Intellectual property rights and efficient firm organization

I show that intellectual property rights yield static efficiency gains, irrespective oftheir dynamic role in fostering innovation. I develop a property-rights model of firmorganization with two dimensions of non-contractible investment. In equilibrium, thefirst best is attained if and only if ownership of tangible and intangible assets is equallyprotected. If IP rights are weaker, firm structure is distorted and efficiency declines:the entrepreneur must either integrate her suppliers, which prompts a decline in theirinvestment; or else risk their defection, which entails a waste of her human capital. Mymodel predicts greater prevalence of vertical integration where IP rights are weaker,and a switch from integration to outsourcing over the product cycle. Both empiricalpredictions are consistent with evidence on multinational companies. As a normativeimplication, I find that IP rights should be strong but narrowly defined, to protect abusiness without holding up its potential spin-offs.

Major: Electronics and Communication Engineering

Today, information technology is strategically important to the goals and aspirations of the business enterprises, government and high-level education institutions – university. Universities are facing new challenges with the emerging global economy characterized by the importance of providing faster communication services and improving the productivity and effectiveness of individuals. New challenges such as provides an information network that supports the demands and diversification of university issues. A new network architecture, which is a set of design principles for build a network, is one of the pillar bases. It is the cornerstone that enables the university’s faculty, researchers, students, administrators, and staff to discover, learn, reach out, and serve society. This thesis focuses on the network architecture definitions and fundamental components. Three most important characteristics of high-quality architecture are that: it’s open network architecture; it’s service-oriented characteristics and is an IP network based on packets. There are four important components in the architecture, which are: Services and Network Management, Network Control, Core Switching and Edge Access. The theoretical contribution of this study is a reference model Architecture of University Campus Network that can be followed or adapted to build a robust yet flexible network that respond next generation requirements. The results found are relevant to provide an important complete reference guide to the process of building campus network which nowadays play a very important role. Respectively, the research gives university networks a structured modular model that is reliable, robust and can easily grow.

A quantitative analysis of antagonism and inverse agonism at wild-type and constitutively active hamster alpha1B-adrenoceptors.

In order to characterize inverse agonism at alpha1B-adrenoceptors, we have compared the concentration-response relationships of several quinazoline and non-quinazoline alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonists at cloned hamster wild-type (WT) alpha1B-adrenoceptors and a constitutively active mutant (CAM) thereof upon stable expression in Rat-1 fibroblasts. Receptor activation or inhibition thereof was assessed as [3H]inositol phosphate (IP) accumulation. Quinazoline (alfuzosin, doxazosin, prazosin, terazosin) and non-quinazoline alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonists (BE 2254, SB 216,469, tamsulosin) concentration-dependently inhibited phenylephrine-stimulated IP formation at both WT and CAM with Ki values similar to those previously found in radioligand binding studies. At CAM in the absence of phenylephrine, the quinazolines produced concentration-dependent inhibition of basal IP formation; the maximum inhibition was approximately 55%, and the corresponding EC50 values were slightly smaller than the Ki values. In contrast, BE 2254 produced much less inhibition of basal IP formation, SB 216,469 was close to being a neutral antagonist, and tamsulosin even weakly stimulated IP formation. The inhibitory effects of the quinazolines and BE 2254 as well as the stimulatory effect of tamsulosin were equally blocked by SB 216,469 at CAM. At WT in the absence of phenylephrine, tamsulosin did not cause significant stimulation and none of the other compounds caused significant inhibition of basal IP formation. We conclude that alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonsits with a quinazoline structure exhibit greater efficacy as inverse agonists than those without.

Melatonin improves glucose homeostasis and endothelial vascular function in high-fat diet-fed insulin-resistant mice.

