M.Ing. (Mechanical Engineering) / The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of SOAP84-simulations of delay and percentage stops at isolated signalized intersections. In the application, capacity was distinguished in terms of lane configuration only. Results at the intersections showed SOAP overestimating both delay and percentage stops by as much as 100%. It is recommended that the same investigations be repeated with more accurate information on the capacity of the intersections.

Electromechanical systems dynamics analysis is approached through nonlinear differential equations and further creating a state space model for the system. There are three modules analyzed and validated, first module consists two magnet coupled with a mass spring damper system as a band-pass system, Low-pass equivalent system and Low-pass equivalent system through perturbation analysis. Initially Band Pass frameworks for the systems are formulated considering the relation between the mechanical forcing and current. Using Mathematical tools such as Hilbert transforms, Low-Pass equivalent of the systems are derived. The state equations of the systems are then used to design a working model in MATLAB and simulations investigated completely. The scope of the modules discussed for further development of tools various applications.

Subject of thesis is theoretical description of sphere responsibility controls and its subsequent aplication in information system Business Navigation. The first part is focused on organizational premises of qualitative responsibility controls, next instrumental and informative premises. The result of the thesis is to find out how Business Navigation System fills premises for efficient responsibility controls and to find eventual deficiencies of system.

En hög rapporteringsgrad av egenkontroller är en förutsättning i dagens byggande. I varje projekt strävar alla parter mot att det både ska vara tids- och kostnadseffektivt. Egenkontrollen fungerar som en garanti för att rätt kvalitet på produkten hålls. Inte bara för beställaren men även för samhället och entreprenören själv. Denna studie har utförts i samarbete med PEAB Anläggning och har som huvudsyfte att undersöka företagets rutiner gällande egenkontrollsarbetet och därmed hitta möjliga förbättringar. Studien behandlar även vad de anställdas anser om dagens egenkontroller samt lyfter fram deras åsikter. Dessutom undersöks det hur PEAB Anläggnings pilotprojekt för BIM 360, som är ett digitalt system för hantering av bygghandlingar och dokument, har tagits emot av de anställda. En omfattande litteraturstudie har utförts för att ge information och kunskap inom ämnet. Från litteraturstudien har underlag för en enkätstudie och två intervjustudier skapats. Efter att resultatet analyserats och jämförts med litteraturstudien har det även diskuterats, både gällande resultat samt metod. För resultatet har förslag för möjliga förbättringsåtgärder lyfts fram. Förslagen kan leda till att PEAB Anläggning i framtiden kan utveckla sitt egenkontrollsarbete. Det kan i studien konstateras att det finns en del brister i dagens egenkontrollsarbete. En stor faktor är den krångliga administrationen. I studien har det även noterats att det finns ett engagemang bland de anställda att faktiskt arbeta och lära sig mer gällande förbättrad kvalitet och egenkontroller. Vidare bör PEAB Anläggning se över möjligheterna att utbilda sina anställda inom kvalitetssäkring och egenkontroller. / A high degree of self-inspection reports are essential in today's society where the construction is to be both time and cost effective. Self-inspections acts as a guarantee that the quality of the product is right. Not just for the customer but also for society and the contractor himself. This study has been prepared in cooperation with PEAB Anläggning and has as main purpose to examine the company's procedures regarding its own self-inspections work, and thereby find possible shortcomings. The study deals with employees' attitude towards today's self-inspections as well as highlighting their opinions. In addition, it examines how PEAB Anläggnings pilot project for BIM 360, a system for digital handling of construction documents is received by the employees. An extensive literature study was conducted to provide information and knowledge in the subject. From the literature study has the basis for a survey and two interview studies been created. After the results have been analyzed and compared with the literature study, it has also been discussed, both in terms of results and in terms of methods. The results have suggestions for possible improvement measures. The proposals could lead to the future development of PEAB Anläggnings self-inspections work. The study can confirm that there are some flaws in today's self-control work. A big factor is the complexity of the administration. In the study, it has also been noted that there is a commitment among employees to actually work and learn more regarding self-controls. Furthermore, PEAB Anläggning should look at the opportunities to train their employees in quality assurance and self-controls.

