Validación de sistemas constructivos de los cerramientos de la edificación mediante la aplicación de los métodos de decisión multicriterio : aplicación al catálogo de elementos constructivos del Código Técnico de la Edificación

Como punto de partida para el desarrollo de la Tesis, se mantiene la hipótesis de que es posible establecer métodos de evaluación global sobre el grado de utilidad de los sistemas constructivos correspondientes a los cerramientos de la edificación. Tales métodos habrían de posibilitar, de entre una serie finita de sistemas alternativos, cuáles de ellos son los objetivamente más adecuados para su selección en un entorno de decisión concreto, y habrían de permitir fundamentar la justificación objetiva de tal decisión. Paralelamente a esta hipótesis de carácter general, se planteó desde el inicio la necesidad de comprobación de una hipótesis de partida particular según la cual los sistemas constructivos basados en la utilización de componentes prefabricados, o procesos de puesta en obra con un alto grado de industrialización arrojarían valores de utilidad mayores que los sistemas tradicionales basados en la albañilería. Para la verificación de estas dos hipótesis de partida se ha procedido inicialmente a la selección de un conjunto coherente de doce sistemas de cerramientos de la edificación que pudiese servir como testigo de su diversidad potencial, para proceder a su valoración comparativa. El método de valoración propuesto ha entrado a considerar una serie de factores de diversa índole que no son reducibles a un único parámetro o magnitud que permitiese una valoración de tipo lineal sobre su idoneidad relativa, ni que permitiese establecer un grado de prelación entre los distintos sistemas constructivos alternativos de manera absoluta. Para resolver este tour de force o desafío metodológico se ha acudido a la aplicación de metodologías de valoración que nos permitiesen establecer de forma racional dicha comparativa. Nos referimos a una serie de metodologías provenientes en primera instancia de las ciencias exactas, que reciben la denominación de métodos de ayuda a la decisión multicriterio, y en concreto el denominado método ELECTRE. Inicialmente, se ha planteado la aplicación del método de análisis sobre doce sistemas constructivos seleccionados de tal forma que representasen de forma adecuada las tres categorías establecidas para caracterizar la totalidad de sistemas constructivos posibles; por peso, grado de prefabricación y grado de ventilación. Si bien la combinación de las tres categorías básicas anteriormente señaladas produce un total de 18 subcategorías conceptuales, tomamos finalmente doce subcategorías dado que consideramos que es un número operativo suficiente por extenso para el análisis propuesto y elimina tipos no relevantes. Aplicado el método propuesto, a estos doce sistemas constructivos “testigo”, se constata el mayor grado de utilidad de los sistemas prefabricados, pesados y no ventilados. Al hilo del análisis realizado en la Parte II de la Tesis sobre los doce sistemas constructivos “testigo”, se ha realizado un volcado de los sistemas constructivos incluidos en el Catalogo de Elementos Constructivos del CTE (versión 2010) sobre las dieciocho subcategorías definidas en dicha Parte II para caracterizar los sistemas constructivos “testigo”. Posteriormente, se ha procedido a una parametrización de la totalidad de sistemas constructivos para cerramientos de fachadas incluidos en este Catálogo. La parametrización sistemática realizada ha permitido establecer, mediante el cálculo del valor medio que adoptan los parámetros de los sistemas pertenecientes a una misma familia de las establecidas por el Catálogo, una caracterización comparativa del grado de utilidad de dichas familias, tanto en lo relativo a cada uno de los parámetros como en una valoración global de sus valores, de carácter indicativo. Una vez realizada una parametrización completa de la totalidad de sistemas constructivos incluidos en el Catálogo, se ha realizado una simulación de aplicación de la metodología de validación desarrollada en la Parte II de la presente Tesis, con el objeto de comprobar su adecuación al caso. En conclusión, el desarrollo de una herramienta de apoyo a la decisión multicriterio aplicada al Catálogo de Elementos constructivos del CTE se ha demostrado técnicamente viable y arroja resultados significativos. Se han diseñado dos sistemas constructivos mediante la aplicación de la herramienta desarrollada, uno de fachada no ventilada y otro de fachada ventilada. Comparados estos dos sistemas constructivos