Today's technological systems are expected to perform at very high standards throughout their operational phase. The cost associated with unavailability of these systems is very high and especially with the defense systems or medical equipment which can directly affect human lives. The maintenance system plays an important role in achieving higher performance targets. In order to manage maintenance activities in more informed and rational manner, it is very important to understand the inherently complex and dynamic structure of the system. Traditionally maintenance policies are derived from reliability characteristics of individual components or sub-systems. This research makes an attempt to understand the system from the forest level and suggest better maintenance policies for achieving higher availability and lower system degradation. The leverage is gained from System Dynamics framework's ability to model complex systems and capture various feedback loops. The simulation results reveal that with the limited preventive maintenance capacity and within the given assumptions of the model, there exists and optimal preventive maintenance interval which is not the minimum. The simulation results also reflect that frequent preventive maintenance is required at higher load factors. / Master of Science

DARPA's neXt Generation (XG) communication program proposes the use of Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) wherein intelligent radios can realize opportunistic usage of frequency bands by identifying the under-utilized spectrum and reasoning about it. Implementing such a flexible scheme requires changes in the current static spectrum management approach. As a result, declarative spectrum management through policy-based dynamic spectrum access has garnered significant attention recently. Policy-based dynamic spectrum access decouples the Spectrum Access Policies and Policy Processing Components from the Radio Platform. The Policies define conditions under which the radios are allowed to transmit in terms of frequencies used, geographic locations, time etc. The Policy Processing Components include a reasoning engine called the Policy Reasoner, which is responsible for enforcing these policies. This thesis describes the design and implementation of a novel policy reasoner called Bi- nary Decision Diagram based Reasoner for processing Spectrum Access Policies (BRESAP). BRESAP processes spectrum policies efficiently by reframing the policy reasoning problem as a graph based Boolean function manipulation problem. BRESAP uses Binary Decision Diagrams (BDDs) to represent, analyze and process the policies. It uses a set of efficient graph-theoretic algorithms to merge these policies into a single meta-policy and compute opportunity constraints. Our policy reasoner has the capability to respond to invalid and under-specified transmission requests sent by the System Strategy Reasoner (SSR). In case of invalid or under-specified transmission requests, BRESAP returns a set of opportunity constraints which inform the SSR of the changes needed to the transmission parameters in order to make them conform to the policies. We also propose three algorithms for computing the opportunity constraints. The complexity of the first algorithm is proportional to the number of variables in the metapolicy BDD, while the complexities of the second and third algorithms are proportional to sum of number of variables and the size (i.e., number of nodes) of the meta-policy BDD. / Master of Science

Yes / Although language is gaining increasing attention in the international management literature, much of the existing empirical work takes a mechanistic approach and as such fails to give sufficient attention to the relationship between language policies and power. By synthesizing the language-sensitive literature in international management with that of organization studies, I demonstrate how the choice of language policy can be viewed as a particular application of power and how employees may seek to resist such choices. This is an important contribution to the cross-cultural management literature, as it extends the understanding of the link between language policies and power by moving away from neutral, pragmatic understandings of language use which have dominated previous research. In doing so, it provides future directions for empirical research in order to enable a deeper understanding of the microprocesses by which employees subjectively experience and resist the imposition of such policies.

No / This paper presents a guided reflection (GR) framework compiled and used specifically in a gender equality change management programme. The programme involves seven partners (one being an evaluation partner) from across Europe, each partner implementing a change management programme in their university setting. A guided reflection framework, including verbal reflective discussions and written reflections, was devised and deployed to enable and facilitate the collection of narratives and stories on the experience of gender transformation within the university institutions. The resulting outcome so far has been a successful application of the GR framework, with emerging findings suggesting that participants found the opportunity to share and reflect useful. Both written and verbal reflection tools were effective within this programme, with lessons emerging around increasing and improving the journaling aspect of written reflections. The process findings illustrate how people in our organisations are very constrained for time for reflection within their busy work schedules, and therefore the applicability and usefulness of the GR framework has been in enabling a space for such reflection and thought, which in turn contributes to organizational learning and potential for change.

