Durante la última década, el sector del automóvil ha estado sumergido en un profundo estado de transición y reestructuración de la geográfica de la producción mundial. Países y regiones que históricamente ostentaban el liderazgo mundial de la producción de vehículos, como Estados Unidos, Alemania o Japón, han visto como el nacimiento de una nueva generación de países emergentes, ha desplazado el centro de gravedad del sector hacia aquellas nuevas áreas donde el crecimiento económico, economías de las familias y consumo interno han desembocado en una vorágine consumista de lo que hasta la fecha se consideraba como un artículo de lujo, sólo accesible a una clase media-alta en los países desarrollados, el automóvil. El incremento de las ventas de automóviles y previsiones futuras, ha llevado a los fabricantes a producir allí donde se vende con un objetivo de maximizar la competitividad de sus productos en un mercado en el que apenas y duramente, cabe la entrada de nuevos competidores. Un nuevo término aparece entonces en la planificación y estrategia interna de los fabricantes: localización. ¿Es el camino para crecer?, ¿es el camino para sostener la viabilidad de nuestra empresa a largo plazo?, o ¿es simplemente el camino a seguir adelante evitando ser expulsados por nuestra competencia en un mercado globalizado? A lo largo de nuestra tesis, se han ido desgranando por un lado los motivos que llevan a aquellos países emergentes a mostrar un atractivo mundial para la recepción de capacidad productiva de los fabricantes de automóviles, y por el otro a identificar cuales son los factores que determinan y moderan la estrategia y decisión de localización de las empresas del sector. Nuestra tesis, es el resultado de un proceso de investigación descriptivo y empírico y que tiene su fundamento en un Estado del Arte que iniciaba su construcción con Cantillon (1755), a mediados del siglo XVIII y el que todavía se continúa construyendo gracias a las aportaciones de un gran número de eruditos y profesionales. Entre ellos, cabe destacar el Premio Nóbel de Economía concedido en 2008 a Paul Krugman por sus trabajos sobre comercio internacional que le llevaron a diseñar una ¿Nueva Geografía Económica¿ y una ¿Nueva Teoría del Comercio¿, aspectos que adquieren gran relevancia en lo que a nuestra investigación se refiere. La tesis que se expone a continuación, supondrá una minúscula, pero singular contribución al Estado del Arte y al sector del automóvil en particular. Las aportaciones y hallazgos que se han ido dejando a lo largo de estos 4 años de investigación responderán a las cuestiones que nos planteamos al inicio de nuestro proceso, y que básicamente giran alrededor de la identificación y evaluación de los factores críticos de localización de capacidad productiva del sector, o migración de la fabricación hacia nuevos y mas atractivos destinos para los fabricantes de automóviles La construcción y dinámica de la nueva geografía de la producción de vehículos; el análisis del paralelismo existente entre los ciclos económicos y el sector del automóvil para cada país; la propuesta de un ¿ciclo evolutivo de localización mundial del sector¿; la construcción de un modelo basado en 10 factores sintéticos secundarios de localización y la reducción a un modelo factorial basados en 3 factores primarios correlacionados con los colectivos grupos de referencia de nuestra investigación (OEM, Tier1, Tier2), conforman las principales contribuciones, que permiten a esta tesis aportar un grano de arena en la construcción de un estado del arte en pleno proceso de evolución. La tesis finalizará con la propuesta de una nueva línea de investigación centrada en el desarrollo del ciclo evolutivo del sector del automóvil y su impacto en las estrategias y decisiones de localización futuras y, por consiguiente, en el nuevo mapa geográfico de la producción mundial de vehículos. / Ferrari Solis, A. (2014). Determinación de los factores críticos y moderadores de los procesos de localización industrial en el sector del automóvil y su impacto en la geografía mundial de la producción de vehículos [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/38613

