A indústria de mineração gera uma vasta quantidade de rejeitos que são comumente depositados em reservatórios ou lagoas de contenção. Para dimensionar adequadamente estas construções, quando o rejeito é altamente compressível, é necessário estudar as características de consolidação deste material através de técnicas que contemplem grandes deformações. Este trabalho teve como objetivo implantar a técnica HCT (Hydraulic Consolidation Test) nos laboratórios do departamento de Geotecnia da EESC-USP e consolidar a utilização da técnica TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry). Também teve como objetivo avaliar o processo de consolidação de rejeitos argilosos contidos em uma barragem com o uso de técnicas de laboratório (HCT) e de campo (TDR). Nos ensaios de laboratório foi utilizada a técnica HCT, enquanto que em campo foi utilizada a técnica TDR. Em laboratório, realizaram-se ensaios com amostras coletadas na região do vertedouro e do canal de lançamento de rejeitos. Foram realizadas diversas análises com estas amostras utilizando a técnica HCT, tendo como resultado uma pequena variação nos parâmetros de consolidação obtidos. Através destes parâmetros foi calculada a curva de compressibilidade de laboratório. A técnica TDR fez uso de uma sonda desenvolvida especialmente para este fim, sendo realizada uma calibração previa em laboratório com o material da barragem. A técnica TDR apresentou, de forma instantânea, a estimativa do teor de umidade para as sondagens realizadas na barragem de rejeitos. Com os resultados da técnica TDR, os índices de vazios foram calculados por correlações e, por fim, calculadas as tensões efetivas atuantes em cada profundidade estudada, gerando uma curva de compressibilidade de campo. Pode-se então comparar as curvas de compressibilidade de laboratório e campo obtendo-se uma grande proximidade entre os valores. Conclui-se que ambas as técnicas são validas para avaliação do processo de consolidação de materiais moles em barragens de rejeitos. / The mining industry generates a large amount of tailing, which is usually placed in tailing dams. To properly design these constructions, when the tailing is highly compressible, it is necessary to study the consolidation characteristics of this material by means of techniques that consider large deformations. This study aimed to establish the technique HCT (Hydraulic Consolidation Test) in the laboratories of the department of Geotechnical Engineering, EESC-USP and consolidate the use of the technique TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry). This research work also aimed to evaluate the process of consolidation of clayey tailings through laboratory and field tests. For laboratory tests it was used the Hydraulic Consolidation Test (HCT) whereas field tests used the Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) technique. The laboratory tests were carried out with samples collected in the spillway and next to the discharge spigot. Several analyses were performed using the HCT technique. The analysis results showed very little variations in the consolidation parameter values. The compressibility curve was determined using these consolidation parameters. The TDR tests were carried out using a probe specifically designed for this purpose. Laboratory calibration was performed with samples collected in the dam. One advantage of the TDR technique is to provide in real time estimates of the soil water content. With the water content profiles provided by the TDR technique, void ratio and effective stress profiles were determined using correlations obtained in laboratory, enabling to find a field compressibility curve. Then, the laboratory and field compressibility curves were compared, showing them very close to each other. It was concluded that both techniques are valid for evaluating the process of consolidation of soft materials in tailings dams.

