O hospital da misericórdia de Penafiel (1600-1850)

Tese de Doutoramento em História - Especialidade de Idade Moderna

Globalization and international relations: the Olympic Movement and European Integration

Essay elaborated by Shaelyne Johnson, undergraduate student of Global Studies at the University of California-Santa Barbara, during her internship at CEO-UAB for the academic course 2008/2009. She compares the organisational structure, goals and objectives of the institutions in the Olympic Movement and the European Integration, in order to find connections between both movements which were caused by globalization. The paper begins with an introduction of the changing world nowadays, followed by an overview on the structural similarities in the historical unfolding between these two parallel movements and, before concluding, new means for international relations are considered. This document is available in English through the digital library at the CEO-UAB Portal of Olympic Studies and the digital repository RECERCAT.

Especificacions, Anàlisi i Disseny d'un Programari de Gestió de Magatzems

Aquest treball de fi de carrera vol reflectir les necessitats bàsiques per al disseny d'un programari de gestió de magatzems (PGM a partir d'ara). Un PGM té la particularitat d'haver d'establir connexions entre els fluxos físics del treball propi d'un magatzem i els fluxos de dades propis d'un sistema informàtic. Les prestacions del PGM s'hauran de desenvolupar en part en terminals de radiofreqüència, ja que es considera que el treball en línia és bàsic per a gestionar un magatzem.

Resource dimensioning aspect of heterogeneous traffic with different service requirements: Integration versus segregation

In this paper, we consider the ATM networks in which the virtual path concept is implemented. The question of how to multiplex two or more diverse traffic classes while providing different quality of service requirements is a very complicated open problem. Two distinct options are available: integration and segregation. In an integration approach all the traffic from different connections are multiplexed onto one VP. This implies that the most restrictive QOS requirements must be applied to all services. Therefore, link utilization will be decreased because unnecessarily stringent QOS is provided to all connections. With the segregation approach the problem can be much simplified if different types of traffic are separated by assigning a VP with dedicated resources (buffers and links). Therefore, resources may not be efficiently utilized because no sharing of bandwidth can take place across the VP. The probability that the bandwidth required by the accepted connections exceeds the capacity of the link is evaluated with the probability of congestion (PC). Since the PC can be expressed as the CLP, we shall simply carry out bandwidth allocation using the PC. We first focus on the influence of some parameters (CLP, bit rate and burstiness) on the capacity required by a VP supporting a single traffic class using the new convolution approach. Numerical results are presented both to compare the required capacity and to observe which conditions under each approach are preferred

Label Space Reduction in MPLS Networks: How Much Can A Single Stacked Label Do?

Most network operators have considered reducing LSR label spaces (number of labels used) as a way of simplifying management of underlaying virtual private networks (VPNs) and therefore reducing operational expenditure (OPEX). The IETF outlined the label merging feature in MPLS-allowing the configuration of multipoint-to-point connections (MP2P)-as a means of reducing label space in LSRs. We found two main drawbacks in this label space reduction a)it should be separately applied to a set of LSPs with the same egress LSR-which decreases the options for better reductions, and b)LSRs close to the edge of the network experience a greater label space reduction than those close to the core. The later implies that MP2P connections reduce the number of labels asymmetrically

N-cadherin is essential for retinoic acid-mediated cardiomyogenic differentiation in mouse embryonic stem cells.

Contraction forces developed by cardiomyocytes are transmitted across the plasma membrane through end-to-end connections between the myocytes, called intercalated disks, which enable the coordinated contraction of heart muscle. A component of the intercalated disk, the adherens junction, consists of the cell adhesion molecule, N-cadherin. Embryos lacking N-cadherin die at mid-gestation from cardiovascular abnormalities. We have evaluated the role of N-cadherin in cardiomyogenesis using N-cadherin-null mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells grown as embryoid bodies (EBs) in vitro. Myofibrillogenesis, the spatial orientation of myofibers, and intercellular contacts including desmosomes were normal in N-cadherin-null ES cell-derived cardiomyocytes. The effect of retinoic acid (RA), a stage and dose-dependent cardiogenic factor, was assessed in differentiating ES cells. all-trans (at) RA increased the number of ES cell-derived cardiomyocytes by approximately 3-fold (at 3 x 10(-9) M) in wt EBs. However, this effect was lost in N-cadherin-null EBs. In the presence of supplemented at-RA, the emergence of spontaneously beating cardiomyocytes appeared to be delayed and slightly less efficient in N-cadherin-null compared with wt and heterozygous EBs (frequencies of EBs with beating activity at 5 days: 54+/-18% vs. 96+/-0.5%, and 93+/-7%, respectively; peak frequencies of EBs with beating activity: 83+/-8% vs. 96+/-0.5% and 100%, respectively). In conclusion, cardiomyoyctes differentiating from N-cadherin-null ES cells in vitro show normal myofibrillogenesis and intercellular contacts, but impaired responses to early cardiogenic effects mediated by at-RA. These results suggest that N-cadherin may be essential for RA-induced cardiomyogenesis in mouse ES cells in vitro.

