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Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T18:39:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gilberto Cabeleira Alves.pdf: 909648 bytes, checksum: ae5ef27c0ea7db4792c6c17142f495e3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-20 / This dissertation, a case study, has the purpose of examining the control functions in a large financial institution in Brazil and answer the central question: how and why to integrate the control functions in financial institutions? The study comprised the analysis of concepts, mission and approaches in use by Internal Control, Operational Risk Management and SOX Compliance functions. The internal control concept was identified as being the foundation of the three control functions under analysis. The framework of best practices in internal controls, COSO Internal Control Integrated Framework, is used to compare the way in which those functions operate. Interviews and questionnaires are used to collect primary data and documental analysis and observation for secondary data. Answers from the participating areas indicate that the departments reviewed by the control functions consider integration as necessary. By analyzing the purpose of those functions it is identified that Operational Risk Management and SOX Compliance functions have different purposes and focuses, the first aims at reducing the historic of losses and the later focuses on the quality of financial reporting, both functions report to different directors, have different performance measures and require different skill from their professionals. Comparison of the practices in use indicates that those functions adopt similar approaches; however, not integrated. It is identified a number of examples of opportunities for integration, such as: implementing a shared process for identifying and ranking risks, monitoring controls and reporting. The full integration within a single department revealed to be not adequate, but it is accepted that those functions need to be reviewed to take advantage of the integration opportunities / Esta dissertação, um estudo de caso, tem por objetivo examinar funções de controle em instituição financeira de grande porte no Brasil e responder a questão central: como e por que integrar as funções de controle em instituições financeiras? O estudo compreende análise dos conceitos, objetivos e abordagens adotadas pelas funções: Controles Internos, Gestão de Riscos Operacionais e SOX Compliance. Identifica-se o conceito de controles internos como sendo o fundamento das três funções de controle em análise. A estrutura de melhores práticas do COSO Internal Control Integrated Framework é utilizada para comparar a atuação das três funções. Entrevistas e questionários são utilizados para coleta de dados primários, e análise documental e observação, para dados secundários. Respostas das áreas participantes indicam que departamentos sujeitos a revisões pelas funções de controle consideram a integração destas funções necessária. Análise dos objetivos destas funções identifica que Gestão de Riscos Operacionais e SOX Compliance possuem objetivos e enfoques diferentes, a primeira objetiva reduzir histórico de perdas, a segunda, qualidade dos reportes financeiros, ambas reportam para diretorias diferentes, possuem métricas de performance distintas e requerem diferentes habilidades de seus profissionais. Comparação das práticas em uso demonstra que estas funções adotam abordagens semelhantes, entretanto, não integradas. São identificados inúmeros exemplos de oportunidades de integração, tais como: implante de processos compartilhados para identificação e categorização de riscos, monitoramento de controles e reporte. A completa integração em área única mostrou-se não adequada, mas é aceito que a forma de atuação destas funções precisa ser revista para que aproveitem oportunidades de integração

Avec l’allongement de l’espérance de vie, il devient essentiel de mieux comprendre les changements cognitifs qui accompagnent le vieillissement normal. La mémoire de travail (MDT) est un système qui permet de maintenir temporairement et de manipuler une petite quantité d’informations ; c’est une fonction cognitive particulièrement importante, impliquée dans la réalisation d’un grand nombre d’activités quotidiennes complexes. L’affaiblissement de la MDT affecte l’ensemble du fonctionnement cognitif et a ainsi un impact sur l’autonomie. Cette thèse porte sur les effets du vieillissement normal sur la MDT et sur les fonctions de contrôle attentionnel (FCA) qui la sous-tendent : l’inhibition, l’alternance et la mise à jour. Nous nous intéressons également à l’éducation et à la pratique d’activités cognitivement stimulantes comme facteurs de protection du déclin de la MDT. L’objectif de la première étude (Chapitre II) était d’examiner les changements liés à l’avancée en âge sur la MDT et les FCA, sur une période de 5 ans. Les participants ont été évalués à deux reprises à 5 ans d’intervalle (Temps 1 ; Sylvain-Roy, Lungu, & Belleville, 2015a) avec trois tâches complexes de MDT (empan de phrases, Brown-Peterson et empan alphabétique) et plusieurs mesures d’inhibition, d’alternance et de mise à jour. Afin d’explorer la possibilité que le déclin sur 5 ans soit modulé par l’âge, nous avons séparé les