L’objectif de mon projet principal de thèse est de déterminer la fonction biologique d’un lncARN conservés chez le zebrafish que nous avons appelé libra. La séquence de libra étant hautement homologue à la région 3’UTR de la protéine Nrep. Ces deux transcrits, libra et Nrep, contiennent en effet un site de liaison au miARN profondément conservé et inhabituellement complémentaire au miR-29. En utilisant à le modèle souris et les cellules murines, nous avons décrypté la relation régulatrice entre ce transcrit conservé dans l’évolution des vertébrés et la voie métabolique des miARN. Nous avons montré que Nrep limite le domaine d’expression de miR-29 au cervelet, et qu’il le déstabilise en rognant sa séquence. Notre travail révèle donc le premier exemple de dégradation endogène ciblée des miARN (ou TDMD). De plus, un ensemble d’expériences in vivo sur les modèles zebrafish et souris, nous a permis de démontrer que libra et Nrep contrôlent tout les deux le comportement animal. Via la perturbation génétique du site de liaison au miARN de Nrep murin, nous avons observé que ce gène régule le dosage du miR29 de part son site de liaison aux miARN, et que cette régulation est nécessaire à un comportement animal normal. Dans la seconde partie de ma thèse, je décris une stratégie exploré afin de déréguler les lncARN de la manière la moins invasive possible. Les lncARN sont actuellement neutralisés par des approches qui introduisent de vastes changements de séquence au niveau génomique. Nous avons donc développer une stratégie in vivo, appliquée au zebrafish, qui inactive les lncARN via l’insertion génomique d’une séquence ribozyme autoclivante ou d’un signal polyA prématuré. / The goal of my main thesis project was to determine the biological function of a deeply conserved zebrafish long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) which we called libra. libra shows sequence similarity with the 3'UTR of the NREP a protein coding transcript. Both libra and Nrep contain a deeply conserved and unusually complementary microRNA (miRNA) binding site for miR-29. Using both the mouse model and mouse cell lines, we deciphered the regulatory relationship between this conserved transcript and the miRNA pathway. We showed that Nrep restricts the spatial expression domain of miR-29 in the cerebellum and that it destabilizes miR-29 through 3' trimming. Until now, only viral transcripts and artificial reporters engineered to contain highly complementary miRNA binding sites have been shown to regulate miRNAs in this fashion. Thus, our work uncovers the first example of endogenous target-directed miRNA degradation (TDMD). In addition, through a set of in vivo experiments in zebrafish and mouse, we showed that both libra and Nrep control normal animal behavior. By genetically disrupting the miR-29 binding site in Nrep in mouse, we showed that Nrep regulates miR-29 dosage through its miR-29 site and controls animal behavioral. In a second part of my thesis I describe a strategy to genetically downregulate lncRNAs in a minimally invasive manner. Approaches to knock-out lncRNAs that do not introduce vast sequence changes at the genomic level have not been adequately developed yet. I present our in vivo strategy applied to the zebrafish model using a genomic knock-in of a self-cleaving ribozyme sequence and a premature poly(A) signal to knock-out lncRNAs.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Environmental Science / Pollution originating from mine tailings is currently one of the environmental problems South Africa has to deal with. Because of the large number of tailings impoundments and their changing status, authorities are battling to keep their records and controls up to date. This project is aimed at investigating the use of remote sensing as a way of conducting surveys of mine tailings efficiently, regularly and at a low cost. Mine tailings impoundments of the Witwatersrand in Gauteng provide an ideal study area because of the large number of tailings dams of different sizes and conditions and the availability of satellite images and aerial photographs covering the area. Tailings impoundments conditions are analysed through satellite images, airborne multi-spectral data and aerial photographs captured during the Safari 2000 dry season campaign. Remote sensing interpretation of colour composites of multi-spectral bands, Principal Components and supervised and unsupervised classifications are the methods of analysis used. The overall goal of the project has been achieved through the production of a comprehensive database of tailings impoundments and their rehabilitation status, in an accessible format, containing identity, coordinates, area, rehabilitation status and owner of each tailings impoundment, map them and end up with a comprehensive database of tailings impoundment on the Witwatersrand. / AC2017

