<a>Global trends and factors, such as the increased level of globalization, climate change, resource scarcity, and awareness of social and environmental responsibilities, as well as fiercer competition and lower profit margins in all industries, force organizations to act to retain, regain, or sustain their competitive advantages for long-term survival. These trends and factors are historically known to bring about innovations that drive the evolution of industries. Sustainability is considered to be such an innovation to achieve fiscally sound, environmentally conscious, and socially progressive organizations and supply chains. Sustainable Development and Sustainability notions are among trending topics of 21st century. Elevated sustainability concerns of various stakeholders have been forcing members of all industries to evolve into their more environmentally and socially responsible versions. This study was initiated through a comprehensive literature review phase that reviewed 477 articles published in five major databases from 1990 to 2018. The purpose of this review was to assess the current state-of-the art on the subject of lean-driven sustainability. Based on descriptive and contextual analysis, synergies, divergences, and the extent of two-way permeability of lean and sustainability concepts from the perspective of intra- and inter-organizational operations were identified along with future research opportunities. Fundamental strengths and weaknesses of both concepts, existing strong synergies and untapped potential, along with their key contributors, the potential-use cases of lean tools to derive sustainable solutions are highlighted in this review. Next, based on the findings of systematic literature review, an innovative, holistic, versatile and scalable tool was developed to assess and benchmark sustainability performance of organizations and supply chains. The proposed framework was established upon trivet structure of Triple Bottom Line philosophy and fueled by Lean, Six-Sigma and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodologies for accurate and effective measurement of sustainability performance. Completeness of the framework was ensured through development of first-generation Key Performance Indicator (KPI) pool with 33 indicators, a unique work environment assessment mechanism for safety and environmental protection issues in terms of 11 risk categories and by construction of an ownership structure for ease of framework deployment. Proposed framework is expected to help with true sustainability performance improvement and benchmarking objectives at a range of business levels from facility to sectoral operations. Upon completion of the development phase, the Sustainability Benchmarking Tool (SBT) Framework was validated at the facility level within the context of value-added wood products manufacturing. Strengths and weaknesses of the system were identified within the scope of Bronze Frontier maturity level of the framework and tackled through a six-step analytical and quantitative reasoning methodology. The secondary objective of the validation phase was to document how value-added wood products industries can take advantage of natural properties of wood to become frontiers of sustainability innovation. In the end, True Sustainability performance of the target facility was improved by 2.37 base points, while economic and environmental performance was increased from being a system weakness to achieving an acceptable index score benchmark of 8.41 and system strength level of 9.31, respectively. Social sustainability score increased by 2.02 base points as a function of better gender bias ratio. The financial performance of the system improved from a 33% loss to 46.23% profit in the post-improvement state. Reductions in CO₂ emissions (55.16%), energy consumption (50.31%), solid waste generation (72.03%), non-value-added-time (89.30%) and cost performance (64.77%) were other significant achievements of the study. In the end, SBT Framework was successfully validated at the facility level and target facility evolved into its leaner, cleaner and more responsible version of itself. Furthermore, manufacturing industries of all sorts are key stakeholders, which rely on universities to satisfy the demand for competent workforce. Society also expects universities to educate youth and contribute to their self-development by achieving both, scientific and intellectual knowledge saturation. To expand the contribution of the study to the body of knowledge in the fields of Sustainability and Modern Management techniques, an undergraduate level course curriculum that integrates modern management techniques and sustainability concepts with wood products industry dynamics was developed. Students’ pre- and post-education awareness of, and familiarity with sustainability, potential consequences of ignored sustainability issues, modern management techniques, global trends, innovation waves, and industry evolution were compared through a seventeen-question survey. Results showed that course content was successful at increasing sustainability awareness at both overall and individual sustainability pillar levels, At the end, 100% of students were able to develop complete understanding of various modern management techniques and stated that they felt confident to apply learnt skills to real life issues within their profession upon graduation. Overall, this study empirically documented how synergies between Lean, Sustainability, Six-Sigma and Life Cycle Assessment concepts outweigh their divergences, demonstrated viability of SBT Framework and presented a proven example of modern management techniques powered transdisciplinary sustainability curriculum.</a>

