The act of reading has benefits for individuals and societies, yet studies show that reading declines, especially among the young. Recommender systems (RSs) can help stop such decline. There is a lot of research regarding literary books using natural language processing (NLP) methods, but the analysis of textual book content to improve recommendations is relatively rare. We propose content-based recommender systems that extract elements learned from book texts to predict readers’ future interests. One factor that influences reading preferences is writing style; we propose a system that recommends books after learning their authors’ writing style. To our knowledge, this is the first work that transfers the information learned by an author-identification model to a book RS. Another approach that we propose uses over a hundred lexical, syntactic, stylometric, and fiction-based features that might play a role in generating high-quality book recommendations. Previous book RSs include very few stylometric features; hence, our study is the first to include and analyze a wide variety of textual elements for book recommendations. We evaluated both approaches according to a top-k recommendation scenario. They give better accuracy when compared with state-of-the-art content and collaborative filtering methods. We highlight the significant factors that contributed to the accuracy of the recommendations using a forest of randomized regression trees. We also conducted a qualitative analysis by checking if similar books/authors were annotated similarly by experts. Our content-based systems suffer from the new user problem, well-known in the field of RSs, that hinders their ability to make accurate recommendations. Therefore, we propose a Topic Model-Based book recommendation component (TMB) that addresses the issue by using the topics learned from a user’s shared text on social media, to recognize their interests and map them to related books. To our knowledge, there is no literature regarding book RSs that exploits public social networks other than book-cataloging websites. Using topic modeling techniques, extracting user interests can be automatic and dynamic, without the need to search for predefined concepts. Though TMB is designed to complement other systems, we evaluated it against a traditional book CB. We assessed the top k recommendations made by TMB and CB and found that both retrieved a comparable number of books, even though CB relied on users’ rating history, while TMB only required their social profiles.

As empresas operam em um ambiente cada vez mais dinâmico e competitivo, tornando imprescindível atender adequadamente às necessidades dos consumidores. Na atualidade, estas demandas foram ampliadas e, além de custo, qualidade, velocidade de entrega e flexibilidade, identifica-se um mercado que passa a cobrar pela redução dos impactos ambientais gerados pelos produtos e processos. Deste modo, esta pesquisa defende a proposição de que a Manufatura Enxuta, uma filosofia de gestão da produção, somada aos propósitos da Produção mais Limpa (PmaisL), uma estratégia de gestão ambiental para sistemas produtivos, pode ser uma solução para o alinhamento de seus objetivos, visto que ambas buscam o aumento de produtividade e a eliminação dos desperdícios. Para a implantação da Manufatura Enxuta não foi determinado um método que oriente como realizar este processo e quais são as práticas essenciais, além de ter poucas pesquisas que buscam compreender os fatores disto. Do mesmo modo, pesquisas que abordem a Manufatura Enxuta e a PmaisL ainda são preliminares. Neste sentido, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi propor recomendações para a implantação da Manufatura Enxuta considerando os propósitos da PmaisL, estruturadas no ciclo de melhoria contínua do método DMAIC. O método de pesquisa utilizado para alcançar o objetivo proposto foi o estudo de caso único em uma empresa de referência e o embasamento teórico foi pautado em uma revisão bibliográfica sistemática (RBS). Os resultados gerados com o desenvolvimento dessa pesquisa permitiram observar que não existe um método padrão para a implantação e que a literatura, de modo geral, aborda a implantação da Manufatura Enxuta como um processo de ciclos de melhoria continua envolvendo as atividades definir, medir, analisar, melhorar e controlar e também aborda o processo de implantação a ordem que as ferramentas e práticas devem ser implantadas. No que tange a RBS sobre PmaisL e manufatura enxuta foi possível extrair da literatura as compatibilidades e divergências entre as abordagens, recomendações para melhorar o desempenho ambiental dos sistemas enxutos, como os recursos humanos interferem na integração destas áreas e, além disso, como as práticas enxutas podem ser utilizadas para atingir os objetivos da PmaisL. Além disso, o estudo de caso permitiu observar empiricamente como o meio ambiente pode ser ponderado em um sistema de Manufatura Enxuta. Assim, com base nas evidências teóricas e práticas, gerou-se