Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'CRITICAL LINES'

Software product line engineering is a proposed methodology that enables software products and software-intensive systems to be developed at lower cost, higher quality and less time to market. The structured and managed artifacts reuse among different products in development is the main target of software product line engineering. As a key-method of the product line engineering approach, the commonality and variability analysis is a technique that identifies the potential artifacts for reuse. But the reuse poses challenges for delivering safety-critical products from the product line and achieving product line functional safety. In order to analyze the product line and provide more valuable information for its safety analysis, we make use of established product line modeling techniques, which model the product line commonality and variability from different perspectives. In this report, we investigate the product line modeling techniques. The product modeling analysis process covers two aspects: 1. Study different product line modeling techniques and find the ones suitable for product line modeling. We choose the modeling techniques that can be implemented to discuss in detail. 2. We implement the industrial wheel loader product line with two modeling techniques. Comprehensive models and detailed modeling process explanation are presented. The product line functional safety analysis covers three aspects: 1. Investigate the different safety analysis techniques and choose the fault tree analysis as the main technique. 2. Extend the single system fault tree to the product line fault tree. 3. Investigate the contributions of the product line modeling techniques to the product line functional safety analysis. Specifically, we map the product line models to the product line fault tree. Furthermore, we evaluate the product line modeling techniques from their performance in domain analysis and safety analysis.

The number and complexity of the systems realizing the functionality of the machines in the automotive domain are growing. In this arises the need for a systematic way to manage their development. As the technologies advance, the vehicles introduce an increasing range of capabilities. However, they have similar functions, which have the potential to be reused. One of the widely used approaches that manages the commonality and variability of the development artifacts in a systematic manner is Product Line Engineering (PLE). Consequently, PLE reduces the time to market and the development cost. The machines, realized in the automotive domain, interact with their operators and the surrounding environment. Possible malfunctions of the machines may introduce a risk of accidents with fatal consequences. Therefore, the products should be analyzed, developed and managed in a safe manner and certified according to different relevant safety standards like ISO 15998, ISO 61508 and ISO 26262. There is a diversity of functions in a Product Line (PL). Some of them are mandatory for all machines and others are optional for some models. This gives the opportunity to combine the functions in multiple configurations. However, not all combinations are possible due to dependencies among the functions. Furthermore, the configurations should be valid from a safety perspective, and the developed products should satisfy the requirements identified during the safety analysis. The above mentioned factors emphasize the need for explicit representation of the systems' characteristics, such as commonality and variability, functional dependencies and quality attributes. The purpose of the current work is to find an efficient way to satisfy this need. The scope of our research is limited to the automotive domain. In order to gain familiarity with the state of practice, we collaborated with Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) as an industrial partner. In particular, we: conducted an informal interview study with the practitioners, analyzed the requirements management tool used in Volvo CE and studied products typical for the domain in detail, examined the deliverables defined in the related domain specific safety standards. We gained knowledge on how variability is managed in an industrial context today, which safety aspects need to be considered and how functional safety artifacts are managed with regards to variability. We synthesized the characteristics that are explicitly represented during the development and safety certification of the products in a safety-critical product line. We identified the challenges that the practitioners meet today and the areas that need to be improved. As a result, we formulated evaluation criteria for search and assessment of possible solutions. Subsequently we searched in the literature for different modeling techniques, that are able to respond to the industrial needs, and found the following to be relevant in our context: Feature modeling techniques consider the different variability types and dependencies among the features. Model-based development techniques can represent different views of the system on each level of the development process. Orthogonal modeling techniques extract the variability and dependencies in a different view. Furthermore, we evaluated the methods found during the literature study, based on the proposed criteria. We concluded that the examined techniques alone cannot represent all characteristics needed to support the development of a safety-critical product line, especially the impact of the variability on the safety and vice versa. However, each of them focuses on the presentation of certain aspect of the product line, which can help in building a more complete representation. Thus we focused on the approaches that may be extended and integrated into a complete solution. As a result, we propose a model and graphical notation for variability management in safety-critical product lines, which takes the identified industrial needs into account. The concept is depicted graphically by several model-based diagrams, which represent the different aspects of the product line, on each development level. Special attention is paid to the representation of the safety and variability aspects of the systems. The method is exemplified on an industrial example, in order to show how it achieves the defined goals.

This paper seeks ways of understanding the new challenges of a rapidly changing world, and does so by attempting to resist the disciplinary power of orthodox research methodology, by critically and reflexively inquiring into the politics of (in)security, and ultimately, by seeking novelty. It begins by first declaring its ethical and methodological starting points, then draws out an assemblage of contemporary security problematics. This leads over and narrows down into an inquiry into how to understand the developing structure of information and cyber security in Sweden. Drawing from critical security studies and feminist research ethics, it sketches out an analytical story of power and knowledge in an age of boundless risk, security and information. It furthermore argues for the need of security scholars, practitioners and politicians alike to move beyond simplistic understandings of the world, and to revision it as shaped by more complex dynamics and flows of the global, digitalized and virtual reality of the world.

Reuse processes are considered nowadays as a very advantageous and beneficial approach that is frequently used in several industrial environments. This fact has strongly motivated practitioners to rely on Software Product Line Engineering principles. Using product lines is associated with both cost savings and reduced efforts for development in industry. Moreover, many companies and domains develop products nowadays that need to be safety certified before they can be sold to customers. In this perspective, there is industrial effort spent on addressing functional safety in product lines in industry. Different cost modeling approaches have been proposed in existing literature for providing solutions on software product line effort estimations. The main problem is that there is little evidence of cases in literature where such approaches have been applied successfully in industrial domains. In addition to that, no established product line cost model has been found in existing literature that considers functional safety efforts in its estimations. In this thesis report, an empirical study is presented which has the main focus on the investigation of cost and efforts in industrial product lines for developing safety-critical products. Besides the literature study which highlights related work and existing cost-modeling approaches for product lines, three studies are conducted in order to provide evidence and findings for identifying cost and efforts attributed to safety-critical product line development in industrial domains.  In the first study, semi-structured interviews are performed with practitioners and industrial experts at Volvo Construction Equipment. The structure of the interview study is influenced and inspired by the findings from the literature study on expert effort estimations and established product line cost models as well as the effort and cost areas they attribute to the overall product line effort. The main purpose of the interview study is to derive results on safety effort estimation based on the feedback provided by industrial experts regarding functional safety application in the construction equipment domain. The second study consists in a survey study which gathers information on how other domains (except Volvo CE) deal with functional safety in their product lines and aims to investigate functional safety effort in their product line development process. Finally, a documentation analysis (third conducted study) is performed at Volvo CE in order to provide more evidence for supporting the findings from case study 1.  The main contribution of this thesis work consists in the following: An overall analysis of the findings and results derived from the three conducted studies was provided in order to identify and explain the cost areas that contribute in the overall functional safety effort attested in industrial product lines. Moreover, several functional safety-related issues and challenges are identified while analyzing the three studies. Highest focus during this analysis regards their impact on cost in the functional safety perspective. Finally, we provide solutions on how to reduce this impact on cost by explaining the interdependencies between different safety-related cost areas, as well. The most important contribution of the analysis consists in the conclusions drawn from the investigation of functional safety effort estimation in product lines in industry. Previously, performing the literature study did not bring to the identification of any cost-modelling technique or estimation approach that is considering functional safety effort estimation in industry. For this reason, the results derived based on the findings in our empirical study are crucial in this perspective. In addition, we propose guidelines on proposing a new estimation approach in the future which would combine principles from both formal cost-modelling techniques as well as expert-based estimation methods which rely on the industrial expertise and human experience. We derive different components for the total functional safety effort in product lines from the findings in our empirical study. Moreover, different safety-related scenarios in industry and include safety effort estimations for each of them. The biggest contribution is however on the directions given on how to estimate in practice each of the functional safety effort components. Such directions are currently missing in existing effort estimation methods. Finally, proposals on how to improve further our analysis on product line safety effort estimation are given. Furthermore, we explain what is needed in addition in order to propose and design a relevant safety-related product line effort estimation approach in the future.

Between Lines: Close Reading, Quotation, and Critical Style from Practical Criticism to Queer Theory offers a set of theorizations and heuristics with which to investigate the history of close reading in the Anglo-American university. Working from 1920s Cambridge to the American New Criticism, and from the arrival of deconstruction at Yale to the rise of queer theory, it argues that close reading is best understood as a changing but cohering institutional style of writing that runs through twentieth-century literary criticism. In readings of I. A. Richards, William Empson, Cleanth Brooks, Paul de Man, and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick it documents unexpected contiguities between close reading, literary modernism, twentieth-century poetics, and autobiography by positing that quotation has a formal and compositional function in critical style. Ultimately, this thesis contributes to a growing body of scholarship on the history of reading by offering the first sustained history and theory of close reading to account for the practice as it predates and outlasts the New Criticism.

Railway tracks experience elevated rail deflections when the supporting soil is soft and/or the train speed is greater than approximately 50% of the wave propagation velocity in the track-soil system (i.e. the critical velocity). Such vibrations are undesirable, so soil replacement or soil improvement of the natural soil (or alternatively mini-piles or lime-cement treatment) is often used to increase track-ground stiffness prior to line construction. Although areas of existing soft subgrade might be easily identified on a potential new rail route, it is challenging to determine the type and depth of ground remediation required. Therefore, major cost savings can be made by optimising ground replacement/improvement strategies. This paper presents a numerical railway model, designed for the dynamic analysis of track-ground vibrations induced by high speed rail lines. The model simulates the ground using a thin-layer finite element formulation capable of calculating 3D stresses and strains within the soil during train vehicle passage. The railroad track is modelled using a multi-layered formulation which permits wave propagation in the longitudinal direction, and is coupled with the soil model in the frequency-wavenumber domain. The model is validated using a combination of experimental railway field data, published numerical data and a commercial finite element package. It is shown to predict track and ground behaviour accurately for a range of train speeds. The railway simulation model is computationally efficient and able to quickly assess dynamic, multi-layered soil response in the presence of ballast and slab track structures. Therefore it is well-suited to analysing the effect of different soil replacement strategies on dynamic track behaviour, which is particularly important when close to critical speed. To show this, three soil-embankment examples are used to compare the effect of different combinations of stiffness improvement (stiffness magnitude and remediation depths up to 5 m) on track behaviour. It is found that improvement strategies must be carefully chosen depending upon the track type and existing subgrade layering configuration. Under certain circumstances, soil improvement can have a negligible effect, or possibly even result in elevated track vibration, which may increase long-term settlement. However, large benefits are possible, and if detailed analysis is performed, it is possible to minimise soil improvement depth with respect to construction cost.

Includes abstract.
Includes bibliographical references.
This research paper aims to critically interrogate Njabulo Ndebele’s reflections in the collection of essays, entitled, Fine Lines from the Box (2007). The paper engages with Ndebele’s argument that the post-apartheid South African transformation agenda would be futile if it failed to achieve a new and inclusive South African national culture. Thus, through an examination of selected essays from the collection, this mini-dissertation explores the manner in which he formulates the argument that post-apartheid national culture ought to be rooted on shared values and reflect the ideals of South Africa’s negotiated democratic dispensation. This argument is important not only within the context of South Africa’s negotiated settlement and Nelson Mandela’s promotion of reconciliation but also against the background of the binarisms that characterised the anti-apartheid struggle and the discourses that underpinned it.

