This research investigates ways to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions from the cement industry. Cement is one of the largest sources of man-made greenhouse gases, contributing ~5% of the global total. 40% of emissions from cement come from the fuel used in the process, while the electricity used contributes a further 5%. The focus of the research is to find operational changes that can reduce emissions without the need for large capital investment. Three cement plants in the UK were investigated using four different mathematical models based on real data from the plants. A new metric for assessing the environmental impact of the fuel mix of a plant was proposed, and evidence indicates that it may be a better predictor of environmental performance than the metrics currently used in industry. The research found that consistently improving this fuel metric to best-observed levels, as well as reducing the excess air ratio to industry-standard levels had the potential to reduce fuel consumption by up to 7%, and fuel derived CO2 emissions by up to 12%. Increasing use of biomass to best-observed levels had the potential to reduce the net fuel derived CO2 emissions by up to 20%. Comparing the proposed improvements to the historic range of plant performance showed that this level of performance is within the normal operating range of the plants. A reduction of 2-4% in electricity costs and electricity derived emissions was also possible from operational changes. These savings would reduce operating costs as well as emissions, and require little to no capital investment, meaning they could be implemented directly. If successfully implemented in the near future the total savings by 2050 would be on a similar scale to those expected from much more expensive technology changes, such as upgrading to new cement plants, or installing carbon capture and storage technology.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:51:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissFRG.pdf: 1297326 bytes, checksum: 7941c8ebd293ebcb02684b239ca93022 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004-02-17 / Practice of association is the way for the small producers, that, isolated and with small production, they do not get to participate or to influence markets more and more competitive. Thus, it becomes necessary to evaluate organization`s forms that can be presented as socio-economic inclusion ways. The dissertation has for objective to impacts` evaluate of the practice of association in the economic, technological and social conditions of the milk producers. The impact evaluation was made from a set of performance indicators that allowed to evaluate the current result of the associations. The research method adopted was the case study, with multicases. The evaluation form used allowed to identify factors of success of the associations, like this as few restrictions for the development of these associative organizations. The associations are examples of success for the improvement in the life of producers, however it is a success with restrictions, therefore that this is restricted to some of the pointers and, particularly, are economic indicators. However, the social contribution of the associations for the producers is complementary and basic to the economic profits, being that these contribute excessively for the formation of the social capital. All the associations are how efficient how much to the objective to take care of its associates. One of cases, that association was disactivated, this also one revealed efficient while it was in functioning. Thus, the evaluation measure how much to the efficiency of the associations, considering that the efficiency is bigger to the measure that if they verify the indicated situations. It is distinguished in the results of that the associations that demonstrated the best ones resulted had been formed by independent and not governmental initiatives. In these conditions, these associations had contributed of more significant form for the formation of the social capital. In conclusion the work it brings two important contributions. The first is theoretician, with the presentation of a methodology for evaluation of associations of milk producers. Second it is practical, with the results of the research. The formation of the associations fortifies the producers ahead of the difficulties found in all the productive chain, since the producers if present as the link weakkest of the chain. However, this force still is restricted to the milk production, with great distance of the final and more important link of all the chain, the consumer. The practice of association is a good form of adequacy of the producing ahead to the requirements imposed for the market, but still it has very for if making. Exactly that all the good