Heterogeneous environments play an important role in the evolution of traits when selection is diversifying between different conditions. One response is the capacity of individuals to beneficially adjust their phenotype to local conditions, such as different predators. In larval Enallagma damselflies, diversifying selection from predatory dragonfly larvae or predatory fish favours opposing traits, respectively high or low levels of activity, and so appears to drive the adaptive divergence of anti-predator specialists. However, little work has addressed: i) if anti-predator generalist species exist; ii) if anti-predator generalist species express adaptive flexible behaviour; iii) if adaptive flexible behaviour is influenced by prior experience with predators. I compared individual larval behaviour in the presence of fish, dragonfly larvae, or no predators, in four Enallagma species groups from ponds with and without fish predators. Ecological distributions suggest variation in degree of anti-predator generalization, and this was associated with increased responsiveness to predator treatment in the most likely ecological generalist. Responses to predators varied across different behaviours and sometimes were shaped by prior predation experience. Thus, a variety of adaptive strategies may have evolved to cope with heterogeneity in predation risk in larval damselflies. / NSERC, OGS

Tyrimo objektas: Bendrosios ir specialiosios socialinės bei kitos paslaugos ir šias paslaugas teikiančių specialistų kontingentas neįgaliųjų reabilitacijos, priežiūros, dienos centrų institucijose bei kitose įstaigose, teikiančiose paslaugas žmonėms su negalia. Tikslas: Išanalizuoti paslaugų žmonėms su negalia teikimą, jų struktūrą, jas teikiančių specialistų kontingentą įstaigose, teikiančiose paslaugas negalią turintiems asmenims. Uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti, kokias negalias turintiems asmenims yra teikiamos paslaugos socialinių paslaugų įstaigose. 2. Įvertinti, kokio negalios sunkumo lygmens asmenims yra teikiamos paslaugos. 3. Išsiaiškinti įstaigose teikiamų paslaugų rūšis bei darbuotojų kontingentą. 4. Įvertinti neįgaliesiems socialines paslaugas teikiančių įstaigų problemas ir neįgaliųjų reabilitologų poreikį. 5. Informacijos, gautos per internetą ir per anonimines anketines apklausas, negalių tipų, darbuotojų kontingento, bendrųjų bei specialiųjų socialinių paslaugų palyginimas. Problema: Įvairių negalių tipų nevyriausybinėse neįgaliųjų organizacijose ir centruose teikiamos paslaugos neužtikrina neįgaliųjų fizinės, psichologinės ir socialinės reabilitacijos, galinčios sąlygoti neįgaliųjų geresnę gyvenimo kokybę. Išvados: 1. Socialines paslaugas teikiančiose įstaigose yra teikiamos paslaugos žmonėms, turintiems regos, klausos, intelekto ir judėjimo (motorikos) sutrikimų bei kitų negalių tipų asmenims. 2. Daugiausiai įstaigų teikia paslaugas vidutinę ir sunkią negalią... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The object: General and special social services and contingent of specialists providing these services in rehabilitation, care, day centers and other institutions for people with disabilities. The aim: To analyze the provision of services for people with disabilities, their structure and it’s providing specialists contingent in institutions for people with disabilities. Objectives: 1. To determine for what kind of disabilities social services are provided in institutions. 2. To evaluate for what level of disability service are provided. 3. To find out the type of provided services and specialist’s contingent in institutions. 4. To evaluate problems in social services institutions and the need of disabled rehabilitations. 5. To compare the information, as disability types, contingent workers, general and special social services, obtained through the Internet and an anonymous questionnaire. Problem: The social services provided in non-governmental disabled people organizations and centers cannot ensure physical, psychological and social rehabilitation for people with disabilities, which could lead to better quality of life. Conclusions: 1. The social services in institutions are provided to people with visual, hearing, intellectual, physical (movement) or other types of disabilities. 2. The most institutions provide services for persons with medium or severe disability level, at least – with low level of disability. 3.1. Most institutions provide general and special social... [to full text]