Obesity and insulin resistance represent a problem of utmost clinical significance worldwide. Insulin-resistant states are characterized by the inability of insulin to induce proper signal transduction leading to defective glucose uptake in skeletal muscle tissue and impaired insulin-induced vasodilation. In various pathophysiological models, melatonin interacts with crucial molecules of the insulin signaling pathway, but its effects on glucose homeostasis are not known. In a diet-induced mouse model of insulin resistance and normal chow-fed control mice, we sought to assess the effects of an 8-wk oral treatment with melatonin on insulin and glucose tolerance and to understand underlying mechanisms. In high-fat diet-fed mice, but not in normal chow-fed control mice, melatonin significantly improved insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, as evidenced by a higher rate of glucose infusion to maintain euglycemia during hyperinsulinemic clamp studies and an attenuated hyperglycemic response to an ip glucose challenge. Regarding underlying mechanisms, we found that melatonin restored insulin-induced vasodilation to skeletal muscle, a major site of glucose utilization. This was due, at least in part, to the improvement of insulin signal transduction in the vasculature, as evidenced by increased insulin-induced phosphorylation of Akt and endoethelial nitric oxide synthase in aortas harvested from melatonin-treated high-fat diet-fed mice. In contrast, melatonin had no effect on the ability of insulin to promote glucose uptake in skeletal muscle tissue in vitro. These data demonstrate for the first time that in a diet-induced rodent model of insulin resistance, melatonin improves glucose homeostasis by restoring the vascular action of insulin.

Assigning proctors to exams with scatter search

In this paper we present an algorithm to assign proctors toexams. This NP-hard problem is related to the generalized assignmentproblem with multiple objectives. The problem consists of assigningteaching assistants to proctor final exams at a university. We formulatethis problem as a multiobjective integer program (IP) with a preferencefunction and a workload-fairness function. We then consider also a weightedobjective that combines both functions. We develop a scatter searchprocedure and compare its outcome with solutions found by solving theIP model with CPLEX 6.5. Our test problems are real instances from aUniversity in Spain.

Tecnologia VOIP com Asterisk (UM@STERISK)

Este trabalho trata do software livre Asterisk (Elastix), uma central telefónica privada IP ou (PBX IP) que suporta inúmeros protocolos e codecs da tecnologia de voz sobre IP, Abordando a sua instalação, configuração e compatibilidade com hardware de telefonia. O crescimento das redes IP, as técnicas avançadas de digitalização de voz e os mecanismos que permitem a qualidade dos serviços, permitiram a consolidação da telefonia IP. A telefonia IP está em todo-poderoso crescimento, pois além de reduzir os custos das ligações telefónicas, ela permite a ligação entre as redes de dados e de voz, criando uma infra-estrutura única, facilitando a instalação, a manutenção e o gerenciamento. Este trabalho tem como objetivo fazer um estudo da Tecnologia VoIP (Voz sob IP), propor uma estrutura e implementar um ambiente de teste, uma central telefónica VoIP com o uso do Asterisk. A central telefónica VoIP baseada no software livre Asterisk possibilita a interligação de localidades geograficamente distantes uma das outras através das redes IP, sem a necessidade de pagar os altos valores cobrados pelos fabricantes de centrais telefónicas, de hardware proprietário, pela manutenção, fornecimento de equipamentos e licenças, mas permite que se obtenha os mesmos resultados, como por exemplo, que todos os Funcionários e ou colaboradores de uma empresa realizem chamadas telefónicas entre si sem precisar pagar altas taxas cobradas pelas operadoras de telefonia pública. Através da pesquisa bibliográfica sobre a tecnologia VoIP e do estudo do software livre Asterisk, será proposta a implantação da tecnologia através da implementação de um central VoIP. A verificação dessa implantação será realizada através de testes práticos em um ambiente que será desenvolvido.