Master of Arts / Department of Communication Studies, Theatre, and Dance / Timothy R. Steffensmeier / Previous language policy research and lawsuit rulings have shown that employers will implement language policies as a means to unify the workplace in hopes of creating a less hostile and more productive environment, which in turn, they believe will increase profits (Bergman, Watrous-Rodriquez, & Chalkely 2007; Crowe 2005; Pakiela 2002; Scott 2007). This study examined the values of an organization in order to determine how they are implemented and perceived by their employees in relationship to language policies. The reason this study looks to values is because they provide a foundation for culture and, subsequently, identity. A three part qualitative analysis utilizing Glaser and Strauss’s (1967) constant comparative method (CCM) was conducted to identify the values within the culture of one organization. It was uncovered that the current climate of the organization was not the result of the implementation of language policies. Instead, the language barriers and complications within the organization were the result of merging companies and the lack of one cohesive culture.

<p>Theoretically, the role of higher education in national development has become clearer than before, while empirically the evidence is overwhelming. Elsewhere in the world, countries that have made tremendous strides in both social and economic development invested heavily and strategically in higher education. In Malawi, the role of higher education in national development has always been recognised by development policies since independence in 1964 <span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic">However, with the exception of the first 15 years of independence, Malawi&rsquo / s development path has registered abysmal results both on the social and the economic fronts despite undergoing significant socio-economic and political reforms. Malawi remains one of the most underdeveloped countries whether judged by Gross National Product (GNP) per capita, the UNDP&rsquo / s Human Development Index (HDI) or the Human Poverty Index (HPI). One of the factors that is considered as having contributed to low levels of development is the performance of education systems (primary, secondary and higher education) (World Bank, 2009).</span>It is against this background that this study sought to examine how Malawi&rsquo / s higher education institutions (HEIs) have responded to their roles as prescribed by the national development policies with a focus on the period between 2000 and 2010. Four questions guided the study: i) what specific roles do national development policies define for HEIs to ensure that higher education contributes to national development? ii) To what extent are these roles performed by HEIs in Malawi? iii) What factors determine the performance of HEIs in their expected roles? iv) What pattern of response to their (HEIs&rsquo / ) expected roles can be identified? Theoretically and analytically, the study was informed by the two perspectives of the open systems theory, namely the resource-dependency approach and neo-institutional approach. These two approaches contend that actions by organisations are limited and influenced by various pressures and demands emanating from their internal and external environments and that organisations often respond accordingly in order to survive. Methodologically, the study employed a mixed-method design (of qualitative and quantitative) with a dominant usage of qualitative methods. A multiple case study approach was used in which data were collected through unstructured interviews, semi-structured interviews and documentary review. For qualitative data, the analysis was done using a text method while quantitative data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel to provide simple descriptive analysis through charts, tables and graphs.<span style="mso-fareast-font-family:TimesNewRoman"> Overall, the study found that Malawi development policies expect HEIs to enhance access, equity, relevance, efficiency and quality of higher education as a way of ensuring that higher education contributes to the national development project. However, the study identified several patterns of response by HEIs (towards these expected roles) that tentatively explain the sub-optimal contribution of higher education in national development. These patterns of response include: inclination towards responding to the politically sensitive crises in the higher education system (for public HEIs) and profit-compatible roles (for private HEI) / use of sub-standard resources and methods antithetical to genuine teaching and learning / duplication by private HEIs of the &ldquo / soft&rdquo / roles being undertaken by public HEI / the abandonment of some of the HEIs&rsquo / original ideals and founding pledges, which are compatible with national development roles / and substitution of long-term coherent academic planning by short-term survival strategies. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:18.0pt / mso-fareast-font-family:TimesNewRoman / mso-bidi-font-family:Arial / color:black / mso-fareast-language:EN-US / mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">The study presents a number of implications, lessons and recommendations in the area of higher education and development. These include: the need for the government to recognise the importance and impact of intra-sectoral linkages in the entire education system on the performance of HEIs / the need to enforce the effective participation of private and public HEIs in national developmental project by establishing a proper regulatory framework / the need to enhance regional and internal collaboration among universities if they are to effectively respond to national roles / the need to reduce marginalisation of HEIs by maximising efforts that create linkages with the productive sector / the need to devise a robust public financing mechanism that broadly deals with issues of equity, relevance, quality and access of higher education / and the need to match education investment priorities and sequencing with development policies</span></p> <p>&nbsp / </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">&nbsp / </p> <p>&nbsp / </p>

No Brasil, as políticas públicas sociais foram inscritas na Constituição Federal de 1988, sob a égide dos direitos sociais - por serem de alcance universal e igualitário, proporcionam o exercício da cidadania aos brasileiros. Neste contexto, ressaltam-se o Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) e o Sistema Único de Assistência Social (SUAS) - este último é fortemente inspirado nos moldes do SUS. Desse modo, o objetivo desta tese visa avaliar o desempenho das políticas públicas de saúde e assistência social nos municípios do estado de São Paulo, procurando compreender os elementos de integração e intersetorialidade nas referidas políticas. Sublinha-se o exercício da avaliação como ferramenta crucial para o aperfeiçoamento e o desenvolvimento da gestão de políticas públicas de caráter multidimensional. No que diz respeito à integração entre as áreas de saúde e assistência social, para este trabalho foram consideradas as ações complementares de saúde do Programa Bolsa Família (PBF), no qual há a transferência de renda com condicionalidades. Tal proposta realizou-se por meio dos métodos múltiplos, e o estudo caracteriza-se como descritivo e exploratório, com viés qualitativo e quantitativo. A coleta de dados ocorreu conforme a revisão teórica integrativa; a análise quantitativa descritiva, de correlação e multinível; a descrição das ações de avaliação que vigoram no SUS e no SUAS; e a aplicação de questionários sobre os resultados e usos da avaliação para os conselhos estaduais de saúde e assistência social. Como resultado da pesquisa realizada, visualiza-se a construção de mecanismos e sistemas informatizados para a potencialização das práticas avaliativas no Brasil, com ênfase à busca por uma cultura de avaliação permeada pela transparência, disponibilidade e confiabilidade dos dados. Com a divisão dos municípios em faixas populacionais homogêneas, aqueles de menor contingente populacional obtiveram maiores percentuais beneficiários do PBF, elevada cobertura do cumprimento de condicionalidade de saúde e melhores performances no Índice de Desempenho do Programa Bolsa Família (IGDPBF). Não obstante, nesses municípios se notaram melhores coberturas de equipes de Atenção Básica (AB) e maiores recursos financeiros per capita para a AB. Acredita-se que os municípios com maiores populações possuem mais dificuldades relativas ao acesso e à oferta de serviços de saúde e assistência social, principalmente nos bolsões de pobreza. No que diz respeito à integração entre as áreas de saúde e assistência social, os resultados evidenciaram associações estatisticamente significantes de magnitude de fraca a moderada, e algumas associações apontaram a combinação entre oferta e acesso aos serviços básicos de saúde, com melhores indicadores de cumprimento das condicionalidades de saúde do PBF e do IGDPBF. A análise multinível expressou que o porte populacional explica parte das variáveis investigadas e que as condições inerentes aos municípios demonstram o desempenho dos outros indicadores analisados. No tocante à percepção dos conselheiros de saúde e assistência social sobre avaliação e intersetorialidade das ações, eles as classificaram como pouco utilizadas pelos gestores na tomada de decisão, enquanto as iniciativas integradas entre os setores foram vistas como incipientes. Diante dos resultados encontrados, ressalta-se que a oferta e o acesso aos serviços básicos de saúde são determinantes para