Military systems are getting more complex due to the demands of various types of missions, rapidly evolving technologies, and budgetary constraints. In order to support complex military systems, there is a need to develop a new naval logistic asset that can respond to global missions effectively. This development is based on the requirement which must be satisfice-able within the budgetary constraints, address pressing real world needs, and allow designers to innovate. This research is conducted to produce feasible and viable requirements for naval logistic assets in complex military systems. The process to find these requirements has diverse uncertainties about logistics, environment and missions. To understand and address these uncertainties, this research includes instability analysis, operational analysis, sea state analysis and disembarkation analysis. By the adaptive Monte-Carlo simulation with maximum entropy, uncertainties are considered with corresponding probabilistic distribution. From Monte-Carlo simulation, the concept of Probabilistic Logistic Utility (PLU) was created as a measure of logistic ability. To demonstrate the usability of this research, this procedure is applied to a Medium Exploratory Connector (MEC) which is an Office of Naval Research (ONR) innovative naval prototype. Finally, the preliminary design and multi-criteria decision-making method become capable of including requirements considering uncertainties.

This dissertation scrutinises the impact of pregnancy challenges on the mining industry, taking the right of equality and unfair discrimination into consideration. Pre-employment pregnancy testing is an acceptable practice within the current legal framework whereby the MHSA and section 26 of the BCEA place an obligation on the employer to protect employees before and after the birth of a child. This section provides that no work may be performed by an employee that is hazardous to her health or the health of her unborn child. The dissertation synthesises and reviews the practical implications of pregnancy and related challenges of underground employees and all the problems surrounding this matter are dissected. The liability of the employer and the failure of the employee to report her pregnancy status to the employer as soon as she becomes aware of it, can be justifiably treated as misconduct. The justification of the dismissal of an underground employee based on pregnancy is confirmed in light of the legislative obligations placed on the employer. Current legislative measures, which justify an automatically unfair dismissal due to pregnancy, cannot be implemented without considering the Constitution and the employers’ right to economical sustainability. A literature study will be done using current and relevant sources such as books, legislation, court decisions, conference papers and journal articles. Methodological issues will also render it necessary to weigh up different rights through literature sources. / Thesis (LLM (Labour Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

This dissertation scrutinises the impact of pregnancy challenges on the mining industry, taking the right of equality and unfair discrimination into consideration. Pre-employment pregnancy testing is an acceptable practice within the current legal framework whereby the MHSA and section 26 of the BCEA place an obligation on the employer to protect employees before and after the birth of a child. This section provides that no work may be performed by an employee that is hazardous to her health or the health of her unborn child. The dissertation synthesises and reviews the practical implications of pregnancy and related challenges of underground employees and all the problems surrounding this matter are dissected. The liability of the employer and the failure of the employee to report her pregnancy status to the employer as soon as she becomes aware of it, can be justifiably treated as misconduct. The justification of the dismissal of an underground employee based on pregnancy is confirmed in light of the legislative obligations placed on the employer. Current legislative measures, which justify an automatically unfair dismissal due to pregnancy, cannot be implemented without considering the Constitution and the employers’ right to economical sustainability. A literature study will be done using current and relevant sources such as books, legislation, court decisions, conference papers and journal articles. Methodological issues will also render it necessary to weigh up different rights through literature sources. / Thesis (LLM (Labour Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Bakgrund. Kostens sammansättning får en stor betydelse för boende i Sverige då de inte tillgodogör sig D-vitamin från solen i samma utsträckning som länder vid ekvatorn, speciellt vintertid. Hela 80 % av den intagna mängden D-vitamin absorberas i tarmen, ändå visar forskning på att brist föreligger i större utsträckning bland boende över 55 breddgraden. Syfte. Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur troligt det är att boende i Sverige uppnår rekommenderat dagligt intag av D-vitamin. Metod. För att besvara syftet utfördes en internetbaserad kvantitativ studie, baserad på en frekvensenkät. Enkäten bestod av 28 frågor, varav åtta mätte intagsfrekvens av D-vitaminrika livsmedel. Urvalet baserades på ett bekvämlighetsurval. Kön, utbildningsnivå, hemort, utlandsvistelse, träning, kosttillskott- och solskyddsanvändning testades mot tre intagsgrupper baserad på intagen mängd D-vitamin med hjälp av Chit2-test. Vidare jämfördes deltagarnas intag mot EFSA´s gränsvärden. Resultat. Totalt inkom 144 enkätsvar av dessa rapporterade 93 % ett D-vitaminintag under rekommenderat dagligt intag (RDI). Beträffande livsmedel var lax, makrill, berikad lätt-/mellanmjölk och ägg de främsta källorna till deltagarnas uppskattade D-vitaminintag. Det var 21 % av respondenter som rapporterade ett intag under lower intake level (LI). Vidare rapporterade 32 % av respondenterna ett intag mellan LI och average requirement (AR). En mindre andel av respondenterna (n=20) hade varit utomlands under efterfrågad period. Majoriteten av respondenterna sågs använda solskyddsmedel, var aktiva och upplevde sig ha en god hälsa. Slutsats. Det beräknades föreligga en 53-% risk att någon av deltagarna hade ett inadekvat D-vitaminintag. Ett fåtal deltagare (n=10) beräknades inta D-vitamin i enlighet med RDI. / Background. The diet is of a great importance for residents in Sweden, since they do not assimilate vitamin D from the sun to the same extent as people living in countries located at the equator. The intestine absorbs as much as 80 % of the vitamin-D intake; nevertheless the insufficiency is more common among countries above the 55 latitude. Aim. The study aimed to investigate how likely it is that people in Sweden achieves the recommended daily intake of vitamin D. Method. To answer the question a quantitative study approach was chosen based on a non-random selection. Frequency questionnaire consisted of a total of 28 questions; eight measured the intake frequency of D- vitamin in food. Gender, education, place of residence, educational, training, food supplements and sun block use were tested against three intake groups based on vitamin D intake with Chit2 test. Later on participants' intake was compared with the limits of EFSA. Results. A total of 144 responded the survey, 93% of these reported a D-vitamin intake below the recommended daily intake (RDI). Food such as, salmon, mackerel, enriched easy- /semi-skimmed milk and eggs were principal sources of the participants' estimated D-vitamin intake. It was 21 % of respondents who reported an intake below lower intake level (LI). Furthermore, 32% of the respondents reported an intake between LI and average requirement (AR). A smaller proportion of the respondents (n= 20) had been abroad during requested period. The majority of the respondents were seen using sun block, was active and experienced to have a good health. Conclusion. It might be a 53-% risks that participants have an inadequate D-vitamin intake. A small number of participants (n= 10) estimate a vitamin D intake in accordance with RDI.

A tool management system for a job shop was developed in this study. The system is based on the rules of the plant of T&uuml / rk Trakt&ouml / r ve Ziraat Makineleri A.S. in Ankara. An object-oriented methodology was used during the system development. Unified Modeling Language (UML), which is the standard diagramming notation for object-oriented development, is used to model the system. Entity-Relation (E-R) modeling is used during the construction of the database. System was developed using three-tiered Microsoft Windows Distributed Internet Applications (DNA) Architecture. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 and Visual InterDev 6.0, which are the members of Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 were used as programming tools. Internet Information Server was used as web server and Microsoft Transaction Server was used as object broker. Microsoft SQL Server was used as database server. Software was developed in three modules: gage-fixture, cutting tool-tool holder and tool requirement plan modules. Gage- fixture module tracks the location of measuring equipment, fixture and fixture assemblies / keeps the related data about these tools and manage calibration of the measuring equipments. Cutting tool-tool holder module tracks the issue and return of cutting tools and tool holders / sharpening of cutting tools / keeps the related data about these tools. Tool requirement plan module tracks the purchase orders and cutting tool receivings from vendors / prepares tool requirement plan and suggests purchase orders according to the requirement calculation.

