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Foram, sem dúvida, os meses mais intensos de todo o meu percurso académico. Foi, além de um desafio, um ciclo de aprendizagem dotado de imprevistos e barreiras, barreiras estas que me fizeram crescer profissionalmente e perceber um pouco mais sobre responsabilidade e o comprometimento. Também foram muitos, os que estiveram sempre presentes e disponíveis para persecução deste objetivo, aos quais dedico esta página. Aos Serviços Académicos da Universidade do Minho, sob direção da Dr.ª Carla Lavrador, devo o maior agradecimento por todas as condições proporcionadas para desenvolvimento desta Dissertação, não esquecendo a disponibilidade e interesse da Eng.ª Vera Triunfante para orientação e apoio ao longo de todo o trabalho desenvolvido. À equipa da Divisão Pedagógica pela vossa disponibilidade, apoio e, mais importante ainda, amizade. Destaco a Dr.ª Suzana Castro pelo suporte, a oportunidade e a acreditação nas minhas ideias; sem esquecer toda a experiência e conhecimento transmitidos. À Amélia Pedrosa, amiga e colega de trabalho, agradeço toda a força e apoio e ao Fernando Costa o companheirismo e amizade. A todos os professores da Universidade do Minho que me apoiaram, direta ou indiretamente, na concretização deste objetivo com a disponibilidade, suporte e conhecimento transmitidos. Destaco a professora Dr.ª Anabela Alves e o professor Dr. Sérgio Sousa pelo interesse e dedicação sempre demonstrados com a orientação e acompanhamento desta Dissertação. Aos meus amigos por tudo o que presenciaram e disponibilidade que sempre tiveram. Por fim, especial agradecimento à minha família pelo suporte que sempre me deram em todas as minhas decisões. Sei que o mais importante sempre esteve lá, e quando mais precisei. v RESUMO O Ensino Superior tem verificado diversas alterações ao longo dos últimos anos. O interesse pela excelência e prestação de um serviço com maior qualidade tem estado nos objetivos comuns às Universidades, sem esquecer o comprometimento com a satisfação do cliente-os alunos. O Lean é um pensamento organizacional tipicamente associado ao setor industrial, no entanto a procura do valor na organização ao mesmo tempo que se reduzem custos e desperdícios tem sido uma crescente preocupação demonstrada pelo setor dos serviços. Os serviços administrativos tornam-se assim um interesse de estudo e aplicação desta metodologia por forma a se obter: uma maior capacidade de adaptação a diferentes ambientes de trabalho; o suporte à organização do dia-a-dia de trabalho; o auxílio na obtenção da melhoria contínua; a capacidade de ajuste de colaboradores e tarefas; o aumento do espírito de equipa e a procura de melhores resultados; uma maior satisfação do principal interessado, ou seja, o cliente. Esta Dissertação foi desenvolvida nos Serviços Académicos da Universidade do Minho, serviço público administrativo universitário, que tem por principal função a gestão dos processos escolares dos alunos da Universidade do Minho, com o objetivo de estudar a implementação de técnicas Lean Office nestes serviços administrativos. Foi realizado um estudo para aumento da produtividade e qualidade do serviço prestado. Para tal foram utilizados os seguintes indicadores de desempenho que se procuraram minimizar: custos, desperdícios e número de processos em curso. Como forma de atuar sobre estes indicadores foram utilizadas ferramentas e técnicas como 5S, Gestão Visual, Standard Work, Value Stream Mapping, Poka-yoke, Matriz de Informação, entre outras. Através da implementação do Lean a uma Divisão de serviço da Unidade de Serviços em estudo, recolheram-se os principais resultados obtidos e os esperados. Estes advêm do diagnóstico inicialmente efetuado e consequente estudo de propostas de ação, que compreendem a utilização das ferramentas e técnicas anteriormente descritas. Percebeu-se assim o interesse e a viabilidade de aplicação desta metodologia organizacional a demais Divisões/Setores deste serviço, bem como a outros serviços públicos administrativos.