Escriure poesia al convent entre la devoció i l'obediència. Primera aproximació a un manuscrit femení del segle XVIII

El manuscrit que ens disposem a donar a conèixer és un tresor documental interessantíssim per abordar l’estudi dels usos poètics de les dones d’època moderna als territoris de parla catalana, no només pel nombre de composicions recuperades d’una mateixa autora (un total de 53 poesies espirituals, no catalogades i desconegudes fins ara) sinó perquè es tracta d’un dels pocs autògrafs femenins accessibles per a la recerca. La inexistència de treballs dedicats exclusivament a la poesia femenina d’època moderna al panorama català, ens obliga necessàriament a iniciar el treball amb una primera part introductòria dedicada a qüestions relatives als usos poètics de les dones dels segles XVI-XVIII, tot centrant-nos en algunes autores de l’àmbit conventual, al qual pertany el manuscrit objecte d’estudi. En la segona part del treball, ens centrem particularment en l’anàlisi i estudi del manuscrit. Així doncs, en una primera aproximació, descrivim el contingut del quadern, íntegrament en castellà, que recull composicions d caire espiritual i devot, i esbossem les dades biogràfiques de l’autora, la religiosa dominica sor Eulària Teixidor. Tot partint dels interessants estudis apareguts en els darrers anys sobre la literatura conventual femenina, intentem vincular aquest manuscrit amb la variada producció monàstica escrita per nombroses religioses de l’època sota manament del confessor

Wind Loads on Dynamic Message Cabinets and Behavior of Supporting Trusses, TR-612, 2013

Large Dynamic Message Signs (DMSs) have been increasingly used on freeways, expressways and major arterials to better manage the traffic flow by providing accurate and timely information to drivers. Overhead truss structures are typically employed to support those DMSs allowing them to provide wider display to more lanes. In recent years, there is increasing evidence that the truss structures supporting these large and heavy signs are subjected to much more complex loadings than are typically accounted for in the codified design procedures. Consequently, some of these structures have required frequent inspections, retrofitting, and even premature replacement. Two manufacturing processes are primarily utilized on truss structures - welding and bolting. Recently, cracks at welding toes were reported for the structures employed in some states. Extremely large loads (e.g., due to high winds) could cause brittle fractures, and cyclic vibration (e.g., due to diurnal variation in temperature or due to oscillations in the wind force induced by vortex shedding behind the DMS) may lead to fatigue damage, as these are two major failures for the metallic material. Wind and strain resulting from temperature changes are the main loads that affect the structures during their lifetime. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Specification defines the limit loads in dead load, wind load, ice load, and fatigue design for natural wind gust and truck-induced gust. The objectives of this study are to investigate wind and thermal effects in the bridge type overhead DMS truss structures and improve the current design specifications (e.g., for thermal design). In order to accomplish the objective, it is necessary to study structural behavior and detailed strain-stress of the truss structures caused by wind load on the DMS cabinet and thermal load on the truss supporting the DMS cabinet. The study is divided into two parts. The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) component and part of the structural analysis component of the study were conducted at the University of Iowa while the field study and related structural analysis computations were conducted at the Iowa State University. The CFD simulations were used to determine the air-induced forces (wind loads) on the DMS cabinets and the finite element analysis was used to determine the response of the supporting trusses to these pressure forces. The field observation portion consisted of short-term monitoring of several DMS Cabinet/Trusses and long-term monitoring of one DMS Cabinet/Truss. The short-term monitoring was a single (or two) day event in which several message sign panel/trusses were tested. The long-term monitoring field study extended over several months. Analysis of the data focused on trying to identify important behaviors under both ambient and truck induced winds and the effect of daily temperature changes. Results of the CFD investigation, field experiments and structural analysis of the wind induced forces on the DMS cabinets and their effect on the supporting trusses showed that the passage of trucks cannot be responsible for the problems observed to develop at trusses supporting DMS cabinets. Rather the data pointed toward the important effect of the thermal load induced by cyclic (diurnal) variations of the temperature. Thermal influence is not discussed in the specification, either in limit load or fatigue design. Although the frequency of the thermal load is low, results showed that when temperature range is large the restress range would be significant to the structure, especially near welding areas where stress concentrations may occur. Moreover stress amplitude and range are the primary parameters for brittle fracture and fatigue life estimation. Long-term field monitoring of one of the overhead truss structures in Iowa was used as the research baseline to estimate the effects of diurnal temperature changes to fatigue damage. The evaluation of the collected data is an important approach for understanding the structural behavior and for the advancement of future code provisions. Finite element modeling was developed to estimate the strain and stress magnitudes, which were compared with the field monitoring data. Fatigue life of the truss structures was also estimated based on AASHTO specifications and the numerical modeling. The main conclusion of the study is that thermal induced fatigue damage of the truss structures supporting DMS cabinets is likely a significant contributing cause for the cracks observed to develop at such structures. Other probable causes for fatigue damage not investigated in this study are the cyclic oscillations of the total wind load associated with the vortex shedding behind the DMS cabinet at high wind conditions and fabrication tolerances and induced stresses due to fitting of tube to tube connections.

