A evolução tecnológica e do comércio mundial tornaram o tema internacionalização de empresas um desafio para pesquisas da administração. A internacionalização pode ser entendida como uma alternativa de crescimento da firma. Dentre as questões relacionadas ao tema, podem ser verificadas as seguintes questões: quando as empresas optam por esta alternativa, os motivos que levam as empresas a buscarem mercados fora de sua base de origem, como as mesmas iniciam e desenvolvem seus processos de internacionalização, quais obstáculos que as empresas enfrentam quando participam do mercado internacional. As teorias existentes sobre o tema procuram explicar a internacionalização através de enfoques racionais e comportamentais. Se por um lado as tomadas de decisão das empresas em relação ao mercado externo têm como finalidade a minimização de custos para a obtenção de lucro, o que explica o percurso da empresa neste mercado é o aprendizado e conhecimento adquirido na realização do mesmo. Assim, o presente trabalho, através do método de estudo de caso, buscou verificar a internacionalização de empresas inseridas no setor de etanol brasileiro. Para tanto, foi desenvolvido um esquema analítico que fosse capaz de descrever a internacionalização das empresas pesquisadas nos âmbitos individual da firma e da cadeia mundial na qual estão inseridas. Ademais, foram coletados dados secundários relativos ao setor e realizadas entrevistas com especialistas com conhecimento e trabalhos acumulados em torno do objeto de pesquisa. As empresas escolhidas apresentam comportamentos diferentes em relação ao processo de internacionalização. De um lado, uma empresa pertencente a um grupo internacionalizado na década de 1970, fundada em 2007 e com atuação em outros setores que não a agroindústria (construção civil, engenharia e petroquímica); de outro, uma Joint Venture formada por empresas familiares do setor no estado de São Paulo e fundada em 1997, com atuação no mercado internacional de etanol desde 2002. A primeira entende a internacionalização como sendo um processo natural onde desde sua concepção soube que participaria do mercado internacional e parece atuar neste com maior envolvimento que a segunda devido à busca por parcerias com agentes que controlam a cadeia mundial. A segunda entende que a internacionalização é uma oportunidade de mercado e que seu envolvimento com o mercado externo se dá até a comercialização do etanol para uma trading, desconhecendo as etapas após esta fase. Assim, o trabalho verificou e analisou o comportamento destas empresas e pode observar que parece ser diferente a postura das empresas pesquisadas em relação ao mercado internacional de etanol, tanto no que leva as mesmas a participarem deste mercado como aos obstáculos percebidos em relação ao mesmo. A atuação das empresas parece então se dar de acordo como cada uma das empresas pretende se envolver com este mercado. / Technological evolution and world trade have turned company internationalization into a challenge for business administration studies. Internationalization can be understood as an alternative for the company’s growth. The following questions concerning the subject can be pointed out: when do companies choose this alternative, the reasons that lead them to search for markets outside their original basis, how do they start and develop their internationalization processes, as well as what obstacles they face when participating in an international market. Current theories on the subject attempt to explain internationalization through rational and behavioral approaches. If, on one hand, companies’ decision-making towards the foreign market aim at minimizing costs in order to obtain profit, what explains the course of the company in this market is the learning and knowledge acquired in following that. Therefore, this research, through the case-study method, attempted to examine the internationalization of companies in the Brazilian ethanol sector. In order to do that, there was an analytical scheme able to describe the internationalization of the studied companies individually as well as the world chain in which they are inserted. Furthermore, secondary data concerning the sector were collected as well as interviews carried out with experts who have thoroughly studied the object of this research. The companies chosen show different behavior towards the internationalization process. On one hand, a company member of a group which was internationalized in the 70’s, founded in 2007 and working in sectors other than agribusiness (construction, engineering and petrochemical industry); on the other hand, a joint venture formed by companies which are familiar to the sector in São Paulo state and was founded in 1997, working in the ethanol market since 2002. The former understands internationalization as a natural process where, since its conception, would participate in the international market and seems to work in it with more involvement than the latter due to the search for partnerships with agents that control the world chain. The latter understands internationalization as a market opportunity and its involvement with the foreign market takes place up to ethanol trading, ignoring the steps after this phase. Therefore, the study examined and analyzed the actions of these companies and could observe that the attitude of the studied companies towards the ethanol international market seems to be different, not only in terms of the reasons that lead them to participate in this market, as well as the obstacles perceived towards it. The operation of the companies seems to take place according to how each one of them intends to get involved with this market.