ISO 26262 is an international standard valid for the automotive domain. It regulates all the activities to perform for developing safety critical systems in such domain. To be compliant with ISO 26262, all the required activities have to be performed and all the required work products have to be provided. Furthermore, in addition to develop a system in a safe way, following the safety standard guidelines, the achieved safety has also to be demonstrated. This is done through a safety case, a structured argument showing that a system is acceptably safe. ISO 26262 focuses on single systems and does not contain guidelines for product lines. Product line engineering is a valid approach to systematize reuse, aimed at reducing the effort needed to develop similar systems. But, it loses its strength when dealing with safety critical systems, since it is not aligned with safety standards. Hence, when developing a safety critical product line in the automotive domain, the work products required by ISO 26262 have to be provided every time from scratch, including the safety case, for each single system of the product line. This thesis work focuses on providing an approach for building and modeling a safety case for safety critical product lines in the automotive domain. Furthermore, the considered product line engineering approach is aligned with ISO 26262, through the inclusion of safety activities in the product line development process. Giving in this way, the concrete possibility to overtake to the current limitations, reducing the effort needed to develop and certificate each single system of a safety critical product line. To illustrate the validity of the proposed approach a safety critical product line developed by Scania is used as case study.

This thesis consists of an introduction and six of my books, published between 1985 and 1999, on aspects of the history of women in nineteenth-century Australia. The books are The Governesses: Letters from the Colonies 1862-1882 (1985); A Colonial Woman: The Life and Times of Mary Braidwood Mowle 1827-1857 (1986); Pen Portraits: Women Writers and Journalists in Nineteenth Century Australia (1988); Pioneer Writer: The Life of Louisa Atkinson, Novelist, Journalist, Naturalist (1990); Tasma: The Life of Jessie Couvreur (1994); and Rosa! Rosa! A Life of Rosa Praed, Novelist and Spiritualist (1999). At the time they were published each of these books either dealt with a new subject or presented a new approach to a subject. Collectively they represent a body of work that has expanded knowledge of women's lives and writing in nineteenth-century Australia. Although not consciously planned as a sequence at the outset, these books developed as a result of the influence on my thinking of the themes that emerged in Australian social and cultural historical writing during this period. The books also represent a development in my own work from the earlier more documentary-based books on letters and diaries to the interpretive challenge of biographical writing and the weaving of private lives with public achievements. These books make up a cohesive, cumulative body of work. Individually and as a whole, they make an original contribution to knowledge of the lives and achievements of women in nineteenth-century Australia. They received critical praise at the time of publication and have led to renewed interest and further research on the subjects they cover. My own knowledge and expertise has developed as a result of researching and writing them. The Governesses was not only the first full-length study of a particular group of letters but it also documented aspects of the lives of governesses in Australia, a little researched subject to that time. A Colonial Woman, based on a previously unpublished and virtually unknown diary, pointed to the importance of 'ordinary' lives in presenting an enriched view of the past. Pen Portraits documented the early history of women journalists in Australia, a previously neglected subject. Three of the women I included in Pen Portraits, Louisa Atkinson, Tasma and Rosa Praed, the first two of whom were pioneer women journalists as well as novelists, became the subjects of my full-length biographies. In my biographies of women writers, Pioneer Writer, Tasma, and Rosa! Rosa!, I recorded and interpreted the lives of these important writers placing them in the context of Australian cultural history as women who negotiated gender barriers and recorded this world in their fiction. My books on Louisa Atkinson and Tasma were the first full-length biographies of these significant but largely forgotten nineteenth-century women writers, while my biography of Rosa Praed was the first for more than fifty years. Each introduced original research that changed perceptions of the women's lives and consequently of attitudes to their creative work. Each provided information essential for further research on their historical significance and literary achievements. Each involved extensive research that led to informed interpretation allowing insightful surmises essential to quality biography.

We all have stories to share, to build, to pass around, to inherit, and to create. This story - the one I piece together now - is about a Thai-/Bengali-/Muslim-/American-/Feminist looking for home, looking to manage the tension and conflict of wanting to belong to her family and to her feminist community. This thesis focuses on the seemingly conflicting obligations to kinship on the one hand and to feminist practice on the other, a conflict where being a good scholar or activist is directly in opposition to being a good Asian daughter. In order to understand how and why these communities appear at odds with one another, I examine how the material spaces and psychological realities inhabited by specific hyphenated, fragmented subjects are represented (and misrepresented) in both popular culture and practical politics, arguing against images of the hybrid body that bracket its lived tensions. I argue that fantasies of home as an unconditional site of belonging and comfort distract us from the multiple communities to which hyphenated subjects must move between. Hyphenated Asian-/American bodies often find ourselves torn between nativism and assimilationism - having to neutralize, forsake, or discard parts of our identities. Thus, I reduce complicated, difficult ideas of being to the size of a thimble, to a question of loyalty between my Asian-/American history and my American-/feminist future, between my familial background and the issues that have become foregrounded for me during college, between the home from which I originate and the new home to which I wish to belong. To move with fluidity, I must - in collaboration with others - invent new stories of identity and belonging.
B.A. and B.S.
Bachelors
Office of Undergraduate Studies
Interdisciplinary Studies; Philosophy

Sistemas embarcados críticos (SEC) correspondem aos sistemas embarcados para aplicações críticas, que são aplicações nas quais falhas podem por vidas em perigo. A crescente imersão deste tipo de sistema em nossas atividades cotidianas aumentou sua demanda, e consequentemente, a necessidade por novas técnicas de desenvolvimento que possam aumentar a produtividade dos desenvolvedores. Linha de produtos (LP) é uma técnica de reúso, na qual famílias de produtos similares são desenvolvidos em conjunto, e portanto, objetiva-se o desenvolvimento em larga escala. Com a utilização de LP, pode-se reusar requisitos e arquitetura de forma sistemática. Entretanto, o reúso no domínio de sistemas embarcados críticos ainda é visto de forma cética. Por outro lado, o domínio de SEC tem obtido avanços de desenvolvimento por meio de técnicas orientadas a modelo. A Engenharia orientada a modelos (MDE) concentra-se na importância de modelos no ciclo de vida do sistema, tornando-os parte do produto final. Assim, mantêm-se os modelos simples, e a maioria da complexidade do software passa a pertencer às transformações, que podem ser obtidas automaticamente por motores de transformação. Isso ajuda a aumentar a qualidade do produto final, bem como facilitar a futura evolução do software, que poderá ser feita mudando-se os modelos de alto nível e obtendo-se, de forma automática, o novo produto. MDE é particularmente útil no domínio de SEC, pois a partir de modelos corretos do problema, a chance de introdução de erros durante a codificação é menor se geradores de aplicações forem utilizados em vez de codificação manual. Além disso, o aumento no nível de abstração proporcionado pelo MDE permite que técnicas de validação e verificação sejam usadas desde os estágios iniciais de desenvolvimento, tais como co-design e co-simulação. Portanto, este trabalho visa defender a tese de que é possível oferecer os benefícios do desenvolvimento em larga escala para o domínio de SEC e ainda continuar se beneficiando de técnicas de MDE. Para corroborar esta tese, define-se uma abordagem de desenvolvimento de linha de produtos de sistema com uso de técnicas de engenharia orientada a modelos para o desenvolvimento de famílias de sistemas embarcados críticos. Além disso, apresenta-se um estudo de caso de marca-passo elaborado segundo as indicações da abordagem proposta que indicam a viabilidade de sua utilização.
Safety-critical embedded systems (SCES) correspond to embedded systems for critical applications, i.e., applications where lives can be lost if they fail. The increasing immersion of this type of system in our daily activities increased their demand and, consequently, the need for new development techniques that can increase developers productivity. Product Line (LP) is a promising technique for reuse, in which families of similar products are developed together and, therefore, it aims at large-scale development. With the use of LP we can reuse requirements and architecture systematically. However, developers remain sceptical about reuse in the SCES domain, mainly due to problems in the past, such as the failure of the spacecraft Ariane 5. In addition, advances in development of techniques for the SEC domain have been obtained, for example through model-driven engineering (MDE) approaches. MDE focuses on the importance of models in the software life cycle, making them part of the final product. So, it keeps models simple, and most of the software complexity belongs to the transformations that can be obtained automatically by transformation engines. This helps increasing the quality of the final product, and facilitate the future development of software that can be done by changing the high level models and obtaining, automatically, the new product. MDE is particularly useful in the SCES domain because, from correct models of the problem, the chance of introducing errors during coding is smaller if generators are used in the development instead of manual coding. In addition, the increased level of abstraction provided by MDE allows the use of validation and verification techniques since the early stages of development, such as co-design and co-simulation. Therefore, this work aims to defend the thesis that it is possible to offer the benefits of large-scale development for the SCES domain and still continue to benefit from MDE techniques. In support of this thesis, we define a system product line approach using model-driven techniques for the development of safety-critical embedded families. In addition, we present a case study prepared according to the directions of approach.

Software Product Line Engineering (SPLE) has been proven to reduce development and maintenance costs, improving the time-to-market, and increasing the quality of product variants developed from a product family via systematic reuse of its core assets. SPLE has been successfully used in the development of safety-critical systems, especially in automotive and aerospace domains. Safety-critical systems have to be developed according to safety standards, which demands safety analysis, Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), and assurance cases safety engineering artefacts. However, performing safety analysis, FTA, and assurance case construction activities from scratch and manually for each product variant is time-consuming and error-prone, whereas variability in safety engineering artefacts can be automatically managed with the support of variant management techniques. As safety is context-dependent, context and design variation directly impact in the safety properties changing hazards, their causes, the risks posed by these hazards to system safety, risk mitigation measures, and FTA results. Therefore, managing variability in safety artefacts from different levels of abstraction increases the complexity of the variability model, even with the support of variant management techniques. To achieve an effective balance between benefits and complexity in adopting an SPLE approach for safety-critical systems it is necessary to distinguish between reusable safety artefacts, whose variability should be managed, and those that should be generated from the reused safety artefacts. On the other hand, both industry and safety standards have recognized the use of model-based techniques to support safety analysis and assurance cases. Compositional safety analysis, design optimization, and model-based assurance cases are examples of techniques that have been used to support the generation of safety artefacts required to achieve safety certification. This thesis aims to propose a model-based approach that integrates model-based development, compositional safety analysis, and variant management techniques to support the systematic reuse and generation of safety artefacts in safety-critical software product line engineering. The approach contributes to reduce the effort and costs of performing safety analysis and assessment for a particular product variant, since such analysis is performed from the reused safety artefacts. Thus, variant-specific fault trees, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), and assurance case artefacts required to achieve safety certification can be automatically generated with the support the model-based safety analysis and assurance case construction techniques.
Engenharia de Linha de Produtos de Software (ELPS) contribui para a redução dos custos de desenvolvimento e de manutenção, a melhoria do time-to-market, e o aumento da qualidade de produtos desenvolvidos a partir de uma família de produtos por meio do reuso sistemático dos ativos principais da linha de produtos. A ELPS vem sendo utilizada com sucesso no desenvolvimento de sistemas embarcados críticos, especificamente nos domínios de sistemas automotivos e aeroespaciais. Sistemas embarcados críticos devem ser desenvolvidos de acordo com os requisitos definidos em padrões de segurança, que demandam a produção de artefatos de análise de segurança, árvores de falhas e casos de segurança. Entretanto, a realização de atividades de análise de segurança, análise de árvores de falhas e construção de casos de segurança de forma manual para cada produto de uma linha de produtos é uma tarefa demorada e propensa a erros. O gerenciamento de variabilidade em artefatos de análise de segurança pode ser automatizado com o apoio de técnicas de gerenciamento de variabilidades. Em virtude de safety ser uma propriedade dependente de contexto, a variabilidade no projeto e contexto inerente uma linha de produtos software impacta na definição de propriedades de segurança do sistema, modificando as ameaças à segurança do sistema, suas causas e riscos, medidas de mitigação aplicáveis, e resultados de análise de árvore de falhas. Dessa forma, gerenciar variabilidades em artefatos relacionados à safety em diferentes níveis de abstração aumenta a complexidade do modelo de variabilidade mesmo com o apoio de técnicas de gerenciamento de variabilidades. Para alcançar o equilíbrio eficaz entre os benefícios e a complexidade da adoção de uma abordagem de ELPS para o desenvolvimento de sistemas embarcados críticos é necessário fazer a distinção entre artefatos de safety reusáveis, em que a variabilidade deve ser gerenciada, e artefatos de safety que devem ser gerados a partir de artefatos reusáveis. Por outro lado, tanto a indústria quanto os padrões de segurança têm reconhecido o uso de técnicas dirigidas a modelos para apoiar a análise segurança e a construção de casos de segurança. Técnicas de análise de segurança composicional e otimização de projeto, e de construção de casos de segurança dirigido a modelos vêm sendo utilizadas para apoiar a geração de artefatos de safety requeridos para certificação. O objetivo desta tese é a proposta de uma abordagem dirigida a modelos que integra técnicas de desenvolvimento dirigido a modelos, análise de segurança composicional e otimização de projeto, e construção de casos de segurança dirigido a modelos para apoiar o reuso sistemático e a geração de artefatos de safety em engenharia de linhas de produtos de sistemas embarcados críticos. A abordagem proposta reduz o esforço e os custos de análise e avaliação de segurança para produtos de uma linha de produtos, uma vez que tal análise é realizada a partir de artefatos de safety reusados. Assim, artefatos como análises de árvores de falhas e de modos de falha e efeitos, e casos de segurança requeridos para certificação podem ser gerados automaticamente com o apoio de técnicas dirigidas a modelos.

