Integrated control of nitrate recirculation and external carbon addition in a predenitrification system

The integrated control of nitrate recirculation and external carbon addition in a predenitrification biological wastewater treatment system is studied. The proposed control structure consists of four feedback control loops, which manipulate the nitrate recirculation and the carbon dosage flows in a highly coordinated manner such that the consumption of external carbon is minimised while the nitrate discharge limits (based on both grab and composite samples) are met. The control system requires the measurement of the nitrate concentrations at the end of both the anoxic and the aerobic zones. Distinct from ordinary control systems, which typically minimise the variation in the controlled variables, the proposed control system essentially maximises the diurnal variation of the effluent nitrate concentration and through this maximises the use of influent COD for denitrification, thus minimising the requirement for external carbon source. Simulation studies using a commonly accepted simulation benchmark show that the controlled system consistently achieves the designated effluent quality with minimum costs.

A imagem dos tribunais de contas subnacionais

O presente artigo exp??e a vis??o que as elites sociais e institucionais t??m sobre os Tribunais de Contas (TCs) subnacionais brasileiros. Realizada no bojo do processo de diagn??stico e reforma dos TCs, o Programa de Moderniza????o do Sistema de Controle Externo dos Estados e do Distrito Federal (Promoex), esta pesquisa revela quais s??o os problemas que afetam o desempenho administrativo e a legitimidade institucional desses ??rg??os fiscalizadores, bem como as suas qualidades, as quais podem ser utilizadas como motor de sua reformula????o. A partir da interpreta????o das opini??es dos atores entrevistados, a an??lise final procura revelar quais caminhos podem ser trilhados para se modernizarem os Tribunais de Contas subnacionais.

Auditoria interna como instrumento de controle social na administra????o p??blica

Sob o ponto de vista constitucional os controles interno e externo somam-se a fim de promover responsabiliza????o permanente dos gestores p??blicos em torno dos princ??pios constitucionais da administra????o p??blica: legalidade, impessoalidade, moralidade, publicidade e efici??ncia. Neste artigo a argumenta????o segue no sentido de incrementar as discuss??es acerca da import??ncia de que em todos os n??veis da administra????o p??blica e nos tr??s poderes ??? Legislativo, Executivo e Judici??rio ??? seja implantada a auditoria interna, como unidade respons??vel pela an??lise do sistema de controle interno e a interlocu????o com o controle externo. Embora a administra????o p??blica no Brasil ainda se estruture hibridamente sob o sistema burocr??tico e o sistema gerencial, o fato ?? que os administradores p??blicos possuem na auditoria interna importante mecanismo gerencial que, como regra, contribui para detectar e propor a corre????o dos desperd??cios e procedimentos equivocados, principalmente antecipando-se a essas ocorr??ncias. Neste artigo, ?? apresentado ainda o exemplo da cria????o da auditoria interna no Instituto de Pesos e Medidas do Estado de S??o Paulo (Ipem-SP), sua interlocu????o com o Controle Externo e os resultados no ??mbito da autarquia.

Auditoria e gestão : um estudo de caso dos trabalhos auditoriais realizados no IFES

Por intermédio deste trabalho, foi possível detectar o acúmulo de recomendações, o que possivelmente possa indicar a presença de falhas na gestão. Dessa forma o objetivo deste trabalho é investigar as causas e propor soluções que contribuam para o atendimento das recomendações pendentes e para a melhoria de tomada de decisões administrativas. Tomou-se como apoio o Relatório de Auditoria Anual de Contas nº 201305863 e forma apresentadas ferramentas que auxiliem a gestão no processo gerencial de tomadas de decisões. O universo pesquisado compõe-se dos gestores do IFES, que vivem a rotina burocrática dessa instituição de ensino, o que possibilita obter uma percepção do inter-relacionamento profissional junto à AUDIN (Auditoria Interna). A coleta de dados foi feita por meio de questionário, tendo foco na percepção dos gestores de como os trabalhos de auditoria são realizados no IFES, e, paralelamente, buscou informações capazes de municiar a AUDIN com ferramentas capazes de melhor auxiliar no assessoramento administrativo. A pesquisa sugere que a Auditoria Interna e os gestores incorporem diversos conhecimentos para se obter um melhor desempenho frente às demandas do controle interno e externo. Foi observado um acúmulo significativo de recomendações, o que indica a presença de possíveis falhas na gestão do referido órgão. Assim sendo, a pesquisa apresentou resultados que posicionam a Auditoria Interna à margem do processo gerencial do IFES.

