This report deals with the managing of the waste of a company, Ericsson- site of Borås, in an analytical context. Based on sustainability (concept and aspects), they are interested to have a method to check their waste management capability whether they are in right direction. Among all studied methods, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is utilized. This method works based on a mathematical algorithm starting by making a hierarchy, continuing with pairwise comparisons between correspondent items, then doing calculations and finally checking and reviewing to be certain of the correctness of the whole process by an eligible team of decision makers. In spite of some critiques that scientifically are accepted, it remains reliable for the purpose.The method is applied to some instances of waste items, wood boxes and pallets and hard plastics, in Ericsson. Then, two controversial issues of the selected method, consistency and rank reversal, are investigated and discussed on the mentioned waste items. Application of the method for their future use is foreseen thereafter.

3D printing a CAD modelnormally requires conversion into a polygon mesh, usually an STL-file, in orderto be able to load the model in the slicer. This conversion destroys roundsurfaces and replaces them with flat surfaces. Slicing a polygon mesh resultsin one or more polygons, consisting of a number of straight lines. This canaffect both dimensional accuracy and surface smoothness. Modern 3D-printerscan, in addition to straight lines, handle arcs. However, today’s commonslicers can not generate arcs as the input does not contain any curvedfeatures. This project aims at finding an alternative solution. By directslicing of CAD models the slices can contain arcs, and the slicer can producearc commands for the 3D-printer. During this project a prototype slicer isconstructed as a proof of concept. The prototype handles STEP-files as inputand creates both linear and circular movement for the 3D-printer. The resultsshow that both the intermediate files (STEP/STL) and the resulting G-code filescan get smaller, yet preserving the original shape, by using this method. Theproposed solution has a positive effect on the 3D-printing workflow as well, asthe intermediate files can be imported back into the CAD system. The projectconcludes that there is possibly a bright future for direct slicing, but thereare more problems to solve before it can become reality.

The relationship between politicians and firms has attracted a considerable amount of research, especially in developing countries, where firms' political links are a widespread phenomenon. However, existing literature offers contradicting views about this relationship, espicially regarding the impact of firms' political connections on firms' market-performance. Furthermore, there is limited evidence on the impact of firms' political connections on some of the important corporate decisions, including firms' investment- and dividend-policies. Therefore, this thesis seeks to fill these gaps by offering three empirical essays with Jordan as a case study. The first essay examines the impact of firms' political links on their values by controlling for macroeconomic conditions. Also, in the extended models, by specifying three major events which occurred after 2008, namely, the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the Global Financial Crisis, and the Arab Uprisings, we investigate the effects of these events on the relationship between firms' political ties and their value. The findings of this essay indicate that politically-connected firms have higher values compared to their non-connected counterparts in Jordan. Moreover, it is found that firms with stronger political-ties have higher values than firms with weaker ties. Furthermore, the positive effect of political connections continues, even after controlling for the macroeconomic conditions, though the latter are considered to be more important than political connections for firm valuation due to their impact on the share price. Interestingly, findings show that the events occurring after 2008 do not seem to have affected the relationship between political connections and firm value since the significant positive impact of political-ties on firm value persists during the post-event period. The second empirical essay studies the role of political connections in mitigating firms' financing-constraints. Moreover, it investigates the effect of the strength of political connections in alleviating these constraints. Finally, it looks at the impact of the above-mentioned three events which occurred after 2008, notwithstanding the new banking Corporate Governance Code issued in 2007. Findings of this essay reveal that firms' political connections are important in mitigating their financing-constraints. Furthermore, the results show that stronger political connections seem to reduce financing-constraints more than weaker connections. Finally, findings show that the impact of firms' political connections has diminished during the post-event period (2008 - 2014). The third essay examines how a firm's political connections can affect its dividend-policy. It also considers the impact of the strength of political connections on dividend-policy. Finally, we extend the empirical analysis by investigating any shift in the relationship between political connections and dividends due to the events of the Global Financial Crisis, the Arab Uprisings, and the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Results of this essay reveal that a firm's political connections have a significant positive impact on both the propensity to pay dividends and the dividend-payout ratio. Regarding the impact of the strength of political connections on dividends, it is found that firms with weaker political connections pay out more in dividends than firms with stronger connections. In terms of the impact of the events which occurred after 2008 on the relationship between political connections and dividends, the findings show that the impact of these connections on dividends is eliminated.