Using the finite element software FEMLAB® solutions are computed to Dirichlet problems for the Infinity-Laplace equation ∆∞(u) ≡ u²_xu_xx + 2u_xu_yu_xy + u²_yu_yy = 0. For numerical reasons ∆q(u) = div (|▼u|q▼u) = 0, which (formally) approaches as ∆∞(u) = 0 as q → ∞, is used in computation. A parametric nonlinear solver is used, which employs a variant of the damped Newton-Gauss method. The analysis of the experiments is done using the known theory of solutions to Dirichlet problems for ∆∞(u) = 0, which includes AMLEs (Absolutely Minimizing Lipschitz Extensions), sets of uniqueness, critical segments and lines of singularity. From the experiments one main conjecture is formulated: For Dirichlet problems, which have a non-constant boundary function, it is possible to predict the structure of the lines of singularity in solutions in the Infinity-Laplace case by examining the corresponding Laplace case.

A closed, orientable, splitting surface in an oriented 3-manifold is a topologically minimal surface of index n if its associated disk complex is (n-2)-connected but not (n-1)-connected. A critical surface is a topologically minimal surface of index 2. In this thesis, we use an equivalent combinatorial definition of critical surfaces to construct the first known critical bridge spheres for nontrivial links.

Mestrado em Enfermagem Médico-Cirúrgica, Área de especialização
Realizado no âmbito do curso de mestrado integrado, este trabalho pretende relatar de forma crítica e reflexiva, o percurso académico desenvolvido com enfoque na prática clinica e no desenvolvimento de competências. Com uma contextualização da enfermagem onde se aborda a sua evolução, Metaparadigma e a teoria das transições de Afaf Meleis, revisita-se também o conceito de competência e a prática especializada em articulação com o modelo conceptual de Patricia Benner. O desenvolvimento do projeto de implementação da Intervenção Major recorreu à metodologia de projeto e identificou “o uso da linha arterial na vigilância e tratamento da PSC” como necessidade formativa. Após todas as etapas, concluiu-se que a sua implementação promoveu o aumento da segurança e a melhoria dos cuidados prestados à PSC. A análise e reflexão das competências de enfermeira especialista em enfermagem médico-cirúrgica, área pessoa em situação crítica, e das competências de Mestre, demonstrou a sua aquisição e desenvolvimento.
Held within the scope of the integrated Masters Course, this paperwork intends to report in a critical and reflexive way, the academic course develepod with a focus on clinical practice and skills development. With a nursing contextualization that adresses its evolution, metaparadigm and the Afaf Meleis’s Transitions Theory, we also revisit the concept of competence and specialized practice in articulation with Patricia Benner’s Conceptual Model. The development of the implementation’s project of a Major Intervention, used the project methodology and identified “The use of the arterial line in the surveillance and treatment pf critical patien” as a formative need. After all the steps, it was concluded that its implementation promoted safety and improved care for critical patient. The analysis and reflection about the skills of specialist nurses in medical surgical nursing, critical area, as well as about Master’s Skill, demonstrated their acquisition and development.

Mestrado em Enfermagem Médico-Cirúrgica, Área de especialização
Realizado no âmbito do curso de mestrado integrado, este trabalho pretende relatar de forma crítica e reflexiva, o percurso académico desenvolvido com enfoque na prática clinica e no desenvolvimento de competências. Com uma contextualização da enfermagem onde se aborda a sua evolução, Metaparadigma e a teoria das transições de Afaf Meleis, revisita-se também o conceito de competência e a prática especializada em articulação com o modelo conceptual de Patricia Benner. O desenvolvimento do projeto de implementação da Intervenção Major recorreu à metodologia de projeto e identificou “o uso da linha arterial na vigilância e tratamento da PSC” como necessidade formativa. Após todas as etapas, concluiu-se que a sua implementação promoveu o aumento da segurança e a melhoria dos cuidados prestados à PSC. A análise e reflexão das competências de enfermeira especialista em enfermagem médico-cirúrgica, área pessoa em situação crítica, e das competências de Mestre, demonstrou a sua aquisição e desenvolvimento.
Held within the scope of the integrated Masters Course, this paperwork intends to report in a critical and reflexive way, the academic course develepod with a focus on clinical practice and skills development. With a nursing contextualization that adresses its evolution, metaparadigm and the Afaf Meleis’s Transitions Theory, we also revisit the concept of competence and specialized practice in articulation with Patricia Benner’s Conceptual Model. The development of the implementation’s project of a Major Intervention, used the project methodology and identified “The use of the arterial line in the surveillance and treatment pf critical patien” as a formative need. After all the steps, it was concluded that its implementation promoted safety and improved care for critical patient. The analysis and reflection about the skills of specialist nurses in medical surgical nursing, critical area, as well as about Master’s Skill, demonstrated their acquisition and development.

The current study aimed to uncover processes and experiences that led individuals to critically engage in racial justice activism, specifically the Black Lives Matter movement. A constructivist grounded theory approach was utilized under critical-ideological and Black feminist paradigms in order to build a practical theory related to developing critical consciousness about oppression facing the Black community. Black activists in the movement between the ages of 23 and 60 (N=12) participated in intensive individual interviews. The result of the study is a co-constructed theory of racial justice activism development (the Critical Consciousness of Anti-Black Racism [CCABR] model) that can be used to increase psychopolitical wellness for Black people. In this model, developing CCABR started with witnessing ABR, required three interconnected methods of processing ABR to increase agency, and led to critical action against ABR. Results indicated that CCABR is a cyclical process through which each of the stages build upon and support one another. The CCABR model is discussed with respect to how it converges with, diverges from, and expands upon extant literature. Recommendations and implications associated with the CCABR model are delineated.

Работа содержит описание построения доверительной полосы стохастического хаоса и реализацию алгоритмов исследования n-мерных моделей. В работе рассматривается дискретная модель, представленная в виде нелинейной динамической системы разностных уравнений, которая описывает динамику взаимодействия потребителей. Выделяются две задачи, которые были поставлены и выполнены в рамках данной работы для расширения программного инструментария исследования динамических систем такого рода. Для двумерного случая осуществляется стохастический анализ чувствительности хаоса через построение доверительной области с использованием критических линий. Помимо этого, описывается разработанный и реализованный алгоритм построения внешней границы хаоса. Производится переход к n-мерному варианту модели (взаимодействие n потребителей). Выделяется 4 алгоритма для исследования n-мерной модели: 1. построение фазовой траектории, 2. построение бифуркационной диаграммы, 3. построение карты режимов, 4. построение показателей Ляпунова. Описывается реализация данных алгоритмов с уклоном в параллельные вычисления. Реализация алгоритмов выполнена на языке программирования C# (платформа .NET) в виде консольного приложения для запуска параллельных вычислений на вычислительном кластере УрО РАН (суперкомпьютер «Уран»).
The work contains description of confidence band construction of a stochastic chaos and realization of algorithms for n-dimensional models studying. The thesis considers a discrete model presented in the form of a nonlinear dynamic system of difference equations, which describes the dynamic of consumer interaction. There are two task that were set and performed in this work to expand the software tools for research dynamic sys-tems of this kind. For the two-dimensional case, a stochastic analysis of the sensitivity of chaos is carried out through the construction of a confidence band using critical lines. In addition, there is description and implementation of algorithm, that can build outer boundary of chaos. A transition is made to the n-dimensional version of the model (interaction of n consumers). There are 4 algorithms for studying the n-dimensional model: 1. phase trajectory building, 2. bifurcation diagram building, 3. mode map building, 4. Lyapunov components building. Algorithm implementation is described with a bias in parallel computations. The algorithms are implemented with C# programming language (.NET platform) in the form of a console application for running parallel computations on the computing cluster of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (supercomputer «Uranus»).

