STATE AUDITOR'S REPORT June 30, 2013

The Office of State Auditor audited the financial statements of the Greenville County Circuit, Probate and Family Court Systems using agreed upon procedures. The following topics were included in the audit: violations of state laws, public defender application fee and supplementary schedule. A response is included by the county of Greenville.

STATE AUDITOR'S REPORT June 30, 2013

The Office of State Auditor audited the financial statements of the Newberry County Circuit, Probate and Family Court Systems using agreed upon procedures. The following topics were included in the audit: violations of state laws, public defender application fee and supplementary schedule. A response is included by the county of Newberry.

Análise da sobre-reação e sub-reação nos ativos de primeira e segunda linha do mercado acionário brasileiro

The Behavioral Finance develop as it is perceived anomalies in these markets efficient. This fields of study can be grouped into three major groups: heuristic bias, tying the shape and inefficient markets. The present study focuses on issues concerning the heuristics of representativeness and anchoring. This study aimed to identify the then under-reaction and over-reaction, as well as the existence of symmetry in the active first and second line of the Brazilian stock market. For this, it will be use the Fuzzy Logic and the indicators that classify groups studied from the Discriminant Analysis. The highest present, indicator in the period studied, was the Liabilities / Equity, demonstrating the importance of the moment to discriminate the assets to be considered "winners" and "losers." Note that in the MLCX biases over-reaction is concentrated in the period of financial crisis, and in the remaining periods of statistically significant biases, are obtained by sub-reactions. The latter would be in times of moderate levels of uncertainty. In the Small Caps the behavioral responses in 2005 and 2007 occur in reverse to those observed in the Mid-Large Cap. Now in times of crisis would have a marked conservatism while near the end of trading on the Bovespa speaker, accompanied by an increase of negotiations, there is an overreaction by investors. The other heuristics in SMLL occurred at the end of the period studied, this being a under-reaction and the other a over-reaction and the second occurring in a period of financial-economic more positive than the first. As regards the under / over-reactivity in both types, there is detected a predominance of either, which probably be different in the context in MLCX without crisis. For the period in which such phenomena occur in a statistically significant to note that, in most cases, such phenomena occur during the periods for MLCX while in SMLL not only biases are less present as there is no concentration of these at any time . Given the above, it is believed that while detecting the presence of bias behavior at certain times, these do not tend to appear to a specific type or heuristics and while there were some indications of a seasonal pattern in Mid- Large Caps, the same behavior does not seem to be repeated in Small Caps. The tests would then suggest that momentary failures in the Efficient Market Hypothesis when tested in semistrong form as stated by Behavioral Finance. This result confirms the theory by stating that not only rationality, but also human irrationality, is limited because it would act rationally in many circumstances

Arte, teatro pós-traumático e loucura : o processo criativo do chicqueiro e a lógica do pato

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Artes, 2016.

Pricing recreation use of national parks for an efficient nature conservation : an application to the portuguese case

Current institutions, research, and legislation have not yet been sufficient to achieve the conservation level of Nature as required by the society. One of the reasons that explains this relative failure is the lack of incentives to motivate local individual and Nature users in general, to adopt behaviour compliant with Nature sustainable uses. Economists believe that, from the welfare point of view, pricing is the more efficient way to make economic actors to take more environmental friendly decisions. In this paper we will discuss how efficient can be the act of pricing the recreation use of a specific natural area, in terms of maximising welfare. The main conservation issues for pricing recreation use, as well as the conditions under which pricing will be an efficient and fair instrument for the natural area will be outlined. We will conclude two things. Firstly that, from the rational utilitarian economic behaviour point of view, economic efficiency can only be achieved if the natural area has positive and known recreation marginal costs under the relevant range of the marshallian demand recreation curve and if price system management is not costly. Secondly, in order to guarantee equity for the different type of visitors when charging the fee, it is necessary to discuss differential price systems. We shall see that even if marginal recreation costs exist but are unknown, pricing recreation is still an equity instrument and a useful one from the conservation perspective, as we shall demonstrate through an empirical application to the Portuguese National Park. An individual Travel Cost Method Approach will be used to estimate the recreation price that will be set equal to the visitor’s marginal willingness to pay for a day of visit in the national park. Although not efficient, under certain conditions this can be considered a fair pricing practice, because some of the negative recreation externalities will be internalised. We shall discuss the conditions that guarantee equity on charging for the Portuguese case.