Aplicação de índice comparativo na avaliação do risco de degradação das terras

A determinação do risco de degradação das terras em uma microbacia hidrográfica constitui importante subsídio para o planejamento agrícola e ambiental. A tendência atual é que as informações necessárias para a avaliação das terras sejam compatíveis com técnicas de geoprocessamento e tratadas de forma menos subjetiva. Todavia, critérios ou parâmetros que avaliem quantitativamente o risco de degradação das terras e que sejam compatíveis com a escala de microbacia hidrográfica e aplicáveis por meio de Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIGs) ainda precisam ser mais bem definidos. O objetivo deste trabalho, realizado no segundo semestre de 1996, foi elaborar um método de avaliação comparativa do risco de degradação das terras na bacia hidrográfica dos Marins (Piracicaba, SP), sob diferentes cenários de uso, utilizando SIG. Os mapas de risco de degradação foram gerados com base em matrizes de decisão para os seguintes cenários de uso: (a) sem cobertura vegetal; (b) uso atual da terra; (c) uso único; (d) uso redistribuído; (e) uso planejado. Os resultados foram comparados por um índice denominado "Índice Ponderado de Risco de Degradação (IP D)". Por meio desse índice foi possível comparar quantitativamente o risco de degradação para os cenários de uso propostos. Os resultados mostraram que a tentativa de alterar apenas a distribuição espacial dos usos da terra não foi suficiente para diminuir o risco de degradação final da área, caracterizando, assim, a superutilização das terras da microbacia. Para diminuir os impactos causados por essa superutilização, faz-se necessária a definição de critérios de restrição de ocupação que conciliem áreas de maior suscetibilidade à erosão com usos que ofereçam maior proteção ao solo, levando à diminuição da área ocupada com culturas anuais e semiperenes.

Generalized Multiobjective Multitree model solution using MOEA

In a previous paper a novel Generalized Multiobjective Multitree model (GMM-model) was proposed. This model considers for the first time multitree-multicast load balancing with splitting in a multiobjective context, whose mathematical solution is a whole Pareto optimal set that can include several results than it has been possible to find in the publications surveyed. To solve the GMM-model, in this paper a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) inspired by the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm (SPEA) is proposed. Experimental results considering up to 11 different objectives are presented for the well-known NSF network, with two simultaneous data flows

The PPARbeta/delta agonist GW0742 relaxes pulmonary vessels and limits right heart hypertrophy in rats with hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary vascular diseases are increasingly recognised as important clinical conditions. Pulmonary hypertension associated with a range of aetiologies is difficult to treat and associated with progressive morbidity and mortality. Current therapies for pulmonary hypertension include phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, endothelin receptor antagonists, or prostacyclin mimetics. However, none of these provide a cure and the clinical benefits of these drugs individually decline over time. There is, therefore, an urgent need to identify new treatment strategies for pulmonary hypertension. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we show that the PPARbeta/delta agonist GW0742 induces vasorelaxation in systemic and pulmonary vessels. Using tissue from genetically modified mice, we show that the dilator effects of GW0742 are independent of the target receptor PPARbeta/delta or cell surface prostacyclin (IP) receptors. In aortic tissue, vascular relaxant effects of GW0742 were not associated with increases in cGMP, cAMP or hyperpolarisation, but were attributed to inhibition of RhoA activity. In a rat model of hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension, daily oral dosing of animals with GW0742 (30 mg/kg) for 3 weeks significantly reduced the associated right heart hypertrophy and right ventricular systolic pressure. GW0742 had no effect on vascular remodelling induced by hypoxia in this model. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These observations are the first to show a therapeutic benefit of 'PPARbeta/delta' agonists in experimental pulmonary arterial hypertension and provide pre-clinical evidence to favour clinical trials in man.

Modular support for developing mobile ad hoc applications

Abstract This PhD thesis addresses the issue of alleviating the burden of developing ad hoc applications. Such applications have the particularity of running on mobile devices, communicating in a peer-to-peer manner and implement some proximity-based semantics. A typical example of such application can be a radar application where users see their avatar as well as the avatars of their friends on a map on their mobile phone. Such application become increasingly popular with the advent of the latest generation of mobile smart phones with their impressive computational power, their peer-to-peer communication capabilities and their location detection technology. Unfortunately, the existing programming support for such applications is limited, hence the need to address this issue in order to alleviate their development burden. This thesis specifically tackles this problem by providing several tools for application development support. First, it provides the location-based publish/subscribe service (LPSS), a communication abstraction, which elegantly captures recurrent communication issues and thus allows to dramatically reduce the code complexity. LPSS is implemented in a modular manner in order to be able to target two different network architectures. One pragmatic implementation is aimed at mainstream infrastructure-based mobile networks, where mobile devices can communicate through fixed antennas. The other fully decentralized implementation targets emerging mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), where no fixed infrastructure is available and communication can only occur in a peer-to-peer fashion. For each of these architectures, various implementation strategies tailored for different application scenarios that can be parametrized at deployment time. Second, this thesis provides two location-based message diffusion protocols, namely 6Shot broadcast and 6Shot multicast, specifically aimed at MANETs and fine tuned to be used as building blocks for LPSS. Finally this thesis proposes Phomo, a phone motion testing tool that allows to test proximity semantics of ad hoc applications without having to move around with mobile devices. These different developing support tools have been packaged in a coherent middleware framework called Pervaho.