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

基因改造食品一方面是複雜的基因科技產物，另一方面牽涉環境與健康危害的議題，是風險社會下即具代表性的例子。在各方論述的競逐下，媒體如何報導這些新聞卻鮮少有研究關注。本研究旨在探討媒體如何再現基因改造食品新聞？歷年來的報導呈現何種趨勢？與某些特殊事件有關？以哪些形式與議題為最多？凸顯了哪些人的觀點？媒體使用了哪些框架來再現基改食品的樣貌？其中又與哪些在地文化產生互動？ 為解答上述問題，本研究採取量化內容分析與質量化兼具的框架分析兩部分，分析1994年1月起至2006年12月底為止，《聯合報》與《中國時報》的基因改造食品新聞。 在量化內容分析部份發現，基因改造食品新聞以「純淨新聞」寫作為最多，最常出現在「社會／生活」版面，引用比例最高的消息來源為「科學領域專家」，最主要的新聞議題為「政策規範」。這部份的框架分析，研究發現以屬於「進步包裹」的新聞為最多，在各框架包裹所細分的小框架中，採「科學萬能」框架論述的新聞又佔有最高比例。 本研究也依新聞數量變化，將基因改造食品議題的發展分為三個時期：1999年之前的「醞釀期」、2000至2003年「高峰期」與2004年之後的「平穩期」。醞釀期的報導大多將基因改造產品視為科學新產物，有許多來自外電或編譯稿。高峰期開始出現一連串的消費者運動，焦點轉為關注政策制定與食品安全。後來的議題平緩期，出現在地方版的新聞數量超過社會／生活版面，意謂著基改議題逐漸在地化發展，新聞重點在政策的執行面。此外，隨著時期演進，採取「危害包裹」與「關切包裹」論述的新聞也有逐漸增加趨勢，顯示管理議題愈受重視。 在質化框架論述分析部份，本研究發現採用「進步包裹」論述的新聞，抱持基改食品是改善現狀、帶來美好的立場；其中再細分出來的「科學萬能」與「經濟掛帥」框架，多用科學、經濟術語或研究報告、數據來加以佐證，呈現出基改食品在科學與經濟上對人類的貢獻。這兩大框架強烈暗示科技與經濟至上，論述中幾無描繪任何發展時可能的代價與風險，同時又佔據最多新聞數量，因而令其他相對的框架立場難以發聲、居於弱勢。 其次，歸類為「危害包裹」的報導，傾向基改食品具有風險、對人類有害。其中屬「健康疑慮」框架者，關注食品安全問題，論述者多為社運團體，亦引用科學報告為證據；但是他們最終對法規的呼籲，在媒體報導中無法成為關注焦點。被歸類為「天然最好」框架的報導，多為商業推廣新聞，藉由強調非基改食品優點來反面凸顯基改食品，有嚴重的新聞廣告化問題。在「產經毒藥」部分，此類新聞以事件導向為主，描繪有關本地基改作物影響出口經濟的案例，但新聞數稀少，難以喚起重視。風險最大的「禍延子孫」框架，其立場認為基改技術將帶來人類浩劫，但台灣並非基改主要生產國，容易有置身事外之感，加上強大風險的關注本身尚未被科學認可，也很難在地生根。 屬於「關切包裹」的新聞，與法規政策演進有關，其中區分的「妥善管理」論述，對政策有嚴格要求；「有管就好」框架的新聞，則流露出管理的散漫。在此包裹中，呈現出台灣官方面臨美國貿易壓力下，對高科技風險產品的處置，然而台灣並非每次都能嚴守立場，在本地自主與強國干涉間取得平衡；而媒體報導不僅透露出這個問題，也暴露媒體本身並沒有做好捍衛民眾知情權與加強風險意識的責任。 本研究希望能加強後續對風險事物的研究與重視，也建議媒體對任何科學研究，應抱持懷疑態度，不宜過分誇大、宣揚其預期貢獻或獲利。媒體工作者應時常關注國內外的重大科學發現，深化本身背景知識，在報導議題時才能有深入的理解，以善盡加強大眾風險意識之責。政府面對風險事物，不只要盡快制定相關規範，也必須與民眾做良好溝通，加強他們的風險意識與知識。

Ultra wide band (UWB) is an extremely promising wireless technology for researchers and industrials. One of the most interesting is its high data rate and fading robustness due to selective frequency fading. However, beside such advantages, UWB system performance is highly affected by existing narrowband interference (NBI), undesired UWB signals and tone/multi-tone noises. For this reason, research about NBI cancellation is still a challenge to improve the system performance vs. receiver complexity, power consumption, linearity, etc. In this work, the two major receiver sections, i.e., analog (radiofrequency or RF) and digital (digital signal processing or DSP), were considered and new techniques proposed to reduce circuit complexity and power consumption, while improving signal parameters. In the RF section, different multiband UWB low-noise amplifier key design parameters were investigated like circuit configuration, input matching and desired/undesired frequency band filtering, highlighting the most suitable filtering package for efficient UWB NBI cancellation. In the DSP section, due to pulse transmitter signals, different issues like modulation type and level, pulse variety, shape and color noise/tone noise assumptions, were addressed for efficient NBI cancelation. A comparison was performed in terms of bit-error rate, signal-to-interference ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, and channel capacity to highlight the most suitable parameters for efficient DSP design. The optimum number of filters that allows the filter bandwidth to be reduced by following the required low sampling rate and thus improving the system bit error rate was also investigated.

