Science and technology are constantly transforming our day-to-day living. Science education has become of vital importance to prepare learners for this everchanging world. Unfortunately, science education in South Africa is hampered by under-qualified and inexperienced teachers. Textbooks of good quality can assist teachers and learners and facilitate the development of science teachers. For this reason thorough assessment of textbooks is needed to inform the selection of good textbooks. An investigation revealed that the available textbook evaluation instruments are not suitable for the evaluation of the physical science textbooks in the South African context. An instrument is needed that focusses on science education textbooks and which prescribes the criteria, weights, evaluation procedure and rating scheme that can ensure justifiable, transparent, reliable and valid evaluation results. This study utilised elements from the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to develop such an instrument and verified the reliability and validity of the instrument’s evaluation results. Development of the Instrument for the Evaluation of Science Education Textbooks started with the formulation of criteria. Characteristics that influence the quality of textbooks were identified from literature, existing evaluation instruments and stakeholders’ concerns. In accordance with the AHP, these characteristics or criteria were divided into categories or branches to give a hierarchical structure. Subject experts verified the content validity of the hierarchy. Expert science teachers compared the importance of different criteria. The data were used to derive weights for the different criteria with the Expert Choice computer application. A rubric was formulated to act as rating-scheme and score sheet. During the textbook evaluation process the ratings were transferred to a spreadsheet that computed the scores for the quality of a textbook as a whole as well as for the different categories. The instrument was tested on small scale, adjusted and then applied on a larger scale. The results of different analysts were compared to verify the reliability of the instrument. Triangulation with the opinions of teachers who have used the textbooks confirmed the validity of the evaluation results obtained with the instrument. Future investigations on the evaluation instrument can include the use of different rating scales and limiting of criteria. / Thesis (M. Ed. (Didactics))

The aim of this thesis is assessment and presumptions of inter-company comparisons and finds suitable methods for inter-company comparisons. The theoretical part is focused on the ways and appropriate methods for inter-company comparisons, pointer system and their use for inter-company comparisons is used in this part. The one-dimensional and selected multidimensional methods are applied in this work. These methods find position of company in a file of competitive companies. Good characteristics are prerequisite for selection of indicators. Ratio indicators, bankruptcy and solvent models evaluate rate efficiency of the company in period 2008 - 2010. The conclusion of this thesis identifies weaknesses in economy and proposes measures for increase of company´s efficiency.

Submitted by STEFANO PETRINI DE OLIVEIRA null (stefanopetrini@hotmail.com) on 2016-05-06T00:57:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Stefano Petrini.pdf: 1880894 bytes, checksum: 90c6382ea8269445954a2790db221707 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Juliano Benedito Ferreira (julianoferreira@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-05-09T20:04:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 petrini_s_me_guara.pdf: 1880894 bytes, checksum: 90c6382ea8269445954a2790db221707 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-09T20:04:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 petrini_s_me_guara.pdf: 1880894 bytes, checksum: 90c6382ea8269445954a2790db221707 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-15 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Recent research about the identification of factors that contribute to better sharing of knowledge and ways to evaluate this topic highlight the importance of knowledge management for the organization. Exploring opportunities in this scenario, the present study examines the share of the workers' knowledge in the automotive industry by factors related to the Production Organization, Work Organization and Knowledge Management, with attention to the influence of organizational and interpersonal context in the knowledge sharing process. This delimitation of the industrial sector in the light of the production area is justified by this area has dependence of the workers' tacit knowledge. The research uses a qualitative and quantitative approach in survey format and uses a questionnaire with managers (coordinators and supervisors) to assess the importance of leveraging factors of knowledge management in the view of the leadership body. It employed the Incomplete Pairwise Comparison method proposed by Harker (1986) based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process of Saaty (1977). The survey shows an integration between the factors and highlights the importance of systemic and technical conversation