Bacterial responses to environmental stresses may be easily observed and predicted under controlled laboratory conditions. However, realistic conditions encountered during manufacturing, in retail or in households may cause unpredicted responses of spoilage or pathogenic bacteria. Therefore it is essential to identify and understand the microbial dynamics under such conditions. The overall aim of the present study was to simulate the most common environmental conditions and consumer-style practices during storage or preparation of Ready-to-Eat (RTE) and Ready-to-Cook (RTC) products in the domestic environment, and predict the microbial dynamics which may deteriorate the quality or compromise the safety of these foods. Aiming to develop a unified mathematical model for the prediction of the growth of the specific spoilage microorganisms (SSOs), the spoilage pattern of three RTE acidic spreads of low pH was described in relation to microbial, physicochemical and molecular changes during storage. Results showed that the spoilage profile of the products was primarily affected by the initial pH and the storage temperature, despite the differences in their formulation. These findings enabled the assessment of two unified models (polynomial and Ratkowsky) for the prediction of the growth of lactic acid bacteria (LAB; SSOs) in such acidic spreads, using only the initial pH, the concentration of undissociated acetic acid and the storage temperature. The models were validated under realistic conditions in household refrigerators. Despite the abrupt fluctuations of the temperature during validation procedure, they both were able to adequately predict the growth of LAB in the spreads. However, the initial contamination level was proved to be necessary and crucial for the accurate prediction of microbial dynamics. The time-temperature profiles of the validation procedure revealed that the suggested storage conditions were not followed promptly and, therefore, concerns were raised on the effect of such consumer mishandlings on the safety of foods. Therefore, the responses of Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli O157:H7 to the stresses encountered during frozen storage, thawing and cooking of ground beef, simulating typical scenarios followed by the consumers, were evaluated. The results revealed that the guidelines issued by the food safety authorities lack of some specific points that may affect the safety of the final product, such as the duration of frozen storage and the method of cooking. In particular, it was found that the heat resistance of E. coli O157:H7 was likely increased after long term frozen storage, while cooking in pan-grill did not ensure the safety of the final product, even when cooked at the suggested temperature. As shown in the first study, the initial contamination level played a significant role on the predictions of the models and further on the shelf-life of the products. Therefore, the dynamics of realistically low initial populations of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Typhimurium versus higher levels of the pathogens (such those used during in vitro trials) in RTE fresh-cut salads were compared. In addition, any potential uncertainty sources for the growth potential of the pathogens in broth-based simulations were investigated. Results showed that the growth variability of low inocula is highly affected by the marginal storage temperatures, the indigenous microflora and the availability of nutrients. Because of this, growth from low populations showed the likelihood to exceed the growth derived from unrealistically high inocula, suggesting that ―fail-dangerous‖ implications may derive from such challenge tests. Data derived from this part were compared with broth-based simulations and the results showed that high uncertainty should be expected when extrapolating such predictions from low initial populations in fresh-cut salads, due to the various factors affecting the microbial growth on a real food, which are (inevitably) ignored by broth-based models. Overall, the present Thesis highlights the significant impact of consumer mishandlings on the food safety and quality of foods and contributes to the identification of unpredicted potential risk origins in the domestic environment.