as recomendações, as quais poderão orientar as empresas de manufatura que desejam implantar as abordagens da Manufatura Enxuta e da PmaisL de maneira conjunta e obterem, simultaneamente, desempenho ambiental e econômico em suas melhorias. Ainda, foi possível concluir que apesar de existirem alguns trade-offs, estas abordagens são em grande parte convergentes. / Companies are operating in an ever more competitive and dynamic environment, making it essential to fulfil the consumers needs. Currently, these demands have expanded, and in addition to cost, quality, delivery speed and flexibility, it is possible to identify a market that requires reduction in the environmental impact of their products as well as procedures. Thus, this research supports the proposition that Lean Manufacturing, a production management philosophy, combined with Cleaner Production, the environmental management strategy for industrial systems, can be a solution for aligning goals, as both seek increased productivity and the elimination of wastage. In the implementation of Lean Manufacturing, there is as yet no method for guiding one to carry out this procedure, and to know what the essential operations are, as well as only having a few studies aimed to understand the factors involved. Similarly, the research addressing Lean Manufacturing and Cleaner Production remains at its initial stages. Thus, the objective of this research was to provide recommendations for the implementation of Lean Manufacturing considering Cleaner Production proposals, using the continuous improvement cycle structure from the DMAIC method. The research method used to achieve the proposed objective was a single case study in a notable company, and the theoretical framework was developed through a systematic literature review. The results, obtained through the development of this research, allowed us to observe that there was no standard method for deployment, and that the literature, in general, addressed the implementation of Lean Manufacturing as a process of cycles of continuous improvement, involving the defining, measuring, analyzing, improving and controlling activities; and also addressed within the implementation process the order in which the tools and operations should be implemented. With respect to RBS on Cleaner Production and Lean Manufacturing, it was possible to extract, from the literature, compatibilities and differences between the approaches; recommendations to improve the environmental performance of Lean systems, and how human resources interfered with the integration of these areas and, moreover, how the Lean operations could be used to achieve the objectives of Cleaner Production. In addition, the case study allowed the empirical observation of how the environment could be balanced in a Lean Manufacturing system. Thus, based on theoretical and practical evidence, the results generated recommendations, which could guide manufacturing companies that wanted to deploy in conjunction the approaches of Lean Manufacturing and Cleaner Production, and achieve both environmental and economical performances in their improvements. Furthermore, it was concluded that, although there are some trade-offs, these approaches are largely convergent.

Orientador: José Carlos Plácido da Silva / Banca: Claudia Renata Mont'Alvão Bastos Rodrigues / Banca: João Pedro Albino / Resumo: A rápida evolução de tecnologias com a Internet somada à popularização dos computadores fez aumentar a produção de sistemas computacionais relacionados à área do ensino. No entanto, a qualidade com que as interfaces são produzidas não é acompanhada desse crescimento. Estudos como os de Nielsen (2005) e de Bastien e Scapin (1993), apresentam regras e recomendações para que os softwares sejam elaborados de modo a facilitar sua aprendizagem e uso, proporcionando usabilidade. Apesar da existência de diversos estudos como esses, aparentemente não há a preocupação devida com o assunto. Interfaces que confundem e dificultam as tarefas encontram-se à larga em sites de empresas pequenas e grandes, públicas e privadas. Observações empíricas mostram que, além de muitas interfaces deficientes presentes na web, o problema deva estar também localizado na formação lacunar desses profissionais. Pelo que se encontrou nos sites pesquisados, é provável que desenvolvedores de sistemas, como alunos de cursos de Sistemas de Informação e Design Grágico, estejam saindo das universidades despreparados para o desenvolvimento de interfaces com usabilidade. Neste contexto, os estudos de recomendações de usabilidade merecem especial atenção, pois podem guiar os desenvolvedores no projeto das interfaces, eliminando situações inadequadas. Neste sentido, esta pesquisa tem com objetivo o levantamento e análise de estudos de usabilidade de diferentes autores e grupos de pesquisa da área com o intuito de apontar recomendações básicas para verificar o nível de conhecimento sobre as mesmas junto aos estudantes da área de desenvolvimento de sistemas , com também contribuir