Thesis advisor: Gregory R. Chiklis / Thesis advisor: Kathleen Dunn / In molecular diagnostics, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to amplify small amounts of nucleic acids found in patient samples, allowing for detection of diseases within hours of infection. This early detection allows medical professionals to diagnose and treat patients with greater success. It is crucial that internal controls, such as NATtrol™-treated microorganisms, are used in these PCR assays to avoid false-negative results and ensure accurate diagnosis of patients. NATtrol™ treatment renders microorganisms non-infectious while leaving them fully intact with their complete RNA or DNA genomes. Therefore, NATtrol™-treated microorganisms can be used in PCR as full-process internal controls that are spiked into patient samples and co-extracted and co-amplified within the sample. If the spiked NATtrol™ control returns expected results on the test, then the patient sample result can also be trusted. Here, we performed studies to validate the use of NATtrol™-treated MS2 virus as a universal full-process internal molecular control. In these studies, a quantitative, real-time, reverse-transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) assay was performed on the Roche LightCycler 480 instrument. Studies included working range validation, limit of detection, within-run precision, between-run precision, real-time stability, freeze-thaw (transport) stability, and open-vial (use-life) stability. All studies demonstrated the precision and stability of the MS2 NATtrol™ molecular control. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Biology Honors Program. / Discipline: Biology.

A combinação dos fatores externos e internos, intrínsecos ao ambiente empresarial, pode afetar o desempenho de uma empresa, facilitando ou dificultando a sua estabilidade. O objetivo desta pesquisa consistiu em verificar as relações entre as variáveis do ambiente externo, os elementos do modelo de gestão, os controles gerenciais e os desempenhos de empresas de setores de atividade distintos. A partir disso, construíram-se os procedimentos metodológicos. Primeiramente, definiram-se as hipóteses, alicerçadas nos constructos teóricos da pesquisa. Com essa base, desenhou-se o instrumento de pesquisa, que foi aplicado, inicialmente, por meio de um pré-teste em 20 empresas da amostra, para então se dar seqüência ao trabalho de campo. A amostra da pesquisa compôs-se de 69 empresas do setor do comércio, 80 do industrial e 74 do de serviços, totalizando 223 empresas contatadas. Dessas, 118 responderam ao questionário enviado. A coleta dos dados deu-se por meio da aplicação de dois procedimentos: questionário e obtenção dos dados econômicos das empresas. O questionário foi disponibilizado em website para ser respondido pelos gestores do alto escalão da empresa, que pudessem ter a visão sistêmica da empresa presidente, diretor, gestor da área de controladoria, o que dependeu de cada empresa previamente contatada por telefone. Os dados econômicos foram obtidos a partir da Revista Exame Maiores e Melhores empresas do Brasil, para efeito da formação dos indicadores ROI (Return on Investments) e MO (Margem operacional), cujo período abrangeu os anos de 2005, 2006, 2007 e 2008. O período de realização da pesquisa de campo compreendeu os meses entre junho e outubro de 2009, sendo que antes disso, entre fevereiro e abril, foi aplicado o préteste. O tratamento e a análise dos dados coletados foram efetivados por meio da aplicação de estatística descritiva e modelagem de equações estruturais. Como resultado, verificou-se que as associações entre ambiente externo e modelo de gestão dos três setores empresariais observados se revelaram significantes, principalmente em empresas dos setores comercial e industrial. Não se constatou relação significativa entre os elementos do modelo de gestão e os desempenhos das empresas dos três setores. Verificou-se que os elementos do modelo de gestão influenciam, significativamente, os tipos de controles gerenciais adotados pelas empresas de todos os setores investigados, predominantemente aquelas do setor industrial. Os graus de relação entre o ambiente externo e os controles gerenciais mostraram-se baixos, não podendo ser considerados representativos neste estudo. Em se tratando da relação entre controles gerenciais e desempenho das empresas, puderam ser notados resultados expressivos nos setores industrial e de serviços, não ocorrendo o mesmo no comércio. Assim, esta tese atingiu o seu objetivo, demonstrando as relações entre ambiente externo, modelo de gestão, controles gerenciais e desempenho de empresas pertencentes a diferentes setores de mercado. / The combination of external and internal factors, intrinsic to the business environment, can affect a firms performance as well as its management structure. This study xamines the relations of the variables of the external environment (business conditions), lements of the management model, management controls and performance of companies in different sectors. The methodology entailed first defining the hypotheses based on the theoretical constructs found in the literature and then formulating a questionnaire, which was pre-tested in 20 companies before starting the main survey. The full sample consisted of 223 companies (69 engaged mainly in commerce, 80 in industry and 74 in services). The questionnaire was made available at a website for access by the respondents. They consisted of chief executives, other officers or comptrollers, epending on each company, contacted previously by telephone. Of the 223 firms approached, 118 answered the questionnaire. Besides the data from the questionnaires, performance indicators on the companies were obtained from the Maiores e Melhores (Biggest and Best) edition of the Brazilian business magazine Exame. The indicators considered were return on investment (ROI) and operating margin (OM), covering the years from 2005 to 2008. The main survey was carried out between June and ctober 2009, after completing the pre-test between February and April. The data were treated and analyzed with the use of descriptive statistics and modeling with structural equations. The results show that the associations between the external setting and management model in the three business sectors analyzed are significant, mainly in service companies. No significant relationship was found between the management model and performance of the firms in any of the sectors. However, the elements of the management model do significantly affect the types of management controls adopted by the firms in all three sectors, particularly in the industrial sector. The associations were low and cannot be considered as representative in this study. With respect to the relationship between the management controls and performance, the results were salient in the industrial and service sectors but not among commercial firms. On the whole, the thesis attained its objective, demonstrating the relations of the external setting, management model and performance of companies in the commercial, industrial and service sectors.

