Tesis sobre el tema "Msf"

Порядок виконання задач, структура та функції команди, обрання методів оцінки та контролю визначає обрана методологія розробки програмного забезпечення. Одним із способів реалізації основних ідей гнучкої методології розробки програмного забезпечення Scrum є модель команди Microsoft Solution Framework (MSF), у якій всі члени команди відповідальні та зацікавлені у високому результаті створеного програмного продукту. Це забезпечується завдяки рольовим кластерам MSF, кожен з яких представляє собою унікальну точку зору на проєкт та може включати як одного, так і декількох членів команди. Кожен рольовий кластер має зону відповідальності: - кластер управління програмою – відповідає за управління проєктом, тобто те, щоб вимоги клієнта були правильно сприйняті та проведені через проєкт – у такий рольовий кластер обов’язково повинен входити Product Owner.

The world population is increasing at a very rapid rate while the natural water resources remain constant. During the past decades industrial desalination (reverse osmosis (RO) and multistage flash desalination (MSF)) became a viable, economical, and sustainable source of fresh water throughout the world. In the MSF units, the flashing of seawater involves formation of pure vapour, which flows through a wire mesh demister to remove the entrained brine droplets and then condenses into product water. The study presented in this thesis is motivated by the absence of detailed modelling and analysis of the dynamics of the MSF process and the demister. A detailed dynamic model can be used in design, control, startup/shutdown and troubleshooting. Most of the previous studies on MSF plant focused on model development and presented limited amount of performance data without any validation against plant data. Literature models of the MSF demister are either empirical or semi-empirical. This motivated use of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to design a new demister that will reduce the pressure/temperature drop in the vapour stream without affecting the separation efficiency of brine droplets and allows the optimal design of complete MSF units. Lumped parameter dynamic models were developed for the once through (MSF-OT) and the brine circulation (MSF-BC) processes. The models were coded using the gPROMS modelling program. The model predictions for both MSF-OT and MSF-BC in steady state and dynamic conditions showed good agreement against data from existing MSF plants with an error less than 1.5%. Dynamic analysis was made to study plant performance upon making step variations in system manipulated variables and identify stable operating regimes. New stable operating regimes were reached upon changing the cooling water flow rate by + 15% and increasing the recycle brine flow rate by 15% and decreasing it by 7%. This was not the case for the steam temperature where its variation was limited to + 2-3 %. This behavior is consistent with the actual plant data. The FLUENT software was used to model the MSF demister using different combinations of Eulerian and Lagrangian approaches to model the vapour and the brine droplets. This provided the open literature with novel and new methodologies for design and simulation of the MSF demister using CFD. A new demister design was made upon varying the wire diameter. This led to an efficient design with low pressure drop and high separation efficiency. This design was used in the MSF/gPROMS model to predict its effect on the heat transfer area. The new design provided reductions of 3-39% in the condenser heat transfer area without affecting dynamic performance. Since the tubing system accounts for almost 70% of the capital cost, then this would reduce the plant capital cost and product unit cost. The modelling approach presented in this thesis enables design of thermal desalination units to determine optimal heat transfer area and optimized operating conditions.

Migration Stimulating Factor (MSF) is an oncofoetal protein which is constitutively produced by both epithelial and stromal cells during foetal development, not expressed by the majority of their normal adult counterparts, but re-expressed during pathological processes such as cancer and wound healing. Scotland has the highest occurrence of oral cancers in the UK; the incidence is still increasing, but patient survival remains very poor. The expression of MSF in oral tumours has not been previously reported. The aims of this study were: • To determine the effects of MSF on the migration of oral tumour cell lines and normal stromal cells in culture (chapter 3), • To ascertain the possible presence, diagnostic and prognostic value of MSF in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC; chapter 4), and salivary gland tumours (SGT; chapter 5). • To identify the putative MSF receptors in oral tumour cell lines (chapter 6). For tissue culture studies, the effects of rhMSF (wild type and mutant proteins) were examined on human cell lines TYS, HSG, Endo 742 and FSF44. These cells were derived from OSCC, SGT, microvascular endothelial cells and skin fibroblasts, respectively. For ex-vivo studies, paraffin embedded archival specimens of OSCC and SGT were stained with specific MSF antibodies and the level of staining was assessed by consensus of 2-4 independent observers. The association between MSF expression and patient survival was determined by Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests. Results presented in this thesis indicate that TYS and HSG cells secrete bioactive MSF in culture. rhMSF stimulated the migration of these tumour cells. The use of mutant proteins demonstrated marked differences among the cells examined: Five bioactive motifs (4x IGD and 1x HEEGH) were required for MSF bioactivity on TYS and HSG cells, whereas only one of these motifs was required for Endo 742 and two for FSF44. MSF+aa and MSF-aa showed the same migration-stimulating activity, but differ in their interaction with the MSF-inhibitor Neutrophil Gelatinase-Asscciated Lipocalin (NGAL). NGAL was shown to bind to and inhibit MSF+aa, but not MSF-aa. The bioactivity of MSF+aa and MSF-aa was inhibited by Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Protein-7 (IGFBP7), MSF-function-neutralising antibody and antibody to the integrin avß3. This integrin was identified in the cell membrane material bound to MSF, suggesting that avß3 is a receptor for MSF.

This study focuses on an actual cogeneration power and MSF desalination plant and models it, analyses it, and proposes enhancements to MSF desalination at different, real operating scenarios. Based on actual data gathered from the plant for a full operating year, the study has identified the major operating scenarios of this cogeneration plant due to seasonal change to provide a real basis for assessing thermal, economic and environmental performance. It is difficult to standardize thermal evaluation of such systems because the net products, electrical power and water, are different in quality. Exergy analysis has achieved worldwide acceptance for thermal system assessment but no study was found in the literature that addressed the evaluation of power and MSF desalination together using exergy analysis. This thesis, therefore, makes an original contribution to this issue in three areas. Firstly, as simulation is the only practical approach to investigate enhancements to complex plants, the simulation models developed for the power and water desalination plant have been validated against actual operating data to substantiate the credibility of this approach. For the power plant model, validation against actual plant data at the three operating scenarios gave differences between the model and actual data varying from 1.0% to 3.7%. The MSF desalination system was modelled and validated against vendor testing data with the highest difference of 3.9%. Secondly, while previously both power production and desalination have been evaluated separately using the exergy approach, this study has applied it in a standardized approach to a specific cogeneration power and water desalination plant, including exergy analysis of the MSF desalination in detail that has not been found in the literature. It has been shown that the specific coupling of MSF desalination with a combined power plant is not a preferable option for thermal performance, which is contrary to the previous studies using Heat Utilization Factor as a performance indicator. The simulation was used to carry out a pioneer attempt of detailed energy and exergy analysis using the latest published thermodynamics properties, assuming that seawater solution is not an ideal solution (assumed in previous studies). Extraction of the hot distillate water from MSF up to stage 8 could enhance exergy efficiency to 14%. Extraction of hot distillate water from MSF stages was found to increase the unit water production up to 2%. Further, utilizing the hot water to heat up the make-up seawater flow through an Internal Heating (IH) caused an increase of brine recirculation temperature and reduced the powering steam by 5% and therefore reduces natural gas consumption and CO2 emissions by 57000 tonnes. Implementation of this modification has a one-year payback period. Thirdly, this study has, for the first time, studied the recovery of low-grade heat from MSF hot distillate water to enhance power or water production through the Absorption Chiller (AC), the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), and the Single Effect Desalination (SED). There appears to be no literature exploring MSF hot distillates to power AC to cool the gas turbine inlet by AC or dedicated SED (though previous studies have investigated steam powered MED). The temperature of these hot distillate stages was between 65ºC and 100ºC, suitable for low-grade heat recovery technologies and it was confirmed that utilizing part of the heat up to 10ºC temperature difference in the AC, ORC, and SED and reconnected back to IH had no adverse impact on the original MSF performance. Utilizing the heat to produce cooling from a single effect H2O/LiBr AC, the produced cooling load could be used to cool down the gas turbine inlet temperature to augment the electrical power generation. The AC was modelled and validated against manufacturer data. Reducing the GT inlet temperature by AC cooling increased the cogeneration plant electrical power production by 3.8% for every 5ºC reduction, with CO2 emissions reduced by 29000 tonnes and a 2.4 year payback period to implement such a modification. An ORC unit was modelled and validated against an existing plant. From both energy and exergy aspects, it was found that R245fa performs better as a working fluid than R134a in this application. Annually this option could increase plant power generation by 9000 MWh and reduce CO2 emissions by 13000 tonne. The economic assessment of this option showed the payback period was the highest at 5.2 years. Powering of hot water SED from hot MSF distillate water was the fourth heat recovery option studied (for the first time). The SED was modelled and validated against manufacturer published data with a 3.2% difference. The SED was able to produce 240000 tonne/year of water. This hybridization saved 11000 tonnes/year in CO2 emissions. The implementation of the modification has a 1.8 years payback period.

The oncofetal protein Migration Stimulating Factor (MSF) is a truncated isoform of human fibronectin which exhibits numerous bioactivities that are pertinent to cancer progression. The MSF protein (70kDa) has potent motogenic activity, with only femtomolar concentrations required to produce half-maximal. The proteolytic degradation of MSF generates the functionally equivalent 43kDa Gel-BD domain and 21kDa IGD peptide. The screening of conditioned medium (CM) for bioactivity revealed two sources of MSF-inhibitory (MSF-I) activity; the spontaneously immortalised human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) and endothelial cells (ENDO 742) specifically when exhibiting a cobblestone phenotype. The CM from the HaCaT keratinocyte line was fractionated by both molecular weight and ionic charge, followed by sequence analysis which identified the inhibitor as Neutrophil Gelatinase Associated Lipocalin (NGAL). Both recombinant and cell-produced NGAL neutralise the motogenic activity of MSF. This novel bioactivity for NGAL is not dependent on its iron transportation capability or direct binding to MSF. HaCaT cells also secrete MSF; the bioactivity of which is masked by the co-expression of NGAL. The relative expression levels of the pro- and anti-motogenic factors, MSF and NGAL, were assessed using an in vitro model for human skin carcinogenesis, the HaCaT –ras clones. The shift in tumorigenic potential from benign to metastatic was characterised by a decrease in NGAL and an increase in MSF expression, indicating their potential role in tumour progression. The protein responsible for the MSF inhibitory activity is cell- type specific; NGAL is not expressed by endothelial cells in vitro. MSF stimulates the generation of sprouting endothelial cells from a cobblestone monolayer and acts a survival factor for spontaneously sprouting cells within a 3D matrix. NGAL does not selectively the target sprouting phenotype of endothelial cells, but induces apoptosis in all endothelial cells. Fractionation of endothelial CM revealed that both sprouting and cobblestone cells express bioactive MSF and a MSF-I. Endothelial MSF-I was located in fractions of MW 70kDa, 40kDa and =25kDa; further investigation is required to identify the protein responsible.