Children especially girls are under different types of oppression in Sub-Saharan Africa due to various practices, belief systems, values, and laws. In Ghana, one practice that seems to subjugate women and girls in particular is the troxorvi system. Troxorvi or trokosi is a practice that involves the acceptance of human being especially virgin girls for the atonement of real or alleged misconduct of a family member. The committed girl stays in the shrine as a "slave" and owes allegiance to the deity for the rest of her life. However, contemporary societies frown upon and make laws to eradicate any form of slavery due to its human right abuses. In 1998, Ghana amended her laws prohibiting the troxorvi practice as well as committing herself to human rights values by signing most of the international laws on human rights including those on children and women. After a decade of promulgation of the Law against the troxorvi practice, not even a single culprit has been arrested. The study explores the human rights abuses within the troxorvi system and efforts LIST OF A TABLE

The appearances of agricultural  products are important indices for evaluating the quality of commodities and the characteristics of different varieties. In general, the appearances are evaluated by experts based on visual observations. However, the concern regarding this method is that it lacks objectivity, and it is not quantifiable because it depends greatly on an empirical knowledge. In addition, agricultural products have multiple appearance features; therefore, several of them need to be analyzed simultaneously for correct evaluation of the appearance. In this study, we developed a new image analysis system that can simultaneously evaluate multiple appearance characteristics such as the color, shape and size, of agricultural products in detail. To evaluate the effectiveness of this system, we conducted quality evaluations and cultivar identification on the basis of cluster analysis, multidimensional scaling and discriminant analysis of the appearance characteristics. The results of the cluster analysis revealed that strawberries could be classified on the basis of their appearance characteristics. Furthermore, we were able to visualize the small differences in the appearance of the fruit based on multiple characteristics on a two-dimensional surface by performing multidimensional scaling. The results demonstrate that our system is effective for qualitative evaluations of the appearance of strawberries. The results of the discriminant analysis revealed that the accuracy of strawberry cultivar classification using 14 cultivars was <42%, when only single feature was used. However, the rate increased to 68% after combining the three features. These results indicate that our system exploits the advantage of analyzing multiple appearance characteristics.

We characterize the set of functions which can be approximated by smooth functions and by polynomials with the norm �f � W k, ∞ (w):= k� �f (j) �L ∞ (wj), j=0 for a wide range of (even non-bounded) weights wj’s. We allow a great deal of independence among the weights wj’s.

Staphylococcus aureus is responsible for a wide variety of clinical manifestations ranging from skin and soft tissue infections to severe systemic and life threatening diseases; it is of relevance in the community and is commonly associated with nosocomial infections. Additionally, a high percentage of the population is colonized by S. aureus, which constitutes a risk factor for its dissemination. S. aureus has great capacity to acquire antimicrobial resistance, and currently there are resistant strains to the majority of available antibiotics; in particular, its resistance to methycillin, initially in the hospital environment (Hospital associated methycillin resistant S. aureus, HA-MRSA) and later in the community (Community acquired methycillin resistant S. aureus, CA-MRSA), has made even more difficult the worldwide control of this microorganism. Molecular epidemiological studies have provided a better understanding of the evolutionary relationships of the strains, and the defini...

This work, deliberately prepared for the program IDRISI, studies the possibilities of apllication of Geographical Information Systems to the actions over the territory from a cartographical point of view. The study area Cehegin is determinated by its litology, relief, biotic and pedology, and it appears as a space definied by differents units and subunits of landscape.

Within days of the Singapore parliamentary election in May 2011, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong announced that they had decided to leave the nation's Cabinet, where they had been serving as "Minister Mentor" and "Senior Minister," positions created for them as former Prime Ministers. 2 The reason was that the People's Action Party (PAP), which Lee Kuan Yew had founded with others in the 1950s and which had governed the nation since its separation

Background: It has been previously demonstrated that the enzyme α-l-iduronidase (IDUA) of patients with MPS I shows a different biochemical behavior in each of the three clinical forms of these. In heterozygotes, its biochemical behavior has been recently established in leukocyte and plasma samples, demonstrating that it is possible to distinguish individuals heterozygous for MPS I within an unselected population.

