Constructivism is a learning theory that states that people learn by actively constructing their own knowledge, based on prior knowledge. Many different perspectives exist on constructivist pedagogical principles and on how to apply them to instructional design. It is thus not only difficult to evaluate the conformity of existing learning systems with constructivist principles, it is also quite hard to ensure that a new learning system being designed will ultimately facilitate and stimulate constructivist learning. A critical characteristic often mentioned in learning systems is adaptability. That is, the ability to provide a learning experience that is continuously tailored to the needs of the individual learner. The present research aims to help designing truly constructivist and adaptive learning systems. For that purpose, it is necessary to clarify what constructivism entails in an operational manner: I propose a set of criteria for certain aspects of constructivism and use it both as guidelines for designing learning systems and for evaluating the conformity of learning systems with these constructivist principles. One facet often mentioned as being strongly relevant to constructivism is cognitive flexibility, meaning the ability to spontaneously restructure one's knowledge, in many ways, in adaptive response to radically changing situational demands. The claim I make in the present thesis is that the operational approach I proposed makes the design and use of adaptive learning environments supporting cognitive flexibility straightforward and effective. More specifically, the dissertation makes four main contributions to the interdisciplinary field of learning and e-Learning technology. Firstly, the thesis proposes operational criteria for cognitive flexibility and presents both justifications and examples of their use. The set of criteria may be used in different instructional situations for designing and evaluating conditions of learning. Secondly, on the basis of the criteria for cognitive flexibility, the thesis proposes an operational instructional design process and shows an example of its use. The process may also be applied in a variety of instructional situations for the design and use of learning systems fostering cognitive flexibility. Thirdly, the thesis introduces a new, open-source, domain-independent, Web-based adaptive e-Learning platform, named COFALE, and illustrates an example of its use. The platform may be used for designing adaptive learning systems supporting cognitive flexibility in various domains. And fourthly, the thesis reports on a preliminary evaluation of the example handled by COFALE with actual learners. The study provides a certain number of encouraging results for fostering cognitive flexibility by means of ICT-based learning conditions.

Low voltage, low power amplifiers are proposed. One of the operational amplifiers is an Operational Transconductance Amplifier (OTA) with wide input and output swing and constant gm. The second and third amplifiers are high-performance Current Operational amplifiers (COAs). All amplifiers have power supply as low as one threshold voltage plus two overdrive voltage. In this thesis, the supply voltage is 1V. Simulation results show that the OTA has the maximum linear range over 0.7V. The transconductance can be 147£gA/V, the power consumption is 0.133mW. There are two designs of the COA. Simulation results show COA(1) with a current gain of 143. The input impedance is 110£[, the output impedance is 240K£[ and the power consumption is 0.15mW. In the simulation results of the COA(2), the current gain is 110. The DC power dissipation is 0.07mW. The input and output impedance are 95£[ and 500K£[, respectively. All the proposed amplifiers are implemented on a TSMC 0.35£gm 2p4m CMOS process technology and analyzed using HSPICE.

Managerial and regulatory focus in the financial industryhas been intensified due to a number of extremely costly and highly publicized events. Whenfraudulent activities or any improper business practices are revealed it may damage the bank’sreputation. In the end this can have a big impact on anyone who is any kind of stakeholder.Reputational risk and by what mechanism reputational risk is adversely affecting stock pricesis therefore of great importance for stakeholders. This study aims at providing insights and abetter understanding of reputational risk. We examine the reputational damage in banksresulting from operational losses and analyze the stock market reaction across the bankingindustry. Research question: What is the effect of operational loss announcements from internalfraudulent activities on competitors in the banking industry? The results show a positive cross-bank reaction during the observed period oftime. Furthermore, the cross-bank reaction is stronger when a reputational damage isrecognized in the bank where the loss occurred. The results show a positive cross-bankreaction during the observed period of time. Furthermore, the cross-bank reaction is strongerwhen a reputational damage is recognized in the bank where the loss occurred.