Au cours des dernières années, le nombre de catastrophes naturelles a subi une augmentation effrayante partout dans le monde. Même si le nombre de décès déclarés a diminué sur les dernières années, le nombre de personnes affectées ne cesse pas d'augmenter, ayant un grand impact dans la façon dont les opérations d'aide humanitaire sont développées. L'aide humanitaire comprend une myriade d'acteurs parmi lesquels on trouve les donateurs, les agences d'aide, les organisations non-gouvernementales (ONG), les gouvernements et les prestataires de service logistique. Dans ce contexte, la logistique représente 80% des activités, et est impliquée dans les trois phases du cycle de la gestion des catastrophes. Dans l'industrie, logistique est considéré comme une source d'avantage concurrentiel, expliquant les différences de performance entre les entreprises. Pour le contexte humanitaire, la logistique a la capacité d'assurer le succès des opérations, de contribuer à la stratégie d'une organisation et permet aux bénéficiaires et aux donateurs de distinguer une ONG d'une autre. Cela est possible grâce au développement des compétences et capacités logistiques organisationnelles. L'objectif de cette thèse est donc d'identifier ces compétences et capacités logistiques organisationnelles qui peuvent assurer le succès des opérations humanitaires. À travers d'une étude de cas unique effectuée au sein de MSF Logistique, la centrale d'achat et d'approvisionnement de Médecins Sans Frontières, cette thèse fournit la preuve du rôle stratégique que la logistique joue dans les activités de l'organisation et propose un modèle de compétences et capacités logistiques pour le contexte humanitaire
Over the past years, the number of natural disasters reported has suffered a frightening increase all around the world. Even though the number of people reported killed has decreased on the last years, the number of people reported affected has augmented having a great impact in the relief operations undertaken. Humanitarian relief comprises a myriad of actors which include donors, aid agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), governments and logistics providers. In this context, logistics accounts for 80% of the relief effort and is involved in all three of the disaster management phases. In industry, logistics is considered to be a source of competitive advantage, explaining the differences in performance among firms. Moving this to the humanitarian context, logistics has the capacity to ensure the success of the operations, to contribute to an organization's strategy, and allows beneficiaries and donors to distinguish an organization from another. This is only possible through the development of organizational logistics competences. The purpose of this thesis is thus to identify those organizational logistics competences and capabilities that can ensure the success of humanitarian relief operations. Through a single-embedded case study performed with MSF Logistique, the international logistics platform for Médecins Sans Frontières France, this thesis provides evidence of the strategic role that logistics plays in the organization's activities, and proposes a Logistics Capability and Competence Framework for Humanitarian Relief

Among many seawater desalination processes, the multistage flash (MSF) desalination process is a major source of fresh water around the world. The most costly design and operation problem in seawater desalination is due to scale formation and corrosion problems. Fouling factor is one of the many important parameters that affect the operation of MSF processes. This thesis therefore focuses on determining the optimal design and operation strategy of MSF desalinations processes under fouling which will meet variable demand of freshwater. First, a steady state model of MSF is developed based on the basic laws of mass balance, energy balance, and heat transfer equations with supporting correlations for physical properties. gPROMS software is used to develop the model which is validated against the results reported in the literature. The model is then used in further investigations. Based on actual plant data, a simple dynamic fouling factor profile is developed which allows calculation of fouling factor at different time (season of the year). The role of changing brine heater fouling factor with varying seawater temperatures (during the year) on the plant performance and the monthly operating costs for fixed water demand and fixed top brine temperature are then studied. The total monthly operation cost of the process are minimised while the operating parameters such as make up, brine recycle flow rate and steam temperature are optimised. It was found that the seasonal variation in seawater temperature and brine heater fouling factor results in significant variations in the operating parameters and operating costs. The design and operation of the MSF process are optimized in order to meet variable demands of freshwater with changing seawater temperature throughout the day and throughout the year. On the basis of actual data, the neural network (NN) technique has been used to develop a correlation for calculating dynamic freshwater demand/consumption profiles at different times of the day and season. Also, a simple polynomial based dynamic seawater temperature correlation is developed based on actual data. An intermediate storage tank between the plant and the client is considered. The MSF process model developed earlier is coupled with the dynamic model for the storage tank and is incorporated into the optimization framework within gPROMS. Four main seasons are considered in a year and for each season, with variable freshwater demand and seawater temperature, the operating parameters are optimized at discrete time intervals, while minimizing the total daily costs. The intermediate storage tank adds flexible scheduling and maintenance opportunity of individual flash stages and makes it possible to meet variable freshwater demand with varying seawater temperatures without interrupting or fully shutting down the plant at any-time during the day and for any season. Finally, the purity of freshwater coming from MSF desalination plants is very important when the water is used for industrial services such as feed of boiler to produce steam. In this work, for fixed water demand and top brine temperature, the effect of separation efficiency of demister with seasonal variation of seawater temperatures on the final purity of freshwater for both cleaned and fouled demister conditions is studied. It was found that the purity of freshwater is affected by the total number of stages. Also to maintain the purity of freshwater product, comparatively large number of flash stage is required for fouled demister.

Among many seawater desalination processes, the multistage flash (MSF) desalination process is a major source of fresh water around the world. The most costly design and operation problem in seawater desalination is due to scale formation and corrosion problems. Fouling factor is one of the many important parameters that affect the operation of MSF processes. This thesis therefore focuses on determining the optimal design and operation strategy of MSF desalinations processes under fouling which will meet variable demand of freshwater. First, a steady state model of MSF is developed based on the basic laws of mass balance, energy balance, and heat transfer equations with supporting correlations for physical properties. gPROMS software is used to develop the model which is validated against the results reported in the literature. The model is then used in further investigations. Based on actual plant data, a simple dynamic fouling factor profile is developed which allows calculation of fouling factor at different time (season of the year). The role of changing brine heater fouling factor with varying seawater temperatures (during the year) on the plant performance and the monthly operating costs for fixed water demand and fixed top brine temperature are then studied. The total monthly operation cost of the process are minimised while the operating parameters such as make up, brine recycle flow rate and steam temperature are optimised. It was found that the seasonal variation in seawater temperature and brine heater fouling factor results in significant variations in the operating parameters and operating costs. The design and operation of the MSF process are optimized in order to meet variable demands of freshwater with changing seawater temperature throughout the day and throughout the year. On the basis of actual data, the neural network (NN) technique has been used to develop a correlation for calculating dynamic freshwater demand/consumption profiles at different times of the day and season. Also, a simple polynomial based dynamic seawater temperature correlation is developed based on actual data. An intermediate storage tank between the plant and the client is considered. The MSF process model developed earlier is coupled with the dynamic model for the storage tank and is incorporated into the optimization framework within gPROMS. Four main seasons are considered in a year and for each season, with variable freshwater demand and seawater temperature, the operating parameters are optimized at discrete time intervals, while minimizing the total daily costs. The intermediate storage tank adds flexible scheduling and maintenance opportunity of individual flash stages and makes it possible to meet variable freshwater demand with varying seawater temperatures without interrupting or fully shutting down the plant at any-time during the day and for any season. Finally, the purity of freshwater coming from MSF desalination plants is very important when the water is used for industrial services such as feed of boiler to produce steam. In this work, for fixed water demand and top brine temperature, the effect of separation efficiency of demister with seasonal variation of seawater temperatures on the final purity of freshwater for both cleaned and fouled demister conditions is studied. It was found that the purity of freshwater is affected by the total number of stages. Also to maintain the purity of freshwater product, comparatively large number of flash stage is required for fouled demister.

This thesis investigates Médécins Sans Frontières (MSF) communication in the setting of South Sudan. More precisely, the thesis investigates MSF’s engagement in a discussion regarding the potential harm NGOs, both other and themselves, might cause in terms of conflict dynamics. The thesis takes off in the perceived conflict between the adaptation of the Hippocratic Approach, as outlined by Mary B Anderson, and the increased necessity of branding in today’s humanitarian industry and seeks to understand how this might unfold in practice. Demonstrating MSF’s commitment to ideals in line with the Hippocratic Approach, which encourage self-criticism and accountability, the thesis moves on to illustrate how branding has become an inevitable measure for NGOs to remain operational. Based on previous research identifying a successful branding as information, trust and image, where self-criticism might be counter-productive, the thesis tries to identify the conflict between the two fields. The thesis sets out to uncover some of the tensions more concretely by investigating MSF’s communication in the conflict-settings of South Sudan. It does so utilizing the method Qualitative Content Analysis. The material stems from MSF’s self-published reports, reviews and articles. In conclusion, the thesis finds that MSF does engage in a discussion about harms caused by other organizations as well as harm caused by themselves. However, the harms discussed are not put in terms of conflict dynamics in South Sudan. Furthermore, the thesis identifies some disproportion in criticism towards other organizations versus self-criticism. The thesis refrains from drawing any permanent conclusions and suggest a comparative case study to better understand the tensions in NGO’s building of a Hippocratic brand.

