Esta dissertação tem como objetivo conhecer a produção acadêmica sobre tomada de decisão estratégica pelo alto escalão e entender quais as fundamentações teóricas basilares do tema. Metodologicamente, utilizou-se para este fim de pesquisa bibliométrica e bibliográfica de artigos publicados em periódicos internacionais, complementadas pela leitura analítica dos artigos encontrados na pesquisa. Pesquisou-se as principais palavras-chaves relacionadas ao tema na base de dados Web of Science - ISI Web Of Knowledge, utilizando-se de todos os periódicos e anos disponíveis. Procedeu-se então à leitura dos artigos, retirando aqueles que não refletissem o tema pesquisado, obtendo um total final de 277 artigos. Realizou-se uma análise bibliométrica sobre o conteúdo estudado nos artigos de tomada de decisão, identificando os trabalhos mais referenciados, as publicações mais relevantes, e os periódicos da amostra. Efetuou-se também, uma análise de co-citação, mostrando as relações conceituais entre os trabalhos que fundamentam o tema e identificando tendências dos estudos sobre o tema. Com a leitura analítica e a estruturação do conteúdo dos 277 artigos, expôs-se os objetivos, a base teórica utilizada, os objetos de estudo, a natureza e os resultados dos artigos. Foi, assim, possível identificar os principais clusters teóricos sobre o assunto. O primeiro cluster, aborda as características do Top Management Team (TMT) e como estas influenciam a tomada de decisão; o segundo, apresenta como fatores ambientais comprometem a tomada de decisão, juntamente com a exposição de modelos e processos de tomada de decisão; o terceiro, apresenta estudos sobre conflito e consenso na tomada de decisão. A discussão permitiu ilustrar o atual estado do tema e suas lacunas, apresentar sugestões para pesquisa futuras e propor a criação de um curso executivo sobre tomada de decisão. / This thesis aims to evaluate the academic production on strategic decision making in the upper echelons and understand what are the theoretical foundations of the subject. Methodologically, it was used for this purpose a bibliometric and bibliographic research of articles published in international journals, complemented by analytical reading of the articles found in the search. The main keywords related to the topic were searched in the database Web of Science - ISI Web Of Knowledge, using all available journals and years. We then read out the articles by removing those who did not reflect the theme researched, obtaining a final total of 277 items. A bibliometric analysis was conducted on the content studied in the articles of decision making, identifying the most referenced work, the most relevant publications, and journals of the sample. A co-citation analysis was also conducted, showing the conceptual relations between the work underlying the theme and identifying trends of the studies on the theme. With the analytical reading and the structuring of the content of the 277 articles, the objectives were exposed along with, the theoretical basis used, the objects of study, the nature and results of the articles. It was thus possible to identify the main theoretical clusters on the subject. The first cluster, discusses the characteristics of the Top Management Team (TMT) and how they influence decision making, the second shows how environmental factors compromise the decision making, along with the explanatory models and decision-making processes, the third presents studies conflict and consensus in decision making. The discussion permited the illustration of the current state of the subject and its gaps, making suggestions for future research and proposing the creation of an executive course on decision making.

Para reduzir as perdas humanas e materiais durante as inundações, é possível realizar estudo conciso da previsão de chuva, etapa principal de um sistema de alerta antecipado de inundação. O uso de informações de radar de tempo, quando acopladas a modelos de previsão de precipitação baseados fisicamente, pode contribuir para o monitoramento e previsão de episódios de chuva intensa. Desta forma, a previsão de chuva, baseada no uso de informações de radar, juntamente com um modelo conceitual de previsão hidrometeorológica, foi descrita neste trabalho. Teve-se por objetivo aperfeiçoar as previsões de chuva de curtíssimo prazo (poucos minutos), que acopladas a um modelo chuva-vazão, podem ser usadas em sistemas de alerta antecipado. O modelo hidrometeorológico adotado, que considera uma nuvem hipotética unidimensional vertical, foi inicialmente desenvolvido por Georgakakos e Bras (1984a) e ampliado, neste trabalho. Para tal, adotou-se o uso das informações de Topo dos Ecos para determinação da altura das nuvens e considerou-se que a componente do modelo relativa à massa de água líquida no interior da nuvem corresponde à estimativa do conteúdo de água líquida integrado verticalmente (VIL) efetuada por radar. Para eventos de natureza frontal quente e convectiva, o modelo geralmente antecipou o início do processo de chuva, embora tenha conseguido simular seu comportamento e o instante em que o pico da precipitação ocorreu. Para os eventos frontais frios, o pico simulado registrou atraso. Para episódios de simulação com VIL maior que 3 Kg/\'M POT.2\', a chuva simulada acompanhou o comportamento temporal do VIL, mas com influências das variáveis meteorológicas pressão, temperatura e umidade relativa. As lâminas simuladas tornaram-se entrada para o modelo chuva-vazão do SCS, parcialmente calibrado com algoritmo genético. Para a escala de uma pequena bacia hidrográfica urbana brasileira, com estação fluviométrica experimental, preliminarmente, alguns resultados indicam vazões um pouco inferiores e com atrasos na previsão da vazão máxima. A antecedência proporcionada pelo modelo é de 15 minutos e, apesar da simplicidade, conseguiu-se prever o início do processo de precipitação que gerou inundação do córrego urbano. / To reduce human and material losses during floods it is feasible to concisely study the rainfall forecast as the main part of an early warning system. The use of weather radar information, when linked to physically-based forecast models, can contribute for monitoring and forecasting of intense rainfall