initiatives of each one of the associations were developed by all the associations, the current situation of the milk market, without politics consumption incentives, would not be enough for a significant improvement in the current picture of the milk sector. / O associativismo é o caminho para os pequenos produtores, que, isolados e com pequena produção, não conseguem participar ou influenciar mercados cada vez mais competitivos. Assim, torna-se necessário avaliar formas organizacionais que possam se apresentar como meios de inclusão sócio-econômicos. A dissertação tem por objetivo avaliar impactos do associativismo nas condições econômicas, tecnológicas e sociais dos produtores de leite. A avaliação de impacto foi feita a partir de um conjunto de indicadores de desempenho que permitiu avaliar o resultado atual das associações. O método de pesquisa adotado foi o estudo de caso, sendo utilizados multicasos. A forma de avaliação utilizada permitiu identificar fatores de sucesso das associações, assim como diversas restrições para o desenvolvimento destas organizações associativas. As associações são exemplos de sucesso para a melhoria na vida dos produtores, porém, é um sucesso com restrições, já que este está restrito a alguns dos indicadores e, particularmente, são indicadores econômicos. Entretanto, a contribuição social das associações para os produtores é complementar e fundamental aos ganhos econômicos, sendo que estas contribuem sobremaneira para a formação do capital social. Todas as associações são eficazes quanto ao objetivo de atender seus associados. Em um dos casos, onde a associação foi desativada, esta também mostrou-se eficaz enquanto esteve em funcionamento. Assim, a avaliação mediu quanto à eficiência das associações, considerando que a eficiência é maior à medida que se verificam as situações indicadas. Destaca-se nos resultados o fato de que as associações que demonstraram os melhores resultados foram formadas por iniciativas autônomas e não governamentais. Nestas condições, estas associações contribuíram de forma mais significativa para a formação do capital social. Como conclusão o trabalho traz duas importantes contribuições. A primeira é teórica, com a apresentação de uma metodologia para avaliação de associações de produtores de leite. A segunda é empírica, com os resultados da pesquisa. A formação das associações fortalece os produtores diante das dificuldades encontradas em toda a cadeia produtiva, visto que os produtores se apresentam como o elo mais fraco da cadeia. Porém, este fortalecimento ainda está restrito à produção leiteira, com grande distância do elo final e mais importante de toda a cadeia, o consumidor. O associativismo é uma boa forma de adequação do produtor diante das exigências impostas pelo mercado, mas ainda há muito por se fazer. Mesmo que todas as boas iniciativas de cada uma das associações fossem desenvolvidas por todas as associações, a situação atual do mercado de leite, sem políticas de incentivo ao consumo, não seriam suficientes para uma melhoria significativa no quadro atual do setor leiteiro.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This chant-dissertation is the sharing of my reflection on the theme of the sacred dimension of poetic voice, done through dialogue and intersection of two research fields. The first field is the work of Cecilia Valentim in her approach A Arte do Ser Cantante and the second one is the creation process the play Recusa, by Cia Balagan , where I frame the research on the vocal poetic work developed, both fields are mainly located in São Paulo. To thicken the discussion on the theme voice and sacred, I bring the concepts discussed by Grotowski, a great theater thinker, about the presence of the actor, Art as Vehicle and vibration chants, as well as other references related to voice, rituality, singing, creation. In order to accomplish this research I use semi-structured interviews and field journals. For the first field I followed a number of courses given by Cecília Valentim. As for the second field, the analysis was done through the play´s appreciation and the reading of several materials from the process (film, images, articles written about the process, etc). From contact with the two fields of research some elements emerged which guided me through the reflection on the subject of voice and the sacred. The identification and formulation of such elements are my place of arrival in the investigation. I build through the research a thought about voice as humanity force, as discovery and expansion of oneself and of the world. / Este canto-dissertação é o compartilhamento de minha reflexão sobre o tema da dimensão sagrada da voz poética, feita através da análise e diálogo com dois campos de pesquisa, localizados em São Paulo. O primeiro deles é o trabalho de Cecília Valentim na sua abordagem