Determinación de los costos de operación del sistema de transporte urbano en buses para el año 2015

El presente trabajo tiene como propósito realizar un estudio de todos los costos de operación en que incurre el sector de transporte urbano en la ciudad de Cuenca para prestar su servicio, mediante la aplicación del sistema de costeo estándar, con el fin de determinar una tarifa que sirva como guía o base para la fijación del precio que los usuarios deberían pagar por la utilización del transporte. Se está generando la problemática de incrementar los pasajes de $0,25 centavos a $0,41 centavos debido a que los propietarios del transporte no están de acuerdo con la tarifa vigente. Por lo que es necesario efectuar un análisis apropiado para determinar el precio que debe pagar la población por el uso del transporte urbano; aplicando técnicas y conocimientos propios de la contabilidad de costos. Para llevar a cabo el estudio de los costos operativos se considera un muestreo estratificado de todas las compañías de transporte urbano con el fin de efectuar encuestas a los transportistas; además, obtener información proporcionada por la Cámara de Transporte de Cuenca, Consorcio SIR y las compañías de transporte, identificando costos variables, fijos, de capital, kilómetros recorridos, número de usuarios que utilizan este servicio y número de vueltas.

Abuso de alcohol e intervención mediante habilidades sociales en estudiantes del colegio “Ezequiel Cárdenas Espinoza” Azogues-Ecuador

Identificar los casos de abuso de alcohol y desarrollar una estrategia de prevención mediante fortalecimiento de las habilidades sociales desde un enfoque cognitivo-conductual. Material y métodos: Se desarrolló un estudio con enfoque cuantitativo, diseño descriptivo y de intervención. Se incluyó a 232 estudiantes matriculados en el colegio Ezequiel Cárdenas Espinoza, de la ciudad de Azogues, que aceptaron participar mediante el asentimiento informado y que no presentaban enfermedades físicas o mentales. Se aplicó el test Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) y los CAPs para evaluar los conocimientos, actitudes y las prácticas. Se aplicó un programa psicoterapéutico con enfoque cognitivo-conductual para fortalecer las habilidades sociales de los estudiantes seleccionados, en 16 sesiones con los subtemas específicos, mediante talleres participativos y motivacionales. Resultados: Los 232 estudiantes tuvieron la edad media de 14.9 ± 2.07 años. El 47% sexo masculino y el 53% sexo femenino; Según el SRQ, el 23.3% (n=54) de estudiantes consumía alcohol con patrón que sugiere consumo problemático, los varones consumen más que las mujeres en relación 3 a 1. Con la estrategia de prevención de enfoque cognitivo-conductual se obtuvo cambios estadísticamente significativos en conocimientos y actitudes (p < 0.05), no así en el cambio de prácticas (p > 0.05). Conclusión: La prevalencia de abuso de alcohol en los estudiantes del colegio Ezequiel Cárdenas es más alto que el reportado en otros estudios. La intervención con enfoque cognitivo-conductual mediante fortalecimiento de habilidades sociales produjo mejoría en conocimientos y actitudes

Evaluación y modificación de los conocimientos actitudes y prácticas de los conscriptos de los cuarteles Dávalos y Portete, frente a las infecciones de transmisión sexual (ITS) y VIH/SIDA