Linear and nonlinear terrain deformation maps from a reduced set of interferometric SAR images

In this paper, an advanced technique for the generation of deformation maps using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data is presented. The algorithm estimates the linear and nonlinear components of the displacement, the error of the digital elevation model (DEM) used to cancel the topographic terms, and the atmospheric artifacts from a reduced set of low spatial resolution interferograms. The pixel candidates are selected from those presenting a good coherence level in the whole set of interferograms and the resulting nonuniform mesh tessellated with the Delauney triangulation to establish connections among them. The linear component of movement and DEM error are estimated adjusting a linear model to the data only on the connections. Later on, this information, once unwrapped to retrieve the absolute values, is used to calculate the nonlinear component of movement and atmospheric artifacts with alternate filtering techniques in both the temporal and spatial domains. The method presents high flexibility with respect to the required number of images and the baselines length. However, better results are obtained with large datasets of short baseline interferograms. The technique has been tested with European Remote Sensing SAR data from an area of Catalonia (Spain) and validated with on-field precise leveling measurements.

Supply chain integration: studies on linking customer responsiveness and operational efficiency in logistics policy planning

Abstract The research problem in the thesis deals with improving the responsiveness and efficiency of logistics service processes between a supplier and its customers. The improvement can be sought by customizing the services and increasing the coordination of activities between the different parties in the supply chain. It is argued that to achieve coordination the parties have to have connections on several levels. In the framework employed in this research, three contexts are conceptualized at which the linkages can be planned: 1) the service policy context, 2) the process coordination context, and 3) the relationship management context. The service policy context consists of the planning methods by which a supplier analyzes its customers' logistics requirements and matches them with its own operational environment and efficiency requirements. The main conclusion related to the service policy context is that it is important to have a balanced selection of both customer-related and supplier-related factors in the analysis. This way, while the operational efficiency is planned a sufficient level of service for the most important customers is assured. This kind of policy planning involves taking multiple variables into the analysis, and there is a need to develop better tools for this purpose. Some new approaches to deal with this are presented in the thesis.The process coordination context and the relationship management context deal with the issues of how the implementation of the planned service policies can be facilitated in an inter-organizational environment. Process coordination includes typically such mechanisms as control rules, standard procedures and programs, but inhighly demanding circumstances more integrative coordination mechanisms may be necessary. In the thesis the coordination problems in third-party logistics relationship are used as an example of such an environment. Relationship management deals with issues of how separate companies organize their relationships to improve the coordination of their common processes. The main implication related to logistics planning is that by integrating further at the relationship level, companies can facilitate the use of the most efficient coordination mechanisms and thereby improve the implementation of the selected logistics service policies. In the thesis, a case of a logistics outsourcing relationship is used to demonstrate the need to address the relationship issues between the service provider andthe service buyer before the outsourcing can be done.The dissertation consists of eight research articles and a summarizing report. The principal emphasis in the articles is on the service policy planning context, which is the main theme of six articles. Coordination and relationship issues are specifically addressed in two of the papers.