O método de plantio manual de mudas de árvores é predominante no Brasil. Para a redução dos custos com mão-de-obra, aumento de produtividade e qualidade operacional, o plantio manual deve ser substituído total ou parcialmente por operações mecanizadas. Com esse enfoque foram avaliadas as atividades de plantios manual e mecanizado de eucaliptos, bem como de preparo mecanizado do solo, em área pertencente a uma empresa florestal. O plantio manual foi feito por onze trabalhadores rurais, com o uso da transplantadora de acionamento manual. O plantio mecanizado foi realizado por uma máquina de transplantio de mudas, operada por um trabalhador rural e tracionada por um trator. Na área do estudo foram locadas duas parcelas amostrais, formando uma malha de setenta e cinco pontos amostrais para cada sistema de plantio. Os itens do preparo do solo avaliados foram a profundidade do sulco, o diâmetro dos torrões e o volume cilíndrico dos galhos de madeira sobre a faixa de sulcamento. O itens dos sistemas de plantio avaliados foram a presença de defeitos da operação, a distância entre plantas, a altura da parte aérea das mudas e a sobrevivência das plantas após um mês de idade. As ferramentas da qualidade total utilizadas foram os histogramas, o diagrama de causa e efeito, os gráficos de Pareto e de controle. As análises estatísticas dos resultados foram feitas pelo teste t e pelo teste de qui-quadrado Para avaliar o desempenho operacional do sistema manual estimou-se somente a capacidade de campo operacional. No sistema mecanizado foram estimadas as capacidades de campo efetiva e operacional. Nos dois sistemas de plantio foram estimados também os custos horários e operacionais das máquinas e da mão-de-obra. Entre os sistemas de plantio, a distância entre plantas foi diferente estatisticamente, com melhor distribuição das mudas no sistema manual. O número de defeitos por muda plantada foi semelhante estatisticamente entre os sistemas de plantio. Os principais defeitos do sistema manual foram as mudas plantadas com colo encoberto pelo solo e as mudas plantadas fora do centro do sulco, os quais representaram 72,8% do total. No sistema mecanizado, esses defeitos, somados às mudas não plantadas e mudas não firmes, representaram 76,7% do total. A altura da parte aérea foi diferente estatisticamente, tanto no plantio como um mês após. A sobrevivência das mudas efetivamente plantadas, após um mês de idade, foi semelhante estatisticamente. Concluiu-se, assim, que a qualidade em ambos os sistemas de plantio não variaram dentro de padrões aceitáveis pela empresa florestal. O tempo produtivo do sistema de plantio mecanizado foi igual a 48,2%, gerando uma capacidade de campo operacional 60,0% menor do que no sistema manual. Inferiu-se que o número médio de mudas plantadas por trabalhador por hora foi igual a 95 no sistema manual, enquanto que no sistema mecanizado foi igual a 205. O custo operacional estimado do sistema mecanizado foi 44,9% maior do que no sistema manual, fato devido a baixa capacidade de campo operacional observada no sistema mecanizado. / Hand planting of tree seedlings is the predominant method in Brazil. In order to reduce labor costs, increase productivity, and improve operational quality, hand planting should be totally or partially replaced by machine operations. Having this in mind, eucalyptus’ hand and machine planting activities were assessed, as well as those of mechanical tillage, in an area belonging to a forestation company. Hand planting had been carried out by 11 rural workers by using a planting tube. Machine planting had been carried out by using a seedling transplant machine, which was operated by a rural worker and pulled by a tractor. In the study area, two sampling parts were allocated, forming a web with 75 sampling points for each planting system. Tillage items that were assessed included furrow depth, stone diameter, and the cylindrical volume of wood branches on the furrow belt. Planting system items that were assessed included the presence of operation defects, distance between plants, height of the top portion of the seedlings, and plant survival after one month of age. Total quality tools included histograms, cause and effect diagram, control graphs, and Pareto's graphs. Statistical analyses of the results were performed by using test and qui-square test. To evaluate hand planting system’s operational performance, only the operational field capacity was estimated. As for the machine system, effective and operational field capacities were estimated. Labor and machine hourly costs, as well as the operational costs for both planting systems were assessed. When comparing planting systems, the distance between plants was statistically different, with hand planting system showing better seedling distribution. The number of defects per planted seedling was statistically similar for both planting systems. The major defects in the hand planting system were seedlings planted with soil-covered base and those planted out of the furrow center, which represented 72.8% of the total. With the machine system, these defects, in addition to non-planted and loose seedlings, represented 76.7% of the total. The height of the top portion was statistically different, both when planting and after one month. The survival of effectively planted seedlings after one month of age was statistically similar. Thus, we concluded that the quality of both planting systems did not vary within the standards that are acceptable for the forestation company. Machine planting system's productive time was 48.2%, and generated an estimated operational field capacity 60.0% less to that for the hand planting system. The average number of planted seedlings per worker by hour was inferred to be equal to 95 in the hand planting system, whereas it was equal to 205 in the machine system. The operational cost for the machine system was estimated to be 44.9% greater to that for the hand planting system, which is due to the low operational field capacity observed in the machine system.

