In April 2008, the Ontario government announced its top two healthcare priorities for the next 4 years, one of which is reducing wait time in emergency rooms. To study the wait time in emergency rooms or any other departments in a hospital, one must investigate resource planning, scheduling, and utilization within the hospital. This thesis provides hospitals with a set of simulation and optimization tools to help identify areas of improvement, particularly when there are a number of alternatives under consideration. A simulation tool (a Monte Carlo simulation model) estimates patient demand for beds in a hospital during a typical week. Two optimization tools (an integer programming mathematical model and a heuristics model) demonstrate opportunities for smoothing the patient demand for beds by adjusting the operating room schedule.

Ankara has experienced a radical transformation after 1950s, in which the identity of the highly planned capital has been erased, emphasizing homogenization, blankness and similarity. The Apartment Block was the object of this condition and the subject of the transformation in the urban identity, both with its physical existence and with the mind-set it has radiated to the whole levels of the society. It has stripped out the identity of the city with its &quot / endless reproduction.&quot / This transformation has led the Apartment Block to be accused of transforming Turkish cities to deformed agglomerations, deprived of aesthetics. In this sense, architectural discipline has been criticized for its impotence to respond the economical, social and cultural conditions that traverse the urban setting. This criticism has questioned the generative role of architecture in the Early Republican period as a social engineering and discouraged any relation between architecture and the city, which has manifested the reduction of the architecture to a formal discipline. Ankara, with its dazzling transformation within few decades proposed its own urbanism and its own architecture, with the mutation of the Apartment Block first to a resilient frame than to a multi-programmed infrastructure. This study will consider this transformation as &amp / #8216 / another&amp / #8217 / manifestation of a new kind of urbanism that was mainly declared by Rem Koolhaas and OMA, claming that the resilient and neutral objects are the dominant and extensive forms of the contemporary urbanism. Hence, the study presents a cross reading of the urban development of Ankara together with Rem Koolhaas&amp / #8217 / book Delirious New York and his essay The Generic City in SMLXL. The utmost goal is to explore a possible &quot / reciprocal relation&quot / between architecture and the city and to explore the limits of architectural intervention in the particular case of Ankara. Such an objective inevitably requires extending the limits of architectural thinking to the city scale. Thus, Ankara goes beyond a case study in an inquiry that aims to undertand the mechanisms of the building production in the contemporary urbanism.

The High Level Architecture (HLA), IEEE Std. 1516-2000, provides a general framework for distributed modeling and simulation applications, called federations. HLA focuses on interconnection of interacting simulations, called federates, with special emphasis on reusability and interoperability. An HLA object model, be it a simulation object model (SOM), a federation object model (FOM) or the management object model (MOM), describes the data exchanged during federation execution. This thesis introduces a metamodel for the HLA Object Model, fully accounting for IEEE Std. 1516.2. The metamodel is constructed with GME (Generic Modeling Environment), a meta-programmable tool for domain-specific modeling, developed at Vanderbilt University. GME generates a design environment for HLA object models having the HLA OM metamodel as input. This work can be regarded as a step for bringing model-integrated computing to bear on HLA-based distributed simulation.