Tietoperustaisten HRM-käytäntöjen, luottamuksen ja suorituskyvyn suhde suomalaisessa organisaatiokontekstissa

Henkilöstöjohtamisen käytännöillä on merkittävä vaikutus organisaation johtamiseen ja tätä kautta menestymiseen. Hyvin suunnitellut ja toteutetut käytännöt ovat osaltaan vaikuttamassa yrityksessä vallitsevaan luottamukseen. Hyvä sisäinen luottamustaso puolestaan heijastuu myös organisaation ulkoiseen luottamukseen. Tietoperustaiset HRM-käytännöt ovat keskeisessä roolissa juuri nyt, koska työelämä ja työn tekeminen ovat murrosvaiheessa ja muutosten nopeus kiihtyy entisestään tietointensiivisten työtehtävien lisääntyessä. HRM-käytäntöjä on tutkittu paljon aiempien vuosikymmenten aikana. Tietoperustaisten henkilöstöjohtamisen käytäntöjen tutkimusta on ollut jonkin verran 2000-luvun alun jälkeen. Henkilöstöjohtamisen käytäntöjen suhdetta luottamukseen ja suorituskykyyn on myös tutkittu. Sen sijaan vielä ei ollut tehty tutkimusta, jossa yhdistetään tietoperustaisten henkilöstöjohtamisen käytäntöjen, luottamuksen ja suorituskyvyn suhde. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoitus on selvittää tietoperustaisten HRM-käytäntöjen, luottamuksen ja suorituskyvyn yhteyttä. Tutkimuksen pääpaino on tietoperustaisten henkilöstökäytäntöjen suhde luottamukseen. Tutkittavat tietoperustaiset henkilöstöjohtaminen käytännöt liittyvät rekrytointiin, osaamisen kehittämiseen, suoritusarviointiin ja palkitsemiseen. Tutkimukseen osallistui 246 Suomessa toimivaa yritystä. Kyselytutkimuksen lisäksi tutkimuksessa käytettiin taloudellisia tietokantoja yritysten suorituskykyä kuvaavien tunnuslukujen määrittämisessä. Tutkimus on määrällinen ja se perustuu tilastollisten menetelmien ja analyysien käyttöön. Tutkimuksessa saatiin selville, että tietoperustaisilla osaamisen kehittämisen ja suoritusarviointien HRM-käytännöillä on positiivinen vaikutus luottamukseen. Tietoon pohjautuvilla henkilöstöjohtamisen käytännöillä voidaan siis rakentaa parempaa luottamustasoa organisaatioissa.

El enfoque intercultural e interdisciplinar en la enseñanza de ELE : "La Ciudad de las Bestias" (2002) de Isabel Allende.

Ce travail se propose de démontrer la pertinence de l’utilisation du roman La Cité des Bêtes (Isabel Allende, 2002) comme recours pédagogique dans l’enseignement de l’espagnol langue étrangère (ELE) au niveau intermédiaire (B2) et dans un contexte scolaire multiculturel. Dans ce cadre, l’enseignement d’une langue étrangère vise à l’acquisition linguistique et à l’exploration d’une culture différente afin de favoriser la découverte des valeurs de l’autre et son intégration critique, attitude indispensable en vue du développement identitaire de l’individu au sein de sociétés exposées de l’intérieur et de l’extérieur au contact entre cultures. Le roman sélectionné facilite l’accès à des thématiques interdisciplinaires au sein des programmes collégiaux du Québec et encourage une attitude d’ouverture par rapport à la découverte d’autres cultures et valeurs, dans une perspective de disponibilité au questionnement des certitudes culturelles de l’étudiant, conformément aux positions des études interculturelles contemporaines. L’appartenance de l’œuvre au courant littéraire du Réalisme magique permet aussi d’introduire l’exploration de thématiques culturelles spécifiques au monde hispanique. Après un survol de la place de l’interculturalité et de l’interdisciplinarité dans l’enseignement d’ELE, le mémoire analyse la contribution spécifique du roman sélectionné à ces dimensions, pour ensuite procéder à la présentation d’exercices orientés à la pratique et la consolidation de la connaissance grammaticale et du vocabulaire, et au développement d’une sensibilité interculturelle dans les étudiants, à travers des activités individuelles et de groupe élaborées à partir des perspectives du texte.