Nation states of the world are driven by socio-economic imperatives that are rapidly degrading the natural resources that sustain life on Earth. This paradox has led to numerous initiatives to better understand and measure sustainability and sustainable development through indices. The primary objective of this research is to critically analyse the plethora of indices developed and used by institutions and organisations globally that have a role to play in measuring the sustainability and sustainable development of nation states, and distil the analysis into one integrated Sustainable Development Index (SDI) that compares all countries. A secondary objective is to review South Africa‟s response to measure sustainability and determine how well it performs compared to other nation states. A qualitative approach is used to review the literature in three steps, namely to consider the challenges of measuring what matters, to reflect on the response to govern and measure sustainability, and then to identify outcomes in terms of specific indices related to triple bottom line dimensions. The review considers the scope and level of integration of global indices as well as South Africa‟s response to measure sustainability. The analysis phase normalizes all the data to establish an integrated SDI for all countries, it then analyses and interprets the data to determine the variation and correlation between all the global indices, and then benchmarks countries and specifically South Africa. The review finds that twenty-one years after the Agenda 21 agreement at the Rio Earth Summit, no acceptable or established SDI has been developed and implemented by the United Nations, and the analysis develops two options for an integrated SDI at nation state level. In terms of both these SDI‟s South Africa performs poorly from a benchmarked perspective. From both the nation state and global indices perspectives, the appraisal of the single integrated SDI finds significant variations in the results, coupled with a wide range of correlation outcomes which distil into well correlated single integrated SDIs. The findings indicate that recent SDI developments are moving towards human wellbeing indicators, however although environmental priorities are considered, they play a secondary role. This “inconvenient truth” alludes to a “business as usual” approach as the policy makers of the world continue to focus on short-term socio-economic imperatives. Environmental thresholds and “limits to growth” considerations need to be fundamental aspects of all SDIs. This argument continues by factoring thresholds and priorities into the triple bottom line dimensions - a Sustainability Intelligence Quotient is developed from the integrated SDI, which suggests that only two countries meet the requirements.
(Master of Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The present study critically evaluates the alleged close floristic links between Chaco and Caatingas vegetation in South America. A reassessment of the phytogeography of these areas has been made by (a) comparing species lists in virtually all of the available literature, and (b) plotting dot-map distributions of relevant taxa based on the author's own herbarium studies and recent monographs. The environmental factors, geology and geomorphology, climate and soils of both areas were also analyzed to assess their degree of internal coherence. The prevailing concept of the Chaco itself proved to be a broad geographical entity rather than a well-defined geobotanic unit in vegetational terms, and a redefinition of the Chaco sensu stricto and a new map of the province has been proposed. Several forest communities have been excluded from the Chaco s.s. since their floristic composition clearly link them to other neighbouring provinces. Although the Caatingas province vegetation is not so well known, the area appears to be a consistent natural region, and a new vegetation type has been briefly described. Detailed floristic lists of the main woody and succulent species of the Chaco s.s., the Caatingas and the Subandean Piedmont Forests are presented, which provide the basis for a subsequent phytosociological analyses (classical and numerical approaches) of these vegetation units vis-a-vis the rest of the seasonal forests and woodlands of South America. The results suggest that the alleged affinities Chaco-Caatingas are very feeble indeed, particularly when they are compared to the actual links between the Caatingas and other seasonal communities in the continent: the Guajira province in N Colombia and Venezuela, the dry forests of W Ecuador, and very particularly the Subandean Piedmont Forests in NW Argentina and SW Bolivia. Some basic patterns of distribution of the floristic elements of seasonal forests in South America have been identified and found to form coherent trends in a series of accurate dot maps: a) Chaco endemics; b) Caatingas endemics; c) Neotropical seasonal forests pattern, including c.1- Residual Pleistocenic Seasonal Formations Arc (or 'Pleistocenic Arc'), extending from the Caatingas through some Planalto forests and calcium-rich localities in the Cerrados, SW Mato Grosso do Sul and the Santiago and Chiquitos Sierras, to the Parana-Paraguay river system and the Subandean Piedmont Forests; c.2- Tropical and Subtropical Seasonal Forests in South America; and c.3- Amphitropical Seasonal Forests pattern. The zoological evidence regarded until present as further proof of the Chaco-Caatingas links is also analysed and mapped, and the results are sharply coincidental with those found for plant distribution. An attempt has also been made to interpret the origin of the Caatingas flora; a hypothetical framework of probable ancient connections across South America between present-day seasonal woody communities is postulated, which have been interpreted here as migratory routes during the wet-dry climatic fluctuations of the late Pleistocene (18-12 ka BP). It is therefore concluded that the floristic links between the Chaco and the Caatingas are very weak and negligible when compared to other relationships, such as those between Chaco-Monte or Caatingas-Subandean Piedmont Forests. It is proposed that the Caatingas should be removed from the Chaquenian Dominium and placed in the Amazonian Dominium, with which they show much stronger affinities.

Ad hoc network normally has critical connectivity properties before partitioning. The timely recognition is important in order to perform some data or service replication. Several existing centralized or globalized algorithms declare an edge or a node as critical if their removal will separate the network into several components. We introduce several localized definitions of critical nodes and critical links, using topological or positional information. A node is critical if the subgraph of p-neighbours of node (without the node itself) is disconnected. We propose three definitions of critical links, based on verifying common p-hop neighbours, loop length, and critical status of link endpoints, respectively. The experiments with random unit graph model of ad hoc networks show high correspondence of local and global decisions. Existing algorithms for testing k-connectivity are centralized. In this thesis, we introduce localized criteria for testing k-connectivity. In the first proposed local neighbor detection (LND) criterion, each node verifies whether or not itself and each of its p-hop neighbors have at least k neighbors. In the second local critical node detection (LCND) protocol, it also tests if the subgraph of its p-hop neighbours of a given node is k-connected. The third local subgraph connectivity detection (LSCD) protocol is based on communications between neighboring nodes to exchange the local decisions starting from k=1. All nodes declare themselves locally 1-connected. For k=2,3,..., iteratively, local decisions are propagated to p-hop neighbors. If node A is (k-1)-connected, all its p-hop neighbors are (k-1)-connected, and the graph consisting of p-hop neighbors of A (excluding A) is (k-1)-connected, then node A declares its neighborhood as k-connected. The experiments are carried with two ways of uniform generation of connected unit disk graphs. They show low percentage of false 'alarms', ability to locate critical areas in k-disconnected networks, and increased accuracy with increased local knowledge.

Dans la nécessité de développer des véhicules sûrs, confortables, économiques et à faible impact environnemental, les voitures sont de plus en plus équipées d'organes qui emploient des capteurs, actionneurs et systèmes de commande automatiques.Or ces systèmes, critiques pour la sécurité et le confort des passagers, peuvent mal-fonctionner en présence d'une défaillance (défaut).Dans le cadre du diagnostic à bord, plusieurs approches à base de modèle sont développées dans ce travail afin de détecter, localiser et estimer un défaut capteur ou actionneur, et pour détecter la perte de stabilité du véhicule.Ces méthodes reposent sur une synthèse robuste pour les systèmes incertains à commutation.Elles sont validées en simulation avec le logiciel CarSim, et sur les données réelles de véhicule dans le cadre du projet INOVE
Modern vehicles are increasingly equipped with new mechanisms to improve safety, comfort and ecological impact. These active systems employ sensors, actuators and automatic control systems. However, in case of failure of one these components, the consequences for the vehicle and the passengers safety could be dramatic. In order to ensure a higher level of reliability within on board diagnosis, new methodologies for sensor or actuator fault detection, location and estimation are proposed. These model based approaches are extended for robust synthesis for switched uncertain systems. In addition, a method for detecting critical stability situation is presented. The validation of the different methods is illustrated with simulations using CarSim, and application on real vehicle data within the INOVE project

Thesis (Ph. D. in Applied Science)--Southern Methodist University, 2007.
Title from PDF title page (viewed Mar. 18, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: B, page: 4109. Advisers: Eli Olinick; Jerrell T. Stracener. Includes bibliographical references.

Test coverage is an important parameter of analyzing how well the product is being tested in any domain within the IT industry. Unit testing is one of the important processes that have gained even more popularity with the rise in Test driven development (TDD) culture.This degree project, conducted at NASDAQ Technology AB, analyzes the existing unit tests in one of the products, and compares various coverage models in terms of quality. Further, the study examines the factors that affect code coverage, presents the best practices for unit testing, and a proven test process used in a real world project.To conclude, recommendations are given to NASDAQ based on the findings of this study and industry standards.
Testtäckning är en viktig parameter för att analysera hur väl en produkt är testad inom alla domäner i IT-industrin. Enhetstestning är en av de viktiga processerna som har ökat sin popularitet med testdriven utveckling. Detta examensarbete, utfört på NASDAQ Technology AB, analyserar de befintliga testen i en av produkterna, och jämför olika kvalitetsmodeller. Vidare undersöker undersökningen de faktorer som påverkar koddekning, presenterar de bästa metoderna för enhetstestning och en beprövad testprocess som används i ett verkligt världsprojekt. Avslutningsvis ges rekommendationer till NASDAQ baserat på resultaten från denna studie och industristandarder.

Gravity on Earth limits the study of the properties of pure fluids near critical point because they become stratified under their own weight. Near the critical point, all thermodynamic properties either diverge or converge and the heating and cooling cause instabilities of the convective flow as a consequence of the expansibility divergence. In order to study boiling, fluctuation and phase separation processes near the critical point of pure fluids without the influence of the Earth's gravity, a number of experiments were performed in the weightlessness of Mir space station. The experimental setup called ALICE II instrument was designed to suppress sedimentation and buoyancy-driven flow. Another set of experiments were carried out on Earth using a carefully density matched system of deuterated methanolcycloxexane to observe critical fluctuations directly. The set of experiments performed on board of Mir space station studied boiling and wetting film dynamics during evaporation near the critical point of two pure fluids (sulfur hexafluoride and carbon dioxide) using a defocused grid method. The specially designed cell containing the pure fluid was heated and, as a result, a low contrast line appeared on the wetting film that corresponded to a sharp change in the thickness of the film. A large mechanical response was observed in response to the cell heating and we present quantitative results about the receding contact lines. It is found that the vapor recoil force is responsible for the receding contact line. Local density fluctuations were observed by illuminating a cylindrical cell filled with the pure fluid near its liquid- gas critical point and recorded using a microscope and a video recorder. Microscopic fluctuations were analyzed both in sulfur hexafluoride and in a binary mixture of methanol cyclohexane. Using image processing techniques, we were able to estimate the properties of the fluid from the recorded images showing fluctuations of the transmitted and scattered light. We found that the histogram of an image can be fitted to a Gaussian relationship and by determining its width we were able to estimate the position of the critical point. The characteristic length of the fluctuations corresponding to the maximum of the radial average of the power spectrum was also estimated. The power law growth for the early stage of the phase separation was determined for two different temperature quenches in pure fluid and these results are in agreement with other experimental results and computational simulations.

Analizinė skaičių teorija yra skaičių teorijos dalis, kuri, naudodama matematinės analizės ir kompleksinio kintamojo funkcijų tyrimo metodus, sprendžia uždavinius susijusius su sveikaisiais skaičiais. Manoma, kad analizinės skaičių teorijos pradžią žymi Dirichlet eilučių ir Dirichlet L-funkcijų taikymai. Vienas iš pagrindinių analizinės skaičių teorijos tyrimo objektų yra Riemann’o dzeta funkcija. Riemann’o hipotezė teigia, kad visi netrivialieji nuliai yra ant kritinės tiesės. Disertacijoje nagrinėjamas Riemann’o dzeta funckijos reikšmių pasiskirstymas ant kritinės tiesės. Tam pasitelkiama Riemann’o dzeta funkcijos kreivė. Svarbus klausimas susijęs su kreive yra ar ši kreivė yra visur tiršta kompleksinių skaičių plokštumoje. Disertacijoje įrodoma, kad kreivė plečiasi į visas puse kompleksinių skaičių plokštumoje. Atskiras disertacijos pagrindinio rezultato atvejis gali būti formuluojamas taip – Riemann’o dzeta funkcija ant kritinės tiesės įgyja be galo daug neigiamų reikšmių, kurios yra neaprėžtos.
In mathematics, analytic number theory is a branch of number theory that uses methods from mathematical analysis to solve problems that concern the integers. It is often said to have begun with Dirichlet's introduction of Dirichlet L-functions. In analytic number theory one of the main investigation objects is the Riemann zeta function. The Riemann hypothesis states that all non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function lie on the critical line. In the thesis we investigate value distribution of the Riemann zeta function on the critical line. To do so we use the curve of the Riemann zeta function on the critical line. A problem connected to the curve asks the question whether the curve is dense in the complex plane. We prove that the curve expands to all directions on the complex plane. A separete case of the main result can be stated as follows Riemann zeta function has infinetly many negative values on the critical line and they are unbounded.