mejorados con otros sistemas constructivos analizados Se comprueba el alto grado de utilidad objetiva de los dos sistemas diseñados en relación con el resto. La realización de este ejercicio de diseño de un sistema constructivo específico, que responde a los requerimientos de un decisor concreto viene a demostrar, así pues, la utilidad del algoritmo propuesto en su aplicación a los procesos de diseño de los sistemas constructivos. La tesis incorpora dos innovaciones metodológicas y tres innovaciones instrumentales. ABSTRACT The starting point for the thesis is the hypothesis that it is possible to devise suitability degree evaluation methods of building enclosure systems. Such methods should allow optimizing appraisal, given a specific domain of decision, among a finite number of alternative systems, and provide objective justification of such decision. Along with the above mentioned general assumption, a second hypothesis whereby constructive systems based on the use of prefabricated components, or high industrialization degree work processes, would throw efficiency values higher than traditional masonry systems needed to be tested. In order to validate these two hypothesis a coherent set of twelve enclosure systems that could serve as a reference sample of their potential diversity was selected and a comparative evaluation was carried out. The valuation method proposed has considered several different factors that are neither reducible to a single parameter or magnitude that would allow a linear evaluation of their relative suitability nor allow to establishing an absolute priority ranking between different alternative constructive systems. In order to resolve this tour de force or methodological challenge, valuation methodologies that enable use establishing rational assessments were used. We are referring to a number of methodologies taken from the exact sciences field, usually known as aid methods for multi-criteria decision, in particular the so-called ELECTRE method. Even though the combination of the mentioned three basic categories result in eighteen conceptual sub categories, we are finally considering just twelve since we deem it adequately extended for the our intended purpose and eliminates non relevant instances. The method of analysis was initially applied to the set of twelve selected constructive systems is a way that they could represent adequately the three previously established categories set out to characterize all possible enclosure systems, namely weight, prefabrication degree and ventilation degree. Once the proposed method is applied to the sample systems, the higher efficiency of the prefabricated, heavy and not ventilated systems was confirmed. In line with the analysis in Part II of the thesis on the twelve chosen enclosure systems, it has done an uploading data of construction systems listed in the Catalogue of constructive elements of the CTE (version 2010) according the eighteen subcategories used in this part II to characterize the construction systems taken as sample. Subsequently, a parameterization of all enclosure facade systems included in this catalog has been undertaken. The systematic parameterization has allowed to set, by means of calculating the average values of the parameters of the systems belonging to the same family of those established by the Catalog, a comparative characterization of the efficiency degree of these families, both in relation to each parameter as to an overall evaluation of its values, in a indicative way. After the parameterization of all enclosure systems included in the Catalog, a simulation of validation methodology application developed in Part II of this Thesis has been made, in order to assess its consistency to the referred case. In conclusion, the development of a multi-criteria decision aid tool, applied to the CTE Catalog of constructive elements, has proved to be technically feasible and yields significant results. Two building systems through the application of the developed tool, a non-ventilated façade and a ventilated façade have been designed. Comparing these two improved construction systems with other building systems analyzed, we were able to assess the high degree of objective efficiency of the two systems designed in relation to the rest. The exercise of designing a specific enclosure system that meets the requirements of a particular decision-maker hence shows the suitability of the proposed algorithm applied to the process of enclosure systems design. This Thesis includes two methodological innovations and three instrumental innovations.