The degree work "Possibilities of use of finances from the structural funds in the region of Tábor (NUTS 4)" deals with drawing finances from these EU funds, especially by means of ROP NUTS II South - West, in the program period 2007 - 2013.

O mundo moderno tem exigido das empresas uma força competitiva que deve se moldar aos diferentes segmentos de mercado e tipos de organizações. Vários são os exemplos de empresas que posicionam as suas operações no centro da estratégia competitiva, qualificando-as como uma força capaz de levá-las a modificar a seu favor a estrutura de mercado em que competem. Assim, tomando-se por base que a competitividade empresarial está diretamente associada à capacidade da organização de entender e atender as expectativas dos clientes, e que isto pode ser conseguido, em especial, pelo setor de operações, por meio da produtividade e da qualidade, por meio de sua eficiência interna e externa, o objetivo do presente trabalho é estudar as estratégias operacionais e refletir sobre a maneira como elas podem contribuir para conduzir as empresas à liderança de mercado ou funcionar como uma barreira contra a ameaça de novos entrantes. Mediante estudo exploratório da situação das empresas brasileiras, por meio dos casos das empresas Brasilata S.A. Embalagens Metálicas e Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A., a Tese demonstra que é possível posicionar as operações de forma a obter a desejada vantagem competitiva. / The modern world demands from companies a competitive force that must mold itself to different market segments and types of organizations. There are various examples of companies that position their operations in the center of competitive strategy, qualifying them as a force capable of allowing them to modify in their favor the market structure in which they compete. Thus, given that entrepreneurial competitiveness is directly associated with the organizational capacity to understand and satisfy customers’ expectations and that this can be achieved by the operational sector, by means of productivity and of quality and by means of internal and external efficiency, the aim of the present work is to study the operational strategies and the way in which they can contribute to conduct companies to market leadership or function as a barrier against the threat of new entrants. Through an exploratory study of the situation of Brazilian companies, using the cases of Brasilata S.A. Embalagens Metálicas and Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A., this thesis shows that it is possible to position the operations in such a way as to obtain the desired competitive advantage.

