Master of Science / Food Science Institute / Kelly J. K. Getty / The United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service require that processors of ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry products implement post- processing intervention strategies for controlling Listeria monocytogenes. The objective of our study was to determine the effect of packaging methods and storage time on reducing L. monocytogenes in shelf-stable meat snacks. Commercially available kippered beef steak strips (14 × 2.5 cm rectangle piece) and turkey tenders (4 × 4 cm square piece) were dipped into a five-strain L. monocytogenes cocktail, and dried at 23°C until a water activity of approximately 0.80 was achieved. Inoculated samples were packaged with four treatments: 1) vacuum, 2) nitrogen flushed with oxygen scavenger, 3) heat sealed with oxygen scavenger, and 4) heat sealed without oxygen scavenger. Samples were stored at 23°C and evaluated for L. monocytogenes levels at 0, 24, 48, and 72 h. Initial levels (time 0) of L. monocytogenes were approximately 5.7 log CFU/cm[superscript]2 for steak and tenders. For kippered beef steak, there was no interaction among packaging treatments and storage times (P > 0.05) whereas, storage time was different (P <0.05). A 1 log reduction of L. monocytogenes was observed at 24 and 48 h at 23°C for all packaging treatments and a 2.1 log CFU/cm[superscript]2 reduction occurred at 72 h. A 1 log CFU/cm[superscript]2 reduction of L. monocytogenes was observed after 24 h of storage for turkey tenders for all packaging treatments. After 48 h of storage time turkey tenders showed >1 log CFU/cm [superscript]2 reduction of L. monocytogenes for all packaging treatments except for vacuum packaged where only 0.9 log CFU/cm[superscript]2 reduction was observed. Log reductions at 72 h for all packaging treatments for turkey tenders ranged from 1.5 to 2.2. Processors of kippered beef steak and turkey tenders could use vacuum, nitrogen-flushing, or heat sealed with an oxygen scavenger packaging methods and hold product 24 h prior to shipping to reduce potential L. monocytogenes numbers by ≥1 log. However, processors should be encouraged to hold packaged product a minimum of 72 h to enhance the margin of safety for L. monocytogenes control.

The current research uses mail survey methodology to measure Indiana residents’ perceived optimism that emergent science and technologies will be beneficial to them and their families. A structured questionnaire was developed specifically for use in this study. After field-testing, the questionnaire was mailed to 4,500 Indiana households through a stratified random sampling design. Up to three contacts were made with subjects, resulting in receipt of usable responses from 1,003 households, or a 26% response rate.

Essa pesquisa demonstra que a biotecnologia é uma atividade econômica essencialmente baseada na interdependência de atores das esferas mercado, ciência e Estado. A empresa privada depende do conhecimento da academia e de financiamento para inovação e regulação do Estado para produzir bens e serviços. Universidades e institutos fazem pesquisa utilizando recursos públicos e privados. E governos, agências e comitês formulam políticas de CT&I e respondem pela estrutura de regulação, atividade que precisam estar afinadas com empresas e academia para que sejam efetivas. Compreender a biotecnologia passa pelo entendimento desse complexo de interdependências, por isso as três esferas são utilizadas como recurso analítico nessa tese. O segundo aspecto importante da pesquisa é que seria inapropriado falar em um setor de biotecnologia. São atividades biotecnológicas com aplicações em diferentes áreas da economia (setor privado em saúde, bioenergia e agricultura), que provêm de diferentes áreas de conhecimento (agronomia, ciências biológicas e da saúde) e que precisam de políticas públicas específicas (para medicamentos, biocombustíveis e alimentos), e não genéricas (como políticas para biotecnologia). Condição para discutir esses dois aspectos é construir a biotecnologia como um objeto empírico de pesquisa, organizando informações sobre ele com métodos e técnicas consistentes e fornecendo uma base estatística inteligível no debate público, algo que não acontece atualmente no Brasil. Para tanto essa pesquisa: a) define o conjunto de empresas com atividades biotecnológicas no Brasil e apresenta suas características; b) seleciona áreas de conhecimento relacionadas à biotecnologia e dimensiona seu potencial de produção científica; c) organiza informações sobre políticas públicas e regulação voltadas a biotecnologia no país para entender as estratégias que impactam essa atividade econômica / This thesis shows how biotechnology is essentially a business based on market, science and State. In order to produce goods and services, private firms depend on knowledge from academia and funding for innovation and regulation rules from the government. Universities and research institutes rely on public and private funding for research. And governments, agencies and public committees are responsible for policy-making in STI and for the regulation framework that directly impact companies and academia. Understanding biotechnology requires therefore an understanding of this relational complex of interdependencies the reason why the three spheres are used as an analytical framework in this thesis. The second topic to be highlighted is that it would be inappropriate to use the notion of a \"biotechnology industry\". We argue that biotechnology is based upon activities with applications in different economic industries (health, agriculture and bioenergy), is supported by several scientific areas of knowledge (agronomy, biological and health sciences) and needs specific STI and industrial policies (for medicines, food and biofuels, e.g.) rather than general ones (such as a \"biotech policy\"). In order to deal with these two topics, we must design biotechnology as an empirical and well-defined research object to build up a consistent statistical basis about biotech something that currently is missing in the Brazilian public debate. This task includes: a) defining the set of firms with biotech activities in Brazil and presenting its features; b) selecting areas of knowledge related to biotechnology and measuring its scientific research potential; c) organizing information about public policies and regulation issues on biotechnology in Brazil in order to understand how they impact on the biotech business

Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo entender as diferentes dinâmicas estabelecidas entre contracultura, economia e ciência a partir da noção de matriz de entrelaçamento. A empresa Google Inc e o objeto que melhor permite analisar as zonas fronteiriças que entrelaçam esses três elementos, preservando seus referentes e suas fronteiras.Assim este e um trabalho que tenta explorar por meio de quais processos as praticas e valores da contracultura e da produção de conhecimento científico que, ao mesmo tempo em que não eram frontalmente anti-mercado, mas que inicialmente não estavam subordinadas à produção capitalista, acabam muitas vezes se impondo aos objetivos de mercado, à forma de produção de conhecimento do capitalismo flexível, por provarem sua eficiência tecnica e sucesso comercial. Irei me referir a esses três elementos dentro de uma perspectiva dos regimes, que estabelece que cada regime tem sua base histórica, possui sua própria divisão de trabalho, seus próprios modos de produção cognitiva e de artefatos e tem audiências específicas. / This research aims to understand the different dynamics between established counterculture, economics and science from the notion of entanglement matrix. The company Google Inc. is therefore the best subject for an analysis of edge cases that intertwine these three elements, preserving their referents and their boundaries. In this manner, this research attempts to explore which processes the practices and values of counterculture and the production of scientific knowledge that, while they were not outright anti-market, but initially were not subordinated to capitalist production, often end up imposing marketing objectives, influencing the production of knowledge in a flexible capitalism for proving its technical efficiency and \"commercial\" success. I will refer to these three elements within a perspective of the regimes, which states that each regime has its historical basis, has its own division of labor, their own modes of cognitive production and has specific audiences.

Os centros e museus de ciência e tecnologia foram pouco estudados sob o aspecto arquitetônico. É proposto o conceito de centro de ciência e tecnologia, cuja particularidade é ser focado na experiência e nos fenômenos, e não nos objetos. Existem instituições específicas relacionadas a esse tipo de instituições, em especial o CIMUSET / ICOM, ASTC, ECSITE e ABCMC. Os centros de ciência são protagonistas das mudanças museológicas desde seu surgimento, nos anos 1930. O equivalente da experiência estética dos museus de arte nos museus de ciência é a experiência do processo da ciência. Os objetivos dos centros de ciência são: educacional, divulgação científica, debate e participação, social, motivação, lazer, impacto urbano. Seus públicos alvos principais são famílias e escolas. A internet, a realidade virtual e outras novas tecnologias têm grande impacto nos museus. A interatividade com objetos não é condição suficiente para o aprendizado. São necessários níveis mais profundos de interatividade e interações sociais para o sucesso do aprendizado. Os modelos interativos dos centros de ciências são os equivalentes aos objetos originais nos acervos dos museus tradicionais. A mediação humana é a mais indicada forma de interlocução entre a instituição e o visitante, mas existem outras formas, impessoais, de mediação. Diversos são os recursos expográficos disponíveis para os centros de ciências. Os percursos numa exposição estão relacionados com duas organizações espaciais: linear e episódica. A idéia de museu nasceu há vários séculos, mas o museu moderno surgiu a partir do século XVIII, constituindo uma nova tipologia funcional arquitetônica. Os museus científicos podem ser divididos em três gerações. Suas origens estão associadas às exposições universais. Montaner apresenta uma classificação dos museus contemporâneos em oito posições tipológicas. Há várias visões com relação à essência da arquitetura. Para Zevi é o espaço interior. Para Frampton, é a estrutura. Lynch defende a importância da legibilidade e da imagibilidade da cidade. Os elementos marcantes contribuem para a legibilidade. Eles podem ser edifícios. Para o adequado dimensionamento de edifícios de centros de ciências é necessário o estudo de padrões de visitação. A dissertação incluiu o estudo de diversas instituições, especialmente sob o aspecto arquitetônico. / The science and technology centers and museums have been little studied under an architectural point of view. This kind of institution is focused on the experience and phenomena, rather than on objects. There are specific institutions related to such museums, especially the CIMUSET / ICOM, ASTC, ECSITE and ABCMC. Since they appeared in the 1930s, the science centers are important agents of change in the museum field. The equivalent, in science museums, of the aesthetic experience of art museums is the experience of the process of science. The aims of a science center are: educational, scientific dissemination, discussion and participation, social, motivation, leisure, urban impact. Their main public is schools and families. The Internet, virtual reality and other new technologies have great impact on museums. The interactivity with objects is not a sufficient condition for learning. It takes deeper levels of interactivity and social interactions for learning to take place. Interactive models in science centers are the equivalent to the original objects in the traditional museums collections. The human mediation is the most appropriate form of dialogue between the institution and the visitor, but there are other ways. There are several ways of exhibit the collection at science centers. The routes in a museum may be linear or episodic. The idea of the museum was born several centuries ago, but the modern museum appeared in the eighteenth century, and became a new functional architectural typology. Science museums can be divided into three generations. Its origins are linked to universal expositions. Montaner presents a classification of contemporary museums in eight typologies. The essence of architecture may be the interior space, as for Zevi, or the structure, as for Frampton, or even other aspects. Lynch presents the important concepts of readability and imageability of the city. If they area considerably imageable, buildings may become landmarks. The study of patterns of visitation are required if one wants to design adequate science and technology centers and museums. The dissertation included the study of several institutions, mainly with an architectural view.

