Hospitals are regarded as some of the most important structures in society due to the service that they provide. Knowing this, governments spend large amounts of money on these facilities. Also, codes of design require to provide them more reserve capacity than that for conventional structures. However, large damages (such as collapses and permanent or temporary interruptions of their functionality) have still been observed in hospitals during strong earthquakes. Unfortunately, it is precisely after this type of event that their service is in high demand and failure in providing that service could lead to further disastrous or fatal consequences. Therefore, the use of protective technologies, combined with rational procedures of design, would help to reduce damage and probable losses of functionality in hospital structures. In this thesis, a procedure for seismic design of structures equipped with a type of protective technology, namely, buckling-restrained braces (BRBs), is proposed. Then, the results of experimental and numerical studies are presented to understand the benefits of using BRBs in structures. This study highlights that BRBs are very effective to dissipate seismic energy and can act as structural fuses, i.e. disposable devices that may be replaced after an earthquake without interruptions in the functionality of the structure. One of the advantages of the proposed procedure is that it takes into account explicitly the characteristics and contributions of both, the main structure and the BRBs. It is based on the assumption that a structure protected with BRBs can rationally be represented by a dual SDOF system whose parts yield at different displacement levels. Other advantages include: 1) better control of the displacement demands on the structure; 2) achievement of the fuse concept beforehand; and 3) rapid assessment of the probabilistic performance of the structure. The experimental studies consisted of testing steel and concrete models, with and without BRBs, on a shaking table. In addition to calibrate and validate the proposed method of design, the tests have helped to find that, due to BRBs: 1) the damping ratio is increased significantly; and 2) the dynamic response, to ground motions characteristic of the lakebed zone of Mexico City, is reduced in terms of lateral displacements, inter-storey drifts, floor velocities and floor accelerations. The numerical studies are: 1) a study of the response of typical hospitals improved with BRBs; 2) a study of residual displacements in conventional and dual systems; and 3) evaluation of the economic benefits of using BRBs in structures. On these studies, hypothetical hospitals located in the lakebed zone of Mexico City were considered. The results show that the use of BRBs is very beneficial in medium- and low-rise buildings, while adverse effects may be observed in high-rise structures.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / This thesis explores and explains the existence of a best practice model to optimise the transfer of funds (the transfer funding process) between funders and service providers in the public sector. Using ideas about best practice in a specific context, the Health environment, it investigates the perceptions of managers about the transfer of funds between the Provincial Government of the Western Cape and the Local Authority of the City of Cape Town, the existence of a formula that will indicate appropriate amounts to transfer to service providers, and how information systems might assist with the process and the formula. / South Africa

Depuis les années 2000, la France a mis en place d'importantes politiques de réformes de l'Etat. Ayant pour ambition affichée de moderniser la gestion de l'Etat en le recentrant sur ses missions prioritaires comme améliorer le service rendu à l'usager et réduire les dépenses publiques, ces réformes ont des répercussions sur l'ensemble des acteurs, et notamment sur les cadres de proximité. Pris en tenaille entre leur hiérarchie qui fixe des objectifs de performance et leur équipe qui « fait » le travail, ces cadres traduisent au quotidien les objectifs en missions concrètes.Dans le but de mieux comprendre cette posture d'équilibriste et ses conséquences sur l'activité et la santé des cadres, cette thèse s'intéresse à l'activité des cadres de proximité de la Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP), créée en 2008 et qui s'inscrit dans la ligne du New Public Management. Ces cadres A encadrants sont issus des deux