among the workers to improve their knowledge sharing, plus the role of communication, training and work instruction in the knowledge conversion processes. This research expands the theme of the conceptual limits knowledge management found in literature and contributes mainly in managerial direction for the qualification and learning new employees in the continuous process of recycling knowledge and mitigation of knowledge waste. Thus, it contributes to the promotion of an enabling environment for the creation and sharing of knowledge by the people of the workers' environment. / Pesquisas recentes relativas a identificação de fatores que contribuem para o melhor compartilhamento do conhecimento e formas de avaliação do tema evidenciam a importância da Gestão do Conhecimento para a organização. Explorando oportunidades neste cenário, a presente pesquisa analisa o compartilhamento do conhecimento operário na indústria automotiva por meio de fatores relativos à Organização da Produção, Organização do Trabalho e a Gestão do Conhecimento, com atenção a influência do contexto organizacional e interpessoal no processo de compartilhamento de conhecimento. Esta delimitação de setor industrial à luz da área de Produção justifica-se por esta área possuir dependência do conhecimento tácito operário. A pesquisa utiliza uma abordagem quali-quantitativa no formato survey e emprega um questionário com gestores (coordenadores e supervisores) para avaliar a importância dos fatores alavancadores da Gestão do Conhecimento na ótica do corpo de liderança. É empregada o método Incomplete Pairwise Comparison, proposta por Harker (1986) baseada no Analytic Hierarchy Process de Saaty (1977). A pesquisa evidencia uma integração entre os fatores e destaca a importância da conversa sistêmica e técnica entre os operários para o melhor compartilhamento de seu conhecimento, além do papel da comunicação, do treinamento e da instrução de trabalho nos processos de conversão do conhecimento. Esta pesquisa expande os limites conceituais do tema Gestão do Conhecimento verificado na pesquisa bibliográfica e contribui, principalmente, no direcionamento gerencial para a qualificação e aprendizado de novos funcionários, no processo contínuo de reciclagem de conhecimento e mitigação do desperdício do conhecimento. Logo, ela contribui à promoção de um contexto favorável à criação e ao compartilhamento do conhecimento pelas pessoas do ambiente operário.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:05:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3797.pdf: 4434849 bytes, checksum: dbd742e0f69dad1d01f765ed8fba19a7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-09-24 / In this research we described a way to obtain a method, through a cyclical approach of work, which goals to identify people, users of social networks that are talking about the same subject. The motivation for obtaining this method came from the perceived problem in the Social Network Management Systems, which is to identify and/or group people around the same issue in order to make social touch possible among them. The differential this method is related to consider people's culture as the main point to try to identify the various forms they have to express themselves on a particular issue, and thereby to observe what people are writing about it in the social networks, considering the many ways in which people express themselves. In this context, this method makes use of cultural information get by the Open Mind Common Sense in Brazil Project (OMCS-Br), that goal to collect Brazilians‟ cultural knowledge (ANACLETO, 2008), in order to identify similarity of contexts among different vocabularies. With the purpose of to observe the feasibility of this method, we performed a case study with the participation of people that through questionnaires could opine on the results obtained by the method, in order to observe the feasibility of its applicability. / Este trabalho descreve a obtenção de um método, por meio de uma metodologia cíclica de trabalho, que objetiva identificar pessoas, usuários de redes sociais, que estão falando sobre um mesmo assunto. A motivação para a obtenção deste método partiu de um problema percebido em Sistemas Gerenciadores de Redes Sociais, que é identificar e/ou agrupar pessoas em torno de um mesmo assunto, a fim poder viabilizar uma possível ligação social entre elas. O diferencial desse método está relacionado em considerar a cultura das pessoas como o ponto principal para tentar identificar as diversas formas que elas têm para se expressar sobre um determinado assunto e, assim, observar quais são as pessoas que estão escrevendo sobre as mesmas coisas nas redes sociais, considerando as muitas formas como elas se expressam. Nesse contexto, esse método faz uso das informações culturais obtidas por meio do Projeto Open Mind Common Sense no Brasil (OMCS-Br), que tem como objetivo coletar o conhecimento cultural dos brasileiros (ANACLETO, 2008), a fim de identificar similaridade de contextos entre vocabulários distintos. Com o intuito de observar a viabilidade desse método, foi realizado um estudo de caso com a participação de pessoas, que por meio de questionários puderam opinar sobre os resultados obtidos pelo método, com o intuito de observar a viabilidade de sua aplicabilidade.