A Arte do Ser Cantante, e o segundo campo é o processo de criação do espetáculo Recusa, da Cia Teatro Balagan, sob o recorte do trabalho poético vocal desenvolvido. Para adensar a discussão sobre a voz e o sagrado trago conceitos elaborados por Grotowski sobre a presença do ator, a Arte como Veículo e os cantos vibratórios, bem como outras referências relacionadas à voz, ritualidade, canto, criação. Em ambos os contextos realizo entrevistas semiestruturadas e registro em diário de campo. No caso do primeiro campo, ainda acompanho cursos livres e formação ministrada por Cecília Valentim. Para a análise do processo de Recusa parto da fruição do espetáculo e leitura de materiais (vídeo, imagens, artigos sobre o processo de criação, etc). A partir do contato com os dois campos emergem alguns elementos que me conduziram no pensamento sobre o tema da voz e do sagrado. A identificação e a formulação de tais elementos são meu lugar de chegada na investigação. Construo a partir da pesquisa uma reflexão sobre a voz como força de humanidade, como descoberta e alargamento de si e do mundo. / Mestre em Artes

Ces travaux de recherche portent sur la synthèse systématique et l’optimisation de correcteurs numériques à structure polynomiale RST par approches métaheuristiques. Les problèmes classiques de placement de pôles et de calibrage des fonctions de sensibilité de la boucle fermée RST sont formulés sous forme de problèmes d’optimisation multi-objectif sous contraintes pour lequel des algorithmes métaheuristiques de type NSGA-II, MODE, MOPSO et epsilon-MOPSO sont proposés et adaptés. Deux formulations du problème de synthèse RST ont été proposées. La première approche, formulée dans le domaine temporel, consiste à minimiser des indices de performance, de type ISE et MO, issus de la théorie de la commande optimale et liés essentiellement à la réponse indicielle du système corrigé. Ces critères sont optimisés sous des contraintes non analytiques définis par des gabarits temporels sur la dynamique de la boucle fermée. Dans la deuxième approche de synthèse RST, une formulation dans le domaine fréquentiel est retenue. La stratégie proposée consiste à définir et calculer une fonction de sensibilité de sortie désirée en satisfaisant des contraintes de robustesse de H∞. L’utilisation de parties fixes dans la fonction de sensibilité de sortie désirée assurera un placement partiel des pôles de la boucle fermée RST. L’inverse d’une telle fonction de sensibilité désirée définira le filtre de pondération H∞ associé. Un intérêt particulier est porté à l’approche d’optimisation par essaim particulière PSO pour la résolution des problèmes multi-objectif de commande reformulés. Un algorithme MOPSO à grille adaptative est proposé et puis perfectionné à base des concepts de l’epsilon-dominance. L’algorithme epsilon-MOPSO obtenu a montré, par comparaison avec les algorithmes MOPSO, NSGA-II et MODE, des performances supérieures en termes de diversité des solutions de Pareto et de rapidité en temps de convergence. Des métriques de type distance générationnelle, taux d’erreurs et espacement sont toutefois considérées pour l’analyse statistique des résultats de mise en œuvre obtenus. Une application à la commande en vitesse variable d’un moteur électrique DC est effectuée, également pour la commande en position d’un système de transmission flexible à charges variables. La mise en œuvre par simulations numériques sur les procédés considérés est également présentée dans le but de montrer la validité et l’efficacité de l’approche de commande optimale RST proposée / This research focuses on the systematic synthesis and optimization of digital RST structure based controllers thanks to global metaheuristics approaches. The classic and hard problems of closed-loop poles placement and sensitivity functions shaping of RST control are well formulated as constrained multi-objective problems to be solved with proposed metaheuristics algorithms NSGA-II, MODE, MOPSO and especially epsilon-MOPSO. Two formulations of the metaheuristics-tuned RST problem have been proposed. The first one, which is given in the time domain, deals with the minimization of several performance criteria like the Integral Square Error (ISE) and the Maximum Overshoot (MO) indices. These optimal criteria, related primarily to the step response of the controlled plant, are optimized under non-analytical constraints defined by temporal templates on the closed-loop dynamics. In the second approach, a formulation in the frequency domain is retained. The proposed strategy aims to optimize a desired output sensitivity function satisfying H∞ robustness constraints. The use of a suitable fixed part of the optimized output sensitivity function will provide partial pole placement of the closed-loop dynamics of the digital RST controller. The opposite of such