The Pulse Couple Neural Network (PCNN) was developed by Eckhorn to model the observed synchronization of neural assemblies in the visual cortex of small mammals such as a cat. In this dissertation, three novel PCNN based automatic segmentation algorithms were developed to segment Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data: (a) PCNN image 'signature' based single region cropping; (b) PCNN - Kittler Illingworth minimum error thresholding and (c) PCNN -Gaussian Mixture Model - Expectation Maximization (GMM-EM) based multiple material segmentation. Among other control tests, the proposed algorithms were tested on three T2 weighted acquisition configurations comprising a total of 42 rat brain volumes, 20 T1 weighted MR human brain volumes from Harvard's Internet Brain Segmentation Repository and 5 human MR breast volumes. The results were compared against manually segmented gold standards, Brain Extraction Tool (BET) V2.1 results, published results and single threshold methods. The Jaccard similarity index was used for numerical evaluation of the proposed algorithms. Our quantitative results demonstrate conclusively that PCNN based multiple material segmentation strategies can approach a human eye's intensity delineation capability in grayscale image segmentation tasks.

Este trabalho descreve o projeto de um modulador Analógico-Digital (A/D) Sigma-Delta de 16 bits (98 dB de SNR) de baixo consumo em tecnologia CMOS para a aquisição de sinais de áudio. Para projetar o modulador foi utilizada a metodologia top down, a qual consiste em projetar desde o nível de sistema até os blocos básicos em nível de transistores. O sistema foi analizado e projetado utilizando equacões e modelos comportamentais para obter as especificações de cada bloco do modulador. Considerando um baixo consumo de potência foi escolhida a topologia CIFF (do inglês Chain of Integrator with FeedForward) de terceira ordem e quatro bits implementado com capacitores chaveados. O modulador projetado é composto por três integradores chaveados, um somador analógico, um weigthed DAC e um quantizador de quatro bits. A técnica de Chopper é incluida no modulador para diminuir o ruído Flicker na entrada do modulador. Os blocos de maior consumo dentro do modulador são as OTAs. Por esta razão eles são projetados utilizando a metodologia gm/ID reduzindo assim o consumo de potência. O projeto foi realizado na tecnologia IBM 0,18 \'mü\'m sendo utilizado o simulador spectre do Cadence. O modulador Sigma-Delta atinge um SNR de 98 dB para uma banda de 20 kHz e um consumo de potência de 2,4 mW para uma fonte de alimentação de 1,8 V. / This work describes the design of a 16 bits low power Sigma-Delta modulator (98 dB SNR) in a CMOS technology for the acquisition of audio signals. To design the modulator it was used the top-down methodology, which consists on the design from system level to the transistor-level basic blocks. The system was analyzed and designed using behavioral models and equations to obtain the specifications of each block of the modulator. Considering a low power consumption it was chosen a third-order four bits CIFF topology (Chain Integrator with feedforward) implemented with switched capacitors. The modulator is composed by three integrators, one analog adder, one weigthed DAC and one four bit quantizer. The Chopper technique is included in the modulator to reduce the Flicker noise at the input of the modulator. The blocks of higher consumption within the modulator are the OTAs. Hence, they was designed using the methodology gm/ID to reduce power consumption. It was designed on the 0.18 \'mü\'m IBM technology and using the Cadence Spectre simulator. The Sigma-Delta modulator achieves a SNR of 98 dB for a bandwidth of 20 kHz and a power consumption of 2.4 mW with a 1.8 V power supply.

A presente Dissertação conta uma breve história acerca do cotidiano de um programa de formação contínua de professores municipais, na periferia da Grande Porto Alegre, que iniciaram a lecionar no SEJA –Serviço de Educação de Jovens e Adultos- proposta político-pedagógica de Ensino Fundamental Regular de Jovens e Adultos. O pesquisador, aceito como partícipe reflexivo pelo grupo de professores de uma escola, desenvolveu uma modalidade de Pesquisa-Ação buscando contribuir na identificação e solução das situações-problemáticas que surgiram ao longo do referido programa de formação. A dissertação teoriza alguns saberes emergentes e vivenciados na pes-quisa-em-campo : concepção de currículo, prática docente e política de forma-ção contínua de professores para o Ensino Fundamental Regular de Jovens e Adultos; bem como, concepção de pesquisa educacional na escola. Durante a pesquisa-em-campo, o pesquisador-em-ação assumiu um po-sicionamento político de “parceria crítica” com o grupo de professores frente aos conflitos políticos surgidos nas relações destes com a respectiva Secretaria de Educação, gerando , por sua vez, outros conflitos devidamente discutidos no texto. Em função desses conflitos e demais circunstâncias a pesquisa sofreu alterações no seu objeto inicial de estudo, bem como nos respectivos procedi-mentos específicos, seguindo, portanto, a flexibilidade metodológica inerente à Pesquisa-Ação. São propostos princípios político-pedagógicos para as políticas públicas de formação contínua de professores para o Ensino Fundamental Regular de Jovens e Adultos. No relato reflexivo dessa caminhada o pesquisador encontrou seu pró-prio processo de aprendizagem, suas lacunas e limites de formação – vivência aproveitada em sua prática docente acadêmica.