Les travaux de recherche de ce manuscrit se concentrent sur l’analyse des fréquences de vibrations des robots. Nos applications concernent plus particulièrement les architectures à cinématique parallèle. Dans un premier temps nous avons considéré les robots parallèles redondants en actionnement pour lesquels nous envisageons d’augmenter la fréquence de leurs oscillations en utilisant les efforts internes intrinsèques à ce type de structure. L’objectif est d’utiliser leur actionnement pour mettre en tension leur structure, et par conséquent, par analogie avec une corde vibrante, augmenter la fréquence de leurs oscillations. Nous avons étudié plusieurs robots plans redondants et nous montrons que dans le cadre de robots typiquement conçus pour être rigides,l’influence des efforts internes rajoutés n’a que peu d’importance. La suite de nos travaux soutient la proposition suivante : "les trajectoires très dynamiques influencent les fréquences des oscillations de la plateforme mobile". En effet, les robots parallèles quand ils sont conçus pour être légers, peuvent atteindre de grandes accélérations. Nous avons choisi de nous intéresser à l’étude de l’impact que peut avoir les effets dynamiques sur la fréquence des oscillations de la plateforme mobile de ces robots. Les robots considérés pour nos développements sont des robots parallèles plans, redondants en actionnement ou non. Nous proposons d’étudier cette influence en nous basant sur un développement au premier ordre du modèle dynamique. Cette linéarisation du modèle dynamique se veut plus complète que celles proposées dans la littérature. Nous expliquons et vérifions la validité de notre approche par une étude sur le lien entre accélération et vitesse et la fréquence d’oscillation pour les robots série PR (pendule sur glissière verticale) et RR (double pendule en rotation horizontale). Ensuite, nous généralisons notre modélisation au premier ordre et l’appliquons aux quatre robots PRR-2 PRR-3, PRR-4 et Dual-V pour voir si nous sommes capable d’en dégager une tendance concernant l’évolution des fréquences d’oscillation. Nous constatons que, en fonction des trajectoires, la dynamique a une influence faible mais visible, souvent positive sur l’augmentation des fréquences d’oscillation de la plateforme mobile. Cependant, les trajectoires et les lois horaires étant imposées, nous ne pouvons que subir cette influence. / The research work of this thesis manuscript focus on the analysis of the frequency of robots’ vibrations. Our applications mainly revolve around architectures with parallel kinematics. First we examined parallel robots which are redundant in actuation and for which we are considering an increase of their oscillations’ frequency using the internal forces inherent to this type of structure. The aim is to use their actuation is the tensioning of their structure, and consequently, by analogy with a vibrating-wire, to enhance theiroscillation frequency. We have studied several redundancy planar robots and we demonstrate that in the case of robots which are typically designed to be stiff, the impact of added internal forces is of low relevance. The continuation of our research supports the following proposal: “High dynamics trajectories have an impact on the oscillation frequency of the mobile platform.” Indeed parallel robots, when designed to be light, can reach greater accelerations. We chose to concentrate on the study of the impact that dynamic effects canhave on the oscillation frequency of those robots’ mobile platform. The robots examined for our developments are planar parallel robots whether they have redundant actuation or not. We offer to study this impact based on a prime order development of the dynamic model. This linearisation of the dynamic model is intended to be more complete than those suggested by literature. We explain and verify the validity of our approach with a study on the link between speed and oscillation frequency on PR robots (pendulum on a vertical sliding guide) and RR robots ( double pendulum rotating horizontally). Then we will generalize our first order model and apply it to the four robots ( PRR-2 PRR-3, PRR-4, and Dual-V) to see if we are able to identify a pattern regarding the evolution ofoscillation frequencies. We observe that, depending on the trajectories, the dynamics have a low but noticeable, and often positive, impact on the increase of oscillation frequency of the mobile platform. However, since the trajectories and speed input laws are imposed, we have no choice but to be subjected to this impact.