desired sensitivity function will define the associated H∞ weighting filter. The Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO) technique is particularly retained for the resolution of all formulated multi-objective RST control problems. An adaptive grid based MOPSO algorithm is firstly proposed and then improved based on the epsilon-dominance concepts. Such proposed epsilon-MOPSO algorithm, with a good diversity of the provided Pareto solutions and fast convergence time, showed a remarkable superiority compared to the standard MOPSO, NSGA-II and MODE algorithms. Performance metrics, such as generational distance, error rate and spacing, are presented for the statistical analysis of the achieved multi-optimization results. An application to the variable speed RST control of an electrical DC drive is performed, also for the RST position control of a flexible transmission plant with varying loads. Demonstrative simulations and comparisons are carried out in order to show the validity and the effectiveness of the proposed metaheuristics-based tuned RST control approach, which is formulated in the multi-objective optimization framework

L’évolution actuelle des exigences en termes de performance énergétique des bâtiments a fait apparaître de nouveaux enjeux et problématiques scientifiques, dont ceux liés à l’humidité. Cette étude s’appuie sur une cellule expérimentale construite sur la technologie des maisons à ossature bois et soumise aux conditions climatiques réelles de Grenoble. L’instrumentation de ce bâtiment et le suivi de l’évolution en température et en humidité dans les différentes couches de l’enveloppe permettent de définir des séquences nécessaires à la validation de modèles numériques. Dans cet objectif, un modèle existant nommé HAM-Tools a été utilisé pour simuler les transferts couplés de chaleur, d’air et d’humidité à l’échelle du bâtiment. La démarche de validation a été décomposée en plusieurs étapes, de manière à cibler des transferts spécifiques et d’en améliorer la modélisation. Ces études localisées concernent les transferts couplés de chaleur et de masse à travers les parois solides, la modélisation des transferts de chaleur à travers une lame d’air ventilée et enfin la modélisation du renouvellement de l’air intérieur en conditions naturelles. Pour estimer la précision globale du modèle, c'est-à-dire à l’échelle du bâtiment, une séquence expérimentale a été simulée en prenant en compte l’ensemble des transferts couplés simultanément. Les performances du modèle sont discutées à partir des mesures locales, c'est-à-dire dans les parois, puis globales. La bonne concordance entre mesures et résultats de simulation permet de conclure sur la validité et la généricité de la démarche mise en œuvre et les hypothèses de simulation. Plus particulièrement, il est apparu que l’outil de modélisation permet de prédire correctement le comportement moyen des parois en humidité et en température. Il est donc envisageable de l’utiliser pour simuler et estimer l’impact des constituants des parois en termes de durabilité, de performances énergétiques et de confort de l’occupant. / As energy saving is so important in buildings nowadays, envelopes performances have to be more efficient and have to deal with more obligations, such as moisture accumulation and mould growth. This study relies on an experimental wooden frame house exposed to the natural conditions of Grenoble, France. It has been widely instrumented so the wall’s temperature and humidity is monitored at different depths. As a consequence, complete dataset are available and can be used to validate numerical model. In this work, an existing numerical model named HAM-Tolls has been used to simulate the heat, air and moisture coupled transfers at the building scale. The method developed here consists in validating the numerical model step by step, with studying specific transfers separately. The first step deals with heat and mass transfers across the walls. Then, the heat transfers across a ventilated air gap and the air change rate under natural conditions have been studied much in detail. The final step of this works consists in simulating simultaneously every transfer at the building scale. This latest simulation’s results were compared both on a local and on a global point of view with the measurements. As they were found to be in good agreement, this allows concluding on the methodology efficiency, the validity of the modelling assumption and gives good hope with extending this methodology to other studies. Specifically, the simulation tool is able to predict correctly the average temperature and humidity content within the walls. Therefore, it should be suitable with estimating the wall components influence on the wall durability, its energy efficiency and its impact on the occupant’s thermal comfort.

