Student Number : 9707570P - M Com dissertation - School of Economic and Business Sciences - Faculty of Commerce / Business managers have used principles of Knowledge Management to improve organisational performance by: o Identifying the knowledge that is needed to solve various problems o Acquiring the needed knowledge from sources that already have it o Creating the needed knowledge if it is not yet available o Validating the acquired or created knowledge o Retaining the validated knowledge o Destroying invalid or obsolete knowledge o Representing the knowledge in a consistent, easily readable format o Enabling people to easily access relevant knowledge o Enabling people to share the retained knowledge o Enabling people to apply the retained knowledge to improve performance Statistical analysis of data obtained from 84 respondents confirmed that information systems practitioners can also benefit from applying the principles to their system development methods.

Thesis advisor: James P. Morken / Described herein is the exploration of a novel methodology whereby boronate-ester bearing cyclopentanes are produced by reaction between an unactivated olefin and what is described as a boron alkylidene. The mechanism is evaluated and concluded to proceed through a boracyclic intermediate that is achieved by a closed-shell, carbanion addition to the olefin. This mechanistic conclusion is arrived upon by considering two likely alternative routes (an open-shell, radical cyclization and a [2+2] concerted process) and providing evidence to refute them. A reaction scope is established as well as the utility of the methodology through the racemic synthesis of a natural sesquiterpene: aphanamal. Finally, the future of the reaction development will be considered by providing a single example of a 6-endo cyclization. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Chemistry.