Les trois ONG humanitaires (CARE International, CRS et MSF/F) qui sont intervenues au Burundi de 1993 à 2005 ont réalisé des projets importants pour le pays. Ces acteurs transnationaux sont financés par des Etats, des Organisations internationales et des donateurs privés. C’est ainsi que l’on peut les qualifier d’acteurs intermédiaires parce qu’ils sont soumis aux contraintes étatiques et transnationales. Les financements étatiques sont motivés par la volonté de pousser les ONG humanitaires à servir des intérêts nationaux des Etats-bailleurs tandis que le financement privé légitime leur nature apolitique tout en les obligeant à se comporter comme des entreprises commerciales. Nonobstant cette nature hybride, dans chaque ONG existent des agents philanthropiques, qui travaillent juste pour l’Humanitaire
The three humanitarian NGOs (CARE International, CRS and MSF/F) which have been operating in Burundi since 1993 to 2005 realized important projects for the country. These Transnational actors are funded by States, international organizations and private donators. That is why we can call them intermediate actors because they are submitted to governmental and transnational conditions. Static funding urges these NGOs to operate according to the national interests while private funding legitimates their transnational nature and justifies their “charity business”. Besides this hybrid nature, there are philanthropic agents in each of these three humanitarian NGOs

L’interaction des ondes avec la microstructure des matériaux polycristallins a pour conséquence l’apparition d’un bruit dit "de structure" provenant à la fois de la diffusion simple (DS) mais aussi de la diffusion multiple (DM). L’acquisition de la matrice de transfert, K, mesurée à l’aide d’un réseau de transducteurs, a permis de mettre en évidence que les composantes DS et DM présentaient des comportements distincts. Aubry et al. ont proposé une méthode exploitant cette différence de comportement afin de séparer ces deux contributions et d'utiliser la composante DS pour imager le milieu. Cette méthode appelée MSF-DORT a été testée sur des matériaux industriels, au cours de la thèse de S. Shahjahan, et a permis de mettre en évidence son potentiel pour l'imagerie de défauts volumiques enfouis en milieu fortement diffusant. La première partie de cette thèse porte donc sur l'amélioration de MSF-DORT afin d'augmenter les performances en termes de détection de défauts et de repousser la profondeur maximale de détection de défauts volumiques. Une seconde partie aborde la possibilité d'étendre les applications de MSF-DORT à la détection de défauts dits "plans" (par opposition aux défauts volumiques) représentatifs des fissures. Cette thèse a permis de démontrer l'inefficacité de MSF-DORT pour la détection de ce type de défauts. Une troisième partie de ce travail a abouti à l'étude de la méthode FER-DORT (pour Focalisation en Emission et Réception - DORT). Cette dernière méthode présente des résultats très encourageants pour la détection de défauts plans
The ultrasonic inspection of polycrystalline media remains a challenge. The high noise levels due to interaction between the wave and the microstructure limits the efficiency of classical ultrasonic techniques to detect a defect in a coarse grain structure. This noise comes from both single scattering (SS) and multiple scattering (MS). The acquisition of the transfer matrix, K, measured using a phased array probe, has shown that the SS and MS components have distinct behaviors. Aubry et al. proposed a method exploiting this difference in order to separate these two contributions and use the SS component for imaging the environment. This method called MSF-DORT was tested on industrial component, during the thesis of S. Shahjahan, and helped to highlight its potential for imaging bulk defects in strongly scattering medium. The first work presents in this thesis focuses on improving MSF-DORT to increase his performance in terms of defect detection and repel the maximum depth of volume defects detection. The second part deals with the possibility of extending MSF-DORT applications for the detection of known defects "planes" (as opposed to volume defects) representative cracks. This thesis has demonstrated the ineffectiveness of MSF-DORT for the detection of such defects. A third part of this work led to the study of FER-DORT method (for Focus on Making and Receiving - DORT). This last method shows very encouraging results for the detection of planes defects

Women have struggled for more than a century for equality within trade unions and various forms of separate organising have played a central role in achieving incremental gendered transformation of internal structures and hierarchies. Despite huge advances, the goal of gender equality or democracy has not been fully realised in 2003; hence women's separate organising remains an important strategic vehicle through which union women are able to access the necessary power resources to continue their struggle. This thesis provides an original, in-depth exploration of the impact and influence on union women of one form of separate organising, namely women-only courses, in two large, male-dominated trade unions. It contributes to the growing body of feminist industrial relations literature concerned with women's under-representation in union structures. The thesis establishes the link between a significant, but under-researched area of union activity - union education - with the debates surrounding gender democracy, by showing the enormous impact women-only courses have on participants, their gender and union identities and their union careers. With its primary focus on a group of union women, rather than on a union structure, the study also produces important methodological insights for industrial relations research. By taking a qualitative, multi-method, case study approach within a feminist paradigm, the thesis investigates the women's routes to participation and involvement, their perceptions and experiences of women-only courses and the unfolding of their union careers over time. In so doing it engages with contemporary debates surrounding women's lesser participation in the structures and processes of union democracy, the gendered barriers to union involvement, the role and utility of women's separate organising. Importantly, it also offers insights into the myriad ways in which women use their personal agency to surmount such barriers and navigate a union career.

Une Organisation Non Gouvernementale (ONG) doit concilier les contraintes de son environnement, les attentes de ses parties prenantes, et la mission sociale à l’origine de sa création et de sa culture organisationnelle, pour élaborer sa stratégie. Une articulation judicieuse de ses ressources et de ses compétences peut permettre à l’ONG d’améliorer sa performance en créant de nouvelles compétences au sein d’un processus récursif et adaptatif d’apprentissage organisationnel. Les ressources centrales d’une ONG sont les hommes et les femmes qui la constituent et font vivre sa mission sociale à travers leur engagement et leur adhésion à cette mission. Parmi ces ressources, nous nous sommes intéressés au personnel national, recruté directement dans les pays où l’ONG intervient. Nous avons en effet pu observer un changement des pratiques des ONG humanitaires françaises, qui tend vers une meilleure intégration de ce personnel national, aux niveaux administratif, opérationnel et associatif. Nous avons donc souhaité comprendre comment cette intégration pouvait permettre aux ONG humanitaires de renouveler leurs compétences au travers d’un processus de métissage et d’apprentissage organisationnel tout en améliorant leur performance organisationnelle. Pour mener cette étude, nous avons observé la mise en place d’une politique d’intégration du personnel national au sein d’une ONG humanitaire française, Médecins Sans Frontières
To develop its strategy, a humanitarian Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) needs to conciliate its stakeholders’ expectations, its founding social mission and organizational culture and the environment’s constraints. If it manages to articulate its resources and competences in a wise manner, an NGO can improve its performance by developing new competencies in a recursive and adaptive process of organizational learning. An NGO’s central resources lie in the men and women who constitute it and promote its social mission through their involvement and their faith in the mission. Among these resources, we focus on national staff, recruited directly in the countries where NGOs work. We have noticed a change in French humanitarian NGOs’ practices towards their national staff. These practices tend to be more integrative at administrative, operational and associative levels. We therefore wish to understand how this integration could help humanitarian NGOs renew and develop their competencies through an organizational learning and hybridization process. This integration could therefore contribute to improving their organizational performance. We chose to carry out a case study analysis of the French NGO Médecins Sans Frontières, which has implemented a new integration policy towards its national staff

Desalination is a technique of producing fresh water from the saline water. Industrial desalination of sea water is becoming an essential part in providing sustainable source of fresh water for a large number of countries around the world. Thermal process being the oldest and most dominating for large scale production of freshwater in today's world. Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) distillation process has been used for many years and is now the largest sector in the desalination industry. In this work, a steady state mathematical model of Multistage Flash (MSF) desalination process is developed and validated against the results reported in the literature using gPROMS software. The model is then used for further investigation. First, a steady state calcium carbonate fouling resistance model has been developed and implemented in the full MSF mathematical model developed above using gPROMS modeling tool. This model takes into consideration the effect of stage temperature on the calcium carbonate fouling resistance in the flashing chambers in the heat recovery section, heat rejection section, and brine heaters of MSF desalination plants. The effect of seasonal variation of seawater temperature and top brine temperature on the calcium carbonate fouling resistance has been studied throughout the flashing stage. In addition, the total annual operating cost of the MSF process is selected to minimise, while optimising the operating parameters such as seawater rejected flow rate, brine recycle flow rate and steam temperature at different seawater temperature and fouling resistance. Secondly, an intermediate storage between the plant and the client is considered to provide additional flexibility in design and operation of the MSF process throughout the day. A simple polynomial based dynamic seawater temperature and different freshwater demand correlations are developed based on actual data. For different number of flash stages, operating parameters such as seawater rejected flow rate and brine recycle flow rate are optimised, while the total annual operating cost of the MSF process is selected to minimise.The results clearly show that the advantage of using the intermediate storage tank adds flexible scheduling in the MSF plant design and operation parameters to meet the variation in freshwater demand with varying seawater temperatures without interrupting or fully shutting down the plant at any time during the day by adjusting the number of stages. Furthermore, the effect of non-condensable gases (NCG) on the steady state mathematical model of MSF process is developed and implemented in the MSF model developed earlier. Then the model is used to study effect of NCG on the overall heat transfer coefficient. The simulation results showed a decrease in the overall heat transfer coefficient values as NCG concentrations increased. The model is then used to study the effect of NCG on the design and operation parameters of MSF process for fixed water demand. For a given plant configuration (fixed design) and at different seawater and steam temperatures, a 0.015 wt. % of NCG results in significantly different plant operations when compared with those obtained without the presence of NCG. Finally, for fixed water demand and in the presence of 0.015 wt. % NCGs, the performance is evaluated for different plant configurations and seawater temperature and compared with those obtained without the presence of NCG.

