Dissertations / Theses: 'Significant objects'

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Attan, Caroline Amanda. "Significant objects in migrants' experience." Thesis, University of Portsmouth, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.271387.

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Objects are involved in complex overlapping relations of significance and the programme of research examines how the choices and arrangement of significant objects articulates self-identity across discontinuity in life experience. In-depth interviews with migrants and the ancestors of migrants in the living rooms of their homes focus on objects and furniture to examine the role of the object in supporting identity in differing degrees of migratory dislocation. The research investigates the role of the object as both internal and external supports through migration and re-integration through different generations. The investigation draws on key literatures in anthropology, philosophy and creative writing to support issues concerning the transition caused through migration and the structuring of the home in a new cultural environment. The first chapter explores how generic social meaning attached to objects becomes less relevant as the relationship between the individual and the object deepens through the passage of time. The second chapter examines patterns concerning the arrangement and selection of objects in the living room and how the physical interaction with objects structure memory and supports a personal narrative. The third chapter examines how objects and furniture are used to define the life-stages through the process of migration and become indicators of a personal history. A subculture is identified that both assimilates the cultural experience of their country of birth and their migrant ancestry. In conclusion, the relationship between these discussions demonstrates how significant objects are used by the individual to develop and define memories and thoughts. This study contributes to the literature of material culture by identifying the layering of memories attached to significant objects and how objects are used as personal supports through discontinuity caused by cultural dislocation and act as a catalyst for the inter-gene rational transfer of memories and cultural inheritance.

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Brown, Sandra Lois School of Design UNSW. "Significance, the vessel and the domestic." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Design, 2004. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/20761.

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Throughout history, people have made or acquired vessels from which to sip their favourite beverage. In the contemporary domestic setting, households frequently accumulate multiples of the same type of object in numbers that are considerably greater than is necessary and practical for use alone. Of these many objects there are often individual pieces that have special significance for the owner or user. Some are so valued that they may even be removed and set aside because of their perceived importance. The research was initiated by a previous study of tea drinking vessels coupled with a desire, as an object maker and collector, to find out why people have special items that they designate as personally important. The aim was to identify how significance could be recognised in specific objects and whether the notion that a group of features used to gauge such objects could be conveyed into studio based work. The research outcomes are evidenced in a text-based document (which articulates the theoretical and empirical elements of the enquiry) and a body of creative studio work developed in response to aspects of the investigation. The document encompasses two components of the study. The first references material from the fields of museum and cultural studies, pivotal in focusing the enquiry. This contributed to the compilation of a general and speculative inventory of qualities that might pertain to objects deemed ???significant???. During these early investigations it became evident that a more in depth and contemporary analysis of significant drinking vessels, their owners and/or users was required. A Survey Questionnaire regarding personal use and special drinking vessels preceded a series of Interviews with a selected group of Australia curators, artists, academics and collectors who discussed and analysed their association with a personally significant drinking vessel. Subsequently, the content of these interviews became central to the focus of the research and outcomes. The research isolates a number of attributes that are commonly identified in objects that, whatever their condition, are deemed ???significant???. These describe the maker, usage, ownership, association and historical context. The perceived value or worth of the object for its owner, is recognised as a consequence of significance and declares the object as distinctive. This outcome is clearly validated by the interviews. The studio work develops from the fusion of personal narrative that has been enhanced by findings of the research. In particular, it references the cherished object, most especially those pieces that have been retained despite the ravages of time and use. The resulting work was exhibited as Trace Elements ??? Marking Time: Significance, the Vessel and the Domestic at Kudos Gallery, Paddington in April 2004.

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Rowland, Chris. "3D visualisation of historic and environmentally significant shipwrecks : the development of occlusion objects, Locoramps and digital cinematography." Thesis, University of Dundee, 2010. https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/ed1973f4-5b99-4c5b-8b1d-042e2b0f8edd.

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This thesis explores the hypothesis that current industry standard methods used to visualise environmentally hazardous or historically significant shipwrecks can be improved by adopting a number of new, aesthetically considered, methods. The thesis describes the development of occlusion objects, locoramps and the use of digital cinematography, as methods that the author proposes to improve the 3D visualisation of point cloud data from multibeam sonar. Case studies were selected as the basis for experimentation; they include HMS Royal Oak in Orkney and SS Richard Montgomery in the Thames Estuary. The author collaborated with a multi-disciplinary team of forensic maritime archaeologists, marine surveyors and salvage experts to gain access to unique shipwreck sites and the high resolution sonar data gathered from them. Through experimentation with the data, occlusion objects, locally oriented colour ramps (locoramps) and improved depth cueing through digital cinematography were developed and applied in 3D visualisations of the case study wrecks. A real-time application WreckSight was created to exploit the new methods. The resulting 3D visualisations of the wrecks were evaluated by a number of target audience groups by means of an interactive questionnaire that allows a direct comparison of data presented using the new methods with traditional display methods. Analysis of the resulting data shows a statistical significance that supports the hypothesis. The author proposes that the new methods constitute new knowledge in the 3D visualisation of multibeam sonar data of shipwrecks.

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Bulegon, Ana Marli. "Contribuições dos objetos de aprendizagem, no ensino de física, para o desenvolvimento do pensamento crítico e da aprendizagem significativa." reponame:Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFRGS, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10183/39666.