At Common Law and in Nigeria, the administration of Criminal Justice embodies a method through which the administration of Criminal law establishes procedures aimed at fair, just and speedy determination of guilt or innocence of any person accused of committing a crime. The Court at the end of trial is empowered to deliver judgment upon the defendant after his conviction and imposed sentence on him usually in form of a fine, imprisonment or other punishments. This paper takes a look at the aims of the criminal punishment. It further examines kinds of punishment available in Nigeria. The discourse also analyses disparity in sentencing and factors affecting them. It ends with recommendations inter alia that our courts should no longer focus attention entirely on the punishment of offenders through deterrence and retribution theories but should also have recourse to other punishment theories such as reformatory, preventive and restorative.

Este artículo muestra algunas de las acciones más importantes de la Fuerza Aérea Colombiana para desarrollar, mantener y mejorar sus procesos relacionados con la gestión de calidad. Recoge los esfuerzos que sobre el tema ha desarrollado desde 1999 hasta la fecha de este documento (2009) y evidencia lo que se viene realizando en algunas de sus unidades de trabajo para facilitar el alcance de los objetivos y el desarrollo de la misión de la FAC.

The eresid spider genus Eresus is morphologically and ecologically conservative. At least three species occur in Europe. However, deep genetic divergence among geographical samples within two species, E. cinnaberinus and E. sandaliatus, may suggest more cryptic species. In the present study we investigate the genetic cohesion of the third species, Eresus walckenaeri, throughout its eastern Mediterranean distribution range, relative to the E. cinnaberinus–E. sandaliatus species complex. Eresus walckenaeri specimens were monophyletic. Genetic discreteness of E. walckenaeri in a region of sympatry with its sister species in Greece provides evidence for species integrity of E. walckenaeri within the European Eresus species complex. Eresus walckenaeri exhibited high concordance between geographical location and mtDNA genealogy. Two major phylogeographical clades were found in the Greek–Turkish and Syrian–Israel parts of the investigated area, respectively (∼6.5% sequence divergence). Concordance between geography and genetic divergence was further observed between Aegean island samples and their corresponding Greek and Turkish mainland samples, suggesting regional subdivision with gradual but potentially high dispersal propensity. Monophyly and limited regional distribution indicate Mediterranean endemic origin. © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2005, 86, 1–9.

Medicinal leeches (Hirudo spp.) are among the best-studied invertebrates in many aspects of their biology. Yet, relatively little is known about their biogeography, ecology and evolution. Previous studies found vast ranges but suggested low genetic diversity for some species. To examine this apparent contradiction, the phylogeny and phylogeography of the widespread Hirudo verbana, Hirudo medicinalis and Hirudo orientalis were investigated in a comparative manner. Populations from across their ranges in Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and Central Asia, were analyzed by various phylogenetic and population genetic approaches using both mitochondrial (COI and 12S) and nuclear DNA sequences (ITS1, 5.8S and ITS2). The populations showed surprisingly little genetic differentiation despite vast ranges. The only clear structure was observed in H. verbana. This species is subdivided into an Eastern (southern Ukraine, North Caucasus, Turkey and Uzbekistan) and a Western phylogroup (Balkans and Italy). The two phylogroups do not overlap, suggesting distinct postglacial colonization from separate refugia. Leeches supplied by commercial facilities belong to the Eastern phylogroup of H. verbana; they originate from Turkey and the Krasnodar Territory in Russia, two leading areas of leech export. H. verbana and H. medicinalis have experienced recent rapid population growth and range expansion, while isolation by distance has shaped the genetic setup of H. orientalis. The habitat of the latter is patchy and scattered about inhospitable arid and alpine areas of Central Asia and Transcaucasia. Centuries of leech collecting and transport across Europe seem not to have affected the natural distribution of genetic diversity, as the observed patterns can be explained by a combination of historical factors and present day climatic influences.