Desalination technology provides fresh water to the arid regions around the world. Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) distillation process has been used for many years and is now the largest sector in the desalination industry. Top Brine Temperature (TBT) (boiling point temperature of the feed seawater in the first stage of the process) is one of the many important parameters that affect optimal design and operation of MSF processes. For a given pressure, TBT is a function of Boiling Point Temperature (BPT) at zero salinity and Temperature Elevation (TE) due to salinity. Modelling plays an important role in simulation, optimisation and control of MSF processes and within the model, calculation of TE is therefore important for each stages (including the first stage, which determines the TBT). Firstly, in this work, several Neural Network (NN) based correlations for predicting TE are developed. It is found that the NN based correlations can predict the experimental TE very closely. Also predictions of TE by the NN based correlations were found to be good when compared to those obtained using the existing correlations from the literature. Secondly, a hybrid steady state MSF process model is developed using gPROMS modelling tool embedding the NN based correlation. gPROMS provides an easy and flexible platform to build a process flowsheet graphically. Here a Master Model connecting (automatically) the individual unit model (brine heater, stages, etc.) equations is developed which is used repeatedly during simulation and optimisation. The model is validated against published results. Seawater is the main source raw material for MSF processes and is subject to seasonal temperature variation. With fixed design the model is then used to study the effect of a number of parameters (e.g. seawater and steam temperature) on the freshwater production rate. It is observed that, the variation in the parameters affect the rate of production of fresh water. How the design and operation are to be adjusted to maintain a fixed demand of fresh water through out the year (with changing seawater temperature) is also investigated via repetitive simulation. Thirdly, with clear understanding of the interaction of design and operating parameters, simultaneous optimisation of design and operating parameters of MSF process is considered via the application MINLP technique within gPROMS. Two types of optimisation problems are considered: (a) For a fixed fresh water demand throughout the year, the external heat input (a measure of operating cost) to the process is minimised; (b) For different fresh water demand throughout the year and with seasonal variation of seawater temperature, the total annualised cost of desalination is minimised. It is found that seasonal variation in seawater temperature results in significant variation in design and some of the operating parameters but with minimum variation in process temperatures. The results also reveal the possibility of designing stand-alone flash stages which would offer flexible scheduling in terms of the connection of various units (to build up the process) and efficient maintenance of the units throughout the year as the weather condition changes. In addition, operation at low temperatures throughout the year will reduce design and operating costs in terms of low temperature materials of construction and reduced amount of anti-scaling and anti-corrosion agents. Finally, an attempt was made to develop a hybrid dynamic MSF process model incorporating NN based correlation for TE. The model was validated at steady state condition using the data from the literature. Dynamic simulation with step changes in seawater and steam temperature was carried out to match the predictions by the steady state model. Dynamic optimisation problem is then formulated for the MSF process, subjected to seawater temperature change (up and down) over a period of six hours, to maximise a performance ratio by optimising the brine heater steam temperature while maintaining a fixed water demand.

A comprehensive survey of the presence of trihalomethane (THM) compounds, as chlorination by-products, in drinking water in Kuwait have been performed. The survey covers the whole drinking water treatment cycle, starting with sea water and ending with the consumer tap. The data generated by the survey was all derived from actual water treatment plants, operating under normal conditions. All four trihalomethane compounds, namely; chloroform (CHCI3), bromodichloromethane (CHBrCI2), dibromochloromethane (CHBr2CI) and bromoform (CHBr3) were covered. The study clearly showed that, although considerable amounts of THM compounds did form as a result of chlorination of sea water entering the multi-stage flash (MSF) distillation plants, these plants were highly efficient in removing these compounds. The average removal efficiency, based on THM compounds mass load in the sea water feed, was around 95%. Factors which were found to have an influence on the degree of formation of these compounds, include, chlorination practice (continuous vs. shock), sea water temperature, level of organic precursors and contact time. Of much more important consequence, as far as the presence of these compounds in drinking water is concerned, was the degree of THM compounds formation as a result of the chlorination of drinking water before it is pumped to the consumer. Here, not only all the compounds formed remain in the water but there is a definite tendency for continuous formation well after the actual chlorination process has taken place. Factors which were found affecting this formation include water temperature, contact time and chlorination dosage. Although, all samples collected showed that the presence of THM compounds was always below the United States Environmental Protection Agency maximum contaminant level of 100 ~g/L, a need exists for the optimization of all chlorination processes with particular emphasis on the chlorination of drinking water. In almost all kinds of water encountered in this study, bromoform was found to be by far the most dominant compound.

Today’s business’s more and more depend on information systems to give them edge on competition and keep double digit growth rates needed to satisfy shareholders. And information systems, serving their needs, have to keep up with changing business requirements. Business Rules Approach [10] seems to be the answer to their demands, but not many service and solution providers can satisfy their needs, because there is no standard based software engineering process to efficiently provide solution to customers. This works provides methodology of integrating business rules approach into existing and time proven software development process as well as providing needed infrastructure to creating solution specification and integrating externalized business rules with created system specification. This work concentrates on tasks: 1. Creating business rules management model; 2. Selecting software development process, adaptable to business rules approach; 3. Integrating business rules management model into selected software development process; 4. Relating externalized business rules with specification entities; 5. Providing comparison of unmodified software process with provided proposal.

To be a humanitarian aid worker [HAW] in the field entails working in a demanding environment, and in this milieu, interpersonal conflicts [IC] sometimes arise which may risk the entire project. The ones responsible for dealing with ICs, should they occur, are HAWs in management positions employed by various humanitarian organisations [HO]. However, the hypothesis presented in this thesis is that HAWs are not always provided with the training necessary. This thesis aims to critically analyse how HO prepare and train HAWs, specifically in IC management, and whether two significant HOs, Médecins Sans Frontières [MSF] and the International Federation of the Red Cross [IFRC], can be described as learning organisations [LO] according to Senge’s (1990) five disciplines. Through qualitative content analysis, involving interviews and literature reviews, the author seeks to identify training gaps, how MSF and IFRC can become LOs, and how these organisations would benefit from becoming LOs.  According to interview participants, the author found that more training would be beneficial, both for themselves and for MSF and IFRC, since many ICs go unmanaged. Furthermore, it was identified that MSF and IFRC had taken a few steps in a direction that could lead to them becoming LOs. However, more can be done, and through Senge’s disciplines, MSF and IFRC would benefit from more involved HAWs, improved wellbeing of HAWs, and possibly lower staff turnover.  In conclusion, the hypothesis of this thesis was proven to some extent. HAWs do receive training; however, more training can be provided. The wellbeing of HAWs is also a vital problem that HOs have to consider to lower retention rates, encourage their HAWs to stay employed, and further encourage learning within the organisations.

Cette thèse constitue une monographie de l’organisation non gouvernementale Médecins Sans Frontières. Son matériel de base est une enquête ethnographique menée sur les opérations de cette ONG médicale humanitaire au moment même où elles se déroulent. En observant les membres de MSF en train de proposer des soins médicaux aux migrants dormant dans les rues à Paris ou aux habitants d’un bidonville à Nairobi, ou en train d’évaluer et de planifier leurs projets depuis le siège, nous les voyons bricoler pour faire tenir ensemble les objectifs parfois incompatibles d’une mission humanitaire en apparence simple : l’assistance médicale à des personnes vulnérables à travers le monde. Notre approche pragmatiste nous invite à prendre au sérieux dans l’analyse le fait que c’est l’aide humanitaire elle-même qui doit faire tenir ensemble en situation les ambiguïtés, les ambivalences ou même les contradictions d’une telle mission, tant dans ses projets et ses actions que dans ses effets ambivalents. Pour ce faire, nous nous sommes demandé comment procède MSF pour sélectionner celles et ceux qu’elle cherche à aider autour du monde. Pour répondre, nous avons produit une description fine de l’instrumentation du triage : les processus d’élaboration et l’usage des outils qui soutiennent le choix réflexif des bénéficiaires autour du globe. Nous proposons pour cela trois gestes analytiques, qui nous permettent de contribuer aux discussions actuelles sur la globalité en anthropologie : assemblages globaux, espaces globaux, santé globale. D’abord, nous montrons comment le tracé de frontières, de territoires, d’échelles que ces instruments de triage ne cessent de produire participe à la distribution de lieux humanitaires : l’espace humanitaire, le terrain, les plateformes médicales, le siège de MSF. Ensuite, en faisant porter l’analyse sur la façon dont les instruments de triage débouchent sur une mise en « scripts » ou en scénarios de ceux que les humanitaires prétendent aider, nous montrons comment MSF acquiert la capacité d’agir spécifiquement dans ses relations avec les bénéficiaires humanitaires : tact et tactiques du care, reconnaissance réciproque des bénéficiaires dans leur besoin d’aide et des humanitaires dans leur besoin d’aider, acceptabilité d’une responsabilité envers cette vulnérabilité associée dans le même temps à la tentative de transférer cette responsabilité vers des systèmes des santé publics. Enfin, en rendant compte de ces instruments en termes de technologies humanitaires d’intervention, nous mettons en évidence la façon dont MSF opère des interventions ponctuelles tant dans les organes de gouvernement que dans les corps des gouvernés. Notre description de l’aide en train de se faire et notre analyse des problèmes associés aux lieux, aux bénéficiaires et aux technologies d’intervention humanitaires constituent ce que nous appelons l’aide humanitaire au présent. Par aide humanitaire au présent, nous désignons les manières d’exister de MSF, son extension physique globale, les soins de santé qu’elle accomplit, sa politique non gouvernementale et son éthique de l’attention. Sur ce concept peut se soutenir une approche critique positive de l’aide humanitaire, considérant à la fois la pluralité et l’incompatibilité des bénéfices qu’elle est censée apporter, mais aussi les cas et les instances précis où MSF a échoué à les faire tenir ensemble
This dissertation is a monograph of the nongovernmental organisation (NGO) Doctors Without Borders (MSF). It is based on an ethnographic inquiry into the operations of this medical humanitarian NGO as they take place. Observing members of MSF providing healthcare to migrants in Paris and to inhabitants of a slum in Nairobi, evaluating and planning projects in their headquarters, we see them tinker together the sometimes-incompatible goals of a seemingly simple humanitarian mission: medical assistance to the vulnerable around the world. Our pragmatist approach consists in arguing that analysis of international aid must account for how humanitarians find a way to hold together the ambiguities, and even the contradictions, of this claimed mission in the ambivalent effects humanitarian aid in practice. To this end, we ask how MSF selects those it seeks to assist around the world. Our response entails close description of the instrumentation of triage: the problematic processes of elaborating and using tools that support the reflexive choice of beneficiaries around the globe. We then make three analytical gestures, allowing us to contribute to ongoing discussions in anthropology on global assemblages, global spaces, and global health. First, we show how the processes of bordering, territorializing, and scaling that triage instruments support, participate in producing humanitarian locations: humanitarian space, the field, medical platforms, and headquarters. Second, analysing the ways triage instruments script for those humanitarians claim to assist, we argue that MSF gains humanitarian agency in the ways it relates to humanitarian beneficiaries: the tact and tactics of care, the reciprocal recognition of beneficiaries in their need and of MSF’s need to help, the acceptance of responsibility for this vulnerability coupled with an attempt to transfer responsibility to public health care systems. Third, accounting for these instruments in terms of humanitarian technologies of intervention, we demonstrate how MSF makes timely interventions into governing bodies and the bodies of the governed. Together, our description of aid as it takes place and our analysis of the problems associated with humanitarian locations, beneficiaries, and technologies of intervention constitute what we call MSF’s humanitarian presence. This humanitarian presence indicates the ways MSF exists, in their global physical extension, in the health care they practice, in their nongovernmental politics and their ethics of attention. This concept supports critique by indicating, first, the multiple and incompatible goods that are to inhere in humanitarian aid, and second, those specific instances when MSF has failed to do so

