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O propósito desta pesquisa foi identificar como uma metodologia para a formulação da estratégia de presença de organizações na internet aborda os enfoques estratégicos e métodos analíticos necessários à compreensão e exploração das arquiteturas de negócios viabilizadas pela plataforma tecnológica da internet (PI). Através de revisão bibliográfica identificou-se que as principais possibilidades trazidas pela PI para as organizações estão relacionadas à facilitação da integração horizontal e vertical, propiciando a formação de redes estratégicas. Uma conseqüência direta é a oportunidade de geração de vantagem competitiva nas três funções das organizações: eficiência operacional, relacionamento com clientes e desenvolvimento de produtos. Para compreensão e exploração destas arquiteturas de negócios viabilizadas é conveniente adotar a perspectiva do modelo de negócios, subdividido nos públicos com os quais a organização mantém relacionamento. Esta unidade de análise congrega as diferentes visões presentes na literatura de estratégia a respeito da criação de valor. As quatro fontes de valor possibilitadas pela PI são: novidade, aprisionamento, complementaridade e eficiência. O estudo de caso da metodologia de Formulação de Estratégia de Presença, da Agência Click, descreveu a abordagem desta metodologia para os enfoques estratégicos e métodos analíticos identificados. / The objective of this research was to identify how a specific methodology of strategy formulation for the Internet addresses the Business Model concept. We see the Business Model concept as a basis for understanding and exploiting the value creation potential generated by the Internet technological platform (ITP). The main possibilities that the ITP offers organizations are related to the reduction of transaction and coordination costs, which facilitates the forming of strategic networks. In order to take advantage of the ITP , one should seek complementarity between the traditional activities of the organization and those based on the new platform, together with an in-depth revision of processes, searching for steps that may be optimized through the ITP. To understand and exploit the value creation potential, it is convenient to adopt the Business Model concept, analyzed from the point of view of each of the organization’s stakeholders. The Business Model as a unit of analysis integrates the different perspectives on value creation that can be found in the theory. The model suggests that the IPT value creation potential depends on four interdependent dimensions: novelty, lock-in, complementarities and efficiency. The case study of the Web Presence Strategy Formulation methodology, by AgenciaClick, an Internet development company in Brazil, describes how this methodology addresses the strategic concepts and analytical methods identified. The business model approach could cover some of the methodology’s gaps.

" In telecommunications, a cooperative scheme refers to a method where two or more users share or combine their information in order to increase diversity gain or power gain. In contrast to conventional point-to-point communications, cooperative communications allow different users in a wireless network to share resources so that instead of maximizing the performance of its own link, each user collaborates with its neighbours to achieve an overall improvement in performance. In this dissertation, we consider different models for transmission and reception and explore cooperative techniques that increase the reliability and capacity gains in wireless networks, with consideration to practical issues such as channel estimation errors and backhaul constraints. This dissertation considers the design and performance of cooperative communication techniques. Particularly, the first part of this dissertation focuses on the performance comparison between interference alignment and opportunistic transmission for a 3-user single-input single- output (SISO) interference channel in terms of average sum rate in the presence of channel estimation errors. In the case of interference alignment, channel estimation errors cause interference leakage which consequently results in a loss of achievable rate. In the case of opportunistic transmission, channel estimation errors result in a non-zero probability of incorrectly choosing the node with the best channel. The effect of these impairments is quantified in terms of the achievable average sum rate of these transmission techniques. Analysis and numerical examples show that SISO interference alignment can achieve better average sum rate with good channel estimates and at high SNR whereas opportunistic transmission provides better performance at low SNR and/or when the channel estimates are poor. We next considers the problem of jointly decoding binary phase shift keyed (BPSK) messages from a single distant transmitter to a cooperative receive cluster connected by a local area network (LAN). An approximate distributed receive beamforming algorithm is proposed based on the exchange of coarsely- quantized observations among some or all of the nodes in the receive cluster. By taking into account the differences in channel quality across the receive cluster, the quantized information from other nodes in the receive cluster can be appropriately combined with locally unquantized information to form an approximation of the ideal receive beamformer decision statistic. The LAN throughput requirements of this technique are derived as a function of the number of participating nodes in the receive cluster, the forward link code rate, and the quantization parameters. Using information-theoretic analysis and simulations of an LDPC coded system in fading channels, numerical results show that the performance penalty (in terms of outage probability and block error rate) due to coarse quantization is small in the low SNR regimes enabled by cooperative distributed reception. An upper/lower bound approximation is derived based on a circle approximation in the channel magnitude domain which provides a pretty fast way to compute the outage probability performance for a system with arbitrary number of receivers at a given SNR. In the final part of this dissertation, we discuss the distributed reception technique with higher- order modulation schemes in the forward link. The extension from BPSK to QPSK is straightforward and is studied in the second part of this dissertation. The extension to 8PSK, 4PAM and 16QAM forward links, however, is not trivial. For 8PSK, two techniques are proposed: pseudobeamforming and 3-bit belief combining where the first one is intuitive and turns out to be suboptimal,the latter is optimal in terms of outage probability performance. The idea of belief combining can be applied to the 4PAM and 16QAM and it is shown that better/finer quantizer design can further improve the block error rate performance. Information-theoretic analysis and numerical results are provided to show that significant reliability and SNR gains can be achieved by using the proposed schemes. "