episodes. Thus, the rainfall forecast, based on using of radar information along with a conceptual model of hydrometeorological forecast, was outlined in this dissertation. One goal of the study was to improve very short term rainfall forecasts, named as a \'nowcasting\' process throughout few minutes, coupled with a rainfall-runoff generation model to be used in early warning system. The hydrometeorological model, a hypothetical vertical 1-D cloud, was initially developed by Georgakakos and Bras (1984a) and further developed in this study to profit signals from radar tracking control volumes of moisture storage. Either \'Echo Top\' radar information was addressed to determinate the cloud height, and the vertically-integrated liquid (\'VIL\') water mass content inside the cloud, estimated by other radar signal, was considered into the model. On the one hand, during rainfall events of hot and convective front genesis monitored with on-field pluviometers, the model results generally anticipated the beginning of the rain process; however the model was capable of not only simulating well the behavior but also the time-step when rainfall monitored peak occurred. On the other hand, and for cold-front events, the simulating peaks depicted a time delay. For simulation episodes with VIL greater than 3 Kg/\'M POT.2\', the simulated rainfall accompanied the time behavior of VIL, but with influences from weather variables of pressure, temperature and relative humidity. These rainfall depths became inputs of a simple SCS rainfall-runoff model, partially calibrated with genetic algorithms. At the scale of a small brazilian urban river basin with experimental gauging station, some preliminary results modeled streamflows a bit lower than, and with some delay of maximum flow forecasts, observed discharges. The advanced lad time period used by model was of about 15 min and, besides its simplicity, it was quite able to anticipate the beggining of the rainfall process that generated the flood formation at the urban creek.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T19:26:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Yuri Aparecido Opata.pdf: 4954287 bytes, checksum: c870711b60baa7a02a2a9d07afe3f6bd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-21 / This work presents an experimental study of changes in structural, electrical, magnetic, and mechanical properties / No presente trabalho é apresentado um estudo experimental das mudanças nas propriedades estruturais, elétricas, magnéticas e mecânicas

No description available.

As atividades sócio-econômicas vêm provocando alterações nocivas ao meio ambiente que atualmente assumem proporções mundiais. Graças à maciça utilização de combustíveis fósseis para a geração de energia e às crescentes práticas de desmatamento e queimadas das florestas, a concentração de dióxido de carbono (CO2) na atmosfera vem aumentando drasticamente. Como este gás é o principal responsável pelo efeito estufa, ele tem grande importância nos estudos e na mitigação do aquecimento global. Para justificar o seqüestro de carbono como um dos caminhos para ajudar na solução deste problema, muitos estudos vêm sendo realizados para avaliar os efeitos nas plantas de uma maior concentração desse gás. As câmaras de topo aberto (OTC, do inglês, open top chambers) são estruturas propícias para tais estudos, pois permitem o controle da concentração de CO2 interno sem que outros fatores climáticos como temperatura, umidade e luminosidade sejam demasiadamente alterados. Este trabalho teve como objetivo o desenvolvimento de um sistema para controlar o nível de CO2 no interior de uma OTC. Em termos de instrumentação eletrônica, foram instalados um sensor de CO2 e uma válvula proporcional, integrados a uma placa de aquisição de dados. Um modelo linear relacionando o CO2 na câmara ao sinal elétrico aplicado à válvula proporcional foi obtido aplicando-se técnicas de Identificação de Sistemas aos dados experimentais coletados com o processo operando em malha aberta. Este modelo foi utilizado no projeto de um controlador com compensação de tempo morto, baseado na estrutura de um preditor de Smith. O desempenho do sistema projetado foi analisado através de simulações, antes de implementá-lo na forma de um instrumento virtual. Os testes mostraram que o sistema manteve a concentração de CO2 na câmara próxima do valor de referência (720 ± 35 ppm) mesmo diante de distúrbios externos criados propositadamente durante os ensaios. / The harmful changes to the environment caused by socio-economic activities are now spread worldwide. Due to the massive use of fossil fuels for energy generation, to the increase in deforestation and forest burning, the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere has drastically increased. As this gas is the main responsible for the greenhouse effect, it has great importance for the studies and the mitigation of global warming. In order to justify carbon sequestration as an alternative to help solve this problem, many studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of a greater concentration of this gas on plants. Open-top chambers (OTCs) are well suited for such studies, because they allow the control of the internal CO2 concentration without significantly modifying other environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and luminosity. This work aimed to develop a system to control the CO2 level inside an OTC. In terms of electronic instrumentation, a CO2 sensor and a proportional valve, integrated to a data acquisition board, were used. A linear model relating CO2 in the chamber to the electric signal applied to the proportional valve was obtained applying System Identification techniques to the experimental data collected from the process operating in open-loop mode. This model was used in the project of a controller with dead time compensation, based on the Smith Predictor structure. The performance of the projected system was analyzed through simulations, before implementing it in the form of a virtual instrument. The tests showed that the system kept the CO2 concentration of the chamber near the set-point (720 ± 35 ppm) even in the presence of external disturbances purposely created during the experiments.