The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study is to identify and describe the readiness of female Saudi mathematics teachers in the areas of subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge to integrate STEM disciplines. The study also examines mathematics teachers’ attitudes and obstacles in implementing STEM education. The sample consisted of 98 female mathematics teachers for the quantitative phase and 6 for the qualitative phase in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The findings revealed that Saudi female middle school mathematics teachers appeared to have extensive pedagogical knowledge and an average level of subject matter knowledge but they needed systematic support, such as training courses or professional development programs, to be able to implement integrated STEM education in their classes. Most of the participants also showed a positive attitude toward integrated STEM education and its implementation. The qualitative findings confirmed and explained the quantitative findings. Additionally, participants believed that teachers’ knowledge, preparation, motivation, and professional development in integrated STEM education as well as school setting were the most important obstacles that challenged the implementation of integrated STEM education. Based on the results, I recommend an integrated STEM education degree to prepare future STEM teachers and start an awareness campaign to educate people about STEM literacy and its importance for the country’s future.

A evolução tecnológica e do comércio mundial tornaram o tema internacionalização de empresas um desafio para pesquisas da administração. A internacionalização pode ser entendida como uma alternativa de crescimento da firma. Dentre as questões relacionadas ao tema, podem ser verificadas as seguintes questões: quando as empresas optam por esta alternativa, os motivos que levam as empresas a buscarem mercados fora de sua base de origem, como as mesmas iniciam e desenvolvem seus processos de internacionalização, quais obstáculos que as empresas enfrentam quando participam do mercado internacional. As teorias existentes sobre o tema procuram explicar a internacionalização através de enfoques racionais e comportamentais. Se por um lado as tomadas de decisão das empresas em relação ao mercado externo têm como finalidade a minimização de custos para a obtenção de lucro, o que explica o percurso da empresa neste mercado é o aprendizado e conhecimento adquirido na realização do mesmo. Assim, o presente trabalho, através do método de estudo de caso, buscou verificar a internacionalização de empresas inseridas no setor de etanol brasileiro. Para tanto, foi desenvolvido um esquema analítico que fosse capaz de descrever a internacionalização das empresas pesquisadas nos âmbitos individual da firma e da cadeia mundial na qual estão inseridas. Ademais, foram coletados dados secundários relativos ao setor e realizadas entrevistas com especialistas com conhecimento e trabalhos acumulados em torno do objeto de pesquisa. As empresas escolhidas apresentam comportamentos diferentes em relação ao processo de internacionalização. De um lado, uma empresa pertencente a um grupo internacionalizado na década de 1970, fundada em 2007 e com atuação em outros setores que não a agroindústria (construção civil, engenharia e petroquímica); de outro, uma Joint Venture formada por empresas familiares do setor no estado de São Paulo e fundada em 1997, com atuação no mercado internacional de etanol desde 2002. A primeira entende a internacionalização como sendo um processo natural onde desde sua concepção soube que participaria do mercado internacional e parece atuar neste com maior envolvimento que a segunda devido à busca por parcerias com agentes que controlam a cadeia mundial. A segunda entende que a internacionalização é uma oportunidade de mercado e que seu envolvimento com o mercado externo se dá até a comercialização do etanol para uma trading, desconhecendo as etapas após esta fase. Assim, o trabalho verificou e analisou o comportamento destas empresas e pode observar que parece ser diferente a postura das empresas pesquisadas em relação ao mercado internacional de etanol, tanto no que leva as mesmas a participarem deste mercado como aos obstáculos percebidos em relação ao mesmo. A atuação das empresas parece então se dar de acordo como cada uma das empresas pretende se envolver com este mercado. / Technological evolution and world trade have turned company internationalization into a challenge for business administration studies. Internationalization can be understood as an alternative for the company’s growth. The following questions concerning the subject can be pointed out: when do companies choose this alternative, the reasons that lead them to search for markets outside their original basis, how do they start and develop their internationalization processes, as well as what obstacles they face when participating in an international market. Current theories on the subject attempt to explain internationalization through rational and behavioral approaches. If, on one hand, companies’ decision-making towards the foreign market aim at minimizing costs in order to obtain profit, what explains the course of the company in this market is the learning and knowledge acquired in following that. Therefore, this research, through the case-study method, attempted to examine the internationalization of companies in the Brazilian ethanol sector. In order to do that, there was an analytical scheme able to describe the internationalization of the studied companies individually as well as the world chain in which they are inserted. Furthermore, secondary data concerning the sector were collected as well as interviews carried out with experts who have thoroughly studied the object of this research. The companies chosen show different behavior towards the internationalization process. On one hand, a company member of a group which was internationalized in the 70’s, founded in 2007 and working in sectors other than agribusiness (construction, engineering and petrochemical industry); on the other hand, a joint venture formed by companies which are familiar to the sector in São Paulo state and was founded in 1997, working in the ethanol market since 2002. The former understands internationalization as a natural process where, since its conception, would participate in the international market and seems to work in it with more involvement than the latter due to the search for partnerships with agents that control the world chain. The latter understands internationalization as a market opportunity and its involvement with the foreign market takes place up to ethanol trading, ignoring the steps after this phase. Therefore, the study examined and analyzed the actions of these companies and could observe that the attitude of the studied companies towards the ethanol international market seems to be different, not only in terms of the reasons that lead them to participate in this market, as well as the obstacles perceived towards it. The operation of the companies seems to take place according to how each one of them intends to get involved with this market.