The fact that we have entered turbulent times has been a central theme in the recent strategy literature. Turbulent environments are commonly described by increased competitive intensity, disruptive changes in the industry structure, volatility of demand, and unpredictability of customer behaviour, alongside instability of economic, social and political factors. In such a context, the adoption of traditional approaches to strategy, which assumes a relatively stable world, have been questioned by new approaches. Mixed strategy, which emerged as a contingency option to Porter's generic strategies model, defends that in a turbulent environment the simultaneous pursuit of the low-cost and differentiation approaches is fundamental for the short-term performance and long-term survival of the firm. A vast corpus of literature supports the benefits of adopting a mixed approach strategy: several empirical studies have proved that a combination of low-cost and differentiation strategic elements establishes a firm's performance superiority over the pure strategy choice. The mixed literature has concentrated on the performance linkage and on the debate countering the pure strategy approach, however very little attention has been paid to the challenges presented by the mixed strategy implementation. In fact, despite the rich empirical literature, it is still not clear how firms that adopt a mixed strategy may successfully integrate the inherent contradiction of the low-cost and differentiation approaches. The aim of this study is to investigate how a firm has been implementing the mixed strategy approach, unveiling its managerial characteristics and to generate a proposed managerial framework that could serve as a guide for further implementation. This study approaches the subject of mixed strategy implementation on three levels: environment, strategy definition and making process, and value chain activity. After having elucidated several ambiguities related to the concept of mixed strategy present in the literature and having proposed a normalized definition, this study investigates through a unique case study approach, an in-depth explorative process using causal process methods the managerial implication of the mixed strategy. Several characteristics are revealed from the unique case study and represent a major contribution to the field of strategy management. Furthermore, a managerial framework is proposed which could serve as support in the implementation of a mixed strategy.

p. 1-104 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-03-06T20:06:34Z No. of bitstreams: 1 wwww14.pdf: 1450489 bytes, checksum: ae0e213bd3a56fc00ceab3623f52cb06 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Tatiana Lima(tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2013-03-14T18:32:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 wwww14.pdf: 1450489 bytes, checksum: ae0e213bd3a56fc00ceab3623f52cb06 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-03-14T18:32:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 wwww14.pdf: 1450489 bytes, checksum: ae0e213bd3a56fc00ceab3623f52cb06 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / A preocupação em encontrar alternativas que reduzissem os custos de saúde pública e que, ao mesmo tempo, favorecessem o acesso da população em geral à medicamentos levaram – dentre outros fatores – o Governo Brasileiro a adotar uma política de medicamentos genéricos, institucionalizada oficialmente em 1999 através da Lei 9.787. O Governo, ao lançar os genéricos, apoiou esta categoria sob duas bases: medicamento de qualidade garantida e preço baixo. Mas, se por um lado, o argumento de “preço baixo” funciona como um trunfo comercial para os medicamentos genéricos, por outro, a ausência de uma marca de produto pode dificultar a relação de confiança do consumidor acerca do produto. Portando, a “qualidade” só seria observada pelo consumidor em um processo de composição de representações sociais positivas. O processo de composição de representações sociais positivas para um produto é processo fundamental para a sua aceitação social e sucesso, principalmente no caso de medicamentos cujo efeito é ligado diretamente à saúde humana. Com base nisso, o objetivo deste trabalho é verificar quais as representações sociais elaboradas pelos consumidores da cidade do Salvador sobre os medicamentos genéricos, com a finalidade de ajudar a compreender como elas orientam o comportamento do consumidor local no processo de aquisição deste novo produto. / Salvador

