This work investigates the challenges associated with designing silicon-germanium (SiGe) analog and mixed-signal circuits capable of operating reliably in extreme environment conditions. Three extreme environment operational conditions, namely, operation over an extremely wide temperature range, operation at extremely low temperatures, and operation under radiation exposure, are considered. As a representative for critical analog building blocks, bandgap voltage reference (BGR) circuit is chosen. Several architectures of the BGRs are implemented in two SiGe BiCMOS technology platforms. The effects of wide-temperature operation, deep cryogenic operation, and proton and x-ray irradiation on the performance of BGRs are investigated. The impact of Ge profile shape on BGR's wide-temperature performance is also addressed. Single-event transient response of the BGR circuit is studied through microbeam experiments. In addition, proton radiation response of high-voltage transistors, implemented in a low-voltage SiGe platform, is investigated. A platform consisting of a high-speed comparator, digital-to-analog (DAC) converter, and a high-speed flash analog-to-digital (ADC) converter is designed to facilitate the evaluation of the extreme environment capabilities of SiGe data converters. Room temperature measurement results are presented and predictions on how temperature and radiation will impact their key electrical properties are provided.

The thesis explores the role of music in Günter Grass’s novels. In pointing out the vital role of intermediality for Grass’s narrative strategies, the thesis opens up for a new, intermedial perspective on his work. It shows how references to music are used to realise Grass’s poetological concept “paspresenture” – the simultaneous presence of past, present and future – as well as his constant strive towards concreteness. The study draws on theories of intermediality, with a special focus on the role of transmedial media characteristics. It develops a transmedial methodology for analysing intermedial references, stressing how the notion of “musicality” within the text is created by media characteristics shared by both music and literature. Intermedial references are conceived as highlighting structures that are inherent in literature. The textual analyses of The Tin Drum (1959), Too Far Afield (1995) and Crabwalk (2002) are divided into three steps. First, explicit musical references in the narratives are interpreted as indexes pointing towards transmedial structures relevant to this specific context. Second, the examination demonstrates the prominent role of transmedial characteristics such as repetitivity, contrast, simultaneity and performativity within the texts. Third and last, the function of musical reference is discussed: in all three narratives, the focus on transmedial structures supplies a more consistent interpretation of passages which otherwise prove difficult to decipher. In Grass’s fiction, issues appear not to be discussed but performatively reenacted and thus remind more of musical than literary development. What is more, music – as handled by Grass – does not appear absolute or transcendent; rather, its manipulative potential is always prominent. However, the way musical references are used to realise Grass’s poetological aims stresses the bodily presence of musical performance, thus making music appear as the performative realisation of time.

The objects of the South African Pharmacy Council in terms of the Pharmacy Act, 1974 (5311974) as amended are, inter alia, "to uphold and safeguard the rights of the general public to universally acceptable standards of pharmacy practice in both the private and the public sector" as well as "to establish, develop, maintain and control universally acceptable standards of practice of the various categories of persons required to be registered.. ." One of the major difficulties health care providers worldwide are faced with is how to maintain a proper balance between the trio goals of health care, namely adequate access, high quality and acceptable costs (Li, 2003:192-193). Relatively little is known about such problems as do exist for patients regarding access to pharmaceutical services (Doucette et al., 1999:1268). Two main objectives were identified for this study, namely to investigate the demographic profile of community and institutional pharmacies registered with the South African Pharmacy Council; and to determine the standard of pharmaceutical services provided by these pharmacies. Inspection results of community and institutional pharmacies were obtained from the South African Pharmacy Council and extracted for the time period 1 January 2004 to 31 May 2005. To determine the demographic and geographic profile of these pharmacies, data of the Register of Pharmacies of the South African Pharmacy Council for August 2003, 2004 and 2005 were merged with the Census data of South Africa of 2001. It was found that the total number of pharmacies in both the public and private sectors increased with 2.1% (n=68) from August 2003 to August 2005. Public and private pharmacies that provided services directly to patients increased with 6.3% (n=33) and 1.3% (n=35) from August 2003 to 2005. It was found that the Gauteng province was the best provided with registered pharmacies in South Africa, as only 0.06% (n=5 783) of the population did not have any registered pharmacy available on municipality level. It was also revealed that the majority of inspections were carried out in Gauteng, whilst this province accounts for only 