Os parques tecnológicos surgiram como uma tentativa de países desenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento em aumentar o padrão de competitividade por meio do suporte a inovação tecnológica em ambientes desenhados especificamente para isto. No Brasil, os parques tecnológicos foram uma resposta tardia, dos anos 2000, a um movimento que já ocorria em diversos países do mundo há algumas décadas. O desenvolvimento de novos parques tecnológicos a partir dos anos 2000 nos faz levantar a seguinte pergunta de pesquisa: qual o atual cenário de parques tecnológicos brasileiros? Quais possuem atributos que lhe trazem potencial para desenvolvimento em global? Qual o papel do governo no suporte ao surgimento e desenvolvimento de parques tecnológicos? A partir da montagem de um quadro conceitual e da análise de cada instituição que terceiros chamam de parque tecnológico no Brasil, pudemos identificar o grau de novidade que tais instituições possuem no Brasil, bem como alguns parques que, sob a luz de nosso quadro conceitual, possuem atributos que podem lhes permitir galgar elevado grau de desenvolvimento. O estudo também nos mostra que políticas públicas federais de fomento aos parques tecnológicos foram e são essenciais para o desenvolvimento dessas instituições no país. Apresento, a partir de meticuloso estudo qualitativo, o atual cenário de parques tecnológicos no Brasil, estudos aprofundados sobre os parques mais avançados, e alguns dos desafios para o governo no que tange ao desenvolvimento de política pública com maior especificidade segundo o tipo de parque tecnológico e seu grau de desenvolvimento. / Technology parks have emerged as an attempt to developed and developing countries improve their competitiveness standard through supporting technological innovation in environments designed specifically for this reason. In Brazil, technology parks are a late response (emerged on 2000s) for a movement which started in other countries in the second half of XX century. The development of new technology parks since early in 2000s are the inspiration for our main research questions: What is the current scenario of technology parks in Brazil? Which technology parks have attributes which bring them potential for their development in global level? What is the role of government in supporting the emergence and the development of technology parks in Brazil? From the assembly of a conceptual framework and from the analysis of each institution that third parties call technology parks in Brazil, we identify the degree of novelty that such institutions have in Brazil, as well as some parks that, under our conceptual framework, have the attributes that can enable them to climb high levels of development. Our study also shows that federal policies to promote technology parks were and are essential for their advance in Brazil. We bring, from a meticulous qualitative study, the current scenario of technology parks in Brazil, and case studies of the most advanced technology parks, shedding light on some of the challenges to the government regarding the development of a public policy with greater focus on the kind of technology park, according to each degree of development.

Os Parques Científicos e Tecnológicos (PCTs) são considerados instrumentos de política de apoio à inovação e transferência de tecnologia. Os parques procuram oferecer uma infra-estrutura física e organizacional favorável ao estabelecimento de empresas de base tecnológica que se beneficiam dos resultados das aglomerações dessas empresas. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar uma arquitetura de um modelo inovador para financiamento de Parques Científicos e Tecnológicos no Brasil. A proposição do novo modelo explora o potencial dos fundos de investimento como mecanismo de financiamento para os parques. A arquitetura do novo modelo apresentado neste trabalho utilizou uma estrutura norteada pelos moldes de um project finance associada ao uso do Fundo de Investimento em Participações (FIP), e o Fundo de Investimento Imobiliário (FII), como fontes de obtenção de recursos para o financiamento do empreendimento. A metodologia utilizada neste trabalho foi pesquisa-ação que contou com uma etapa de ensaio e avaliação do novo modelo. / The Science and Technology Parks (STPs) are considered useful instruments to promote innovation and transfer of technology. These parks usually offer well developed Real Estate and Research (R&D) infrastructure for the organizations and for Technology Based Firms (TBFs). The firms located in these parks can acquire strategic benefits from the effects of clustering. The main objective of this research is to propose an innovative model for the finance of STPs in Brazil. The proposed model is based on the use of private equity and real estate funds as mechanisms of finance for these parks. The model proposed in this research uses the project finance concept combined with the Brazilian Fundo de Investimento em Participações (FIP, a private equity fund) and the Fundo de Investimento Imobiliário (FII, a real estate fund). The main methodology used in this work was action research that included the testing phase and the evaluation of the model by specialists in the field.