Se realizó un estudio cuasi experimental de conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas sobre las ITS/VIH/SIDA a los conscriptos de los Cuarteles Militares Portete y Dávalos de la ciudad de Cuenca. Se aplicó un cuestionario con dos instrumentos de medición: antes y 2 meses después de la intervención educativa basada en la teoría cognoscitivo-social de Albert Bandura. La muestra estuvo constituida por 189 conscriptos que constituyeron el grupo intervenido y 70 conscriptos que conformaron el grupo control. Para las variables de conocimientos sobre vías de trasmisión, formas de presentación y curación; las actitudes ante la presencia de estas infecciones y su prevención y las prácticas en las formas de transmisión y en la prevención se aplicó una escala con una puntuación final de buena, regular y mala. Se obtuvieron como resultados que el grado de conocimientos bueno se incrementó de un 40.7a 79.6, las actitudes buenas se incrementaron de un 63.3a 71.0. Las prácticas malas se incrementaron de un 42.2a 42.9; en el grupo intervenido. En el grupo control el porcentaje de conocimientos buenos fue de 43.0antes de la intervención y de 40.5luego de la intervención. El porcentaje de actitudes fue de 65.2antes de la intervención y de 65.3luego de la intervención. El porcentaje de prácticas malas se incrementó de 48.4a 50.0. La media de edad de inicio de las relaciones sexuales fue de 14.9 ñ 1.5 para los conscriptos del grupo intervenido y la media para los conscriptos del grupo control fue de 14.8 ñ 1.7 con un valor de p = 0.547 Se aplicó la escala de autoeficacia para prevenir el SIDA, de las 27 preguntas; el nivel de autoeficacia no mejoró en el grupo intervenido en decir no a las relaciones sexuales con alguien tratado treinta días o menos, bajo el efecto del alcohol y con alguien tratado con anterioridad. Se obtuvo mayor nivel de autoeficacia en el grupo intervenido en la intención de uso del preservativo, negociación con la pareja en el uso del condón, confianza con los padres. Se concluye que la intervención educativa diseñada elevó los conocimientos de los conscriptos y mejoró la actitud ante las ITS/VIH/SIDA y la autoeficacia

Aplicación de la estrategia de calidad en los dispensarios la Unión 1, el Cabo, San Luis 1 y Chilchil, del Seguro Social Campesino. Regional 3

Con la aplicación de la estrategia de calidad en 4 dispensarios del Seguro Social Campesino [S.S.C] de la Regional 3: La Unión 1, El Cabo, San Luis y Chilchil, conseguimos algunos resultados positivos en la atención, tales como: mejoramiento de los Conocimientos, Actitudes y Prácticas-CAPs-en la salud escolar, uso y mantenimiento de letrinas sanitarias, enteroparasitosis, solución de problemas quirúrgicos en escolares y mejoramiento de la cobertura y calidad de atenciones a sanos y a enfermos. Partimos del deber ser de la realidad expresado en tres ámbitos: 1] los ejes teóricometodológicos, que contempla: la Administración, educación cultura y salud, Atención Primaria y Sistemas Locales de Salud y el Diagnóstico Participativo; 2] la selección y análisis de los problemas prioritarios mediante el diagnóstico participativo de salud en cada una de las comuinidades; 3] la programación, ejecución y evaluación de sendos microproyectos para la intervención sobre problemas prioritarios. Destacamos el Microproyecto como herramienta clave en la estrategia de calidad y dentro de éste los módulos de intervención educativa, orientados a generar, corregir y potenciar los CAPs adecuados en salud, aquí se considera el aprendizaje participativo de lo que es importante para si, a través de situaciones e instrumentos propios del medio y con técnicas adecuadas

WATER USE AND SYSTEM RELIABILITY UNDER DIESELGENERATOR AND SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC POWERED PUMPING SYSTEMS: A CASE STUDY OF SOLLA TOGO