participants en « jeunes-âgés » (âge moyen au Temps 1: 65,79) et « âgés-âgés » (âge moyen au Temps 1 : 75). Des analyses de variance répétées ont été conduites afin d’examiner l’effet du temps et l’interaction entre le temps et le groupe d’âge. Les analyses ont révélé un effet significatif du temps suggérant un déclin des performances après 5 ans sur l’ensemble des épreuves de MDT ainsi que pour les mesures d’inhibition et d’alternance. Aucune interaction entre le temps et le groupe d’âge n’a été mise en évidence, suggérant que les âgés-âgés ne présentent pas de déclin plus important que les jeunes-âgés. Cette étude montre que le vieillissement normal est marqué par d’importants changements généralisés aux trois tâches de MDT et à la plupart des FCA après seulement 5 ans et que le déclin est similaire quel que soit l’âge. Les implications théoriques et cliniques de ces résultats seront discutées. La deuxième étude (Chapitre III) avait pour objectif d’explorer l’effet de l’éducation et de la pratique d’activités cognitivement stimulantes sur le déclin de la MDT lors du suivi à 5 ans. Des régressions linéaires simples et multiples ont permis de mettre en évidence un effet protecteur de la pratique d’activités cognitivement stimulantes sur le déclin au Brown-Peterson pour l’ensemble des participants. Concernant l’éducation, les résultats indiquent une interaction avec l’âge pour les performances de base (Temps 1) et pour le déclin à la tâche de Brown-Peterson. Plus précisément, seuls les jeunes-âgés semblent protégés par l’effet de l’éducation au Temps 1 puis cet effet disparait entrainant même un déclin plus important des jeunes-âgés les plus éduqués par rapport aux âgés-âgés. Aucune interaction entre l’éducation et la pratique d’activités cognitivement stimulantes n’a été mise en évidence. Les deux autres tâches de MDT (empan de phrases et empan alphabétique) ne semblent bénéficier ni de l’éducation, ni des activités cognitivement stimulantes. Cette étude met en évidence un effet protecteur indépendant de la pratique d’activités cognitivement stimulantes et de l’éducation sur une tâche complexe de MDT. De plus, cette étude suggère que certains facteurs de protection pourraient avoir un effet différent selon l’âge. / With increasing life expectancy, it is becoming essential to better understand the cognitive changes associated with normal aging. Working memory (WM) is a limited capacity system that temporarily holds and manipulates a small amount of information; it is a particularly important cognitive function, involved in numerous complex daily activities. A WM impairment affects the whole cognitive functioning and thus has an impact on autonomy. This thesis assesses the age effects on WM and on attentional control functions (ACFs) that underlie this system: inhibition, shifting and updating. We are also interested in the effects of education and cognitively stimulating activities as protective factors on age-related WM decline. The first study (Chapter II) aimed at examining the age effects on WM and ACFs over a five-year period. Participants were evaluated twice over 5 years (Time 1; Sylvain-Roy, Lungu, & Belleville, 2015a) by three complex WM tasks (i.e., reading span, Brown-Peterson and alpha span) and multiple measures of inhibition, shifting and updating. In order to explore the possibility that decline over 5 years is modulated by age, we separated the participants into a “young-old” group (mean age at Time 1: 65.79) and an “old-old” group (mean age at Time 1: 75). Repeated analyses of variance were conducted in order to examine the effect of time and the interaction between time and group. Results showed a significant decline, over 5 years, for all three complex WM tasks and for measures of inhibition and shifting. Results showed no interaction between time and group, which indicated that the old-old group did not show a greater decline relative to young-old participants. This study shows that normal aging is marked by important and pervasive changes in WM and in most ACFs over a relatively short five-year period. Moreover, old-old and young-old participants show a similar rate of decline; theorical and clinical implications will be discussed. The second study (Chapter III) aimed at exploring effects of education and cognitively stimulating activities on WM decline. Simple and multiple linear regressions showed a protective effect of cognitively stimulating activities on decline for the Brown-Peterson task for all participants. Results also showed an interaction between age and education for baseline performances (Time 1) and for decline on the Brown-Peterson task. That is, only young-old participants seemed to benefit from education on baseline performances. This protective effect then recedes, leading to a greater decline over time for young-old compared to old-old participants. No interaction was found between education and cognitively stimulating activities. The other two WM tasks (i.e., reading span and alpha span) did not seem to benefit from protective effects of education or cognitively stimulating activities. This study shows a protective independent effect of education and the practice of cognitively stimulating activities on one complex WM task. Moreover, this study suggests that the impact of some protective factors could vary with age.