The relationship between a country's political decision-making and top military leadership is central, but also debated. Not least whether the military side should take political life into account and to what extent one should become a part of it. This essay aims to increase the understanding of the challenges of the military-political relationship, focusing on the borderland between peace and war that is usually described as a gray zone. Through scenario-based interviews with senior officials and politicians within the Swedish government and government office, it is investigated what impact a gray zone problem can have on the military advice provided. By combining a future scenario with interviews, an empirical material unique to the research field is created. The results show that the gray zone affects the strategic decision-making process, but not really by adding any completely new challenges, but mainly by strengthening and partly developing existing ones. The logic of peace, rather than war, on strategy should therefore form the basis for how the gray zone is viewed from a decision-making process perspective. The gray zone's character of ambiguity creates and reinforces tensions between different actors in the strategy process, which in turn risks delaying strategic decisions. The ambiguities arise mainly in three areas: the view of the strategic problem, the political consequences and the organization that will deal with the gray zone. Some of the ambiguities are amplified by the opponent, while others are more the result of internal factors. In order to reduce the negative effects of the gray zone problem, a much closer integration between the military and politics is proposed than in peacetime: policy-making must take place jointly and traditional boundaries need to be redrawn. The key is spelled relationships and these must be created and maintained in good time before the gray zone enters.
Relationen mellan ett lands politiska beslutsfattning och högsta militärledning är central, men också omdebatterad. Inte minst huruvida den militära sidan ska ta hänsyn till det politiska livet och i vilken grad man själv ska bli en del av detta. Denna uppsats syftar till att öka förståelsen för den militär-politiska relationens utmaningar, med fokus på det gränsland mellan fred och krig som brukar betecknas som en gråzon. Genom scenariobaserade intervjuer med högre tjänstemän och politiker inom Sveriges regering och regeringskansli undersöks vilken påverkan en gråzonsproblematik kan ha på de militära råd som lämnas. Genom att kombinera ett framtidsscenario med intervjuer skapas ett för forskningsfältet unikt empiriskt material. Resultatet visar att gråzonen påverkar den strategiska beslutsprocessen men egentligen inte genom att tillföra några helt nya utmaningar, utan främst genom att förstärka och till del utveckla redan existerande. Fredens, snarare än krigets, logik på strategi bör därför ligga till grund för hur gråzonen betraktas ur ett beslutsprocessperspektiv. Gråzonens karaktär av otydlighet skapar och förstärker spänningar mellan olika aktörer inom strategiprocessen, som i sin tur riskerar att försena strategiska beslut. Otydligheterna uppstår främst inom tre områden: synen på det strategiska problemet, de politiska konsekvenserna och den organisation som ska hantera gråzonen. Vissa av otydligheterna förstärks av motståndaren, medan andra mer är ett resultat av interna faktorer. För att minska gråzonsproblematikens negativa effekter föreslås en betydligt närmare integrering mellan militär och politik än i fredstid: policyskapandet måste ske gemensamt och traditionella gränser behöver dras om. Nyckeln stavas relati-oner och dessa måste skapas och underhållas i god tid innan gråzonen träder in.

As water resources are rapidly being exhausted, more and more interest is focused on the desalination of sea water and brackish water. Increasing amounts of fresh water will be required in the future due to the rise in population rates, increasing living standards and the expansion of industrial and agricultural activities. The thesis is concentrated on current issues of treatment of sea water, mainly the desalination based on the distillation principle, in order to develop a unit for seawater treatment. The aim is to develop a compact modular unit for seawater desalinate on based on the implementation and evaluation of experimental tests on the experimental unit. The solution includes an overview of systems for treatment of seawater, a discussion of structural and material aspects of the units, design and manufacture of the experimental unit and confrontation the calculated values with the results of experimental measurements.

Migration inhibition factor (MIF) was isolated from the mouse, rat, Xenopus laevis and the newt Triturus cristatus. These MIFs were used to investigate the specificity of the molecule and it was found that MIF is not species specific and that animals with an evolutionarily sophisticated immune response are responsive to MIFs produced by animals which show much less complex immune responses. Macrophages are one of the few normal adult cell types which show motility as part of their functional phenotype and this process can by manipulated in vitro by the presence or absence of MIF. Using LM and EM the effects of MIF and substrate on locomotion and macrophage-substrate adhesion were investigated. The question of macrophage heterogeneity was addressed to determine whether macrophages can be activated for a wide range or only a limited number of functions. The results obtained suggest that macrophages become committed along particular pathways depending on external stimuli from the micro-environment surrounding the cell and that performance of particular functions precludes the cell from performing certain other functions. Macrophage activating factor (MAF) co-chromatographs with MIF and was isolated with MIF. The effect of MIF/MAF and effector : target cell ratio on macrophage anti-tumour activity was also investigated. Macrophages were found to have a cytostatic effect at a much lower effector : target cell ratio than that required for cytolysis of transformed cells. Also, macrophages lyse target cells at a lower effector:target cell ratio when cultured on a collagen rather than a glass substrate. Macrophages are also attracted through collagen towards transformed cells preferentially. Pretreatment with MAF enhances the cytolyic response of macrophages. This response is increased further by pretreating macrophages with LPS and MAF when both pretreatment time and sequence are important in determining which functions macrophages perform.

The aim of this study is to analyse how the concept of ‘women and children’ is represented bytwo humanitarian organisations; International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) andMédecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The analyses concludes that there is (still) an assumptionthat women have an inherent vulnerability and women are often described together with‘children’ as if they are one vulnerable group instead of two. This study suggests aproblematization of the concept since activities planned by humanitarian organisations mayhave a big impact on people’s lives when assuming one group to be more vulnerable thananother.

Lors de l’été 1968, des images d’enfants décharnés, souffrant de maladies dues à la malnutrition affluent dans les médias occidentaux. Elles proviennent de la région sud orientale de la Fédération du Nigeria, qui a déclaré son indépendance une année auparavant sous le nom de République du Biafra, où se déroule une guerre civile qui oppose les troupes fédérales aux indépendantistes biafrais. L’émotion suscitée en Occident par les représentations du conflit et de la famine qui l’accompagne engendre la mobilisation de diverses organisations humanitaires, qui mettent sur pied des opérations de secours internationales destinées aux populations civiles. Encore peu étudiées par l’historiographie, la crise du Biafra et les réponses qui y sont apportées par les acteurs occidentaux sont l’objet de cette thèse. La recherche examine tout d’abord comment une guerre civile africaine prend la dimension d’une crise humanitaire internationale. Pour ce faire, elle analyse tant la situation sur place que les acteurs de son internationalisation et ses représentations. Ensuite, afin d’appréhender les opérations de secours dans leur complexité la thèse étudie le processus d’élaboration et le déploiement des réponses occidentales à la crise, ainsi que leur réception au Nigeria dans un contexte post-colonial. Enfin, la thèse questionne les principaux éléments qui ont fait du Biafra un moment charnière de l’histoire de l’humanitaire et met en lumière les reconfigurations des discours et des pratiques de l’aide humanitaire qui s’opèrent à la fin des années 1960
In the summer of 1968, pictures of emaciated children, suffering from diseases due to malnutrition, poured in western medias. They came from the eastern region of the Federation of Nigeria, which had proclaimed its independence one year before and taken the name of the Republic of Biafra. War and famine that were taking place in the region generated widespread concern in the West, where humanitarian organizations decided to set up international relief operations to help alleviate the suffering of the civilian population. Still understudied by the historiography, the crisis in Biafra and the mobilization of western organizations are the subjects of this PhD. Firstly, the dissertation examines how an African civil war became an international humanitarian crisis. To this purpose, it analyses the situation in the ground, the actors of its internationalization and how it was represented. Secondly, in order to grasp the complexity of humanitarian aid, the dissertation studies the elaboration and the deployment of the relied operations, as well as their reception in Nigeria in a post-colonial context. Finally, the thesis questions why Biafra is usually considered as a turning point in the history of humanitarianism. By so doing, it sheds light on the reconfigurations of the discourses and practices of humanitarian aid that took place in the late 1960’s