Homology modeling is integral to structure-based drug discovery. Robust homology modeling to atomic-level accuracy requires in the general case successful prediction of protein loops containing small segments of secondary structure. For loops identified to possess α-helical segments, an alternative dihedral library is employed composed of (phi,psi) angles commonly found in helices. Even with imperfect knowledge coming from sequence-based secondary structure, helix or hairpin embedded loops, up to 17 residues in length, are successfully predicted to median sub-angstrom RMSD. Having demonstrated success with these cases, performance costs for these and other similar long loop predictions will be discussed. Dramatic improvements in both speed and accuracy are possible through the development of a Cβ-based scoring function, applicable to hydrophobic residues, that can be applied as early as half-loop buildup. With this scoring function, up to a 30-fold reduction in the cost to produce competitive sub-2 A loops are observed. Through the use of this scoring function, an efficient method will be presented to achieve ultra-high resolution buildup that restrains combinatorial explosion and offers an alternative to the current approach to full-loop buildup. This novel method is designed to be inherently suitable for homology model refinement.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the leading causes of global disability. Surgical intervention in the form of Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) has been established as an excellent treatment modality for people with OA who experience joint symptoms that have a substantial impact on their quality of life and are refractory to non-surgical treatment. In the 1970s the concept of implanting TKAs in mechanical alignment (MA) was developed as a compromise to confer mechanical advantage to the prosthesis, ignoring the patient's natural anatomy, to prevent early failure of the implant. Until now, this compromise has not been revisited. Satisfaction following TKA remains inferior to total hip arthroplasty. The cause of this dissatisfaction is not clear. Implant survival is no longer comparable to that of the early designs of TKA, and recent studies have suggested that deviation from neutral alignment does not have the detrimental effect on survivorship as previously thought. In an attempt to improve patient satisfaction following TKA a new technique has been developed whereby the prostheses are implanted in such a way as to recreate the alignment of the knee in the patient's pre-arthritic state. This has been termed natural or kinematic alignment (KA). This thesis examines the impact of KA in TKA with the primary hypothesis that TKA performed utilising KA would lead to improved functional outcome following surgery compared to that of MA. An initial single surgeon proof of concept case series of 25 patients was performed to look at the precision of new patient specific cutting blocks. The results suggested that the cutting blocks were accurate in producing the desired cuts. Following the proof of concept case series, a feasibility study was then performed comparing the new KA technique with the standard MA technique. The feasibility study familiarised the operating surgeons with the new technology in preparation for a Randomised Control Trial (RCT). A prospective blinded RCT was performed to compare the functional outcome of patients implanted with TKA in MA with that of KA. A total of 71 patients undergoing TKA were randomised to either MA (n=35) or KA (n=36). Preand post-operative hip knee ankle (HKA) radiographs were analysed. A number of patient reported outcome measures and functional tests were assessed pre-operatively, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and at 1 year post-operation. The cutting guides were accurate. There were no statistically significant differences between the MA and KA groups at 1 year. A cohort of post-menopausal women with unilateral osteoarthritis treated with TKA utilising the KA philosophy had dual energy x-ray absorptiometry scans 1.5 years post-operatively using a modified validated densitometric analysis protocol, to assess peri-prosthetic Bone Mineral Density (BMD). The contralateral knee was scanned so that relative bone mineral density could be calculated. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference in relative peri-prosthetic bone mineral density due to variation in implant position with respect to the Lateral Distal Femoral Angle (LDFA) and the Medial Proximal Tibial Angle (MPTA). There was a significant correlation with overall HKA angle and the relative BMD under the medial side of the tibial tray. KA TKAs appear to have comparable short-term results to MA TKAs with no significant differences in function 1 year post-operatively. Overall HKA angle rather than the individual component position caused change in relative BMD under the tibial tray, therefore aiming for an anatomical joint line may improve kinematics without a detrimental effect on the implant. Further research is required to see if any theoretical long-term functional benefits of KA are realised or if there are any potential effects on implant survival.