<p>Many financial organisations are working hard to design a skills management strategy that reflects the overarching national skills need for an institution, in the process of attracting highly skilled Information Technology (IT) specialists. But there are many organisations that are less concerned about mobility across nations and more concerned about the need to retain highly skilled IT staff. The pace and ubiquity of the information technologies&rsquo / (IT) progress means that organisations need to improve on their technologies, and so the skills needed to operate and utilise these technologies. The need for a highly IT skilled workforce is rising and, therefore, organisations will have to move beyond their traditional policies and practices to retain highly skilled IT staff. Organisations are employing and utilising various models, frameworks and strategies to nurture and address the retention of skilled IT staff. Even though these methods are well implemented and coordinated within organisations, skilled IT staff still leave organisations and minimises the level of retaining skilled IT staff. This is a functional shortfall at a management level, since a coherent lack to monitor the impact of external factors on retention strategies are overlooked. The same holds for the financial sector in South Africa. Therefore the aim of this research was to propose effective retention strategies for employers within the financial environment, to retain their skilled IT workforce. In order to fulfil the objectives of this study, the literature review had been performed followed by the empirical field research. The field data were gathered by using twofold data collection technique: disseminating a questionnaire and interviewing participants in this study. The fieldwork followed the University of the Western Cape guidelines on research ethics. The outcomes of the study showed that there is a strong correlation between having good HR retention policies and procedures, and the management of these policies and procedures. The findings suggested the importance of involving employees at all employment levels to provide input on the development of these policies and procedures so that the retention process is well understood across the firm Apart from contributing to the existing academic knowledge area, the study outcomes can beneficially contribute to organisations&rsquo / advantage and ability to retain skilled IT staff on a long-term basis. From a financial services sector perspective, this study will possibly contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the field of Staff Retention especially the area of Information Technology.</p>

<p>Many financial organisations are working hard to design a skills management strategy that reflects the overarching national skills need for an institution, in the process of attracting highly skilled Information Technology (IT) specialists. But there are many organisations that are less concerned about mobility across nations and more concerned about the need to retain highly skilled IT staff. The pace and ubiquity of the information technologies&rsquo / (IT) progress means that organisations need to improve on their technologies, and so the skills needed to operate and utilise these technologies. The need for a highly IT skilled workforce is rising and, therefore, organisations will have to move beyond their traditional policies and practices to retain highly skilled IT staff. Organisations are employing and utilising various models, frameworks and strategies to nurture and address the retention of skilled IT staff. Even though these methods are well implemented and coordinated within organisations, skilled IT staff still leave organisations and minimises the level of retaining skilled IT staff. This is a functional shortfall at a management level, since a coherent lack to monitor the impact of external factors on retention strategies are overlooked. The same holds for the financial sector in South Africa. Therefore the aim of this research was to propose effective retention strategies for employers within the financial environment, to retain their skilled IT workforce. In order to fulfil the objectives of this study, the literature review had been performed followed by the empirical field research. The field data were gathered by using twofold data collection technique: disseminating a questionnaire and interviewing participants in this study. The fieldwork followed the University of the Western Cape guidelines on research ethics. The outcomes of the study showed that there is a strong correlation between having good HR retention policies and procedures, and the management of these policies and procedures. The findings suggested the importance of involving employees at all employment levels to provide input on the development of these policies and procedures so that the retention process is well understood across the firm Apart from contributing to the existing academic knowledge area, the study outcomes can beneficially contribute to organisations&rsquo / advantage and ability to retain skilled IT staff on a long-term basis. From a financial services sector perspective, this study will possibly contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the field of Staff Retention especially the area of Information Technology.</p>

No description available.