Gestió de la informació d'interès d'un treballador autònom

L’objectiu principal d’aquest treball és fer un programa que permeti portar la informació que un treballador autònom li interessa, d’acord amb les seves necessitats. En el nostre cas es tracta d’un centre d’estètica, que té més d’una seu, el qual li interessa portar tota la cartilla de clients, centres associats, proveïdors ... a més de poder fer les factures corresponents als centres associats, poder calcular en el moment que en el treballador li interessi, els ingressos realitzats durant un període de temps determinat i poder portar una agenda actualitzada dels dos centres, on es mostren totes les visites que hi ha en un dia. Per tal de realitzar el programa, s’han portat a terme mitjançant dos aplicacions, i connectant-los en una base de dades. Per una banda tenim una aplicació implementada amb C++, per l’altra, una pàgina web amb PHP, finalment com a sistema gestor de base de dades utilitzem el MySQL Server. El programa fet amb C++, consta de tota la part d’entrada i/o modificacions de dades, en aquesta part només hi pot accedir el treballador autònom, ja que és la única persona que pot fer aquesta feina. En la pàgina web, hi pot accedir qualsevol persona que tingui un nom d’usuari i una contrasenya. A través de la web es pot fer qualsevol tipus de consulta, fer tot el control de les agendes, portar a terme tot el tema de facturació i ingressos, i com a excepció l’entrada de dades de clients, ja que s’ha de poder realitzar en qualsevol moment i lloc. Per acabar, tenim la necessitat de tenir un servidor, aquest ha d’estar format, mínim, per la base de dades. Com que l’aplicació amb C++ i la base de dades han d’estar ubicades al mateix lloc. A més, necessitem un servidor web per tal de tenir la nostra pàgina a la xarxa, per aconseguir això, utilitzem un programa anomenat DynDNS, que es fa servir per a convertir una IP dinàmica en una IP estàtica i d’aquesta manera convertir un ordinador qualsevol amb un servidor web.

Eficiència energètica aplicada a les instal·lacions de la Universitat de Vic

En termes generals, es pot definir l’Eficiència Energètica com la reducció del consum d’energia mantenint els mateixos serveis energètics, sense disminuir el nostre confort i qualitat de vida, protegint el medi ambient, assegurant el proveïment i fomentant un comportament Sostenible al seu ús. L’objectiu principal d’aquest treball, és reduir el consum d’energia i terme de potència contractat a la Universitat de Vic, aplicant un programa d’estalvi amb mesures correctores en el funcionament de les seves instal·lacions o espais. Per tal de poder arribar a aquest objectiu marcat, prèviament s’ha realitzat un estudi acurat, obtenint tota la informació necessària per poder aplicar les mesures correctores a la bossa més important de consum. Un cop trobada, dur a terme l’estudi de la viabilitat de la inversió de les mesures correctores més eficients, optimitzant els recursos destinats. L’espai on s’ha dut a terme l’estudi, ha estat a l’edifici F del Campus Miramarges, seguint les indicacions d’Arnau Bardolet (Cap de Manteniment de la UVIC). Aquest edifici consta d’un entresol, baixos i quatre plantes. L’equip de mesura que s’ha fet servir per realitzar l’estudi, és de la marca Circutor sèrie AR5-L, aquests equips són programables que mesuren, calculen i emmagatzemen en memòria els principals paràmetres elèctrics en xarxes trifàsiques. Els projectes futurs complementaris que es podrien realitzar a part d’aquest són: instal·lar sensors, instal·lar mòduls convertidors TCP/IP, aprofitar la xarxa intranet i crear un escada amb un sinòptic de control i gestió des d’un punt de treball. Aquest aplicatiu permet visualitzar en una pantalla d’un PC tots els estats dels elements controlats mitjançant un sinòptic (encendre/parar manualment l’enllumenat i endolls de les aules, estat d’enllumenat i endolls de les aules, consums instantanis/acumulats energètics, estat dels passadissos entre altres) i explotar les dades recollides a la base de dades. Cada espai tindria la seva lògica de funcionament automàtic específic. Entre les conclusions més rellevants obtingudes en aquest treball s’observa: · Que és pot reduir la potència contractada a la factura a l’estar per sota de la realment consumida. · Que no hi ha penalitzacions a la factura per consum de reactiva, ja que el compensador funciona correctament. · Que es pot reduir l’horari de l’inici del consum d’energia, ja que no correspon a l’activitat docent. · Els valors de la tensió i freqüència estan dintre de la normalitat. · Els harmònics estan al llindar màxim. Analitzant aquestes conclusions, voldria destacar les mesures correctores més importants que es poden dur a terme: canvi tecnològic a LED, temporitzar automàticament l’encesa i apagada dels fluorescents i equips informàtics de les aules “seguint calendari docent”, instal·lar sensors de moviment amb detecció lumínica als passadissos. Totes les conclusions extretes d’aquest treball, es poden aplicar a tots els edificis de la facultat, prèviament realitzant l’estudi individual de cadascuna, seguint els mateixos criteris per tal d’optimitzar la inversió.