Understanding indirect speech, i.e., when an utterance does not match the intended meaning, is one of many pragmatic abilities at play in conversation. While the development of pragmatic abilities starts early, they continually develop throughout adolescence although this period is understudied. Recent fMRI-results in adults suggest that pragmatic processing is segregable from other skills, such as core language, theory of mind (ToM), and cognitive control functions. In this thesis, pragmatic processing was investigated in adolescents contrasting indirect and direct speech. Brain activity was measured using fMRI in adolescents listening to short conversations and existing data from adults was used to investigate age-related effects. The bilateral occipital gyri and the cuneus showed stronger activation in adolescents when listening to indirect speech. The cuneus has previously been implicated in ToM-tasks and socio-emotional processing. The results support earlier accounts of differing neural signatures of ToM with age and heightened social sensitivity in adolescence, and could mean that pragmatics draws more on ToM at younger ages. Additional results showed an interaction while listening to parts of the conversations not manipulated by the main contrast: greater activation in adults could in part reflect differences in attention or engagement. / Att förstå indirekt tal, det vill säga när ett yttrande inte matchar den bakomliggande meningen, är en av många pragmatiska förmågor som används under konversation. Utveckling av pragmatiska förmågor börjar tidigt i livet och fortsätter att utvecklas under tonåren, dock är den perioden understuderad. fMRI-resultat hos vuxna föreslår att pragmatisk bearbetning går att skilja från andra förmågor, såsom språk, mentalisering  och kognitiv kontroll. I den här uppsatsen undersöktes pragmatisk bearbetning hos ungdomar genom att kontrastera indirekt och direkt tal. Hjärnaktivitet mättes med fMRI hos ungdomar när de lyssnade på korta konversationer och tidigare insamlad data från vuxna användes för att undersöka åldersrelaterade effekter. Starkare aktivering hittades hos ungdomar i bilaterala occipitalloben och vänster cuneus när de lyssnade på indirekt tal. Dessa områden har kopplats till mentalisering och socio-emotionell bearbetning. Detta stämmer överens med tidigare resultat där ToM-aktivering ändras med åldern och att ungdomsåren är extra socialt känsliga och skulle kunna innebära att pragmatik använder sig mer av ToM tidigare i livet. Ytterligare resultat visade interaktion under språklig bearbetning av tal som inte var del av den huvudsakliga manipulation. Starkare aktivering hos vuxna skulle delvis kunna indikera skillnader i uppmärksamhet och engagemang.

Passenger safety and comfort are important aspects in the process of vehicle development. The world is heading towards developing the safest possible vehicle on the road. Using vehicle motion control functions is one of the ways to enhance vehicle stability. These motion control functions need to be developed in an energy optimised way. By complementing some of the development process with virtual models, both the development time and cost could be minimised. Hence, a sustainable way of control function development could be achieved. In order to verify, validate and calibrate vehicle motion control functions, an accurate model of the virtual vehicle is required. Hence, a research question on how good the virtual model needs to be for the purpose has been addressed. This report suggests a framework in order to determine the capabilities of a virtual vehicle.In this report, a comparison study has been carried out by exciting the real car and virtual model of a Volvo XC90 with a focus of covering the six degrees of freedom (Yaw, pitch, roll, longitudinal, lateral and vertical). A semi automated framework that possesses the capability of automating the testing in a virtual platform has been established. From the test results, the virtual vehicle capabilities were determined. Further, in the second part of the report, an example use case has been considered by taking two calibration sets of Electronic stability control (ESC) system in order to verify the previously established framework.The analysis includes various levels of plant and controller complexity such as Model-in-loop, Software-in-loop and Hardware-in-loop and on two different road surfaces, low friction and high friction. From the observations, the virtual models considered correlates well for the purpose of verification and validation. However, for the purpose of calibration, the models need to be fine-tuned in the virtual platform. Furthermore, the correlation on low friction road surface could be improved by simulating the tests using an advanced tyre model. Overall, this study helps in choosing the correct complexity of various subsystems in a vehicle for the purpose of verification, validation and calibration of vehicle motion control functions. / Passagerarsäkerhet och komfort är viktiga aspekter i utvecklingen av ett fordon. Världen är på väg mot att utveckla säkraste