This study investigates strategies for improving the operational resilience, i.e. an organisation’s capacity to minimise, manage, and recover from disruptions quickly, ensuring continuity in its primary business processes. The focus has been a national infrastructure company, specifically in energy production, and the large supply chain disruptions it has experienced in the wake of COVID-19 and the Ukraine war. The study primarily compares the investigated strategies with literature and theoretical frameworks from a procurement research perspective. The study is an embedded multiple case study investigating three cases with delayed renewal projects. The identified disruptions and their effect on the projects’ performance have been studied, as well as more direct reasons for delays in the cases, such as organisational issues and procurement processes. A framework for categorising disruptions has been developed and three different portfolio purchasing models were investigated in order to be applied to the findings of the study. Key findings reveal that disruptions have affected the case company’s operations significantly, with more projects being delayed and fewer available suppliers in the wake of these disruptive events. Inefficient decision making processes have also been identified as sources of delays, as well as lack of communication within the organisation. The study concludes in practical recommendations for the case company, which can be applicable for similar companies as well. A significant recommendation was that the case company should form strategic partnerships with suppliers of generators, transformers and control systems in order to ensure ample future availability of key components. Other recommendations include working towards more efficient decision making processes when deviating from the group instructions surrounding competitive tendering as well as improving the communication of procurement strategies within the organisation / Denna studie undersöker strategier för att förbättra den operativa motståndskraften, d.v.s. en organisations förmåga att minimera, hantera och återhämta sig snabbt från störningar, för att säkerställa kontinuitet i sina primära affärsprocesser. Fokus har varit på ett nationellt infrastrukturföretag, specifikt inom energiproduktion, och de stora störningar i leveranskedjorna som de har upplevt i kölvattnet av COVID-19 och kriget i Ukraina. De undersökta strategierna kommer att jämföras med litteratur och teoretiska ramverk främst från ett inköpsperspektiv. Studien är en multipel fallstudie inom en organisation som undersöker tre fall med försenade förnyelseprojekt. De identifierade störningarna och deras effekt på projektens prestanda har studerats, liksom mer direkta orsaker till förseningarna i projekten, såsom organisatoriska problem och inköpsprocesser. Ett ramverk för kategorisering av störningar har utvecklats och tre olika portföljinköpsmodeller undersöktes för att kunna tillämpas på studiens resultat. Studien visar att störningarna har påverkat företagets verksamhet avsevärt, med fler försenade projekt och färre tillgängliga leverantörer som följd av av dessa störande händelser. Ineffektiva beslutsprocesser har också identifierats som källor till förseningar, liksom brist på kommunikation inom organisationen. Studien avslutas med praktiska rekommendationer till företaget, som även kan vara tillämpliga för liknande företag. En betydande rekommendation var att företaget bör bilda strategiska partnerskap med leverantörer av generatorer, transformatorer och kontrollanläggningar för att säkerställa framtida tillgång till kritiska komponenter. Andra rekommendationer inkluderar att arbeta mot mer effektiva beslutsprocesser vid avvikelser från koncerninstruktioner om konkurrensutsättning samt förbättra kommunikationen av inköpsstrategier inom organisationen.

<p>As energy costs and energy used by server farms increase, so does the desire to implement energy-aware policies. Although under some cost functions, optimal policies for single as well as multiple server systems are known, large gaps in theoretical knowledge are present in the field. Specifically, there exists many widely used and non-trivial cost functions, where the corresponding optimal policy remains unknown. This work presents and leverages a model which allows for the exact analysis of these optimal policies with considerable generality, for on/off single server systems under a broad range of cost functions that are based on expected response time, energy usage and switching costs. Furthermore, from the results derived in the analysis, several applications and implications are presented and discussed. This includes the determination of routing probabilities to show a range of non-trivial optimal routing probabilities and server configurations when energy concerns are a factor.