In what follows I seek to articulate a romantic hermeneutics, that is, an interpretive approach to texts acknowledged as central to the canon of English Romanticism, that articulates the human relationship to artistic creation, the natural world and metaphysics. Through this methodological approach I hope to integrate philosophy with the study of English Romanticism, and delineate a coherent, inter-disciplinary corpus of intellectual ideas, all of which can be subsumed under the rubric of “Romanticism.” Using this hermeneutical approach, I offer Hegel's teleological theory as an example of a romantic mythology—that is, a story that attempts to reintegrate the human subject into the natural world whilst at the same time retaining a sense of imaginative autonomy. I offer a reading of Hegel, which combines his social philosophy with his philosophy of art, and integrate the two areas of his work using an expanded understanding of his notion of recognition. What motivates the philosophical approach to English Romanticism, and the use of Hegel as an exemplar of a romantic narrative, is the conviction that the English romantic tradition is philosophically rich in ways not always appreciated by traditional commentary. I posit a connection between seemingly disparate Romanticisms such as those of Wordsworth, Coleridge and the later P.B. Shelley. All of these thinkers and artists present us with varying forms of romantic mythology, each looking to retain a contingent, autonomous subjectivity, whilst retaining a necessary connection to the empirical world. Working on this assumption, I explicate these different romantic narratives, whilst illustrating the structural features common to them all. Central to my thesis is the idea that this philosophical-narratorial template gives the critic a useful hermeneutical reading tool with which to approach texts, which, whilst subsumed under the generic category of Romanticism, offer contradictory conclusions in their treatment of artistic creation, nature and metaphysics. Of course, this is only one approach amongst many, and as such a romantic hermeneutics, that whilst not exhaustive, hopes to add to the other critical prisms through which Romanticism has been explicated as an aesthetic movement, or a substantive canon of texts. I contend that all the major canonical romantic poets covered here approach the problem of philosophical certainty through the romantic ideal that there is an intuitional assent to knowledge through aesthetics. Using a Hegelian approach as an interpretive guide is therefore useful in that Hegel endorses art as a way of apprehending philosophical certainty on the one hand, yet on the other places philosophy on a higher interpretive level. This means that in using Hegel we can gain a double-awareness of our subject matter; we see the strengths of art in its approximation of philosophical certainty, and we can critique it in terms of its relationship to speculative philosophy, which acts as an alternative narrative for attaining philosophical certainty. I aim to argue in this thesis therefore that both the romantic poets and Hegel share a common romantic purpose, which is explored in their romantic mythologies.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Tuberculosis (TB) and an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis that afflicted mankind since antiquity with reports of up to about 5,000 BC Despite the high efficiency of treatment, TB remains a major health problem. In 2011, an estimated 8.7 million incident cases of TB worldwide. Among the main measures for tuberculosis control are early diagnosis and proper treatment of the disease. Thus, the active search should be performed continuously for all healthcare services (primary, secondary and tertiary). The study aimed to evaluate the benefits of automated methodology for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in different clinical specimens in relation to the methodology manual. This is a descriptive study and experimental evaluation of two diagnostic tests (manual and automated) for which several samples were analyzed. The survey was conducted from July to September 2011. The samples were provided by patients of 15 health units of the State, which needed to confirm or culture tuberculosis control. In the 1520 samples, smear, 188 (12.37%) samples were positive and 1,332 (87.63%) negative. In cultures on solid media (LJ), a manual methodology, 254 (16.71%) samples were positive, 1.156 (76.05%) and 110 negative (7.24%) were contaminated. In automated methodology (MGIT), the result was 258 (16.97%) positive, 1,149 (75.59%) and 113 negative contaminated (7.43%). The median time to positivity in the manual method was 31.95 days, with a mean deviation of 15.01 and automated methodology was 16.53 days, with a standard deviation of 12.39. It was possible to demonstrate concordance between the methods and various advantages that automated methodology presents compared to manual in the laboratory routine. Among them is the decreased time to detection of the disease, representing a breakthrough in the initial treatment of patients, which, in the case of TB, may mean to decrease the number of cases, since people no longer be bacillary patients. / A tuberculose (TB) e uma doenÃa infectocontagiosa causada pelo Mycobacterium tuberculosis que aflige a humanidade desde a antiguidade com relatos de ate cerca de 5.000 a.C. Apesar da alta eficiÃncia do tratamento, a TB continua como um grande problema de saÃde. Em 2011, estimou-se 8,7 milhÃes de casos incidentes de TB no mundo todo. Dentre as principais medidas para o controle da tuberculose estÃo o diagnÃstico precoce e o correto tratamento da doenÃa. Desta forma, a busca ativa deve ser realizada permanentemente por todos os serviÃos de saÃde (nÃveis primÃrio, secundÃrio e terciÃrio). O estudo teve como objetivo geral avaliar os benefÃcios da metodologia automatizada no diagnÃstico da tuberculose em diferentes amostras clÃnicas em relaÃÃo à metodologia manual. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo e experimental para avaliaÃÃo de dois testes diagnÃsticos (manual e automatizado) pelos quais diversas amostras foram analisadas. A pesquisa foi realizada no perÃodo de julho a setembro de 2011. As amostras foram fornecidas por pacientes, de 15 Unidades de SaÃde do Estado, que necessitavam de cultura para confirmaÃÃo ou controle da tuberculose. Em 1.520 amostras, na baciloscopia, 188 (12,37%) amostras apresentaram-se positivas e 1.332 (87,63%) negativas. Nas culturas em meio sÃlido (LJ), por metodologia manual, 254 (16,71%) amostras foram positivas, 1.156 (76,05%) negativas e 110 (7,24%) apresentaram contaminaÃÃo. Na metodologia automatizada (MGIT), o resultado foi de 258 (16,97%) positivas, 1.149 (75,59%) negativas e 113 contaminadas (7,43%). A mediana do tempo necessÃrio para positivaÃÃo no mÃtodo manual foi de 31,95 dias, com desvio mÃdio de 15,01 e na metodologia automatizada foi de 16,53 dias, com desvio padrÃo de 12,39. Foi possÃvel demonstrar concordÃncia entre os mÃtodos e diversas vantagens que a metodologia automatizada apresenta em comparaÃÃo a manual na rotina do laboratÃrio. Dentre elas està a diminuiÃÃo do tempo de detecÃÃo da doenÃa, representando um grande avanÃo no inÃcio do tratamento dos pacientes, o que, no caso da TB, pode significar a diminuiÃÃo do nÃmero de casos, jà que pessoas doentes deixariam de ser bacilÃferas