anciennes filières distinguées avant la fusion, et dont les cultures respectives diffèrent au niveau de l'approche du pilotage par la performance et de la relation aux agents. Dans une administration en changement permanent, ils sont tiraillés par des injonctions contradictoires, qui remettent continuellement en question leur positionnement vis-à-vis de la hiérarchie versus équipe encadrée, des objectifs de performance versus conditions de vie au travail, des logiques managériales versus logiques de technicité du métier. Un détour par la littérature pluridisciplinaire (sciences de gestion, sociologie, psychologie), abondante notamment sur le rôle et le positionnement des cadres de proximité, pointe pourtant un creux sur le contenu-même de ce travail. En ergonomie, les quelques recherches sur le travail des cadres de proximité s'intéressent plutôt à l'analyse des situations de travail. Nous proposons pour notre part d'analyser cette activité sous le prisme des parcours professionnels au sens de Gaudart & Ledoux (2013), c'est-à-dire comme une succession d'emplois ou de fonctions d'une part, et d'autre part un parcours de travail entendu comme un accroissement du temps vécu (Molinié, Gaudart & Pueyo, 2012) pointant les rôles de l'expérience. Notre objectif est de comprendre à la fois comment les transformations du travail impactent l'activité des cadres de proximité et en quoi l'expérience peut être une ressource dans la réalisation de cette activité, notamment vis-à-vis de la régulation du couple distances/proximités par ces cadres.Notre stratégie de recherche combine cinq méthodes : l'analyse d'un dispositif existant dénommé « espace de dialogue » et de ses contenus ; des entretiens notamment de reconstitution des parcours professionnels et sur le dialogue de gestion ; des observations de l'activité de 14 cadres de proximité ; des auto-confrontations à partir des traces de l'activité ; et l'organisation d'ateliers réflexifs. / Since the 2000s, France set up important policies of State reforms. The aim of these reforms is to modernize the French State management by refocusing this one on its missions' priority as to improve the service provided to the user and to reduce the public spending. These reforms have repercussions on all the actors, in particular on the first-line managers. Between their hierarchy which sets goals of performance and their teams which “do” the work, these first-line managers translate day-to-day the objectives into concrete missions.In order to understand this balanced posture and its consequences on the activity and on the health of managers, this thesis is interested in the activity of the Head office of the Public finances' first-line managers. This administration was created in 2008 and joins in the line of New Public Management. This kind of managers is from the two former sectors which existed before the merger: the respective cultures differ in the approach of performance-based management and the relation to the agents. In an administration in permanent change, the first-line managers are pulled by contradictory orders. This kind of orders questions constantly the positioning towards the hierarchy and supervised team, towards objectives of performance and living conditions at work, towards logics of technical skill and managerial logics. Although the multidisciplinary literature – sciences of management, sociology, psychology – is extensive in particular on the role and the positioning of the first-line managers, the contents of their work are few approached. In ergonomics, some researches on the work of the first-line managers are rather interested in the analysis of working situations. For our part, we suggest analyzing this activity under the prism of the careers (Gaudart & Ledoux, 2013). These careers represent a succession of jobs or functions and a working course with an increase of real-life time (Molinié, Gaudart & Pueyo, 2012) which points at the experience's roles. Our two objectives are to understand how the work transformations impact on the first-line managers' activity and how the experience can be a resource to realize this activity, in particular to regulate the couple closeness / distances by these managers.Our strategy of research combines five methods: the analysis of an existing “space of dialogue” plan and its contents, interviews of the careers' reconstruction, observations of the 14 managers' activity, auto-confrontations from the tracks of the activity, and the organization of reflexive workshops.