Saccharomyces Genome Database provides tools to survey gene expression and functional analysis data

Upon the completion of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genomic sequence in 1996 [Goffeau,A. et al. (1997) Nature, 387, 5], several creative and ambitious projects have been initiated to explore the functions of gene products or gene expression on a genome-wide scale. To help researchers take advantage of these projects, the Saccharomyces Genome Database (SGD) has created two new tools, Function Junction and Expression Connection. Together, the tools form a central resource for querying multiple large-scale analysis projects for data about individual genes. Function Junction provides information from diverse projects that shed light on the role a gene product plays in the cell, while Expression Connection delivers information produced by the ever-increasing number of microarray projects. WWW access to SGD is available at genome-www.stanford.edu/Saccharomyces/.

Análise de consistência de traçado de uma rodovia de múltiplas faixas.

O número de acidentes de trânsito é crescente nas últimas décadas no Brasil. Uma das principais causas de acidentes em rodovias brasileiras é o excesso de velocidade, que contribui para a possibilidade de ocorrência de acidentes. As velocidades praticadas pelos motoristas são também função dos elementos geométricos que compõem a via (raio, rampa, largura da faixa, etc). A consistência de traçado não afeta a expectativa dos motoristas e garante uma operação segura. A maioria dos motoristas consegue perceber as falhas de coordenação, mas tecnicamente, por exemplo, desconhecem a origem das mesmas. Esta pesquisa apresenta como objetivo a análise de consistência de um trecho de uma determinada rodovia do país de múltiplas faixas, com elevado índice de acidentes e alto fluxo de veículos comerciais. Os pontos com maior ocorrência de acidentes foram identificados e realizaram-se medições de velocidade para elaboração de um modelo de previsão de velocidade operacional (V85) do trecho de estudo. De posse deste modelo, procedeu-se à análise de consistência através do método dos critérios de segurança, que identificou 2 seções com problemas de consistência. Por fim, verificou-se se estas seções correspondiam aos locais de maior número de acidentes: a tangente T5 precede uma curva com alto índice de acidentes (km 511+000); o local com maior concentração de acidentes (km 514) foi classificado como RAZOÁVEL.

Beliefs and practices of patients with advanced cancer: implications for communication

The aim of this study was to investigate the beliefs that patients with advanced cancer held about the curability of their cancer, their use of alternatives to conventional medical treatment, and their need to have control over decisions about treatment. Of 149 patients who fulfilled the criteria for participation and completed a self-administered questionnaire, 45 patients (31%) believed their cancer was incurable, 61 (42%) were uncertain and 39 (27%) believed their cancer was curable. The index of need for control over treatment decisions was low in 53 patients (35.6%) and high in only 17 patients (11.4%). Committed users of alternatives to conventional medical treatments were more likely to believe that their cancer was curable (P

Injury and risk-taking behavior - a systematic review

There is a substantial body of work in the scientific literature discussing the role of risk-taking behavior in the causation of injury. Despite the quantity of diverse writings on the subject most is in the form of theoretical commentaries. This review was conducted to critically assess the empirical evidence supporting the association between injury and risk-taking behavior. The review found six case-control studies and one retrospective cohort study, which met all the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was not possible due to the diversity of the independent and outcome variables in each of the studies reviewed. Overall the review found that risk-taking behavior, however it is measured, is associated with an increased chance of sustaining an injury except in the case of high skilled, risk-taking sports where the effect may be in the other direction. Drawing specific conclusions from the research presented in this review is difficult without an agreed conceptual framework for examining risk-taking behavior and injury. Considerable work needs to be done to provide a convincing evidence base on which to build public health interventions around risk behavior. However, sufficient evidence exists to suggest that effort in this area may be beneficial for the health of the community. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biodiversity conservation planning tools: Present status and challenges for the future

Species extinctions and the deterioration of other biodiversity features worldwide have led to the adoption of systematic conservation planning in many regions of the world. As a consequence, various software tools for conservation planning have been developed over the past twenty years. These, tools implement algorithms designed to identify conservation area networks for the representation and persistence of biodiversity features. Budgetary, ethical, and other sociopolitical constraints dictate that the prioritized sites represent biodiversity with minimum impact on human interests. Planning tools are typically also used to satisfy these criteria. This chapter reviews both the concepts and technical choices that underlie the development of these tools. Conservation planning problems can be formulated as optimization problems, and we evaluate the suitability of different algorithms for their solution. Finally, we also review some key issues associated with the use of these tools, such as computational efficiency, the effectiveness of taxa and abiotic parameters at choosing surrogates for biodiversity, the process of setting explicit targets of representation for biodiversity surrogates, and