Apresentamos algumas aplicações de ferramentas estatísticas que são comumente utilizadas na melhoria da qualidade de processos industriais. Inicialmente, desenvolveu-se procedimentos para testar a competência de laboratórios que participam de programas de ensaios de proficiência. Em situações onde os laboratórios medem várias vezes no mesmo ponto, utilizou-se o modelo de erros de medição, proposto por Jaech [39](1985). Além disso, a inferência sobre os parâmetros de tendência aditiva foi generalizada para a classe de distribuições elípticas. A competência dos laboratórios é avaliada pelo teste da razão de verossimilhança generalizada, do qual, obtemos a distribuição exata para a estatística proposta. Em situações onde os laboratórios medem várias vezes em vários pontos e a variável em análise apresenta variações naturais, utilizou-se o modelo com erro nas variáveis. Diante disso, vamos estender o modelo estrutural definido em Barnett [13] (1969) para o modelo ultra-estrutural com réplicas. Neste caso, vamos avaliar não somente a tendência aditiva, mas também, a tendência multiplicativa, ou seja, avaliar a linearidade das medições. As estimativas dos parâmetros foram obtidas via procedimento do algorítmo EM, com isso, desenvolvemos os teste de Wald, razão de verossimilhança e escore para avaliar a competência dos laboratórios. Nos dois modelos propostos, generalizamos o erro normalizado (En) sugerido pelo Guia 43 [37] para testar a competência dos laboratórios participantes de programas de ensaio de proficiência. Apresentamos também, um procedimento para calcular índices de performance para processos univariados e multivariados. Nestes casos, consideramos que a distribuição dos dados segue uma distribuição Normal assimétrica. Além disso, apresentamos uma análise de simulação onde concluímos que a presença de assimetria nos dados pode causar interpretações erradas sobre o processo, quando a distribuição assumida para os dados é a Normal / We present some applications of statistical tools that are used in the improvement of the quality of industrial processes. Initially, we develop procedures to test the ability of laboratories that participate of programs of proficiency test. In situations where the laboratories measure several times in the same point, we use the model of errors of measurement, considered for Jaech [39](1985). Moreover, the inference on the parameters additive bias was generalized for the class of elliptical distributions. The ability of the laboratories is evaluated by the generalized likelihood ratio test, of which, we get the accurate distribution for the statistics proposal. In situations where the laboratories measure some times in some points and the variable in analysis presents natural variations, uses the model with error in the variable. With this, we go to extend the model structural defined in Barnett [13] (1969) for the ultrastructural model with replicate. In this case, we go to not only evaluate the bias additive, but also, the bias multiplicative, that is, to evaluate the linearity of the measurements. The estimates of the parameters had been gotten by the procedure of the EM algorithm, with this, develop of Wald, likelihood ratio and score test to evaluate the ability of the laboratories. In the two considered models, we generalize the normalized error (En) suggested for Guide 43 [37] to test the ability of the participant laboratories of programs of proficiency test. We also present, a procedure to calculate index of performance for univariate and multivariate processes. In these cases, we consider that the distribution of the data follows a skew Normal distribution. Moreover, we present a simulation analysis where we conclude that the presence of asymmetry in the data can cause interpretations missed on the process, when the distribution assumed for the data is the Normal

Made available in DSpace on 2014-08-20T13:42:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Elen_Silveira_Nalerio.pdf: 599740 bytes, checksum: f430564f38cd6d98d1788d137e38ed1e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-11-17 / Listeria monocytogenes is the causative agent of listeriosis which may cause a range of diseases from gastroenteritis, meningitis and death. In fact, disease outcome can be related to strain serotype/lineage thus molecular analyses has demonstrated that L. monocytogenes is a highly diverse species which can be grouped into three lineages. Whole-genome microarray can be employed to study phylogenetic relationships among Listeria strains either species or serotype level, in addition to