Master of Science / Food Science / Randall K. Phebus / Campylobacter is recognized as a leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis. In the United States, Campylobacter causes an estimated 600,000 illnesses and 55 deaths each year at a cost of over $1.3 billion. It is estimated that 80 percent of Campylobacter infections are foodborne with almost 50 percent of these cases attributed to poultry. Based on these statistics, Campylobacter and poultry is considered by some to be the riskiest pathogen-food combination. Campylobacter illness is usually self-limiting but serious illness and complications can occur. Serious illness requires treatment with antibiotics, but with emerging antibiotic resistance observed in Campylobacter isolates, treatment options might be limited. Therefore, it is of importance to reduce significantly the consumer’s exposure to Campylobacter through poultry consumption. In July 2011, USDA FSIS’s new performance standard for Campylobacter in chicken and turkey slaughter establishments went into effect. For chicken, the standard allows no more than eight Campylobacter-positive samples out of a fifty-one sample set. Methods for Campylobacter detection and enumeration include direct plating using a medium such as Campy-Cefex, MPN techniques, ELISA, and PCR. To meet the new performance standard the industry will need to consider improvements in poultry production. Improvements likely will not be limited to processing interventions such as scalding, picking, evisceration, and chilling. Improvements may include on-farm interventions such as enhanced biosecurity, use of competitive exclusion or vaccinations, good hygiene practices, and improved staging at introduction to processing. Post-processing interventions that might be considered include freezing or further processing (i.e. cooking) of poultry products from Campylobacter-positive flocks. Significant improvements in establishments’ food safety programs are expected to occur to meet the standard and are predicted to result in an estimated reduction of 5,000 Campylobacter illnesses per year.

Power system frequency is one of the key performance indices of system operation. Abnormal frequency deviations would incur negative impacts to power equipments and service quality. Thus, it is important to operate and regulate the system frequency within an acceptable range. North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has been using a Control Performance Standard (CPS) for frequency control performance assessment since 1997 which uses system frequency and inter--area power flow to evaluate the power system control performance. This thesis presents a design of CPS for isolated system and the results of Taiwan Power Company frequency control performance based on the proposed CPS1 formulation.

As the technology behind renewable energy sources becomes more advanced and cost-effective, these sources have become an ever-increasing portion of the generation portfolios of power systems across the country. While the shift away from non-renewable resources is generally considered beneficial, the fact remains that intermittent renewable sources present special challenges associated with their unique operating characteristics. Because of the high variability of intermittent renewables, the frequency performance of the system to which they are connected can degrade. Generators assigned to regulate frequency, keeping it close to the desired 60 Hz, are forced to ramp up and down quickly in order to offset the rise and fall of the variable resources (in addition to the rise and fall of load), causing transient frequency deviations, power swings, major interface transfer variations and other significant issues. This research measures the impact of intermittent renewable resource penetration level on power system frequency performance, and offers methods for managing that performance. Currently, the generally accepted amount of regulation (rapidly-dispatchable reserve, used as a supplement to base generation on a short time scale to avoid performance issues) is 1% of peak load. Because of the high variability associated with intermittent renewables, including wind generation (the focus of this thesis), it is expected that this amount of regulation must increase in order to maintain adequate system frequency performance. Thus, the primary objective of this thesis is to quantify the amount of regulation necessary to maintain adequate frequency performance as a function of the penetration level of wind generation. Presently, balancing resource requirements are computed, in both industry and in the research literature, using static models, which rely entirely on statistical manipulation of net load, failing to capture the intricacies of dynamic system and generator interactions. Using a dynamic model with high temporal resolution data, instead of these statistical models, this thesis confirms the need for additional regulation as wind generation penetration increases. But beyond that, our research demonstrates an exponentially increasing relationship between necessary regulation and wind generation percentage, indicating that, without further technological breakthroughs, there is a practical limit to the amount of wind generation that a typical system can accommodate. Furthermore, we compare our dynamic model results with those of the statistical models, and show that the majority of current statistical models substantially under-predict the necessary amount of regulation to accommodate significant amounts of wind generation. Finally, we verify that the ramping capability of the regulating generators impacts the amount of necessary regulation, although it is generally ignored in current analysis and related literature.