RESILIÊNCIA, VALORES HUMANOS E PERCEPÇÃO DE SUPORTE SOCIAL EM PROFISSIONAIS DA SAÚDE

A perspectiva atual da ciência psicológica, somada aos aspectos da psicologia positiva e da saúde, permite estudar o fenômeno da resiliência, transformando velhas questões em novas possibilidades de compreensão, permitindo um olhar positivo dos seres humanos, focando ao invés de aspectos negativos, os aspectos virtuosos, tais como: resiliência, felicidade, otimismo, altruísmo, esperança, como sendo recursos favoráveis para manutenção e promoção da saúde. A percepção do suporte social protege os indivíduos contra a desestabilização, e os valores humanos contribuem na tomada de decisão e nas escolhas para a resolução de conflitos. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar se valores humanos e percepção de suporte social predizem resiliência em profissionais da saúde. Participaram 127 brasileiros, profissionais da saúde, sendo 76% do sexo feminino, com idade média de 38 anos, em sua maioria, casados. Os instrumentos utilizados para a coleta de dados foram um questionário de dados sociodemográficos, a Escala de Avaliação de Resiliência, o Questionário de Perfis de Valores QPV e Escala de Percepção de Suporte Social EPSS. Foram calculadas estatísticas descritivas, testes t e análises de regressão lineares múltiplas padrão. Os resultados revelaram que os participantes possuem bons níveis de resiliência, percebem que recebem mais suporte afetivo e movem e guiam suas ações e comportamentos pelo bem-estar dos outros. Resultados das análises de regressão revelaram que apenas valores humanos são preditores de resiliência. Estes achados contribuem para a compreensão do constructo de resiliência como um estado ou processo, portanto, como um fenômeno dinâmico que leva em consideração o contexto onde o ser humano está inserido, mas revela também a importância das características individuais na explicação deste fenômeno. Tendo em vista as limitações deste estudo e considerando que não foi encontrado nenhum estudo empírico acerca da influencia dos valores humanos sobre a resiliência, os resultados indicam a necessidade de desenvolvimentos de mais estudos para melhor compreensão dos preditores de resiliência e uma agenda de pesquisa é sugerida ao final das conclusões.

Analytic hierarchy process helps evaluate projects in Indian oil pipeline industry

Conventionally, oil pipeline projects are evaluated thoroughly by the owner before investment decision is made using market, technical and financial analysis sequentially. The market analysis determines pipelines throughput and supply and demand points. Subsequent, technical analysis identifies technological options and economic and financial analysis then derives the least cost option among all technically feasible options. The subsequent impact assessment tries to justify the selected option by addressing environmental and social issues. The impact assessment often suggests alternative sites, technologies, and/or implementation methodology, necessitating revision of technical and financial analysis. This study addresses these issues via an integrated project evaluation and selection model. The model uses analytic hierarchy process, a multiple-attribute decision-making technique. The effectiveness of the model has been demonstrated through a case application on cross-country petroleum pipeline project in India.

Selection of power market structure using the analytic hierarchy process

Selection of a power market structure from the available alternatives is an important activity within an overall power sector reform programme. The evaluation criteria for selection are both subjective as well as objective in nature and the selection of alternatives is characterised by their conflicting nature. This study demonstrates a methodology for power market structure selection using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a multiple attribute decision-making technique, to model the selection methodology with the active participation of relevant stakeholders in a workshop environment. The methodology is applied to a hypothetical case of a State Electricity Board reform in India.