a efetividade das políticas de assistência social e consequentemente da melhoria das condições de vida da população / In Brazil, social public policies were inscribed in the Federal Constitution of 1988, under the aegis of social rights - as they are of universal and egalitarian scopes, they foster the exercise of citizenship to Brazilians. In this context, the present thesis focused on the social protection policies of health and social assistance. The Brazil\'s Unified Health System (SUS) and the Single Social Assistance System (SUAS) stand out - the latter is strongly inspired by SUS. Then, the proposal of the work was to evaluate the performance of the public policies of health and social assistance in the municipalities of the state of São Paulo, seeking to understand the elements of integration and intersectoriality in these policies. The exercise of evaluation as a crucial tool for the improvement and development of the management of public policies of a multidimensional nature is emphasized. Regarding the integration between the areas, the complementary health actions of the Bolsa Família Program (PBF) were considered in this work, in which there is a transfer of income with conditionalities - this requires intersectorality and integration between the areas and the levels of government. This proposal was made through multiple methods, and the study is characterized as descriptive and exploratory, with qualitative and quantitative bias. Data collection has occurred according to the integrative theoretical revision; descriptive, correlative and multilevel quantitative analysis; description of the evaluation actions that prevail in SUS and SUAS; and application of questionnaires on the results and uses of evaluation to the state councils of health and social assistance. Overall, it is pointed out the construction of computerized mechanisms and systems for the enhancement of evaluative practices in Brazil, with emphasis on the search for an evaluation culture permeated by data transparency, availability and reliability. With the division of the municipalities into homogenous population groups, those with lower contingent population obtained higher percentages of the PBF, high coverage of compliance with health conditionality and better indexes in the Bolsa Família Program Performance Index (IGDPBF). Nevertheless, in these municipalities it was noticed a better coverage of Basic Attention (AB) teams and greater financial resources per capita for AB. It is believed that cities with large population have more difficulties related to access to and provision of health services and social assistance, especially in poverty areas. Concerning the integration between health and social assistance, the results evidenced statistically significant associations of weak to moderate magnitude, and some associations pointed out the combination between supply and access to basic health services, with better compliance indicators of health conditionalities of PBF and IGDPBF. The multilevel analysis showed that the population size explains part of the investigated variables and that the conditions inherent to the municipalities demonstrate the performance of other analyzed indexes. Regarding the perception of health and social counselors on the evaluation and intersectorality of actions, they classified them as poorly used by managers in decision-making, while integrated initiatives among sectors were seen as incipient. Based on those results its is pointed out that the offer and access to basic health services are determinative for social assistance public policies effectiveness and thus the improvement of overall life quality

Este estudo faz uma abordagem da produção de energia hidroelétrica sob a perspectiva da Geografia crítica e releva que a água é um elemento natural em todas as manifestações, sendo o seu uso o que a transforma em recurso natural e produtivo. A água não é fonte direta de energia elétrica, ela é condição natural de um lugar. A construção de usinas hidroelétricas coloca-a em circuitos de fixos, fazendo com que se integrem aos circuitos produtivos. O levantamento desses equipamentos, especialmente as grandes usinas construídas no Brasil com essa finalidade, é importante para a Geografia do ponto de vista teórico, pois têm grande fixidez no território e são agregadas a ele como verdadeiras próteses territoriais. Sua análise serve ao ordenamento do espaço, que é fundamental para o planejamento do País. / This study approaches the production of hydroelectric power from the perspective of critical geography and emphasizes that water is a natural element in all of its manifestations, being that its use transforms it into a natural and productive resource. Water is not a direct source of electricity. It is a natural condition of a place. The construction of hydroelectric power plants puts water in fixed circuits, making it a part of productive circuits. The data collection of these equipments, especially large hydropower plants in Brazil, is important for geography from a theoretical point of view because they have great fixity on the territory and are aggregated as true territorial prostheses. Their analysis serves as spatial planning, which is crucial for the planning of the country.