Many theorists have linked dividends with the ability to carry signals regarding a firm’s expected financial performance. Despite being grounded on a sound theoretical framework, empirical evidence has failed to unanimously corroborate the dividend signalling hypothesis, with some authors resignedly concluding that dividends are the puzzle of finance literature. Recent empirical evidence has shown that limiting the dividend signalling hypothesis to earnings has contributed to that puzzle. To try and decipher the puzzle, this study extends the dividend signalling hypothesis to measures of financial performance seldom linked with dividend signalling such as liquidity and gearing. Using panel data regression models and data for 39 firms listed on the JSE from 1995 to 2016, the study reveal that when one controls for the mean reversion and autocorrelation of profitability, dividends lose the power to signal earnings. The results further show that managers in South Africa use dividends to signal expected changes in liquidity and gearing. / Business Management / M. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)

L'évolution actuelle des exigences en termes de performance énergétique des bâtiments a fait apparaître de nouveaux enjeux et problématiques scientifiques, dont ceux liés à l'humidité. Cette étude s'appuie sur une cellule expérimentale construite sur la technologie des maisons à ossature bois et soumise aux conditions climatiques réelles de Grenoble. L'instrumentation de ce bâtiment et le suivi de l'évolution en température et en humidité dans les différentes couches de l'enveloppe permettent de définir des séquences nécessaires à la validation de modèles numériques. Dans cet objectif, un modèle existant nommé HAM-Tools a été utilisé pour simuler les transferts couplés de chaleur, d'air et d'humidité à l'échelle du bâtiment. La démarche de validation a été décomposée en plusieurs étapes, de manière à cibler des transferts spécifiques et d'en améliorer la modélisation. Ces études localisées concernent les transferts couplés de chaleur et de masse à travers les parois solides, la modélisation des transferts de chaleur à travers une lame d'air ventilée et enfin la modélisation du renouvellement de l'air intérieur en conditions naturelles. Pour estimer la précision globale du modèle, c'est-à-dire à l'échelle du bâtiment, une séquence expérimentale a été simulée en prenant en compte l'ensemble des transferts couplés simultanément. Les performances du modèle sont discutées à partir des mesures locales, c'est-à-dire dans les parois, puis globales. La bonne concordance entre mesures et résultats de simulation permet de conclure sur la validité et la généricité de la démarche mise en œuvre et les hypothèses de simulation. Plus particulièrement, il est apparu que l'outil de modélisation permet de prédire correctement le comportement moyen des parois en humidité et en température. Il est donc envisageable de l'utiliser pour simuler et estimer l'impact des constituants des parois en termes de durabilité, de performances énergétiques et de confort de l'occupant.

In today’s dynamic global environment, organizations need to be agile and adaptive by practicing innovative strategies in order to sustain and remain competitive. One indicator of organizational sustainability is its productivity, which translates into the productivity and performance of employees in the organization. Performance evaluation of employees is an important step in measuring the employee productivity. Such evaluations are in general conducted annually using a performance appraisal system (PAS). The annual appraisal using PAS has two major drawbacks. The first drawback is the long frequency of the appraisal process. As it is an annual affair, the errors such as subjectivity, recency error, bias, halo effect, stereotyping etc. creeps in, and as a result the evaluations will not be proper. The second drawback is with respect to fixation of target/goal achievement. While achieving the targets/goals which are fixed at the beginning of the appraisal period are important, any steps towards achieving such goals are equally important. These drawbacks can be addressed to an extent by having an ongoing or continuous method for performance evaluation of employees. Hence there is a need for continuous performance evaluation of employees (CPEE). Although the importance of CPEE has been highlighted in the literature, we are not aware of any process by which CPEE could be operationalized. In order to implement and sustain, any organizational process, it should produce certain periodic outputs, which is meaningful to its administrators and beneficiaries. In the case of CPEE one such output could be to provide a proper and timely rewards and recognition (R&R). R&R is a motivational tool used for appreciation which could boost employee performance and productivity. Research underline that R&R is strongly and positively correlated to the performance of employees. As defined in thesis, Reward is the materialistic part of the appreciation (such as memento, certificate etc.), while Recognition is the feeling of being appreciated (such as a pat on the back or a public applause). Both Reward and Recognition is considered in unison and considered as mutually inclusive in this thesis. There is some variation of R&R practiced in organizations, known as employee