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Na sociedade contemporânea é cada vez mais importante e necessário que as pessoas tenham habilidades e desenvolvam competências para manusear os computadores e a Internet, que sejam capazes de pesquisar, questionar, que saibam realizar suas tarefas com criatividade e competência, que tenham iniciativa e sejam capazes de solucionar problemas. Essas capacidades são entendidas como habilidades de pensamento crítico que é também preconizado na Lei de Diretrizes e Bases (LDB, 1996) nº 9394/96, que aponta como uma das finalidades para o Ensino Médio, o desenvolvimento da autonomia intelectual e do pensamento crítico dos educandos. Os Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais (PCNs), para atender a essa finalidade, sugerem que no Ensino de Física sejam abordadas questões próximas do mundo vivido pelos alunos. Entretanto, em muitos casos, o ensino de Física ainda se caracteriza pela transmissão de informações por meio de aulas expositivas-dialogadas, embasadas e suportadas pelo uso de livros didáticos; pelo excesso de atenção dada a exercícios repetitivos, cuja abordagem privilegia o uso de algoritmos matemáticos em detrimento da compreensão dos conceitos relacionados aos fenômenos físicos envolvidos. O uso do computador, no ensino, tem sido apontado como uma das possibilidades para a promoção do pensamento crítico e da aprendizagem significativa e uma das estratégias de seu uso consiste em trabalhar com materiais educacionais digitais construídos como Objetos de Aprendizagem (OA). Este trabalho investigou a contribuição do uso de Objetos de Aprendizagem no desenvolvimento do Pensamento Crítico (PC) e da Aprendizagem Significativa (AS). A pesquisa realizada incluiu o projeto e desenvolvimento de um conjunto de unidades de aprendizagem na área de Termodinâmica, usando OAs e foram elaboradas de acordo com a metodologia dos Três Momentos Pedagógicos (TMP), organizadas de acordo com a teoria ou ciclo de Kolb, desenvolvidas e testadas em turmas de 2ª série do Ensino Médio na disciplina de Física. A avaliação do desenvolvimento do pensamento crítico foi realizada usando indicadores de pensamento crítico nas manifestações dos estudantes. Verificou-se que os OAs interativos e contextualizados, inseridos no modelo metodológico dos TMP e organizados de acordo com o ciclo de Kolb, trabalhados numa perspectiva investigativa, permitiram desenvolver uma aprendizagem ativa, reflexiva e participativa, não apenas para resolver problemas escolares, mas também problemas cotidianos. Esse trabalho evidenciou a contribuição de OAs na formação de uma postura autônoma e crítica de contínua busca de conhecimentos, co-responsabilizando os estudantes pelos rumos, profundidade e significado de seu aprendizado, levando-os ao desenvolvimento do pensamento crítico e da aprendizagem significativa.
In contemporary society is increasingly important and necessary that people have skills and develop them to handle computers and the Internet, they are able to search, to question, that they can do their jobs with creativity and competence, they have initiative and be able to solve problems. These capabilities are seen as critical thinking skills that is also recommended by the LDB No. 9394/96, which points to as one of the purposes for secondary education, the development of intellectual autonomy and critical thinking of learners. NCPs, to find out this goal, suggest that in the teaching of Physics questions are addressed situations of the real world lived by the students. However, in many cases, the teaching of Physics is still characterized by the transmission of information through lectures, dialogue-based, informed and supported by the use of textbooks; by excessive attention given the repetitive exercises, whose approach emphasizes the use of algorithms at the expense of mathematical understanding of concepts related to physical phenomena involved. The use of computers in teaching, has been pointed as one of the possibilities for promoting critical thinking and meaningful learning strategies and their use is to work with educational materials developed as digital learning objects (LO). This study has investigated the contribution of use of Learning Objects in the development of Critical Thinking (PC) and the Meaningful Learning (AS). The survey has included the project design and development of a set of learning units in the area of thermodynamics using Los and they have been prepared in accordance with the methodology of Three Pedagogical Moments (TPM), organized according to the theory or cycle of Kolb, implemented and tested in groups of two grades of high school in Physics. The assessment of critical thinking was done using indicators of critical thinking in student demonstrations. It was found that the LOs interactive and contextualized, embedded in the methodological model of the TPM and organized according to the cycle of Kolb worked investigative perspective, have allowed to develop active learning, reflective and participatory, not only to solve school problems, but also everyday problems. This work has highlighted the contribution of LOs in the formation of an autonomous and critical attitude of continual search for knowledge, being jointly responsible for course students, depth and meaning of their learning, leading them to develop critical thinking and meaningful learning.

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Zavalina, Viktoriia. "Identifikace objektů v obraze." Master's thesis, Vysoké učení technické v Brně. Fakulta elektrotechniky a komunikačních technologií, 2014. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-220364.

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Master´s thesis deals with methods of objects detection in the image. It contains theoretical, practical and experimental parts. Theoretical part describes image representation, the preprocessing image methods, and methods of detection and identification of objects. The practical part contains a description of the created programs and algorithms which were used in the programs. Application was created in MATLAB. The application offers intuitive graphical user interface and three different methods for the detection and identification of objects in an image. The experimental part contains a test results for an implemented program.

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Dias, Rovandro Spenser. "RADIOATIVIDADE: UM MÓDULO DIDÁTICO PARA O ENSINO MÉDIO." Universidade Franciscana, 2013. http://tede.universidadefranciscana.edu.br:8080/handle/UFN-BDTD/93.

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O presente trabalho apresenta a sugestão de um módulo didático com conceitos importantes sobre o tema Radioatividade, direcionado aos professores do Ensino Médio. O módulo didático encaixa-se nas competências exigidas pelos PCN+ como reconhecer e avaliar o desenvolvimento tecnológico contemporâneo, seu papel na vida humana, seus impactos na vida social e utilizar esses conhecimentos no exercício da cidadania. Fundamenta-se na Aprendizagem Significativa de Ausubel que se constitui num processo onde a informação nova tem ancoragem em outra já existente na estrutura cognitiva do aprendiz. O módulo didático foi projetado através do software livre eXe Learning; assim poderá ser acessado através de qualquer software de navegação e ficará disponível para o público de forma gratuita na internet. A organização do módulo didático incluiu 5 aulas de acordo com os três momentos pedagógicos de Delizoicov e Angotti, a problematização inicial, a organização do conhecimento e a aplicação do conhecimento apresentando ao professor e aluno diversos objetos de aprendizagem como artigos, links, textos, vídeos e simulações interativas; também um experimento simples, questões problematizadoras que levará a uma pesquisa dos alunos e a sugestão da socialização do conhecimento para toda a escola. Assim, o módulo didático Radioatividade, poderá ser um material potencialmente significativo para a construção do conhecimento.

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Ipar, Maria Cecilia. "Populismo: uma leitura da psicanálise na teoria política de Ernesto Laclau." Universidade de São Paulo, 2015. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8131/tde-19102015-131103/.

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A proposta geral deste trabalho é realizar uma leitura das articulações com a psicanálise que permeiam a conceitualização do populismo de Ernesto Laclau. Em particular, detém-se na análise das dimensões teóricas centrais da concepção da representação da teoria da hegemonia que nos permitem pensar a identidade política popular como uma configuração discursiva que supõe uma transformação subjetiva específica, na qual se passa da demanda social à construção de uma vontade coletiva. Neste sentido, iremos analisar as dimensões da nominação e do afeto da teoria da hegemonia à luz de certas conceptualizações freudianas e lacanianas, como o conceito de sobredeterminação, objeto de desejo, point de capiton ou significante amo e gozo.
This work aims to analyze how the conceptualization of populism of Ernesto Laclau is related to psychoanalysis. Particularly, we focus on the main theoretical dimensions of the conceptualization of representation in the theory of hegemony, which allows us to interpret the popular political identity as a discursive setting that assumes a particular subjective change, departing from social demand to the building of a new collective will. Thus we will tackle aspects of nomination and affect in the theory of hegemony in light of some Freudian and Lacanian conceptualizations, such as overdetermination, object of desire, anchoring point (point de capiton), master signifier and joy.

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Julie, Lisa. "This Family of Things: Reflecting on the significance of objects in poetry." University of the Western Cape, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/7429.