Patent DE10 2004 037 519 B4 “Sensor Process and Device for Determining a Physical Value“. A Proof of Concept

At present, a fraction of 0.1 - 0.2% of the patients undergoing surgery become aware during the process. The situation is referred to as anesthesia awareness and is obviously very traumatic for the person experiencing it. The reason for its occurrence is mostly an insufficient dosage of the narcotic Propofol combined with the incapability of the technology monitoring the depth of the patient’s anesthetic state to notice the patient becoming aware. A solution can be a highly sensitive and selective real time monitoring device for Propofol based on optical absorption spectroscopy. Its working principle has been postulated by Prof. Dr. habil. H. Hillmer and formulated in DE10 2004 037 519 B4, filed on Aug 30th, 2004. It consists of the exploitation of Intra Cavity Absorption effects in a two mode laser system. In this Dissertation, a two mode external cavity semiconductor laser, which has been developed previously to this work is enhanced and optimized to a functional sensor. Enhancements include the implementation of variable couplers into the system and the implementation of a collimator arrangement into which samples can be introduced. A sample holder and cells are developed and characterized with a focus on compatibility with the measurement approach. Further optimization concerns the overall performance of the system: scattering sources are reduced by re-splicing all fiber-to-fiber connections, parasitic cavities are eliminated by suppressing the Fresnel reflexes of all one fiber ends by means of optical isolators and wavelength stability of the system is improved by the implementation of thermal insulation to the Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG). The final laser sensor is characterized in detail thermally and optically. Two separate modes are obtained at 1542.0 and 1542.5 nm, tunable in a range of 1nm each. Mode Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) is 0.06nm and Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) is as high as 55 dB. Independent of tuning the two modes of the system can always be equalized in intensity, which is important as the delicacy of the intensity equilibrium is one of the main sensitivity enhancing effects formulated in DE10 2004 037 519 B4. For the proof of concept (POC) measurements the target substance Propofol is diluted in the solvents Acetone and DiChloroMethane (DCM), which have been investigated for compatibility with Propofol beforehand. Eight measurement series (two solvents, two cell lengths and two different mode spacings) are taken, which draw a uniform picture: mode intensity ratio responds linearly to an increase of Propofol in all cases. The slope of the linear response indicates the sensitivity of the system. The eight series are split up into two groups: measurements taken in long cells and measurements taken in short cells.

Resource dimensioning aspect of heterogeneous traffic with different service requirements: Integration versus segregation

In this paper, we consider the ATM networks in which the virtual path concept is implemented. The question of how to multiplex two or more diverse traffic classes while providing different quality of service requirements is a very complicated open problem. Two distinct options are available: integration and segregation. In an integration approach all the traffic from different connections are multiplexed onto one VP. This implies that the most restrictive QOS requirements must be applied to all services. Therefore, link utilization will be decreased because unnecessarily stringent QOS is provided to all connections. With the segregation approach the problem can be much simplified if different types of traffic are separated by assigning a VP with dedicated resources (buffers and links). Therefore, resources may not be efficiently utilized because no sharing of bandwidth can take place across the VP. The probability that the bandwidth required by the accepted connections exceeds the capacity of the link is evaluated with the probability of congestion (PC). Since the PC can be expressed as the CLP, we shall simply carry out bandwidth allocation using the PC. We first focus on the influence of some parameters (CLP, bit rate and burstiness) on the capacity required by a VP supporting a single traffic class using the new convolution approach. Numerical results are presented both to compare the required capacity and to observe which conditions under each approach are preferred

Label Space Reduction in MPLS Networks: How Much Can A Single Stacked Label Do?

Most network operators have considered reducing LSR label spaces (number of labels used) as a way of simplifying management of underlaying virtual private networks (VPNs) and therefore reducing operational expenditure (OPEX). The IETF outlined the label merging feature in MPLS-allowing the configuration of multipoint-to-point connections (MP2P)-as a means of reducing label space in LSRs. We found two main drawbacks in this label space reduction a)it should be separately applied to a set of LSPs with the same egress LSR-which decreases the options for better reductions, and b)LSRs close to the edge of the network experience a greater label space reduction than those close to the core. The later implies that MP2P connections reduce the number of labels asymmetrically