com o ensino dessas recomendações / Abstract: The continuous evolution of internet technologies added to computers popularization increased the production of sites related to education area. However, the quality which interfaces are produced is not matched to this growth. Studies such as those from Nielsen (2005) and Bastien and Scapin (1993), have rules and recommendations that contribute to computer systems development providing usability principles that improves their leaning and use. Despite of many studies like these, apparently there is not a suitable concern about this subject. Interfaces that confuse and complicate tasks can be found in sites of small or large, public or private companies. Empirical observations show that, in addition to the presence of many deficient web interfaces, the problem might also be found on a personal formation deficiency among professionals in this area. From what was found on the sites surveyed, it is likely that systems developers, such as students of Information Systems and Graphic Design courses, are coming out of universities unprepared for developing interfaces with usability. In this context, usability recommendations studies deserve special attention as they can guide developers in designing better interfaces, eliminating inappropriate situations. In this sense, this research aims at the survey and analysis of usability studies from different authors an research groups with the objective of identifing basic recommendations and evaluating their knowledge level among students of systems development area, but also contribute to the teaching of these recommendations / Mestre

The thesis shows the view of the process of recruitment and selection of the employees applied in companies. The process is decomposed into the specific activities that are analysed in more detail. Recruitment methods are evaluated from the perspective of both employers and applicants for posts. On the basis of the questionnaires lists the specific procedures used in practice by employers, applicants' approaches and experiences of the recruitment procedure.

As empresas operam em um ambiente cada vez mais dinâmico e competitivo, tornando imprescindível atender adequadamente às necessidades dos consumidores. Na atualidade, estas demandas foram ampliadas e, além de custo, qualidade, velocidade de entrega e flexibilidade, identifica-se um mercado que passa a cobrar pela redução dos impactos ambientais gerados pelos produtos e processos. Deste modo, esta pesquisa defende a proposição de que a Manufatura Enxuta, uma filosofia de gestão da produção, somada aos propósitos da Produção mais Limpa (PmaisL), uma estratégia de gestão ambiental para sistemas produtivos, pode ser uma solução para o alinhamento de seus objetivos, visto que ambas buscam o aumento de produtividade e a eliminação dos desperdícios. Para a implantação da Manufatura Enxuta não foi determinado um método que oriente como realizar este processo e quais são as práticas essenciais, além de ter poucas pesquisas que buscam compreender os fatores disto. Do mesmo modo, pesquisas que abordem a Manufatura Enxuta e a PmaisL ainda são preliminares. Neste sentido, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi propor recomendações para a implantação da Manufatura Enxuta considerando os propósitos da PmaisL, estruturadas no ciclo de melhoria contínua do método DMAIC. O método de pesquisa utilizado para alcançar o objetivo proposto foi o estudo de caso único em uma empresa de referência e o embasamento teórico foi pautado em uma revisão bibliográfica sistemática (RBS). Os resultados gerados com o desenvolvimento dessa pesquisa permitiram observar que não existe um método padrão para a implantação e que a literatura, de modo geral, aborda a implantação da Manufatura Enxuta como um processo de ciclos de melhoria continua envolvendo as atividades definir, medir, analisar, melhorar e controlar e também aborda o processo de implantação a ordem que as ferramentas e práticas devem ser implantadas. No que tange a RBS sobre PmaisL e manufatura enxuta foi possível extrair da literatura as compatibilidades e divergências entre as abordagens, recomendações para melhorar o desempenho ambiental dos sistemas enxutos, como os recursos humanos interferem na integração destas áreas e, além disso, como as práticas enxutas podem ser utilizadas para atingir os objetivos da PmaisL. Além disso, o estudo de caso permitiu observar empiricamente como o meio ambiente pode ser ponderado em um sistema de Manufatura Enxuta. Assim, com base nas evidências teóricas e práticas, gerou-se as recomendações, as quais poderão orientar as empresas de manufatura que desejam implantar as abordagens da Manufatura Enxuta e da PmaisL de maneira conjunta e obterem, simultaneamente, desempenho ambiental e econômico em suas melhorias. Ainda, foi possível concluir que apesar de existirem alguns trade-offs, estas abordagens são em grande parte convergentes. / Companies are operating in an ever more competitive and dynamic