A demanda acelerada por novos produtos e a crescente preocupação ambiental no mundo vem aumentado a importância do Ecodesign. A Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV) é uma técnica utilizada para avaliar o desempenho ambiental de um produto, sendo bastante adequada à prática do Ecodesign. No entanto, observa-se que essa técnica não é amplamente aplicada nas empresas, principalmente devido a dificuldade no gerenciamento das informações necessárias e geradas na avaliação. Portanto, esse trabalho apresenta uma proposta para aplicar o Ecodesign através da ACV no Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP). Para isso, fez-se uma análise das entradas e saídas das fases do PDP e da ACV, assim como avaliou-se sugestões da literatura para aplicar a ACV no desenvolvimento de produtos. Em seguida, realizou-se um estudo de caso em uma empresa que desenvolveu um produto com melhor desempenho ambiental ao aplicar a ACV no seu desenvolvimento, resultando em uma proposta de procedimento. Por fim, realizou-se uma análise crítica dessa proposta através da consulta a profissionais do PDP da empresa. As principais conclusões enfatizam a importância da ACV no pré e pós desenvolvimento. Além disso, para o procedimento proposto ser executado de forma sistemática, o direcionamento estratégico da empresa é fundamental para orientar a tomada de decisão de forma a incluir a ACV no desenvolvimento de produtos. / The accelerated demand for new products and the increasing environmental awareness in the world are enhancing the Ecodesign importance. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a technique used to evaluate the environmental performance of a product, being very suitable for the Ecodesign execution. However, it is observed that this technique is not widely applied in the companies, mainly due to the difficulty to manage the necessary and generated information related to an assessment. Therefore, this work presents a proposal to apply the Ecodesign through the use of LCA in the Product Development Process (PDP). Firstly, the inputs and outputs of all LCA and PDP phases were analyzed, and sugestions found in the literature on how to apply the LCA in the product development were evaluated. Then a study case was conducted in a company that developed a product with an enhanced environmental performance when applied LCA in its development, resulting in a proposed procedure. Lastly, a critical analysis evaluated the proposal by consulting professionals that work in the company\'s PDP. The main findings emphasize the importance of the LCA in the pre and post development. Moreover, to have the proposed procedure executed systematically, the company´s strategic direction is fundamental to orient the decision making in order to include LCA in the product development process.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2018-12-11T11:08:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Jullian Hermann Creutzberg_.pdf: 7265895 bytes, checksum: 9ab2cc6c752d713bed15df0ed62db5c4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T11:08:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jullian Hermann Creutzberg_.pdf: 7265895 bytes, checksum: 9ab2cc6c752d713bed15df0ed62db5c4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-08-02 / UNIDAVI - Centro Universitário do Alto Vale do Itajaí / Pesquisas recentes confirmam que os dispositivos móveis são hoje os principais meios de acesso à Internet dentre os brasileiros e que estes estão presentes em praticamente todos os domicílios do país. No entanto, poucos órgãos públicos têm disponibilizado sistemas de governo móvel à população. Governo móvel (m-gov) pode ser definido como os sistemas disponibilizados pelo governo para a sociedade, acessados via Internet em telefones celulares ou tablets em condições de acesso móvel. Diante deste cenário e considerando a quantidade limitada de pesquisas sobre m-gov no contexto brasileiro, esta pesquisa possui como objetivo principal analisar os fatores que influenciam os cidadãos na aceitação de sistemas de governo móvel. Inicialmente foi realizada uma revisão da literatura sobre modelos teóricos de aceitação de tecnologia e aceitação de governo eletrônico, e a seguir uma revisão sistemática sobre aceitação de governo móvel. Na sequência foram realizados dois grupos de foco, para identificar fatores de aceitação de governo móvel relacionados ao contexto brasileiro e confirmar a adequação dos fatores identificados na literatura nesse contexto. Desta