Although Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) has the longest history of BA Honours level translator and interpreter training in Mozambique, the university still lacks an effective model for the development of translation and interpreting competence in students. To address this problem, the present study seeks to find a practical model for the training of Mozambican professional translators and interpreters at BA Honours level that can guide the design of conducive curricula. The critical question the study attempts to answer is: What model for developing translation and interpreting competence could lead to an effective curriculum design that best meets the employment needs of Mozambican students? To this end, the study has been designed as action-research because this design enables better understanding and improvement of training processes (Cravo & Neves 2007). Three data collection tools are used to generate both qualitative and quantitative data from over 120 participants, namely: (i) a survey, (ii) an English translation test and (iii) a sample of archived Portuguese translations produced by former students. The survey findings suggest the need for a model whereby translators and interpreters are trained simultaneously within the same programme. Moreover, the results of macro- and micro-textual analysis show that, overall, the translation competence of former students is poor, suggesting that the current curriculum at UEM is failing to produce BA Honours translation/interpreting professionals. The proposed solution would be a curriculum based on a new integrated translation and interpreting competence development model with the following four pillars: communicative competence, general knowledge, strategic competence and service provision. / Nangona iyunivesithi iEduardo Mondlane University (UEM) inembali kwizifundo zesidanga esiphakamileyo (BA Honours) kuqeqesho lwabaguquleli neetoliki eMozambique, le yunivesithi ayikabi namzekelo unguwo nosebenzayo ekuphuhliseni izakhono zokuguqula nokutolika kubafundi bayo. Ukukhawulelana nale ngxaki olu phando lujolise ekufumaneni owona mzekelo usebenzayo onokusetyenziswa nonokuthi ube sisikhokelo kuyilo lwekharityhulam yesidanga esiphakamileyo iBA Honours esithatha iminyaka emine ekuqeqesheni abafundi babe ngabaguquleli neetoliki eziphume izandla zaseMozambique. Umbuzo ongundoqo nozanywa ukuphendulwa lolu phando ngulo: Ngowuphi umzekelo wokuphuhlisa izakhono zokuguqulela nokutolika onokukhokelela kuyilo lwekharityhulam esebenzayo nefezekisa iimfuno zengqesho zabafundi baseMozambique? Kungoko olu phando luye lwasebenzisa indlela yokuphanda ekuthiwa yi-action research eyenza kube lula ukuqonda nokuphucula iinkqubo zoqeqesho (Cravo & Neves 2007). Kuye kwasetyenziswa iindlela ezintathu zophando ukufumana ulwazi kubathathi-nxaxheba abali-120 ezizezi: (1) uvavanyo lwezimvo, (ii) uvavanyo lwenguqulelo yesicatshulwa esibhalwe ngesiNgesi kunye (iii) neenguqulelo zesiPhuthukezi ezenziwe ngabafundi bangaphambili ezigciniweyo. Iziphumo zeemvavanyo zezimvo zibonisa ukuba kufuneka kukho umzekelo onokusetyenziswa ekuqeqesheni abaguquleli neetoliki ngaxeshanye phantsi kwenkqubo enye. Ukongeza koku, iziphumo zohlalutyo lwesicatshulwa zibonise ukuba izakhono zokuguqulela zabafundi bangaphambili azikho mgangathweni, nto leyo ethetha ukuba ikharityhulam esetyenziswayo eUEM iyasilela ekukhupheni abaguquleli neetoliki ezinobuchule neziziincutshe. Isisombululo esicetyiswayo ke ngoko, sesokuba kubekho ikharityhulam ehlangeneyo eza kuphuhlisa izakhono zabaguquleli neetoliki esekelwe kwiintsika ezine ezizezi: isakhono sonxibelelwano, ulwazi jikelele, isakhono sobuchule kunye nokunikezwa kweenkonzo. / Nakuba iNyuvesi i-Eduardo Mondlane University (i-UEM) isinomlando omude kakhulu wokuqeqesha abahumushi notolika ezingeni leziqu ze-BA Honours eMozambique, le nyuvesi ayikabi nayo indlela esebenzayo yokuthuthukisa amakhono ezitshudeni kwezokuhumusha nokutolika. Ukubhekana nale nkinga lolu cwaningo kuhloswe ngalo ukuthola indlela esebenzayo yokuqeqesha ongoti babahumushi notolika baseMozambique ezingeni leziqu ze-BA Honours (iziqu zeminyaka emine) ezingahlahla indlela yokuklama uhlelo lwezifundo olungasiza kule nkinga. Umbuzo omkhulu lolu cwaningo oluzama ukuwuphendula ngothi: Iyiphi indlela yokuthuthukisa amakhono okuhumusha nokutolika engaholela ekuklanyweni kohlelo lwezifundo olungahlangabezana nezidingo zokuqasheka kwezitshudeni zaseMozambique? Ukufeza le nhloso, lolu cwaningo lusebenzisa uhlelo lokucwaninga olubizwa nge-action-research ngoba luyasiza ekuqondeni kangcono nasekuthuthukiseni inqubo yokuqeqesha (Cravo & Neves 2007). Kusetshenziswa amathuluzi amathathu okuqoqa imininingobunjalo nemininingobuningi evela kubabambiqhaza abangaphezu kwabayi-120, okuyilokhu: (i) ngohlolocwaningo (i-survey), (ii) ngesivivinyo sesihumusho sesiNgisi (iii) nangesampula lezihumusho zesiPutukezi zabafundi baphambilini. Okutholakale kulo uhlolocwaningo kuveza isidingo sendlela yokuqeqesha abahumushi notolika kanyekanye ohlelweni lokufundiswa olufanayo. Ngaphezu kwalokho, imiphumela yokuhlaziywa kwemibhalo nezimo eyabhalwa ngaphansi kwazo ibonisa ukuthi, ngokubanzi, amakhono okuhumusha abafundi baphambilini awamahle, okuyinkomba yokuthi uhlelo lwezifundo lwamanje e-UEM luyehluleka ukukhiqiza ongoti bokuhumusha nokutolika ezingeni le-BA Honours. Isixazululo esiphakanyiswayo ngesendlela entsha esuselwa ekuthuthukiseni amakhono edidiyela ukuhumusha nokutolika, enalezi zinsika ezine ezilandelayo: amakhono kwezokuxhumana, ulwazi ngokubanzi, ikhono lokusebenzisa amasu, nokuhlinzekwa kwezidingo. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Phil. (Languages, Linguistics and Literature)

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L'avaluació de la qualitat en interpretació al final del procés formatiu de postgrau hauria de coincidir, si més no majoritàriament, amb les expectatives de qualitat professionals respecte a un intèrpret novell. Partint d'aquesta hipòtesi, i inspirant-nos tan en estudis de satisfacció o expectatives de qualitat d'usuaris d'interpretació (perspectiva professional) com en els protocols d'avaluació aplicats a diverses universitats (perspectiva acadèmica), així com en els Models dels esforços de Daniel Gile, la nostra recerca empírica i observacional suposa una contribució a la identificació dels criteris de qualitat en interpretació. Es va enregistrar i transcriure un ampli corpus amb un total de 69 avaluacions de 18 estudiants davant d'un total de 7 examinadors en un postgrau d'interpretació de conferència mèdica. Després d'identificar els indicadors de qualitat (67) considerats pels avaluadors, es va dur a terme una anàlisi estadística, l'establiment de categories (6) i la identificació de trets distintius entre els avaluadors. La innovació rau en el fet d'haver desgranat els criteris de qualitat implícits a partir del corpus (avaluacions en un postgrau d'especialitat), en el mètode emprat per identificar les categories i en el seu processament. Els resultats mostren, entre altres qüestions, que la quantitat de comentaris positius o negatius fets pels avaluadors pràcticament no influeixen en la puntuació atorgada als estudiants. / La evaluación de la calidad en interpretación al final del proceso formativo de posgrado debería coincidir, al menos mayoritariamente, con las expectativas de calidad profesionales respecto a un intérprete novel. Partiendo de esta hipótesis, e inspirándonos tanto en estudios sobre satisfacción o expectativas de calidad de usuarios de interpretación (perspectiva profesional) como en los protocolos de evaluación aplicados en distintas universidades (perspectiva académica), así como en los Modelos de los esfuerzos de Daniel Gile, nuestra investigación empírica y observacional supone una contribución a la identificación de los criterios de calidad en interpretación. Se grabó y se transcribió un amplio corpus con un total de 69 evaluaciones de 18 estudiantes ante un total de 7 examinadores en un posgrado de interpretación de conferencia médica. Tras identificar los indicadores de calidad (67) considerados por los evaluadores, se procedió a un análisis estadístico, al establecimiento de categorías (6) y a la identificación de rasgos distintivos entre los evaluadores. La innovación radica en haber desgranado los criterios de calidad implícitos a partir del corpus (evaluaciones en un posgrado de especialidad), en el método utilizado para identificar las categorías y en su procesamiento. Los resultados muestran, entre otros extremos, que la cantidad de comentarios positivos o negativos realizados apenas influyen en la puntuación que otorgan a los estudiantes. / Assessing interpreting quality at the final stages of a student's training process at the postgraduate level should be, for the most part, in keeping with quality expectations for novel practitioners. On the basis of such hypothesis, and inspired by studies on quality satisfaction or users' expectations (professional approach), assessment protocols used in different training schools (academic approach), and Daniel Gile's Efforts Model, our research -empirical and observational- aims to contribute to identify quality-defining criteria in interpreting. A large corpus was recorded and transcribed, with a total of 69 post-exercise assessments of 18 interpreters taking a specialization course in medical interpreting by 7 instructors. The assessments were scrutinized for evaluative comments which were analyzed statistically. This involved also classifying them in categories (67) and later merging them into 6 category groups. The innovation lies in the very concept of working backwards from a corpus towards implicit quality criteria, in the work on this corpus type (assessments during a postgraduate training course), in the method used to identify categories and in the further processing of the categories. The findings give some solid indications and show that assessors are not too influenced by the number of positive or negative comments they make when deciding what mark they will grant to the students.