In mathematics, analytic number theory is a branch of number theory that uses methods from mathematical analysis to solve problems that concern the integers. It is often said to have begun with Dirichlet's introduction of Dirichlet L-functions. In analytic number theory one of the main investigation objects is the Riemann zeta function. The Riemann hypothesis states that all non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function lie on the critical line. In the thesis we investigate value distribution of the Riemann zeta function on the critical line. To do so we use the curve of the Riemann zeta function on the critical line. A problem connected to the curve asks the question whether the curve is dense in the complex plane. We prove that the curve expands to all directions on the complex plane. A separete case of the main result can be stated as follows Riemann zeta function has infinetly many negative values on the critical line and they are unbounded.
Analizinė skaičių teorija yra skaičių teorijos dalis, kuri, naudodama matematinės analizės ir kompleksinio kintamojo funkcijų tyrimo metodus, sprendžia uždavinius susijusius su sveikaisiais skaičiais. Manoma, kad analizinės skaičių teorijos pradžią žymi Dirichlet eilučių ir Dirichlet L-funkcijų taikymai. Vienas iš pagrindinių analizinės skaičių teorijos tyrimo objektų yra Riemann’o dzeta funkcija. Riemann’o hipotezė teigia, kad visi netrivialieji nuliai yra ant kritinės tiesės. Disertacijoje nagrinėjamas Riemann’o dzeta funckijos reikšmių pasiskirstymas ant kritinės tiesės. Tam pasitelkiama Riemann’o dzeta funkcijos kreivė. Svarbus klausimas susijęs su kreive yra ar ši kreivė yra visur tiršta kompleksinių skaičių plokštumoje. Disertacijoje įrodoma, kad kreivė plečiasi į visas puse kompleksinių skaičių plokštumoje. Atskiras disertacijos pagrindinio rezultato atvejis gali būti formuluojamas taip – Riemann’o dzeta funkcija ant kritinės tiesės įgyja be galo daug neigiamų reikšmių, kurios yra neaprėžtos.

Durante la última década y paralelamente al incremento de la velocidad de computación, las técnicas de simulación molecular se han erigido como una importante herramienta para la predicción de propiedades físicas de sistemas de interés industrial. Estas propiedades resultan esenciales en las industrias química y petroquímica a la hora de diseñar, optimizar, simular o controlar procesos. El actual coste moderado de computadoras potentes hace que la simulación molecular se convierta en una excelente opción para proporcionar predicciones de dichas propiedades. En particular, la capacidad predictiva de estas técnicas resulta muy importante cuando en los sistemas de interés toman parte compuestos tóxicos o condiciones extremas de temperatura o presión debido a la dificultad que entraña la experimentación a dichas condiciones. La simulación molecular proporciona una alternativa a los modelos termofísicos utilizados habitualmente en la industria como es el caso de las ecuaciones de estado, modelos de coeficientes de actividad o teorías de estados correspondientes, que resultan inadecuados al intentar reproducir propiedades complejas de fluidos como es el caso de las de fluidos que presentan enlaces de hidrógeno, polímeros, etc. En particular, los métodos de Monte Carlo (MC) constituyen, junto a la dinámica molecular, una de las técnicas de simulación molecular más adecuadas para el cálculo de propiedades termofísicas. Aunque, por contra del caso de la dinámica molecular, los métodos de Monte Carlo no proporcionan información acerca del proceso molecular o las trayectorias moleculares, éstos se centran en el estudio de propiedades de equilibrio y constituyen una herramienta, en general, más eficiente para el cálculo del equilibrio de fases o la consideración de sistemas que presenten elevados tiempos de relajación debido a su bajos coeficientes de difusión y altas viscosidades. Los objetivos de esta tesis se centran en el desarrollo y la mejora tanto de algoritmos de simulación como de potenciales intermoleculares, factor considerado clave para el desarrollo de las técnicas de simulación de Monte Carlo. En particular, en cuanto a los algoritmos de simulación, la localización de puntos críticos de una manera precisa ha constituido un problema para los métodos habitualmente utilizados en el cálculo de equlibrio de fases, como es el método del colectivo de GIBBS. La aparición de fuertes fluctuaciones de densidad en la región crítica hace imposible obtener datos de simulación en dicha región, debido al hecho de que las simulaciones son llevadas a cabo en una caja de simulación de longitud finita que es superada por la longitud de correlación. Con el fin de proporcionar una ruta adecuada para la localización de puntos críticos tanto de componentes puros como mezclas binarias, la primera parte de esta tesis está dedicada al desarrollo y aplicación de métodos adecuados que permitan superar las dificultades encontradas en el caso de los métodos convencionales. Con este fin se combinan estudios de escalado del tamaño de sitema con técnicas de "Histogram Reweighting" (HR). La aplicación de estos métodos se ha mostrado recientemente como mucho mejor fundamentada y precisa para el cálculo de puntos críticos de sistemas sencillos como es el caso del fluido de LennardJones (LJ). En esta tesis, estas técnicas han sido combinadas con el objetivo de extender su aplicación a mezclas reales de interés industrial. Previamente a su aplicación a dichas mezclas reales, el fluido de LennardJones, capaz de reproducir el comportamiento de fluidos sencillos como es el caso de argón o metano, ha sido tomado como referencia en un paso preliminar. A partir de simulaciones realizadas en el colectivo gran canónico y recombinadas mediante la mencionada técnica de "Histogram Reweighting" se han obtenido los diagramas de fases tanto de fluidos puros como de mezclas binarias. A su vez se han localizado con una gran precisión los puntos críticos de dichos sistemas mediante las técnicas de escalado del tamaño de sistema. Con el fin de extender la aplicación de dichas técnicas a sistemas multicomponente, se han introducido modificaciones a los métodos de HR evitando la construcción de histogramas y el consecuente uso de recursos de memoria. Además, se ha introducido una metodología alternativa, conocida como el cálculo del cumulante de cuarto orden o parámetro de Binder, con el fin de hacer más directa la localización del punto crítico. En particular, se proponen dos posibilidades, en primer lugar la intersección del parámetro de Binder para dos tamaños de sistema diferentes, o la intersección del parámetro de Binder con el valor conocido de la correspondiente clase de universalidad combinado con estudios de escalado. Por otro lado, y en un segundo frente, la segunda parte de esta tesis está dedicada al desarrollo de potenciales intermoleculares capaces de describir las energías inter e intramoleculares de las moléculas involucradas en las simulaciones. En la última década se han desarrolldo diferentes modelos de potenciales para una gran variedad de compuestos. Uno de los más comunmente utilizados para representar hidrocarburos y otras moléculas flexibles es el de átomos unidos, donde cada grupo químico es representado por un potencial del tipo de LennardJones. El uso de este tipo de potencial resulta en una significativa disminución del tiempo de cálculo cuando se compara con modelos que consideran la presencia explícita de la totalidad de los átomos. En particular, el trabajo realizado en esta tesis se centra en el desarrollo de potenciales de átomos unidos anisotrópicos (AUA), que se caracterizan por la inclusión de un desplazamiento de los centros de LennardJones en dirección a los hidrógenos de cada grupo, de manera que esta distancia se convierte en un tercer parámetro ajustable junto a los dos del potencial de LennardJones.
En la segunda parte de esta tesis se han desarrollado potenciales del tipo AUA4 para diferentes familias de compuesto que resultan de interés industrial como son los tiofenos, alcanoles y éteres. En el caso de los tiofenos este interés es debido a las cada vez más exigentes restricciones medioambientales que obligan a eliminar los compuestos con presencia de azufre. De aquí la creciente de necesidad de propiedades termodinámicas para esta familia de compuestos para la cual solo existe una cantidad de datos termodinámicos experimentales limitada. Con el fin de hacer posible la obtención de dichos datos a través de la simulación molecular hemos extendido el potencial intermolecular AUA4 a esta familia de compuestos. En segundo lugar, el uso de los compuestos oxigenados en el campo de los biocombustibles ha despertado un importante interés en la industria petroquímica por estos compuestos. En particular, los alcoholes más utilizados en la elaboración de los biocombustibles son el metanol y el etanol. Como en el caso de los tiofenos, hemos extendido el potencial AUA4 a esta familia de compuestos mediante la parametrización del grupo hidroxil y la inclusión de un grupo de cargas electrostáticas optimizadas de manera que reproduzcan de la mejor manera posible el potencial electrostático creado por una molecula de referencia en el vacío. Finalmente, y de manera análoga al caso de los alcanoles, el último capítulo de esta tesis la atención se centra en el desarrollo de un potencial AUA4 capaz de reproducir cuantitativamente las propiedades de coexistencia de la familia de los éteres, compuestos que son ampliamente utilizados como solventes.
Parallel with the increase of computer speed, in the last decade, molecular simulation techniques have emerged as important tools to predict physical properties of systems of industrial interest. These properties are essential in the chemical and petrochemical industries in order to perform process design, optimization, simulation and process control. The actual moderate cost of powerful computers converts molecular simulation into an excellent tool to provide predictions of such properties. In particular, the predictive capability of molecular simulation techniques becomes very important when dealing with extreme conditions of temperature and pressure as well as when toxic compounds are involved in the systems to be studied due to the fact that experimentation at such extreme conditions is difficult and expensive.
Consequently, alternative processes must be considered in order to obtain the required properties. Chemical and petrochemical industries have made intensive use of thermophysical models including equations of state, activity coefficients models and corresponding state theories. These predictions present the advantage of providing good approximations with minimal computational needs. However, these models are often inadequate when only a limited amount of information is available to determine the necesary parameters, or when trying to reproduce complex fluid properties such as that of molecules which exhibit hydrogen bonding, polymers, etc. In addition, there is no way for dynamical properties to be estimated in a consistent manner.
In this thesis, the HR and FSS techniques are combined with the main goal of extending the application of these methodologies to the calculation of the vaporliquid equilibrium and critical point of real mixtures. Before applying the methodologies to the real mixtures of industrial interest, the LennardJones fluid has been taken as a reference model and as a preliminary step. In this case, the predictions are affected only by the omnipresent statistical errors, but not by the accuracy of the model chosen to reproduce the behavior of the real molecules or the interatomic potential used to calculate the configurational energy of the system.
The simulations have been performed in the grand canonical ensemble (GCMC)using the GIBBS code. Liquidvapor coexistences curves have been obtained from HR techniques for pure fluids and binary mixtures, while critical parameters were obtained from FSS in order to close the phase envelope of the phase diagrams. In order to extend the calculations to multicomponent systems modifications to the conventional HR techniques have been introduced in order to avoid the construction of histograms and the consequent need for large memory resources. In addition an alternative methodology known as the fourth order cumulant calculation, also known as the Binder parameter, has been implemented to make the location of the critical point more straightforward. In particular, we propose the use of the fourth order cumulant calculation considering two different possibilities: either the intersection of the Binder parameter for two different system sizes or the intersection of the Binder parameter with the known value for the system universality class combined with a FSS study. The development of transferable potential models able to describe the inter and intramolecular energies of the molecules involved in the simulations constitutes an important field in the improvement of Monte Carlo techniques. In the last decade, potential models, also referred to as force fields, have been developed for a wide range of compounds. One of the most common approaches for modeling hydrocarbons and other flexible molecules is the use of the unitedatoms model, where each chemical group is represented by one LennardJones center. This scheme results in a significant reduction of the computational time as compared to allatoms models since the number of pair interactions goes as the square of the number of sites. Improvements on the standard unitedatoms model, where typically a 612 LennardJones center of force is placed on top of the most significant atom, have been proposed. For instance, the AUA model consists of a displacement of the LennardJones centers of force towards the hydrogen atoms, converting the distance of displacement into a third adjustable parameter. In this thesis we have developed AUA 4 intermolecular potentials for three different families of compounds. The family of ethers is of great importance due to their applications as solvents. The other two families, thiophenes and alkanols, play an important roles in the oil and gas industry. Thiophene due to current and future environmental restrictions and alkanols due ever higher importance and presence of biofuels in this industry.