Cette thèse étudie le fonctionnement des déterminations définie et indéfinie au sein des syntagmes nominaux génériques en anglais contemporain à partir d’un corpus essentiellement composé de textes encyclopédiques et scientifiques. La catégorisation générique peut relever de processus cognitifs et de niveaux d’abstraction distincts signifiés par les déterminations définie et indéfinie. La première partie décrit successivement le cadre référentiel de cette étude, la formalisation morphosyntaxique de la généricité nominale, la spécification dont sont porteurs les articles définis et indéfinis, ainsi que les contraintes déterminatives liées à la classe lexico-grammaticale des substantifs et au contexte prédicatif. La deuxième partie étudie les possibilités et impossibilités déterminatives au regard des contextes prédicatifs lorsque le syntagme nominal est associé à un prédicat d’espèce. Nous considérons plus spécifiquement l’interaction entre la classification des espèces, le nombre singulier ou pluriel et la détermination définie ou indéfinie en nous intéressant aux espèces conçues dans leur pluralité interne. La troisième partie examine le fonctionnement de l’article défini comme opérateur d’abstraction. L’étude des spécialisations de the montre qu’il est lié à une visée référentielle externalisante et synthétique. La quatrième partie traite du fonctionnement des syntagmes nominaux génériques définis et indéfinis au sein des textes génériques eu égard à la structuration du discours. L’article défini sous-tend une dimension anaphorique au générique également, et reste la marque de la saillance cognitive du référent. / This dissertation deals with the use of definite and indefinite determiners in generic noun phrases in contemporary English, using a corpus based on encyclopedic and scientific texts mainly. The categorization which genericity is based on results from various cognitive processes and levels of abstraction which are signified in the use of definite and indefinite determiners. The first part successively describes the referential framework of our study, the morphosyntactical forms of generic noun phrases, the values of definite and indefinite articles, as well as the pattern of constraints on definite and indefinite articles established by the lexico-grammatical features of nouns and the predicative context. The second part examines determiner possibilities and impossibilities with regard to the predicative context when a generic noun phrase is combined with a kind-predicate. More specifically, we correlate species classification, singular/plural number marking and definite/indefinite determination as we examine the plural structure of generic referents. The third part studies the use of the definite article as an abstraction operator. As we consider cases in which the use of definite noun phrases is favored, we show that its reference involves an externalizing and synthetic dimension. The fourth part deals with the way generic definite and indefinite noun phrases combine in generic texts with regard to the discourse structure. The use of the definite article presupposes an anaphoric dimension in generic reference also and indicates that the referent is salient in a cognitive perspective.

In the educational model of the University of Concepcion, Chile, affective domain is developed during the third and fourth year of studies. This research presents theexperience of Biology career. In it, the strategy of reflexion is used to develop the affective domain of generic competencies with 13 students. Results show that there is a change in the way that students conceive generic competencies, from being a tool for good performance to be a fundamental part of professional training. / La dimensión afectiva de las competencias genéricas (CCGG), es fundamental para formar profesionales integrales. En el modelo educativo de la Universidad de Concepción de Chile, la dimensión afectiva se desarrolla en tercer y cuarto año de carrera. En esta investigación se presenta la experiencia de la carrera de biología. En ella se utiliza la estrategia de reflexión con trece estudiantes para desarrollar la dimensión afectiva de las competencias genéricas. Los resultados muestran que hay un cambio en la forma en que las conciben, pasando de ser una herramienta para el buen desempeño a ser parte fundamental de la formación profesional. / A dimensão afetiva das competências genéricas (CCGG) é fundamental para formar profissionais integrantes. No modelo educacional da Universidade de Concepção no Chile, a dimensão afetiva é desenvolvida no terceiro e quarto ano de carreira. Esta pesquisa apresenta a experiência da carreira de biologia. Utiliza a estratégia de reflexão com 13 alunos para desenvolver a dimensão afetiva das competênciasgenéricas. Os resultados mostram que há uma mudança na forma como são concebidos, passando de ser uma ferramenta para um bom desempenho, sendo uma parte fundamental do treinamento vocacional.