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Magister Artium - MA
The creative project is a mini-thesis. It is made up of a collection of poems, titled This Family of Things. The collection consists mainly of narrative and descriptive poems which explore the relationship between people and objects and objects and space. The poems explore the day-today experiences of a mother and her young son. The poems exhibit certain elements of the narrative poem. The poems tell a story, and there are two distinct characters and instances of dialogue. This mini-thesis also includes a reflective essay in which I discuss the functionality of objects in poetry. In the essay, I discuss the potentially of objects in creative work. I discuss to what extent objects illuminate space and how objects can potentially disrupt space. I also discuss the separation of objects and things. I discuss creative influences and the various processes involved in the formulation of the creative project.

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Soares, Luís Havelange. "Aprendizagem significativa na educação matemática: uma proposta para a aprendizagem de geometria básica." Universidade Federal da Paraíba, 2009. http://tede.biblioteca.ufpb.br:8080/handle/tede/4890.

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This research is to examine the potential for a learning object developed with computational resources and with the purpose of assisting in the teaching of basic geometry. We used as the theme for Basic Geometry by we know the problems in their education today We work with the hypothesis that the use of learning object the lessons of geometry can foster meaningful learning in students. The research had as its main source the meaningful learning theory of Ausubel, but also looking at media studies entered in the field of mathematics education, especially those geared to the use of technology in teaching of science, and literature about the teaching of geometry in Brazil. The study was implemented in two distinct classes of administrative spheres (public and private) of high school, both being located in the city of Campina Grande - PB. As a methodology, we use a pre-and post-test, with questions classified according to the modified taxonomy of Bloom, according to the dimensions of cognitive knowledge. We applied the first test before presenting the learning object for students and the second after the study undertaken by students and teachers. The results showed us that the learning object had a great contribution to the learning of students. In both classes there was quite a considerable growth of the medium, even among students who had low notes in both tests. The analysis in terms of cognitive dimensions also showed that even in the tests that were classified in more complex dimensions, there was a substantial increase in performance of students.
Esta pesquisa consistiu em analisar o potencial didático de um Objeto de Aprendizagem desenvolvido com recursos computacionais com o objetivo de auxiliar no processo de ensino de Geometria Fundamental. Utilizamos como tema a Geometria Básica por conhecermos a problemática no seu ensino atualmente. Trabalhamos com a hipótese de que a utilização de objetos de aprendizagem nas aulas de geometria poderá favorecer a aprendizagem significativa nos educandos. A pesquisa teve como principal fonte teórica a teoria da aprendizagem significativa de Ausubel, mas, também buscamos suportes em estudos inseridos no campo da Educação Matemática, principalmente aqueles voltados ao uso de tecnologias no ensino desta ciência, e Textos que tratam do ensino de Geometria no Brasil. O estudo foi aplicado em duas turmas de esferas administrativas distintas (pública e privada) do Ensino Médio, sendo ambas localizadas no município de Campina Grande PB. Como metodologia, usamos um pré e pósteste, com questões classificadas de acordo com a Taxonomia de Bloom, obedecendo às dimensões cognitivas do conhecimento. Aplicamos o primeiro teste antes da apresentação do Objeto de Aprendizagem para os alunos e o segundo após o estudo desenvolvido pelos discentes e professor. Os resultados nos mostraram que o Objeto de Aprendizagem teve uma grande contribuição para a aprendizagem dos alunos. Nas duas turmas houve um crescimento bastante considerável das médias, mesmo entre aqueles alunos que apresentaram notas baixas em ambos os testes. A análise feita em termos de dimensões cognitivas também mostrou que, mesmo nos testes que foram classificados nas dimensões mais complexas, houve um crescimento importante no desempenho dos estudantes.

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Siqueira, Fernanda Paula Cerantola. "O significado da amamentação na construção da relação mãe e filho: um estudo interacionista simbólico." Universidade de São Paulo, 2012. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/83/83131/tde-22082012-110210/.

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Com a finalidade de ampliar a compreensão da formação de vínculo entre mãe e filho e qual o papel da amamentação nesse processo, este estudo teve como objetivos: Compreender os significados atribuídos pela mulher à amamentação na construção do vínculo entre mãe e filho e compreender como os significados atribuídos pela mulher à amamentação influenciam a construção do vínculo entre mãe e filho. Utilizaram-se a Teoria Fundamentada nos Dados e o Interacionismo Simbólico como referenciais metodológicos e teóricos, respectivamente para a análise dos dados. Foram entrevistadas 22 mulheres, sem restrição de idade ou de outra variável social ou biológica, que deram luz aos seus filhos em uma maternidade do município de Marília-SP, cujo último filho, na época da coleta de dados, estivesse com idade entre dez e 24 meses. A análise dos dados mostrou que há uma complexidade na construção da relação entre mãe e filho que pode estar vinculada à experiência da mulher e significados atribuídos desde o processo de gestar e ir além da fase da amamentação, a depender dos elementos significativos que esta mulher e seu filho tecem no decorrer de sua interação. Esses elementos podem ser compreendidos por meio de quatro temas: PERCEBENDO-SE GRÁVIDA, TENDO QUE CUIDAR DA CRIANÇA, VIVENCIANDO A AMAMENTAÇÃO e CONSTRUINDO A RELAÇÃO COM O FILHO. Nesse processo, a amamentação é interpretada como um forte elemento interacional simbólico entre a mãe e o bebê, propiciando a descoberta de sentimentos mútuos, e um significado de forte elo de ligação, interpretados e atribuídos pela mãe. A sua percepção dos sentimentos de amor e carinho, gerados neste processo do cuidar da criança, sofre retroalimentação contínua e crescente, resultado da interpretação materna em perceber a retribuição do apego da criança pela mãe, pelos gestos e pela necessidade demonstrada de proximidade por ambos. Na continuidade da construção da relação, outros elementos são descobertos e atribuídos como determinantes significativos da ligação entre eles, sendo a presença materna o elemento simbólico mais forte dessa construção, que abrange o estar grávida, amamentar e continuar no cuidado ao filho.
In order to broaden the understanding of the bonding between mother and child and the role of breastfeeding in this process, this study aimed to understand the meanings attributed to breastfeeding by the women in the construction of this bonding between mother and child, and to understand how this meanings have influence in the construction of the bond between mother and child. Data Based Theory and the Symbolic Interactionism were used as theoretical and methodological references, respectively, for data analysis. Twenty two women, irrespective of age or other social/biological variable that gave birth to their infants in a maternity hospital in the city of Marília SP and whose last child were aged between ten and 24 months at the time of data collection were interviewed. Data analysis showed that there is some complexity in the construction of the mother/child relationship that can be linked to the womans experience and to meanings attributed since the generating process that can continue beyond the lactation stage, and that depend on significant elements that this woman and her child weave during their interaction. These elements can be understood through four themes: KNOWING ABOUT THE PREGNANCY, HAVING TO TAKE CARE OF THE CHILD, EXPERIENCING THE BREASTFEEDING, and CONSTRUCTING THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CHILD. During this process, breastfeeding is interpreted as a strong symbolic interactional element between mother and baby, allowing the discovery of mutual feelings, and the meaning of a strong link, interpreted and attributed by the mother. Her perception of love and affection feelings, generated during this process of taking care of the child, undergoes continual and growing feedback as a result of the maternal interpretation in noticing the retribution of the child by gestures and the need of proximity by both of them. During the continuation of this relationship, other elements are discovered and considered as significant determinants of this link; the maternal presence is the strongest symbolic element in this construction, which covers being pregnant, breastfeeding, and taking care of the child.