forma, o modelo pôde ser adaptado à realidade brasileira. No que tange ao método, esta pesquisa caracteriza-se como quantitativa, conduzida por meio de survey, e para a análise de resultados foi utilizada a técnica de modelagem de equações estruturais. Dentre os principais resultados da pesquisa estão a adição da conveniência de acesso aos fatores apontados em estudos prévios sobre aceitação de governo móvel. Os resultados também apontam a utilidade percebida como principal fator de explicação da aceitação de governo móvel, seguido das condições facilitadoras, conveniência de acesso e influência social, são também apresentadas relações significativas entre os construtos do modelo, como a relação entre utilidade percebida e conveniência de acesso. As variáveis de controle de gênero, idade, frequência de uso e experiência, também apresentaram relações significativas, destacando-se a frequência de uso com aceitação de governo móvel. Por fim, além de apresentar um modelo unificado, parcimonioso e com índices de ajuste satisfatórios, foi possível também fornecer um instrumento de pesquisa sobre aceitação de m-gov validado no contexto brasileiro. / Recent research confirms that mobile devices are today the main means of accessing the Internet among Brazilians and that are present in almost every home in the Country. However, few public agencies have available mobile government systems to the population. Mobile government (m-gov) can be defined as the systems made available by the government to society, accessed by Internet on mobile phones or tablets. Given this scenario and considering the limited number of m-gov research in the Brazilian context, this work has as main objective to analyze the factors that influence the citizens in the acceptance of mobile government. Initially, a review of the literature on theoretical models of technology acceptance and electronic government acceptance was carried out, followed by a systematic review about mobile government acceptance. Next, two focus groups were carried out to identify factors of mobile government acceptance related to the Brazilian context and to confirm the adequacy of the factors identified in the literature to this Country adapting the model to the Brazilian reality. Regarding the method, this research is characterized as quantitative, conducted through a survey; to analyze the results it was used structural equation modeling. Among the main results of the research, the convenience of access was added to the constructs of m-gov acceptance previously identified in the literature. The results reveal the perceived usefulness as the main factor explaining the acceptance of mobile government, followed by the facilitating conditions, the convenience of access and the social influence. Significant relationships between the constructs of the model are also presented, such as the relationship between perceived usefulness and convenience of access. The control variables of gender, age, frequency of use and experience also have presented significant relationships, especially the frequency of use with the acceptance of mobile government. Finally, besides presenting a parsimonious, unified model with satisfactory adjustment indexes, it was also possible to provide a validated research instrument on m-gov acceptance to the Brazilian context.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-03T15:28:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 HericaPAC_DISSERT.pdf: 752483 bytes, checksum: c4526cc225ac72a39965ad5818e0e718 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-14 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Survival models deals with the modeling of time to event data. However in some situations part of the population may be no longer subject to the event. Models that take this fact into account are called cure rate models. There are few studies about hypothesis tests in cure rate models. Recently a new test statistic, the gradient statistic, has been proposed. It shares the same asymptotic properties with the classic large sample tests, the likelihood ratio, score and Wald tests. Some simulation studies have been carried out to explore the behavior of the gradient statistic in fi nite samples and compare it with the classic statistics in diff erent models. The main objective of this work is to study and compare the performance of gradient test and likelihood ratio test in cure rate models. We first describe the models and present the main asymptotic properties