environment, making it essential to fulfil the consumers needs. Currently, these demands have expanded, and in addition to cost, quality, delivery speed and flexibility, it is possible to identify a market that requires reduction in the environmental impact of their products as well as procedures. Thus, this research supports the proposition that Lean Manufacturing, a production management philosophy, combined with Cleaner Production, the environmental management strategy for industrial systems, can be a solution for aligning goals, as both seek increased productivity and the elimination of wastage. In the implementation of Lean Manufacturing, there is as yet no method for guiding one to carry out this procedure, and to know what the essential operations are, as well as only having a few studies aimed to understand the factors involved. Similarly, the research addressing Lean Manufacturing and Cleaner Production remains at its initial stages. Thus, the objective of this research was to provide recommendations for the implementation of Lean Manufacturing considering Cleaner Production proposals, using the continuous improvement cycle structure from the DMAIC method. The research method used to achieve the proposed objective was a single case study in a notable company, and the theoretical framework was developed through a systematic literature review. The results, obtained through the development of this research, allowed us to observe that there was no standard method for deployment, and that the literature, in general, addressed the implementation of Lean Manufacturing as a process of cycles of continuous improvement, involving the defining, measuring, analyzing, improving and controlling activities; and also addressed within the implementation process the order in which the tools and operations should be implemented. With respect to RBS on Cleaner Production and Lean Manufacturing, it was possible to extract, from the literature, compatibilities and differences between the approaches; recommendations to improve the environmental performance of Lean systems, and how human resources interfered with the integration of these areas and, moreover, how the Lean operations could be used to achieve the objectives of Cleaner Production. In addition, the case study allowed the empirical observation of how the environment could be balanced in a Lean Manufacturing system. Thus, based on theoretical and practical evidence, the results generated recommendations, which could guide manufacturing companies that wanted to deploy in conjunction the approaches of Lean Manufacturing and Cleaner Production, and achieve both environmental and economical performances in their improvements. Furthermore, it was concluded that, although there are some trade-offs, these approaches are largely convergent.

Submitted by PPG Ci?ncia da Computa??o (ppgcc@pucrs.br) on 2018-10-24T18:17:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ALEXANDRE LAZARETTI ZANATTA.DIS.pdf: 3682553 bytes, checksum: f4e0c608791ce6787d609d8099456e04 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Sheila Dias (sheila.dias@pucrs.br) on 2018-10-26T11:47:02Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 ALEXANDRE LAZARETTI ZANATTA.DIS.pdf: 3682553 bytes, checksum: f4e0c608791ce6787d609d8099456e04 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-10-26T11:56:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ALEXANDRE LAZARETTI ZANATTA.DIS.pdf: 3682553 bytes, checksum: f4e0c608791ce6787d609d8099456e04 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-08-13 / Software crowdsourcing development platforms require a continuous influx of crowdworkers for their continuity. Crowdworkers should be encouraged to play an important role in the online communities by being active members, but they face difficulties when attempting to participate. For this reason, we investigated the difficulties that crowdworkers face in crowdsourcing software development platforms. We conducted empirical studies relying on multiple data sources and research methods including literature review, peer review, field study, and procedures of grounded theory. We observed that crowdworkers face many barriers ? related to competence, collaboration, and time management ? when making their contributions in software crowdsourcing development, which can result in dropouts. Based on the identified barriers, literature review and, crowdworkers suggestions, we list 13 recommendations for participants as potential solutions to overcome such barriers. The recommendations were evaluated by surveying software crowdsourcing experts. The main contributions of this dissertation are a) empirical identification of barriers faced by crowdsourcing software development crowdworkers; and b) recommendations on how to minimize the barriers. We conclude that the crowdworkers need competency and an efficient time management effort to take part collaboratively in tasks of the Competition-Based Crowdsourcing Software Development of the Topcoder platform. / O