Plasmodium falciparum is a protozoan parasite responsible for causing the most severe form of malaria in humans. This species is responsible for over 90% of malaria mortalities which occur predominantly in Africa. An increase in drug resistant parasites in recent years is threatening the progress made against malaria and thus new antimalarial drugs and vaccines are needed to combat this disease. During the intraerythrocytic phase, merozoites egress from mature schizonts to invade new uninfected erythrocytes. Glycophosphatidylinositol (GPI) -anchored proteins cover most of the exterior surface of the merozoite prior to invasion, while other GPI-anchored proteins are released onto the merozoite surface through apical organelle secretions. These proteins are involved in interactions with erythrocytes and are thought to be vital to erythrocyte invasion. GPI-anchored proteins have also been implicated as a cause of pathogenic symptoms and activation of immune components. These proteins are then released or cleaved to enable merozoite entry into the erythrocyte. Several enzymes are thought to be involved in their cleavage including the serine proteases subtilisin-like proteases (SUB) 1 and 2, and phosphatidylinositol-phospholipase C (PIPLC); GPI-anchored proteins are also generally sensitive to phospholipase A2 (PLA2). Cleaved proteins are released into the host blood system, while uncleaved proteins are carried into the erythrocyte during invasion. Merozoites have a limited period in which they retain invasive capacity. A previous lack of available techniques that are specifically adapted to merozoite analysis has resulted in an incomplete understanding of invasion and GPI-anchored protein involvement in invasion. This study aimed to determine how GPI-anchored proteins on the merozoite surface are altered in the invasive phase, and explore the possibility of using merozoite GPI-anchored proteins as potential drug targets to block erythrocyte invasion. Optimised methods of in vitro parasite culturing which produce highly synchronised merozoites was essential to this study. Parasite culturing techniques were optimised by utilising low haematocrit cultures with frequent culture splitting and optimised synchronisation. The “Malarwheel” is a tool that was developed for this research to provide a means for scheduling sorbitol treatments and MACs isolations. This tool and optimised culturing methods enabled large volumes of highly synchronised invasive merozoites to be harvested. Four compounds (vanadate, edelfosine, dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DSS), and gentamicin) suspected to interfere with GPIanchored cleavage or processes were screened on intraerythrocytic stages and merozoites. Antimalarial and anti-invasive properties of these compounds were screened by modified malaria SYBR Green I-based fluorescence (MSF) assay and merozoite invasion assays (MIA) respectively. DSS and gentamicin showed limited potential as antimalarials or as anti-invasive agents. Vanadate and edelfosine both showed antimalarial and anti-invasive activity, while edelfosine was the most potent anti-invasive agent at physiological concentrations. The merozoite GPI-anchored proteome was analysed by sodium dodecyl sulphatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) followed by complete gel lane analyses conducted by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) on soluble and pelleted merozoite proteins in samples from either invasive or non-invasive merozoites. Thirteen known or predicted GPI-anchored proteins were identified in samples. Several changes were identified in merozoite GPI-anchored proteins between the invasive phase and after its completion, and minor differences were observed following treatment with edelfosine. Edelfosine showed partial inhibition of erythrocyte invasion, however, the primary cause of inhibition cannot be directly related to interferences with GPI-anchored proteins. These results suggest that GPIanchored proteins are controlled by various complex processes, and are cleaved or processed by diverse mechanisms during the invasive phase. These mechanisms may be controlled by multiple signals which effect proteins or groups of proteins in specific ways. These signals may be influenced by “checkpoints” during invasion processes including the time period after egress from schizonts, and possibly the recognition of erythrocyte targets. These methods and results provide a foundation for future research to enable culturing of P. falciparum parasites specifically for merozoite research, and to identify merozoite proteins active during the invasive phase. These results confirm and challenge previous ideas reported in literature on the GPI-anchored processes of merozoites and further characterise less studied GPIanchored proteins. The results suggest that the processes controlling GPI-anchored proteins may be more complex than previously thought. These results form a basis to further identify and characterise GPI-anchored proteins in the aim to develop antimalarial medications and vaccines that target merozoites and their GPI-anchored processes.
Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
Pharmacology
MSc
Unrestricted

Determina la eficacia de las pruebas DELI y MSF para calcular la IC50 de drogas antimaláricas mefloquina, quinina y cloroquina obtenidas de aislamientos de P. falciparum provenientes de pobladores de la comunidad de Padre Cocha en Iquitos-Perú. Se realizó un estudio cuantitativo descriptivo, prospectivo de corte transversal. La muestra fueron 16 muestras de sangre con diagnóstico de malaria confirmado por gota gruesa. Se realizaron los dos ensayos de sensibilidad in vitro (DELI y MSF) a cada muestra. Se determinaron tres factores de eficacia para el presente estudio; porcentaje de éxito, coeficiente de determinación de curva (R2) y coeficiente de variación (CV). Se hizo un análisis descriptivo y estadístico de los factores de eficacia mediante las pruebas de Wilcoxon y McNemar- Bowker para muestras pareadas con p < 0.05. Las medias aritméticas de los valores de IC50 con el ensayo DELI fueron para cloroquina 231.26 nM, quinina 101.17 nM y mefloquina 16.03 nM. Las medias de los valores de IC50 con el ensayo MSF fueron para cloroquina 227.52 nM, quinina 142.46 nM y mefloquina 35.07 nM. El porcentaje de éxito del cálculo de la IC50 para las tres drogas fueron el 50% (8/16) y 87.5% (14/16) en los ensayos MSF y DELI respectivamente, estas diferencias fueron estadísticamente significativas (p < 0.05). Sin embargo, en el análisis entre los porcentajes de éxito entre drogas, no presentaron diferencias para CQ y QN y si presentaron diferencias para MQ (p < 0.05). No hay diferencias significativas entre los valores de R2 entre las pruebas MSF y DELI. El porcentaje de éxito de CV positivos aumentó de 37.5% con el ensayo MSF a 81.25% con el ensayo DELI, estas diferencias fueron significativas (p < 0.05). Se concluye que el ensayo DELI es más eficaz que el ensayo MSF para calcular la IC50 de las drogas CQ, QN Y MQ.
Tesis

No presente trabalho foi investigada a remoção de substâncias húmicas na Filtração em Mútiplas Etapas - FiME, com aplicação de ozônio antecedendo o processo de filtração lenta. A instalação piloto era constituída de um pré-filtro dinâmico operado com taxa de 18 m/dia, um pré-filtro de escoamento vertical ascendente operado com taxa de 12 m/dia e dois filtros lentos trabalhando com taxas de filtração iguais a 4 m/dia, com diferentes composições dos leitos filtrantes, sendo um somente de areia e o outro de areia e carvão ativado granular disposto como camada \"sanduíche\" entre duas camadas de areia, e sistema de ozonização. Foi injetada solução de substância húmica na água efluente do pré-filtro vertical ascendente, preparada a partir da turfa retirada de uma área localizada no município de Luís Antônio, para proporcionar aumento de cor verdadeira na água. A eficiência das unidades filtrantes, na remoção de matéria orgânica foi avaliada pela determinação de cor verdadeira, carbono orgânico dissolvido, absorvância a 254 nm e oxigênio consumido. O resultados obtidos mostraram que o filtro lento 1, com carvão ativado, foi superior na remoção de matéria orgânica nas duas carreiras desenvolvidas e que não houve diferença entre os filtros lentos quanto a remoção de Escherichia coli, bactérias heterotróficas, sólidos suspensos totais e ferro total. Fortes correlações entre cor verdadeira e absorvância foram identificadas na carreiras de filtração. O mesmo ocorreu só na carreira 3 entre carbono orgânico dissolvido e absorvância e entre COD e oxigênio consumido.
The current research was carried out investigate the removal of humic substances in the multistage filtration system - MSF, with ozone application upstream slow sand filters. The pilot plant was compose by one dynamic roughing filter operated at a filtration rate of 18 m/day, one upflow roughing filter with filtration rate of 12 m/day and two slow sand filters, both operated with filtration rate of 4 m/day, with different \"filtering beds\"; one with sand only and another with sand and granular activated carbon, disposed as a \"sandwich\" layer between two sand layers, and the ozonation system. Solution of humic substance was injected in the effluent water from the upflow roughing filter, which was prepared using turf extracted from Luís Antônio County, to provide a raise in the real color of the water. The efficiency of the filtering units in the remotion of organic matter was evaluated by using the following parameters: true color, dissolved organic carbon, Uv - absorbance at 254 nm and the consumed oxygen. The results show that the slow sand filter 1, with activated carbon, was better for the removal of organic matter in the two runs carried out and that there were no differences between the slow sand filters in the removal of Escheyichia Coli, heteroph bacteria, total suspended solids. Strong correlation between true color and UV - absorbance was identified in run 1. The same occurred in run 3, relating the dissolved organic carbon and UV - absorbance and between DOC and consumed oxygen.