An analysis of the correspondence between Charles Lyell and Gideon Mantell from 1821 to 1852, in conjunction with other manuscript material, highlights the contrasting backgrounds and geological careers of the two men. It is also characterised by two underlying themes: the nature and timing of their geological work; and the influence of various social factors on their career plans and desire to achieve high social and scientific status. In turn, these points raise several wider issues and inter-related questions concerning the following aspects of English geology in the first half of the nineteenth century. When, why and how did an elite group of geologists emerge in England during this period? Who were its members and what were their characteristics in common? What was the nature and scope of the geological work carried out by the identified elite? In what way did it differ from Mantell's? What social and other barriers did Mantell encounter in his search for scientific and social status? What were the critical factors? In this thesis these issues are examined on a decade-by-decade basis, in three main chapters, as a prelude to examining the central question of why Mantell, unlike Lyell, did not achieve the status of an elite geologist. First, an elite group of English geologists is identified through a series of prosopographic and 'screening' analyses of all members of council of the Geological Society of London (GSL). Geologists who did not meet the prescribed criteria are taken into account. Thirteen geologists are identified in the penultimate and final stages of screening over the four decades. Mantell was the only provincial identified, but he did not attain a position in the final list, which consisted exclusively of a distinctive group of 'gentleman-specialists'. Second, the concept of a geological 'domain' is introduced to analyse the nature and scope of the geological work carried out by the identified group. A critical finding is that all members identified in the final 'screening' list established a 'domain' in one of four categories of the concept and were recognised as the leading authority or exponent of the domain they had fashioned. Finally, the impact and relative importance of specific social and other factors on the careers of Lyell and Mantell are examined. When the findings from each decade of the three chapters are brought together it is shown that by the end of the 1820s it was necessary for a future elite geologist to be so 'positioned' in terms of basic geological experience, location, income and available time that he was able to identify and subsequently fashion an appropriate geological 'domain'. 'Gentleman-specialists', such as Lyell, who were able to follow this strategy, constituted a clearly defined elite that dominated the GSL in the 1830s and 1840s. Mantell's failure to achieve elite geological status stemmed from the fact that he placed too much emphasis on fashioning his image and social status, rather than his scientific career. In doing so, he let the opportunity slip of establishing a major domain - British fossil reptiles - in the early 1830s.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. "December 2008" Includes bibliographical references.

Neste trabalho foram obtidas estimativas das Probabilidades de Erro Humano (PEH) das ações dos operadores do Reator de Pesquisa IEA-R1 do IPEN, em resposta a uma hipótese de situação de emergência, e realizada uma avaliação dos Fatores Influenciadores do Desempenho Humano (PSF) potencialmente influentes naquelas ações. A avaliação dos PSF foi realizada com a finalidade de classificá-los de acordo com o seu nível de influência nas ações e de determinar o estado atual destes PSF na instalação. Tanto a obtenção das PEH, como também a avaliação dos PSF, foram realizadas por meio do processo de Avaliação por Especialistas, através de entrevistas e questionários. O grupo especialista foi composto a partir dos próprios operadores do Reator IEA-R1. A representação do conhecimento dos especialistas em expressões lingüísticas e a geração de valores que representam o consenso das avaliações do grupo especialista deram-se pelo emprego da Lógica Fuzzy e da Teoria dos Conjuntos Fuzzy. Os valores obtidos para as PEH foram comparados com dados utilizados pela literatura afim e se mostraram satisfatórios para ações similares, corroborando a metodologia proposta como uma boa alternativa a ser empregada em métodos de Análises de Confiabilidade Humana (ACH). / This work obtains Human Error Probability (HEP) estimates from operator\'s actions in response to emergency situations a hypothesis on Research Reactor IEA-R1 from IPEN. It was also obtained a Performance Shaping Factors (PSF) evaluation in order to classify them according to their influence level onto the operator\'s actions and to determine these PSF actual states over the plant. Both HEP estimation and PSF evaluation were done based on Specialists Evaluation using interviews and questionnaires. Specialists group was composed from selected IEA-R1 operators. Specialist\'s knowledge representation into linguistic variables and group evaluation values were obtained through Fuzzy Logic and Fuzzy Set Theory. HEP obtained values show good agreement with literature published data corroborating the proposed methodology as a good alternative to be used on Human Reliability Analysis (HRA).