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Polo, Claire. "L’eau à la bouche ressources et travail argumentatifs des élèves lors de débats socio-scientifiques sur l’eau potable. : Etude comparée de 10 cafés scientifiques menés au Mexique, aux USA et en France, en 2011-2012." Thesis, Lyon 2, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014LYO20022/document.

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Cette thèse a pour objet de décrire l’argumentation des élèves dans dix « cafés scientifiques » sur l’eau potable ayant eu lieu en 2011-2012 dans quatre écoles au Mexique, aux USA et en France. Il s’agit d’environnements éducatifs semi-formels (activité organisée à l’école mais extracurriculaire). Cette démarche est détaillée dans une première partie, avec la présentation des divers ancrages théoriques qui l’ont inspirée, issus de la linguistique interactionnelle, des études de l’argumentation, et de plusieurs traditions de recherches en éducation ; puis la définition des principales questions de recherche ; et enfin une présentation détaillée du corpus d’analyse.Au niveau mésoscopique, est proposée dans la partie II une analyse de la qualité des interactions lors du travail en petits groupes d’élèves, inspirée de la typologie des types de discours de Mercer (1996). Le discours d’exploration est appréhendé à partir de 5 indicateurs adaptés à la situation pédagogique, et attesté dans les trois pays. Ses frontières avec le discours d’accumulation et le discours de dispute sont précisées. Enfin, l’ensemble de la typologie est questionnée et affinée, à l’aune de cas problématiques interrogeant les unités d’analyse pertinentes et l’alternance entre les différents types de discours. La partie III analyse plutôt le travail de construction des arguments par les élèves, à l’échelle microscopique, à partir de trois grands types de ressources : savoirs, principes généraux incluant lois, normes et valeurs, et émotions. Un relevé exhaustif des éléments de savoir-croyance et des principes généraux utilisés par les élèves est réalisé. Est ensuite proposé un modèle du recours à ces principes dans l’interaction argumentative, inspiré de celui de la structure conversationnelle de l’argumentation de Muntigl et Turnbull (1998). Enfin, trois études de cas donnent à voir le fonctionnement discursif de la mobilisation des émotions à des fins argumentatives, à partir d’outils proposés par Plantin (2011). Dans la partie IV, à l’échelle macroscopique, les dix débats réalisés sur les différents terrains sont comparés. Le cadrage du débat est caractérisé sur le plan de l’orientation thématique vers des domaines de savoir et celui de la préférence pour certains modèles cognitifs de l’eau. Est également étudiée la façon dont les élèves construisent l’objet de discours « eau » et le présentent préférentiellement sous certains éclairages (Grize, 1990, 1996), phénomène analysé à l’aide d’outils textométriques. Les résultats des votes d’opinion individuels et par groupe réalisés tout au long des débats sont enfin présentés. L’ensemble de ces éléments (11-14) convergent pour décrire le travail discursif des élèves comme l’activation et le renforcement de scenarios d’affrontement entre argumentaires typiques. Ainsi, chaque sous-corpus national se caractérise par un scenario argumentatif propre, qui domine les débats, même si d’autres scenarios, minoritaires, cohabitent avec lui.Finalement, ce travail offre un modèle cohérent de l’argumentation des élèves, qui permet de caractériser à différents niveaux ces scenarios argumentatifs
This thesis aims at describing students’ argumentation in ten « scientific cafés » about drinking water organized in 2011-2012 in Mexico, the USA and France. These events can be characterized as a semi-formal educational context (at school but an extra-curricular activity). Part I begins with a literature review of theoretical backgrounds in interactional linguistics, argumentation studies, and education research. The main research questions and the empirical data used in the study are then presented.Part II reports an analysis of the quality of students’ interactions at the mesoscopic level, while they are working in small groups, based on Mercer’s talk typology (1996). Exploratory talk is evidenced in each of the three countries, and is analyzed with 5 indicators taking into account the specificities of the pedagogical situation. The boundaries between exploratory talk, cumulative talk and disputational talk are discussed. The whole typology is refined, with the presentation of problematic atypical cases, raising the issues of the relevant unit of analysis and the alternation between different types of talk. Part III consists of an analysis of students’ work of building up their arguments at the microscopic level. To do so, they use 3 types of resources: knowledge, general principles (including laws, norms and values), and emotions. An inventory of the knowledge-belief elements and general principles used by the students is presented. An interactional model of the argumentative use of these general principles is then proposed, based on Muntigl and Turnbull’s model of the conversational structure of argumentation (1998). Finally, three case studies describe the role of emotions in students’ argumentation, using Plantin’s conceptual and methodological tools (2011).In the last chapter, Part IV, the ten debates are analyzed and compared at the macroscopic level. They are characterized by their tendency for orientation of the discourse towards disciplinary knowledge fields and their preference for certain cognitive models of water over others. There is also an analysis of how the students build « water » as a discourse object (“objet de discours”), and present it in specific lights (“éclairage”) (Grize, 1990, 1996). This analysis depends notably on the use of textometric tools. Results of individual and group opinion votes during the cafés are also presented. These three sets of results converge to give a global picture of students’ discursive work as the activation and strengthening of typical scenarios of opposing arguments. Each national sub-corpus has a specific, preferred argumentative scenario, which dominates the debates, even though there are alternative minority scenarios coexisting with the dominant scheme.In summary, this thesis offers a coherent model of students’ argumentation, and permits the characterization of such argumentative scenarios at different levels

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12

Weedon, Graham Peter. "Palaeoclimatic significance of open-marine cyclic sequences." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1987. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:aa009e6b-d429-4340-b3c5-30f5227f0148.

