A crescente utilização do concreto, que é o produto mais fabricado no mundo em termos de volume, somada à pressão do mercado por redução de custos com manutenção das exigências mínimas para segurança do projeto, tem impacto direto na importância e necessidade do controle de qualidade do material. Para concretos usinados, predominantes em grandes centros urbanos, as normas do país preconizam a não utilização dos 15% iniciais e finais do volume total de concreto do caminhão betoneira para fins de ensaio. No entanto, devido a maior facilidade e agilidade, é constatada como prática comum nos canteiros de obra da região a coleta de amostras logo da primeira porção de concreto descarregado. Considerando tal procedimento, fora do padrão preconizado por norma, somado à ausência de normatização para aferição da qualidade do misturador e uniformidade da mistura do concreto e a importância dos ensaios de controle de qualidade dos concretos perante a segurança das estruturas, a presente pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar as variações de resistência à compressão e de propriedades físicas do concreto ao longo da descarga da mistura em caminhão betoneira. A fim de atingir a meta proposta, realizaram-se coletas de amostras em cinco pontos distintos, ao longo da descarga do concreto do caminhão betoneira, para cada um dos 65 lotes (amassadas) avaliados, considerando três diferentes traços de concreto. Para cada ponto de coleta foram avaliados a resistência à compressão, o abatimento de tronco de cone e o teor de agregado graúdo. Estatisticamente, foi constatado que há amassadas em que a variação do ponto de coleta influencia na resistência à compressão, no entanto não se pode afirmar o mesmo considerando critérios da ABECE, adotados como parâmetro de análise na falta de normatização específica para o tema. Não houve a formação de um perfil representativo das variações de resistência conforme o ponto de coleta, diferentemente do teor de agregado graúdo, em que se pode visualizar claramente um perfil em que há concentração de brita nos pontos extremos, início e final da coleta. Em relação à consistência, de modo geral, houve uma redução do ponto inicial ao final, dentro dos limites de indicados por norma. / The crescent utilization of concrete which in terms of volume, is the most produced product in the world, added to the pressure of the market to reduce the costs and maintenance of the safety minimum requirements of a project, make a direct impact on the material quality control’s importance and necessity. For ready-mixed concrete, mostly seen in large urban centers, the initial and final 15% usage of its total volume is not recommended by the country standards for test purposes. However, due to the ease, it is a common practice in construction sites of the region to collect samples once the first portion of the concrete is unloaded. Taking into account such procedure, which does not meet the standards recommended, added to the lack of standardization to assess the quality of the concrete mixer, the uniformity of the concrete mixture and the importance of the quality control tests of concrete under the safety of structures, the purpose of this research is to analyze the variations of the concrete strength when compressed and its physical properties along the discharge of the mixture made in a mixer truck. In order to achieve the proposed goal, there were sampling carried out at five different points along the discharge from the concrete mixer truck, for each of the 65 lots (batches) analyzed, considering three different types of concrete. Each sampling collected was analyzed by going through a slump test, compression strength and granulometry analysis. Statistically, it was proven that the sample point collection variation of some of the batches influences the compression strength, on the other hand the same cannot be found considering the ABECE criteria, used as analysis parameter in the absence of specific regulations for the subject. No representative profile of resistance variations based on the sample collection point was formed, in contrast to the coarse aggregate content, in which profile can be clearly seen a concentration of gravels at the extreme points, at the commencement and the end of the sample collection. Regarding its consistency, on the whole, there was a reduction from the initial and to the end point, respecting the regulations standards.