awards. Such awards are motivating enough for the employees. In general, the employee awards are based on nominations from the managers, which are scrutinized by an individual committee and one among the nominated employees is offered the award. Nevertheless employees are often clueless about what performance fetched them the award. In other words the criteria for such awards are often unknown. Similar to PAS, the criteria for such evaluations are developed mostly by the employers with hardly any input from the employees. Additionally the employee awards are heavily dependent upon the PAS and it is mostly an annual affair. Hence the drawbacks for PAS are also applicable for the existing employee awards process. In order to address these drawbacks, R&R should be given in an ongoing and continuous manner. Although the importance and the positive correlation between R&R and employee performance has been established, it has not known to be widely practiced in organizations. This could be due to a lack of proper framework to implement such programs. The CPEE process could be the basis for providing R&R. Therefore this thesis is aimed at developing a comprehensive framework for CPEE to offer R&R. Performance of employee is a sum total of the performances across various dimensions (such as knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours). As the performance for employees is a multi-dimensional concept, the criteria for evaluation using CPEE process should also be based on multiple criteria. Therefore in order to effectively address the operational process of CPEE to offer R&R, a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method based model needs to be developed. A focused review of the existing literature on performance evaluation of employees substantiated the research problem that there is a lack of proper framework for CPEE to offer R&R. In order to address this research problem, the main objective of this thesis is to develop a comprehensive, formal and objective method to evaluate the employee performance in a continuous manner based on multiple evaluation criteria from the perspectives of employees as well as employers to offer proper and timely reward and recognition to the best performing employee(s). In order to address the main objective of the research, the following objectives are envisaged: 1. To identify the set of variables/criteria with respect to both employees’ and employers’ perspectives and to propose an initial framework for CPEE to offer R&R. 2. To develop a final framework for CPEE to offer R&R based on the initial proposed framework and descriptive research 3 To develop a multi-criteria-decision-making (MCDM) method for the proposed framework for CPEE to offer R&R The scope of this research is limited to Information Technology (IT) organizations due to the alarming rate of attrition and the presence of younger population who are knowledge workers. They expect frequent appreciation and continuous feedback regarding their performance. In this thesis, employees are represented by Software Engineers (SEs) and the employers are represented by Project Managers (PMs). Research Objective 1: In order to address the first research objective a six phased approach is planned. In the first phase, the available literature on existing performance evaluations in general and employee motivations are reviewed to identify the possible variables/criteria for CPEE to offer R&R. This resulted in 51 variables for performance evaluation. As it cannot be confidently asserted whether these variables are applicable to employees of IT organizations, a set of unstructured interviews are conducted with Software Engineers to prepare Case-lets. This Case-let approach with Software Engineers is carried out in the second phase and 7 Case-let reports are prepared. From the analysis of the 7 Case-let reports, 27 variables are identified. As the variables identified from Case-let approach may not represent the entire IT employees, a series of semi structured interviews are conducted among 58 Software Engineers in the third phase to identify further variables/criteria and accordingly 35 variables are identified. In order to obtain the list of variables/criteria based on employers’ perspectives and to validate the set of variables/criteria suggested by Software Engineers, 31 Project Managers are interviewed following semi structured interview method in the fourth phase and 33 variables are identified. In the fifth phase, the variables identified from second to fourth phases are triangulated with those identified from literature (i.e. first phase) which resulted in 33 unique variables that could be used for CPEE of Software Engineers to offer R&R. The final set of 33 variables/criteria are appropriately grouped into variables relating to Demographic Characteristics of Software Engineers (DCSE) and Performance of Software Engineers (PSE). Accordingly, 5 variables related to DCSE and 28 variables related to PSE out of the 33 variables finalized for CPEE to offer R&R, are grouped. Utilizing these grouped sets of variables in DCSE and PSE, an initial framework for CPEE to offer R&R is proposed in the sixth phase. Research Objective 2: In order to validate and to statistically finalize the proposed initial framework, a descriptive research is conducted. For this the importance of each of the identified 33 variables are