Submitted by Maria Dantas (mccdantas@bol.com.br) on 2014-05-27T13:57:41Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria da Conceicao carvalho Dantas Versao 29.04.pdf: 1342520 bytes, checksum: 9b041fd4439f0d6200af6feb7b7fd77b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Auxiliadora da Silva Lopes (silopes@ufba.br) on 2014-07-25T16:40:23Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria da Conceicao carvalho Dantas Versao 29.04.pdf: 1342520 bytes, checksum: 9b041fd4439f0d6200af6feb7b7fd77b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-25T16:40:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria da Conceicao carvalho Dantas Versao 29.04.pdf: 1342520 bytes, checksum: 9b041fd4439f0d6200af6feb7b7fd77b (MD5) / RESUMO O objetivo deste trabalho é a análise da ausência do beijo, que revela o namoro entre duas alunas lésbicas em “Torpedo”, um dos materiais didáticos que compõem o “Kit Escola sem Homofobia” baseando-se na premissa teórica dos Estudos Culturais e também com foco no “perfomativo curricular” que relaciona os conceitos de currículo e performatividade de gênero propostas por Butler, que entende gênero como performativo, por não ser, nem uma afirmação e nem uma negação, mas práticas discursivas que produzem aquilo que nomeiam, por criar verdades, através de repetições de atos, ações que apresentem alguma equivalência com as estruturas sociais e culturais em que o sujeito está inserido. Embora em “Torpedo” seja abordada a relação afetiva entre as alunas, a não representação cultural de pessoas não heterossexuais na escola, nos currículos, nos materiais didáticos, na lógica heteronormativa, tornam estes sujeitos abjetos, pois negam outras formas de sentir afeto, desejo, prazer, valorizando a heterossexualidade como a única forma possível e aceitável de viver a sexualidade, contemplada nos discursos de prestígios dos mesmos currículos, livros didáticos, mídia. O vídeo acaba construindo uma narrativa que o modelo heterossexual é o único desejável e valioso. O material também foi apresentado para um grupo de professoras de uma escola pública estadual de Salvador, que analisou a história, mediante aplicação de instrumento de avaliação com a seguinte questão: o que mudaria na história ? Embora as professoras tenham registrado contribuições, nenhuma delas sugeriu um final diferente com um beijo apaixonado entre as personagens principais, reiterando, assim, o caráter hegemônico dos padrões tradicionais, heteronormativos, na ausência de representações não heterossexuais na escola e na mídia. Também foi analisado o Caderno por expor a proposta conceitual e metodológica do Kit, considerada a peça mais importante e fundamental do documento porque visa oferecer instrumentos pedagógicos para abordar as questões relativas à orientação sexual e identidade de gênero, trazendo a homofobia como uma questão central para ser problematizada nas escolas. A análise foi realizada a partir de critérios básicos, para avaliação do livro didático, propostos pelo MEC (Ministério da Educação e Cultura) para o PNLD (Programa Nacional do Livro Didático) com isenção de preconceito, tanto de origem, etnia, gênero, religião, idade ou outras formas de discriminação. Dados e políticas relacionadas com a homofobia no país e as escolas também são apresentadas para revelar o contexto social em que o material educativo foi criado. Nas considerações finais, verificamos que as exigências do MEC estão contempladas no Caderno. Dessa forma, torna-se necessária uma reforma curricular, que abranja além da educação básica, as universidades e, sobretudo os cursos de licenciatura, capacitando o professor para trabalhar, para repensar as estruturas vigentes, as identidades hegemônicas heterossexuais ou não, desnaturalizando estas verdades conhecidas como absolutas para construção de uma escola mais justa, menos homofóbica, capaz de representar, atender, servir a todos e todas. Palavras-chave: Kit Escola sem Homofobia. Currículo. Performativo Curricular. Performatividade de Gênero. Homossexualidade-Heterossexualidade. Teoria Queer. / ABSTRACT The aim of this work is the analysis of the absence of a kiss, in the relationship between two schoolgirls lesbians who play major characters at the educational video "Torpedo", one of the didactic materials that make up the “Escola sem Homofobia” (School Kit without Homophobia) based on the theoretical premise of cultural studies and also with a focus on "perfomativo" curriculum that relates the concepts of curriculum and gender performativity proposals by Butler, who understands that gender is nor an affirmation and neither a denial but discursive approaches that produce sense and impact by creating truths through repetition of acts, actions that provide some equivalence with the social and cultural structures in which the subject is inserted. Although the relationship between the students is focused at "Torpedo" the affective, cultural representation of non-heterosexuals in school curricula, didactic materials, heteronormative logic, make these abject subjects, because they deny other forms of affection, desire, pleasure, valuing heterosexuality as the only possible and acceptable way to live sexuality, contemplated in the speeches of prestige of the same curricula, textbooks, media. The video ends up building a narrative that the heterosexual model is the only desirable and valuable. The material was also presented to a group of teachers from a State public school of Salvador, which examined the history, by applying assessment tool with the following question: what would be changed in the story? Although teachers have registered contributions, none of them suggested a different ending with a passionate kiss between the main characters, thus reiterating the hegemonic character of traditional patterns, heteronormative, in the absence of representations not heterosexuals in school and in the media. The “Caderno” (Notebook) was also analyzed for exposing the conceptual and methodological proposal Kit, considered the most important and fundamental part of the document because it aims to offer pedagogical instruments to address the issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity, bringing homophobia as a central issue to be discussed in schools. The analysis was carried out from basic criteria for evaluation of the textbook, proposed by MEC (Ministry of education and culture) to the PNLD (National Textbook Program) with exemption of prejudice, both of origin, ethnicity, gender, religion, age or other forms of discrimination. Data and policies related to homophobia in the country and schools are also presented to reveal the social context in which the educational material was created. In the final considerations, we verified that the requirements of the MEC are contemplated in the contract. Thus, it is necessary to rethink and redesign school curricula, from basic education to universities, and especially the degree courses, enabling the teacher to work, to rethink existing structures, hegemonic heterosexual identities or not, denaturalized these truths known as absolute for building a fairer, less homophobic school, able to represent, to cater and to serve all both male and female. Key-Words: Kit Escola sem Homofobia. Currícula. Performativo Curricular. performance-based curricula. Homosexuality. Heterossexuality. Queer Theory.