During a make ready in a web offset press it is important to produce as little waste as possible. Reducing the amount of waste yields savings of both time and money. One way to do faster make ready is to preset the ink keys of the press before it is started. This diploma work, carried out at Sörmlands Grafiska Quebecor AB in the city of Katrineholm, Sweden, examines how the ink key preset may be done using low- resolution digital images stored in the vendor independent data format CIP3 PPF. The press that has been used has a control interface that is not accessible from the outside. This feature is shared with a lot of older presses. Therefore several methods of how to present and collect ink key settings using offline methods have been tested. To investigate the relationship between mean coverage over one ink zone and its corresponding ink key opening data from a 32-page web offset press has been collected. The mean coverage was taken from the CIP3 PPF files that were related to the collected print jobs. The relationship that was found between the coverage and the opening can be described with a transfer curve (one curve per printing unit and side). Using as few as three print jobs of high quality (density and dot gain within given tolerances) a first set of transfer curves may be created. These are close to the real ones and using print jobs where the ink key presettings have been calculated the transfer curves may be calibrated to perform better and better presetting calculations. To generate and calibrate the transfer curves and to extract the mean coverage values from the CIP3 PPF files and recalculate these to presetting values a computer program called IKPS (Ink Key Presetting System) was made. IKPS was made using MATLAB from MathWorks INC. IKPS have been tested for ink key presetting during a number of print jobs. Even though the transfer curves were uncalibrated the system performed well. As comparison the results from a plate scanner was used. Even if online transfer of the presetting values is preferable the big advantage with the IKPS is that it is an offline system and therefore it is possible to implement it on any kind of offset press, old as well as new. In order to generate reliable transfer curves the print jobs used for calibration must be of high printing quality and representative for that particular press. How the ink key presettings are presented in the press control room depends on what kind of press it is. IKPS works with CIP3 PPF files as well as low-resolution cmyk tiff files.

M. Phil. / The purpose of this research is to see if on-site portable pull-out tests in South Africa on post-installed chemical and mechanical fixings can produce similar results to internationally laboratory tested fixings. The method used in the field study was to use typical South African 25 MPa, 75 mm slump ready mix concrete as supplied by a reputable supplier and to test several types of fixings in common situations, some covered in the European Technical Approval Guidelines (ETAG) and some not. The results were analyzed against published international values and theoretical calculations for the fixings. The findings showed that the results produced using the portable equipment can show values similar to the published and theoretical values. It was also shown that this methodology can be used as a diagnostic tool to reveal installation errors. The pull-out test operator needs to be skilled to ensure a satisfactory outcome of the tests. The implications of the findings have direct bearing on: The on-site pullout testing of post installed anchors in South Africa; The diagnosing of bad anchor installation. And secondarily bearing on: The education of post-installed fixing installers and designers; The lack of standards for post-installed anchors in South Africa; The transportability of data from international research to South African conditions.

This is a case study dissertation to research the socio-political conflict surrounding Gilles Eric Séralini’s et al (2012) research on the toxicity of Monsanto’s NK603 line of corn and the herbicide Roundup. The study analyzes this conflict as a system of interconnected and often conflicting interests, assumptions and ideologies about how knowledge is created and transformed from the research stage to the policy implementation stage. The goal of this study is to: 1.) analyze critical surface level and underlying factors that contribute to the conflict; 2.) analyze systemic processes between national and international researchers, private interests and government policymakers in developing and implementing research protocols, policies and regulations pertaining (but not limited) to Monsanto’s NK603 corn and Roundup; 3.) identify potential patterns of knowledge transformation from the research stage to policy implementation. The theoretical approach used in this study considers social construction, critical theory and Kuhn’s theory of scientific revolution. In utilizing case study methodology, this study incorporates internal analysis of Séralini’s case with a basic comparative analysis of DDT and lead policy processes and knowledge transformation, using mainly secondary data sources supplemented with primary interview material from two select researchers using purposive sampling. By conducting this research, it is hoped that this study reveals a better understanding of the complex interconnected systems that help create and transform food safety policies and the science that supports and/or transforms them.

This work deals with comparison of business in the Czech and Slovak Republics, focusing on a limited company and specifically on the comparison of the possible ways and conditions of its acquisition in both states. The first chapter is devoted to the characteristics of some basic concepts, the second chapter the description of the legal forms of business in the CR and the third focuses on the general characteristics of the company. In the fourth and fifth chapter lists analyzed by a public company and limited partnership under the laws of both states. The sixth chapter focuses on the core theme of work and it is a limited liability company, a detailed analysis Ltd. under the laws of both countries and a description and comparison of ways to within Ltd. start a business. Gradually options are compared to set up Ltd. in both countries by self-help, by consulting firms and buy ready made Ltd. together with a practical comparison of prices of the services. The seventh chapter is devoted to the joint-stock company and its modification in the law of the CR and SR. The last chapter is a comparison of Czech and Slovak Republic in terms of their tax burden and agenda.