Disseny i creació d'un MMORPG

MMORPG són les sigles de Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game: Joc de Rol Multijugador Online Massiu. Els jugadors connecten a un servidor i poden interactuar entre ells en el món virtual que el joc ofereix. Hi pot haver milers d'usuaris connectats simultàniament al mateix món, generant una població i molt d'ambient si el servidor està ben programat, i latència i/o bloquejos si se supera el límit de jugadors simultanis que el servidor suporta. El més atractiu d'aquest tipus de jocs és que dónen la capacitat de jugar amb i/o contra altra gent real. Resulta molt més emocionant veure intel•ligència real dins el joc, sense que tot sigui intel•ligència artificial. A més d'això hi ha el fet de que pràcticament tots aquests jocs són de l'estil Sandbox o sorral, cosa que significa que el jugador és totalment lliure de fer el que vulgui en un món obert, sense haver de seguir una trama lineal. Durant el principi del segon curs vaig començar a investigar una manera de poder jugar a Lineage 2 des de la residència en la que estava aquí a Vic, ja que la seva connexió a Internet tenia un proxy que bloquejava tots els ports excepte HTTP i algunes poques excepcions més, així que no podia connectar al seu servidor per jugar. I aquí vaig topar amb L2JServer, un projecte open source que emula un servidor de Lineage 2. Només instal•lant una base de dades MySQL, el java JDK i extraient uns arxius a una carpeta, ja podies executar el teu propi servidor d'aquest joc. Per entrar-hi només calia enganyar el programa client redirigint la DNS oficial cap a la teva IP utilitzant el fitxer hosts de windows i ja hi podies entrar.

Cor do solo: uma abordagem da forma convencional de obtenção em oposição à automatização do método para fins de classificação de solos

A cor é amplamente reconhecida como uma medida primária identificadora de solos. Propriedades físicas, químicas e mineralógicas de solos podem ser derivadas de sua cor. O enquadramento de algumas classes de solos, já no segundo nível categórico do atual Sistema Brasileiro de Classificação de solos, requer que a cor da amostra do horizonte diagnóstico seja determinada por comparação com os padrões existentes na escala de Munsell. Este processo de classificação é extremamente subjetivo e consome tempo, limitando a exatidão, a transferência e a utilização do procedimento. O principal objetivo deste trabalho foi obter a cor do solo com o método convencional e com um colorímetro, a fim de avaliar as possíveis implicações na classificação de solos. Cinco pedólogos foram convidados a classificar o matiz de 80 amostras de solo pela comparação com a carta de Munsell. Em seguida, o matiz das amostras foi obtido com um colorímetro, também na notação de Munsell. Pelas análises estatísticas foram avaliados: coeficientes de correlação, índice de precisão (IP), forma de agrupamento e tendências médias entre as determinações de matiz. Coeficientes de correlação variando de 0,68 a 0,94 entre as determinações de cor demonstraram que os pedólogos produziram dados que validaram o estudo. No entanto, houve confirmação de que as medidas realizadas por pedólogos não coincidiram, sendo diferentes também das determinações feitas pelo colorímetro. Índices de Precisão (IP) indicaram haver concordância em apenas 8,75 % das determinações em amostras úmidas e 17,5 % nas amostras secas. Ocorreram divergências na determinação do matiz das amostras que resultariam em erros na classificação dos solos. A avaliação das tendências médias indicou que os pesquisadores superestimaram as determinações de cor realizadas pelo colorímetro, resultando em alterações na classificação de solos.