Com os grandes avanços ocorridos na disponibilização de computadores, existe uma tendência contínua para a utilização de técnicas computacionais auxiliando no projeto de equipamentos de engenharia. Cada vez mais estão se obtendo resultados bastante próximos às condições reais, incluindo a simulação de motores de combustão interna. Neste sentido o presente trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar o escoamento turbulento no processo de admissão de ar em um motor operando em ciclo Diesel. A investigação é focada na determinação da influência do passo de tempo no cálculo do coeficiente de descarga e razão de swirl. Adicionalmente, o campo de velocidades, pressão, energia cinética turbulenta e outros parâmetros são apresentados e analisados, com o objetivo de auxiliar no entendimento da dinâmica envolvida. Essencialmente, dois modelos de turbulência são empregados, juntamente com dois tratamentos de parede. Seus resultados também são confrontados e discutidos. A geometria considerada é de um motor Fiat 1.9 L quatro tempos com duas válvulas. A análise é concentrada em um único cilindro. O pacote computacional utilizado é o Star-cd, e seu aplicativo es-ice. A independência de malha foi obtida, chegando a 1.672.056 volumes. Os resultados são apresentados de duas formas. A primeira delas refere-se a resultados de simulações em regime permanente, realizadas em boa parte por outros autores, com ênfase na determinação do coeficiente de descarga e razão de swirl, estes confrontados com valores experimentais, visando à validação da metodologia. Fica evidente a importância da escolha do modelo de turbulência na simulação de motores de combustão interna, assim como das funções de interpolação utilizadas. Na segunda parte os resultados referem-se a uma análise transiente, considerando o movimento do pistão e válvulas, a 1500 RPM. Observa-se a grande exigência quanto ao passo de tempo requerido no transiente real, ficando demonstrado que para esta velocidade o menor passo de tempo utilizado, 0,05° (5.5555E-6 s), ainda é insuficiente para alguns momentos do ciclo. É possível notar maior influência no coeficiente de descarga do que na razão de swirl, em relação aos passos de tempo utilizados. A forte dependência do modelo de turbulência nos resultados obtidos é mais uma vez confirmada, conforme o esperado, já que as hipóteses sobre a física do fenômeno são diferentes em cada modelo. Os resultados quanto ao tratamento na parede não apresentaram significantes diferenças, quando aplicados junto ao modelo de turbulência k-ω SST. / Considering the increase in the availability of computers, there is a continuing trend toward the use of computational simulation aiding in the design of engineering equipments. Reasonable results, close to the real conditions, are obtained, including the simulation of internal combustion engines. In this way, the present work has the objective of analyzing the turbulent flow in the air intake process of an engine operating in Diesel cycle. The investigation focuses on the determination of the time step in the calculation of the air discharge coefficient and swirl ratio. Additionally, the turbulent kinetic energy, pressure and velocity fields, besides other parameters, are presented and analyzed, with the objective of aiding in the understanding of the involved dynamics. Essentially, two turbulence models are employed, together with two wall treatments. Their results are also confronted and discussed. The considered geometry is a four-stroke, 1.9-L FIAT engine, with two valves. The analysis is concentrated on a single cylinder. The software package used is the Star-cd, and its application es-ice. The mesh independence is carried out, arriving in 1.672.056 volumes. The results are presented in two ways. The first one refers to simulation results of the steady state, also accomplished by other authors, with emphasis in the determination of the discharge coefficient and swirl ratio. These data are confronted with experimental values, aiming to validate the applied methodology. The importance of the choice of the turbulent model becomes evident in the simulation of internal combustion engines, as well as the interpolation functions used. In the second part the results refer to a transient analysis, considering the valves and piston movement, at 1500 rpm. It is observed the great demand on time step required is observed for the real transient, demonstrating that, for this speed, the smallest time step used, 0.05º (5.5555E-6 s), is still insufficient for some moments of the cycle. Also regarding the time step, it is possible to notice a greater influence in the discharge coefficient than in the swirl ratio. The strong dependence of the turbulence model on the results is once again confirmed, as expected, since the hypotheses about the physics of the phenomenon are different in each model. The results, regarding the wall treatment, presented no significant differences, when applied together with the SST k-ω turbulence model.