Allergic asthma is an immunological disease, mediated by CD4+ Th2 cells, and its prevalence has increased over recent decades. Features of allergic asthma include airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), airway eosinophilia, excessive airway mucus production, and increased IgE and Th2 cytokine levels. Airway remodeling with pulmonary fibrosis is noted in the progress of asthma. In this thesis, a murine model of allergic asthma was used to investigate the effect of cyclophosphamide (CY) on asthma and the involvement of regulatory T cells (Treg), and the role of Granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating-factor (GM-CSF) in allergic asthma by using GM-CSF knockout mice. CY is a cytotoxic agent, which paradoxically augments several immune responses. The first part of this thesis was aimed to study the effects of CY in a murine model of allergic airway inflammation. BALB/c mice were immunized with ovalbumin (OVA) on days 0 and 14, and challenged with aerosolized OVA from days 21 to 27. Some mice additionally received CY on days -2 and 12. In the CY-treated animals, pronounced worsening of inflammatory features was noted, including increases in eosinophil infiltration, epithelial thickness, mucus occlusion and eosinophil numbers in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Increased total and OVA-specific serum IgE were also noted in the CY-treated animals. In cell cultures from peritracheal lymph nodes, the Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-5 were elevated in animals treated with CY. It was hypothesized that the effects of CY could be caused by reduced immunosuppression mediated by Treg. mRNA expression of the immunosuppressive cytokines IL-10 and TGF-beta was reduced in the lungs of CY-treated mice. The expression of FoxP3, a marker of naturally occurring Treg, was significantly reduced in spleens, thymuses and peritracheal lymph nodes after the second injection of CY, and in the lung tissue after allergen challenge in CY-treated mice. Furthermore, lung IL-10-producing CD4+ T cells and CTLA-4+-bearing CD4+ T cells were reduced after allergen aerosol challenge in CY-treated mice. Thus CY worsened the features of allergic pulmonary inflammation in this model, in association with increased production of IgE and Th2 cytokines. The reduction in expression of FoxP3 and immunosuppressive cytokines by CY suggests that toxicity to Treg may contribute to the increased inflammation. GM-CSF plays a role in the growth, development, and maturation of bone marrow hemopoietic cells into mature blood cells, and has been proposed to be involved in potentiating the function of inflammatory cells in allergic inflammation. In the second part of this thesis, GM-CSF knockout (KO) mice were used to investigate the role of GM-CSF. In allergic KO mice, airway eosinophils were only shown in the perivascular, but not peribronchial areas in the lung, compared to the allergic wild-type (WT) mice in which eosinophil infiltration appeared in both areas. Eosinophil numbers were drastically reduced in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of KO mice. IL-5 production in the lung tissue and BALF in allergic KO mice was reduced; similar results were also found in peritracheal draining lymph nodes after in vitro stimulation assays. However, IL-4 and IL-13 production, airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), and serum IgE production were not affected in allergic KO mice. Surprisingly, lung IFN-gamma mRNA and BALF levels were increased in allergic KO mice. Lung mRNA levels of CCR3, a key chemokine receptor on eosinophils, were significantly reduced in allergic KO mice, whereas expression of the chemokines eotaxin and RANTES were at similar levels in allergic KO and WT mice. Lung mRNA levels of the IFN-gamma-inducible chemokines Mig (CXCL9) and IP-10 (CXCL10), which are antagonists of CCR3, and their receptor CXCR3 were increased in allergic KO mice, compared with allergic WT mice. Data obtained from flow cytometry showed more eosinophils survived in the lung of WT mice than KO mice. Another allergy model, a peritoneal allergy model was performed to investigate inflammation in a different model. Leukocyte subpopulations such as neutrophils, eosinophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes were reduced in the peritoneal lavage fluid of allergic KO mice. The findings revealed that GM-CSF is essential for IL-5 production, pulmonary airway eosinophilia and eosinophil survival. In the absence of GM-CSF, over-production of IFN-???? may induce chemokines, including Mig and IP-10, which are antagonists for CCR3 and may reduce airway eosinophil infiltration. In this thesis, a murine model of allergic asthma has been used to obtain novel findings on the regulation of allergic inflammation. The results with CY are relevant to the treatment of asthma patients with CY and other cytotoxic agents. The findings in the GM-CSF KO mice suggest that GM-CSF is a potential therapeutic target in asthma, and that in assessment of new therapeutic agents for asthma, effects on GM-CSF should be considered.