Abstract For many years now, the base to Taiwan¡¦s economic development has been from the medium and little-sized business enterprises, but with the restrictions of domestic economic development, the rising costs of labor, and the intense competition of the international environment, many proprietors believe that for these enterprises to weather through another winter is in itself a difficult task, how would they have the time for discussions of the improvement and development of human resources? Previous academic research and models were all designed for large business enterprises, but are these models fit for those medium and small-sized enterprises? At present, local studies are short of this type case study information and research, therefore, this paper targets medium and small-business enterprises that have been through job evaluation for research in hopes to find a successful human resource management and development model for medium and small-sized business enterprises from successful relevant case studies. Ethan M. Rasiel(1999) said, ¡§No matter what you do, you will always have the chance that there will always be some other person in some other place that has done similar things as you have: learn from other people¡¦s success and lessons, cherish your precious time, don¡¦t try to reinvent tires. The main purpose of this research is to discuss the effect that compensation system design has on cognitive compensation equity and the effect cognitive compensation equity has on employee attitude. The survey method is used for research, with retrieval of 223 effective surveys. Results after analysis of the data are stated below: 1. The effect compensation system design has on cognitive compensation equity is more notable with two factors: ¡¥compensation adjustment plan¡¦ and ¡¥the degree of compensation understanding¡¦. The ¡¥performance standard factor¡¦ has almost no effect on distributional equity; this is an issue that is worth looking into. 2. The effect cognitive compensation equity has on employee attitude, among which ¡¥distribution equity¡¦ has notable effects with compensation satisfaction. Moreover, procedural equity has notable effect on moral commitment, emotional commitment and work commitment; what more to be noticed is that only external equity and compensation openness has notable effect on prolonged commitment. This explains why medium and small-sized business enterprises cannot retain employees. So is this the fate of medium and small-sized business enterprises or is it the ignorance towards compensation design? 3. This research sampled middle and small-sized companies with an employee count of 200 or less. Although there is not a great number of case studies companies, but the results are still impressive, especially the distinct improvement of employee attitude. From this research, it is shown that the cadre members of middle and small-sized business enterprises are younger, have higher academic background, have abundant source of information, like open communication and interaction, have their own opinions on how to set the human resource management system, and expect themselves to become professional managers.

The ABNT NBR 15575 - Performance - Buildings, came into force in July 2013, bringing major changes to the Construction sector, because it establishes minimum quality standards, based on the performance and durability of the systems. The focus of this Standard is on the requirements of users for the housing building and its systems, as their behavior in use and not in limitation of how systems are built. On the other hand, the Code of Constructions and Buildings in the city of Santana do Livramento (COE-SL), RS, is being reworked by the City Hall and it is necessary to include articles in this Act that address the performance requirements. The overall objective of the research was to conduct a thorough study of the Standard and verify what are the main requirements that should guide the Code of Constructions and Buildings in the city, which have been facing serious problems due to climatic factors (such as rainfall and strong winds). There was, after literature review on standardization, performance, municipal building codes, and especially on the Performance Standard, verification of each of the standard requirements and were prepared tables of systems addressed to the verification of need, or not, its inclusion in the COE-SL. Thus, in the presentation of the results, we defined how each selected item might be required and how to do this requirement. Thus, we sought to contribute to transform the Code of Constructions and Buildings in an efficient mechanism in the process of obtaining buildings with good performance. / A ABNT NBR 15575 - Desempenho Edificações, entrou em vigor em Julho de 2013, trazendo grandes mudanças para o setor da Construção Civil, pois estabelece padrões mínimos de qualidade, baseados no desempenho e na durabilidade dos sistemas. O foco desta Norma está nas exigências dos usuários para o edifício habitacional e seus sistemas, quanto ao seu comportamento em uso e não na prescrição de como os sistemas são construídos. Por outro lado, o Código de Obras e Edificações da cidade de Santana do Livramento (COE-SL), RS, está sendo reelaborado pela Prefeitura Municipal e faz-se necessária a inclusão de artigos nessa Lei que contemplem os requisitos de desempenho. O objetivo geral da pesquisa era realizar um estudo aprofundado da Norma e verificar quais os principais requisitos que deveriam orientar o Código de Obras e Edificações da cidade, que vêm enfrentando sérios problemas devidos a fatores climáticos (como chuvas e ventos fortes). Fez-se, após a revisão bibliográfica sobre normalização, desempenho, códigos de obras municipais e, especialmente, sobre a Norma de Desempenho, a verificação de cada um dos requisitos da Norma e foram elaborados quadros relativos aos sistemas abordados com a verificação da necessidade, ou não, da sua inclusão no COE-SL. Assim, na apresentação dos resultados, definiu-se a forma como cada item selecionado poderia ser exigido e de que forma se faria essa exigência. Dessa forma, buscou-se contribuir para transformar a Lei do Código de Obras e Edificações num mecanismo eficiente no processo de obtenção de edificações com bom desempenho.