A presente tese embasa-se na concepção de que a obtenção e a manutenção da estabilidade de preços na economia brasileira dependem não apenas da adoção de medidas pontuais de curto prazo, como também da contemplação da inflação, ao lado do crescimento econômico, como objetivos correlacionados no contexto de um projeto de desenvolvimento atinente a um horizonte ampliado de tempo. Em termos de políticas conjunturais de controles de preços, evidencia-se que, dado a inflação brasileira não consubstanciar-se em um fenômeno precipuamente de demanda, outras medidas, que não a mera elevação da taxa básica de juros, revelam-se necessárias; ademais, clarifica-se que aumentos nos juros, por seus significativos impactos contracionistas sobre a atividade econômica, comprometem a própria estabilidade futura de preços, consistindo, portanto, em uma conduta anti-inflacionária deveras ineficiente. No que tange ao longo prazo, argumenta-se que a inflação brasileira apresenta especificidades que a tornam variável dependente do processo de desenvolvimento econômico, social e institucional do País. Em assim sendo, entende-se que a dinâmica inflacionária brasileira vincula-se significativamente ao comportamento de determinados atributos intrínsecos ao setor produtivo nacional. Evidências empíricas obtidas neste trabalho a partir da estimação de um modelo SVAR concernente ao período que se segue a dezembro de 2009 mostram a existência de uma relação negativa entre inflação e produtividade na indústria de transformação, revelando-se tal relação, entretanto, inelástica, o que esclarece que o empresariado brasileiro tende a converter a maior parte dos ganhos de produtividade em expansões de mark-up, em vez de repassá-los primordialmente aos preços. Assim, constata-se que os problemas inflacionários enfrentados pela economia brasileira se mostram deveras complexos, e que sua resolução não depende apenas de vontade política. Desse modo, salta aos olhos a ineficiência do simplismo inerente ao Regime de Metas de Inflação no que tange à persecução da estabilidade de preços no Brasil. / The present thesis is based on the idea that obtaining and maintaining price stability in the Brazilian economy depends not only on the adoption of short-term measures, but also on the contemplation of inflation, alongside economic growth, as correlated objectives in the context of a development project related to an extended horizon of time. In terms of the cyclical policies of price control, it is evident that, given that Brazilian inflation is not mainly consubstantiated in a demand phenomenon, alternative measures, other than the mere increase of the benchmark interest rate, are necessary; in addition, it is clarified that increases in interest rates, due to their significant contractionary impacts on economic activity, jeopardize the future price stability, thus constituting an inefficient anti-inflationary behavior. With regard to the long-term, it is argued that Brazilian inflation shows specificities that make it a variable dependent of the economic, social and institutional development process of the Country. Accordingly, it is understood that the Brazilian inflationary dynamics is significantly linked to behavior of certain attributes intrinsic to the national productive sector. Empirical evidence obtained in this work from the estimation of a SVAR model concerning to the period after December 2009 shows the existence of a negative relationship between inflation and productivity in the manufacturing industry, revealing this relationship, however, inelastic, what clarifies that Brazilian businessmen tend to convert most of their productivity gains into mark-up expansions, instead of passing them along primarily to prices. So, it can be seen that the inflationary problems faced by the Brazilian economy are very complex, and that their resolution depends not only on political will. Therefore, the inefficiency of the simplicity inherent to the Inflation Targeting Regime in relation to the pursuit of price stability in Brazil is quite clear.