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:47:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1549919 bytes, checksum: c6a9da6784f10e81487fa61a840b2f2b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The aging of the population is occurring at an unprecedented level, so it became the subject of discussions in various sectors of society. The process of aging of the population of João Pessoa, the state capital of Paraiba, challenges the government and its public health policies, to attend the needs for improvement of hospital services, because in the near future there will be more elderly than that hospital structures to meet the standards established by Ordinance No. 249/SAS/MS, 2002 that addresses the standards for registration of Reference Centers for the Elderly Health Care. Among the physicians, the option by specialties with a focus on elderly, such as geriatrics is not accompanying the growth curve of the elderly population. To analyze the situation in the city of Joao Pessoa, it was held an exploratory-descriptive and inferential study, developed from quantitative and qualitative approaches to deepening of the phenomenon in focus. Data related to hospitals, were collected through a questionnaire with closed questions in the healthcare institutions that agreed to participate of this research and the Regional Council of Medicine of Paraiba (CRM / PB) provided information on the specialties and number of medical professionals in office. The data related to hospitals were analyzed and then it was checked the similarities and differences of these institutions compared to that proposed Ordinance No. 249/SAS/MS of 2002 in order to classify them as Reference Centers for the Elderly Health Care. In relation to the data of the doctors, they were analyzed statistically using the methodologies of Time Series and Regression Analysis. The results showed that the city of João Pessoa, in 2011, did not have hospitals that met the Ordinance of the Ministry of Health regarding the standards for registration of Centers of Reference on Health Care of the Elderly. In relation to medical professionals, it was observed that, the number exceeds the ratio recommended by the World Health Organization. However, the number of physicians in the most demand specialties by the elderly has an unfavorable trend in the relation doctor elderly, and the specialty of geriatrics present the major deficiency without a perspective of a better situation in the short time. / O envelhecimento da população brasileira está ocorrendo em um nível sem precedentes, por isso tornou-se tema de discussões em diversos setores da sociedade. O processo de envelhecimento da população de João Pessoa, capital do Estado da Paraíba, desafia o governo e suas políticas públicas de saúde, a atender às necessidades de aperfeiçoamento dos serviços hospitalares, pois em um futuro próximo haverá mais idosos do que estruturas hospitalares que atendam aos padrões estabelecidos na Portaria nº249/SAS/MS, de 2002, que trata das normas para cadastramento de Centros de Referência em Atenção à Saúde do Idoso. Entre os médicos a opção pelas especialidades com foco no idoso, como a Geriatria, não está acompanhado a curva de crescimento da população idosa. Para analisar a situação na cidade de João Pessoa, realizou-se um estudo do tipo exploratório-descritivo e inferencial, desenvolvido a partir de abordagens quanti-qualitativas para aprofundamento do fenômeno em foco. As informações, referentes aos hospitais, foram coletadas por meio de um questionário com perguntas fechadas junto às instituições hospitalares que concordaram em participar da pesquisa e o Conselho Regional de Medicina da Paraíba (CRM/PB) forneceu as informações relativas às especialidades e número de profissionais médicos em exercício. Os dados referentes aos hospitais foram analisados, e então, verificadas as aproximações e distanciamentos destas instituições em comparação ao que propõe a Portaria nº249/SAS/MS, de 2002 de modo a classificá-los como Centros de Referência em Atenção à Saúde do Idoso. Quanto aos dados dos médicos, estes foram analisados estatisticamente por meio das metodologias de Séries Temporais e Análise de Regressão. Os resultados demonstraram que a cidade de João Pessoa, no ano de 2011, não possuía hospitais que atendessem a Portaria do Ministério da Saúde quanto às normas para cadastramento de Centros de Referência em Atenção à Saúde do Idoso. Em relação aos profissionais médicos, observou-se que na cidade, o número excede a relação recomendada pela Organização Mundial da Saúde. No entanto, o número de médicos nas especialidades mais procuradas pelos idosos apresenta uma tendência desfavorável de relação médico para idoso, sendo a especialidade de Geriatria a grande deficiência atual e sem perspectivas de uma situação melhor a curto prazo.