möjliga fordon på vägen. Användning av fordonetse rörelsekontrollfunktioner är ett av sätten att förbättra fordonets stabilitet. Dessa rörelsekontrollfunktioner måste utvecklas på ett energioptimerat sätt. Genom att komplettera en del av utvecklingsprocessen med virtuella modeller kan både utvecklingstid och kostnad minimeras. Därför kan ett hållbart sätt att utveckla funktionerna för kontrollfunktioner uppnås. För att verifiera, validera och kalibrera fordonets rörelsekontrollfunktioner krävs en detaljerad modell av ett virtuellt fordon. Därför har en forskningsfråga om hur bra den virtuella modellen måste vara för ändamålet behandlats. Denna rapport föreslår ett ramverk för att bestämma funktionerna hos virtuella fordon.I denna rapport har en jämförelsestudie genomförts genom att excitera den verkliga bilen och den virtuella modellen av en Volvo XC90 med fokus på att täcka de sex frihetsgraderna (gir, nick, roll, längs, lateral, vertikal). Ett semi-automatiserat ramverk som har förmågan att automatisera testningen i en virtuell plattform har skapats. Från testresultaten bestämdes de virtuella fordonsfunktionerna. Vidare har i den andra delen av rapporten ett exempel på användningsfall beaktats genom att man tar två kalibreringsuppsättningar av ESC-system (Electronic Stability Control) för att verifiera det tidigare etablerade ramverket.Analysen innefattar olika nivåer av modell- och styrenhetskomplexitet såsom Model-in-loop, Software-in-loop och Hardware-in-loop och på två olika vägytor, låg friktion och hög friktion. Enligt observationerna är de virtuella modellerna väl korrelerade för verifiering och validering. För kalibreringen måste dock modellerna finjusteras på den virtuella plattformen. Dessutom kunde korrelationen på lågfriktionsvägytan förbättras genom att simulera testerna med hjälp av en avancerad däckmodell. Sammantaget hjälper den här studien att välja rätt komplexitet hos olika delsystem i ett fordon för verifiering, validering och kalibrering av fordonets rörelsekontrollfunktioner.

Οι οικονομικές και τεχνολογικές εξελίξεις των τελευταίων ετών, η απελευθέρωση της αγοράς, οι ισχυρές κατά απαίτηση πολυμεσικές υπηρεσίες καθώς και ο αυξημένος αριθμός χρηστών των κινητών δικτύων υποδεικνύουν την αναγκαιότητα της σύγκλισης των δύο δικτυακών τεχνολογιών (κινητή τηλεφωνία και internet) με στόχο την παροχή υπηρεσιών Internet στο περιβάλλον των κινητών επικοινωνιών. Η παραπάνω απαίτηση οδήγησε στην δημιουργία του δικτύου επόμενης γενιάς NGN. Η διπλωματική αυτή εργασία ασχολείται με την μελέτη της αρχιτεκτονικής του επιπέδου υπηρεσιών και την υποστήριξη Ποιότητας Υπηρεσίας (QoS) σε δίκτυα Νέας Γενιάς. Συγκεκριμένα δίνεται έμφαση στις λειτουργίες ελέγχου, σηματοδοσίας και λειτουργιών αρχιτεκτονικής του QoS σε επίπεδο υπηρεσιών. Αρχικά, ορίζουμε την έννοια “QoS” όσον αφορά την οπτική του δικτύου και το χρήστη. Περιγράφονται η αρχιτεκτονική του στρώματος υπηρεσιών του δικτύου καθώς και οι λειτουργίες ελέγχου πόρου και αποδοχής των κλήσεων, που αποτελούν σημαντικό μέρος της αρχιτεκτονικής του NGN. Στη συνέχεια παρουσιάζονται αρχιτεκτονικές που προορίζονται για την παροχή του QoS (IntServ, DiffServ), στη Συμφωνία Στάθμης Παρεχόμενης Υπηρεσίας (SLA), το πρωτόκολλο σηματοδοσίας COPS. Επίσης, δίνουμε έμφαση σε ορισμένες πτυχές (χρονοδρομολόγηση, διαχείριση ουρών) μίας QoS αρχιτεκτονικής, οι οποίες είναι ζωτικής σημασίας όσον αφορά την αποδοτική παροχή Ποιότητας Υπηρεσίας. Στη συνέχεια, με τη χρήση του εργαλείου προσομοίωσης OPNET, διεξάγουμε μια σειρά προσομοιώσεων σε ένα ATM και σε ένα NGN δίκτυο. Τέλος, παραθέτουμε και αναλύουμε τα αποτελέσματα των προαναφερθέντων πειραμάτων. / The concept of an NGN (Next Generation Network) has been introduced to take into consideration the new realities in the telecommunications industry, characterized by factors such as: competition among operators due to ongoing deregulation of markets, explosion of digital traffic, e.g.,increasing use of "the Internet", increasing demand for new multimedia services, increasing demand for a general mobility, convergence of networks and services, etc. This thesis has as subject the architecture of service stratum and presents an overview of standards functions defining the Quality of Service (QoS) in Next Generation Networks (NGNs). Several standards bodies define the QoS control architectures based on their scope of work. Specifically, emphasis is given to control functions, signalling and functional architecture of QoS in service stratum. Firstly, we define the meaning of QoS according to the view of the operator’s network and terminal users. The functional architecture of service stratum and especially the part of resource and admission control functions are described in the main body. Furthermore, architectures as IntServ and DiffServ, SLAs and COPS protocol are used as providers of the QoS. Scheduling and queuing management are necessary to optimize the QoS in NGN networks. In this project, we use OPNET simulator in two scenarios to determine construct and control ATM and NGN networks. Finally, collect the results of the experiments and analyze them.