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Procuramos fundamentar e explicitar neste trabalho o modo pelo qual o sujeito organiza, pessoal, coletiva e historicamente seu conhecimento astronômico. Toma-se como referencial teórico para essa organização a epistemologia genética de Jean Piaget, em particular sua teoria da abstração reflexionante. Apontam-se, na revisão bibliográfica, aspectos que se consideram relevantes para o conhecimento astronômico, tanto do ponto de vista teórico quanto histórico, seguindo uma direção que estrutura a gênese desse conhecimento específico, desde as estruturas sensório-motoras do sujeito, passando pelo pensamento pré-operatório, o pensamento operatório concreto e o pensamento operatório formal. O caminho seguido, uma vez que não podemos abranger o trabalho de Piaget na sua totalidade, foi o de fundamentar a aquisição do conhecimento no equilíbrio cognitivo, conseguido através de abstrações empíricas e reflexionantes, tendo como modelo, principalmente, o equilíbrio dos sistemas biológicos. Isso é, pretendemos mostrar como o conhecimento astronômico, iniciando pela percepção do céu, mediado pelo processo de equilibração e de abstração reflexionante, evolui por sucessivas tomadas de consciência dos fenômenos celestes e, ao mesmo tempo, das compreensões do próprio sujeito. Apontam-se, finalmente, algumas sugestões pedagógicas para que os fenômenos dos céus, inferenciais na sua totalidade, possam ser compreendidos em diferentes níveis de suas possíveis leituras. / This work has the objective of fundament and explicit in what ways one organizes, personal, collective and historically, its own astronomic knowledge. Jean Piaget’s genetics epistemology is taken as the referential theory, and the reflexionant abstraction theory taken as the central point. Through a checking on the bibliography, different aspects considered relevant for the astronomic knowledge are pointed out, in theory as in history, following a direction that structures the genesis of this specific knowledge, since one’s sensory-motor structures, going through the pre-operational thinking, the concrete operational thinking and the formal operational thinking. The way through which it was done, since we cannot go thorough the complete work of Piaget, fundaments the acquisition of knowledge on the cognitive equilibrium, acquired through empiric and reflexionant abstractions, having as a model, mainly, the biological systems equilibrium. In another way, with the astronomic knowledge, taken from the skies’ perception, mediated by the equilibrium theory and the reflecting abstraction theory, leads to the perception and understanding of the celestial phenomenon. By the end, the conclusions also point out suggestions in a pedagogical level so that the skies phenomenon, inferential in their totality, can be fully comprehended in all different ways of possible reading.

Procuramos fundamentar e explicitar neste trabalho o modo pelo qual o sujeito organiza, pessoal, coletiva e historicamente seu conhecimento astronômico. Toma-se como referencial teórico para essa organização a epistemologia genética de Jean Piaget, em particular sua teoria da abstração reflexionante. Apontam-se, na revisão bibliográfica, aspectos que se consideram relevantes para o conhecimento astronômico, tanto do ponto de vista teórico quanto histórico, seguindo uma direção que estrutura a gênese desse conhecimento específico, desde as estruturas sensório-motoras do sujeito, passando pelo pensamento pré-operatório, o pensamento operatório concreto e o pensamento operatório formal. O caminho seguido, uma vez que não podemos abranger o trabalho de Piaget na sua totalidade, foi o de fundamentar a aquisição do conhecimento no equilíbrio cognitivo, conseguido através de abstrações empíricas e reflexionantes, tendo como modelo, principalmente, o equilíbrio dos sistemas biológicos. Isso é, pretendemos mostrar como o conhecimento astronômico, iniciando pela percepção do céu, mediado pelo processo de equilibração e de abstração reflexionante, evolui por sucessivas tomadas de consciência dos fenômenos celestes e, ao mesmo tempo, das compreensões do próprio sujeito. Apontam-se, finalmente, algumas sugestões pedagógicas para que os fenômenos dos céus, inferenciais na sua totalidade, possam ser compreendidos em diferentes níveis de suas possíveis leituras. / This work has the objective of fundament and explicit in what ways one organizes, personal, collective and historically, its own astronomic knowledge. Jean Piaget’s genetics epistemology is taken as the referential theory, and the reflexionant abstraction theory taken as the central point. Through a checking on the bibliography, different aspects considered relevant for the astronomic knowledge are pointed out, in theory as in history, following a direction that structures the genesis of this specific knowledge, since one’s sensory-motor structures, going through the pre-operational thinking, the concrete operational thinking and the formal operational thinking. The way through which it was done, since we cannot go thorough the complete work of Piaget, fundaments the acquisition of knowledge on the cognitive equilibrium, acquired through empiric and reflexionant abstractions, having as a model, mainly, the biological systems equilibrium. In another way, with the astronomic knowledge, taken from the skies’ perception, mediated by the equilibrium theory and the reflecting abstraction theory, leads to the perception and understanding of the celestial phenomenon. By the end, the conclusions also point out suggestions in a pedagogical level so that the skies phenomenon, inferential in their totality, can be fully comprehended in all different ways of possible reading.