Purpose: Can luxury fashion brands use websites and web-shops and still keep a sense of drama and exclusivity around their brand and at the same time avoid brand dilution?Background: The e-commerce opened up for new possibilities for the luxury fashion brands but due to the dotcom crash around the year of 2000 did many of them become reluctant to the Internet as a selling channel. LVMH was one of the first in this genre to start up a web- shop. It name was eluxury (eluxury.com), and sold products from LVMH’s brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior and Donna Karan. It started off in the US market and then spread to France and the United Kingdom. This inspired other brands like Gucci and Armani to also invest in e-commerce. Even though the success of these web-shops is there still an ongoing debate about whether or not luxury brands should adopt e-commerce. The major concern is the dilution of features like exclusivity and prestige of the brands, if they are present in this channel.Method: To meet the purpose a qualitative research approach was chosen. The qualitative data was collected through eight in-depth interviews with luxury fashion interested Swedish females. The answers from the interviews generated a picture of their online shopping habits, and the likes and dislikes of the websites and web-shops of Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Dior and Gucci. In addition it showed what makes a web-shop exclusive and well designed from a consumer/visitor point of view.Conclusion: The result of this research showed that it is good for luxury fashion brands to have distribution online because it makes the products a lot easier to get hold of for the consumers. Although there were several criteria that was needed to be fulfilled in order to design and create a well functioning and good web-shop. It was evident from the result of the study that the Internet can really be a good distribution channel, with only a little risk of brand dilution depending on how the web-shop is designed. To summarize, we say that a good website and web-shop meeting the criteria of the consumers can really create a stronger brand image and online sales, although a luxury fashion brand should also have good physical stores, a web-shop can in many ways really be a very suitable complement for marketing and distribution. / Program: Magisterutbildning i fashion management med inriktning modemarknadsföring

The rapid growth of the internet and e-commerce provide new opportunities for China’s retailers, and a new battle for China’s retail industry has begun. The purpose of this research is to explore the barriers and factors for achieving successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry. Some past studies have investigated the success of e-commerce in the western context. This study aims to partially fill the gap created by the lack of research into e-commerce in the Asian context, by investigating successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry, and is based on a case study of the Shanghai Brilliance Group. Therefore, the research question is ‘How can successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry be achieved?’ Accordingly, three research issues are addressed:Research issue 1: How is e-tailing being used in the Shanghai Brilliance Group?Research issue 2: What are the barriers to the implementation of e-tailing in theShanghai Brilliance Group?Research issue 3: What are the factors for achieving successful e-tailing in theShanghai Brilliance Group?To investigate the research question and the three research issues, the following approaches were applied. Firstly, three parent disciplines were reviewed, namely, ecommerce, retail in China, and e-tailing success factors, in order to generate the research gap and a theoretical model. A theoretical model was developed, which included six factors and their variables. These six factors are: senior management factors, organisational factors, e-commerce strategies, external factors, consumer factors, and ecommerce system measurements. Secondly, the primary data for this research were collected from interviews (16 in-depth interviews and 3 focus group interviews) and a survey questionnaire (200 valid questionnaires).The findings for the first research issue showed that e-commerce is poorly implemented in the Shanghai Brilliance Group and its subsidiaries, but that e-commerce in the supermarket subsidiaries is more advanced than in the department stores. Only one department store is offering online shopping to their customers, while both supermarket subsidiaries offer online shopping. The rest of the department stores only use websites for advertising and promotion, or for limited customer service, such as award point checking. Moreover, only the Oriental Shopping Centre and Lian Hua Supermarket have specific teams or an out-sourced company controlling their e-commerce project. This shows that e-commerce is not being taken seriously in the Shanghai Brilliance Group to date.In relation to the second research issue, a total of nineteen barriers were identified from the interview data. Those barriers can be divided into two categories, namely, external barriers and internal barriers. Most of those barriers are consistent with those mentioned in the literature. However, some new barriers emerged from the data analysis process, including the mission of the organisation, and high profit objectives.The findings in relation to research issue 3 identified other important factors of e-tailing, besides those barriers answered in research issue 2. Most of the success factors reviewed in the literature were confirmed by the collected data and in addition, some new variables were explored. Overall, six groups of factors and 64 variables were addressed in this research as success factors for e-tailing. This included 57 out of the 59 variables which were previously mentioned in the literature and seven emergent variables.This research has made a contribution to both the theory and practice of e-tailing.Through qualitative analysis, this research not only identifies the important factors of e-tailing, but also generates a comprehensive model to guide the implementation of e-tailing by China’s retailers, especially the Shanghai Brilliance Group. Furthermore, this is the first study to investigate successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry. Accordingly, the proposed framework of this study provides a foundation for future research.