demonstrate differences on their virulence potential and/or environmental adaptation. The aim of this study was the whole genome comparison of L. monocytogenes strains from different origins. Ninety-nine L. monocytogenes strains from different geographical origins (Brazil, Denmark, Austria, Ireland, USA and unknown), including clinical strains (humans and animals), food and food industries strains were analysed. DNA from all strains were competitively hybridized on to a L. monocytogenes DNA microarray based on the whole-genome sequence L. monocytogenes EGD-e. DNA labeling and hybridization protocol were followed according to Dorrell et al., (2001). Data acquisition, processing and comparative phylogenomics were performed as previously described by Stabler et al. (2006). Comparative phylogenomics clustered the L. monocytogenes strains into two central clades which is representative of the two main lineages of this species. In addition each of these clades were divided into two further subclades. Clade formation was independent of the geographical origin of strains with the exception of the clade containing persistent strains (strains that persist in food-processing environment), where none of the Brazilian strains were present. It was found 18 specific genes for lineage I strains (1/2a and 1/2c serotypes). These genes are related to carbohydrate metabolism, two component regulatory system, ABC transporter complex and bvrB and bvrC genes. Significantly all persistent strains clustered together in the same lineage I clade. We achieved a set of unique genes belonging exclusively to L. monocytogenes persistent strains pointing to be responsible for its adaptation profile. The genes are involved in stress resistance and are related to carbohydrate transport and metabolism, environmental information processing, signal transduction mechanisms, cell surface protein, amino acid transport and metabolism, nucleotide transport and metabolism, translation, cell wall biogenesis, replication, recombination and repair, transport of small molecules similar to ABC transporter, metabolism of lipids and unknown function. Interestingly from 14 virulence listed genes most of them were present in all studied L. monocytogenes strains with exception of inlE and inlG genes. These findings indicate that genetic variability of L. monocytogenes strains point to niche adaptation instead virulence differentiation despite of different origins. Persistent strains clustered suggesting genetic origin to survival in this environment. / Listeria monocytogenes é o agente causador da listeriose, uma infecção severa que pode cursar com sintomas que variam desde gastroenterites, meningites e até mesmo a morte. De fato, o desenvolvimento da doença pode ser relacionado a determinados sorotipos/linhagens das cepas de Listeria. Análises moleculares dos diferentes sorotipos/linhagens de L. monocytogenes, demonstraram que esta espécie é amplamente diversa, a qual pode ser agrupada em três linhagens. O estudo completo de genomas, baseado na técnica de microarray, pode ser empregado para estudar a relação filogenética entre cepas de Listeria tanto em nível de espécie, quanto em nível de sorotipo. Não obstante, a técnica de microarray visa evidenciar as diferenças no potencial patogênico e/ou adaptativo das cepas. O objetivo deste estudo foi a comparação filogenética entre cepas de L. monocytogenes isoladas de diferentes fontes. Foram analisadas 99 cepas de L. monocytogenes de diferentes origens geográficas (Brasil, Dinamarca, Áustria, Irlanda, Estados Unidos da América e fontes desconhecidas), incluindo cepas clínicas (humanas e animais), de alimentos e de indústrias alimentícias. O DNA das cepas teste foi hibridizado em DNA microarrays de L. monocytogenes baseado em seqüências do genoma de L. monocytogenes EGD-e. Os protocolos para marcação e hibridização do DNA seguiram as recomendações de Dorrell et al., (2001). A aquisição de dados, o processamento e as comparações filogenômicas foram realizadas conforme previamente descrito por Stabler et al. (2006). Comparações filogenômicas agruparam as cepas de L. monocytogenes em dois clades centrais, os quais são representativos das duas principais linhagens desta espécie. Além disso, cada um destes clades foram subdivididos em mais dois sub-clades. A formação dos clades foi independente da origem geográfica das cepas, com exceção do clade contendo cepas persistentes (cepas que persistem no ambiente de processamento de alimentos), onde nenhuma cepa Brasileira esteve presente. Foram identificados 18 genes específicos para as cepas da linhagem