The use of hair and oral fluid for drugs of abuse testing has increased over the last years. For this reason, the assurance that results provided using these matrices are reliable and error-free is needed. The objective of this thesis is to develop tools to assess the quality of results provided by laboratories analysing drugs of abuse in hair and in oral fluid and to evaluate the effect on the quality of results of different actions carried out. For this reason, intercomparison exercises have been organized and some studies have been performed to develop appropriate quality control materials. Regarding the analysis of drugs of abuse in hair, nine different intercomparison exercises have been organized. The evaluation of qualitative and quantitative results reported by laboratories together with the study of the methodology used, has led to know the quality of the results, to identify the sources of error and to know the corrective actions that should be developed. Concerning the quality control material, these exercises have enabled to know the influence on the results of the type of hair used to perform the analysis. Concerning the analysis of drugs of abuse in oral fluid, a method has been developed to identify and quantify 6-monoacetyl morphine, morphine, codeine, cocaine and benzoylecgonine in oral fluid samples. On the other hand, stability studies of the main drugs of abuse in oral fluid have been done to establish the optimal preparation, transport and storage conditions, and finally, two intercomparison exercises have been conducted to know the performance of analytical laboratories when analysing drugs of abuse in oral fluid and to know the stability of some drugs of abuse in two commercial collection devices. / La creixent utilització del cabell i del fluid oral per a l’anàlisi de drogues d’abús, ha portat a la necessitat d’assegurar que els resultats obtinguts utilitzant aquestes matrius són fiables i lliures d’error. L’objectiu d’aquesta tesi és desenvolupar eines que permetin avaluar la qualitat dels resultats dels laboratoris que analitzen drogues d’abús en cabell i en fluid oral i avaluar l’efecte de diferents accions sobre la qualitat final dels resultats. Per això s’han organitzat exercicis interlaboratori i s’han realitzat estudis per desenvolupar material d’assaig adequat. Pel que fa a l’anàlisi de drogues d’abús en cabell, s’han realitzat nou exercicis interlaboratori. A través de l’avaluació dels resultats qualitatius i quantitatius informats pels laboratoris i mitjançant l’estudi de la metodologia emprada, ha estat possible conèixer la qualitat dels resultats obtinguts, detectar les fonts d’error i conèixer quines mesures correctives caldria desenvolupar. Pel que fa al material d’assaig, aquests exercicis han permès conèixer la influència que té, en els resultats, el tipus de cabell del qual es parteix per realitzar l’anàlisi. Pel que fa a l’anàlisi de drogues d’abús en fluid oral, s’ha desenvolupat i validat un mètode analític que ha permès identificar i quantificar 6-monoacetil morfina, morfina, codeïna, cocaïna i benzoïlecgonina en mostres de fluid oral. Per altra banda, s’han realitzat estudis d’estabilitat de les principals drogues en fluid oral que han permès establir les condicions òptimes de preparació, transport i conservació del material d’assaig i, per últim, s’han realitzat dos exercicis interlaboratori que han permès conèixer la qualitat dels resultats analítics obtinguts pels laboratoris i també l’estabilitat de les drogues en dos dispositius de recollida comercials.