Abbreviations fMRI function magnetic resonance imaging I image description or feature p probability r reliability S object description V1 primary visual cortex Real-world statistics The statistical regularities in natural images and scene properties are essential for taming the complexity and ambiguity of image interpretation. For example, in

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Passiflora incarnata L. (Passifloraceae) has been used for the treatment of epilepsy in several traditional systems of medicine. Aim of the study: The aerial parts of Passiflora incarnata contain multiple bioactive metabolites such as, flavonoids (like, chrysin that show CNS depressant activity by agonizing GABA-benzodiazepine receptor), amino acids (like, GABA), harmala alkaloids (reversible monoamine oxidase-A inhibitor), etc. In view of this, the present study was designed to investigate dual protective effect of the hydroethanolic extract of Passiflora incarnata in pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced seizure and associated post-ictal depression. Materials and methods: Different groups of mice were administered with repeated subconvulsive doses of PTZ (50 mg/kg; i.p.) at an interval of 5 days for 15 days. From 5th to 15th day the animals in different groups were administered daily with varying doses of hydroethanolic extract of Passiflora incarnata (150, 300, and 600 mg/kg; i.p.), diazepam (2 mg/kg; i.p.) and vehicle. On every 5th day, after PTZ treatment, seizure severity (score) was noted. Following convulsive episodes the locomotor activity (using actophotometer) and immobility period (using forced swim test) were also determined. On 15th day after behavioral assessment, the brain serotonin and noradrenaline levels were determined using spectrofluorometric methods. Results: Treatment with the extract significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the seizure severity and immobility period as compared to vehicle control, in a dose and time-dependent manner. Moreover, the extract treatment retained the serotonin and noradrenaline levels of the brain.

Key words : Adult Education, Literacy, Social Education.

Introduction :

The meaning of Adult is “the person whose age is beyond 40 years is called as Adult’ In concern with Adult education the person above 15 years is adult Especially the age group of 15- 35 years is eligible for the adult Education. Before the Independence period in India the meaning of Adult Education was limited one . It was only limited up to the ‘Literacy’ But after the independence the concept of adult education expanded and it meant ‘Adult education means social education’ Social Education means to destruct the ignorance in a society and thus Adult education changed into social education.

The meaning of Adult Education :

1) Adult Education means ‘ to increase the social productivity to improve the lifestyle,  To enable the people to take responsibility as a democratic citizen and social education for it is adult education.

2) In 1976 UNESCO has stated the concept of Adult Education as “To develop the abilities of adults to increase their knowledge, And all the activities to develop the mechanical and professional abilities. Adult education includes Formal and Informal education Health education and Democratic education. In India Adult Education has two aspects. The First aspect is that the literacy those adult who has not taken school education and the second aspect is the life-long learning of adult’s.

Characteristics of Adult Education :

1. Most Adult Education in voluntary. Therefore the participants are generally self-motivated.

2. The practice of adult education is referred to as androgogy.

3. Unlike children, adults are seen as more self directed, rather than replying on others for help.

4. Due to maturity adults have knowledge and have gained life experiences which proved them foundation of learning.

5. An Adult’s learning depend upon their need to have information.

6. Their motivation of learning is problem centered rather than subject centered.

7. Adults frequently apply their knowledge in a practical fashion to learn of effectively.

8. The most important characteristics is when adults who dropped out of high school return to school to complete general requirements.

9. Adults have freedom to quit his or her job and go ‘back to school’ full time.

10. Public school systems and community colleges usually offer evening on weekend classes for this reason.

11. Adults with poor reading skills can obtain help from volunteer literacy programs. 

12. The purpose of adult education in the form of college or university is distinct. In these institutions the aim is typically related to personal growth and development as well as occupation and career preparedness.

13. Another goal might be not only sustain the democratic society, but even to challenge and improve its social structure.

14. In India people are not enthusiastic for adult education due to their daily routine, Adult education in India is limited up to literacy and not as a social education.

15. In India there is a need for learning of any type including literacy, basic education skill development ( Vocational Education ) and equivalency.