The topic of the submitted diploma thesis are matters which restrict the performance of work activity as legal facts which cause a temporary suspension of work obligation. Therefore it interferes fundamentally into the labor-law relationship between the employee and the employer. As no employment contract is carried out, it brings along significant effects, especially on the social status of the employee. At the same time the employer faces difficulties connected with organization of assignments as well as increased costs of workforce. The author of the thesis strives for a comprehensive description of this issue. In the first part of the thesis she gets a understanding of general definition of obstacles at work and their consequences in the labor-law relationship. The impact of obstacles on the stability of the employment, trial period and vacation is described in detail. In the next part of the thesis the author deals with the current law concerning individual obstacles at work. She examines its necessity and up-to-dateness as well as the possibilities of future directions and changes of the law de lege ferenda. At first the attention is focused on important personal obstacles to work on the employee's part - in particular the employee's temporary sick leave, maternity leave, parental leave and...

A evolução tecnológica e do comércio mundial tornaram o tema internacionalização de empresas um desafio para pesquisas da administração. A internacionalização pode ser entendida como uma alternativa de crescimento da firma. Dentre as questões relacionadas ao tema, podem ser verificadas as seguintes questões: quando as empresas optam por esta alternativa, os motivos que levam as empresas a buscarem mercados fora de sua base de origem, como as mesmas iniciam e desenvolvem seus processos de internacionalização, quais obstáculos que as empresas enfrentam quando participam do mercado internacional. As teorias existentes sobre o tema procuram explicar a internacionalização através de enfoques racionais e comportamentais. Se por um lado as tomadas de decisão das empresas em relação ao mercado externo têm como finalidade a minimização de custos para a obtenção de lucro, o que explica o percurso da empresa neste mercado é o aprendizado e conhecimento adquirido na realização do mesmo. Assim, o presente trabalho, através do método de estudo de caso, buscou verificar a internacionalização de empresas inseridas no setor de etanol brasileiro. Para tanto, foi desenvolvido um esquema analítico que fosse capaz de descrever a internacionalização das empresas pesquisadas nos âmbitos individual da firma e da cadeia mundial na qual estão inseridas. Ademais, foram coletados dados secundários relativos ao setor e realizadas entrevistas com especialistas com conhecimento e trabalhos acumulados em torno do objeto de pesquisa. As empresas escolhidas apresentam comportamentos diferentes em relação ao processo de internacionalização. De um lado, uma empresa pertencente a um grupo internacionalizado na década de 1970, fundada em 2007 e com atuação em outros setores que não a agroindústria (construção civil, engenharia e petroquímica); de outro, uma Joint Venture formada por empresas familiares do setor no estado de São Paulo e fundada em 1997, com atuação no mercado internacional de etanol desde 2002. A primeira entende a internacionalização como sendo um processo natural onde desde sua concepção soube que participaria do mercado internacional e parece atuar neste com maior envolvimento que a segunda devido à busca por parcerias com agentes que controlam a cadeia mundial. A segunda entende que a internacionalização é uma oportunidade de mercado e que seu envolvimento com o mercado externo se dá até a comercialização do etanol para uma trading, desconhecendo as etapas após esta fase. Assim, o trabalho verificou e analisou o comportamento destas empresas e pode observar que parece ser diferente a postura das empresas pesquisadas em relação ao mercado internacional de etanol, tanto no que leva as mesmas a participarem deste mercado como aos obstáculos