Czech Republic has been always traditional industrial country and the importance of its industry will not diminish, even in spite of the growing share of services on GDP. The goal of this thesis is therefore to analyze strong and weak points of Czech manufacturing and its particular sectors. Measuring various indicators of macroeconomic competitiveness, the results for the Czech Republic have revealed relatively low labour costs, at least in comparison with the EU average, but this comparative advantage can be depleted over time. The challenge for the Czech manufacturing is thus to pass over to upper levels of production with higher margins and higher value added. The thesis is also dealing with different points of view on the topic of industrial policy and the role of government in this policy. The thesis introduces two strategical documents as well, Europe 2020 strategy published by the European Commission and Back on Top strategy published by Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade.

行動通訊網路之國際漫遊(以下簡稱：漫遊)的信令傳遞方式，從早期的通信衛星發展至目前的海底纜線，都屬於高維護成本的電信基礎設施，導致漫遊通話費用成本居高不下。隨著行動通訊網路技術發展，無形中促使OTT（Over The Top）的應用逐漸廣泛，甚至取代原本漫遊通話模式。即便如此，漫遊通話節費產品依然盛行，其主要原因是OTT服務無法提供優於目前行動通訊網路所擁有的特性：高通話品質、高移動性以及通話雙方不受應用軟體或終端裝置型號之限制（如Line無法與微信互通）。 由於漫遊的話務必須透過本地端服務網路或國際合作營運商的協議路由，才能順利將信令送達受話方，如此的程序卻造成Tromboning和Triangular等路由問題，對營運商而言，無形中衍生國際營運商合作的路由接續費用等相關成本。為改善上述問題，本論文的研究方法在不增加電信核心網路元件的基礎架構上使用漫遊閘道，分流處理目前行動通訊網路之漫遊的信令傳遞。採用動態更新漫遊用戶資料機制，降低各電信核心網路元件的運算資源，使漫遊的話務能採用更直接的路徑方式進行路由。 本研究所提出的方法，根據數學理論推導驗證可以發現，漫遊路由成本，不論是路由所需經過的國家數、網路元件數以及營運商連結數等，都能有效降低。模擬實驗結果也顯示，本研究方法能有效降低漫遊呼叫接通的時間，並能提升行動通訊網路前端網路元件的運算效能。在避免Tromboning和Triangular等路由問題的同時，降低營運商的話務路由成本，進而降低漫遊通話費用，提升用戶對漫遊通話使用率，達成雙贏局面。 / The ways of transferring signaling of international roaming, abbreviated to roaming in the following, in mobile communication network evolve from satellite communications, submarine cable communications, etc. The huge maintenance cost of telecommunication infrastructure results in high charge of a roaming call. Through the advancement of mobile communication network technologies, the emergent Over The Top (OTT) applications had been widely spread and began to replace the ways of legacy roaming calls. However, the saving call products still popular is due to OTT services are inferior to those of mobile communication in terms of voice quality and mobility. Apart from this, both parties of OTT services are subject to the same application software, e.g. LINE cannot communicate with WeChat. Since roaming traffic should be delivered through the routing protocol between local service network and international cooperative operators, it may cause Tromboning and Triangular problems. Operators, should thus increase the cost of interconnection due to the corporation among international operators. To resolve the problems, we propose to use roaming gateways based on the underlying infrastructure without adding components to the existing telecommunication core network. Roaming gateways can assist in separate processing of roaming signals delivery of the current mobile communication networks. The proposed method adopts the current registration model when roaming users visit a service network. Aside from this, the method dynamically updates users’ data in order to reduce the use of computing resources of core network components. The method is proved to be able to choose more direct paths in making roaming calls. The proposed method is verified by both mathematical analysis and simulations. The mathematical analysis proves that the proposed method is able to reduce roaming routing cost in terms of numbers of countries, network components and interconnected operators. The simulations show that the proposed method is able to shorten the answering time of roaming calls and enhance the computation efficiency of the front-end components of mobile communication network. In summary, the proposed method is able to solve the routing problems of Tromboning and Triangular as well as reduce the traffic routing cost of operators. As the result, the operators will be able to offer better tariff to users.

