionog sistema za vrednovanje publikovanih naučno-istraživačkih rezultata u okviru CRIS UNS.<br />Ekspertski sistem baziran na pravilima može biti iskori&scaron;ćen za potrebe automatizacije procesa evaluacije, &scaron;to je potvrđeno predstavom i implementacijom SRB pravilnika u Jess sistemu baziranom na pravilima.<br />Praktična primena &ndash;Zaključci proiza&scaron;li iz analize pravilnika (npr. poređenje sistema i definisanje metapodataka za vrednovanje) se mogu primeniti pri definisanju modela podataka za CERIF sisteme i za sisteme koji nisu CERIF orijentisani.<br />Sistem za podr&scaron;ku vrednovanju publikovanih naučno-istraživačkih rezultata je implementiran kao deo CRIS UNS sistema koji se koristi na Univerzitetu u Novom Sadu čime je obezbeđeno vrednovanje publikovanih naučno-istraživačkih rezultata za različite potrebe (npr. promocije u naučna i istraživačka zvanja, dodele nagrada i materijalnih sredstava, finansiranje projekata, itd.), po različitim pravilnicima i komisijama.<br />Vrednost &ndash; Dati su metapodaci na osnovu kojih se vr&scaron;i vrednovanje publikovanih rezultat istraživanja po raznim nacionalnim pravilnicima i smernicama. Dat je model podataka i pro&scaron;irenje CERIF modela podataka kojim se podržava vrednovanje rezultata istraživanja u CRIS sistemima. Posebna prednost pomenutih modela je nezavisnost istih od implementacije sistema za vrednovanje rezultata istraživanja. Primena predloženog pro&scaron;irenje CERIF modela u CRIS sistemima praktično je pokazana u CRIS sistemu Univerziteta u Novom Sadu. Sistem za vrednovanje koji se bazira na pro&scaron;irenju CERIF modela pruža i potencijalnu interoperabilnost sa sistemima koji CERIF model podržavaju. Implementacijom informacionog sistema za vrednovanje, vrednovanje naučnih publikacija je postalo olak&scaron;ano i transparentnije. Potvrda koncepata da se ekspertski sistemi bazirani na pravilima mogu koristiti za automatizaciju vrednovanja, otvara totalno novi okvir za implementaciju informacionih sistema za podr&scaron;ku vrednovanja postignutih rezultata istraživanja.</p> / <p>Aim &ndash; The first aim of the research was creation of data model and implementation of information system based on the proposed model for the purpose of evaluation of published research outputs. The model is applied in CRIS information system to support the system for evaluation.<br />The second objective was determination of the manner and extent in which the evaluation process that is based on different rules and different rulebooks could be automated.<br />Methodology - In order to define the extension of the CERIF model, it was necessary to identify the various aspects of data which is relevant in evaluation of scientific research publications. Therefore, documents representing different national regulations, frameworks and guidelines for evaluations were selected and analyzed.<br />For the modeling of the system architecture, CASE tools were used, which are based on object-oriented methodology (UML 2.0). To implement the extension of the CERIF model within the CRIS UNS system, JAVA platform and technologies that facilitate creation of web applications such as AXAJ and RichFaces were used. In addition to this general methodology for development of software systems, best practice examples from the information systems development are also used. This primary refers to the principles used in development of institutional repositories, library information systems, information systems of the scientific-research domain, CRIS systems, systems that enable evaluation of data, etc.<br />The expert system that supports automation of the evaluation process by different rulebooks was selected based on analysis of the existing solutions for rule based systems and examination of scientific literature.<br />Results - By analysis of the national rulebooks and guidelines, a pool of data was gathered, which served as a basis for evaluation of published results by any analyzed rulebook.<br />A data model was developed, by which all data involved in the evaluation process can be represented. The proposed model is CERIF compatible.<br />The proposed model can be implemented in CERIF compatible CRIS systems, which was confirmed by the implementation of an information system for evaluation of published scientific research results in CRIS UNS.<br />An expert system based on rules can be used for the needs of automation of the evaluation process, which was confirmed by the presentation and implementation of the Serbian Rulebook by Jess.<br />Practical application - The conclusions raised from the analysis of rulebooks (e.g. Comparison of systems and defining metadata for evaluation) can be applied in defining the data model for CERIF systems and for systems that are not CERIF oriented.<br />The system for support of evaluation of published scientific research results was implemented as part of the CRIS UNS system used at the University of Novi Sad, thus providing evaluation of published scientific research results for different purposes (e.g. promotion in scientific and research titles, assignment of awards and material resources, financing of projects, etc.), according to different rulebooks and commissions.<br />Value &ndash; Metadata is provided on which basis the evaluation of published research results by various national rulebooks and guidelines is conducted. A data model and an expansion of the CERIF data model that supports the evaluation of the research results within CRIS systems are given. A special advantage of these models is their independence of the implementation of the system for evaluation of research results. The application of the proposed extension of the CERIF model into CRIS systems practically is demonstrated in the CRIS system of the University of Novi Sad. The system that implements an expansion of the CERIF model provides a potential interoperability with systems that support CERIF model. After the implementation of the information system for evaluation, the evaluation of scientific publications becomes easier and more transparent. A confirmation of the concept that the expert systems based on rules can be used in automation of the evaluation process opens a whole new framework for implementation of information systems for evaluation.</p>