Bakalauro baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjama Lietuvos interneto vartotojų naudojimasis elektronine prekyba (toliau – e. prekyba). Pagrindinis tyrimo tikslas, aptarus e. prekybą teoriniu požiūriu ir atlikus anketinę apklausą, ištirti naudojimosi e. prekyba mąstą, respondentų nuomonę apie e. prekybą, bei priežastis, kodėl neperkama elektroninėje erdvėje. Anketinis tyrimas atliktas internetu, kuriame dalyvavo 300 respondentų. Gauti tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad trečdalis apklaustųjų yra išbandę e. prekybą. Beveik pusė pirkėjų perka užsienio e. parduotuvėse, kuriose respondentai teigia, didesnis prekių pasirinkimas, bei žemesnės kainos. Svariausias e. prekybos privalumas, yra galimybė nusipirkti prekių žemesnėmis kainomis. Pabaigoje pateikiamos rekomendacijos elektroninių parduotuvių paslaugas norinčioms teikti ar jau teikiančioms įmonėms, padėsiančios pritraukti daugiau klientų. / In this Bachelor‘s degree work Lithuanian electronic tailing situation is researched. The main objective is after researching theoretical background of the subject to conduct a survey to find out about e-tailing usage, opinion and main reason, why some users don‘t use it. Conducted survey on the internet, in which participated 300 persons. Research results showed, that three parts of persons surveys have tried buying products online. Half of them are buying products abroad, instead of domestic purchases. As of reason that there is more products and the prices are lower. The main advantage of e-tailing is that products are cheaper on the internet. In the end of the research there are recommendations for e-tailing companies, which might help to attract more customers.

The rapid growth of the internet and e-commerce provide new opportunities for China’s retailers, and a new battle for China’s retail industry has begun. The purpose of this research is to explore the barriers and factors for achieving successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry. Some past studies have investigated the success of e-commerce in the western context. This study aims to partially fill the gap created by the lack of research into e-commerce in the Asian context, by investigating successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry, and is based on a case study of the Shanghai Brilliance Group. Therefore, the research question is ‘How can successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry be achieved?’ Accordingly, three research issues are addressed:Research issue 1: How is e-tailing being used in the Shanghai Brilliance Group?Research issue 2: What are the barriers to the implementation of e-tailing in theShanghai Brilliance Group?Research issue 3: What are the factors for achieving successful e-tailing in theShanghai Brilliance Group?To investigate the research question and the three research issues, the following approaches were applied. Firstly, three parent disciplines were reviewed, namely, ecommerce, retail in China, and e-tailing success factors, in order to generate the research gap and a theoretical model. A theoretical model was developed, which included six factors and their variables. These six factors are: senior management factors, organisational factors, e-commerce strategies, external factors, consumer factors, and ecommerce system measurements. Secondly, the primary data for this research were collected from interviews (16 in-depth interviews and 3 focus group interviews) and a survey questionnaire (200 valid questionnaires).The findings for the first research issue showed that e-commerce is poorly implemented in the Shanghai Brilliance Group and its subsidiaries, but that e-commerce in the supermarket subsidiaries is more advanced than in the department stores. Only one department store is offering online shopping to their customers, while both supermarket subsidiaries offer online shopping. The rest of the department stores only use websites for advertising and promotion, or for limited customer service, such as award point checking. Moreover, only the Oriental Shopping Centre and Lian Hua Supermarket have specific teams or an out-sourced company controlling their e-commerce project. This shows that e-commerce is not being taken seriously in the Shanghai Brilliance Group to date.In relation to the second research issue, a total of nineteen barriers were identified from the interview data. Those barriers can be divided into two categories, namely, external barriers and internal barriers. Most of those barriers are consistent with those mentioned in the literature. However, some new barriers emerged from the data analysis process, including the mission of the organisation, and high profit objectives.The findings in relation to research issue 3 identified other important factors of e-tailing, besides those barriers answered in research issue 2. Most of the success factors reviewed in the literature were confirmed by the collected data and in addition, some new variables were explored. Overall, six groups of factors and 64 variables were addressed in this research as success factors for e-tailing. This included 57 out of the 59 variables which were previously mentioned in the literature and seven emergent variables.This research has made a contribution to both the theory and practice of e-tailing.Through qualitative analysis, this research not only identifies the important factors of e-tailing, but also generates a comprehensive model to guide the implementation of e-tailing by China’s retailers, especially the Shanghai Brilliance Group. Furthermore, this is the first study to investigate successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry. Accordingly, the proposed framework of this study provides a foundation for future research.