desenvolvimento de projetos por meio de software crowdsourcing depende de um fluxo cont?nuo de trabalhadores da multid?o para sua continuidade. Estes trabalhadores necessitam ser membros ativos, por?m enfrentam dificuldades quando tentam participar em projetos de software crowdsourcing. Por esta raz?o, investigou-se quais foram as dificuldades que os trabalhadores da multid?o enfrentam em plataformas de desenvolvimento de projetos via software crowdsourcing. Foram realizados v?rios estudos emp?ricos baseados em m?ltiplas fontes de dados e m?todos de pesquisa, incluindo revis?o da literatura, revis?o por pares, estudo de campo e procedimentos da teoria fundamentada. Observou-se que os trabalhadores enfrentam muitas barreiras - relacionadas ? compet?ncia, colabora??o e gerenciamento do tempo - ao fazerem suas contribui??es no desenvolvimento projetos por software crowdsourcing, o que pode resultar em desist?ncias. Com base nas barreiras identificadas, revis?o de literatura e sugest?es dos trabalhadores foram apresentadas 13 recomenda??es para que estes trabalhadores possam superar tais barreiras. Estas recomenda??es foram avaliadas por especialistas em software crowdsourcing. As principais contribui??es desta tese foram: a) identifica??o emp?rica das barreiras enfrentadas pelos desenvolvedores de software em projetos de software crowdsourcing; e b) recomenda??es para minimizar estas barreiras. Conclui-se que os trabalhadores da multid?o precisam de compet?ncia e um esfor?o eficiente de gerenciamento de tempo para participar de forma colaborativa nas tarefas do desenvolvimento de projetos em software Crowdsourcing no modelo competitivo da plataforma Topcoder.

Magister Legum - LLM / Money laundering (hereafter ML) is a multidisciplinary topic which has become important since the late 1980s. The term ‘laundering’ literally means ‘washing’ or ‘removing dirt’. It has been defined as the conversion of criminal income into assets that cannot be traced back to the underlying crime. Criminals use ML as a way of keeping control over the proceeds of crime and to provide, ultimately, a cover for their income and wealth. ML occurs every time any transaction takes place, regardless of whether it involves any form of property or benefit, whether tangible or not tangible, which is derived from criminal activity. ML is regulated at the global, regional and national levels. To combat ML and other financial crimes, Malawi enacted the Financial Crimes Act (hereafter FCA). The FCA establishes the Financial Intelligence Authority (hereafter FIA) as an institution whose objectives include collecting financial intelligence regarding suspicious transactions.

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The majority of youth transitioning from foster care to adulthood aspire to achieve a higher education, yet they often face barriers and lack a support system. In the United States, only 50% of foster youth graduate from high school. About 13% of foster youth enter college and only 3% graduate. The purpose of this study is to assess foster youths’ perceptions on the social worker’s role when pursuing higher education. The literature suggests that child welfare agencies have developed a variety of programs for foster youth and for their social workers aimed at improving foster youth’s educational outcomes. Yet, the gap between foster youth’s aspirations and achievements persists. This study used a qualitative design as well as a purposive sampling method. We interviewed 15 foster youth, ages 18-25 from a foster youth program at a four-year university. We asked about their experiences in preparing and pursuing a higher education, particularly their perceptions of their social workers’ roles in these experiences. Our findings suggest that social workers’ encouragement, communication about higher education information, and communication about financial aid are all important to foster youth. Our participants recommended a variety of suggestions around ways social workers could facilitate foster youth’s access to higher education. Participants shared a range of experiences with social workers related to encouragement and information about college; some received a great deal of information and support, while others did not. Participants recommended social workers provide a checklist to discuss the steps required to attend college, encouragement, information about college and financial aid, trainings for social workers to learn more about college resources and share with foster youth, more one-one time to discuss educational options, and social workers to discuss college with foster youth at an early age. Our findings suggest encouragement and information about higher education and financial aid are highly important and youth do not receive these consistently from social workers. Understanding the role social workers played in the lives of foster youth can help provide more insight into what services can be enhanced or implemented to better prepare foster youth for higher education.