Process skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, information processing, teamwork, and communication are important for student success in their coursework and eventually the workplace, but these skills are not always explicitly taught or assessed in undergraduate courses. These skills should be assessed in order to identify areas for student improvement and because assessment practices can provide clear goals to students. However, my analysis of the current literature suggests that instructors do not have the tools necessary to effectively assess and provide feedback on these skills, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate courses. To meet this need of assessing and providing feedback to students, rubrics and other instructional resources have been developed to assess process skills as part of the Enhancing Learning by Improving Process Skills in STEM (ELIPSS) Project. Surveys and interview data indicated that the rubrics were practical for instructors to use to provide feedback to students, represented all relevant aspects of the skills, measured the processes that students used when completing tasks, and could be reliably used by multiple raters. During rubric development, the resources were propagated to the STEM instructor community, and the effectiveness of the propagation methods were examined. The highest rates of adoption resulted from hearing about the rubrics from a colleague or attending a presentation about the rubrics. Additionally, running the ELIPSS workshops and creating the ELIPSS website that people found from searching the internet each led to moderate adoption rates. These results support the idea that a multifaceted propagation strategy may be most effective for researchers who are developing assessment tools. When studying the ways in which STEM instructors were implementing the ELIPSS rubrics, it was found that the instructors each developed different strategies that suited their intended learning outcomes and instructional environments by assessing and providing feedback to students in a variety of ways. Instructors with different class sizes, course levels, online course management systems, and access to teaching assistants all adapted the rubric implementation strategy to fit their unique classroom environments. Multiple instructors reported that they were better able to articulate professional skill expectations to their students through the use of the rubrics. Additionally, they were more aware of how their students interacted with one another in groups after using the interaction rubrics. These results indicate that ELIPSS rubrics can encourage more reflective practice in undergraduate instructors by providing them with more information about their students that can be used to modify their teaching methods. Further work was done to examine how students developed process skills in a first-year chemistry laboratory course. Students in a first-year chemistry laboratory course used the ELIPSS rubrics to assess their own process skills, and they were also assessed by a teaching assistant. Additionally, students reported their understanding of process skills and their perceived improvements over the course of the semester. The results suggest that students understand interpersonal process skills such as teamwork and communication better than they understand cognitive process skills such as critical thinking and information processing. While the evidence further suggests that students improved their process skills, and students reported that they improved their process skills, the students showed inconsistent abilities to self-assess and provide justification for their assessment using rubrics.