As atividades sócio-econômicas vêm provocando alterações nocivas ao meio ambiente que atualmente assumem proporções mundiais. Graças à maciça utilização de combustíveis fósseis para a geração de energia e às crescentes práticas de desmatamento e queimadas das florestas, a concentração de dióxido de carbono (CO2) na atmosfera vem aumentando drasticamente. Como este gás é o principal responsável pelo efeito estufa, ele tem grande importância nos estudos e na mitigação do aquecimento global. Para justificar o seqüestro de carbono como um dos caminhos para ajudar na solução deste problema, muitos estudos vêm sendo realizados para avaliar os efeitos nas plantas de uma maior concentração desse gás. As câmaras de topo aberto (OTC, do inglês, open top chambers) são estruturas propícias para tais estudos, pois permitem o controle da concentração de CO2 interno sem que outros fatores climáticos como temperatura, umidade e luminosidade sejam demasiadamente alterados. Este trabalho teve como objetivo o desenvolvimento de um sistema para controlar o nível de CO2 no interior de uma OTC. Em termos de instrumentação eletrônica, foram instalados um sensor de CO2 e uma válvula proporcional, integrados a uma placa de aquisição de dados. Um modelo linear relacionando o CO2 na câmara ao sinal elétrico aplicado à válvula proporcional foi obtido aplicando-se técnicas de Identificação de Sistemas aos dados experimentais coletados com o processo operando em malha aberta. Este modelo foi utilizado no projeto de um controlador com compensação de tempo morto, baseado na estrutura de um preditor de Smith. O desempenho do sistema projetado foi analisado através de simulações, antes de implementá-lo na forma de um instrumento virtual. Os testes mostraram que o sistema manteve a concentração de CO2 na câmara próxima do valor de referência (720 ± 35 ppm) mesmo diante de distúrbios externos criados propositadamente durante os ensaios. / The harmful changes to the environment caused by socio-economic activities are now spread worldwide. Due to the massive use of fossil fuels for energy generation, to the increase in deforestation and forest burning, the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere has drastically increased. As this gas is the main responsible for the greenhouse effect, it has great importance for the studies and the mitigation of global warming. In order to justify carbon sequestration as an alternative to help solve this problem, many studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of a greater concentration of this gas on plants. Open-top chambers (OTCs) are well suited for such studies, because they allow the control of the internal CO2 concentration without significantly modifying other environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and luminosity. This work aimed to develop a system to control the CO2 level inside an OTC. In terms of electronic instrumentation, a CO2 sensor and a proportional valve, integrated to a data acquisition board, were used. A linear model relating CO2 in the chamber to the electric signal applied to the proportional valve was obtained applying System Identification techniques to the experimental data collected from the process operating in open-loop mode. This model was used in the project of a controller with dead time compensation, based on the Smith Predictor structure. The performance of the projected system was analyzed through simulations, before implementing it in the form of a virtual instrument. The tests showed that the system kept the CO2 concentration of the chamber near the set-point (720 ± 35 ppm) even in the presence of external disturbances purposely created during the experiments.