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The offshore facies of the basal Lias of S.Britain was studied as a typical example of an open-marine cyclic sequence. The sedimentology, geochemistry and power-spectral analysis were investigated in order to understand the cause of the interbedded rock types. Three sediment types were deposited on the sea-floor: light marl, dark marl and laminated carbonate-rich shale. Calcite microspar, the dominant carbonate component, appears to have been formed from the neomorphic aggradation of coccoliths supplied in zooplankton faecal pellets. During sulphate reduction, the most carbonate-rich horizons in the light marl and laminated shale beds were cemented by carbonate, producing early diagenetic limestone and laminated limestone beds and nodules. Walsh power-spectral analysis of several measured sections in the basal Lias indicate that two regular sedimentary cycles, with periods of tens of thousands of years, are present. The regularity, stability and periods of the cycles invokes the Milankovitch Theory of orbital forcing of sedimentation; the cycles thus probably represent periods of 41,000 and 21,000 years. The sedimentation appears to have been linked to climatic variation by the levels of runoff and the formation and destruction of wedges of brackish water. During dry periods relatively little runoff and low clay input allowed turbulent, oxygenated bottom-waters and the deposition of burrowed, organic-poor marl. During wet periods, brackish wedges caused widespread density stratification, bottom-water anoxia and high clay inputs that resulted in laminated shale beds. Walsh power spectra were generated for one Silurian, five Upper Lower Jurassic, one Kimmeridgian and one Oligocene formation. Unexpectedly the Early Jurassic appears to have been dominated by the Milankovitch cycles related to obliquity and precession rather than eccentricity. Of the thirteen spectra produced, including five from the basal Lias, ten (or about 80%) contain evidence for regular sedimentary cycles consistent with orbital forcing of sedimentation. Therefore the Milankovitch Theory should be considered whilst investigating open-marine 'cyclic' sequences.

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13

Hobson, Hannah. "Imitation : evaluating neurophysiological signatures and clinical significance." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:f2b607c0-3639-4593-bc36-0ac74a27d115.

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Imitation and its neural basis has been the subject of great interest, particularly for researchers interested in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Research has reported imitation deficits in ASD, which have been theoretically linked to the condition's sociocommunicative difficulties. Abnormalities in the mirror neuron system (MNS), as measured using EEG techniques, have also been reported in autism, and linked to imitation skills. In this thesis, I examine questions both around behavioural imitation deficits, and the validity of EEG techniques used to investigate the MNS. I consider whether children with other communication disorders show similar imitation deficits to children with autism, examining verbal and motor imitation. I report data from non-autistic children with and without language problems, and children with autism and normal language (ANL) and children with autism and language-impairment (ALI). In contrast to previous studies, I find similar verbal imitation performance in children with ALI and non-autistic language impaired children, but limited motor imitation impairments in the disorder groups. I also examine the evidence from mu suppression studies for the role of the MNS in language, social processes and the development of ASD. I present findings from a preregistered study that show that methodological factors such as baseline condition have important effects on mu suppression studies' results, and question its validity as an MNS measure. I also examine how imitation skills, self-reported communication abilities and autistic traits relate to individual differences in mu suppression. I find limited support for the theory that mu suppression correlated with behaviours and traits proposed to be underpinned by the MNS. I discuss the implications of these two projects for future research and clinical interventions for children with communication disorders.

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Branquinho, João Miguel Biscaia Valadas. "Direct reference, cognitive significance and Fregean sense." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1992. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:9d87a630-2d56-4e0a-a437-ab8f3ad82ad8.

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This essay deals with certain problems in the theory of singular reference. The following question is taken as central: What role is to be assigned to nonempty and syntactically simple singular terms in fixing the semantic contents of utterances of declarative sentences in which they may occur? I focus on those aspects of the current dispute between Millian and neo-Fregean approaches to singular reference which are related to issues about the cognitive significance of language use; the following two issues are singled out as crucial: the issue about (alleged) potential differences in informativeness between sentences constructed out of co-referential singular terms; and the issue about (alleged) failures of substitutivity salva veritate of co-referential singular terms in propositional-attitude contexts. The general direction of my arguments is as follows. On the one hand, I argue that "notational variance" claims recently advanced on both sides of the dispute should be deemed unsound; and hence that one is really confronted with separate accounts of singular content. On the other, I argue that Milllanism does not provide us with a satisfactory solution to the problems about cognitive significance; and hence that a framework of singular senses is Indispensable to deal with such problems in an adequate way. I also discuss the problem of Cognitive Dynamics, i.e. the issue of attitude-retention and persistence of mental content, in connection with the individuation of indexical thought. I argue that the standard Intuitive Criterion of Difference for thoughts might be reasonably extended to the diachronic case, allowing thus the possibility of discriminating between thoughts entertained by a thinker at different times.

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15

Bersani, Monica. "Il vaso antropomorfo nel Neolitico: origine, funzione e significato." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Trento, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11572/243641.

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This research deals with the phenomenon of anthropomorphic vessels between the 7th and the beginning of the 5th millennium BC in a vast area that includes the Italian peninsula with Sicily, Central Europe, the Balkans and the Near East. The survey concerned 927 specimens from 229 sites. The formal analysis of the artifacts belonging to the cultures attested between Mesopotamia and the Rhine river allowed to establish the times and vectors of diffusion of this tradition before its arrival in Italy, as well as to hypothesize the connections that have transmitted the tradition of the anthropomorphic vessel to the Neolithic farming communities in the south-east of southern Italy. The study of Italian finds has led to the recognition of four main areas affected by the phenomenon and has allowed us to define their styles. An important part of the study was the examination of the archaeological contexts of the finds, in order to understand the possible spheres of use. In particular, the research allowed us to highlight the frequent and widespread presence of the anthropomorphic vessel in waste pits together with a series of symbolic objects: a constant presence and therefore not random, which is a hint of deliberate deposition of selected materials. This circumstance suggests that the anthropomorphic vessel belongs to a set of objects of ritual use and that the Neolithic refuse pit, contrary to what is generally believed, should be interpreted also as places of performative activity.

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Maulano, Florêncio Extermo. "Etnoinformática na educação : integração do objeto de aprendizagem N'SAMAT na 2a classe do ensino básico para aprendizagem de aritmética em Moçambique." reponame:Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFRGS, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10183/182558.