Honorários, serviços fora da área de auditoria e independência do auditor : evidências nas companhias abertas listadas na BM&FBovespa

O presente trabalho possui o objetivo de identificar os determinantes dos honorários e serviços fora da área de auditoria, bem como avaliar se a prestação destes serviços conjuntamente com a auditoria das demonstrações financeiras afeta a independência dos auditores externos das companhias abertas brasileiras negociadas na BM&FBovespa. A amostra contempla um total de 180 empresas não financeiras observadas no período de 2010 a 2012. Os resultados indicam que as proxies para esforço e risco elevam os honorários de auditoria, enquanto a governança corporativa apresentou tanto o efeito demanda (elevam os honorários) quanto o efeito risco (reduzem os honorários) dependendo da proxy observada. No que tange a contratação de serviços fora da área de auditoria foi constatado que empresas com maior necessidade de monitoramento e com comitês de auditoria demandam esses serviços, embora o conselho fiscal iniba a contratação dos mesmos. Por fim, as evidências indicam que a prestação de serviços fora da área de auditoria não afeta a independência do auditor. Estes resultados são mantidos mesmo quando observada a probabilidade de ocorrência da modificação no parecer da auditoria relacionada à violação da premissa de continuidade da firma (Going Concern Opinion). Os testes adicionais realizados confirmam a manutenção da independência do auditor, inclusive quando observado o tipo de auditor (não Big4), expectativa de ganhos futuros relacionados a serviços fora da área de auditoria adicionais, empresas consideradas ressalváveis, bem como o efeito de melhores práticas de governança corporativa.

Brazilian external sector so far in the 21st century

Although Brazil has traditionally been characterized by a culture of inward-looking policy making, the presence of foreign firms in the Brazilian productive sector has always been significant. The share of foreign-owned firms is one of the highest that can be found among developing countries. This article discusses the main features of the external sector of the Brazilian economy, regarding trade flows, foreign investment, the internationalization of Brazilian entrepreneurial groups and the short-term financial requirements in foreign currencies

Variations of the soft tissue thicknesses external to the ribs in Pectus Excavatum patients

Background: Surgical repair of pectus excavatum (PE) has become more popular due to improvements in the minimally invasive Nuss procedure. The pre-surgical assessment of PE patients requires Computerized Tomography (CT), as the malformation characteristics vary from patient to patient. Objective: This work aims to characterize soft tissue thickness (STT) external to the ribs among PE patients. It also presents a comparative analysis between the anterior chest wall surface before and after surgical correction. Methods: Through surrounding tissue segmentation in CT data, STT values were calculated at different lines along the thoracic wall, with a reference point in the intersection of coronal and median planes. The comparative analysis between the two 3D anterior chest surfaces sets a surgical correction influence area (SCIA) and a volume of interest (VOI) based on image processing algorithms, 3D surface algorithms, and registration methods. Results: There are always variations between left and right side STTs (2.54±2.05 mm and 2.95±2.97 mm for female and male patients, respectively). STTs are dependent on age, sex, and body mass index of each patient. On female patients, breast tissue induces additional errors in bar manual

Variations of the soft tissue thicknesses external to the ribs in pectus excavatum patients