Bovine herpesvirus-1 (BoHV-1) is an important pathogen of cattle associated with respiratory and reproductive disease and is the most common viral agent implicated in the bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC). BRDC is an economically significant multifactorial disease of feedlot cattle estimated to cost Australian feedlot producers $AU60 million/year in lost production, therapeutics and disease management. Worldwide BRDC is attributed to cost $US2 billion to cattle industries. In an effort to limit the associated economic costs and enhance animal health and welfare of feedlot cattle, the concerted use of vaccination and diseased animal management are practiced. Numerous vaccines are available in North America and Canada however, in Australia, feedlot producers are reliant on three vaccines. These vaccines target either the bacterial or viral agents of the BRDC and encompass antibody, subunit and attenuated live BoHV-1 preparations. Live attenuated vaccines are developed by numerous methods including, deletion or disruption of certain genes. The development of an attenuated live virus vaccine was traditionally a laborious task requiring numerous rounds of in vitro purification. Contrastingly, technological advances introduced this decade, allowing the stable maintenance of the complete herpesvirus genome in bacteria as a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC), has advanced herpes virology exponentially in that investigation and manipulation of the herpesvirus genome can be conducted independent of a cell culture system. With respect to BRDC and the generation of vaccines to combat the disease, the tools to fully utilise the potential of BoHV-1 as a live vaccine vector are now routine. It is now possible to vii construct BoHV-1 as a delivery vector by inserting appropriate antigens of those bacterial and viral pathogens implicated in the BRDC into a BAC maintained BoHV-1 genome. However, there is a significant lack of genetic information regarding BoHV-1 and inserting several antigenic sequences would expand the genome of BoHV-1 inducing non-viability. Therefore, to further develop BoHV-1 as a vaccine vector, a study was conducted to identify the essential and nonessential genes required for the in vitro viability of BoHV-1. Identifying the essential and nonessential genes will establish which genes may be preferentially deleted or replaced with exogenous antigenic sequences in a BoHV-1 derived vaccine vector. To define the requirement of genes encoded by BoHV-1, random-insertion mutagenesis utilising a Tn5 transposition system and targeted gene deletion catalysed by GET recombination was employed to construct gene disruption and gene deletion libraries, respectively, of an infectious clone of BoHV-1. Transposon insertion position and confirmation of gene deletion was determined by direct sequencing. with the essential or nonessential requirement of either transposed or deleted open reading frames (ORFs) assessed by transfection of respective BoHV- 1 BAC DNA into host cells. Of the 73 recognised ORFs encoded by the BoHV-1 genome, 33 were determined to be essential and 36 to be nonessential for virus viability in cell culture with the requirement of the two dual copy ORFs inconclusive. The majority of ORFs were shown to conform to the in vitro requirements of BoHV-1 homologues encoded by Human herpesvirus 1. However, ORFs encoding for glycoprotein K (UL53), regulatory, membrane, tegument and capsid proteins (UL54, UL49.5, UL49, UL35, UL20, UL16 and UL7) were shown to differ in requirement when compared to Human herpesvirus-1 encoded homologues. Further analysis of clones encompassing restriction digestion profiling, one-step growth and replication kinetic analysis defined the genetic constitution and replicative capacity of the mutant clones. Thirty-three individual ORFs of the 36 defined nonessential ORF were identified as being amenable to deletion without causing significant replicative detriment to a potential BoHV-1 vaccine vector. This study has provided the foundational information required for the future development of BoHV-1 as a multivalent vaccine vector for the protection of feedlot cattle from BRDC. Furthermore, the genetic information generated in this study contributes to the general knowledge of the prototype ruminant herpesvirus, BoHV-1, and contributes to the comparative study of gene function between the large and diverse family that is Herpesviridae.

Bovine herpesvirus-1 (BoHV-1) is an important pathogen of cattle associated with respiratory and reproductive disease and is the most common viral agent implicated in the bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC). BRDC is an economically significant multifactorial disease of feedlot cattle estimated to cost Australian feedlot producers $AU60 million/year in lost production, therapeutics and disease management. Worldwide BRDC is attributed to cost $US2 billion to cattle industries. In an effort to limit the associated economic costs and enhance animal health and welfare of feedlot cattle, the concerted use of vaccination and diseased animal management are practiced. Numerous vaccines are available in North America and Canada however, in Australia, feedlot producers are reliant on three vaccines. These vaccines target either the bacterial or viral agents of the BRDC and encompass antibody, subunit and attenuated live BoHV-1 preparations. Live attenuated vaccines are developed by numerous methods including, deletion or disruption of certain genes. The development of an attenuated live virus vaccine was traditionally a laborious task requiring numerous rounds of in vitro purification. Contrastingly, technological advances introduced this decade, allowing the stable maintenance of the complete herpesvirus genome in bacteria as a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC), has advanced herpes