Cette thèse étudie comment la critique humoristique de l'actualité dans les médiasaudiovisuels de masse français est devenue un genre médiatique à part entière. Le travail« sérieux », « invisible », aux finalités « visibles », parfois surexposées, des « humoristesd'actualité », s'inspirant de la tradition des bouffons d'antan, revisite quotidiennement lesmises en récit journalistiques en les décalant, par « déboîtement ». Le croisement de troisspécialités sociologiques (des médias, du travail et de la critique), le recours à des entretienssemi-directifs (n=43) et à des corpus médiatiques conséquents (presse écrite et séquencesaudiovisuelles) permettent de décrire des trajectoires, des statuts, des savoirs-faire et des rôlesconstitutifs d'une expérience artistique et professionnelle. En interaction avec leurs deuxprincipales sources d'inspiration (professionnels de la politique et journalistes), les humoristesd'actualité produisent une critique réflexive, contestataire ou dénonciatrice. Cette critiquespécifique, méthode de dévoilement aux règles implicites et explicites, constitue une « carteblanche » pour aller le plus loin possible, malgré les risques (pressions, licenciements, procès,etc.), les polémiques régulières, les tentatives de construction de « lignes jaunes »(philosophique, politique, journalistique), et les controverses à la visibilité parfois maximale(affaire Strauss-Kahn), qui pèsent plus ou moins sur la définition des normes du travail(censure, autocensure, etc.). L'imagination créatrice des humoristes d'actualité participepleinement du processus de « publicisation critique » de la démocratie, et teste son idéal deliberté d'expression
This thesis explores how the news humorous critic in the French audiovisual mass media hasbecome a media genre in its own right. The "serious", "invisible" work, made for "visible"ends, sometimes overexposed, of these "news humorists" who are inspired by the tradition ofjesters of old, regularly revisits journalistic narratives, and shifting them by "pulling-out"(déboîtement). The crossing of three sociological literatures (media, work and criticism),semi-structured interviews (n = 43) and a substantial media corpus (print media andaudiovisual sequences) allows us to describe the trajectories, statutes, know-how andconstituent roles of an artistic and professional experience. Interacting with their two mainsources of inspiration (elected officials and journalists), news humorists are producing a criticthat can be reflexive, protestive or reprobative. This specific critic, unveiling method, withimplicit and explicit rules, constitutes a "carte blanche" to go as far as possible, despite therisks (pressures, layoffs, lawsuits, etc.), regular polemics, attempts to set "yellow lines"(philosophical, political, journalistic), and controversies with high visibility (the Strauss-Kahncase), all of this weighing more or less on the definition of work standards (censorship, selfcensorship,etc.). The creative imagination of news humorists then fully participates in theprocess of "critical publicisation" of democracy, and tests its ideal of freedom of expression

In this article, we explore the Black Lives Matter activist Alicia Garza's Twitter usage during the month of June in 2020 with a critical discourse analysis (CDA). Our aim with the study was to examine the underlying motives and values in Garzas tweeting, and if there were any prevailing themes, in order to see if there was a difference between the discourse used for personal matters and the discourse related to her activism. To support our analysis we utilized critical theory to gain a critical reference and the two-step flow hypothesis to delve into the possible effects Garza's position as an opinion leader has on her tweeting. After processing and examining a total of 48 tweets from the month of June, through the use of coding, our analysis suggests that there are several prevalent themes that can be distinguished in her tweeting. The themes we found were personal tweets, tweets expressing solidarity, tweets urging for action, tweets exuding authority, and promotional tweets. The line between personal matters and the discourse related to her activism was found to be fluid and unable to be strictly defined.

This thesis investigates the European Union (EU) effect on the economic activity across the Green Line in the divided Cyprus between 2004 and 2016. The primary focus is on the development and implementation of the EU's Green Line Regulation (GLR), which regulates and enables such activity from three aspects: movement of goods, services, and persons. In tracing the EU effect, this thesis provides a critical appraisal of the GLR on whether it provides an adequate legal framework for the economic activity in those three aspects and the extent to which it has contributed to the development of economic cooperation between the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities across the divide. The analysis also pays an equal level of attention to the extent to which the EU effect has been mediated by the factors at the domestic level: the roles of legal framework, ethno-politics in political elites, ethno-politics in civil society, and governance. The investigation of this study is pegged in two academic literatures. The first one is the Europeanisation debate, which concerns with the EU effect in the domestic affairs of countries associated with the EU. This thesis borrows three mechanisms of Europeanisation from this debate in order to test the EU effect on the three aspects of economic activity across the divide in Cyprus: i) institutional compliance, ii) change of domestic opportunity structures, iii) cognitive change. The second academic literature is the liberal peace, which it proposes that greater economic interactions and development of economic interdependence between countries facilitate resolution of their conflicts. The insights from this debate is utilised for conceptualising the EU's GLR as a liberal peace project. While Europeanisation is portrayed as a 'process', liberal peace objectives are seen as the 'ultimate destination', which the 'vehicle' of the EU's GLR will drive the island towards it. This thesis argues that the GLR has only achieved a limited success and largely failed to contribute to the development of economic cooperation across the divide in Cyprus. This is mainly because the Europeanisation process have been heavily mediated and negated by the design shortcomings of the GLR as well as the factors at the domestic level, which are inherently linked to the politics of division. In this context, this thesis aspires to make contribution in both empirical and conceptual terms. The in-depth and critical investigation of the GLR as well as of the economic activity across the divide in Cyprus provides a much-needed contribution to the contemporary politics of Cyprus, which has been largely ignored by the existing academic literature. Additionally, the conceptual framework developed in this thesis allows exploring synergies between the theoretical literatures of Europeanisation and liberal peace and combines them with examination of new empirical evidence. This focus captures insights on how Europeanisation can be used as a 'tool' for pursuing liberal peace objectives in contested statehood, beyond what has been researched so far and also provides a blueprint for other similar cases of conflict.

In this thesis I investigate several aspects of local quantum criticality, a concept of key importance in a number of physical contexts ranging from critical heavy fermion compounds to quantum dot systems. Quantum critical points are associated with second order phase transitions at zero temperature. In contrast to their finite-temperature counterparts, the zero-point motion cannot be neglected near a quantum critical point. As a result, the incorporation of quantum dynamics leads to an effective dimension larger than the spatial dimension of the system for the order parameter fluctuations within the Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson treatment of criticality. This so-called quantum-to-classical mapping works well for the critical properties in insulating systems but apparently fails in systems containing gapless fermions. This has been experimentally most clearly been demonstrated within a particular class of intermetallic compounds called heavy fermions. A particular way in which the Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson paradigm fails is for critical Kondo destruction that seems to underlie the unconventional quantum criticality seen in the heavy fermions. I focus on studying the properties of critical Kondo destruction and the emergence of energy-over-temperature-scaling in systems without spatial degrees of freedom, i.e., so-called quantum impurity systems. In particular, I employ large-N techniques to address critical properties of this class of quantum phase transitions in and out of equilibrium. As quantum critical systems are characterized by a scale-invariant spectrum with many low-lying excitations, it may appear that any perturbation can lead to a response beyond the linear response regime. Understanding what governs the non-linear response regime near quantum criticality is an interesting area. Here, I first present a path integral version of the Schrieffer-Wolff transformation which relates the functional integral form of the partition function of the Anderson model to that of its effective low-energy model. The equivalence between the low-energy sector of the Anderson model in the Kondo regime and the spin-isotropic Kondo model is usually established via a canonical transformation performed on the Hamiltonian, followed by a projection. The resulting functional integral assumes the form of a spin path integral and includes a geometric phase factor, i.e. a Berry phase. The approach stresses the underlying symmetries of the model and allows for a straightforward generalization of the transformation to more involved models. As an example of the efficiency of the approach I apply it to a single electron transistor attached to ferromagnetic leads and derive the effective low-energy model of such a magnetic transistor. As Kondo screening is a local phenomenon, it and its criticality can be studied using the appropriate impurity model. A general impurity model to study critical Kondo destruction is the pseudogap Bose-Fermi Kondo model. Here, I concentrate on the multi-channel version of the model using the dynamical large-N study. This model allows to study the non-trivial interplay between two different mechanisms of critical Kondo destruction. The interplay of two processes that can each by itself lead to critical Kondo destruction. The zero-temperature residual entropy at various fixed points for the model is also discussed. The two channel Anderson model exhibits several continuous quantum phase transitions between weak- and strong-coupling phases. The non-crossing approximation (NCA) is believed to give reliable results for the standard two-channel Anderson model of a magnetic impurity in a metal. I revisit the reliability of the NCA for the standard two channel Anderson model (constant conduction electron density of states) and investigate its reliability for the two-channel pseudogap Anderson model. This is done by comparing finite-temperature, finite-frequency solutions of the NCA equations and asymptotically exact zero-temperature NCA solutions with numerical renormalization-group calculations. The phase diagram of this model is well established. The focus here will be on the dynamical scaling properties obtained within the NCA. Finally, I study the thermal and non-thermal steady state scaling functions and the steady-state dynamics of the pseudogap Kondo model. This model allows us to study the concept of effective temperatures near fully interacting as well as weak-coupling fixed points and compare the out-of-equilibrium scaling properties of critical Kondo destruction to those of the traditional spin-density wave (SDW) scenario. The differences I identify can be experimentally probed. This may be helpful in identifying the nature of the quantum critical points observed in certain heavy fermion compounds.

Early drug discovery for new psychiatric medicines relies heavily on the use of in vitro assays. At present, this work is typically conducted through ectopic expression of human proteins of interest in cells that are often neither human nor neural in origin. As our appreciation of the complexity inherent to receptor pharmacology has increased, these heterologous expression systems have come under increasing scrutiny as a means to evaluate the mode of action of novel neuropsychiatric drug candidates. These limitations likely contribute to the high attrition rate observed as these compounds progress to the clinic. The use of native human neural cells during initial drug development has the potential to overcome some of these problems. This thesis describes work towards the development of an in vitro drug discovery platform using a!human, conditionally immortalised, cortically derived, neural stem cell line (CTX0E16/02). Protocols were developed to enable robust and reproducible differentiation of these human neural stem cells into cell-types normally found in the adult cerebral cortex –different GABAergic neuronal subtypes, glutamatergic neurons, astrocytes and potentially oligodendrocytes. Neurons! grown under these conditions were also shown to be electrically active. By investigating ligand-induced Ca2+ and Erk1/2 signalling, cells within differentiated cortical cultures were shown to express functional receptors, for a range of neurotransmitters, including dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, GABA, histamine, norepinephrine and acetylcholine. Many of these receptors are known targets of currently available neuropsychiatric compounds, making this platform ideal for studying drugs that modulate the activity of the human brain. Data presented here highlighted the importance of using native neural cells to interrogate the signalling consequences of ligand-receptor interactions. For instance, the reported full 5MHT2A-specific agonist –TCBM2 –was shown to demonstrate inverse agonism with respect! to! intracellular Ca2+ accumulation, while cholinergic stimulation was shown to provoke muscarinic receptor-mediated Ca2+ influx rather!than an expected mobilisation from intracellular stores. Most importantly, however, effects of a therapeutically relevant concentration of the antipsychotic, haloperidol, could be detected using these differentiated CTX0E16/02 cultures. However, this effect was only apparent in the presence of simulated neurophysiological tone. This finding has important implications regarding the way in which the mechanism of action of complex drug-receptor interactions is experimentally investigated in vitro.