[EN] The Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) include a wide range of issues; those that cover food safety, animal health and plant protection, are known as Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS). SPS are a key element in the agrifood trade and a major challenge for trade policy and food safety. The application of the SPS is a dynamic and complex process due to the diversity of actors involved and the heterogeneity of objectives pursued: political, social, economic and environmental. In this global scenario, with increasingly complex regulations and organizations that affect the rules of agricultural trade, it is necessary to know more about its operation. This research aims to improve the understanding of the implementation of SPS in the agrifood trade. It challenges the assumption that the application of MNA is directly or exclusively linked to technical issues or others related to food safety, aiming to investigate other drivers that influence its application. An analysis of the implementation of SPS is carried out through two research questions: Q1) whether the implementation of NTMs is related to the elimination of trade tariffs, ultimately, the existence of policy substitution between NTMs and tariff; Q2) the application of NTMs is motivated by a systematic behaviour, guided by economic considerations and policies beyond the application of specific food notifications and health problems. The Q1 is studied in the countries of the South and East Mediterranean (SEMC) while Q2 is studied at the European Union (EU). The methodology used to address the first hypothesis, the policy substitution, begins with an analysis of the state of the art, continues with the classification into categories based on the use of NTMs and tariffs, and finally applies multiple regression models to test the hypothesis. To compare tariffs and NTMs, the research works with the Ad Valorem Equivalents (AVEs) established by Kee et al. (2009) and supported by an extensive literature. To address the second hypothesis, the source of information used is the RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed) database. The methodology applied begins with the construction of a tool able to transform the descriptive information from the RASFF into the numerical coding of the Harmonized System (HS) of trade, to subsequently apply the Negative Binomial model (NB) and Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial model (ZINB), thus identifying the determinants of the notifications process included in the RASFF from several Member States (MS) studied. The thesis presents the four articles written throughout the investigation. The results indicate that: (i) there is need for pursuing a new approach in agrifood trade policies, beyond the economic sphere, to strengthen the partnership between the EU and other countries, particularly the SEMC, and among the countries belonging to the latter ; (ii) the SEMC are at very different stages of harmonization of trade policies, but in regards to agrifood trade SEMC countries generally show low level of tariff protection, although levels of implementation of NTMs are variable and substitution policy is recognized in some specific sectors; (iii) the EU MS studied show homogeneous implementation of food notifications regardless of the country of origin. At product level, a correlation has been found between the notifications applied one year and the expected number of notifications in the following years (path dependence and reputation effect); (iv) however, there is a tendency among the EU MS studied to adopt common behaviours in implementing food safety measures.
[ES] Las Medidas No Arancelarias (MNA) incluyen una amplia gama de políticas que los países aplican a las importaciones y exportaciones, aquellas que abarcan la inocuidad de los alimentos, la sanidad animal y la protección fitosanitaria, son conocidas como Medidas Sanitarias y Fitosanitarias (MSF). Se trata de un elemento clave en el comercio agroalimentario y un importante desafío para la normativa alimentaria y las políticas de comercio. La aplicación de las MSF es un proceso dinámico y complejo por la diversidad de actores que intervienen así como por la heterogeneidad de motivos que persiguen: políticos, sociales, económicos y ambientales. En este escenario global, con cada vez más organizaciones y normativas complejas que influyen en las reglas del comercio agroalimentario es necesario conocer más de cerca su funcionamiento. La presente investigación tiene como objetivo mejorar la comprensión del funcionamiento de las MSF en el comercio agroalimentario. La investigación cuestiona que la aplicación de MSF esté directa o exclusivamente ligada a cuestiones técnicas o relacionadas con la inocuidad de los alimentos, por lo que busca estudiar otras motivaciones que influyan en su aplicación. Se ha planteado un análisis a través de dos preguntas de investigación: P1) si la profusión de MNA está relacionada con la eliminación de los aranceles para el comercio, en definitiva, la existencia de sustitución de políticas entre MNA y aranceles; P2) si la aplicación de MNA está motivada por una conducta sistemática, guiada por consideraciones económicas y políticas más allá de la aplicación de notificaciones alimentarias específicas y problemas de sanidad y salud. La P1 será estudiada en los Países Sur-Este Mediterráneos (PSEM) mientras que la P2 se analizara en países de la Unión Europea (UE). La metodología empleada para abordar la P1, sustitución de políticas, se inicia con un análisis del estado del arte, prosigue con la clasificación de los paises en función del uso de MNA y aranceles y la aplicación de modelos de regresión múltiple para contrastar la hipótesis. Para poder comparar los aranceles y las MNA, se ha trabajado con los Equivalentes Ad Valorem (EAV) establecidos por Kee et al. (2009) y el respaldo de una amplia literatura. En la P2 la fuente de información utilizada ha sido la base de datos RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed). La metodología seguida comenzó con la construcción de una herramienta capaz de transformar la información descriptiva obtenida del RASFF en la codificación numérica del Sistema Armonizado (SA) de comercio, para posteriormente aplicar el modelo Binomial Negativo (NB) y el modelo Binomial Negativo Inflado con Zeros (ZINB) y así identificar los factores determinantes de las notificaciones incluidas en el RASFF por parte de varios países miembros. La tesis recoge cuatro artículos elaborados a lo largo de la investigación. Los resultados obtenidos indican que: (i) Es necesario apostar por un nuevo planteamiento de las políticas de comercio agroalimentario, más allá del ámbito económico, para reforzar la asociación entre la UE y otros países, en particular los PSEM, y entre estos últimos entre sí; (ii) Los PSEM se encuentran en etapas muy diferentes de armonización de políticas comerciales, pero en general en el comercio agroalimentario muestran un nivel de protección bajo, aunque los niveles de aplicación de MNA son variables y se reconoce sustitución de políticas en algunos sectores específicos; (iii) Se ha encontrado una relación a nivel producto entre las notificaciones registradas un año y el número de notificaciones registradas el año siguiente (efecto reputación); (iv) Existe una tendencia entre los Estados Miembros (EM) estudiados de la UE en la adopción de comportamientos comunes en la aplicación de normas alimentarias en su comercio con países terceros, como caso particular de la aplicación de MSF.
[CAT] Les Mesures No Aranzelàries (MNA) inclouen una àmplia gamma de temes, aquelles que abasten la innocuïtat dels aliments, la sanitat animal i la protecció fitosanitària, són conegudes com a Mesures Sanitàries i Fitosanitàries (MSF). Es tracta d'un element clau en el comerç agroalimentari i un important repte per a les polítiques de comerç i la normativa alimentària. L'aplicació de les MSF és un procés dinàmic i complex per la diversitat d'actors que intervenen, així com per l'heterogeneïtat de motius que persegueixen: polítics, socials, econòmics i ambientals. En aquest escenari global, amb cada vegada més organitzacions i normatives complexes que influeixen en les regles del comerç agroalimentari és necessari conèixer de més a prop el seu funcionament. La present investigació té com a objectiu millorar la comprensió del funcionament de les MSF en el comerç agroalimentari. La investigació qüestiona que l'aplicació de MSF estiga directa o exclusivament lligada a qüestions tècniques o relacionades amb la innocuïtat dels aliments, per la qual cosa busca estudiar altres motivacions que influeixen en la seua aplicació. S'ha plantejat una anàlisi a través de dues preguntes de recerca: P1) Si la profusió de MNA està relacionada amb l'eliminació dels aranzels per al comerç, en definitiva, l'existència de substitució de polítiques entre MNA i aranzels; P2) Si l'aplicació de MNA està motivada per una conducta sistemàtica, guiada per consideracions econòmiques i polítiques més enllà de la aplicació de notificacions alimentàries específiques i problemes de sanitat i salut. La P1 serà estudiada als Països Sud-Est de la Mediterrània (PSEM) mentre que la P2 s'analitzés en països de la Unió Europea (UE). La metodologia emprada per abordar la P1, la substitució de polítiques, s'inicia amb una anàlisi de l'estat de l'art, prossegueix amb la classificació per categories en funció de l'ús de MNA i aranzels i l'aplicació de models de regressió múltiple per contrastar la hipòtesi. Per a poder comparar els aranzels i les MNA, s'ha treballat amb els Equivalents Ad Valorem (EAV) establerts per Kee et al. (2009) i amb el suport d'una àmplia literatura. A la P2 la font d'informació utilitzada ha estat la base de dades RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed). La metodologia seguida va començar amb la construcció d'una eina que transforma la informació descriptiva obtinguda del RASFF en la codificació numèrica del Sistema Harmonitzat (SA) de comerç, per a posteriorment aplicar el model Binomial Negatiu (NB) i el model Binomial Negatiu Inflat amb Zeros (ZINB) i així identificar els factors determinants de les notificacions incloses en el RASFF per part de diversos països membres. La tesi recull quatre articles elaborats al llarg de la investigació. Els resultats obtinguts indiquen que: (i) Cal apostar per un nou plantejament de les polítiques de comerç agroalimentari, més enllà de l'àmbit econòmic, per reforçar l'associació entre la UE i altres països, en particular els PSEM, i d'aquests últims entre sí; (ii) Els PSEM es troben en etapes molt diferents d'harmonització de polítiques comercials, però en general en el comerç agroalimentari mostren un nivell de protecció aranzelària baixa, tot i que els nivells d'aplicació de MNA són variables i es reconeix substitució de polítiques en alguns sectors específics; (iii) S'ha trobat relació, a nivell producte, entre les notificacions d'un any respecte el nombre de notificacions esperades a l'any següent (efecte reputació); (iv) Hi ha una tendència entre els Estats Membres (EM) estudiats de la UE en l'adopció de comportaments comuns en l'aplicació de normes alimentàries en el seu comerç amb països tercers, com a cas particular de l'aplicació de MSF.
Tudela Marco, L. (2015). Factores determinantes de las Medidas No Arancelarias aplicadas al comercio agroalimentario [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/57708
TESIS

The present dissertation provided an insight of the organizational culture and the innovative behavior of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the early stages of the innovation process. The method Culture Types of Organizations certified that the investigated SMEs possessed a distinctive family culture, and in addition an innovation cul-ture at the company headquarters. By using the social research method Grounded Theory the so called theory "Innovation kultivieren" was developed. This theory consists of three process stages. The first process stage "Mindset geben" is about defining and anchoring new innovative company's values. The second process stage "Innovation organisieren" defines the organizational responsibilities and last but not least, the third process stage "Innovation strukturieren" delivers various accompanying soft skill factors to improve the innovation culture of companies.

Humanitarian help organisations today may benefit on improving their location analysis when placing field hospitals in countries hit by a disasters or catastrophe. The main objective of this thesis is to develop and evaluate a spatial decision support method for strategic placing of field hospitals for two time perspectives, long term (months) and short term (weeks). Specifically, the possibility of combining existing infrastructure and satellite data is examined to derive a suitability map for placing field hospitals. Haut-Katanga in Congo is used as test area where exists a large variety of ground features and has been visited by aid organisations in the past due to epidemics and warzones. The method consists of several steps including remote sensing for estimation of population density, a Multi Criteria Evaluation (MCE) for analysis of suitability, and visualization in a webmap. The Population density is used as a parameter for an MCE operation to create a decision support map for locating field hospitals. Other related information such as road network, water source and landuse is also taken into consideration in MCE. The method can generate a thematic map that highlights the suitability value of different areas for field hospitals. By using webmap related technologies, these suitability maps are also dynamic and accessible through the Internet. This new approach using the technology of dasymetric mapping for population deprival together with an MCE process, yielded a method with the result being both a standalone population distribution and a suitability map for placing field hospitals with the population distribution taken into consideration. The use of dasymetric mapping accounted for higher resolution and the ability to derive new population distributions on demand due to changing conditions rather than using pre-existing methods with coarser resolution and a more seldom update rate. How this method can be used in other areas is also analysed. The result of the study shows that the created maps are reasonable and can be used to support the locating of field hospitals by narrowing down the available areas to be considered. The results from MCE are compared to a real field hospital scenario, and it is shown that the proposed method narrows down the localisation options and shortens the time required for planning an operation. The method is meant to be used together with other decision methods which involves non spatial factors that are beyond the scope of this thesis.