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2018-11-12T15:52:27Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Giovani Bisolo_.pdf: 1274897 bytes, checksum: a33f65812348a6d5c4673cc3ca5b2d40 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-12T15:52:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Giovani Bisolo_.pdf: 1274897 bytes, checksum: a33f65812348a6d5c4673cc3ca5b2d40 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-06-03 / Nenhuma / Este estudo tem como finalidade avaliar por simulação computacional a influência das caraterísticas construtivas e da orientação no seu desempenho térmico de uma unidade habitacional na Zona Bioclimática 2, pela Norma NBR 15575 e pelo método de graus hora, com o intuito de compreender como essas diretrizes tratam o desempenho da edificação. Para isso, foi pesquisado dados sobre a caracterização climática e as estratégicas construtivas para a Zona Bioclimática 2. O objeto tema deste estudo foi um projeto de edifício residencial com quatro pavimentos, com disposição que permitiu avaliar tanto o desempenho térmico dos dormitórios voltados para todas as fachadas, quanto a avaliação dos cômodos com abertura para oeste e sul, conforme exigência da NBR 15575. Para a comparação do método da NBR foram escolhidos 4 dias de verão, e 4 dias de inverno. Já para comparação de desempenho térmico pelo método de graus-hora foram utilizadas todas as horas do ano. Para esse estudo, a temperatura base para o cálculo de graus-hora de resfriamento foi de 26ªC e a temperatura base para o cálculo de graus-hora de aquecimento foi de 18ªC. Percebe-se que a temperatura no interior das unidades habitacionais foi melhor às do ambiente externo, conforme critérios da NBR 15575-1, para todos os ambientes de permanência prolongada. Sendo que, para a condição de verão foi considerado o valor máximo diário da temperatura do ar interior e para a condição de inverno, foi considerado o valor mínimo diário da temperatura do ar interior, ambos para ambientes de permanência prolongada (salas e dormitórios). Os resultados das simulações avaliados pelos critérios da NBR 15575, indicam que, as vedações verticais com blocos de concreto ou blocos cerâmicos, podem ter níveis mínimos, intermediários e superiores, ou até mesmo, não atender a norma, dependendo da escolha do dia típico para a análise. Os resultados simulados com carga térmica pelo método graus-hora, demostram que o desempenho térmico piora no verão e melhora no inverno, isso demostra que as edificações habitadas e com o uso de equipamentos, o desempenho térmico pode ser influenciado. Ao final o estudo pode concluir que a simplificação do método da norma pode alterar a classificação de desempenho térmico do edifício quando indica somente uma renovação de ar por hora ou quando não permite a inclusão de carga térmica, assim como a simplificação do tempo de simulação para apenas um dia de inverno e um dia de verão, pois não há um parâmetro de escolha para as cidades que não estão listadas na norma. Assim sendo, entende-se que a análise do desempenho térmico de um edifício precisa ser elaborado para o ano todo. / The purpose of this study was to evaluate by computational simulation the influence of the constructive characteristics and the orientation in its thermal performance of a housing unit in the Bioclimatic Zone 2, by the norm NBR 15575 and the hour degrees method, in order to understand how these guidelines deal the performance of the building. For this, data on the climatic characterization and the constructive strategies for the Bioclimatic Zone 2 were investigated. The object of this study was a residential building project with four floors, with disposition that allowed to evaluate both the thermal performance of the dormitories facing all the as regards the evaluation of the rooms with opening to the west and south, as required by NBR 15575. For the comparison of the NBR method, 4 days of summer and 4 days of winter were chosen. For comparison of thermal performance by the degree-hour method, all the hours of the year were used. For this study, the base temperature for calculating degree-hours of cooling was 26 ° C and the base temperature for calculating degree-hours of heating was 18 ° C. It can be noticed that the temperature inside the dwelling units was better than those of the external environment, according to the criteria of NBR 15575-1, for all the environments of prolonged residence. For the summer condition, the daily maximum value of the indoor air temperature and for the winter condition were considered, the minimum daily value of the indoor air temperature was considered, both for long stay environments (rooms and dormitories). The results of the simulations evaluated by the criteria of NBR 15575 indicate that vertical fences with concrete blocks or ceramic blocks may have minimum, intermediate and higher levels, or even do not meet the standard, depending on the choice of the typical day for the analysis. The simulated results with thermal load by the degree-hour method, show that thermal performance worsens in summer and winter improves, this shows that inhabited buildings and with the use of equipment, thermal performance can be influenced. At the end of the study, it can be concluded that the simplification of the method of the standard can alter the classification of thermal performance of the building when it indicates only a renewal of air per hour or when it does not allow the inclusion of thermal load, as well as the simplification of the simulation time for only a winter day and a summer day, as there is no parameter of choice for cities that are not listed in the standard. Therefore, it is understood that the analysis of the thermal performance of a building must be elaborated for the whole year.