Background: Surgical repair of pectus excavatum (PE) has become more popular due to improvements in the minimally invasive Nuss procedure. The pre-surgical assessment of PE patients requires Computerized Tomography (CT), as the malformation characteristics vary from patient to patient. Objective: This work aims to characterize soft tissue thickness (STT) external to the ribs among PE patients. It also presents a comparative analysis between the anterior chest wall surface before and after surgical correction. Methods: Through surrounding tissue segmentation in CT data, STT values were calculated at different lines along the thoracic wall, with a reference point in the intersection of coronal and median planes. The comparative analysis between the two 3D anterior chest surfaces sets a surgical correction influence area (SCIA) and a volume of interest (VOI) based on image processing algorithms, 3D surface algorithms, and registration methods. Results: There are always variations between left and right side STTs (2.54±2.05 mm and 2.95±2.97 mm for female and male patients, respectively). STTs are dependent on age, sex, and body mass index of each patient. On female patients, breast tissue induces additional errors in bar manual

A model to forecast financial failure, in non financial galician SMES

We are concerned with providing more empirical evidence on forecast failure, developing forecast models, and examining the impact of events such as audit reports. A joint consideration of classic financial ratios and relevant external indicators leads us to build a basic prediction model focused in non-financial Galician SMEs. Explanatory variables are relevant financial indicators from the viewpoint of the financial logic and financial failure theory. The paper explores three mathematical models: discriminant analysis, Logit, and linear multivariate regression. We conclude that, even though they both offer high explanatory and predictive abilities, Logit and MDA models should be used and interpreted jointly.

Angular and linear accelerations of a rolling cylinder acted by an external force

The dynamics of a cylinder rolling on a horizontal plane acted on by an external force applied at an arbitrary angle is studied with emphasis on the directions of the acceleration of the centre-of-mass and the angular acceleration of the body. If rolling occurs without slipping, there is a relationship between the directions of these accelerations. If the linear acceleration points to the right, then the angular acceleration is clockwise. On the other hand, if it points to the left, then the angular acceleration is counterclockwise. In contrast, if rolling and slipping occurs, the direction of the linear acceleration does not determine the direction of the angular acceleration. For example, the linear acceleration may point to the right and the angular acceleration clockwise or counterclockwise depending on the external force orientation and point of application.

Audit Shopping no contexto da matéria colectável comum consolidada do imposto sobre as sociedades (MCCCIS)

Mestrado em Auditoria

As parcerias público-privadas e o seu impacto na sustentabilidade da dívida pública

Mestrado em Auditoria

Situação atual e perspetiva futura da auditoria interna em Angola

Mestrado em Auditoria

Enhancing the selection of a model-based clustering with external categorical variables

In cluster analysis, it can be useful to interpret the partition built from the data in the light of external categorical variables which are not directly involved to cluster the data. An approach is proposed in the model-based clustering context to select a number of clusters which both fits the data well and takes advantage of the potential illustrative ability of the external variables. This approach makes use of the integrated joint likelihood of the data and the partitions at hand, namely the model-based partition and the partitions associated to the external variables. It is noteworthy that each mixture model is fitted by the maximum likelihood methodology to the data, excluding the external variables which are used to select a relevant mixture model only. Numerical experiments illustrate the promising behaviour of the derived criterion. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Foraging at the Edge of Chaos: Internal Clock versus External Forcing

Activity rhythms in animal groups arise both from external changes in the environment, as well as from internal group dynamics. These cycles are reminiscent of physical and chemical systems with quasiperiodic and even chaotic behavior resulting from “autocatalytic” mechanisms. We use nonlinear differential equations to model how the coupling between the self-excitatory interactions of individuals and external forcing can produce four different types of activity rhythms: quasiperiodic, chaotic, phase locked, and displaying over or under shooting. At the transition between quasiperiodic and chaotic regimes, activity cycles are asymmetrical, with rapid activity increases and slower decreases and a phase shift between external forcing and activity. We find similar activity patterns in ant colonies in response to varying temperature during the day. Thus foraging ants operate in a region of quasiperiodicity close to a cascade of transitions leading to chaos. The model suggests that a wide range of temporal structures and irregularities seen in the activity of animal and human groups might be accounted for by the coupling between collectively generated internal clocks and external forcings.