The cytokines GM-CSF, IL-3 and IL-5 are central regulators of haemopoietic cell functions and are pivotal in the regulation of haemopoiesis and inflammatory responses of myeloid cells. In particular, these cytokines have been shown to perform essential functions in host defence against foreign pathogens through their ability to regulate innate immune responses in myeloid cells. As key regulators of such important processes, these cytokines play an important role in human inflammatory pathologies such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis and psoriasis as well as a number of leukemias such as JML and CMML. GM-CSF, IL-3 and IL-5 signal through receptors containing α subunits specific to each cytokine and a common β subunit (βc). Cytokine stimulation leads to tyrosine phosphorylation of the βc and promotes specific responses such as proliferation, survival and activation of haemopoietic cells. Mouse knockout studies identified a key function of these cytokines in the activation of effector functions of myeloid cells, including production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and phagocytosis. These earlier studies provide a link between cytokine signalling and inflammation, but the molecular mechanisms by which βc activation regulates effector cell functions, and the receptor motifs involved, are unknown. The aim of this thesis was to address two broad questions with regard to βc signalling: (1) Does βc regulate specific cellular responses by phosphotyrosine-independent mechanisms? (2) What are the molecular mechanisms by which βc initiates signalling to promote specific biological responses such as activation of effector cell functions? To address the first question, we have focussed on Serine 585, a potential 14-3-3 binding site which lies in the cytoplasmic potion of huβc. Out results show that the mutation huβc S585G disrupted the interaction of 14-3-3ζ with βc, whilst not affecting receptor tyrosine phosphorylation. Both mouse and human βc were shown to interact with 14-3-3 proteins, indicating that this interaction is conserved between these species. Significantly, a huβc S585G mutant was unable to promote haemopoietic cell survival in response to IL-3. These results identify a new mechanism by which cytokine receptors are able to couple to downstream signalling pathways that regulate cell survival. An approach was developed and optimised to analyse specific GM-CSF-mediated responses in monocytes/macrophages expressing wildtype or mutant huβc, (including huβc S585G that was defective in regulating survival). Bone marrow-derived muβc -/-;muβIL-3 -/- monocytes/macrophages were retrovirally transduced with constructs expressing wildtype or mutant huβc, along with huGMRα, then purified by FACS. Two assays were established to measure effector functions in the transduced monocyte/macrophages; (1) a flow cytometry assay for ROS production, and (2) an assay for phagocytosis. The capacity for GM-CSF to prime (i.e. enhance effector functions) ROS production and phagocytosis was investigated in huGMRα-transduced monocytes/macrophages. Our results have identified two key residues in the cytoplasmic domain of βc subunit: Tyrosine 577 (required for huβc interaction with the adaptor protein Shc) and serine 585 (required for 14-3-3 association), that are essential for the ability of GM-CSF to regulate key effector functions in monocytes/macrophages. These novel findings are significant in that they establish a molecular link between the GM-CSF/IL-3/IL-5 receptor and the regulation of both haemopoietic cell survival and inflammatory responses, and therefore have important implications in our understanding of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1317007 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Medicine, 2008

Cette thèse, réalisée en coopération avec l'Onera, s'inscrit dans le domaine de la surveillance du champ de bataille. L'objectif des travaux est d'étudier et de développer une technique qui fusionne différentes sources d'informations, afin d'évaluer la situation tactique sur une large zone d'observation, ceci de manière semi-automatique en temps quasi-réel. Cette évaluation est réalisée en deux étapes. La première réalise une évaluation globale de la situation en utilisant une nouvelle technique de trajectographie (ou pistage) multicible par hybridation du filtre GM-CPHD et du MHT sous contrainte routière à partir des données GMTI (Ground Moving Target Indicator). Ce nouvel algorithme est adapté au pistage de cibles proches. Ensuite, la deuxième étape réalise une évaluation plus fine de la situation en détectant des objets dit d'intérêt tels que des convois par l'intégration d'autres types de données (SAR, vidéo). La détection se base sur l'utilisation des réseaux bayésiens ainsi que leur version crédibiliste.