I (sorotipos 1/2a e 1/2c). Esses genes são relacionados ao metabolismo de carboidratos, sistema regulatório two component, complexo de transporte ABC e aos genes bvrB e bvrC. A grande maioria das cepas persistentes se agrupou no mesmo clade pertencente à linhagem I. Foi obtido um conjunto de genes únicos pertencentes exclusivamente às cepas persistentes de L. monocytogenes, os quais sugerem serem os responsáveis pelo perfil adaptativo destas cepas. Os genes são envolvidos em resistência ao estresse e são relacionados ao transporte e metabolismo de carboidratos, processamento de informação ambiental, mecanismos de transdução de sinais, proteína de superfície celular, transporte e metabolismo de aminoácidos, transporte e metabolismo de nucleotídeos, tradução, biogênese de parede celular, replicação, recombinação e reparo, transporte de pequenas moléculas similar ao transportador ABC, metabolismo de lipídios e de função desconhecida. Dos 14 genes de virulência listados a maioria deles esteve presente em todas as cepas de L. monocytogenes estudadas, com exceção dos genes inlE e inlG. Estes dados sugerem que, apesar das distintas origens de isolamento, a variabilidade genética das cepas de L. monocytogenes é direcionada para adaptação ambiental, ao invés da diferenciação visando virulência.

La thèse porte sur l’accès au travail des réfugiés en France et en Bulgarie. Il s’agit d’une part de comprendre comment leurs carrières professionnelles sont réorientées par les contextes sociaux rencontrés dans le pays d’accueil, et d’autre part, d’analyser les remaniements identitaires qui sont induits par cette réorientation. La première partie s’efforce de rendre compte des spécificités de la quête de travail des réfugiés comme d’une expérience sociale dont il faut saisir et articuler les différentes dimensions (subjective/objective, micro/macro, local/global). La deuxième partie s’engage dans une comparaison d’effets sociétaux propres à la France et à la Bulgarie afin d’expliquer pourquoi tel ou tel type de carrière prédomine dans l’un et l’autre de ces pays, et pourquoi les facteurs qui conduisent les réfugiés à s’engager dans tel ou tel type de carrière n’y produisent pas les mêmes effets. La troisième partie analyse des processus de remaniement identitaire en termes de réaction au déni de reconnaissance et de travail de maintien de l’identité. / This thesis deals with the issues refugees face in accessing work in France and Bulgaria. The thesis focuses in particular on two sets of issues, namely, the ways in which the refugees’ professional careers are reoriented in their encounters with the social contexts of the host country; and the identity transformations that are involved in these reorientations of their professional careers. The first part of this thesis aims to characterise the specific traits of the refugees’ search for work. The thesis contends that this search has to be conceived as a multilayered social experience, and proposes a way to theoretically and methodologically connect its various dimensions (subjective/objective, micro/macro, local/global). The second part compares “societal effects” in France and Bulgaria in order to explain why particular types of professional careers are predominant in each country. It also explains why some factors play a role in the fact that certain refugees are developing certain type of careers in one country but not in the other. The third part deals with identity transformations in terms of reactions to denials of recognition, and in terms of the work performed by individuals to preserve their identity. / Дисертацията разглежда достьпа до труд на бежанци вьв Франция и Бьлгария. От една страна, дисертацията има за цел да изследва как професионалните им кариери са преориентирани от социалните контексти на приемащото общество и, от друга страна, да анализира идентичностните трансформации, които са предизвикани от тази реориентация. Пьрва част има за цел да разгледа спецификите на това тьрсене на труд като социален опит, който трябва да бьде обхванат и артикулиран в различните му измерения (субективно/обективно, микро/макро, локално/глобално). Втора част разгрьща сравнението на социални ефекти, характерни за френското и бьлгарското общество, за да се обясни защо определен тип кариера преобладава в дадена дьржава и защо факторите, които карат бежанците да се ангажират в определ тип кариера, не предизвикват еднакви резултати. Трета част има за цел да анализира процесите на идентичностна трансформация като реакция на отказа на признание и като стратегия за сьхранение на идентичността.