virology exponentially in that investigation and manipulation of the herpesvirus genome can be conducted independent of a cell culture system. With respect to BRDC and the generation of vaccines to combat the disease, the tools to fully utilise the potential of BoHV-1 as a live vaccine vector are now routine. It is now possible to vii construct BoHV-1 as a delivery vector by inserting appropriate antigens of those bacterial and viral pathogens implicated in the BRDC into a BAC maintained BoHV-1 genome. However, there is a significant lack of genetic information regarding BoHV-1 and inserting several antigenic sequences would expand the genome of BoHV-1 inducing non-viability. Therefore, to further develop BoHV-1 as a vaccine vector, a study was conducted to identify the essential and nonessential genes required for the in vitro viability of BoHV-1. Identifying the essential and nonessential genes will establish which genes may be preferentially deleted or replaced with exogenous antigenic sequences in a BoHV-1 derived vaccine vector. To define the requirement of genes encoded by BoHV-1, random-insertion mutagenesis utilising a Tn5 transposition system and targeted gene deletion catalysed by GET recombination was employed to construct gene disruption and gene deletion libraries, respectively, of an infectious clone of BoHV-1. Transposon insertion position and confirmation of gene deletion was determined by direct sequencing. with the essential or nonessential requirement of either transposed or deleted open reading frames (ORFs) assessed by transfection of respective BoHV- 1 BAC DNA into host cells. Of the 73 recognised ORFs encoded by the BoHV-1 genome, 33 were determined to be essential and 36 to be nonessential for virus viability in cell culture with the requirement of the two dual copy ORFs inconclusive. The majority of ORFs were shown to conform to the in vitro requirements of BoHV-1 homologues encoded by Human herpesvirus 1. However, ORFs encoding for glycoprotein K (UL53), regulatory, membrane, tegument and capsid proteins (UL54, UL49.5, UL49, UL35, UL20, UL16 and UL7) were shown to differ in requirement when compared to Human herpesvirus-1 encoded homologues. Further analysis of clones encompassing restriction digestion profiling, one-step growth and replication kinetic analysis defined the genetic constitution and replicative capacity of the mutant clones. Thirty-three individual ORFs of the 36 defined nonessential ORF were identified as being amenable to deletion without causing significant replicative detriment to a potential BoHV-1 vaccine vector. This study has provided the foundational information required for the future development of BoHV-1 as a multivalent vaccine vector for the protection of feedlot cattle from BRDC. Furthermore, the genetic information generated in this study contributes to the general knowledge of the prototype ruminant herpesvirus, BoHV-1, and contributes to the comparative study of gene function between the large and diverse family that is Herpesviridae.

Thesis (MscAgric (Horticulture))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Production of quality fruit is the main aim in horticultural crops. Numerous research reports stress the important role of calcium (Ca) in maintaining firmness and preventing the development of physiological disorders in fruit. This study focused on the effect of water and nutrient management strategies, rootstocks and foliar Ca applications on fruit Ca content. Final Ca content/concentration in apple fruit at harvest did not differ significantly between treatments water with micro jets (hand nutrition), water and nutrients with fertigation, or water and nutrients with pulsating drip when applied to ‘Brookfield Gala’ trees in third leaf, on two rootstocks (M793 and M7). In the second trial, three Ca levels were applied to ‘Brookfield Gala’ trees through a pulsating drip system during three phenological periods to evaluate the effect on Ca uptake of the fruit. During the second season, application of high Ca levels for the period full bloom to harvest gave a higher fruit Ca concentration than with applications of standard or low Ca.

Medical Laboratories Accreditation is covered by ISO 15189:2012 - Medical Laboratories — Requirements for Quality and Competence. In Portugal, accreditation processes are held under the auspices of the Portuguese Accreditation Institute (IPAC), which applies the Portuguese edition (NP EN ISO 15189:2014). Accordingly, Medical Laboratories accreditation processes now require the estimate of measurement uncertainty (MU) associated to the results. The Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) describes the calculation of MU, not contemplating the specific aspects of medical laboratory testing. Several models have been advocated, yet without a final consensus. Given the lack of studies on MU in Portugal, especially on its application in the medical laboratory, it is the objective of this thesis to reach to a model that fulfils the IPAC’s accreditation regulations, in regards to this specific requirement. The study was based on the implementation of two formulae (MU-A and MU-B), using the Quality Management System (QMS) data of an ISO 15189 Accredited Laboratory. Including the laboratory’s two Cobas® 6000–c501 (Roche®) analysers (C1 and C2) the work focused three analytes: creatinine, glucose and total cholesterol. The MU-B model formula, combining the standard uncertainties of the method’s imprecision, of the calibrator’s assigned value and from the pre-analytical variation, was considered the one best fitting to the laboratory's objectives and to the study's purposes, representing well the dispersion of values reasonably attributable to the measurand final result. Expanded Uncertainties were: Creatinine - C1 = 9,60%; C2 = 5,80%; Glucose - C1 = 8,32%; C2 = 8,34%; Cholesterol - C1 = 4,00%; C2 = 3,54 %. ...[cont.].