The aim of this essay is to debate the narrow contextualization of the works of Swedish artist Maria Friberg, in which she is interpreted as a female, feminist artist engaged in masculinity studies. Art reviews and exhibition catalogues regarding a great part of Friberg’s work have formed the core body of information in this study, selecting the more recent works entitled Still lives (2003- ) as the main focus. These show a change in Friberg’s artistic expression.

Subjects concerning group belonging, identity and existential questions have always been present in Maria Friberg’s art, but they are more clearly expressed in her latest works. Art critics have acknowledged the change of motifs in Still lives as a negative development and have expressed disappointment in the absence of Friberg’s renown portrayals of men in business suits. This attire and the gendered motif man have ascribed Friberg to an agenda surrounding masculinity and feminism, leaving little room for other interpretations.

The subordinate aim of the study is to suggest alternative readings of Friberg’s art in general and of the Still lives-series in particular. The great majority of art critics are accentuating Friberg’s interest in men, overlooking reasons for her supposed fascination of them. This creates a need for further examination of the depths of Friberg’s photographs. Hence, the last chapter presents a theory of the artists’ use of men as carriers of non-gender related meanings in which the human being is a small part of the impressive machinery composed of nature, culture and the industrialised world which absolutely devours humans.

Consummation was the one term about which Kenneth Burke wasn't particularly long-winded - odd considering his claim that it was the apex of his theory of form. Perhaps Burke never explained exactly what consummation was because he himself was never clear on the subject, as he told John Woodcock in an interview toward the end of his career. Burke began conceptualizing his theory of form early on - in his 20s - and published it in his first critical book, Counter-Statement, in 1931. At that time, Burke's theory of form had already taken one evolutionary step - from self-expression, with the focus on the artist, to communication, with the focus on the psychology of the reader. Communication was to Burke an "arousing and fulfilling of desires." However, by the 60s, Burke introduced us to a new term which he only used a handful of times in his entire corpus: consummation. This paper attempts to define consummation by exploring Burke's theory of form and looking to his correspondences with friends and scholars. It offers two answers: first, consummation is the act of a reader responding to a writer in critical conversation; second, consummation is the ultimate cathartic achievement. Both play an important civic role. Using current science regarding the gut in connection with emotional purgation, this paper treats seriously Burke's essay "The Thinking of the Body (Comments on the Imagery of Catharsis in Literature)" and his ideas regarding the "Demonic Trinity": micturition, defecation, and parturition, explaining Burkean catharsis as it differs from, deepens, and extends Aristotelian catharsis. What can we learn from what Burke meant by consummation? That the symbolic world is much more significant to our survival than we may realize. As the world of scientific motion advanced rapidly during Burke's lifetime, he began to lose hope that symbolic action could keep up with it. We can see how important poetry and the symbolic motive was for him; he seemed to think it was a matter of life and death. This paper explores what it meant for Burke to seek a consummated life, and the implications that held for him and for us. In the end, the paper posits the importance of catharsis to society in terms of war and peace.

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Cette thèse se propose de mettre em routle une investigation critique du roman Avalovara(1973), d'Osman Lins, à partir de quelques rapports établis entre les manifestations de courant de conscience de ses personnages et la dialectique de la négativité esthétique, formulée sous les conceptions philosophiques de Theodor Adorno. Au cours de cette investigation, nous aborderons d’abord la manière dont se présente la disposition formelle de la technique du courant de conscience et ses achèvements critiques au long du XXe siècle. Nous fournirons aussi, dans la première partie de la recherche, un panorama de compréhension de la pensée esthétique d'Adorno, en mettant en relief ses discussions sur la Dialectique Négative (1966), le narrateur dans le roman contemporain et ses lectures des procédés artistiques de Samuel Beckett. Notre but est de retrouver une signification littéraire pour la déconstruction des structures romanesques manifestées à l'intérieur d'Avalovara, selon les conceptions de non identité et critique du sujet moderne, développées par Adorno. Dans la deuxième partie de la recherche, nous analyserons le roman d'Osman Lins, afin de comprendre comment son organisation structurelle, de caractère fragmentaire, produit un mouvement de tension thématique où certains types de violence impliquant de la souffrance sont remplacés par une transgression érotique médiatrice d'une attitude d'autonomie et d'authenticité des protagonistes. Notre intention est de comprendre que l'emploi de la technique du courant de conscience, comme moyen de nous tenir au courant de ce qui se passe dans la pensée des personnages, nous permet de voir, d'une façon plus large, que, en insistant dialectiquement, en son intérieur, à exposer la négativité des concepts sur le monde dans lequel il s'expérimente, le sujet s'éloigne d'une objectivité positive et ontologique en faveur d'une hétérogénéité négative de la conscience de l'être dans le monde.
Lins, based on some relationships established among the manifestations of the stream of consciousness of their characters and the dialectics of the aesthetic negativity, elaborated through the philosophical concepts of Theodor Adorno. Throughout the thesis, we will discuss initially how the formal disposition of the stream of consciousness' technique and its critical development are given alongside the 20th century. In the first part of the research, we will also provide a framework for the understanding of the aesthetic thinking, focusing their discussions about the Negative Dialectics (1966), the narrator in the contemporary novel and his readings about Samuel Beckett's artistic procedures. The purpose is to find a literary meaning for the deconstruction of the novelistic structures that were manifested inside Avalovara through the concepts of non-identity and criticism of the modern individual developed by Adorno. In the second part of the research, we will analyse the novel by Osman Lins seeking to comprehend how its structural constitution with fragmentary aspect produces a movement of thematic tension in which certain types of violence that implicate into suffering are replaced by an erotic transgression that intermediates an atitude of autonomy and authenticy of the characters. Our intention is to understand that the use of the technique of the stream of conciousness, as a manner of being acquainted about what is going on in the characters’ mind, give us condition to perceive with a wider perspective that in the interior of the individual exists a dialectic insistence in exposing the negativity of the concepts about the world in which one experiences, evading from a positive and ontological objectivity in favor of a negative hetereogeneity of the conscience of being in the world.
Lins, a partir de algumas relações estabelecidas entre as manifestações do fluxo de consciência dos seus personagens e a dialética da negatividade estética, formulada nas concepções filosóficas de Theodor Adorno. Em seu decorrer, discutiremos inicialmente como se dá a disposição formal da técnica de fluxo de consciência e seus desdobramentos críticos ao longo do século XX. Também forneceremos, na primeira parte da pesquisa, um quadro de compreensão do pensamento estético de Adorno, focalizando suas discussões sobre a Dialética Negativa (1966), o narrador no romance contemporâneo e suas leituras sobre os procedimentos artísticos de Samuel Beckett. A finalidade é encontrar, nas concepções de não-identidade e crítica do sujeito moderno, desenvolvidas por Adorno, um significado literário para a desconstrução das estruturas romanesca que se manifestam no interior de Avalovara. Na segunda parte da pesquisa, analisaremos o romance de Osman Lins buscando entender como a sua organização estrutural, de caráter fragmentário, produz um movimento de tensão temática em que determinados tipos de violência que implicam em sofrimento são substituídos por uma transgressão erótica mediadora de uma atitude de autonomia e autenticidade dos protagonistas. Nossa intenção é entender que a utilização da técnica de fluxo de consciência, como maneira de nos inteirarmos do que se passa na mente dos personagens, nos dá condição de perceber de maneira mais ampla que no interior do sujeito existe uma insistência dialética em expor a negatividade dos conceitos sobre o mundo no qual se experimenta, fugindo de uma objetividade positiva e ontológica em favor de uma heterogeneidade negativa da consciência do ser no mundo.

While costing methods have developed over time, they are often static in nature and ill-suited to the dynamic nature of production lines. Static costing systems are often developed for long-term analysis. Due to this, they lack the ability to aid short-term decision-making. In addition, the use of averaged data prohibits a static costing system from accurately tracing the cost effects of changing system behavior like random downtime events. A dynamic costing system, however, can capture the cost effects of changing system behavior in a manner that can aid short-term operational management. The proposed methodology is a dynamic activity-based costing method that relies on real-time production line data to track costs, specifically the added costs of unused capacity and downtime events. The methodology aims to trace these costs to responsible cost centers on the production line to give a better representation of the total cost of production, specifically in regards to normal production costs, added downtime costs, and added costs from unused capacity. In addition to monetary costs, the methodology provides a framework for tracking environmental costs, such as energy use, in order to aid plant managers with determining the environmental impact of their operations. The methodology addresses a gap between activity-based costing and downtime costing by combining the two under a single methodology. It traces both monetary and environmental costs to cost centers on the manufacturing line to aid continuous improvement efforts and the allocation of resources. By using real-time data, the methodology alerts management to changing system performance in a shorter time frame than static costing systems. The methodology will be shown in a case study of an automotive assembly plant. The case study will model the resource use of an automotive paint shop and trace this resource use to line segments in order to highlight areas of possible improvement.

Ao longo do século XX, o Brasil passa por mutações profundas em sua estrutura social, econômica e cultural. Entre as conseqüências desse processo estão, de um lado, a formação de grandes centros urbanos e, de outro, o fenecimento de pequenas cidades do interior. Este trabalho trata de dois casos de representação da pobreza de cada um desses contextos, Vitrola dos Ausentes (1993), de Paulo Ribeiro, e Cidade de Deus (1997), de Paulo Lins, dois escritores que acompanham de perto essas transformações. O objetivo é investigar em que medida estas propostas de adequação entre forma e conteúdo, escritas em meio ao processo de redemocratização política do país e da popularização crescente da cultura de periferia das grandes cidades, correspondem a um novo momento na representação da pobreza na Literatura Brasileira.