sought from 443 Software Engineers from 12 IT organizations. A bivariate analysis is planned to analyse the significance of variables of DCSE with the variables of PSE. As there are 28 variables in PSE, they are further grouped with respect to the latent structure using a factor analysis. The factor analysis yielded six factors for measuring PSE. The factors (called as main criteria) are Proactive, Prompt, Resourceful, Responsible, Diagnostic and Dynamic. Based on the bivariate analysis among variables in DCSE and the six main criteria, only three variables, out of five variables of DCSE emerged as significant. Based on the factor analysis and bivariate analysis, the proposed initial framework is modified. Appropriate hypotheses are proposed to indicate the relation between DCSE, PSE and R&R in the modified framework. The modified framework is validated by developing suitable Structural Equation Model (SEM) to verify the hypotheses. The relative influence of DCSE, PSE and R&R are identified based on statistical validation and the framework is finalized. Research Objective 3: As there are six main criteria identified in PSE for CPEE to offer R&R, the proposed framework could be appropriately modelled using MCDM method(s)/models(s). As CPEE is a continuous process, the performance evaluation using CPEE should take only a minimum time for completion of evaluation process, and it should be easy to implement and administer and also should be flexible to accommodate any changes in the criteria or alternatives. These are the preconditions to select the suitable MCDM method(s)/model(s) to operationalize the process of CPEE to offer R&R. In order to select a suitable MCDM method from the available methods, various MCDM methods are screened based on the expected preconditions of the framework. Pugh Matrix Method (PMM) is selected for the CPEE process and is modified to address the basic drawbacks of PMM so as to utilize in this thesis. Accordingly, the MCDM methods: AHP and a Modified Pugh Matrix Method (MPMM) (which are meeting the expected preconditions of the framework such as minimum time, maximum easiness and maximum flexibility) are considered to model the proposed framework for CPEE to offer R&R. The AHP is used to calculate the relative weights and the MPMM is used to compare the performance of employees to provide a relative score. Accordingly, the proposed MCDM based modelling framework for CPEE to offer R&R is demonstrated by developing a suitable example. The MCDM method for CPEE to offer R&R developed in this thesis provides a performance score for every employee for every performance-cycle of CPEE. This score could be stored in a database which could be appropriately utilized during the periodic performance appraisal process using PAS. Overall, the contributions of the research are: (i) a new research problem on CPEE to offer R&R is identified (ii) a set of variables/criteria are identified from both employees and employers perspective, particularly for IT Organizations and an initial framework for CPEE to offer R&R is proposed (iii) a statistically finalized framework for CPEE to offer R&R is presented with the variables/ criteria identified (iv) simple MCDM methods are developed for the operationalization of the proposed framework for CPEE to offer R&R and a possible integration with the organization’s existing PAS is also conceptually presented. (ii) Although the research has accomplished its objectives, there are certain limitations such as (i) the focus of research is limited only to IT organizations, and hence cannot necessarily be generalized, the sampling is based on convenience and assumed to represent the entire IT population in the country and (iii) other MCDM methods are not explored so as to develop the proposed framework. Addressing these could be some of the future research directions in this area.

<p>In this study, any change in fingerprint performance, image quality and minutiae count for infants in three different age groups was evaluated (0-6, 7-12, and >12 months). This was done to determine whether there is a difference in performance between infant age groups for a fingerprint recognition system.</p> <p>The purpose of this research was to determine whether there is a difference in infant fingerprint performance and image quality metrics, between three different age groups (0-6, 7-12, and >12 months old), using the same optical sensor? The data used for this secondary analysis was collected as part of a longitudinal multimodal infant study, using the Digital Persona U.are.U 4500. DET curves, zoo analysis, and image quality metrics were used to evaluate performance and quality factored by infant age group.</p><p>This study found that there was a difference in image quality and minutiae count, genuine and impostor match scores, and performance error rates (EER) between the three age groups. Therefore, quality and performance were dependent on age. While there was a difference in performance between age groups, there was generally stability for subjects who overlapped between multiple age groups. Difference in performance was most likely due to the difference in physical characteristics between subjects in each age group, rather than individual instability. The results showed that it could potentially be feasible to use fingerprint recognition for children over the age of 12 months.</p>