The rapid growth of the internet and e-commerce provide new opportunities for China’s retailers, and a new battle for China’s retail industry has begun. The purpose of this research is to explore the barriers and factors for achieving successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry. Some past studies have investigated the success of e-commerce in the western context. This study aims to partially fill the gap created by the lack of research into e-commerce in the Asian context, by investigating successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry, and is based on a case study of the Shanghai Brilliance Group. Therefore, the research question is ‘How can successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry be achieved?’ Accordingly, three research issues are addressed:Research issue 1: How is e-tailing being used in the Shanghai Brilliance Group?Research issue 2: What are the barriers to the implementation of e-tailing in theShanghai Brilliance Group?Research issue 3: What are the factors for achieving successful e-tailing in theShanghai Brilliance Group?To investigate the research question and the three research issues, the following approaches were applied. Firstly, three parent disciplines were reviewed, namely, ecommerce, retail in China, and e-tailing success factors, in order to generate the research gap and a theoretical model. A theoretical model was developed, which included six factors and their variables. These six factors are: senior management factors, organisational factors, e-commerce strategies, external factors, consumer factors, and ecommerce system measurements. Secondly, the primary data for this research were collected from interviews (16 in-depth interviews and 3 focus group interviews) and a survey questionnaire (200 valid questionnaires).The findings for the first research issue showed that e-commerce is poorly implemented in the Shanghai Brilliance Group and its subsidiaries, but that e-commerce in the supermarket subsidiaries is more advanced than in the department stores. Only one department store is offering online shopping to their customers, while both supermarket subsidiaries offer online shopping. The rest of the department stores only use websites for advertising and promotion, or for limited customer service, such as award point checking. Moreover, only the Oriental Shopping Centre and Lian Hua Supermarket have specific teams or an out-sourced company controlling their e-commerce project. This shows that e-commerce is not being taken seriously in the Shanghai Brilliance Group to date.In relation to the second research issue, a total of nineteen barriers were identified from the interview data. Those barriers can be divided into two categories, namely, external barriers and internal barriers. Most of those barriers are consistent with those mentioned in the literature. However, some new barriers emerged from the data analysis process, including the mission of the organisation, and high profit objectives.The findings in relation to research issue 3 identified other important factors of e-tailing, besides those barriers answered in research issue 2. Most of the success factors reviewed in the literature were confirmed by the collected data and in addition, some new variables were explored. Overall, six groups of factors and 64 variables were addressed in this research as success factors for e-tailing. This included 57 out of the 59 variables which were previously mentioned in the literature and seven emergent variables.This research has made a contribution to both the theory and practice of e-tailing.Through qualitative analysis, this research not only identifies the important factors of e-tailing, but also generates a comprehensive model to guide the implementation of e-tailing by China’s retailers, especially the Shanghai Brilliance Group. Furthermore, this is the first study to investigate successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry. Accordingly, the proposed framework of this study provides a foundation for future research.