There is limited research on the use of results-based management (RBM) in schools, therefore this study focussed on developing a sustainable and effective RBM model. The objectives of the study were to identify the obstacles encountered in implementing RBM in primary and secondary schools in the Goromonzi District, identify and describe the steps taken in developing and sustaining an effective RBM model, and to develop a sustainable and effective RBM model suitable for both Zimbabwean primary and secondary schools. A qualitative research method was used since the researcher’s interest was to gain insight into and understanding of school heads’ and teachers’ perceptions, concerns and experiences in their real world conditions when implementing RBM. The study covered ten purposely selected schools in the Goromonzi District. Semi-structured individual and focus group interviews were conducted with the school heads and teachers. To enhance the validity of the findings, this study adhered to ethical principles and techniques. The following salient findings that emerged from the study were that the school heads and teachers had a negative perception of IRBM because a top-down approach was used when it was introduced and the system was not customised since it was merely “imported” from a developed country whose context was different from the Zimbabwean socio-political and economic environment. There was also a serious dearth of financial resources to support the system and this affected the quality of RBM training negatively. The lack of funding also led to the non-payment of incentives for the staff with regard to implementing RBM. It was also indicated that the senior Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education officials showed a lack of commitment and support for RBM. To address the implementation challenges it was indicated that resources had to be mobilised to ensure the capacitation of school heads and teachers and also for incentivising them. Incentivising staff is critical for the successful implementation of RBM. It was also noted that there was a need to develop a results culture in schools and train school heads in change management. It was concluded that a home grown RBM model that was context sensitive to the Zimbabwean situation was required. As envisaged, the study resulted in the development of the three phased Zimbabwe results-based management practical model (ZRBMPM). The first phase addresses RBM implementing challenges and the second phase focusses on incentivising staff to promote the effective implementation of results management. The last phase entails the production of the results. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

Digital communication systems which use Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) are now widely used and have many advantages. The main disadvantage is the requirement for highly linear analogue electronics including the high power amplifier (HPA). This requirement cannot be met in all circumstances because of the occurrence of symbols with high peak to average power ratio (PAPR). Such symbols may be non-linearly distorted by limiting. Approaches to solve this problem have been either to reduce the PAPR at the transmitter or to try to mitigate the effect of the non-linearity at the receiver. Soft-limiting, i.e. applying limiting in software prior to the HPA is a simple way to reduce the PAPR. It produces non-linear distortion which will cause an increase in the bit-error-rate (BER) at the receiver. This thesis surveys existing alternatives ways of reducing the effect of non-linearity and proposes some new ones. Two iterative receiver techniques, based on statistical analysis of the nature of the non-linearity, have been implemented and investigated. These are the ‘Bussgang Noise Cancellation’ (BNC) technique and the ‘Decision Aided Reconstruction’ (DAR) techniques. As these techniques are valid for any memory-less nonlinearity, an alternative form of limiting, named as Inverted-Wraparound (IWRAP) has been included in the BNC investigation. A new method is proposed which is capable of correcting the received time-domain samples that are clipped, once they have been identified. This is named the ‘Equation-Method’ and it works by identifying constellation symbols that are likely to be correct at the receiver. If there are a sufficient number of these and they are correctly identified, the FFT may be partitioned to produce a set of equations that may be solved for the clipped time-domain samples. The thesis proposes four enhancements to this new method which improve its effectiveness. It is shown that the best form of this method outperforms conventional techniques especially for severe clipping levels. The performance of these four enhancements is evaluated over channels with additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) in addition to clipping distortion. A technique based on a ‘margin factor’ is designed to make these methods work more effectively in the presence of AWGN noise. A new combining algorithm referred as ‘HARQ for Clipping’ is presented where soft bit decisions are combined from multiple transmissions. ‘HARQ for Clipping’ has been combined with the best version of the Equation-Method, and the performance of this approach is evaluated in terms of the BER with different levels of AWGN. It has been compared to other approaches from the literature and was found to out-perform the BNC iterative receiver by 3dB at signal to noise ratios around 10dB. Without HARQ, the best version of the Equation-Method performs better than the BNC receiver, at signal-to-nose ratios above about 17dB.