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-08-05T12:13:50Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Silvia Reboucas Pereira de Almeida.pdf: 6238903 bytes, checksum: bf8cec922ea7cb0ba11b33f90e9b0f75 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-05T12:13:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silvia Reboucas Pereira de Almeida.pdf: 6238903 bytes, checksum: bf8cec922ea7cb0ba11b33f90e9b0f75 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-17 / In 2004, the Brazilian Federal Government introduced the “Brazilian Popular Pharmacy Program”, as an alternative means to facilitate access to medicines, aiming to extend this acess to more patients and regions, and also, to reduce family expenditures, mainly for popular class families, who are users of the private health system, but have difficulties buying medicines in the regular market. The Program is focused on the distribution of low cost essential medicines, for the treatment of non-communicable chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma, cholesterol and others. It is based on a copayment model, in which the cost of medicines is partially paid by the government, while the consumer pays the difference. At first, it was based on distribution by government pharmacies, and since 2005, this model has been extended through partnership, mainly with state and district authorities. In 2006, the government innovated towards a growth strategy, grounded on partnership with private retailers, operating through a reimbursement system by the Ministry of Health. In 2011, the government established the free of charge distribution of medicines with priority, for the pathologies of diabetes, hypertension and asthma. This analysis contributed to identifying the scope and limitations of the Program, as an alternative means of access to medicines in Brazil. Data were obtained by means of bibliographic and documentary research and were complemented by interviews with the stakeholders. It was observed that the program’s target audience also includes a significant percentage of public health system users, who should be making use of conventional public pharmaceutical assistance, which distributes medicines free of charge. This reveals inadequacies in the public pharmaceutical assistance, as well as the Program’s advantages as an efficient logistics system, which ensures medicine availability among the population and easy access to pharmacies. Although the Program was considered important as an alternative means, operational and strategic improvements are suggested, making this Program more efficient to facilitate the access of medicines to the Brazilian population / Em 2004, o governo federal brasileiro lançou o “Programa Farmácia Popular do Brasil” como alternativa de acesso aos medicamentos, com o objetivo de estender este acesso a mais pacientes e regiões, e também, proporcionar um alívio nas despesas familiares, especialmente as das classes populares, que são usuárias do sistema privado de saúde, mas têm dificuldades em adquirir os medicamentos no mercado regular. O Programa (1) tem como foco a distribuição de medicamentos essenciais de baixo custo, para o tratamento de doenças crônicas não transmissíveis, como diabetes, hipertensão, asma, colesterol e outras patologias. Ele está baseado no sistema de co-pagamento, em que o custo é parcialmente pago pelo governo, enquanto o consumidor paga a diferença no seu preço. Inicialmente, baseou-se na distribuição de medicamentos através das farmácias próprias do governo, e, a partir de 2005, este modelo foi ampliado através de parcerias com os estados e municípios. Em 2006, o governo inovou, através de uma estratégia de crescimento baseada numa parceria com as farmácias particulares, operando num sistema de ressarcimento pelo Ministério da Saúde. Em 2011, o governo estabeleceu a gratuidade na distribuição de medicamentos considerados prioritários, para as patologias de diabetes, hipertensão e asma. O presente estudo contribui para identificar a amplitude e limitações do Programa, como alternativa de acesso aos medicamentos no Brasil. Os dados foram obtidos através de pesquisa bibliográfica e documental, sendo complementados por pesquisa de campo junto aos seus atores-chave. Observou-se que o público-alvo também tem uma participação importante de usuários do sistema público de saúde, os quais deveriam estar utilizando a assistência farmacêutica pública convencional, que distribui medicamentos gratuitamente à população. Este comportamento revela deficiências no sistema público de assistência farmacêutica e vantagens do Programa, como eficiência logística, garantindo a disponibilidade de medicamentos aos pacientes, e facilidade de acesso às farmácias. Embora o Programa tenha sido considerado importante como alternativa, foram sugeridas melhorias operacionais e estratégicas para que o Programa se torne mais efetivo no acesso a medicamentos pela população brasileira