of the tests. We perform a simulation study based on the promotion time model with Weibull distribution to assess the performance of the tests in finite samples. An application is presented to illustrate the studied concepts / Modelos de sobreviv?ncia tratam do estudo do tempo at? a ocorr?ncia de um evento. Contudo em algumas situa??es, uma propor??o da popula??o pode n?o estar mais sujeita a ocorr?ncia deste evento. Modelos que tratam desta abordagem s?o chamados de modelos de fra??o de cura. Existem poucos estudos na literatura sobre testes de hip?teses aplicados a modelos de fra??o de cura. Recentemente foi proposta uma nova estat?stica de teste, denominada estat?stica gradiente que possui distribui??o assint?tica equivalente a das estat?sticas usuais. Alguns estudos de simula??o v?m sendo desenvolvidos no sentido de explorar caracter?sticas dessa nova estat?stica e comparar com as estat?sticas cl?ssicas, aplicadas a diferentes modelos. Este trabalho tem como principal objetivo estudar e comparar o desempenho do teste gradiente e do teste da raz?o de verossimilhan?as, em modelos de fra??o de cura. Para isso descrevemos caracter?sticas do modelo e apresentamos os principais resultados assint?ticos dos testes. Consideramos um estudo de simula??o com base no modelo de tempo de promo??o com distribui??o Weibull, para avaliar o desempenho dos testes em amostras finitas. Uma aplica??o e realizada para ilustrar os conceitos estudados

Electricity prepayment systems have been successfully implemented by South Africa’s national electricity utility (Eskom) and local municipalities for more than 17 years. The prepayment vending sub-system is a critical component of prepayment systems. It provides convenient locations for customers to purchase electricity. It predominantly operates in an “offline” mode, however, electricity utilities are now opting for systems that operate in an “online” mode. “Online” mode of operation or online vending is when a prepayment token is requested from a centralised server that is remote from the client at the actual point of sale (POS). The token is only generated by the server and transferred to the POS client, once the transaction, the POS client and the payment mechanism has been authenticated and authorised. The connection between the POS client and the server is a standard computer network channel (like Internet, direct dial-up link, X.25, GPRS, etc) The lack of online vending system standardisation was a concern and significant risk for utilities, as they faced the problem of being locked into proprietary online vending systems. Thus the South African prepayment industry, lead by Eskom, initiated a project to develop an industry specification for online vending systems. The first critical project task was a current state analysis of the South African prepayment industry, technology and specifications. The prepayment industry is built around the Standard Transfer Specification (STS). STS has become the de-facto industry standard to securely transfer electricity credit from a Point of Sale (POS) to the prepaid meter. STS is supported by several “offline” vending system specifications. The current state analysis was followed by the requirements analysis phase. The requirements analysis confirmed the need for a standard interface protocol specification rather than a full systems specification. The interface specification focuses on the protocol between a vending client and vending server and does not specify the client and server application layer functionality and performance requirements. This approach encourages innovation and competitiveness amongst client and server suppliers while ensuring interoperability between these systems. The online vending protocol design was implemented using the web services framework and therefore appropriately named, XMLVend. The protocol development phase was an iterative process with two major releases, XMLVend 1.22 and XMLVend 2.1. XMLVend 2.1 is the current version of the protocol. XMLVend 2.1 addressed the shortcomings identified in XMLVend 1.22, updated the existing use cases and added several new use cases. It was also modelled as a unified modelling language (UML) interface or contract for prepayment vending services. Therefore, clients using the XMLVend interface are able to request services from any service provider (server) that implements the XMLVend interface. The UML modelled interface and use case message pairs were mapped to Web Service Definition Language (WSDL) and