Un elevat nombre de pacients que reben ventilació mecànica després del començament d’una malaltia crítica desenvolupen feblesa muscular, la qual cosa suposa un augment en la morbiditat i en els costos econòmics. La recuperació a la situació funcional prèvia pot retardar-se diversos mesos després de l’alta d’UCI. El disposar d’un mètode per a la identificació precoç d’aquesta alteració neuromuscular permetria aprofundir no només en les conseqüències d’aquesta feblesa sinó, a més, ajudar a esclarir aspectes fisiopatològics i causals així com possibles alternatives en el tractament. Des de l’any 2006 al 2011 duem a terme un estudi prospectiu, observacional, en una UCI general, per trobar un marcador clínic precoç que ajudés a identificar la presència de miopatia o neuropatia de la UCI. Realitzàrem estudis electrofisiològics seqüencials a 100 pacients intubats. A més, recollírem dades antropomètrics, clínics, analítics i farmacològics analitzant la seva relació amb les troballes en la biòpsia muscular en aquesta cohorte de pacients. Els resultats més rellevants mostraren que l’aparició d’activitat patològica (en forma de fibril·lació o ones positives), detectada mitjançant electromiograma amb agulla coaxial, s’associaren de manera molt significativa amb la pèrdua de caps de miosina observada en la histologia. La prova tingué una sensibilitat del 98% i una especificitat del 100% com a mètode diagnòstic precoç de la miopatia de la UCI en pacients sedoanalgesiats que no foren capaces de realitzar força de manera voluntària. La prevalença de miopatia fou del 61% en la nostra sèrie. L’activitat patològica en el electromiograma s’obserbava durant la primera setmana d’ingrés en un 59% dels pacients, i ho feia majoritàriament en els músculs tibial anterior i bessó. L’existència de xoc, xoc sèptic, fallada respiratòria, fallada hemodinàmica i gravetat del pacient mesurada amb els índexs de gravetat SOFA I APACHE II es va associar a un major risc de presentar alteracions en l’electromiograma d’agulla. A més, quan més gran és l’índex de gravetat SOFA o APACHE II, abans apareix la fibril·lació. La detecció d’activitat patològica espontània es va vincular amb una menor amplitud i una major durada del potencial d’acció muscular compost en l’estudi de nervis motors. La latència i velocitat no es van veure modificades respecte als estàndards de normalitat. No trobarem absència de resposta sensitiva evocada que suggerís la presència de neuropatia. L’administració de corticoids i relaxants musculars no es va associar al desenvolupament de miopatia. Tampoc trobem relació amb l’hiperglucèmia, ja que els nivells de glucèmia es van mantenir molt controlats mitjançant protocol d’insulina subcutània. En canvi, el desenvolupament d’alteracions en el electromiograma es va associar amb un temps significativament major de retirada de la ventilació mecànica i estada en UCI, així com de recuperació de la força mesurada amb l’escala MRC i de la situació funcional basal mesurada mitjançant l’escala de Barthel. Finalment, no trobarem major mortalitat en els pacients amb miopatia d’UCI. Per tot això podem concloure que la presència d’activitat espontània patològica en forma de fibril·lació i ones positives en l’estudi electromiogràfic amb agulla coaxial pot servir com a marcador fiable, precoç i senzill per a la detecció de la miopatia de la UCI en els seus estadis més inicials.
Un elevado número de pacientes que reciben ventilación mecánica tras el inicio de una enfermedad crítica desarrollan debilidad muscular, lo que supone un aumento en la morbilidad y de los costes económicos. La recuperación a la situación funcional previa puede retrasarse varios meses tras el alta de UCI. El disponer de un método para la identificación precoz de dicha alteración neuromuscular permitiría profundizar no sólo en las consecuencias de esta debilidad sino, además, ayudar a esclarecer aspectos fisiopatológicos y causales así como posibles alternativas en el tratamiento. Desde el año 2006 al 2011 llevamos a cabo un estudio prospectivo, observacional, en una UCI general, para hallar un marcador clínico precoz que ayudase a identificar la presencia de miopatía o neuropatía de la UCI. Realizamos estudios electrofisiológicos secuenciales a 100 pacientes intubados. Además recogimos datos antropométricos, clínicos, analíticos y farmacológicos analizando su relación con los hallazgos de la biopsia muscular en esta cohorte de pacientes. Los resultados más relevantes muestraron que la aparición de actividad patológica (en forma de fibrilación u ondas positivas), detectada mediante electromiograma con aguja coaxial, se asociaba de manera muy significativa con la pérdida de cabezas de miosina observada en la histología. La prueba tuvo una sensibilidad del 98% y una especificidad del 100% como método diagnóstico precoz de la miopatía de la UCI en pacientes sedoanalgesiados que no son capaces de realizar fuerza de manera voluntaria. La prevalencia de miopatía fue del 61% en nuestra serie. La actividad patológica en el electromiograma se observó durante la primera semana de ingreso en un 59% de los pacientes, mayoritariamente en los músculos tibial anterior y gemelo. La existencia de shock, shock séptico, fallo respiratorio, fallo hemodinámico y gravedad del paciente medidos con los índices de gravedad SOFA y APACHE II se asoció a un mayor riesgo de presentar alteraciones en el electromiograma con aguja. Además, cuanto mayor es el índice de gravedad SOFA o APACHE II, antes aparece la fibrilación. La detección de actividad patológica espontánea se vinculó con una menor amplitud y una mayor duración del potencial de acción muscular compuesto en el estudio de nervios motores. La latencia y velocidad no se vieron modificadas respecto a los estándares de normalidad. No encontramos ausencia de respuesta sensitiva evocada que sugiriera la presencia de neuropatía. La administración de corticoides y relajantes musculares no se asoció al desarrollo de miopatía. Tampoco hallamos relación con la hiperglucemia, ya que los niveles de glucemia se mantuvieron muy controlados mediante protocolo de insulina subcutánea. Sin embargo, el desarrollo de alteraciones en el electromiograma se asoció con un tiempo significativamente mayor de retirada de la ventilación mecánica y estancia en UCI, así como de recuperación de la fuerza medida con la escala MRC y de la situación funcional basal medida mediante la escala de Barthel. Finalmente, no encontramos mayor mortalidad en los pacientes con miopatía de UCI. Por todo esto podemos concluir que la presencia de actividad espontánea patológica en forma de fibrilación y ondas positivas en el estudio electromiográfico con aguja coaxial puede servir como marcador fiable, precoz y sencillo para la detección de la miopatía de la UCI en sus estadios más iniciales.
Al large number of patients receiving mechanical ventilation develop muscle weakness following the onset of a critical illness, which leads to an increase in morbidity and economic burdens. Recovery to previous functional status may be delayed several months after discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU). The early identification of these neuromuscular disorders may not only provide valuable insights on the consequences of this muscle weakness, but help shed light on its causal and pathophysiological aspects as well as on possible treatment alternatives. From 2006 to 2011 we conducted a prospective, observational study in a general ICU to find an early clinical marker that could help identify the presence of critical illness myopathy or neuropathy. We performed sequential electrophysiological studies of 100 patients under mechanical ventilation. In addition we collected anthropometric, clinical, analytical and pharmacological data and analyzed their association to muscle biopsy findings in this subject cohort. The main results showed that the occurrence of pathological activity (in the form of fibrillation or positive sharp waves), measured by coaxial needle electromyogram, was associated with a high level of significance with the selective loss of thick filaments (myosin heads) observed on histology. The test had a sensitivity of 98% and a specificity of 100% as a method of early diagnosis of critical illness myopathy in sedated patients who are unable to perform voluntary force. The prevalence of myopathy was of 61% in our series. The pathological electromyogram activity was detected during the first week of admission in 59% of patients, mostly in the anterior tibial and gastrocnemius muscles. The existence of shock, septic shock, respiratory failure, hemodynamic failure and patient severity was associated with an increased risk of fibrillation. Furthermore, the greater the SOFA or APACHE II severity index scores were, the earlier fibrillation appeared. The detection of pathological spontaneous activity was associated with smaller amplitude and a longer duration of the compound muscle action potential in motor nerve conduction studies. Latency and speed were unaffected compared to normal standards. We found no sensory evoked response that suggested the presence of critical illness neuropathy. Conversely, we found no association with the administration of corticosteroids or neuromuscular blockers, two commonly used drugs in the ICU which have been controversially proponed as drivers of ICU myopathy, nor with hyperglycemia, since it remained well controlled by subcutaneous insulin protocols. However, the development of alterations in the electromyogram was associated with a significantly prolonged mechanical ventilation, ICU stay, recovery of weakness measured by the MRC scale and baseline functional status as measured by the Barthel scale. Finally, we did not find higher mortality rates in ICU patients with myopathy. For all this we can conclude that the presence of pathological spontaneous activity in the form of fibrillation and positive sharp waves measured by coaxial needle electromyography may serve as a reliable and easily performed method for early detection of critical illness myopathy.

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The construction of electricity generation projects are held in places where there are specific conditions for its implementation, and it appears that these are not always close to the consumer markets. The energy needs to be transported to the consumption centers located many kilometers away, and to this end are used to power transmission lines. These developments are characterized by many different situations that impact on their time of completion. In order to pursue project management options so that deadlines are met, this research applies a risk management methodology for projects by means of the quantitative risk assessment. It is addressed to the energy transmission area with a focus on the project deadline. The proposed model adopts the Critical Chain Project Management – CCPM, whereby the appropriate activities duration are those achievable in the shortest time as possible. The use of CCPM calls for the application of buffers along the project schedule to control the uncertainties. The proposed methodology applies the Monte Carlo Simulation – MCS to the schedule, associating the Minimum, Most likely and Maximum times to the activities. The identified risks are related to these activities. The outcome resulting from the proposed methodology is quantitative and provides useful information to containment and contingency actions.
A construção dos empreendimentos de geração de energia elétrica é realizada nos locais onde existem condições específicas para sua implantação, e, nem sempre estes são próximos aos centros consumidores. A energia gerada necessita ser transportada para os centros de consumo localizados a muitos quilômetros de distância, e, para tal são utilizadas as Linhas de Transmissão de Energia. Estes empreendimentos caracterizam-se por encontrar situações diversas e que impactam no seu prazo de conclusão. Com o objetivo de buscar opções de gerenciamento de projetos para que os prazos sejam alcançados, esta pesquisa aplica uma metodologia para gestão dos riscos em projetos, com a aplicação de análise quantitativa dos riscos. Será aplicada na área de transmissão de energia com foco no prazo de conclusão. O modelo proposto utiliza o método do Gerenciamento de Projeto pela Corrente Crítica – CCPM, por meio do qual as durações das atividades consideradas são aquelas exequíveis no menor prazo possível. O uso da CCPM prevê a introdução de buffers no cronograma do projeto para controlar as incertezas. A metodologia proposta aplica ao cronograma a Simulação de Monte Carlo- SMC, associando às suas atividades o prazo Mínimo, Mais Provável e Máximo. Os riscos identificados são associados às atividades. O resultado da aplicação da metodologia proposta é uma análise dos riscos do projeto indicando a probabilidade de consumo dos buffers, as atividades que mais impactam no seu consumo e os riscos associados a estas. O resultado desta análise é quantitativa e gera informações úteis para ações de contenção e contingência.

This research aims to fill an important gap in focusing on why individuals are able to take part in and/or support activities that have effects on economic, environmental, and social dimensions that are not consistent with their sense of right and wrong. The research focuses on the relationship between supply chain management and moral disengagement, and how this relation affects social responsibility. After observing individuals avoiding responsibility for misconduct an explanatory concept, moral decoupling, was proposed. Moral decoupling considers moral responsibility a flow in the supply chain. Moral decoupling occurs when the flow is restricted. If moral decoupling occurs at an identifiable point it is called a moral decoupling point. The concept was developed by identifying and linking specific supply chain activities and structures with moral disengagement, a theory that explains the deactivation of self regulation. Moral decoupling was able to suggest how to reduce moral disengagement and improve social responsibility. To validate the suggestions a literature review on social responsibility was conducted and identified sixteen elements of social responsibility in supply chain management. The suggestions based on moral disengagement were compared with elements of social responsibility and a large overlap was found. Lastly, suggestions on how to reduce moral disengagement and map moral responsibility in a supply network are proposed, links between elements of social responsibility are presented, and moral coupling is added as a complementary term to moral decoupling. A model explaining the relationship between ethical guidelines, moral responsibility, moral decoupling, and social responsibility is proposed. In relation to current theoretical knowledge the thesis has contributed to the field of socially responsible supply chain management with an application of a new theoretical lens that gives one explanation as to why identifed elements of social responsibility are important. The understanding of social responsibility has reached an increased explanatory depth following the identification of moral disengagement as a generative mechanism, subject to conditions in supply chain management. The research has also applied moral disengagement in a context not identified in earlier research, and shows some of the complexity of applying it to a real-world global context. The elements of social responsibility and moral (de)coupling help practitioners identify what they should focus on to increase social responsibility and also offer an explanation for `why?'. The findings can be used to construct supply chains that are less prone to misconduct and to identify where in the chain it is important to be aware of immoral behavior. The value and originality of this research is centered on the application of a new theoretical lens for socially responsible supply chain management. It is the only identified research in the area which identifies mechanisms on a generative level that explains human behavior and conditions to which those mechanisms are subject. This is also in itself a novel application of moral disengagement in a new research context.

Doctoral thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Textile Management at the University of Borås to be publicly defended on Wednesday, December 10, 2014, at 1:00 p.m.,in room M404, University of Bor as, Allégatan 1, Borås