SOUZA, R. M. \\Estatstica em Bioequivaência: Garantia na qualidade do medicamento generico\". 2008. 42 f Dissertação (Mestrado em Saude na Comunidade) Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeir~ao Preto - USP Como alternativa aos medicamentos de uso humano de grande circulação no mercado brasileiro foram regulamentados os medicamentos genericos, conforme a Lei dos genericos no 9787/99, que evidenciaram os estudos de bioequivalência e biodisponibilidade no Brasil com o objetivo de avaliar a bioequivalência das formulações genericas, tomando-se como referências os medicamentos ja existentes no mercado e com eficacia comprovada. Duas formulações de um mesmo medicamento são consideradas bioequivalentes se suas biodisponibilidades não apresentam evidências de diferenças signicativas segundo limites clinicamente especificados, denominados limites de bioequivalência. Os estudos de bioequivalência são realizados mediante a administração de duas formulações, sendo que uma esta em teste e a outra e a referência, em um numero de voluntários previamente denidos, usando-se um planejamento experimental, na maioria das vêzes do tipo crossover. Apos a retirada de sucessivas amostras sanguíneas ou urinárias em tempos pre-determinados, estudam-se alguns parâmetros farmacocinéticos como area sob a curva de concentrac~ao, concentrac~ao maxima do farmaco e tempo em que a concentração ao maxima ocorre. Esta dissertação de mestrado introduz alguns conceitos basicos de bioequivalênncia para, logo em seguida, apresentar analises Bayesianas para medidas de bioequivalência tanto univariada como multivariada assumindo a distribuição ao normal multivariada para os dados e também a distribuição de Student multivariada. Uma aplicação a de exemplicar o que foi introduzido e apresentada e, para o conjunto de dados em estudo têm, por meio de criterios de seleção ao de modelos, evidências favoraveis a escolha dos modelos multivariados para a condução deste estudo de bioequivalência media. / SOUZA, R. M. \\Statistics on Bioequivalence: Guarantee in quality of generic drug\". 2008. 42 s Dissertation (Master Degree) Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeir~ao Preto - USP As an alternative to medicines for human use of great movement in Brazil, the use of generic medicines were regulated, according to the law of the generic no 9787/99, which establish the studies of bioavailability and bioequivalence in Brazil in order to evaluate bioequivalence of generic formulations, considering as reference existing medicinal products, with proved ecacy. Two formulations of the same drug are considered bioequivalents if your bioavailability do not present evidence of signicant dierences according to clinically specied limits known as bioequivalence limits. Bioequivalence studies are carried out by the administration of two formulations (one is in test and the other one is the reference) in a pre-dened number of volunteers using an experimental plan that is often the crossover one. After the withdrawn of successive blood or urinary samples in predetermined intervals, some pharmacokinetic parameters were studied, such as area under concentration curve, maximum concentration of drug and time that the maximum concentration occurs. This dissertation introduces some basic concepts of bioequivalence and following that, it is presented Bayesian analysis for both as univariate and as multivariate bioequivalence measures assuming the multivariate normal distribution for the data and also the distribution of multivariate t student distribution. An application in order to illustrate what was introduced is presented in this work, and by using means of selection criteria of models, it was observed that for all data on study, there were evidences that lead to choose the multivariates models in order to conduct this study of average bioequivalence.