A risk-based model for inspection and maintenance of cross-country petroleum pipeline

The existing method of pipeline health monitoring, which requires an entire pipeline to be inspected periodically, is both time-wasting and expensive. A risk-based model that reduces the amount of time spent on inspection has been presented. This model not only reduces the cost of maintaining petroleum pipelines, but also suggests efficient design and operation philosophy, construction methodology and logical insurance plans. The risk-based model uses Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multiple attribute decision-making technique, to identify the factors that influence failure on specific segments and analyzes their effects by determining probability of risk factors. The severity of failure is determined through consequence analysis. From this, the effect of a failure caused by each risk factor can be established in terms of cost, and the cumulative effect of failure is determined through probability analysis. The technique does not totally eliminate subjectivity, but it is an improvement over the existing inspection method.

Construction risk management:a quantitative approach

Conventional project management techniques are not always sufficient for ensuring time, cost and quality achievement of large-scale construction projects due to complexity in planning and implementation processes. The main reasons for project non-achievement are changes in scope and design, changes in Government policies and regulations, unforeseen inflation) under-estimation and improper estimation. Projects that are exposed to such an uncertain environment can be effectively managed with the application of risk numagement throughout project life cycle. However, the effectiveness of risk management depends on the technique in which the effects of risk factors are analysed and! or quantified. This study proposes Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multiple attribute decision-making technique as a tool for risk analysis because it can handle subjective as well as objective factors in decision model that are conflicting in nature. This provides a decision support system (DSS) to project managenumt for making the right decision at the right time for ensuring project success in line with organisation policy, project objectives and competitive business environment. The whole methodology is explained through a case study of a cross-country petroleum pipeline project in India and its effectiveness in project1nana.gement is demonstrated.

A note on DEA models in technology selection:an improvement of Karsak and Ahiska's approach

This paper introduces a compact form for the maximum value of the non-Archimedean in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models applied for the technology selection, without the need to solve a linear programming (LP). Using this method the computational performance the common weight multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) DEA model proposed by Karsak and Ahiska (International Journal of Production Research, 2005, 43(8), 1537-1554) is improved. This improvement is significant when computational issues and complexity analysis are a concern.

A systems approach to strategic manpower planning for technological development under conditions of manpower scarcity and centralised control

This thesis deals with the integration of the manpower criterion with the strategic decision making processes of technological projects in developing countries. This integration is to be achieved by ensuring the involvement of the actors, who have relevant roles and responsibilities along the whole life cycle of the project, in the strategic decision making phases of the project. The relevance of the actors is ascertained by the use of a responsibility index which relates their responsibility to the project's constituent stages. In the context of a technological project in a typical centrally-planned developing environment, the actors are identified as Arbiters, Planners, Implementors and Operators and their roles, concerns and objectives are derived. In this context, the actors are usually government and non-government organisations. Hence, decision making will involve multiple agencies as well as multiple criteria. A methodology covering the whole decision-making process, from options generation to options selection, and adopting Saaty's Analytical Hierarchy Process as an operational tool is proposed to deal with such multiple-criteria, multipleagency decision situations. The methodology is intended to integrate the consideration of the relevant criteria, the prevailing environmental and policy factors, and the concerns and objectives of the relevant actors into a unifying decision-making process which strives to facilitate enlightened decision making and to enhance learning and interaction. An extensive assessment of the methodology's feasibility, based on a specific technological project within the Iraqi oil industry is included, and indicates that the methodology should be both useful and implementable.

Strategic logistics outsourcing: an integrated QFD and AHP approach

Third-party logistics service providers (3PLs) play a vital role in contemporary supply chain management. Evaluation and selection of the right 3PLs depends on a wide range of quantitative and qualitative criteria rather than cost-based factors. Although various multi-criteria decision making approaches have been proposed, they have not considered the impact of business objectives and requirements of company stakeholders on the evaluating criteria. To enable the "voice" of company stakeholders is considered, this paper develops an integrated approach for selecting 3PL strategically. In the approach, multiple evaluating criteria are derived from the requirements of company stakeholders using a series of house of quality (HOQ). The importance of evaluating criteria is prioritized with respect to the degree of achieving the stakeholder requirements using analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Based on the ranked criteria, alternative 3PLs are evaluated and compared with each other using AHP again to make an optimal selection.