Estudaremos as singularidades genéricas de superfécies regradas em R3. O objetivo do trabalho é mostrar que as singularidades genéricas que ocorrem no conjunto das superfícies regradas são as mesmas que ocorrem no conjunto das aplicações diferenciáveis de R2 em R3, enquanto que as singularidades genéricas das superfícies desenvolvíveis, que formam um subconjunto das superfícies regradas, são mais degeneradas. / We study generic singularities of ruled surfaces in R3. In this work we show that generic singularities appearing in the set of ruled surfaces are the same that occur in the set of map germs from R2 to R3, while the generic singularities of developable surfaces are more degenerate.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-04-28T13:12:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 wendellguiduccideoliveira.pdf: 826507 bytes, checksum: f1cb2009dfac9af33bc641b85e44c587 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-05-02T01:07:44Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 wendellguiduccideoliveira.pdf: 826507 bytes, checksum: f1cb2009dfac9af33bc641b85e44c587 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-05-02T01:08:01Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 wendellguiduccideoliveira.pdf: 826507 bytes, checksum: f1cb2009dfac9af33bc641b85e44c587 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-02T01:08:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 wendellguiduccideoliveira.pdf: 826507 bytes, checksum: f1cb2009dfac9af33bc641b85e44c587 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-16 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Consolidada na América Espanhola desde a década de 1970, somente na virada do século XXI a minificção chegou à sua maturidade no Brasil. Ainda são tímidos, no país, os estudos sobre este gênero ficcional marcado pela brevidade, pela intensidade expressiva, pela narratividade e pelo hibridismo genérico, características que abundam nos livros de minicontos de Dalton Trevisan, Marina Colasanti e Fernando Bonassi, entre outros. Paradoxal em sua forma e conteúdo, os microrrelatos dialogam frequentemente com outros gêneros literários e extraliterários, colhendo referências variadas e replantando-as no fértil solo da interdisciplinaridade, de onde vicejam como outra expressão artística. Espécie de antivanguarda, a minificção recorre à tradição para então subvertê-la e superá-la, demolindo neste movimento os muros que segregam e categorizam gêneros e saberes. Ao minicontista cabe o desafio de compor histórias que, sendo simultaneamente conto e grafite, fotografia e poema, cinema e haikai, manchete e aforismo, não deixem de ser, na febre da transgressão, aquilo que se propõem de início: ficção de mínimas proporções e máximo efeito. / Consolidated in Spanish America since the 1970s, minifiction only reached its maturity in Brazil at the turn of the twenty-first century. In the country, there are still scarce studies of this fictional genre marked by brevity, expressive intensity, narrativity and generic hybridity, features that abound in microtales books by Dalton Trevisan, Marina Colasanti and Fernando Bonassi, among others. Paradoxical in its form and content, microfiction often dialogues with other literary and extraliterary genres, collecting various references and replanting them in the fertile soil of interdisciplinarity, from where they thrive as another artistic expression. As a kind of "anti-avant-garde", minifiction appeals to tradition and then subverts it and overcomes it, demolishing in this movement the walls that segregate and categorize genres and knowledge. The challenge of microfiction author is to write stories that are simultaneously tale and graffiti, photography and poem, film and haikai, headline and aphorism, without ever forgetting to be, in the fever of transgression, what they first propose to be: fictions of minimum proportions and maximum effect.

Medicines play a pivotal role in the process of human development as their rational utilization can decrease morbidity and mortality as well as improve quality of life (Jamshed, Hassali, Ibrahim, Shafie, & Babar, 2010). Access to therapeutic drugs form an integral part of any successful healthcare system. The high cost of medicines, is a barrier to accessibility and improved health to the majority of the South African population (Bangalee, 2015). In developing countries with limited healthcare budgets, such as South Africa, generic drugs (medicines) can be a cost-saving treatment alternative, resulting in medical expenditure being reduced and access to scarce resources increased (Van der Westhuizen, Burger, Lubbe, Serfontein, 2010). There is very little knowledge on perception and attitude of South African citizens with regard to use of generic drugs (Bangalee, 2015). Consumer perception can have a large impact on the choice of medicines or drugs chosen. The study intended to find out what the current consumer beliefs, attitudes, behaviours and knowledge of generic drugs are. There was also intent to establish if lack of awareness or misconception about generic drugs influence consumer choice. The study consists of a literature review of the definition of generic drugs and original or branded drugs, their influence in the public and private health sector, factors that influence consumer behaviour, brand effect, brand trust, brand loyalty, and most importantly the South Africa acceptance of generic drugs. Primary data was collected, reported and analysed through the use of a questionnaire to determine the current consumers’ belief, attitude, behaviour and knowledge of generic drugs. The study results reveal that scepticism does exists, yet there was clear acceptance, but still lack of confidence in generic drugs. Consumer education and information is the key to increased generic drug acceptance.