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2016-12-22T14:04:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Jonas Leonardo Pessanha de Souza_.pdf: 4035191 bytes, checksum: 9d6bed2d1de67826e772313353b6eed0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-22T14:04:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jonas Leonardo Pessanha de Souza_.pdf: 4035191 bytes, checksum: 9d6bed2d1de67826e772313353b6eed0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-10-20 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / CNPQ – Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / PROSUP - Programa de Suporte à Pós-Gradução de Instituições de Ensino Particulares / Com o objetivo de melhorar o desempenho das edificações, seguindo tendência mundial, a NBR 15.575/2013 foi desenvolvida. Conhecida como Norma de Desempenho (ND), ela define critérios mínimos, intermediários e superiores e métodos de avaliação do desempenho das edificações habitacionais. A partir de julho de 2013 o atendimento a esta norma passou a ser obrigatório no território nacional, segundo o Código Civil e o Código de Defesa ao Consumidor (Lei nº 8.078/90). Entretanto, há resistências para adoção, visto que, dependendo do tipo de edificação, são necessárias inúmeras mudanças que dependem de todos os envolvidos do setor. O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar as principais mudanças e desafios na implantação do nível superior da ND em uma edificação habitacional na cidade de Novo Hamburgo/RS, através de um estudo de caso realizado em duas etapas. A primeira etapa consistiu na análise quali-quantitativa da ND em relação à edificação estudada e a segunda etapa compreende uma análise das principais mudanças e desafios observados na implantação do nível superior da Norma. Na primeira etapa demonstrou-se a distribuição dos 155 critérios e definiram-se as relações entre partes e aspectos da norma que são mais difíceis de atender a Norma. A segunda etapa foi realizada em duas atividades. Na primeira foram analisados 101 critérios nos 6 aspectos considerados mais complexos, como desempenho estrutural, segurança contra incêndio, estanqueidade, desempenho térmico, desempenho acústico e durabilidade e manutenibilidade. Foi possível identificar como estes critérios se relacionam com as etapas da obra e agentes envolvidos. Quanto às etapas da obra destacaram-se os projetos complementares, execução do revestimento das paredes, execução das intalações, projeto arquitetônico e execução de pisos. Em relação aos agentes destacaram-se os projetistas, a ITA e os fornecedores. Por fim, na segunda atividade, observaram-se as principais alterações e desafios na implantação da ND. No aspecto de segurança contra incêndio identificou-se a necessidade da realização de ensaios de reação e resistência ao fogo. Quanto à estanqueidade foram realizados ensaios de infiltração de água em fachadas e de umidade em vedações. Em relação ao desempenho térmico foi necessária a simulação térmica de toda a edificação. Quanto à durabilidade e manutenibilidade observou-se a necessidade de detalhamentos e especificações para atingir ao VUP dos sistemas. O desempenho estrutural exigiu mudanças na estrutura, como novos parâmetros para o cobrimento e classe do concreto, controle tecnológico total e ensaios de resistência. O desempenho acústico foi o que motivou as maiores alterações na edificação, como o uso de mantas acústicas no piso e blocos estruturais preenchidos com argamassa com grande proporção de areia. Identificou-se que, em geral, os maiores desafios foram a execução de ensaios, análises para avaliação do desempenho de sistemas ou da edificação e mudanças nos sistemas para atender a ND. / Aiming to improve the building performance, following a worldwide trend, NBR 15.575/2013 has been developed. Known as Performance Standard (PS), it defines minimum, intermediate and higher criteria and performance evaluation methods of residential buildings. In July 2013, compliance with this standard became mandatory in the national territory, according to the Civil Code and Consumer Protection Code (Law number 8.078/90). However, there´s a resistance to its adoption, because depending on the type of building, several changes that depend on everyone involved in the engineering industry are necessary. The objective of this study was to identify the main changes and challenges for the implementation of the higher level of PS in a residential building in the city of Novo Hamburgo/RS, based on a case study carried out in two stages. The first stage consisted of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the PS in relation to the studied building and the second stage consisted of an analysis of the major changes and challenges observed in the implementation of the Standard at the higher level. In the first stage, was demonstrated the distribution of 155 criteria and define the relationships between parts and aspects of the standard that make them more difficult to comply with the standard. The second stage was carried out in two activities. In the first one was analyzed 101 criteria in six aspects which are considered more complex, such as structural performance, fire safety, tightness, thermal performance, acoustic performance and durability and maintainability. It was possible to identify how these criteria relate to the stages of the construction and stakeholders. In relation to the construction steps, the highlights are complementary projects, implementation of lining on the walls, implementation of installations, architectural design and construction of floors. In relation to the staff, the highlights are designers, the technical institution of evaluation and suppliers. Finally, in the second activity, was observed the main changes and challenges in the implementation of the PS. In terms of fire safety, was identified the need to carry out tests of reaction and fire resistance; in tightness, water infiltration tests on facades and humidity fences were performed; in thermal performance, thermal simulation of all building was necessary; in durability and maintainability, was observed the need to detail and specify systems that achieve the project usefulness. The structural performance required changes in the structure, such as new parameters for the coating and type of concrete, full technological control and resistance tests. The acoustic performance motivated the greatest changes in the building, such as the use of acoustic blankets on the floor and building blocks filled with mortar and a large proportion of sand. Was found that, in general, the larger challenges were performing tests, analysis for evaluation of system or edification performance and changes in the systems to comply with the PS.