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Alguns estudos apontam como fatores do atual estágio do ensino em Moçambique o elevado rácio aluno/professor, a fraca preparação do professor, as precárias condições de trabalho e o desajustamento da estrutura e dos conteúdos do currículo. Contudo, esses fatores não estão isolados, uma vez que as metodologias aplicadas pelos professores em sala de aula também têm sido uma das causas do fraco aproveitamento dos alunos no ensino básico em Moçambique, de acordo com a sondagem feita em 2015 pelo Instituto Nacional de Desenvolvimento da Educação (INDE). Para legitimar esse fato, autores como Ausubel (1980, 2003), Moreira (2006) e Sousa (2000) propõem a diversificação de estratégias, bem como a participação ativa e responsável do aluno na sua aprendizagem. Adotando, desse modo, a aprendizagem por descoberta descrita por Sousa (2000) como aquela em que “o conteúdo principal não é dado, mas deve ser “descoberto” pelo aluno antes que possa ser incorporado significativamente na sua estrutura cognitiva”. Nas escolas moçambicanas, tais procedimentos não são visíveis, já que os alunos são sujeitados a uma rotina incômoda, a qual acaba por gerar consequente falta de motivação e conteúdos-chave como escrita e cálculo em sala de aula. Diante de tais fatos, levantou-se a seguinte questão: Que contribuição pode trazer o uso do objeto de aprendizagem N'SAMAT para auxiliar na melhoria do aproveitamento dos alunos da 2a classe do ensino básico na aprendizagem de Aritmética em Moçambique? Como uma das alternativas para tais situações, as teses propõem o uso de objeto de aprendizagem N'SAMAT, em aula, para auxiliar na melhoria do aproveitamento dos alunos da 2a classe do ensino básico na aprendizagem de Aritmética em Moçambique. Em conjunto, propõem-se a adoção de novos recursos, uma vez que por si só as tecnologias não resolvem o respectivo problema. Segundo Moreira (2006) substituir o quadro de giz por quadros coloridos e animadas exposições em PowerPoint dá no mesmo, portanto o que realmente importa é a diversificação das estratégias pedagógicas. Para concretização da tese, foi adotado um plano quase-experimental, associado a uma pesquisa quali-quantitativa, em que foi feito um estudo inicial junto aos gestores e professores e a posteriori uma avaliação do experimento com os alunos, na qual foram submetidos a um pré-teste e a um pós-teste. O pré-teste consistiu na resolução de um exame de matemática no primeiro momento, já no segundo momento os alunos tiveram uma intervenção com auxílio do objeto de aprendizagem N´SAMAT e culminou com a resolução do pós-teste. Dos resultados obtidos conclui-se que a metodologia aplicada contribuiu de forma significativa para o aproveitamento dos alunos na disciplina de matemática, especificamente, em conteúdos ligados à aritmética.
Some studies point to factors such as the current stage of education in Mozambique, the high pupil / teacher ratio, poor teacher preparation, precarious working conditions and maladjustment of the curriculum structure and contents. But these factors are not isolated, since the methodologies applied by teachers in the classroom have also been one of the causes of low achievement of students in basic education in Mozambique, according to the survey conducted in 2015 by the National Institute for Development Education. To legitimize this fact, authors such as Ausubel (1980, 2003), Moreira (2006) and Sousa (2000) propose the diversification of strategies and the active and responsible participation of students in their learning, adopting learning by discovery described by Sousa as one in which "the main content is not given, but must be" discovered "by the student before it can be incorporated significantly into his cognitive structure." In Mozambican schools, such procedures are not visible, subjecting the student to a daily routine and consequent lack of motivation and key content such as writing and calculating in the classroom. Faced with the facts, the following question was raised: What contribution can the use of the N'SAMAT learning object bring to the achievement of 2nd grade students in Arithmetic learning in Mozambique? As an alternative to such a situation, theses propose the use of the N'SAMAT learning object in class to improve the use of 2nd grade students in Arithmetic learning in Mozambique. Moreira (2006) says that replacing the chalkboard with colorful pictures and animated PowerPoint presentations gives the same. What is important is the diversification of pedagogical strategies. To accomplish this, a quasi-experimental plan was adopted, associated with a quantitative research, where an initial study was carried out among the managers and teachers and the subsequent evaluation of the experiment with the students, in which they were submitted to a pre- test and post-test. The pre-test consisted in the resolution of a math test in the first moment, in the second moment the students had an intervention with the aid of the object of learning NSAMAT and culminated with the resolution of the post-test. From the results obtained, it is concluded that the applied methodology contributes significantly to the students' achievement in mathematics, specifically in content related to arithmetic.

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17

Hedman, Angela M. "What is the significance of functional found object art? : found object purses inspired by 1970's and 1980's design." Virtual Press, 2006. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1345341.

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The central focus for this creative project was to explore the possibilities of found object and recycled art with emphasis on function and design. After researching the art and the artists who made/make it, a collection of functional art was created. The project resulted in a body of work that consisted of thirteen bags and purses that were made from gift cards and gameboards. The design of 1970's and 1980's art was used as inspiration. Traditional metalsmithing techniques were required for the completion of each work. Copper wire was used as both a structural and ornamental element. The awareness of recycled art will be heightened. Found object and recycled art is significant, purposeful, and important in both the history and future of art.
Department of Art

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18

Edge, D. K. "Tangible user interfaces for peripheral interaction : episodic engagement with objects of physical, digital & social significance." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.598755.

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This dissertation describes how TUIs (Tangible User Interfaces) can support a “peripheral” style of interaction, in which users engage in short, dispersed episodes of low-attention interaction with digitally-augmented physical tokens. The application domain in which I develop this concept is the office context, where physical tokens can represent items of common interest to members of a team whose work is mutually interrelated, but predominantly performed independently by individuals at their desks. An “analytic design process” is introduced as a way of developing TUI designs appropriate for their intended contexts of use. This process is then used to present the design of a bimanual desktop TUI that complements the existing workstation, and encourages peripheral interaction in parallel with workstation-intensive tasks. Implementation of a prototype TUI is then described, comprising “task” tokens for work-time management, “document” tokens for face-to-face sharing of collaborative documents, and “contact” tokens for awareness of other team members’ status and workload. Finally, evaluation of this TUI is presented via description of its extended deployment in a real office context. The main empirically-grounded results of this work are a categorisation of the different ways in which users can interact with physical tokens, and an identification of the qualities of peripheral interaction that differentiate it from other interaction styles. The foremost benefits of peripheral interaction were found to arise from the freedom with which tokens can be appropriated to create meaningful information structures of both cognitive and social significance, in the physical desktop environment and beyond.

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19

Schaper, Steffen. "On the significance of neutral spaces in adaptive evolution." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2012. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:505da0f0-d97b-44c3-a1e2-e84a0753c7e6.

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Evolutionary dynamics arise from the interplay of mutation and selection. Fundamentally, these two processes operate at different levels: Mutations modify genetic information (the genotype), which is passed from parent to offspring. Selection is triggered by variation in reproductive success, which depends on the physical properties (the phenotype) of an organism and its environment. Thus the genotype-phenotype map determines if and how mutations can lead to selection. The aim of this dissertation is to incorporate this map explicitly into a theoretical description of evolutionary dynamics. The first part of the analysis presented here is concerned with the static properties of simple models of these maps, which are studied using exhaustive enumeration. The two most important observations are phenotypic bias – some phenotypes are realized by many more genotypes than most other phenotypes – and the existence of neutral spaces – genotypes with the same phenotype can often be reached from each other by single mutational steps. The remainder of the dissertation provides a theoretical description of evolutionary dynamics on and across neutral spaces. Two different mean-field approximations lead to simple analytic results for the first discovery of alternative phenotypes, highlighting the importance of phenotypic bias: Rare phenotypes are hard to find by evolutionary search. These results are used to discuss the relationship of robustness, the ability to withstand mutational change, and evolvability, the ability to create variation through mutation. Several types of fluctuations beyond the mean-field limit are studied, both theoretically and in simulations. The discrete structure of genotype spaces can lead to strong correlations in the spectra of phenotypes produced, increasing the probability that a particular phenotype is fixed in the population quickly after its discovery. Structural correlations between genotypes can increase the effect of phenotypic bias, while the qualitative features of the mean-field description remain valid. All these results highlight that neutral spaces impact evolutionary dynamics in many non-trivial ways, in particular by favouring phenotypes of high accessibly, but comparably low fitness over those phenotypes that are highly fit, but very hard to discover.