Preeclampsia (PE) is a potentially fatal complication of pregnancy characterized by an increase in blood pressure (>140/90 mmHg) and proteinuria (>300 mg/24 hrs), often accompanied by edema. Symptoms of PE start after 20 weeks of gestation. If PE remains untreated, it can lead to eclampsia, grand-mal seizures responsible for most fatalities. PE is believed to affect 2-10% of pregnancies worldwide, and claims the lives of over 75,000 mothers and 500,000 newborns yearly. No therapeutic agents have been developed to prevent or cure PE. Part of the reason for this is the absence of a complete understanding of the pathogenesis of this disease. PE has long been regarded as a “disease of theories”, and the pathophysiology of PE continues to be the subject of debate. Nonetheless, several abnormalities have been observed to precede established, clinical PE and have in turn been proposed to be involved in the causation of this disease, all with involvement of the mother's placenta as a central feature. Removal of placenta is the only cure for PE and results in a rapid resolution of the symptoms. Thus, the placenta remains an organ of substantial interest and many research groups have attempted to identify abnormal placental features occurring in PE. None of these studies have focused on less abundant, low molecular weight (LMW) biomolecules, which play important roles in the pathophysiology of many diseases. There are a number of alterations that are believed to affect the placenta and contribute to the pathogenesis of PE. The most widely accepted ones include hypoxia, oxidative stress, and an increase of pro-inflammatory mediators in the mother's placenta. The goal of my initial study was to identify which of these hypothesized causative pathways has a significance in the etiology of this syndrome as well as to investigate which less abundant, low molecular weight biomolecules change in response to these abnormalities. For this purpose, we first adapted and optimized a previously developed methodology that studied LMW biomolecules in tissue specimens to study placental biomolecules. This approach involved a tissue homogenization step followed by protein depletion using acetonitrile. We compared two regions of human placenta: the chorionic plate and the basal plate to find differences in the LMW fraction. We discovered 16 species with statistically significant differences between the two sides, and identified 12 of them using tandem mass spectrometry. In the second study we collected normal human term placentas from elective C-section deliveries and exposed explants to each of the above-mentioned provocative agents or stress conditions for 48 hrs. Other explants without any stressors were cultured in parallel for the same amount of time. The processing of explants was divided into five steps: 1) explant culture; 2) tissue homogenization; 3) acetonitrile precipitation to remove high abundance, high molecular weight proteins; 4) injection of the protein-depleted specimen into a capillary liquid chromatography–mass spectrometer; 5) analysis of MS data to identify quantitative differences between cases (stressed explants) and controls (normal explants). In total, we observed 146 molecules changed in abundance between the treated explants and the controls with 75 of these molecules changed in response to hypoxic treatment, 23 changed due to hypoxia-reoxygenation, a process generating reactive oxygen species, and 48 changed due to tumor necrosis factor–alpha (TNFα), a pro-inflammatory cytokine. We were successful in identifying 45% of all these molecules by tandem MS. Statistical modeling that applied LASSO analysis allowed for the development of a model that used 16 of the 146 differentially expressed biomolecules to accurately classify and differentiate each of the 4 stressed conditions. In my third study, I then submitted actual preeclamptic and non-diseased placental tissue to our established homogenization and acetonitrile precipitation protocol to see if any of the differences in LMW biomolecules produced under stress conditions in normal placenta were recapitulated in actual diseased placenta. In a preliminary statistical analysis, 8 of the original 146 differentially expressed species, displayed significant or near significant changes in the actual disease placenta. After applying two stringent statistical tests that eliminated any potential influence of gestational age, four out of the 146 biomarkers previously studied, continued to be differentially expressed in both stringent analyses. Of the four, 1 biomarker (m/z 649.49 (+1)) showed an increased abundance in hypoxic placental explants as well as in PE placenta; 2 (461.06 (+1), 476.24 (+1)) were increased in response to TNFα-exposed placental explants and in these PE placentas and 1 (426.35 (+1)) increased in response to hypoxia-reoxygenation-treated placental explants was also increased in PE placenta. We have chemically characterized 2 of the 4 biomarkers. One was a phospholipid (m/z 476.24) while the other was an acyl-carnitine (m/z 426.35). This suggests that features of PE appear to arise from the predicted early abnormalities that affect the placenta. In conclusion, I was successful in developing an ‘omics’ approach to study less abundant, low molecular weight biomolecules in human placenta as well as investigate which biomarkers show differential expression in human placenta when exposed to proposed abnormalities of PE and have data to suggest that these same responses are present in PE placenta.

Matching people to their preferences is an algorithmic topic with real world applications. One such application is the kidney exchange. The best "cure" for patients whose kidneys are failing is to replace it with a healthy one. Unfortunately, biological factors (e.g., blood type) constrain the number of possible replacements. Kidney exchanges seek to alleviate some of this pressure by allowing donors to give their kidney to a patient besides the one they most care about and in turn the donor for that patient gives her kidney to the patient that this first donor most cares about. Roth et al.~first discussed the classic kidney exchange problem. Freedman et al.~expanded upon this work by optimizing an additional objective in addition to maximal matching. In this work, I implement the traditional kidney exchange algorithm as well as expand upon more recent work by considering multi-objective optimization of the exchange. In addition I compare the use of 2-cycles to 3-cycles. I offer two hypotheses regarding the results of my implementation. I end with a summary and a discussion about potential future work.