abstract: The building sector is responsible for consuming the largest proportional share of global material and energy resources. Some observers assert that buildings are the problem and the solution to climate change. It appears that in the United States a coherent national energy policy to encourage rapid building performance improvements is not imminent. In this environment, where many climate and ecological scientists believe we are running out of time to reverse the effects of anthropogenic climate change, a local grass-roots effort to create demonstration net zero-energy buildings (ZEB) appears necessary. This paper documents the process of designing a ZEB in a community with no existing documented ZEB precedent. The project will establish a framework for collecting design, performance, and financial data for use by architects, building scientists, and the community at large. This type of information may prove critical in order to foster a near-term local demand for net zero-energy buildings. / Dissertation/Thesis / Appendix M - Simulation and Weather Data / M.S. Built Environment 2014

Modern buildings increasingly include the usage of innovative materials aimed at improving sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint of the built environment. Phase Change Materials (PCMs) are one such group of novel materials which reduce building energy consumption. These materials are typically flammable and contained within wall linings yet there has been no detailed assessment of their fire performance. Current standard fire test methods provide means to compare similar materials but do not deliver knowledge on how they would behave in the event of a real fire. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to develop a novel testing framework to assess the behaviour of these materials in realistic fire scenarios. For PCMs, a flammability study is conducted in the bench-scale cone calorimeter to evaluate the fire risk associated with these materials. Then, micro-scale Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) is used to identify the fundamental chemical reactions to be able to confidently interpret the flammability results. Finally, intermediate-scale standard fire tests are conducted to evaluate the applicability of the bench-scale results to realistic fire scenarios. These take the form of modified Lateral Ignition and Flame spread Test (LIFT) and Single Burning Item (SBI) tests to understand flame spread and compartment fires respectively. Finally, a simplified method to combine this knowledge for use in building design is proposed. This method allows the balancing of potential energy benefits with quantified fire performance to achieve the specified goals of the designer. Hemp-lime insulation is a material which has also becoming increasingly popular in the drive towards sustainability. The porous nature of the material means that smouldering combustions are the dominant reaction mode but there is currently no standardised test method for this type of behaviour. Thus, hemp-lime materials also represent an unquantified risk. The work in this thesis defines a simple, accessible and economically viable bench-scale method for quantifying the fire risk associated with rigid porous materials. This is applicable for both downward opposed flow and upward forward flow smoulder propagation conditions. The behaviour is then interpreted using micro-scale thermogravimetric analysis to understand the underlying pyrolysis and oxidation reactions. Designers can utilise this framework to quantify the smouldering risk associated with hemp-lime materials to enable their usage in the built environment. The holistic fire risk assessment performed in this thesis has quantified the behaviour of PCMs and hemp-lime insulation applicable to realistic fire scenarios. The simplified design method empowers designers to be able to realise innovative buildings through fundamental understanding of the fire behaviour of these materials. The outcomes of this thesis allow designers to mitigate the fire risk associated with these materials and achieve optimised engineering solutions. Furthermore, the novel fire testing frameworks provide the economically viable means to assess the fire performance of future PCMs and hemp-lime products which ensures lasting relevance of this research in the future.