L’art moderne et contemporain a quitté le régime de la Représentation pour expérimenter d’autres fonctions et proposer à un nouveau « regardeur » d’autres rapports avec la réalité vécue. Pour cela, il faut que quelque chose de fondamental ait changé dans la relation de l’artiste au monde : l’espace n’est plus quelque chose qu’il élabore au moyen de l’oeuvre, ou en elle. L’espace est, pour l’artiste moderne, une « donnée » dans laquelle il est placé d’emblée, à l’instar de tout être. Cela veut dire qu’il n’y a pas d’espace propre à l’oeuvre d’art qui ne soit l’espace du monde lui-même. L’art, c’est le monde, à travers l’engagement de tout ce qui l’occupe.C’est ce que Jean Paulhan (1884-1968), en parlant des cubistes, avait appelé « l’espace brut » ou « l’espace spontané », et qui est désigné ici comme « l’espace réel », pour le différencier de toute fiction spatiale. C’est aussi ce que Marcel Duchamp a élaboré à travers ses expérimentations sur les choses et le langage, l’ayant conduit à concevoir cette complexematrice de l’art qu’est le Ready-made en remplacement de la Perspective. Ainsi, ce qu’on nomme art contemporain est un art qui s’élabore dans le monde, impliquant les êtres et les choses, les formes et les signes, mais aussi la « lumière » des idées, toujours déjà là. Comprendre l’art, c’est, pour chacun, appréhender, sans pouvoir se dérober, comment se joue une rencontre entre ces entités contradictoires, visant une unité nouvelle et exprimant l’intuition du monde comme Tout.Cette thèse est un tel effort de compréhension qui, dans ma pratique de commissaire d’exposition et de critique d’art, a été partagé avec des artistes, au plus près des oeuvres et dans de multiples contextes, dans le cadre de ces institutions « d’aménagement du territoire » que sont les Fonds régionaux d’art contemporain / Modern and contemporary art have abandoned the system of Representation to experiment with other functions and to offer a new “beholder” different relations with a lived reality. To do this, something fundamental had to alter the artist’s relation to the world: space is no longer developed by means of the work, or within it. For modern artist, space is a “given” in which he is immediately placed, like any being. This means that there is no space peculiar to the work of art which is not the space of the world itself. Art is the world, through the involvement of everything occupying its space.This is what, in talking about the Cubists, Jean Paulhan (1884-1968) called “raw space” and “spontaneous space”, which is here described as “real space”, to differentiate it from any spatial fiction. It is also what Marcel Duchamp developed in his experiments involving things and language, leading him to devise that new matrix of art known as the Readymade,replacing Perspective. So what we call contemporary art is an art that is developed within the world, involving beings and things, forms and signs, invariably already there. For everyone, understanding art is grasping how, without being able to sidestep, the encounter between these contradictory entities is enacted, aimed at a new unity and expressing the intuition of the world as a Whole.This thesis is such an effort at comprehension, which, in my activities as an exhibition curator and art critic, has been shared with artists, at very close quarters with works and in many different contexts, within the framework of those institutions of “regional development”, the regional contemporary art collections (FRAC).