Family clinicians and researchers speculate that stepparents’ ability to bond with stepchildren may be critical to couple, family, and stepparent-stepchild relationships. Using an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model to analyze data from 238 married stepfamily couples we evaluated how repartnered parents’ and stepparents’ perceptions of stepparents’ affinity-seeking behaviors were associated with their own and their spouse’s marital satisfaction, perceptions of stepparent-stepchild conflict, and stepfamily cohesion. Preliminary results show significant actor effects for parents across all outcomes and two significant partner effects. For stepparents, there were no significant partner effects, but some actor effects. Implications will be discussed.

Mobility is essential for the independent lifestyle. However, as the US population ages, challenges to mobility start to arise, among them just the aging itself which leads to decreased postural stability, falls and the second most common neurodegenerative disease, that is Parkinson’s disease (PD). We decided to investigate step initiation as it is crucial to mobility: walking is not possible without the first step. Step initiation is impaired in PD. However, the impact of PD on the neural mechanisms of step initiation when some of the step parameters are unpredictable remains unexplored. Cortical preparation for step initiation can be assessed by beta event-related desynchronization (ERD) derived from electroencephalography (EEG) recordings. We hypothesized that subjects with PD would exhibit less cortical modulation between conditions of forward step initiation with and without prior knowledge of limb choice. Further, we hypothesized that decreased cortical modulation in PD would associate with a higher impairment of motor performance. Results identified that the group with PD exhibited decreased beta ERD amplitudes that were similar regardless of condition, whereas control subjects modulated beta ERD amplitudes between conditions, particularly in early stages of pre-movement processing in areas overlying sensory cortex. Subjects with PD presented with delayed and reduced postural preparation with increased step target error across both conditions and exhibited a greater incidence of multiple anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) in the predictable relative to the unpredictable condition. Delayed postural preparation significantly correlated with lower amplitudes of beta ERD. We concluded that diminished early pre-movement processing over sensory cortex was concomitant with poor pre-selection of the stepping limb in predictable conditions and that a generally diminished amplitude of cortical pre-movement processing relates to delayed step initiation in people with PD. Furthermore, impaired mobility accompanies healthy aging, but there is a need for deeper understanding of how aging changes central control of motor behavior. Using previous study’s method, we compared cortical preparation for step initiation using beta ERD in young and older healthy subjects performing forward steps with and without prior knowledge of limb choice. Our results show that older subjects exhibited increased beta ERD amplitudes before the step regardless of whether they were informed of limb choice or not. Moreover, older subjects exhibited early increases in beta ERD in the “sensory” cluster of electrodes, but only when full limb-choice information was available. Behaviorally, the older subjects also exhibited shortened and increased anticipatory postural adjustments which led to earlier step initiation and similar swing-foot velocities but was also accompanied by greater target step placement errors and decreased postural stability. For the older group, condition-related increases in beta ERD amplitudes and stability correlated with condition-related prolongation of APA durations. We conclude that older subjects exhibited a spectrum across two strategies: (1) a “fast” strategy associated with decreased neural preparation that trades shortened step preparation and higher swing-foot velocity for target step errors and lowered postural stability; and (2) an “accurate” strategy associated with greater neural preparation, longer step-preparation time, and higher stability during step execution. In conclusion, this thesis provides more support for beta ERD as a useful tool for studying cortical preparation non-invasively. We have also established the importance of the signals recorded by “sensory” clusters: in subjects with PD the absence of beta ERD similar to the control group was associated with impaired motor behavior even when conditions were predictable. Similarly, a part of the older group seemed to pre-potentiate its cortex lying beneath the cluster of “sensory” electrodes which was associated with more safe and accurate steps. Further investigations should focus on the importance of sensorimotor integration and its’ changes due to PD or healthy aging and beta ERD may be an excellent tool for this task.