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This thesis explores how university teachers' ways of experiencing teaching change from teacher focused to student focused and why some teachers experience this change while others do not. The exploration adopts the theoretical perspective of variation, learning and awareness (Marton and Booth, 1997) and is based on a two-year longitudinal interview study of 27 university teachers. Classical and new phenomenographies were used to constitute teachers' ways of experiencing teaching and teachers' ways of experiencing change in teaching. Changes in individual teachers' ways of experiencing were described and interpreted through focusing on teachers' awareness of critical aspects and related dimensions of variation, creating individual vignettes, and constituting themes in the critical experiences and orientations related to change. The outcomes included six ways of experiencing teaching and their complementary patterns of critical aspects, a set of themes related to change in ways of experiencing and five ways of experiencing change in teaching. Combining these outcomes resulted in four patterns which illuminated why some teachers' ways of experiencing teaching became student focused while others remained teacher focused. Teachers who became capable of experiencing teaching in student-focused ways focused on understanding teaching in relation to students' learning. They experienced change in teaching as becoming more student-focused or as relating teaching to development or change in student understandings, and were oriented towards putting teaching into focus and reflecting in ways informed by formal learning. These teachers experienced relevance structures which brought the critical aspects of student-focused ways of experiencing teaching to the foreground of their awareness so that they experienced corresponding dimensions of variation. Their awareness of teaching expanded and this corresponded to a shift in the focus and meaning of teaching.

This study identifies and explores the social processes that influence the construction by academic researchers of the meaning/s and significance/s of an author and her work prominent in the literature of their field. It examines the construction by 15 information behaviour researchers of Brenda Dervin and her work, using semi-structured interviewing and inductive analysis techniques. In focussing theoretical attention on social processes, the study seeks to address critiques of prevailing approaches to information behaviour research, such as: a focus on individual cognition at the expense of social and affective factors; a construction of information users defined by their areas of ignorance and uncertainty, rather than their expertise; and a focus on purposive rather than non-purposive information behaviour. Conceptually, the study has been influenced by a range of theoretical approaches from both information behaviour research and a variety of other disciplines, including Dervin's Sense-Making and Foucauldian discourse analysis. The study found that participants' initial contact with the author and her work, and the subsequent important events in their relationship, occurred not because of purposeful searching, but rather 'socially' - as a part of non-purposive events and relationships related to the participants' role as academic researchers. The source most frequently discussed by participants was informal discussions with colleagues, and participants' interactions with 'author texts' were commonly mediated by their interpersonal communication. The study found that the significant influences on participants' constructive processes were people and texts with whom they had a long-term relationship. Participants' constructions of the author and her work were an essentially social process. Their sense-making was inextricably linked to their social context/s: their interactions with their colleagues and mentors; their engagement with the literature and theories of information science and other fields; their research interests and specialisations; and their educational and cultural backgrounds. Participants' constructive processes largely involved elaborating existing constructions - radical changes in construction were both rare and traumatic. Participants' constructions were neither objective nor wholly subjective, but intersubjective - based on shared understandings, conventions and social practices. Participants' constructive processes had two interdependent aspects: the construction of meaning and the construction of authority (knowledge/power). Participants' informal behaviour, as well as their engagement with formal information sources, involved constructions of authority. Their constructions of the authority of their informant/s determined whether they accepted or rejected the constructions of the author conveyed to them. Participants were able to strategically use shared constructions to add to the credibility and authority of their own work

In the field of sustainable manufacturing, a wide range of research has been carried out to attain the more effective use of natural resources and the reduction of environmental impacts during the whole product life cycle. This goal can be best achieved by promoting multiple-reuse of parts, sub-assemblies, or entire products. However, the decision toward reusing an old product depends on a variety of parameters with many uncertainties. Therefore, a comprehensive model to assess the reusability of products prior to the reuse decision is urgently needed. The objective of this research has been to develop a comprehensive assessment model, integrating technical, environmental, social, and economic aspects to evaluate the reusability of industrial products. The assessment model consists of four sub-models, which are a methodology to assess the quality and reliability of products, a model to translate the social responsibility aspect into warranty cost, a methodology to integrate environmental costs, and an economic model to accumulate total life cycle cost as the basis of the evaluation. The model also facilitates trade-offs between the factors to investigate the possibility to improve the reusability of a product. To apply the assessment model in the real business environment, a set of decisionmaking methodologies under different take-back scenarios has been developed as a guideline for manufacturers. Furthermore, as the existence of uncertainty in the reuse strategy is undeniable, a methodology to integrate uncertainties into the assessment model is also developed. The model validation, using three real cases collected from industrial partners on consumer and commercial products, has confirmed the applicability of the model to provide a useful tool to evaluate products at the end of their life cycle. The model also enables decision makers to disclose the risk associated with the decision, thus improving the quality of the decision. The results are in good agreement with the basic theory that the reuse and remanufacturing strategy is highly recommended from both environmental and economic reasons.