Os estudos que envolveram os três capítulos da minha tese englobam padrões de distribuição dos insetos aquáticos, agregando informações sobre características funcionais dessas comunidades. No primeiro capítulo avaliei a influência da heterogeneidade do substrato sobre as características funcionais dos insetos bentônicos. Concluí que em ambientes naturais o substrato heterogêneo apresentou combinações específicas de atributos, associados principalmente ao tamanho do corpo e hábitos alimentares. Esses atributos exercem forte influência sobre o funcionamento do ecossistema dos riachos. No segundo capítulo verifiquei a variação temporal dos atributos funcionais dos insetos aquáticos, com enfoque para organismos especialistas e generalistas. Nos primeiros estágios da colonização organismos coexistem independente dos atributos, isso porque a comunidade mostrou atributos similares. Nos estágios mais avançados de colonização os organismos generalistas resistiram a fatores bióticos e abióticos, mostrando uma variedade de atributos superior à que foi encontrada no início da colonização. Conclui que a ausência ou diminuição de organismos especialistas pode ser um indicador de degradação ambiental. No terceiro capítulo avaliei se existe efeito da presença/ausência de cobertura vegetal considerando a distância entre os riachos sobre as comunidades de insetos. Concluí que a cobertura vegetal no entorno dos riachos é um fator determinante para a distribuição espacial dos insetos aquáticos. Em locais com cobertura vegetal, insetos aquáticos com maior habilidade de dispersão apresentaram decaimento da similaridade com a distância, contrário do que foi verificado para locais sem vegetação. Já para dispersores menos hábeis, riachos mais distantes apresentaram comunidades menos similares para locais come sem cobertura vegetal. Com isso, conclui que a presença de vegetação no entorno dos riachos pode ser uma barreira física que limita a dispersão dos insetos com maior capacidade de voo. Finalizando, este trabalho ressalta a influência de fatores locais (substrato) e regionais (vegetação/limitação de dispersão) sobre as características funcionais da fauna aquática. Além disso, a manutenção da heterogeneidade do substrato e da vegetação ripária, contribuiu para a manutenção da diversidade funcional das comunidades de insetos aquáticos. / Studies of my thesis include aspects of distribution patterns of aquatic insects and aggregate information on functional characteristics. In the first chapter, I evaluated the influence of substrate heterogeneity on the functional characteristics of benthic insects. I concluded that in natural environments, heterogeneous substrate select specific traits combinations associated mainly to body size and feeding habits, attributes that exert a strong influence on the functioning of ecosystems. In the second chapter, I verified the temporal variation of the functional attributes of aquatic insects, focusing on specialist and generalist taxa. In early stages of colonization, organisms coexist independent of the attributes, because the community showed similar attributes. In the last stages, specialists were able to resist to biotic and abiotic factors showing a variety of attributes that was not founded at the beginning of colonization. In conclusion, the absence or decrease of specialists can be an indicator of environmental degradation. In the third chapter, I used a functional approach with emphasis on attributes related to dispersion. We conclude that the canopy cover of streams is a determining factor for the distribution of aquatic insects. Aquatic insects with greater ability to disperse showed a weak pattern of distance decay of similarity, only in streams with grassland. For weak dispersers patterns of was similar for the two streams (open and forest riparian vegetation). Thus, we conclude that the presence of vegetation streams can be a physical barrier that limits the insect dispersal, especially taxa with greater abilities to disperse. Finally, this study highlights the influence of local (substrate) and regional (limiting dispersion) factors on the functional characteristics of the aquatic fauna. In addition, maintaining the diversity of substrate and riparian vegetation, contributes to the functional and taxonomic diversity of aquatic insect communities.