The purpose of this study, is to investigate the dynamics of reforms (i.e. why and how) in the delivery of public services and management controls in an Irish local authority, paying particular attention to the role of a newly appointed CEO and austerity measures. The case study method is adopted. Several complementary socio-political theoretical lenses are adopted to give greater emphasis to agency and structure including concepts such as institutional entrepreneurship, institutional contradictions, institutional change, organisational change and power. Such theoretical pluralism illuminates the complex nature of public service reforms in an Irish local authority, as it sought to realise services efficiency targets in times of austerity. This study makes important contributions to research on public service deliveries and management controls. As far as its author is aware, this study is the first of its kind to detail the unfolding journey of reform in the delivery of services and management controls in an Irish local authority that faced the significant challenges of austerity. Hence, for this reason alone the research contributes significantly towards the development of new knowledge in this important area. Furthermore, an in-depth process-oriented account of a purposeful institutional entrepreneur, utilising management accounting information, power and communication, in reforming the delivery of public services and management controls, is provided. Also revealed is how external factors, such as the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent central government funding cuts, enabled rather than constrained, institutional entrepreneurship. In addition, the case findings informed, how in conditions of austerity, the fundamentals of budgetary control became easier to enforce.

This dissertation argues for the adoption of a new interpretative standard that urges the WTO adjudicator to explicitly take account of the economic heterogeneity of the WTO Membership when construing exemption provisions in the GATT 1994. In particular, the judicial decision maker should construe and interpret exemption provisions using the embedded standard of review, such that the Member States’ economic conditions enlighten the contextual interpretation of the language of the provision. This multilateral standard of review compels the adjudicator to accord conditional deference to developmental policies, as applied by a Member State in expression of its preferred economic strategy to expand the trade and production of goods and services. This dissertation examines the history of the standard of review in the GATT 1947 and GATT 1994 in order to critically examine its application to the construction and interpretation of the exemption provision of Article XI:2(a) GATT 1994. The proposed multilateral standard of review overcomes the post-modern critique of judicial practice by emphasizing the collaborative intent of the Membership, as revealed through the adjudicator’s understanding of the object and purpose of the agreement.