Geopolymerization has been considered as a new technology to replace the ordinary Portland cement in construction industry. It provides an option to manage the industry waste and byproducts like fly ash, mine tailings. At the same time, the CO₂ emissions can be reduced about 80% compared to that of ordinary Portland cement. The present research includes three main parts. First part is applying mine tailings as construction materials using geopolymerization method. The study is focused on efficiently activating mine tailings, reducing alkali consumption, decreasing curing time and improving compressive strength. We investigate the activation temperature effects, the impacts of additives and effects of forming pressures. The results show that a 40 MPa unconfined compressive strength (UCS) can be achieved with the geopolymerization samples after mine tailings are activated by sodium hydroxide at 170°C for 1 hour with the addition of calcium hydroxide and alkali dissolved aluminium oxide, further compressed with a 10 MPa forming pressure and finally cured at 90°C for 3 days. To elucidate the mechanism for the contribution of additives to geopolymerization, microscopic and spectroscopic techniques including scanning electron microscopy/ energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy are used to investigate the micro/nanostructure and the elemental and phase composition of geopolymerization specimens. The stress-strain behavior was also characterized. The results shows that the mechanical behavior is similar with that of concrete and the dynamic modulus is 22 GPa, which is comparable with that of concrete. The Young's modulus of geopolymer product was also calculated and the value is in the range of 2.9 to 9.3 GPa. The findings of the present work provide a novel method for the geopolymerization of mine tailings as construction materials. Second section is applying fly ash as a high strength water-resistant construction material. Through the present investigation, a procedure has been studied. The experiment results indicate that the concentration of NaOH, water content, and curing condition can significantly affect the mechanical property of geopolymer matrix. At the same time, the chemical composition, especially the Si/Al ratio and calcium content, is also an important factor during geopolymerization. XRD results show that the amorphous feature can be observed for both high and low calcium fly ash. It is the key of the success of geopolymerizaton due to its high reactivity. XRD, FTIR and SEM tests were performed to study how experiment conditions and the properties of fly ash affect geopolymerization. The obtained compressive strength of the geopolymerization product can reach above 100 MPa. The stress-strain behavior was also characterized. The results shows that the dynamic modulus is 36.5 GPa. The product obtained from the present work shows very high water resistance without losing any compressive strength even after a one month soaking time. Third part is applying the mixture of class C fly ash and mine tailings as construction materials. Through the present investigation, a protocol has been set up. The experiment results of the present work also help set up the working conditions such as activation temperature and time, the concentration of NaOH, the addition of Ca(OH)₂, forming pressure, mine tailing to class C fly ash weight ratio, curing temperature and curing time. To elucidate the mechanism for the contribution of additives to geopolymerization, microscopic and spectroscopic techniques such as SEM/EDX, X-ray diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy were used to investigate the micro/nanostructure and the elemental and phase composition of geopolymerization composite. The obtained compressive strength of the geopolymerization product can reach above 60 MPa. The stress-strain behavior of the geopolymer matrix of the mixture of mine tailing and fly ash were also characterized and the results show that the mechanical behavior is similar to that of concrete with a 24 GPa dynamic modulus. The Young's modulus of geopolymer product was also calculated and the value is in the range of 4.0 to 13.5 GPa. The findings of the present work provide a novel method for the geopolymerization of the mixture of mine tailings and class C fly ash as construction materials, such as bricks for construction and road pavement.

Die Rückstandshalden des Kalibergbaus bestehen überwiegend aus Steinsalz. In Abhängigkeit der Stabilität des Untergrundes sowie der Haldenhöhe neigen diese Halden dazu sich plastisch zu verformen. Diese Deformationen gilt es frühzeitig zu erkennen und zu bewerten. Das neue gestaffelte Monitoringkonzept beruht auf langjährigen Erfahrungen, die ebenso kurz vorgestellt werden. / Tailing heaps of potash mining consist predominantly of rock salt. Depending on the stability of the underground, as well as the heights of the heaps, these heaps tend to deform plastically. These deformations must be recognized and assessed at an early stage. The new graduated monitoring concept is based on many years of experience, which are also briefly presented.