19.7% of the total population of South Africa. During the study period a total of 1178 community pharmacy inspections were carried out in 1103 community pharmacies (one or more inspections per pharmacy) representing 43% (n=2 550) of the total number of community pharmacies registered with the South African Pharmacy Council during May 2005. Nationally community pharmacies achieved a score of 92.27 (+ 6.65 per cent) for compliance with Good Pharmacy Practice guidelines. The lowest compliance score (73.34 + 27.49 per cent) was obtained for the availability of written standard operating procedures and the highest was for the promotion of public health (99.02 + 6.30 per cent). No practical significant differences (dc0.8) were found between the overall compliance scores obtained by community pharmacies of the different provinces. The highest compliance score was obtained by community pharmacies in the Free State (93.09 + 4.90 per cent), followed by Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Kwazulu Natal, Limpopo, Northern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the North West. A total of 343 institutional pharmacy inspections (one or more inspections per pharmacy) were carried out in public and state subsidised institutions (n=245), private institutions (n=90) and mine hospitals (n=5). These pharmacies represented 46% of the total number of institutional pharmacies registered with the South African Pharmacy Council during May 2005. Nationally all institutional pharmacies (both private and public) achieved a score of 92.49 + 8.33 per cent for compliance with Good Pharmacy Practice guidelines for all above-mentioned aspects. Nationally public and state subsidised institutional pharmacies obtained a lower compliance score (91.02 + 9.08 per cent) than private institutional pharmacies (96.39 + 3.91 per cent). Lastly, a grading system was developed that was based on the results obtained through this study, in order to quantify the standard of pharmaceutical services provided by pharmacies in South Africa. / Thesis (M.Pharm. (Pharmacy Practice))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The thesis explores the role of music in Günter Grass’s novels. In pointing out the vital role of intermediality for Grass’s narrative strategies, the thesis opens up for a new, intermedial perspective on his work. It shows how references to music are used to realise Grass’s poetological concept “paspresenture” – the simultaneous presence of past, present and future – as well as his constant strive towards concreteness. The study draws on theories of intermediality, with a special focus on the role of transmedial media characteristics. It develops a transmedial methodology for analysing intermedial references, stressing how the notion of “musicality” within the text is created by media characteristics shared by both music and literature. Intermedial references are conceived as highlighting structures that are inherent in literature. The textual analyses of The Tin Drum (1959), Too Far Afield (1995) and Crabwalk (2002) are divided into three steps. First, explicit musical references in the narratives are interpreted as indexes pointing towards transmedial structures relevant to this specific context. Second, the examination demonstrates the prominent role of transmedial characteristics such as repetitivity, contrast, simultaneity and performativity within the texts. Third and last, the function of musical reference is discussed: in all three narratives, the focus on transmedial structures supplies a more consistent interpretation of passages which otherwise prove difficult to decipher. In Grass’s fiction, issues appear not to be discussed but performatively reenacted and thus remind more of musical than literary development. What is more, music – as handled by Grass – does not appear absolute or transcendent; rather, its manipulative potential is always prominent. However, the way musical references are used to realise Grass’s poetological aims stresses the bodily presence of musical performance, thus making music appear as the performative realisation of time.

The objects of the South African Pharmacy Council in terms of the Pharmacy Act, 1974 (5311974) as amended are, inter alia, "to uphold and safeguard the rights of the general public to universally acceptable standards of pharmacy practice in both the private and the public sector" as well as "to establish, develop, maintain and control universally acceptable standards of practice of the various categories of persons required to be registered.. ." One of the major difficulties health care providers worldwide are faced with is how to maintain a proper balance between the trio goals of health care, namely adequate access, high quality and acceptable costs (Li, 2003:192-193). Relatively little is known about such problems as do exist for patients regarding access to pharmaceutical services (Doucette et al., 1999:1268). Two main objectives were identified for this study, namely to investigate the demographic profile of community and institutional pharmacies registered with the South African Pharmacy Council; and to determine the standard of pharmaceutical services provided by these pharmacies. Inspection results of community and institutional pharmacies were obtained from the South African Pharmacy Council and extracted for the time period 1 January 2004 to 31 May 2005. To determine the demographic and geographic profile of these pharmacies, data of the Register of Pharmacies of the South African Pharmacy Council for August 2003, 2004 and 2005 