Access to improved potable water sources is recognized as one of the key factors in improving health and alleviating global poverty. In recently years, substantial investments have been made internationally in potable water infrastructure projects, allowing 2.3 billion people to gain access to potable water from 1990-2012. One such project was planned and installed in Solla, Togo, a rural village in the northern part of the country, from 2010-2012. Ethnographic studies revealed that, while the community has access to potable water, an estimated 45% of the village’s 1500 residents still rely on unprotected sources for drinking and cooking. Additionally, inequality in system use based on income level was revealed, with the higher income groups accessing the system more regularly than lower income groups. Cost, as well as the availability of cheaper sources, was identified as the main deterrent from using the new water distribution system. A new water-pricing scheme is investigated here with the intention of making the system accessible to a greater percentage of the population. Since 2012, a village-level water committee has been responsible for operations and maintenance (O&M), fulfilling the community management model that is recommended by many development theorists in order to create sustainable projects. The water committee received post-construction support, mostly in the form of technical support during system breakdowns, from the Togolese Ministry of Water and Sanitation (MWSVH). While this support has been valuable in maintaining a functional water supply system in Solla, the water committee still has managerial challenges, particularly with billing and fee collection. As a result, the water committee has only received 2% - 25% of the fees owed at each private connection and public tap stand, making their finances vulnerable when future repairs and capital replacements are necessary. A new management structure is proposed by the MWSVH that will pay utilities workers a wage and will hire an accountant in order to improve the local management and increase revenue. This proposal is analyzed under the new water pricing schemes that are presented. Initially, the rural water supply system was powered by a diesel-generator, but in 2013, a solar photo-voltaic power supply was installed. The new system proved a fiscal improvement for the village water committee, since it drastically reduced their annual O&M costs. However, the new system pumps a smaller volume of water on a daily basis and did not meet the community’s water needs during the dry season of 2014. A hydraulic network model was developed to investigate the system’s reliability under diesel-generator (DGPS) and solar photovoltaic (PVPS) power supplies. Additionally, a new system layout is proposed for the PVPS that allows pumping directly into the distribution line, circumventing the high head associated with pumping solely to the storage tank. It was determined that this new layout would allow for a greater volume of water to be provided to the demand points over the course of a day, meeting a greater fraction of the demand than with the current layout.

AN INVESTIGATION OF VARIABLE VALVE TIMING EFFECTS ON HCCI ENGINE PERFORMANCE

The Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine is a promising combustion concept for reducing NOx and particulate matter (PM) emissions and providing a high thermal efficiency in internal combustion engines. This concept though has limitations in the areas of combustion control and achieving stable combustion at high loads. For HCCI to be a viable option for on-road vehicles, further understanding of its combustion phenomenon and its control are essential. Thus, this thesis has a focus on both the experimental setup of an HCCI engine at Michigan Technological University (MTU) and also developing a physical numerical simulation model called the Sequential Model for Residual Affected HCCI (SMRH) to investigate performance of HCCI engines. The primary focus is on understanding the effects of intake and exhaust valve timings on HCCI combustion. For the experimental studies, this thesis provided the contributions for development of HCCI setup at MTU. In particular, this thesis made contributions in the areas of measurement of valve profiles, measurement of piston to valve contact clearance for procuring new pistons for further studies of high geometric compression ratio HCCI engines. It also consists of developing and testing a supercharging station and the setup of an electrical air heater to extend the HCCI operating region. The HCCI engine setup is based on a GM 2.0 L LHU Gen 1 engine which is a direct injected engine with variable valve timing (VVT) capabilities. For the simulation studies, a computationally efficient modeling platform has been developed and validated against experimental data from a single cylinder HCCI engine. In-cylinder pressure trace, combustion phasing (CA10, CA50, BD) and performance metrics IMEP, thermal efficiency, and CO emission are found to be in good agreement with experimental data for different operating conditions. Effects of phasing intake and exhaust valves are analyzed using SMRH. In addition, a novel index called Fuel Efficiency and Emissions (FEE) index is defined and is used to determine the optimal valve timings for engine operation through the use of FEE contour maps.