16. With the objective of promoting adult education, a series of programmes have been introduced since the first five year plan, the most prominent being the National Literacy Mission, that was launched in 1988 to impart functional literacy to non-literacy in the age group of 15-35 years in a time bound manner. 

17 By the end of 10th Plan period, NLM had made 127.45 million persons literate of which, 60% were females, 23% belong to SCS and 12% to scheduled tribes. 597 districts were covered under Total Literacy Campaign of which 502 reached posts Literacy Campaign and 308 reached continuing Education Stage.


References :

1. Merriam, Sharao B and Brockett Raiph C. The profession and practice of Adult Education : An Introduction . Jossey-Bass, 2007 ISBM 978-0-78790-2902.

2. “What is Adult Education”.About.com

3. Bohonos Jaremy Appreciating the experiences and expertise of Adult Students, Journals of College Orientation and Transition 20.2.

4. Spencer, Bruce (2006) The purpose of adult education : a  short introduction (2nd edition).

5. mhrd.gov.in/adult –edu.

Molecular phylogenetic analyses of hornworts were performed on a nucleotide data set consisting of mitochondrial nad5, chloroplast rbcL and nuclear 18S gene regions. Thirty-seven hornworts representing most of the named generic segregates and morphological diversity in the group were sampled for the three gene analysis while an additional 25 samples were included in an analysis of rbcL alone. Results of these analyses confirm the relationships observed in prior molecular studies but also reveal a number of previously unrecognized yet highly supported clades. On the basis of this and continued morphological and ultrastructural investigations we propose a revised classification of the hornworts. At the highest levels, five well-supported clades are demonstrated and they include: 1) Leiosporoceros, which in most analyses is sister to the remaining hornworts; 2) Anthoceros, Folioceros and Sphaerosporoceros; 3) Notothylas and Phaeoceros; 4) Phymatoceros, a recently described genus that contains two species previously included in Phaeoceros; and 5) the remaining hornwort genera: Megaceros, Dendroceros, Nothoceros and a new genus, Phaeomegaceros. Challenges for continued studies that focus on hornwort systematics include obtaining live specimens worldwide and sorting through the chaotic taxonomy within the group. Morphological studies are hindered by poor preservation of existing collections, and the lack of background data and expertise in hornwort biology. Likewise, molecular sequence data are challenged by the deep divergences and potential effects of extensive RNA editing on phylogenetic reconstruction. Future directions for hornwort THE BRYOLOGIST 110(2), pp. 214-243

Zoothamnium niveum (Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1831) Ehrenberg, 1838, a colonial, sessile representative of the Peritrichida (Ciliophora, Oligohymenophora) from the mangrove channels of Twin Cays (Belize Barrier Reef, Caribbean Sea), is remarkable for an obligatory association with ectosymbiotic, chemoautotrophic bacteria. The ultrastructure of the host and the symbiont is investigated by means of low-temperature and conventional scanning electron microscopy, thin section and freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy. The cortex, the main interface between host and symbiont, differs from the general pattern found in other peritrichs only in having special inclusions of unknown nature and function in the pellicular alveoli. The stationary microzooids and the swarming macrozooids have a fully developed oral ciliature, similar to other peritrichs. The cytopharynx in the macrozooids is highly reduced and no food vacuoles have been detected. Two morphotypes of bacteria, different in size and shape, are present on different parts of the colony and are assumed to represent only one species. The ultrastructural features resemble those of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. The microzooids feed on bacteria whose size, shape, and ultrastructure is similar to their symbionts. This supports the assumption that Z. niveum gains at least part of its nutrition from chemoautotrophic bacteria.