were merged with the Census data of South Africa of 2001. It was found that the total number of pharmacies in both the public and private sectors increased with 2.1% (n=68) from August 2003 to August 2005. Public and private pharmacies that provided services directly to patients increased with 6.3% (n=33) and 1.3% (n=35) from August 2003 to 2005. It was found that the Gauteng province was the best provided with registered pharmacies in South Africa, as only 0.06% (n=5 783) of the population did not have any registered pharmacy available on municipality level. It was also revealed that the majority of inspections were carried out in Gauteng, whilst this province accounts for only 19.7% of the total population of South Africa. During the study period a total of 1178 community pharmacy inspections were carried out in 1103 community pharmacies (one or more inspections per pharmacy) representing 43% (n=2 550) of the total number of community pharmacies registered with the South African Pharmacy Council during May 2005. Nationally community pharmacies achieved a score of 92.27 (+ 6.65 per cent) for compliance with Good Pharmacy Practice guidelines. The lowest compliance score (73.34 + 27.49 per cent) was obtained for the availability of written standard operating procedures and the highest was for the promotion of public health (99.02 + 6.30 per cent). No practical significant differences (dc0.8) were found between the overall compliance scores obtained by community pharmacies of the different provinces. The highest compliance score was obtained by community pharmacies in the Free State (93.09 + 4.90 per cent), followed by Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Kwazulu Natal, Limpopo, Northern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the North West. A total of 343 institutional pharmacy inspections (one or more inspections per pharmacy) were carried out in public and state subsidised institutions (n=245), private institutions (n=90) and mine hospitals (n=5). These pharmacies represented 46% of the total number of institutional pharmacies registered with the South African Pharmacy Council during May 2005. Nationally all institutional pharmacies (both private and public) achieved a score of 92.49 + 8.33 per cent for compliance with Good Pharmacy Practice guidelines for all above-mentioned aspects. Nationally public and state subsidised institutional pharmacies obtained a lower compliance score (91.02 + 9.08 per cent) than private institutional pharmacies (96.39 + 3.91 per cent). Lastly, a grading system was developed that was based on the results obtained through this study, in order to quantify the standard of pharmaceutical services provided by pharmacies in South Africa. / Thesis (M.Pharm. (Pharmacy Practice))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

This thesis deals with the comparison of SERVQUAL method and on-line references in the monitoring of hotel guest satisfaction. In the chosen hotel is conducted research of online references and the questionnaire research of SERVQUAL method. Implementation of these researches aims for designing appropriate recommendations to improve of provided services and improve the relationships with customers.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:51:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 142186.pdf.jpg: 17686 bytes, checksum: 7aa8fb0f1f861f9973961a82d673bac4 (MD5) 142186.pdf: 509727 bytes, checksum: a5f480cc7c3d8522a52d567620b8e553 (MD5) 142186.pdf.txt: 110489 bytes, checksum: e68d0b3afd93871b42233c0188be6958 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-01-20T00:00:00Z / Nesta pesquisa a bibliometria foi utilizada para mapear e analisar os padrões de citação na área de Administração com base nos artigos publicados nos principal congresso de Administração nacional, o ENANPAD, e nos principais periódicos acadêmicos da área (RAC, RAE, RAP e RAUSP) entre os anos de 1997 e 2002. A falta de uma análise aprofundada da base teórica/ metodológica - representada pelas referências teóricas - utilizada na pesquisa nacional em administração motivou esse estudo no sentido de analisar de aspectos da produção científica, anteriormente não investigados, que são refletidos na base bibliográfica utilizada pelos autores na área de Administração: a densidade da publicação em geral e ao longo do tempo, os autores mais prolíficos, as instituições que geram mais pesquisadores e o padrão de citações, os tipos de publicação mais utilizadas em pesquisas nacionais, as obras mais referenciadas, os veículos mais citados, o tempo de impacto da pesquisa nacional e o fator de impacto dos periódicos nacionais. Todos esses fatores quando analisados permitem contribuir para o preenchimento das lacunas na análise da produção científica nacional. / This research proposes the use of bibliometric analysis to map the citation patterns in the field. For that all papers published in the Enanpad proceedings, as well as the paper published in the four major academic publications in business (RAC, RAE, RAP e RAUSP) during 1997-2002 were analyzed. The lack of a deep analysis of the reference used was the motivator of this research. The frequency of publication, the most contributive authors, the institutions that generated the majority of the papers, the most cited authors, papers and fonts of publications were accessed. All these factors when understood contribute to the fulfilling of some important aspects of the national academic research.