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Silva, Alexandre da. "Objetos de aprendizagem : uma alternativa para o ensino de conceitos de eletrostática no ensino médio." Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, 2014. http://ri.ufmt.br/handle/1/383.

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Neste trabalho, são apresentados os resultados de um estudo feito junto a estudantes do ensino médio de uma escola pública localizada na cidade de Cuiabá-MT. O trabalho foi realizado no ano de 2012 durante o período do terceiro bimestre letivo da escola, sendo utilizado um material instrucional, composto por um organizador e um objeto de aprendizagem, sendo que o organizador fez a parte introdutória do assunto e o objeto trabalhou as partes específicas. O assunto escolhido foi à eletrostática, o organizador elaborado trata-se de uma apresentação de slides com características de movimento em cada quadro da animação. Com o uso do organizador foram apresentados diversos conceitos físicos relacionados a eletrostática. Posteriormente, foi utilizado um objeto de aprendizagem desenvolvido em flash, usado nas aulas posteriores. As simulações foram organizadas em três arquivos e desenvolvidas de tal maneira a obedecer a uma organização conceitual previamente estabelecida, favorecendo os processos de diferenciação progressiva e reconciliação integradora fundamentada pela teoria de aprendizagem de Ausubel. Ao todo, foram sete aulas, sendo que a primeira e a última foram utilizadas para aplicação dos testes, para posterior comparação dos resultados. Os resultados foram usados para verificar em quais dos assuntos trabalhados dentro do conteúdo da eletrostática, o objeto de aprendizagem (Simulação) se mostrou eficiente e em quais seria necessário um outro material complementar. O material utilizado foi elaborado como material de apoio para ser utilizado em meio as aulas expositivas, ou em slides, mas também em conjunto com outros tipos de materiais instrucionais, como experimentos, maquetes e ainda outras simulações com o objetivo de promover a aprendizagem e despertar o interesse dos alunos.
In this paper are presented the results of a research done with the high school students of a public school located in the Cuiabá - MT City. The research was conducted in 2012 during the third quarter of the school that an instructional material, consisting of an organizer and a learning object, where the organizer did the introduction about the subject and the object showed about specific parts used. The subject chosen was to electrostatic, the organizer developed it is a slideshow with motion characteristics in each frame of the animation. With the use of the organizer, several physical concepts related to electrostatic were presented. Subsequently, a learning object developed in flash, used in subsequent classes was used. The simulations were organized into three files and developed in such a way as to comply with a previously established conceptual organization, favoring the process of progressive differentiation and integrator reconciliation that is based by the learning theory of Ausubel. Altogether, there were seven classes, with the first and last were used for the tests, for later comparison of results. The results were used to verify which of the subjects shown within the content of electrostatics, the learning object (Simulation) was efficient and in which subjects will be needed another complementary material. The material used was prepared as material support for to be used in lectures, or slides, but also in conjunction with other types of instructional materials such as experiments, mockups and others simulations with the goal of promoting learning and awakening student interest.

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Stara, Alexandra. "Lenoir, Quatremère and the hermeneutic significance of the Musée des Monuments français." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2000. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ad27bf29-8c6f-4926-949e-2395c9b7099b.

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This thesis proposes an interpretation of the Musée des Monuments français in Paris (1795-1816) in conjunction with Quatremère de Quincy's contemporary writings on the museum in general. The aim of this is twofold: Firstly, to identify and explore the significance of the Musée as an important instance in the history of the modern museum institution; and, secondly, to offer new insight into Quatremère's celebrated critique against the institution in general, and the Musée des Monuments in particular. Through an examination of the Musée's history and its intellectual context, alongside a detailed description of its layout/ its collections and their arrangement, informed by contemporary reports and criticism, as well as the lengthy writings of its creator and curator Alexandre Lenoir, the project's key features are identified and analysed. Subsequently, the main aim of the Musée is seen as a quest for identity and order in history, through the medium of art. Furthermore, the Musée is identified as ultimately transcending its historicist basis, through a poetic engagement with its various fragments - both literal and metaphorical. At the same time, a close reading of Quatremère's texts relating to the museum reveals that, across considerable ambiguity, the concerns which led him to address the institution in the first place also centred around the problem of history and its representation in art. Through an examination of numerous points of rapprochement, the conflict between Quatremère and the Musée des Monuments is revealed as largely circumstantial, while a final difference emerges through this reconciliation, pertaining to the Musée's ultimately poetic character.

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Oesch, Nathaniel Tillman. "The adaptive significance of human language : function, form and social evolution." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:134cde61-703b-4ff4-8ba0-a921fa287775.

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Language is arguably one of the most salient features that distinguish humans from other animal species. However, despite the existence of a large body of relevant theoretical and empirical research, there is currently no consensus as to why language emerged exclusively in the human species or how it evolved its unique communicative structure. In this thesis, I therefore take a multi-pronged approach to analysing and testing several different hypotheses for the biological function and evolution of language. In Chapter I, I review the evidence and theoretical arguments for each of these proposals and provide, in place, a synthetic perspective which integrates or eliminates each of these ostensibly competing hypotheses for the biological function of language. In Chapter II, I employ the first experimental test of the interdependence hypothesis: the unique proposal offered to explain the emergence and potential coevolution of language and cooperation in the human species. In pursuit of this experiment, I employed a cooperative social foraging task using small and large groups to determine what factors enable individuals to make sense of information from others and converge upon a group consensus. In Chapter III, I take an experimental approach to determine whether aspects of human language can be characterised in terms of honest signalling theory. In this respect, I test several different proposals predicted by the sexual selection and deception hypotheses for human language function. In Chapter IV, I divert attention away from biological function to focus more closely on language structure. More specifically, I take an experimental approach to the problem of how and indeed whether recursive syntax evolved to be a consistent feature of human language. In pursuit of this experiment, I utilized the Imposing Memory Task (IMT) and a recursive syntax measure, to determine relative performance on each of these cognitive tasks, thereby testing whether recursive syntax may have evolved in tandem with higher-order intentionality (also known as embedded mindreading). Finally, in Chapter V, I discuss the results and implications of these experiments, and possible suggestions for future studies.