The S-transform combines properties of the short-time Fourier (STFT) and wavelet transforms. It preserves the phase information of a signal as in the STFT, while providing the variable resolution as in the wavelet transform. However, the S-transform suffers from poor energy concentration for some classes of signals. A modification to the existing S-transform is proposed in this paper to enhance the energy concentration in the time-frequency domain. An improvement is achieved by introducing an additional parameter which can be used to optimize the window width. The optimization is performed over frequency and the proposed modification keeps the frequency marginal of the S-transform. The proposed scheme is tested on a set of synthetic signals. The results show that the proposed algorithm produces enhanced energy concentration in comparison to the standard S-transform. Also, the results show that for various signal types the proposed algorithm achieves higher signal concentration in comparison to other standard time-frequency transforms, such as, STFT and pseudo Wigner-Ville distribution (PWVD). Furthermore, it is concluded by numerical study that the proposed algorithm provides more accurate estimation of the instantaneous frequency than the standard S-transform.

The reaction of oxidation of 2-propanol to acetone in the presence of NADP catalyzed by Thermoanaerobium brockii alcohol dehydrogenase (TBADH) has been studied for gaining insight into the coupled-substrate approach that has been extensively used for NADPH regeneration in preparative-scale reductions catalyzed by this enzyme. The data obtained in initial velocity experiments in the absence of products as well as those involving product inhibition and dead-end inhibition by pyrazole suggest that the reaction mechanism is of the Theorell-Chance BiBi type and in which the coenzymes bind to the free form of the enzyme. The seven kinetic parameters that characterize this kinetic model were estimated by non-linear regression analysis using the appropriate rate equations. The kinetic mechanism proposed in the present work is fully compatible with the coupled-substrate approach used for regeneration of NADPH in reduction reactions catalyzed by TBADH.

There are many ways of construing the psychology of loss. This paper describes one such model, which enlightens some, but not all, aspects of bereavement and needs to be used alongside other models. Loss is one aspect of psychosocial transition, the psychological change that takes place whenever people are faced with the need to undertake a major revision of their assumptions about the world. The paper focuses on the ways in which people change or fail to change their internal model of the world in the face of emergent events. Examples are taken from bereavement, loss of a limb, and the succession of losses that mark the course of terminal illness. Implications for identifying people at risk and mitigating that risk are outlined.

Se escribe siempre en primer lugar el símbolo del elemento o radical menos electronegativo (metal o grupo que actúe como tal) y a continuación el del elemento o radical más electronegativo; sin embargo, al nombrarlos se hace en orden inverso (empezando a nombrar por la derecha).

Significant progress has also been made in understanding the main transport and release mechanisms in double emulsions stabilized by macromolecular amphiphiles, Water-soluble entrapped substances appear to be control-released by the amount of reverse micelles present in the oil phase. Lag-time and release rates can be modified by adding variable amounts of selected low-molecular weight emulsifiers to the oil phase in the presence of the polymeric emulsifiers.

With ever growing concerns on environmental pollution, energy security, and future oil supplies, the global community is seeking nonpetroleum based alternative fuels, along with more advanced energy technologies (e.g., fuel cells) to increase the efficiency of energy use. The most promising alternative fuel will be the fuel that has the greatest impact on society. The major impact areas include well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions, non-petroleum feed stocks, well-to-wheel efficiencies, fuel versatility, infrastructure, availability, economics, and safety. Compared to some of the other leading alternative fuel candidates (i.e., methane, methanol, ethanol, and Fischer-Tropsch fuels), dimethyl ether appears to have the largest potential impact on society, and should be considered as the fuel of choice for eliminating the dependency on petroleum. DME can be used as a clean high-efficiency compression ignition fuel with reduced NO x , SO x , and particulate matter, it can be efficiently reformed to hydrogen at low temperatures, and does not have large issues with toxicity, production, infrastructure, and transportation as do various other fuels. The literature relevant to DME use is reviewed and summarized to demonstrate the viability of DME as an alternative fuel.

eds., Evolution and the human mind: Language, modularity and meta-cognition. Cambridge U.P. 2000, pp 218-237 0. where I'm going The theme of this chapter is that some seemingly arcane philosophers' disputes about the nature of rationality are relevant to questions about the evolution of strategic thinking in our species. By strategic thinking I mean, roughly, the kinds of cognitive processes that an agent uses in order to choose an action or a strategy in a situation involving other agents, taking account of the fact that the others are also choosing acts or strategies in the light of the same factors.