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T12:31:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Samira.pdf: 879449 bytes, checksum: 0deac265398c2c52f019e5028b9bfdc4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-08 / This work aims at analyzing how pedagogical communication in Distance Learning (ODL) occurs, as well as, its main features, since this modality is characterized by Information and Communication Technology (ICTs). The research corpus consists of parts of specific Federal regulation documents and debates comprising the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC), Distance Learning Secretary, Brazilian Association of Distance Learning (ABED) and ODL professionals addressing the inception of the decree that regulated ODL in Brazil (from 2005 to 2009) when, considering the polyphony of existing models, the supervision and consolidation offer of this modality occurred in Brazil. The major objective of this investigation was to analyze and assess how and which features the pedagogical communication introduces the educational discourse in this modality, as educational and communicational categories, characterized by the use of ICT within the social perspective. The descriptive and documental methodology, qualitative in nature, were applied in this study, in a journey the researcher seeks to find out, as accurately as possible, the phenomenon frequency, how it relates and connects to others, its nature and main features. As a source of information and the documental research analytical categories, historical and legal aspects, versus this modality offer were used. In addition, an understanding of how the relationship between communication and education in the pedagogical discourse in the ODL higher education system, as well as its main features, is materialized. Concerning SEED/MEC and ABED, there are also implicative questions regarding the conceptions of communication, education and technology. This research was based on the analysis of meaningful and bad outcomes of this modality of education and, thus, it was possible to realize an oscillation between the actors involved in the process and the theoretical basis that supports MEC and SEED investigations for the monitoring and supervision, in order to assure the conceptual bases that will determine and/or require the provision of distance learning in Higher Education. Regarding pedagogical communication, a weakness in the discussions became apparent, since the emphasis is still quantitative rather than qualitative. The analyses considers that, due to the polyphony of the models, there are many initiatives, but the dominant discourse is still the one of democratization of the expansion, which reduces significantly the human value advancement over the use of technology, preventing progress in the building of possible and essential spaces for the Distance Learning modality.(AU) / Analisa-se, neste trabalho, como e com quais características ocorre a comunicação pedagógica nos sistemas que atuam na modalidade Educação a Distância (EAD), modalidade esta caracterizada pela mediação de tecnologias de informação e comunicação (TIC). O corpus desta pesquisa é composto pelo recorte da regulamentação específica e dos debates que envolvem o Ministério da Educação (MEC) e a Secretaria de Educação a Distância (SEED), a Associação Brasileira de Educação a Distância (ABED) e os profissionais da área, abordando o período do início da vigência do Decreto n.º 5622/05, que regulamentou a EAD no Brasil, em 2005, até 2009, momento em que ocorrem, pela polifonia dos modelos existentes, a supervisão e consolidação das ofertas desta modalidade no Brasil. O objetivo maior desta investigação foi analisar e avaliar como e com quais características a comunicação pedagógica apresenta o discurso educativo nesta modalidade, enquanto categoria educacional e comunicativa, caracterizada pelo uso de TIC dentro da perspectiva social. Este estudo utilizou a metodologia da pesquisa descritiva e documental, de natureza qualitativa, num percurso em que a pesquisadora procura descobrir, com a maior precisão possível, a frequência com que o fenômeno ocorre, sua relação e conexão com outros, sua natureza e suas características. Como fonte de informação e da pesquisa documental, utilizaram-se as categorias analíticas, o aspecto histórico, legal, versus a realidade da oferta desta modalidade. Buscou-se ainda entender como e com quais características as relações entre a comunicação e a educação se materializam no discurso pedagógico, nos sistemas de Ensino Superior que ofertam a modalidade EAD. Em relação aos envolvidos SEED/MEC e ABED, existem questões ainda implicativas entre as concepções de comunicação, educação e tecnologia. Pautou-se a pesquisa na análise dos caminhos e descaminhos desta modalidade e assim pôdese verificar uma oscilação entre os atores envolvidos e a consistência teórica que dá suporte de investigação ao MEC e à SEED para a realização do acompanhamento e supervisão, na perspectiva de garantir as bases conceituais que determinam e (ou) determinarão a oferta da modalidade EAD no Ensino Superior. Em relação à Comunicação Pedagógica, percebeu-se uma fragilidade nos debates, cuja ênfase ainda é de cunho quantitativo e não qualitativo. Pela análise feita, considera-se que, em razão da polifonia dos modelos, existem muitas iniciativas, mas o discurso predominante ainda é o da democratização da expansão, o que prejudica sensivelmente o avanço da valorização humana em detrimento do uso da tecnologia, e isso impede avanços na construção dos espaços possíveis e essenciais na modalidade EAD.(AU)