ABSTRACT For several years, college-level remediation in English and mathematics has been of great concern for California community colleges and four-year colleges and universities. The cost of remediation has skyrocketed into the billions of dollars for postsecondary institutions. Placement tests are required for most students before they are permitted to enroll in any college courses. These placement tests determine in what English and/or math class students will begin their college experience. At issue is that many students who successfully complete high English in the 11th & 12 grades (earn an A or B) are placing into a remedial English class. In 2012, the California Community College Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) reported that over 70 percent of new college students were required to take a remedial English and/or math class. The same is occurring in the California State University (CSU) system. In 2012, 18,690 (33%) CSU first-time freshmen system-wide needed remediation in English. Because of the high rate of remediation among California students in postsecondary institutions, questions have been raised concerning the disconnect between high school English and math and college-level English and math. A mixed-method study will address grades and other variables as predictors of English placement into a community college English course and common language between Common Core State Standards and college-level English course content.

The aim of this study was to explore the nature and extent of the alignment of business and information strategies, and organisational factors which might be related to that alignment. The study was undertaken in two parts: an extensive literature analysis to identify possible factors and models of alignment, followed by empirical case study based research examining factors which might be related to the alignment of business and information strategy in some large information intensive organizations. The conceptual frameworks for the study were drawn from the literatures of strategy development, organizational design, and theories and practices of information systems and services. The literature review and analysis for this study was purposely extensive in order to encompass a wide range of conceptual and research based literatures about the management of information systems and services which inform the study. the literature review revealed burgeoning interest in the area of business and information strategy alignment from different, though often narrow, paradigms. At the same time there was plenty of rigorous, empirically based and cumulative studies of direct relevance to the research question. Areas of potential importance to the alignment of business and information strategy, drawn from the conceptual and research based literature, were examined in a hypothesis-generating empirical case study analysis of four of Australia’s five largest firms in the financial services sector.

Organisations are increasingly reliant on effective information systems (IS) yet little is known about the information and influences that contribute to their selection. Decision makers play an important role in the evaluation, acquisition and implementation of information systems in organisations. Their role during the re-implementation phase of information systems projects is critical, yet little is known about how and why these decisions are made. This thesis explores the influences on these decisions and reports their effects. The aim of this research is to increase the understanding of what occurs during decision making in the critical pre-implementation phase. A cross-disciplinary approach has been employed to develop a research framework informed by literature from information systems, innovation and adoption theory, management decision making and organisational decision making. A qualitative research method was used to develop four exploratory case studies. Research was conducted in private and government organisations that had implemented large information systems. An interpretive hermeneutic text-based analysis technique was used in a cross-case analysis in order to build theory and address the research questions. Fifty-six informational and contextual factors were identified in this research as having effects on information systems pre-implementation decision making. These factors fall into eight broad thematic factor groups: confidence, decision process, opinions, option attributes, organisation, perceptions, politics and vendor attributes. This thesis concludes that there are linkages between decision factors and decision outcomes. It is argued that to achieve positive decision outcomes from information systems preimplementation decisions, conditions for intra- and inter-organisational alignment must exist. It is also argued that information systems re-implementation decision outcomes alter intra- and inter-organisational alignment conditions and affect future decisions.

The aim of this study was to explore the nature and extent of the alignment of business and information strategies, and organisational factors which might be related to that alignment. The study was undertaken in two parts: an extensive literature analysis to identify possible factors and models of alignment, followed by empirical case study based research examining factors which might be related to the alignment of business and information strategy in some large information intensive organizations. The conceptual frameworks for the study were drawn from the literatures of strategy development, organizational design, and theories and practices of information systems and services. The literature review and analysis for this study was purposely extensive in order to encompass a wide range of conceptual and research based literatures about the management of information systems and services which inform the study. the literature review revealed burgeoning interest in the area of business and information strategy alignment from different, though often narrow, paradigms. At the same time there was plenty of rigorous, empirically based and cumulative studies of direct relevance to the research question. Areas of potential importance to the alignment of business and information strategy, drawn from the conceptual and research based literature, were examined in a hypothesis-generating empirical case study analysis of four of Australia’s five largest firms in the financial services sector.