The extent to which predators regulate prey populations remains a subject of debate. Yet, when predator control is employed as a management strategy, it is often assumed that predators can and do regulate prey populations. From 2011 through 2015, I monitored the demography and space use of coyotes (Canis latrans) and cougars (Puma concolor) on Monroe Mountain in Fishlake National Forest, Utah as part of a larger collaboration investigating the impacts of coyote aerial control on mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) neonate survival. My primary objective was to assess the impacts of anthropogenic regulation on the respective populations and identify any cascading effects relevant to mule deer management. To meet this objective, I established a monitoring program for both predators by deploying radio-telemetry collars (VHF and GPS) on each, documented predation events, established surveys for small mammals and lagomorphs to monitor primary prey populations during deer parturition (June – August), and collected data on the location and demographic composition of winter-removed coyotes. I analyzed these data primarily in a community-based, animal movement and resource selection framework permitting the integration of data from multiple sources. When evaluating coyote aerial removal as a management strategy, I identified a spatial dependency in the ability to match removals with indices of deer recruitment as Wildlife Services Operations personnel were primarily limited by terrain and tree cover. Thus, matching treatment with deer fawning was highly variable with only a small number of sites where removals were effective. In addition, I found that coyotes selected for sites with the highest densities of lagomorphs while avoiding areas with a high probability of encountering cougars. Coyotes did not select for mule deer fawning sites, although individual coyotes that occupied resource-poor home ranges were more likely to do so. Cougars strongly selected for mule deer high use areas throughout much of the year, only switching to elk (Cervus elaphus) during the cougar harvest season (i.e., winter). Data from cougar kill site investigations match the observed patterns in cougar space use. My results suggest that predator-prey processes are multi-dimensional and dynamic through time, which likely contribute to the lack of resolution regarding the efficacy of predator control and the regulatory potential of predators in general.

The loss of large apex predators, and their subsequent reintroduction, has been identified as a substantial driver on the structure and function of ecological communities through behavioral mediated trophic cascades (BMTCs). The reintroduction of wolves (Canis lupus) to Yellowstone National Park (YNP) has served as foundational case study of BMTCs. In our system, it has been suggested that wolves have established a ‘landscape of fear’ in which the primary prey, elk (Cervus elaphus), now avoid risky places, which ultimately led to the recovery of the vegetation community. Although this case is frequently cited as a well-understood example of a landscape of fear, researchers never quantified whether elk avoided risky places, a critical component of the BMTC hypothesis. Thus, I employed numerous quantitative approaches to evaluate the role of wolves and cougars on elk habitat selection in northern Yellowstone. The results from this work suggest that the daily activity schedule of wolves provide a temporally predictable period of risk that allows elk to use risky places during safe times. As such, diel predator activity flattened (i.e., made less risky) the landscape of fear for 16 hours per day, 7 days a week, which permitted elk to forage on deciduous woody plants despite the presence of wolves. Thus, suggests that any trophic cascade in northern Yellowstone is likely driven by the consumptive effects of wolves on elk. In addition, my results suggest that daily activity patterns are an important component of predation risk, and as such, provide a predictable avenue for elk to avoid predators despite residing in an environment spatially saturated with wolves and cougars. Thus, the ability of elk to avoid predators through fine-scale spatial decisions provides support for my findings that the current spatial distribution of prey is largely driven by the consumptive effects of predators on the prey population, rather than a landscape of fear. In combination, these results suggest that the landscape of fear, and more generally, fear effects, may be of less relevance to conservation and management than direct killing within free-living, large landscapes.

Previous research on self-change in support groups has focused on the ways individuals accomplish self-change in the "local cultures" of the support group settings. This ethnographic study of the 12-step self-help group Debtors Anonymous (DA) departs from that tradition by focusing on the ways that DA members achieve self-change by employing "recovery" strategies learned from the group in their everyday lives. DA members enter the group during financial crises, and often believe they cannot manage their own personal finances. By learning techniques of financial management taught by the group, DA members gradually gain "sobriety" and financial management skills. This analysis highlights the important role played by various technologies of self-construction in DA members' recovery efforts. Drawing on narrative and governmentality theories, this analysis shows how DA members accomplish self-change by learning to become self-monitoring and self-restrained financial managers and consumers.