The aim of this study is to investigate and identify perceptions, problems and challenges that may arise for wage-setting managers as well as individual employees when working with a performance-based payroll system. A letter of formal notice was sent to a recruitment company inviting them to participate in the study, which also included an explanation of the study’s purpose, approach and procedure. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with nine participants, including the wage-setting manager. The study has given insight into how these participants perform in relation to the performance-based payroll system and the results of the study imply that their experiences vary to a great extent. The wage-setting manager believes that the payroll system is well-functioning. However, he finds challenges in creating a common interpretation of the salary criterias with his employees, as well as communicating the basis of his wage-setting decisions. For employees, results show that the payroll system contributes to experiences of increased motivation and development, as well as stress. Additionally, the study indicates that the results reflect a gender perspective as the women in the study are more prone to stress caused by the performance-based payroll system than men.

Att få ut det bästa och mesta av varje medarbetare har blivit allt viktigare i dagens samhälle. Vi förväntas vara både produktiva och effektiva i allt vi gör. Men vad är det egentligen som samvarierar med den individuella arbetsprestationen? Är det hur engagerade vi är i arbetet, vår prestationsbaserade självkänsla eller ligger det till och med i vår personlighet? Finns det verktyg att använda vid rekrytering som kan förutsäga något om hur en individ kommer att prestera i arbetet? Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka huruvida arbetsengagemang, personlighet och prestationsbaserad självkänsla är av betydelse för den upplevda individuella arbetsprestationen. I studien studerades validerade test som mäter personlighet (Mini-IPIP6), prestationsbaserad självkänsla (PBSE) och arbetsengagemang (UWES9) i förhållande till den individuella arbetsprestationen (IWPQ) för att undersöka vilka samband som finns. En webb-enkät bestående av dessa fyra frågeformulär sammanställdes och kompletterades med bakgrundsfrågor. Insamlade data analyserades med hjälp av korrelations- och regressionsanalyser. I studien deltog 250 personer (M = 34 år, SD = 11 år) med olika bakgrund, och det enda inklusionskriteriet var att ha någon form av arbetslivserfarenhet. Resultaten visade att arbetsengagemang var den variabel som i störst utsträckning kunde förutsäga en god individuell arbetsprestation medan personlighetsdimensionerna neuroticism och ärlighet var de variabler som i störst utsträckning kunde förutsäga ett kontraproduktivt arbetsbeteende. Slutsatsen i föreliggande studie blev därmed att frågeformulär som mäter arbetsengagemang (UWES9) är det bäst lämpade av Mini-IPIP6, PBSE och UWES9, då syftet är att försöka förutsäga en god upplevd individuell arbetsprestation. / Getting the best and most out of every employee has become more important in today's society. We are expected to be both productive and efficient in everything we do. But what exactly does coincide with the individual work performance? Is it how committed we are at work, our self-esteem or is it even our personality? Are there any tools for recruiting who can say something about how someone will perform at work? The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether employee engagement, personality and performance-based self-esteem are of importance to the perceived individual work performance. The study examined validated tests that measure personality (Mini-IPIP6), performance-based self-esteem (PBSE) and work engagement (UWES9) in relation to the individual work performance (IWPQ) to investigate which relationships that exist. A web questionnaire with these four questionnaires was compiled and supplemented with background issues. The collected data were analyzed using correlation and regression analyzes. The study comprised 250 people (M = 34 years, SD = 11 years) with different backgrounds, and the only inclusion criterion was to have some form of work experience. The results showed that work engagement was the best variable to predict a good individual work performance, while the personality dimensions, neuroticism and honesty, were the best variables to predict a counterproductive work behavior. The conclusion in this study was that questionnaires that measure work engagement (UWES9) are best suited of Mini-IPIP6, PBSE and UWES9, when the purpose is to try to predict a good perceived individual work performance.