System-level Support for Mobile Ad hoc Communications: an Algorithmic & Practical Approach

A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a decentralized and infrastructure-less network. This thesis aims to provide support at the system-level for developers of applications or protocols in such networks. To do this, we propose contributions in both the algorithmic realm and in the practical realm. In the algorithmic realm, we contribute to the field by proposing different context-aware broadcast and multicast algorithms in MANETs, namely six-shot broadcast, six-shot multicast, PLAN-B and ageneric algorithmic approach to optimize the power consumption of existing algorithms. For each algorithm we propose, we compare it to existing algorithms that are either probabilistic or context-aware, and then we evaluate their performance based on simulations. We demonstrate that in some cases, context-aware information, such as location or signal-strength, can improve the effciency. In the practical realm, we propose a testbed framework, namely ManetLab, to implement and to deploy MANET-specific protocols, and to evaluate their performance. This testbed framework aims to increase the accuracy of performance evaluation compared to simulations, while keeping the ease of use offered by the simulators to reproduce a performance evaluation. By evaluating the performance of different probabilistic algorithms with ManetLab, we observe that both simulations and testbeds should be used in a complementary way. In addition to the above original contributions, we also provide two surveys about system-level support for ad hoc communications in order to establish a state of the art. The first is about existing broadcast algorithms and the second is about existing middleware solutions and the way they deal with privacy and especially with location privacy. - Un réseau mobile ad hoc (MANET) est un réseau avec une architecture décentralisée et sans infrastructure. Cette thèse vise à fournir un support adéquat, au niveau système, aux développeurs d'applications ou de protocoles dans de tels réseaux. Dans ce but, nous proposons des contributions à la fois dans le domaine de l'algorithmique et dans celui de la pratique. Nous contribuons au domaine algorithmique en proposant différents algorithmes de diffusion dans les MANETs, algorithmes qui sont sensibles au contexte, à savoir six-shot broadcast,six-shot multicast, PLAN-B ainsi qu'une approche générique permettant d'optimiser la consommation d'énergie de ces algorithmes. Pour chaque algorithme que nous proposons, nous le comparons à des algorithmes existants qui sont soit probabilistes, soit sensibles au contexte, puis nous évaluons leurs performances sur la base de simulations. Nous montrons que, dans certains cas, des informations liées au contexte, telles que la localisation ou l'intensité du signal, peuvent améliorer l'efficience de ces algorithmes. Sur le plan pratique, nous proposons une plateforme logicielle pour la création de bancs d'essai, intitulé ManetLab, permettant d'implémenter, et de déployer des protocoles spécifiques aux MANETs, de sorte à évaluer leur performance. Cet outil logiciel vise à accroître la précision desévaluations de performance comparativement à celles fournies par des simulations, tout en conservant la facilité d'utilisation offerte par les simulateurs pour reproduire uneévaluation de performance. En évaluant les performances de différents algorithmes probabilistes avec ManetLab, nous observons que simulateurs et bancs d'essai doivent être utilisés de manière complémentaire. En plus de ces contributions principales, nous fournissons également deux états de l'art au sujet du support nécessaire pour les communications ad hoc. Le premier porte sur les algorithmes de diffusion existants et le second sur les solutions de type middleware existantes et la façon dont elles traitent de la confidentialité, en particulier celle de la localisation.