The present Doctorate Thesis is circumscribed be the investigation of the technique that Marcel Duchamp denominated ready-made with the objective of gaining an insightful reading that goes beyond the already copious interpretations of this expressive procedure as a straight-forward descontextualization of the found object. We choose to foreground the undercurrents that animate the objet trouvé and in this way emphasize the specific morphologies provided by the ongoing turning-points of similar creative explorations. We have purposely focused our inquiry exclusively on the work of the contemporary, creative artist Joan Millet Bonet (Gandia '58) since his work is so well suited as example by addressing the concerns that will be scrutinized by our analytical and descriptive investigations. Here we show documentation of this investigation into the narrative and conceptual field as well as into the field of technical and procedural methodologies. We are also trying to highlight the underlying relationships that unite them. In so doing, we are trying access the how and why of their final formal structure that may reveal the possible distinctive relevance in the context of contemporary artistic expression. / La presente Tesis Doctoral se circunscribe dentro del estudio de la técnica que Marcel Duchamp denominó ready-made. Con la finalidad de obtener una visión contemporánea que trascienda a la ya extendida concepción de este modo de hacer como una sencilla descontextualización del objeto encontrado, hemos decidido profundizar en las posibles relaciones subyacentes que mueven al objet trouvé a presentar una determinada morfología en las renovaciones actuales de semejantes tipos de abordajes creativos. Para ello, hemos establecido un marco de acción, concentrando nuestros esfuerzos en la obra del creador contemporáneo Joan Millet Bonet (Gandía, 1958), puesto que su producción artística reúne los requisitos necesarios para ejercer de ejemplo, así como de objeto de estudio, en nuestras investigaciones analíticas y descriptivas. En este documento quedan registradas nuestras indagaciones, realizadas tanto en el campo narrativo y conceptual como en aquel vinculado al procedimiento y a la técnica. Además, tratamos de extraer el sustrato relacional que une ambas cuestiones entre sí, con el objetivo dirigido a averiguar la razón morfológica del producto final y su posible vigencia en el contexto artístico actual. / La present Tesi Doctoral se circumscriu dins de l'estudi de la tècnica que Marcel Duchamp va denominar ready-made. Amb la finalitat d'obtindre una visió contemporània que transcendisca a la ja estesa concepció d'aquesta manera de fer com una senzilla descontextualització de l'objecte trobat, hem decidit aprofundir en les possibles relacions subjacents que mouen l'objet trouvé a presentar una determinada morfologia en les renovacions actuals de semblants tipus d'abordatges creatius. Amb eixes intencions, hem establert un marc d'acció i hem concentrat els nostres esforços en l'obra del creador contemporani Joan Millet Bonet (Gandia, 1958), atés que la seua producció artística reuneix els requisits necessaris per tal d'exercir d'exemple, així com d'objecte a estudiar, en les nostres investigacions analítiques i descriptives. En aquest document queden registrades les nostres indagacions, realitzades tant en el camp narratiu i conceptual com en aquell vinculat al procediment i a la tècnica. A més, tractem d'extraure el substrat relacional que uneix ambdós qüestions, amb l'objectiu dirigit a esbrinar la raó morfològica del producte final i la seua possible vigència en el context artístic actual. / Marqués Serra, D. (2017). LA PLÁSTICA DEL OBJETO ENCONTRADO. Técnicas e ideología en el caso del artista invisible Joan Millet [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/90564 / TESIS

While much of the literature regarding college readiness focuses on student-specific factors, such as the individual's academic achievement; scores on college readiness assessments; and high school GPA, more research is needed to understand which school-level factors have the most influence on the percentage of college-ready graduates. The purpose of this research study was to explore the impact of various school-level factors (i.e., student demographics, college entrance exam facts, course offerings, and school characteristics) on the percentage of college ready graduates from Texas public high schools serving Grades 9-12 over a 3-year period. A multiple regression analysis conducted for each year's data resulted in three regression models, which identified various predictors (e.g. per-pupil instructional expenditures, teacher years of experience, taking advanced and/or dual credit coursework) of the percentage of college-ready graduates for schools accounting for 91.7%, 79.5%, and 65.6% of the explained variance in 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively. Findings from this study provide educational leaders with data that could help them to make better-informed decisions regarding potential college readiness initiatives that, ultimately, could improve student performance.

This study examines how to make trend fashion based ready-to-wear apparels with no fabric waste in the cutting phase through geometric pattern-making. To work with sustainability through geometrical pattern-making in construction, within the context of commercial fashion. The fashion industry is one of the world's top polluters. Several million tonnes of textile ends up in landfills all over the world every year, landfills are overwhelmed and that has a great impact on the environment. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the method of geometric pattern making can have a commercial value in sustainability. How it can bring benefits within fashion design to become more sustainable, and thus help tackle issues in relation to fabric waste in garment production. Significantly, the project discusses if there can be a way of making commercial clothes more sustainable through geometric pattern-making so no fabric is wasted when it is being cut. The work proposes potential solutions and expressions through this chosen methodology.

Cell assay that evaluates a biologics’ potency and efficacy is an important part in the discovery and development of drug candidates. However, it requires regular maintenance of cell cultures, and the cell assays can only be performed when the cells have reached 70-80% confluency. By instead using assay-ready cells, the drugs can be screened at any time by simply thawing the cells. This creates a more flexible assay, while saving time, labor and materials in addition to removing day-to-day variability. In this report, the freezing conditions for HEK-Blue™ CD40L cells are evaluated using the assay-ready cell method compared to a continuous culture. Via colorimetric detection, the CD40 receptors’ activation can be determined and a dose-response curve of a CD40 agonist can be produced. The optimal freezing condition for the assay-ready cells were determined to be 10% DMSO and a cell concentration between 1-30 million cells/mL. After reproducibility, robustness and screening tests, it could be concluded that the method generally produced results that had no significant difference to a continuous culture. Some of the assay-ready cells display a higher background which can affect the value of the efficacy. The source of the background will have to be evaluated in future studies. The potency, on the other hand, is stable regardless of cell method or high background.