The importance of learning mathematics and using it in daily life is obvious. On the other hand, the results from many national and international assessment studies show that the achievement of Turkish students are very far away from the bare minimum performance. However, in the measurement and evaluation procedures of both primary and secondary educational system, there is a lack of identification of this &ldquo / bare minimum&rdquo / or qualitative and clear descriptors for performance levels. A great importance is dedicated to the national exam results expressed in percentage terms of the correct responses, or in total score points in weighted scale scores, but there is still no system of presenting to students their scores with descriptions of these scores in terms of levels of skills that they did or did not reach. Therefore, this study has aimed to identify the knowledge and skills required for different performance levels defined by setting cut points for the results of a 4th grade mathematics achievement test. The test was conducted in 2007-2008 academic year with 269 fourth grade students in eight different private primary schools in Istanbul. Then, in 2008-2009 academic year, a group of ten teachers of mathematics and assessment experts took part in the study for identifying the performance level descriptors for 4th grade mathematics performance. Two different methods of standard setting were used. One of the methods was based on the oneparameter model of Item Response Theory (IRT) and mostly named as Bookmark Method. The method depended on the statistical identification of the cut points on the scale for performance levels such as Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. The other method was a judgmental method which required the participant teachers to classify the item as carrying the characteristics of performance levels, again, as Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. The study revealed that the item mappings from two methods were congruent to each other. There was a hierarchical ordering in terms of skills among the performance levels. Also, the results demonstrated that understanding and computation skills were heavily characteristics of Below Basic and Basic levels, whereas, problem solving skill was reached by the students of Proficient and Advanced levels.

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of stratified item sampling in order to reduce the number of items needed in Modified Angoff standard setting studies. Representative subsets of items were extracted from a total of 30 full-length tests based upon content weights, item difficulty, and item discrimination. Cut scores obtained from various size subsets of each test were compared to the full-length test cut score as a measure of generalizability. Applied sampling results indicated that 50% of the full-length test is sufficient to obtain cut scores within one standard error of estimate (SEE) of the full-length test standard, and 70% of the full-length test is sufficient to obtain standards within one percentage point of the full-length test standard. A theoretical sampling procedure indicated that 35% of the full-length test is required to reliably obtain a standard within one SEE of the full-length standard, and 65% of the full-length test is required to fall within one percentage point. The effects of test length, panelist group size, and interrater reliability on the feasibility of stratified item sampling were also examined. However, these standard setting characteristics did not serve as significant predictors of subset generalizability in this study.

China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of household appliances, lighting and commercial equipment. China first adopted Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) in 1989. By 2013, China has developed and implemented 52 Energy Efficiency Standards (EES) and 28 mandatory energy labels for a wide range of domestic, commercial, and selected industrial equipment. However, despite of the large number of standards issued, big challenges remain with how to ensure the standards keep up with the dynamic evolvement of technologies and appliance market after they enter effect. The current policy analysis methods adopted by the policy makers primarily focuses on standards making process and very limited attentions were paid on impact assessment and ex-post evaluation of standards and labeling systems, hence the effectiveness of active Energy Efficiency Standards has not been assessed timely and comprehensively. One major barrier of this is the lacking of assessment methods and market data. This thesis intends to tackle the above issues by developing a new policy analysis approach that can be used to assess the impact of energy efficiency standards and labeling with market data. This approach adopts a comprehensive analysis method that comprises three components: (1) Analysis of market data; (2) Quantification of energy savings potential; and (3) Benchmarking China’s EE standards to those of peer economies around the world. This integrated approach leads to three independent but complementary studies that provide evidence-based findings and policy recommendations for the improvement of China’s appliance standards.