Au cours des dernières années, le Web a connu une énorme croissance en matière de contenus et d'utilisateurs. Ce phénomène a entraîné des problèmes liés à la surcharge d'information face à laquelle les utilisateurs ont des difficultés à trouver les bonnes informations. Des systèmes de recommandation ont été développés pour résoudre ce problème afin de guider les utilisateurs dans ce flux d'informations. Les approches de recommandation se sont multipliées et ont été mises en œuvre avec succès, notamment au travers d’approches telles que le filtrage collaboratif. Cependant, il existe encore des défis et des limites qui offrent des opportunités pour de nouvelles recherches. Parmi ces défis, la conception de systèmes de recommandation de lectures est devenue un axe de recherche en pleine expansion suite à l’apparition des bibliothèques numériques.Traditionnellement, les bibliothèques jouent un rôle passif dans l’interaction avec les lecteurs et ce, faute d’outils efficaces de recherche et de recommandation. Dans ce manuscrit, nous nous sommes penchée sur la création d’un système de recommandation de lectures. Nos objectifs portent sur :- améliorer la compréhension des besoins utilisateurs exprimés au sein des requêtes en langage naturel de recherches de livres, articles et billets ; - pallier l'absence de liens explicites entre ouvrages et articles de revues par la détection et l'analyse automatique des références bibliographiques afin de proposer des liens ; - parvenir à un système de recommandation de lectures s'appuyant sur des données textuelles permettant de fournir une liste de recommandations personnalisées aux utilisateurs actifs. / In the recent years, the Web has undergone a tremendous growth regarding both content and users. This has led to an information overload problem in which people are finding it increasingly difficult to locate the right information at the right time. Recommender systems have been developed to address this problem, by guiding users through the big ocean of information. The recommendation approaches have multiplied and have been successfully implemented, particularly through approaches such as collaborative filtering. However, there are still challenges and limitations that offer opportunities for new research. Among these challenges, the design of reading recommendation systems has become a new expanding research focus following the emergence of digital libraries.Traditionally, libraries play a passive role in interaction with users due to the lack of effective search and recommendation tools. In this manuscript, we will study the creation of a reading recommendation system in which we'll try to exploit the possibilities of digital access to scientific information. Our objectives are: - to improve the understanding of user needs expressed in natural language search queries for books, articles and posts. This work will require the establishment of processes capable of exploiting the structures of data and their dimension; - to compensate for the absence of explicit links between books and journal articles by automatically detecting and analyzing bibliographic references, and then to propose links;- to achieve a reading recommendation system based on textual data to provide a customized recommendation list to active users, similar to systems already used by users profiles.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Esta tese tem como objetivo definir referenciais bíblico-teológicos, visando ampliar as competências práticas do cuidado pastoral num Centro de Tratamento Intensivo adulto, mais precisamente, numa unidade de internação voltada a pacientes em estado grave de saúde. A fragilidade humana, neste contexto, representa um grande desafio para a teologia e, de forma especial, para a teologia pastoral. Dentre estes referenciais teológicos são enfatizadas tanto a dimensão da solidariedade divina em meio ao sofrimento humano quanto a da graça e da paixão reveladas na pessoa em Jesus Cristo, as quais alicerçam tanto a perspectiva da resistência quanto a da submissão humanas frente à realidade da morte. A partir dos conteúdos alcançados, a pesquisa se propõe a mapear as competências do agente pastoral junto ao paciente (e de sua família) que nortearão a prática da visitação numa perspectiva ecumênica, o estabelecimento de uma comunicação eficaz, o testemunho sensível e responsável da Palavra de Deus, o uso da oração e dos ritos religiosos e uma interação adequada com a equipe assistencial. / This thesis aims to define biblical and theological references in order to extend the pastoral care practical skills in an adult Intensive Care Unit, more precisely in an inpatient unit dedicated to patients in critical health conditions. In this context, human frailty represents a great challenge to theology and, in a particular way, to pastoral theology. Among these theological references, both the theological dimension of the divine solidarity in the midst of the human suffering and the theological dimension of the grace and of the passion revealed in the person of Jesus Christ are emphasized, which underpin both the perspective of the human resistance and of the human submission against the reality of death. Based on the contents achieved, the research aims to map the skills of the pastoral agent when with the patient (and with family members), which will guide the visiting practice in an ecumenical perspective, the establishment of an effective communication, the sensitive and responsible testimony of the Word of God, the use of prayer and religious rituals and of an appropriate interaction with the care team.