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The question as to which language should be used as a medium of instruction in schools in multilingual societies is a controversial one. In South Africa, the question is often posed in binary terms: Should the medium of instruction be a familiar local language such as Xhosa or a language of wider communication like English? This study is an attempt to answer the above question. The study profiled the writing abilities of Grade 4 and Grade 7 pupils at Themba Primary, a school located in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, in both their mother tongue, Xhosa, and in English, their official medium of instruction at school since Grade 4. Three written tasks, which consisted of a narrative piece of writing, a reading comprehension exercise, and an expository piece of writing, were administered to the pupils in English and Xhosa. The purpose of the exercise was to examine some of the implications for educational language policy of the differences in performance in the two languages. All the tasks were authentic, in that they were based on aspects of the pupils' curriculum and written in the formal academic language pupils were expected to be exposed to in their respective grades. All the tasks were graded systematically under controlled conditions. / South Africa

The thesis deals with the comparison of the 27 European educational systems. The topic covers all main aspects of education funding system at higher education level and defines the impact of funding policy on educational standard. The following part of the thesis aims at key issues of tertiary education in other countries of the European Union. The topic focuses on the main policy goals of public funding, different forms of funding mechanisms, financial autonomy and control, the extent to which access to educational institutions is free, private contributions, the system of grants, scholarships, loans and other financial and social support for learners and their families. It is described their common features and their specifics. The thesis deals with the different approach of funding higher education in time of economic growth and recession. The last part of this thesis is devoted to grouping of states based on the defined information and other data of tertiary education and to determining the sequence of the states of the European Union by the standard of education.

Em um programa de ensaio de prociência (EP) conduzido pelo Grupo de Motores, um grupo de onze laboratórios da área de temperatura realizaram medições em cinco pontos da escala de um termopar. Neste trabalho, propomos um modelo de regressão com variável explicativa X (aleatória) representando o termopar padrão que denominaremos por artefato e a variável dependente Y representando as medições dos laboratórios. O procedimento para a realização da comparação é simples, ambos termopares são colocados no forno e as diferenças entre as medições são registradas. Para a análise dos dados, vamos trabalhar com a diferença entre a diferença das medições do equipamento do laboratório e o artefato, e o valor de referência (que é determinado por 2 laboratórios que pertencem a Rede Brasileira de Calibração (RBC)). O erro de medição tem variância determinada por calibração, isto é, conhecida. Assim, vamos encontrar aproximações para as estimativas de máxima verossimilhança para os parâmetros do modelo via algoritmo EM. Além disso, propomos uma estratégia para avaliar a consistência dos laboratórios participantes do programa de EP / In a program of proficiency assay, a group of eleven laboratories of the temperature area had carried through measurements in ¯ve points on the scale of the thermopair. In this work, we propose a regression model with a random explanatory variable representing the temperature measured by the standard thermopair, which will be called device. The procedure for the comparison accomplishment is as follows. The device and the laboratory\'s thermopair to be tested are placed in the oven and the difererences between the measurements are registered. For the analysis of the data, the response variable is the diference between those diference and the reference value, which is determined by two laboratories that belong to the Brazilian Net of Calibration (RBC). The measurement error has variance determined by calibration which is known. Therefore, we ¯and the maximum likelihood estimates for the parameters of the model via EM algorithm. We consider a strategy to establish the consistency of the participant laboratories of the program of proficiency assay