Submitted by RONALDO MEDEIROS (medeirossre@hotmail.com) on 2015-11-24T18:57:49Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Mestrado da FGV - RONALDO RAIMUNDO MEDEIROS - versão final.pdf: 1446785 bytes, checksum: bfe6567afb7c93013fe71c693f23fb66 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br) on 2015-11-24T19:01:29Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Mestrado da FGV - RONALDO RAIMUNDO MEDEIROS - versão final.pdf: 1446785 bytes, checksum: bfe6567afb7c93013fe71c693f23fb66 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-11-25T11:14:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Mestrado da FGV - RONALDO RAIMUNDO MEDEIROS - versão final.pdf: 1446785 bytes, checksum: bfe6567afb7c93013fe71c693f23fb66 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-26 / A partir da constatação da falta de uniformidade das decisões do contencioso administrativo tributário estadual (CATE) sobre um mesmo tema específico do ICMS, a exemplo das saídas por transferência de mercadorias entre estabelecimentos pertencentes ao mesmo titular, cuja normatividade legal vigente se encontra positivada no inciso I do art. 12, da Lei Complementar nº 87/96, este trabalho objetiva estudar, por meio de uma pesquisa qualitativa de jurisprudência realizada junto aos Tribunais Administrativos Estaduais, que disponibilizam suas decisões na rede mundial de computadores (internet), se a existência de jurisprudência sumulada do Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) sobre esse tema controvertido do ICMS (Enunciado de Súmula nº 166) contribuiu para dar uma maior segurança jurídica à dimensão crítica da relação jurídica tributária, no sentido de tornar mais previsível e isonômica a lide administrativa de natureza tributária. De acordo com a amostra de jurisprudência administrativa obtida de diferentes Tribunais Administrativos Estaduais, podemos concluir que a existência de jurisprudência sumulada do STJ não está tendo, majoritariamente, eficácia no CATE, pelos argumentos mais diversos classificados e agrupados no presente trabalho, os quais servirão, juntamente com a dogmática jurídica existente sobre o tema, como alicerce à resposta normativa a ser sugerida de como as justiças administrativas estaduais deveriam interpretar a jurisprudência dos Tribunais Superiores (STF e STJ), com vista a tornar o contencioso administrativo tributário mais previsível e isonômico, e, desta forma, contribuir para a efetivação da tão almejada justiça fiscal. / Based on the observation of lack of uniformity of decisions of the state administrative tax litigation (CATE), on the specific subject of the incidence of ICMS, like the outputs for transfer of goods between establishments belonging to the same owner, whose current legal normativity is positively valued in item I of Article 12 of Complementary Law No. 87/1996, this study aims at investigating, by means of case through a qualitative research of jurisprudence held with the State Administrative Courts, which provide their decisions on the world wide web (internet), the existence of precedent jurisprudence of the Superior Court of Justice – (STJ), about this controversial subject of ICMS (Statement of Precedent No. 166),contributed to give greater legal certainty to the state tax administrative proceedings, in making the most predictable administrative litigation and isonomic in relation to the decisions of those Fiscal Administrative Justice Organs of second instance. According to the sample of administrative jurisprudence obtained from different State Administrative Courts, we can conclude that the existence of this precedent jurisprudence of the STJ is not having, mainly, effectiveness in CATE, by the most diverse arguments grouped and classified in this work, which will serve, along with the existing legal doctrine on the subject as the foundation for the normative answer to be suggested on how the state administrative justices should interpret the jurisprudence of the Superior Courts (STF and STJ), in order to make the tax administrative litigation more predictable and isonomic, and thus contribute to the realization of the so aspired tax justice.

Throughout the world, including South Africa, various approaches have been identified and implemented in an attempt to ensure that employees in physically-demanding positions are properly managed from a physical work capacity point of view, the primary goal always being to return the employee in need of assistance to full working capacity as soon as possible. The burning question has, however, always remained: “What happens to the employee in the meantime?” This study focused on exactly that question, the aim being to develop a comprehensive tool to assist all parties concerned in managing the affected employee through the application of task-specific job accommodation. The predetermined goal of the study was to develop a task-specific job accommodation tool for a physically-demanding position. This was achieved through a number of steps, which included an extensive literature review, a thorough job analysis, identification of a suitable test battery with related minimum physical requirements and cut scores, interviews, and the eventual development of the tool. Once the task-specific job accommodation tool was completed, the next step was to make use of three case studies to assist in illustrating the way the tool is to be implemented, as well as to show the potential value of its implementation. The information from three actual incapacity cases in the company concerned was used for these case studies. The results from this study are extremely positive and the three case studies have provided a glimpse of the potential value that could be added through the implementation of the job accommodation tool. The final product will greatly assist the company concerned in managing incapacitated employees in a manner that is beneficial to both the company and the individuals involved. Hopefully, this study will contribute to bring about a new era in the way South African companies and their occupational health departments approach the management of their incapacitated employees. Copyright 2008, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Bester, GF 2008, A task-specific approach to job accommodation in physically-demanding positions, DPhil thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10292008-180442 / > D498/gm / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences / unrestricted