The rapid increase in the demand on fresh water due the increase in the world population and scarcity of natural water puts more stress on the desalination industrial sector to install more desalination plants around the world. Among these desalination plants, multistage flash desalination process (MSF) is considered to be the most reliable technique of producing potable water from saline water. In recent years, however, the MSF process is confronting many problems to cut off the cost and increase its performance. Among these problems are the non-condensable gases (NCGs) and the accumulation of fouling which they work as heat insulation materials. As a result, the MSF pumps and the heat transfer equipment are overdesigned and consequently increase the capital cost and decrease the performance of the plants. Moreover, improved process control is a cost effective approach to energy conservation and increased process profitability. Thus, this study is motivated by the real absence of detailed kinetic fouling model and implementation of advance process control (APC). To accomplish the above tasks, commercial modelling tools can be utilized to model and simulate MSF process taking into account the NCGs and fouling effect, and optimum control strategy. In this research, gPROMS (general PROcess Modeling System) model builder has been used to develop the MSF process model. First, a dynamic mathematical model of MSF is developed based on the basic laws of mass balance, energy balance and heat transfer. Physical and thermodynamic properties of brine, distillate and water vapour are included to support the model. The model simulation results are validated against actual plant data published in the literature and good agreement with these data is obtained. Second, the design of venting system in MSF plant and the effect of NCGs on the overall heat transfer coefficient (OHTC) are studied. The release rate of NCGs is studied using Henry’s law and the locations of venting points are optimised. The results reveal that high concentration of NCGs heavily affects the OHTC. Furthermore, advance control strategy namely: generic model control (GMC) is designed and introduced to the MSF process to control and track the set points of the two most important variables in the MSF plant; namely the Top Brine Temperature (TBT) which is the output temperature of the brine heater and the Brine Level (BL) in the last stage. The results are compared to conventional Proportional Integral Derivative Controller (PID) and show that GMC controller provides better performance over conventional PID controller to handle a nonlinear system. In addition, a new control strategy called hybrid Fuzzy-GMC is developed and implemented to control the same aforementioned loops. Its results reveal that the new control outperforms the pure GMC in some areas. Finally, a dynamic fouling model is developed and incorporated into the MSF dynamic process model to predict fouling at high temperature and high velocity. The proposed dynamic model considers the attachment and removal mechanisms of calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide with more relaxation of the assumptions. Since the MSF plant stages work as a series of heat exchangers, there is a continuous change of temperature, heat flux and salinity of the seawater. The proposed model predicts the behaviour of fouling based on the physical and thermal conditions of every single stage of the plant.

Orientador: Marcos Nogueira Eberlin
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Quimica
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Doutorado

This project has revolved around how to expand Stockholm in socially sustainable way. As is the case with many other cities in the world, inspired by modernist ideals, expansion during the 1900: s have shaped Stockholm into an archipelago of islands with mostly homogenous housing types that exist within an urban structure of centre and periphery. The Stockholm City Council is trying counter this situation by expanding the city centre into eight new regional cores by densifying a few chosen areas. This is done by conforming to old traditions of placing existing housing types and public spaces in a similar way as before. How do you go one step further in decentralizing Stockholm and breaking away from these traditions? The idea for this project is then to create an alternative typology that will be spread out homogeneously throughout the regional cores and that will grow organically as new needs emerge over time. The typology itself is simply a building scaffolding, a 6x6x7 steel grid, that will act as a tool for urban planning and host creation and expansion of new housing and public situations that together aim to constitute new parts of an alternative type of growing city centre.

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Computação
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Segundo dados do ministério da ciência e tecnologia (MCT), o mercado brasileiro na área de software é composto predominantemente por micro e pequenas empresas (MPEs), cujos processos são executados geralmente de modo informal, improvisado e com pouca visibilidade. Esse cenário gera uma série de dificuldades a essas organizações, tornando-as enfraquecidas para competir no mercado e crescerem. Uma alternativa para a mudança desse quadro é o investimento em estabelecimento de processos sistemáticos de software, já que a qualidade dos produtos desenvolvidos são altamente influenciados pelos seus processos de produção. Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho propõe e avalia a abordagem ASPE/MSC (Approach for Software Process Establishment in Micro and Small Companies), cujo objetivo é estabelecer processos de software em MPEs, considerando suas características e limitações. Seu desenvolvimento está baseado em estudos sobre estabelecimento de processos de software, na adaptação de técnicas e abordagens existentes nessa área de pesquisa e na experiência em modelagem de processos de software, obtida pelo LQPS - Laboratório de Qualidade e Produtividade de Software da UNIVALI e pelo Grupo de Qualidade de Software do centro GeNESS. A avaliação da abordagem é realizada por meio de dois estudos de caso, executados em duas pequenas empresas de software em Florianópolis/SC. Os principais resultados do trabalho são a abordagem ASPE/MSC e as experiências obtidas com a execução dos estudos de caso, que incluem dados qualitativos e quantitativos. A abordagem ASPE/MSC está documentada na forma de um guia, que descreve detalhadamente as atividades que a compõem, os papéis envolvidos na execução das respectivas atividades, templates de documentos para auxiliar na sua aplicação e diretrizes para sua execução num contexto real. A perspectiva do trabalho é auxiliar micro e pequenas empresas de software a se fortalecerem no mercado, através da melhoria contínua dos seus processos. Com isso, espera-se que, MPEs possam alcançar gradativamente patamares mais elevados de qualidade, produtividade e competitividade.

Single strand (ss) RNA viruses are amongst the most prevalent viral pathogens in nature. A key event in the life cycle of many of these viruses is the packaging of their ssRNA genome into a capsid of defined size and shape. The mechanism by which genome packaging and capsid assembly proceeds is however poorly understood. Increased knowledge of this event is beneficial for novel anti-viral drug design, as well as contributing to our understanding of macromolecular assembly events. This project has explored the role(s) of the RNA genome in the capsid assembly process of the model ssRNA virus, bacteriophage MS2. In vitro capsid reassembly reactions have been carried out using recombinant coat protein and ssRNA transcripts corresponding to different regions of the MS2 genome. These reactions have been assayed by size distribution analysis using native gel shift assays and sedimentation velocity analysis. This has allowed the effects of RNA size, sequence and structure on capsid assembly to be investigated. All the genomic RNAs transcripts, independent of sequence and size, promoted capsid assembly. The efficiency in which they each promote assembly was, however, different. This was shown to be due to the mechanism by which genomic RNA is packaged. It appears that coat proteins bind to RNA causing conformational changes that reduce its volume to that of the capsid interior. This was evident from the observed RNA length dependence on capsid assembly efficiency. Estimates of the hydrodynamic radii of assembly components and the inhibitory effect that ethidium bromide, a compound which stiffens RNA structure, has on capsid formation also supported this hypothesis. The RNA structural transition was investigated using an RNA structure probing assay. The solution structures of the RNA transcripts were compared to the MS2 genome structure within the virion. Lead acetate was used to cause structure-specific cleavages within these RNAs which were then detected by reverse transcription using labelled primers. The results show that the RNA structure is partly conserved in solution and within the virion, implying that the conformational changes during encapsidation involve primarily tertiary structure rearrangement. The data suggest that the MS2 virion RNA has a defined structure within the virion. These results are consistent with cryo-electron microscopy of virions and capsids carried out by other members of the laboratory. One implication of this work is that compounds capable of inhibiting the conformational rearrangements required for virus assembly could serve as potent anti-viral therapeutics. The work presented in this thesis has contributed to our understanding of how ssRNA is packaged into ssRNA virus capsids and, in particular, the roles it plays in capsid assembly.

V úvodu diplomové práce je uveden popis tématu a cíl diplomové práce, tj. finanční analýza konkrétní obchodní společnosti tak, aby potencionální zahraniční investor měl veškeré relevantní údaje k přijetí strategického rozhodnutí v oblasti akvizic. V teoreticko metodologicá část obsahuje popis jednotlivých metod hodnocení finančního zdraví společnosti - horizontální analýzu, vertikální analýzu, ekonomický normál, bilanční pravidla, poměrové ukazatele, Du Pontův rozklad, EVU, Altmanovou analýzu, Indexy IN a hodnocení podle Pollaka. Praktická část obsahuje aplikaci popisovaných metod na konkretní údaje společnosti MSA. V závěru jsou hodnoceny výsledky jednotlivých metod.

CHAPTER I. Basic Equations. Fundamental Matrices. Thermo-Radiation Conditions 1. Basic differential equations of thermoelasticity theory 2. Fundamental matrices 3. Thermo-radiating conditions. Somigliana type integral representations CHAPTER II. Formulation of Boundary Value and Interface Problems 4. Functional spaces 5. Formulation of basic and mixed BVPs 6. Formulation of crack type problems 7. Formulation of basic and mixed interface problems CHAPTER III. Uniqueness Theorems 8. Uniqueness theorems in pseudo-oscillation problems 9. Uniqueness theorems in steady state oscillation problems CHAPTER IV. Potentials and Boundary Integral Operators 10. Thermoelastic steady state oscillation potentials 11. Pseudo-oscillation potentials CHAPTER V. Regular Boundary Value and Interface Problems 12. Basic BVPs of pseudo-oscillations 13. Basic exterior BVPs of steady state oscillations 14. Basic interface problems of pseudo-oscillations 15. Basic interface problems of steady state oscillations CHAPTER VI. Mixed and Crack Type Problems 16. Basic mixed BVPs 17. Crack type problems 18. Mixed interface problems of steady state oscillations 19. Mixed interface problems of pseudo-oscillations

Three-dimensional basic and mixed interface problems of the mathematical theory of thermoelastic pseudo-oscillations are considered for piecewise homogeneous anisotropic bodies. Applying the method of boundary potentials and the theory of pseudodifferential equations existence and uniqueness theorems of solutions are proved in the space of regular functions C^(k+ alpha) and in the Bessel-potential (H^(s)_(p)) and Besov (B^(s)_(p,q)) spaces. In addition to the classical regularity results for solutions to the basic interface problems, it is shown that in the mixed interface problems the displacement vector and the temperature are Hölder continuous with exponent 0