Use of Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite Cable for Post-tensioning Application

Corrosion of steel tendons is a major problem for post-tensioned concrete, especially because corrosion of the steel strands is often hard to detect inside grouted ducts. Non-metallic tendons can serve as an alternative material to steel for post-tensioning applications. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), given its higher strength and elastic modulus, as well as excellent durability and fatigue strength, is the most practical option for post-tensioning applications. The primary objective of this research project was to assess the feasibility of the use of innovative carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) tendons and to develop guidelines for CFRP in post-tensioned bridge applications, including segmental bridges and pier caps. An experimental investigation and a numerical simulation were conducted to compare the performance of a scaled segmental bridge model, post-tensioned with two types of carbon fiber strands and steel strands. The model was tested at different prestress levels and at different loading configurations. While the study confirms feasibility of both types of carbon fiber strands for segmental bridge applications, and their similar serviceability behavior, strands with higher elastic modulus could improve structural performance and minimize displacements beyond service loads. As the second component of the project, a side-by-side comparison of two types of carbon fiber strands against steel strands was conducted in a scaled pier cap model. Two different strand arrangements were used for post-tensioning, with eight and six strands, respectively representing an over-design and a slight under-design relative to the factored demand. The model was tested under service and factored loads. The investigation confirmed the feasibility of using carbon fiber strands in unbonded post-tensioning of pier caps. Considering both serviceability and overload conditions, the general performance of the pier cap model was deemed acceptable using either type of carbon fiber strands and quite comparable to that of steel strands. In another component of this research, creep stress tests were conducted with carbon fiber composite cable (CFCC). The anchorages for all the specimens were prepared using a commercially available expansive grout. Specimens withstood 95% of the guaranteed capacity provided by the manufacturer for a period of five months, without any sign of rupture.

Contractual variations and promises to accept less:pragmatism in the Court of Appeal

Examines the Court of Appeal judgment in MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd v Rock Advertising Ltd on whether a non-oral variation clause in a licence for the occupation of a commercial premises necessarily precluded an oral agreement to revise the licence fee payment schedule. Assesses whether the practical benefit obtained by the claimant from the change amounted to good consideration, notwithstanding the House of Lords ruling in Foakes v Beer.

Análisis de las variables de marketing que afectan al valor del cliente. La permanencia como variable controlable

To know how marketing variables affect customer value is essential for a company in order to be market and customer oriented, and to improve investment efficiency in both attracting and retaining customers. Thus, the assessment of the influence of marketing variables in customer value is of prime importance. This is recognized in many empirical studies of these variables, which address the impact of a single variable (or sets of a few variables) on customer value. A comprehensive, integrated assessment of all marketing variables and their interdependencies is an arduous and complex task for researchers and marketing managers. This research proposes a theoretical model of customer value that takes into account all significant marketing variables that have been partially addressed in empirical investigations of other researchers. These marketing variables include brand and reputation, point of sale, employees, price, termination fee commitment, discounts, complementarity of products, experiences, emotions, perceived value, quality, satisfaction, switching costs, and loyalty. The model incorporates the relationship between each variable with retention and with customer value as well as the relationships between them. A special focus is placed on the empirical analysis of the termination fee commitment and its relationship with customer value. This variable is widely used in the telecommunication’s industry for its influence on customer retention from the moment of purchase. However, there is strikingly little research in this topic. A large customer database of a telecommunications company containing five years information about 63.165 customers is used for this purpose. Multivariate linear regression and ANOVA method are applied...

Inovação, Cooperação e Relações entre Empresas: um estudo sobre a construção do Arranjo Produtivo Metalmecânico no Grande ABC

O principal objetivo deste artigo reside na análise dos processos de inovação e de cooperação e das relações entre empresas participantes do Projeto APL Metalmecânico do Grande ABC. Os principais resultados, obtidos por meio de entrevista com três gestores do Projeto e 12 empresários participantes, mostram que ainda não se caracteriza um Arranjo Produtivo Local (APL) no rigor do conceito e que seus alcance e representatividade regional são ainda limitados. As empresas participantes desse Projeto APL apresentaram elevada sinergia, confiança, cooperação, troca de informações e de serviços entre si. A inovação é ditada, principalmente, pelo mercado em que atuam e pela sua forma de inserção, normalmente, seguindo as regras de grandes clientes. As empresas visam a novos mercados, praticamente inacessíveis quando isoladas, e a aproximação com universidades e outras entidades de suporte poderá apoiar o desenvolvimento desse APL.