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Le niveau d'exigence minimum pour tout système 3D (images stéréoscopiques) est de garantir le confort visuel des utilisateurs. Le confort visuel est un des trois axes perceptuels de la qualité d'expérience (QoE) 3D qui peut être directement lié aux paramètres techniques du système 3D. Par conséquent, le but de cette thèse est de caractériser objectivement l'impact de ces paramètres sur la perception humaine afin de contrôler la qualité stéréoscopique. La première partie de la thèse examine l'intérêt de prendre en compte l'attention visuelle des spectateurs dans la conception d'une mesure objective de qualité 3D. Premièrement, l'attention visuelle en 2D et 3D sont comparées en utilisant des stimuli simples. Les conclusions de cette première expérience sont validées en utilisant des scènes complexes avec des disparités croisées et décroisées. De plus, nous explorons l'impact de l'inconfort visuel causé par des disparités excessives sur l'attention visuelle. La seconde partie de la thèse est dédiée à la conception d'un modèle objectif de QoE pour des vidéos 3D, basé sur les seuils perceptuels humains et le niveau d'acceptabilité. De plus nous explorons la possibilité d'utiliser la modèle proposé comme une nouvelle échelle subjective. Pour la validation de ce modèle, des expériences subjectives sont conduites présentant aux sujets des images stéréoscopiques fixes et animées avec différents niveaux d'asymétrie. La performance est évaluée en comparant des prédictions objectives avec des notes subjectives pour différents niveaux d'asymétrie qui pourraient provoquer un inconfort visuel. / The minimum requirement for any 3D (stereoscopic images) system is to guarantee visual comfort of viewers. Visual comfort is one of the three primary perceptual attributes of 3D QoE, which can be linked directly with technical parameters of a 3D system. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is to characterize objectively the impact of these parameters on human perception for stereoscopic quality monitoring. The first part of the thesis investigates whether visual attention of the viewers should be considered when designing an objective 3D quality metrics. First, the visual attention in 2D and 3D is compared using simple test patterns. The conclusions of this first experiment are validated using complex stimuli with crossed and uncrossed disparities. In addition, we explore the impact of visual discomfort caused by excessive disparities on visual attention. The second part of the thesis is dedicated to the design of an objective model of 3D video QoE, which is based on human perceptual thresholds and acceptability level. Additionally we explore the possibility to use the proposed model as a new subjective scale. For the validation of proposed model, subjective experiments with fully controlled still and moving stereoscopic images with different types of view asymmetries are conducted. The performance is evaluated by comparing objective predictions with subjective scores for various levels of view discrepancies which might provoke visual discomfort.

L'impression, bien qu'étant une technique ancienne pour la coloration de surfaces, a connu un progrès considérable ces dernières années essentiellement grâce à la révolution du numérique. Les professionnels souhaitant remplir les exigences en termes de qualité du rendu visuel de leurs clients veulent donc savoir dans quelle mesure des observateurs humains sont sensibles à la dégradation d'une image. De telles questions concernant la qualité perçue d'une image reproduite peuvent être séparées en deux sujets différents: La qualité de l'impression, comme la capacité d'un système d'impression à reproduire fidèlement l'image d'origine, et la qualité d'une image imprimée, résultant à la fois de la qualité de reproduction, mais aussi de la qualité même de l'image numérique d'origine. Ce premier concept repose sur une analyse physique de la façon dont l'image d'origine est dégradée lors de son transfert sur un support, et nous proposons de la coupler avec une analyse sensorielle, visant à évaluer des attributs perceptuels et leur donner une valeur sur une certaine échelle, déterminée par des échantillons de référence classés par un ensemble d'observateurs. Le second concept inclut cette dégradation due à l’impression mais aussi la qualité perçu de l’image d’origine, qui ne fait pas parti de notre étude. Notre approche consiste d'abord à définir les différents indices de qualité, basés sur des critères mesurables en utilisant des outils d'évaluation basés sur des algorithmes "objectifs" de traitement d'image et des modèles optiques, sur une image imprimée-scannée. Thèse réalisée au Laboratoire Hubert Curien / Printing, though an old technique for surface coloration, considerably progressed these last decades especially thanks to the digital revolution. Professionals who want to meet the demands in terms of quality regarding the visual rendering of their clients thus want to know to which extent human observers are sensitive to the degradation of an image. Such questions regarding the perceived quality of a reproduced image can be split into two different topics: the printing quality as capacity of a printing system of accurately reproduce an original digital image, and the printed image quality which results from both the reproduction quality and the quality of the original image itself. The first concept relies on physical analysis of the way the original image is deteriorated when transferred onto the support, and we propose to couple it with a sensorial analysis, which aims at assessing perceptual attributes by giving them a value on a certain scale, determined with respect to reference samples classified by a set of observers. The second concept includes the degradation due to the printing plus the perceived quality of the original image, not in the scope of this work. In this report, we focus on the printing quality concept. Our approach first consists in the definition of several printing quality indices, based on measurable criteria using assessment tools based on “objective” image processing algorithms and optical models on a printed-then-scanned image. PhD work made in Hubert Curien Laboratory