Submitted by Ingryd Palloma Teodósio da Nóbrega (palloma_nobrega@hotmail.com) on 2018-04-19T12:42:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Mestrado_definitivo.pdf: 1192753 bytes, checksum: 780733e53b843a769b459dd932674e60 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Alexandra Maria Donadon Lusser Segali null (alexmar@fcav.unesp.br) on 2018-04-19T12:57:20Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 nobrega_ipt_me_jabo.pdf: 1192753 bytes, checksum: 780733e53b843a769b459dd932674e60 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-19T12:57:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 nobrega_ipt_me_jabo.pdf: 1192753 bytes, checksum: 780733e53b843a769b459dd932674e60 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-23 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Compreender o metabolismo energético das aves e como a energia é utilizada para mantença, ganho de peso e produção de ovos, permite a elaboração e avaliação de modelos que estimam a exigência nutricional considerando as diferenças de peso corporal (P), ganho de peso (GP) e massa de ovo (MO) na avicultura industrial. Objetivou-se com esta pesquisa analisar os coeficientes que representam a partição da energia ingerida por codornas japonesas na fase de produção de ovos, a partir de um estudo dose-resposta. Foram utilizadas 70 codornas japonesas da linhagem VICAMI®, com 24 semanas de idade, durante 8 semanas, alojadas em galpão convencional. Duas dietas foram formuladas, uma com alto (3.600 kcal/kg) e a outra com baixo (2.100 kcal/kg) teor de energia. Para modificar a energia retida pelas aves, foi empregada a técnica da diluição, obtendo os níveis crescente de energia metabolizável da dieta. Foram utilizados sete tratamentos distribuídos inteiramente ao acaso, com dez repetições e uma codorna por unidade experimental. Os tratamentos foram 2.118; 2.381; 2.557; 2.776; 2.908; 3.171 e 3.435 kcal/kg, com base na composição analisada das dietas determinadas em ensaio de metabolismo. As variáveis analisadas foram ingestão de energia metabolizável (IEM), produção de calor (PC) e energia retida (ER) expressas em kcal/kg0,67. A energia metabolizável para mantença (EMm) foi obtida a partir da relação entre ER e IEM, considerando a condição ER = 0. A exigência metabolizável para ganho de peso (EMg) foi estimada pela relação entre eficiência de utilização de energia (k) e energia líquida para ganho (ELg). A exigência de energia metabolizável para massa de ovo (EMo), foi obtida por meio da energia retida no ovo, dividida pela eficiência de utilização de energia para massa de ovo (ko). Os valores estimados para EMm, EMg e EMo foram 155,60 kcal/kg P0,67; 5,89 kcal/g e 2,74 kcal/g, respectivamente. Os modelos que predizem a IEM baseados nos parâmetros que representam exigência de energia de acordo com seu fracionamento, foram avaliados por meio da decomposição linear do erro (observado - predito), em erro escalar e viés de predição, obtidos por regressão linear entre os erros e valores preditos. O modelo obtido foi IEM = 155,60 × P0,67 + 5,89 × GP + 2,74 × MO, a composição do erro analisado (3,79 kcal/ave.dia) mostrou que o modelo é imparcial, com 93% de precisão nas estimativas, portanto, capaz de predizer o conjunto de dados analisados, o que valida seu uso. / – To understand the energy metabolism of birds and how energy is used for maintenance, weight gain and egg production, allow the elaboration and evaluation of models that estimate the nutritional requirement considering the differences of body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG) and egg mass (EO) in industrial poultry. The objective of this research was to analyze the coefficients that represent the partition of the energy ingested by Japanese quails in the egg production phase, from a doseresponse study. In a conventional shed it was housed 70 Japanese quails of VICAMI® line, at 24 weeks old, during 8 weeks. Based on the dilution technique it was formulated two energy levels diets, one with high (3,600 kcal/kg) and other with low (2,100 kcal/kg). Seven treatments were randomly distributed, with ten replicates and one quail per experimental unit. Treatments were levels of metabolizable energy in the diet being: 2,118; 2,381; 2,557; 2,776; 2,908; 3,171 and 3,435 kcal/kg. The variables analyzed were metabolizable energy intake (MEI), heat production (HP) and retained energy (RE) expressed in kcal/kg0.67. The metabolizable energy for maintenance (MEm) was obtained from the relation between RE and MEI, solving the equation RE = 0. The metabolizable requirement for weight gain (MEg) was estimated by the relation between use efficiency of energy (k) and net energy for gain (NEg). The metabolizable energy requirement for egg mass (MEe) was obtained by the relation between energy retained in the egg, divided by the energy utilization efficiency for egg mass (ke). The estimated values for MEm, MEg, MEe were 155.60 kcal/kg BW0.67 , 5.89 kcal/g and 2.74 kcal/g; respectively. The models that predict MEI based on the parameters that represent the energy requirement according to its fractionation were evaluated by linear error decomposition (observed - predicted), in scalar error and prediction bias obtained by linear regression between errors and predicted values. The obtained model was MEI = 155.60 × BW0.67 + 5.89 × BWG + 2.74 × EO, the analyzed error composition (3.79 kcal/bird.day), of display showing the model is unbiased, with 93% accuracy in the estimates, therefore, able to predict the analyzed data set, which validates its use.