This dissertation examines how certain epidemic outbreaks become "global threats", that is, diseases that become the focus of international regulations and organized responses while others do not. To answer this question, this dissertation draws upon archival data collected at the World Health Organization (WHO) archives in Geneva, the Western Cape Archives in Cape Town, the British Library, British National Archives, the Wellcome Library Archives in London, and twelve qualitative interviews with senior global health actors in order to analyze five cases when disease threats were prioritized internationally as well as how these constructions patterned responses to outbreaks. I begin by exploring the formation of the first international disease controls in the 19th century, the International Sanitary Conventions, created to prevent the spread of three diseases- plague, cholera and yellow fever. I probe how these earliest conventions patterned responses to diseases covered under them and limited responses to those beyond their scope. Examining how these conventions transformed, I explore why the same disease priorities were maintained by the WHO in their International Sanitary Regulations of the 1950's. Finally, I analyze the transformation of the International Health Regulations in 2005 and its effects on the assessment of disease threat. This dissertation shows that three factors structure the construction of disease threat: epidemic orientalism, economic concerns and field dynamics. Epidemic Orientalism, a discourse motivating the construction of disease threat that first emerged in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, positioned the colonized world as the space from which Europe and the Imperial powers needed to be protected. This orientalist gaze prioritizes the control of diseases emanating from colonial sites that threaten international trade and commerce and has been re-inscribed in all past and present regulations. These factors explain how and why plague, cholera and yellow fever came to be maintained as the primary diseases of international concern until the 21st century. As the WHO has recently been challenged in its authority to manage disease threats, these two factors are also mediated by the WHO's manipulation of symbolic power within a new field of infectious disease management which conditions responses to outbreaks today.

This thesis reports a new method for stability analysis and maximum time delay estimation in networked control systems with applications to distributed energy systems. The proposed new method is based on using finite difference approximation for the delay term and then the Lyapunov system stability theorem is applied to derive the time delay boundary allowed to the system. The proposed method has been applied to networked control systems with state feedback controllers, with dynamic controllers, and to multi-units interconnected networked control systems. The proposed method is then extended to a class of networked control system with bounded nonlinearity and uncertainties. It is found that increasing the nonlinearity in the system will result in decreasing the maximum allowable time delay. Compared with most of the methods reported in the published literature, the new method is simple to use while the results are comparable. When the time delay is modelled using Markov Chain the stability of the networked control system is formulated as finding the solutions for Bilinear Matrix Inequalities. An improved V-K iteration algorithm is used to solve the Bilinear Matrix Inequalities in order to derive a controller to stabilize the systems.

This thesis describes the research on the use of non-linear formant trajectories to model speech dynamics under the framework of a multiple-level segmental hidden Markov model (MSHMM). The particular type of intermediate-layer model investigated in this study is based on the 12-dimensional parallel formant synthesiser (PFS) control parameters, which can be directly used to synthesise speech with a formant synthesiser. The non-linear formant trajectories are generated by using the speech parameter generation algorithm proposed by Tokuda and colleagues. The performance of the newly developed non-linear trajectory model of dynamics is tested against the piecewise linear trajectory model in both speech recognition and speech synthesis. In speech synthesis experiments, the 12 PFS control parameters and their time derivatives are used as the feature vectors in the HMM-based text-to-speech system. The human listening test and objective test results show that, despite the low overall quality of the synthetic speech, the non-linear trajectory model of dynamics can significantly improve the intelligibility and naturalness of the synthetic speech. Moreover, the generated non-linear formant trajectories match actual formant trajectories in real human speech fairly well. The \(\char{cmmi10}{0x4e}\)-best list rescoring paradigm is employed for the speech recognition experiments. Both context-independent and context-dependent MSHMMs, based on different formant-to-acoustic mapping schemes, are used to rescore an \(\char{cmmi10}{0x4e}\)-best list. The rescoring results show that the introduction of the non-linear trajectory model of formant dynamics results in statistically significant improvement under certain mapping schemes. In addition, the smoothing in the non-linear formant trajectories has been shown to be able to account for contextual effects such as coarticulation.