schema (XSD) definitions respectively. XMLVend 2.1 is a secure and open web service based protocol that facilitates prepayment vending functionality between a single logical vending server and ‘n’ number of clients. It has become a key enabler for utilities to implement standardised, secure, interoperable and flexible online vending systems. AFRIKAANS : Voorafbetaalde elektrisiteitstelsels is suksesvol deur Suid-Afrika se nasionale elektrisiteitsverskaffer (Eskom) en plaaslike munisipaliteite geïmplementeer vir meer as 17 jaar. Die Voorafbetaal verkoop-subsisteem is 'n esensiële komponent van voorafbetaal elektrisiteitstelsels. Dit laat gebruikers toe om elektrisiteit te koop by ‘n verskeidenheid van verkooppunte. In die verlede het hierdie stelsels meestal bestaan as alleenstaande verkooppunte maar elektrisiteitsverskaffers is besig om hulle stelsels te verander om in n aanlyn modus te werk. Aanlyn verkoop is wanneer 'n voorafbetaalkoepon versoek word vanaf ‘n sentrale bediener wat vêr verwydered is van die kliënt se verkooppunt. Die koepon word slegs gegenereer deur die bediener en gestuur aan die kliënt nadat die transaksie, die kliënt self, en die betaling meganisme, gemagtig is. Die koppeling tussen verkooppuntkliënt en die bediener is ‘n standaard kommunikasie kanaal, (byvoorbeeld; Internettoegang, direkte inbel skakel, X.25 en “GPRS”) Die gebrek aan 'n standaard vir aanlynverkoopstelsels was 'n bekommernis en beduidende risiko vir elektrisiteitsverskaffers, aangesien hulle ‘n probleem ondervind dat hulle ingeperk sal word tot ‘n eksklusiewe ontwerp vir so ‘n aanlynverkoopstelsel. Dus het die Suid Afrikaanse voorafbetaal industrie, gelei deur Eskom, 'n projek begin om 'n industriespesifikasie te ontwikkel vir aanlyn verkoopstelsels. Die eerste kritiese projek taak was 'n analise van die huidige stand van die Suid-Afrikaanse vooruitbetaling industrie, die tegnologie en spesifikasies. Die voorafbetaal sektor is gebou rondom die Standaard Oordrag Spesifikasie, bekend as “Standard Transfer Specification” (STS). STS word algemeen aanvaar as die industrie standaard vir die oordrag van elektrisiteit krediet vanaf 'n Verkooppunt na die voorafbetaalmeter. STS word ondersteun deur verskeie alleenstaande verkoopstelsel spesifikasies. Die analise vir die huidige status was opgevolg deur ‘n studie van die vereistes vir so ‘n stelsel. Die vereistes analise het die behoefte bevestig vir 'n standaard koppelvlak protokol spesifikasie, eerder as 'n nuwe spesifikasie vir ‘n volledige oorafbetaalstelsel. Dit bepaal alleenlik die protokol koppelvlak tussen 'n voorafbetaalkliënt en die bediener. Dit spesifiseer nie die program vlak funksionaliteit of prestasie vereistes, vir die kliënt en bediener nie. Hierdie benadering bevorder innovasie en mededingendheid onder kliënt- en bediener-verskaffers, terwyl dit nog steeds verseker dat die stelsels wedersyds aanpasbaar bly. Die aanlyn verkoopprotokol ontwerp is geïmplementeer met die webdienste raamwerk en staan bekend as XMLVend. Die protokol vir die ontwikkeling fase was 'n iteratiewe proses met die twee groot weergawes, XMLVend 1.22 en XMLVend 2.1. Die huidige weergawe van die protokol - XMLVend 2.1, adresseer die tekortkominge wat geïdentifiseer is met XMLVend 1.22, terwyl dit ook die bestaande gebruiksgevalle opdatteer en verskeie nuwe gebruiksgevalle byvoeg. Dit was ook geskoei as 'n verenigde modelleringtaal (UML) koppelvlak, of 'n kontrak, vir die voorafbetaal verkoopsdienste. Kliënte is daarom in staat om, met behulp van die XMLVend koppelvlak, dienste te versoek van enige diensverskaffer wat die XMLVend koppelvlak ondersteun. Die UML gemodelleerde koppelvlak- en gebruiksgevalle- boodskappare was gemodeleer in die Web Dienste Definisie Taal (WSDL) en skema (XSD) definisies onderskeidelik. XMLVend 2.1 is 'n sekure en oop webdienste-gebaseerde protokol wat dit moontlik maak om voorafbetaalfunksies te fasilliteer tussen 'n enkele logiese verkoopbediener en 'x' aantal kliënte. Dit het 'n sleutelrol aangeneem vir verskaffers om ‘n gestandaardiseerde, veilige, wedersyds-aanpasbare en buigsame aanlyn verkoopstelsels moontlik te maak. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted

Alors qu’il existe de nombreux calculs microscopiques de barrières de fission pour des noyaux composés pair-pairs, il n’y a cependant que relativement peu de tels calculs pour des noyaux de masse impaire. Ceci est dû aux complications induites par la brisure de la symétric de reversement du sens du temps au niveau du champ moyen qui est engendrée par la présence d’un nucleon non apparié. Pour éviter cette difficulté, des calculs existants pour des noyaux de masse impaire ont tout simplement négligé ces effets de brisure de la symétrie de reversement du sens du temps.Dans ce travail, on se donne pour but d’améliorer la description des barrières de fission, aussi bien que des propriétés spectroscopiques du niveau fondamental et de l’état isomérique de fission,pour quelques isotopes de masse impaire dans la région des actinides en prenant en compte de tels effets. Ceci a été réalisé dans le cadre du formalisme de Skyrme–Hartree–Fock plus BCS avec blocking en adaptant ce formalisme à la brisure de la symétrie considérée. L’interaction résiduelle d’appariement a été approchée par une force de séniorité dont les paramètres ont été ajustés pour reproduire les différences de masse pair-impair de quelques noyaux de la région des actinides.Les énergies des têtes de bande rotationnelle de basse énergie ont été calculées dans le cadre du modèle unifié de Bohr-Mottelson pour quatre noyaux bien déformés (235U, 239Pu, 237Np, 241Am)produisant un bon accord qualitatif avec les données pour les noyaux impairs en neutrons. L’accord significativement moins bon obtenu pour les noyaux impairs en protons pourrait résulter de l’usage de l’approximation de Slater pour l’interaction d’échange de Coulomb. Les énergies de déformation de deux noyaux impairs en neutrons (235U, 239Pu) ont été calculées pour quelques configurations de particule individuelle, jusqu’après la barrières de fission externe. La symétrie axiale a été imposée tandis que la brisure de la symétrie droite-gauche (ou de parité intrinsèque) a été permise dans la région de la seconde barrière. Les hauteurs des barrières de fission pour ces noyaux impairs dépendent significativement des configurations de particule individuelle. Un accord qualitatif avec les données disponibles pour les hauteurs de barrières des noyaux impairs considérés et leurs voisins pair-pairs a été généralement obtenu. / While there have been numerous microscopic calculations on fission barriers of even-even compoundnuclei, there are however, relatively few such work dedicated to odd-mass nuclei. This is dueto the complications posed by the breaking of the time-reversal symmetry at the mean-field leveldue to the presence of an unpaired nucleon. In order to circumvent this difficulty, previous fission barriercalculations of odd-mass nuclei have been performed by neglecting the effect of time-reversalsymmetry breaking. This work aims to improve on the description of fission barriers as well asthe spectroscopic properties of ground and fission-isomeric state, of some odd-mass actinide nucleiby taking the effect of time-reversal symmetry breaking into account. This has been perfomedwithin a Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-plus-BCS framework with blocking, where the BCS formalism hasbeen adapted to accomodate this symmetry breaking. The Skyrme nucleon-nucleon effective forcehas been used with various sets of parameters (SIII, SkM*, SLy5*). The residual pairing interactionhas been approximated by seniority forces whose neutron and proton parameters have beenfitted to reproduce the odd-even mass differences of some actinide nuclei. The low-lying rotationalband-head energies evaluated within the Bohr-Mottelson unified model have been determined forfour well-deformed odd-nuclei (235U, 239Pu, 237Np, 241Am) yielding a good qualitative agreementto the data for odd-neutron nuclei. The agreement was significantly less good for the odd-protonnuclei, possibly due to the use of the Slater approximation for the exchange Coulomb interaction.The deformation energies of two odd-neutron nuclei (235U and 239Pu) have been calculated forsome single-particle configurations up to a point beyond the outer fission-barrier. Axial symmetrynuclear shape has been assumed while a breaking of the left-right (or intrinsic parity) symmetryhas been allowed around the outer fission-barrier. The fission-barrier heights of such odd-neutronnuclei depend significantly on the particle configurations. A special attention has been paid tothe very important rotational correction to deformation energies. In particular, the correction ofthe moment of inertia calculated from the usual Belyaev expression was considered. Overall, aqualitative agreement with available data on fission-barrier heights for the considered odd-neutronnuclei and their even neighbours has been obtained.