The consequences of extracting com stover feedstock with either 95% ethanol or hot water prior to the chemical analysis of the macrocomponents of that feedstock have been determined. Reports by others have recommended the removal of extraneous substance by solvent extraction prior to chemical analyses (Browning, 1967; TAPPI, 1988). The 95% ethanol extraction evaluated in this study is currently the "standard" method recommended by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Co. Hot water extractions were tested as a simple, less time consuming and less expensive alternative to ethanol extractions. Compositional analyses involved the quantification of glycans, Klason lignin, acid soluble lignin, ash, protein, acetic acid, and uronic acids. The summative analysis of native, ethanol extracted and water extracted feedstocks were all in the range of 97 to 98%. Ethanol extractions removed 4.9% of the feedstock dry weight, compared to 17.2% of the dry matter being extracted with hot water. The extractives obtained via ethanol had negligible amounts of glycans. In contrast, the water extracted solids contained nearly 10% of the native feedstock total glucan. Pre-extracting the feedstock with ethanol had little effect, relative to the native feedstock, on the quantification of glycan components. In contrast, the water extracted feedstock measured significantly lower in total glucans and total glycans than the native feedstock. The lower values associated with the water extraction were due to the actual extraction of glucans from the feedstock, and not due to analytical interferences associated with the extractives. Ethanol and water extracted feedstocks measured significantly lower in Klason lignin than the corresponding native feedstock. This was presumably due to the removal of Klason lignin impurities present in the native feedstock, and not due to the extraction of lignin itself. The combined results from this study indicate that an informative approach to the analysis of com stover feedstock would include the pre-extraction of the feedstock with hot water prior to further analyses. The appropriate macrocomponent analyses should then be done on both the extracted feedstock and the "extractives" obtained from that feedstock. Analysis of the extracted feedstock, as compared to the native feedstock, would provide more accurate estimates of the cellulose and lignin content of the feedstock. The summative analysis of both the extracted solids and the extractives will provide a reliable estimate of the total amount of carbohydrate potentially available in the feedstock for microbial fermentation to ethanol. / Graduation date: 1996

The reliability of electronic component plays an important role in proper functioning of the electronic devices. The manufacturer tests electronic components before they are used by end users. Still at times electronic devices fail due to undue stresses existing inside the microelectronic components such as memory chips, microcontrollers, resistors etc. The stresses can be caused by variation in the operating voltage, variation in the usage frequency of the particular chip and other factors. This variation leads to variation in chip temperature, which can be made evident from thermal profiles of these chips. In this thesis, effort was made to study two different kind of stress existing in the electronic board, namely signal stress based on variation in duty cycle/frequency of chip usage and the voltage stress. Memory chips were stressed using these stresses causing change in heating rates, which were captured by infrared camera. This data was then extracted and plotted to obtain different curves for the heating rate. The same experiment was done time and again for a large number of chips to get heating rate data. This data consisting of average heating rate for large number of chips was used to build Neural Network model (NN). Back Propagation algorithm was used for modeling because of its advantage of converging to solution faster compared to other algorithms. To develop a prediction model, data sets were divided into two-third and one-third parts. This two-thirds of the data was used to build the prediction model and remaining one third was used to evaluate the model. The designed model would predict the stress levels existing in the chips based on the heating rates of the chips. Results obtained suggested 1. There is difference in heating rate for chips stressed at different stress levels. 2. Accuracy of the model to predict the stress is high (greater than 90 %). 3. Model is robust enough that is it can yield efficient results even if there is presence of noise in the data. 4. Generic methodology can be proposed based on the experiments. This work is a progress in direction of making predictive model, for a complete electronic device, which can predict the stress level existing on any component in the device and will provide an opportunity to either protect the data or removal of the defected components timely before it even fails.