percebidos em relação ao mesmo. A atuação das empresas parece então se dar de acordo como cada uma das empresas pretende se envolver com este mercado. / Technological evolution and world trade have turned company internationalization into a challenge for business administration studies. Internationalization can be understood as an alternative for the company’s growth. The following questions concerning the subject can be pointed out: when do companies choose this alternative, the reasons that lead them to search for markets outside their original basis, how do they start and develop their internationalization processes, as well as what obstacles they face when participating in an international market. Current theories on the subject attempt to explain internationalization through rational and behavioral approaches. If, on one hand, companies’ decision-making towards the foreign market aim at minimizing costs in order to obtain profit, what explains the course of the company in this market is the learning and knowledge acquired in following that. Therefore, this research, through the case-study method, attempted to examine the internationalization of companies in the Brazilian ethanol sector. In order to do that, there was an analytical scheme able to describe the internationalization of the studied companies individually as well as the world chain in which they are inserted. Furthermore, secondary data concerning the sector were collected as well as interviews carried out with experts who have thoroughly studied the object of this research. The companies chosen show different behavior towards the internationalization process. On one hand, a company member of a group which was internationalized in the 70’s, founded in 2007 and working in sectors other than agribusiness (construction, engineering and petrochemical industry); on the other hand, a joint venture formed by companies which are familiar to the sector in São Paulo state and was founded in 1997, working in the ethanol market since 2002. The former understands internationalization as a natural process where, since its conception, would participate in the international market and seems to work in it with more involvement than the latter due to the search for partnerships with agents that control the world chain. The latter understands internationalization as a market opportunity and its involvement with the foreign market takes place up to ethanol trading, ignoring the steps after this phase. Therefore, the study examined and analyzed the actions of these companies and could observe that the attitude of the studied companies towards the ethanol international market seems to be different, not only in terms of the reasons that lead them to participate in this market, as well as the obstacles perceived towards it. The operation of the companies seems to take place according to how each one of them intends to get involved with this market.

In this work we present the problem of multi-agent path-finding with dynamic obstacles, a generalisation of multi-agent path-finding (MAPF) in which the environment contains randomly-moving dynamic obstacles. This generalisation can be though of as an abstraction of incomplete knowledge of the environment or as a simplification of the multi-agent path-finding where we do not include all agents in the cooperative planner. We adapt three planning algorithms for MAPF to work in an environment with dy- namic obstacles: Local-Repair A* (LRA*), Windowed Hierarchical Cooper- ative A* (WHCA*) and Operator Decomposition with Independence Detec- tion (OD/ID). In addition, we propose two heuristics for these algorithms in dynamic environments: Path Rejoining and Obstacle Predictor. In our experiments, we find that LRA* and WHCA* are best suited for the dy- namic environment. The Path Rejoining heuristic is successful in improving run-times at a small cost in makespan. Obstacle Prediction is capable of lowering the number of times a plan has to be found, but the overhead of our implementation outweighs any performance benefits in most cases. 1