Com base em instrumentos qualitativos de pesquisa, essa dissertação analisa a implementação da justiça restaurativa como uma política pública, tomando como foco de análise o processo que resultou na institucionalização das práticas restaurativas, que antes eram realizadas de forma informal pela ONG Justiça Restaurativa para o Século 21, até elas serem tomadas a cargo pelo Poder Judiciário do Rio Grande do Sul. Uma das propostas desta pesquisa foi compreender como ocorreu o processo de implementação da justiça restaurativa no estado do Rio Grande do Sul, com enfoque nas categorias valorativas expressas pelos entrevistados: juízes e facilitadores atuantes em setores do Poder Judiciário. Para alcançarmos este intento, realizamos um mapeamento das experiências existentes nos municípios pesquisados, que nos permitiu conhecer as formas plurais pelas quais a política pública pode ser utilizada e como as propostas estão sendo operacionalizadas nas iniciativas locais. Examinando a produção sociológica e da análise de políticas públicas sobre o tema, buscamos relacionar, por um lado, as perspectivas teóricas que destacam os fundamentos normativos e cognitivos vinculados às normas e às instituições sociais, juntamente com a teoria crítica e o conceito de reconstrução normativa; por outro, os estudos sobre implementação de políticas públicas que privilegiam as ideias e crenças dos atores envolvidos. Tais abordagens permitem examinar o processo de implementação da Justiça Restaurativa no estado, com destaque para as principais problemáticas surgidas no processo e para a forma através da qual “a imagem da política” foi e está sendo reproduzida pelos seus defensores. Por meio da análise das representações proferidas pelos agentes ao longo do trabalho de campo, foi possível perceber que a defesa da Justiça Restaurativa como uma política pública importante para o sistema de justiça abrange duas linhas de argumentação discursiva: a) uma institucional, que relaciona esta metodologia com a modernização e a ampliação do acesso à justiça, bem como com a redução da carga processual, b) outra que a considera uma proposta mais humanizada, eficaz e dialogal de justiça. / Based on qualitative research instruments, this dissertation analyze the implementation of restorative justice as a public policy, focusing on the process that resulted in the institutionalization of restorative practices, which were previously carried out informally by the NGO Restorative Justice for the Century 21, until they have been take over by the Judicial Branch of Rio Grande do Sul. One of the proposals of this research was to understand how the process of implementation of restorative justice occurred in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, focusing on the categories of values expressed by the interviewed: judges and facilitators acting in sectors of the Judiciary. In order to achieve this, we mapped the existing experiences in the municipalities surveyed, which allowed us to know the plural forms by which the public policy can be used and how the proposals are actually operationalized in local initiatives. Examining the sociological production and the public policies analysis of public policies about the subject, we seek to relate, on the one hand, the theoretical perspectives that highlight the normative and cognitive elements linked to social norms and institutions, together with the critical theory and the concept of reconstruction normative; and, on the other hand, studies on the implementation of public policies that privilege the ideas and beliefs of the actors involved. Such approaches have allowed us to examine the process of implementation of Restorative Justice in the state, highlighting the main issues raised in the process and the way in which the "image of politics" was and is being reproduced by its advocates. By means of the analysis of the representations uttered by the agents interviewed throughout the field work, it was possible to perceive that the defense of Restorative Justice as an important public policy for the justice system covers two lines of discursive argumentation: a) an institutional one, which relates this methodology with the modernization and expansion of access to justice, as well as with the reduction of the procedural burden, b) another that considers it a more humanized, effective and dialogical proposal of justice.