Wo und wie werden komplexe Regelsätze im Gehirn repräsentiert? Drei empirische Studien dieser Doktorarbeit untersuchen dies experimentell. Eine weitere methodische Studie liefert Beiträge zur Weiterentwicklung der genutzten empirischen Methode. Die empirischen Studien nutzen multivariate Musteranalyse (MVPA) funktioneller Magnetresonanzdaten (fMRT) gesunder Probanden. Die Fragestellungen der methodischen Studie wurden durch die empirischen Arbeiten inspiriert. Wirkung und Anwendungsbreite der entwickelten Methode gehen jedoch über die Anwendung in den empirischen Studien dieser Arbeit hinaus. Die empirischen Studien bearbeiten Fragen wie: Wo werden Hinweisreize und Regeln repräsentiert, und sind deren Repräsentationen voneinander unabhängig? Wo werden Regeln repräsentiert, die aus mehreren Einzelregeln bestehen, und sind Repräsentationen der zusammengesetzten Regeln Kombinationen der Repräsentationen der Einzelregeln? Wo sind Regeln verschiedener Hierarchieebenen repräsentiert, und gibt es einen hierarchieabhängigen Gradienten im ventrolateralen präfrontalen Kortex (VLPFK)? Wo wird die Reihenfolge der Regelausführung repräsentiert? Alle empirischen Studien verwenden informationsbasiertes funktionales Mapping ("Searchlight"-Ansatz), zur hirnweiten und räumlich Lokalisierung von Repräsentationen verschiedener Elemente komplexer Regelsätze. Kernergebnisse der Arbeit beinhalten: Kompositionalität neuronaler Regelrepräsentationen im VLPFK; keine Evidenz für Regelreihenfolgenrepräsentation im VLPFK, welches gegen VLPFK als generelle Task-Set-Kontrollregion spricht; kein Hinweis auf einen hierarchieabhängigen Gradienten im VLPFK. Die komplementierende methodische Studie präsentiert "The Same Analysis Approach (SAA)", ein Ansatz zur Erkennung und Behebung experimentspezifischer Fehler, besonders solcher, die aus Design–Analyse–Interaktionen entstehen. SAA ist für relevant MVPA, aber auch für anderen Bereichen innerhalb und außerhalb der Neurowissenschaften. / Where and how does the brain represent complex rule sets? This thesis presents a series of three empirical studies that decompose representations of complex rule sets to directly address this question. An additional methodological study investigates the employed analysis method and the experimental design. The empirical studies employ multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from healthy human participants. The methodological study has been inspired by the empirical work. Its impact and application range, however, extend well beyond the empirical studies of this thesis. Questions of the empirical studies (Studies 1-3) include: Where are cues and rules represented, and are these represented independently? Where are compound rules (rules consisting of multiple rules) represented, and are these composed from their single rule representations? Where are rules from different hierarchical levels represented, and is there a hierarchy-dependent functional gradient along ventro-lateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC)? Where is the order of rule-execution represented, and is it represented as a separate higher-level rule? All empirical studies employ information-based functional mapping ("searchlight" approach) to localise representations of rule set features brain-wide and spatially unbiased. Key findings include: compositional coding of compound rules in VLPFC; no order information in VLPFC, suggesting VLPFC is not a general controller for task set; evidence against the hypothesis of a hierarchy-dependent functional gradient along VLPFC. The methodological study (Study 4) introduces "The Same Analysis Approach (SAA)". SAA allows to detect, avoid, and eliminate confounds and other errors in experimental design and analysis, especially mistakes caused by malicious experiment-specific design-analysis interactions. SAA is relevant for MVPA, but can also be applied in other fields, both within and outside of neuroscience.