Pour cette thèse de recherche, nous nous sommes intéressées à la perception des femmes gestionnaires des entreprises publiques dans le secteur des communications, quant à leurs conditions de travail, notamment les obstacles et les facteurs de réussite rencontrés au cours de leur progression de carrière. Au Québec et ailleurs en occident, les mouvements féministes ont lutté pour que les femmes soient reconnues au même titre que les hommes et aient les mêmes droits face à l’État. Ainsi les femmes ont eu accès, entres autres, à la contraception et aux études supérieures. Ces pionnières sont donc entrées dans des milieux traditionnellement masculins, un changement qui provoqua plusieurs réactions négatives de la part des partisans et partisanes du statu quo. Ces femmes se retrouvaient en minorité, notamment dans les hautes sphères de la gestion, niveau cadre. Aujourd’hui, les femmes cadres sont toujours en minorité, une bonne vingtaine d’années après que les premières femmes soient entrées à ces niveaux. Dans ce contexte, il est plausible de penser, avec les théories de l’identité sociale et du changement, que les femmes cadres font face à différents obstacles lors de leur progression de carrière, de même que certains facteurs favorisant leur réussite dans l’ascension de la hiérarchie. Ainsi, cette thèse aborde un sujet dans la continuité des recherches féministes qui semblent de plus en plus oubliées, alors que l’égalité entre les hommes et les femmes n’est pas atteinte. Les résultats obtenus entendent garder vivant le sujet des femmes comme groupe minoritaire, pour ne pas oublier que les obstacles qu’elles rencontrent sont bien réels mais plus sournois qu’auparavant. Quant aux facteurs de réussite, les résultats obtenus sont encourageants et apportent de l’espoir, toujours pour la quête de l’égalité entre les hommes et les femmes, ici, en milieu de travail.

The Diploma thesis deals with segmentation of characteristic car damages, which arise during car crushes with ambient infrastructure of roads with concrete specialization to car crushes with trees and road culverts. According to chosen clash configurations there were characterized appropriate damages of front part of the car with usage of materials from real accidents. Level of damage is described according to location of the main point of impact and a speed during clash. The thesis provides summary of possible level of damage single parts of the car with focusing to front part and it gives opportunity comparison to detected damages during real car crushes with car damages made during manipulated harmful events.

Introduction: Rural emergency nurses face unique obstacles to providing quality end-of-life (EOL) care. Stories provided by emergency nurses embody their most difficult EOL care obstacles. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to 53 rural hospitals. Respondents were asked to share stories that epitomized the obstacles faced while providing EOL care in the rural emergency setting. Results: The lack of an ideal death (nurse personally knows the patient, issues with family members, and unknown patient wishes) was the top obstacle. Other reported obstacles were insufficient ED staff and power struggles between nurses and physicians. Discussion: Rural emergency nurses often provide EOL care to friends and family members, while their urban counterparts are likely to transfer care to nurses with no relation to the dying patient. Not only does caring for patients, that the nurse knows or is related to, cause great distress to rural emergency nurses, this unfortunately common situation may also prevent patients from receiving the highest quality of EOL care. Conclusion: Emergency nurses often face obstacles that hinder their ability to provide high quality EOL care to patients. These obstacles are compounded by a unique set of challenges faced by nurses working in rural emergency departments. Stories from rural emergency nurses revealed that being unable to provide optimal care at the EOL, having difficulties with family members, or not knowing the patient's wishes for EOL care were the most common obstacles. Additional obstacles included stories about the impact of low or unavailable staff and feeling powerless in some EOL situations.

Background: Approximately 25,000 pediatric deaths occur in hospitals in the United States each year with over 50% of these deaths occurring in Newborn Intensive Care Units (NICU). NICU nurses are frequently involved in end-of-life (EOL) care and face unique obstacles. Objective: The objective of this study was to obtain NICU nurses suggestions for improving obstacles in EOL care in NICUs. Methods: Suggestions were obtained through mailed survey research in qualitative study design. Returned surveys yielded 121 nurse respondents who gave a total of 138 suggestions.Results: A total of 10 cohesive themes were identified: (1) environmental design issues, (2) improved communication between healthcare teams, (3) ending futile care earlier, (4) realistic and honest physician communications to families, (5) providing a œgood death, (6) improved nurse staffing, (7) need for EOL education, (8) earlier entry into hospice/palliative care, (9) availability of ancillary staff, and (10) allowing parents more time to prepare for death.Conclusions: Despite the variety of obstacles encountered in providing EOL care to dying infants and their families, NICU nurses can use self-assessment tools to identify obstacles to EOL care and collaborate with key members of the healthcare team to alleviate these obstacles.