O objetivo principal deste trabalho é identificar quais são os possíveis impactos que a adoção de um novo modelo de contratação de empreendimentos populares pela Caixa Econômica Federal (CAIXA) tem sobre a promoção da inovação e da sustentabilidade na cadeia brasileira da construção civil. Apesar de possuir diversas definições, o conceito mais aceito de sustentabilidade é a capacidade de atender as necessidades do presente sem impedir que as futuras gerações satisfaçam suas necessidades. O movimento em prol da sustentabilidade vem se fortalecendo rapidamente no mundo no início deste século XXI, instigando a sociedade civil a repensar seu comportamento de consumo, impactando diretamente sobre o comportamento de produção das empresas. Neste processo de mudança, a capacidade de inovar, isto é, de produzir novos conhecimentos ou aplicar de maneira diferentes conhecimentos existentes, é estratégica para que as empresas possam se adaptar a este novo contexto em que a sustentabilidade é requisito de participação no mercado. Um modelo de compra estratégica de empreendimentos populares baseado em desempenho, ao modificar a metodologia de seleção, contratação e acompanhamento das construtoras se apresenta como uma maneira do Estado influenciar o setor brasileiro da construção civil em direção à sustentabilidade. Através de uma pesquisa exploratória teórica, apresentamos uma forma de aplicação do modelo de compra estratégica baseada em desempenho desenvolvida nos Estados Unidos no início dos anos 1990 e identificamos seu potencial em estimular a sustentabilidade, devido principalmente à maneira como são descritas as características dos empreendimentos a serem construídos, e a inovação, devido à maneira como se dá a relação entre proponentes e a CAIXA durante o processo de seleção dos empreendimentos. A principal conclusão desta pesquisa é que o modelo apresentado tem um potencial muito maior que o atual em promover a inovação e a sustentabilidade no setor brasileiro da construção civil, uma vez que apresenta novos papéis e uma nova dinâmica de relacionamento entre todos os agentes envolvidos na implantação da política pública de habitação. / The main purpose of this research is to identify the possible impacts the adoption of a new purchasing model of popular buildings by Caixa Econômica Federal (CAIXA) has on the promotion of innovation and sustainability in the Brazilian building chain. Despite several definitions, the most accepted concept of sustainable development is the development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The sustainability movement is quickly getting stronger in the beginning of the 21st century, urging civil society to rethink its consumption pattern. This has a direct impact over companies production pattern. On this change process, the ability to innovate, that is, to develop new knowledge or apply in different matters the existing knowledge, is strategic to companies adapt to this new context where sustainability is a condition to keep in market. A performance-based procurement model of popular housing, once it modifies the methodology of selection, award and monitoring building companies, becomes a way to the State promote the Brazilian building sector towards sustainability. Through a theoretical exploratory research, we present a model of performance-based procurement developed in the USA in the 1990´s and we identify its potential to promote sustainability and innovation, mainly due to the way the request for proposal is done. The main finding of this research is that the presented model has a greater potential than the actual one to foster innovation and sustainability in the Brazilian building sector, once it presents new roles and a new relationship dynamics among all agents involved in the implementation of the public housing policy.

This thesis aims to investigate fund managers salaries in relation to their contributions. The study is conducted on the Swedish fund market under a period over five years, 2014-2018, and include 332 funds. The result observed shows a positive relation between salaries and risk-adjusted performance. The result proves that fund managers are able to outperform the market on average, which should not be possible to do systematically over time according to the efficient market hypothesis. It also turns out that salary has a positive relationship with assets under management. This indicates that fund managers are employed and compensated for more reasons than to generate a high return, namely to contribute to more significant inflows of cash to the fund company. Interpretations of fund managers’ salaries are primarily linked to agency theory and economics of superstars. The agency problem alter in the fund industry since the setting is two-folded. Agency problem could be mitigated by implementing a performance-based compensation structure, to aligning investors, management and fund managers’ ambitions. The result shows signs that a performance-based salary is present in the fund industry. A fund managers’ salary assumes to be based on his/her skillfulness, but could also be due to an individual’s stardom. To conclude, the thesis state that fund managers’ deserve their salary, which in relative terms are fairly high, since they procure additional benefits to the fund company.