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Wang, Anli. "Functional significance of human sensory ERPs : insights from modulation by preceding events." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2010. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:2dcd4959-8638-4ee1-b591-3eb28bdf3a1d.

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The electroencephalogram (EEG) reflects summated, slow post-synaptic potentials of cortical neurons. Sensory, motor or cognitive events (such as a fast-rising sensory stimulus, a brisk self-paced movement or a stimulus-triggered cognitive task) can elicit transient changes in the ongoing human EEG, called event-related potentials (ERPs). ERPs are widely used in clinical practice, and believed to reflect the activity of the sensory system activated by the stimulus (for example, laser-evoked potentials are used to substantiate the neuropathic nature of clinical pain conditions). When ERPs are elicited by pairs or trains of stimuli delivered at short inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs), the magnitude of the ERP elicited by the repeated stimuli is markedly reduced, a phenomenon known as response decrement. While the interval between two consecutive stimuli becomes longer, the reduced response is recovered. Thus, this phenomenon has been traditionally interpreted in terms of neural refractoriness of generators of ERPs ("neural refractoriness hypothesis"). This thesis, however, challenges this neural refractoriness hypothesis by describing the results of manipulating the preceding events of the eliciting stimulus. The first study examined the effect of variable and short ISIs on sensory ERPs, delivering trains of auditory and electrical stimuli with random ISIs ranging from 100 to 1000ms. In the second study, pairs of laser stimuli were presented in two comparable conditions. In the constant condition, the ISI was identical across trials in each block, while in the variable condition, the ISI was variable across trials. By directly comparing ERPs elicited by laser stimulation, this study aimed to explore whether lack of saliency in the eliciting stimulus could explain the response decrement during stimulus repetition. Finally, the third study tested the hypothesis that the reduced eliciting ERPs would recover if saliency were introduced by changing the modality of the preceding event. Thus, trains of three stimuli (S1-S2-S3) with 1s ISI were presented; S2 was either same or different in modality as S1 and S3 in each block. Results from these three experiments demonstrate that this "refractoriness hypothesis" does not hold, and suggest that the magnitude of ERPs is only partly related to the magnitude of the incoming sensory input, and instead largely reflects neural activities triggered by salient events in the sensory environment. These results are important for the correct interpretation of ERPs in both physiological and clinical studies.

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Beltran, Juan David. "Ecological and evolutionary significance of crassulacean acid metabolism in the montane genus Puya (Bromeliaceae)." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2017. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:fe892c6e-df4e-4900-9a11-6d5b7ca73f22.

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Little is known about the evolution and ecology of crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) in the genus Puya Molina. CAM is a photosynthetic pathway typified by nocturnal CO2 fixation and is regarded as a water-saving mechanism. Puya is one of the largest genera in the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae), with 226 species distributed across the Andes to Costa Rica and the Guiana Shield, and from sea level to 5000 m. About 21% of Puya species are CAM and at least 10 of these CAM species occur above 3000 m. The main aim of this thesis was to uncover new evidence to understand the ecophysiology and evolution of CAM in the montane genus Puya. The prevalence of CAM and C₃ species in Puya was estimated from carbon isotope values of 161 species. The climatic niche of constitutive CAM species and C₃ species of Puya was modelled using georeferenced herbarium records and climatic variables to evaluate the differences between their niches. The evolution of CAM in Puya was investigated by reconstructing the ancestral photosynthetic pathway on an AFLP phylogeny and by studying positive selection in the genes encoding the key enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC). The coldresistance and the thermal lability of PEPC was investigated for high- and low- elevation CAM species of Puya to explore the potential molecular adaptations of CAM plants in high-elevation environments. The present study concludes that the common ancestor of Puya was a cold-resistant plant. This is suggested to explain the prevalence of Puya at highelevations. The evolution of CAM was correlated with changes in the climatic niche, and occurred multiple times in Puya. These multiple origins were not independent because the common ancestor of Puya was likely to be a weak CAM plant (based on a diagnostic Arg679 residue in the PEPC sequence). It is likely that populations of P. chilensis gained CAM by introgression with P. alpestris ssp. zoellneri. Weak CAM photosynthesis and coldxv resistance allowed Puya to colonise the Andes from the south to the north; and, in the process, constitutive CAM and C₃ evolved. The later-evolving species in the genus are suggested to have lost their capacity for CAM as they radiated into more mesic habitats during their colonisation of the northern Andes.

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Jacomino, Faustine. "Le contrôle objectif de l'équilibre contractuel. Entre droit commun des contrats et droit des pratiques restrictives de concurrence." Thesis, Université Côte d'Azur (ComUE), 2018. http://www.theses.fr/2018AZUR0017/document.

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Le contrôle de l’équilibre contractuel constitue l’un des marqueurs du droit des contrats contemporain. Plusieurs fondements président à l’instauration d’un tel contrôle. Certains auteurs évoquent la morale, d’autres la justice contractuelle et d’autres enfin son utilité économique. Appliqués aux déséquilibres entre professionnels, les outils mis en œuvre pour assurer ce contrôle trahissent l’existence d’un contrôle objectif de l’équilibre attendu du contrat. L’équilibre subjectif voulu par les parties n’est pas écarté, mais il se trouve concurrencé par la détermination d’une forme d’équilibre objectif motivé tant par la volonté de protéger la partie faible que par celle de promouvoir une certaine vision de l’économie, et des échanges commerciaux. Le droit des pratiques restrictives se présente à cet égard comme une discipline intégratrice permettant d’allier protection de la partie faible et protection du marché. L’influence que cette discipline exerce sur le droit commun des contrats, et la « civilisation », à l’inverse, du droit de la concurrence sous l’influence du droit commun, permettent d’éclairer les rouages de ce contrôle objectif de l’équilibre contractuel. Cette étude propose de décrire l’objectivation des critères d’identification du déséquilibre contractuel et celle des remèdes qui lui sont réservés. Pour ce faire, le droit commun des contrats et celui des pratiques restrictives de concurrence seront mis en miroir afin d’éclairer les implications de ce contrôle sur l’une et l’autre des matières. Plus exactement, cette thèse propose de déjouer les phénomènes de superposition et de concurrence des dispositifs de contrôle objectif de l’équilibre contractuel existant dans ces deux disciplines par une identification précise de leurs champs d’applications et de leurs objectifs respectifs. Elle tend enfin à décrire les fonctions de ce contrôle objectif tant à l’égard des parties qu’à celui du marché, en insistant sur la nécessité d’envisager conjointement les dimensions micro et macro-économiques des contrats étudiés
Control of contractual balance is one of the markers of contemporary contract law. Such control is grounded in several basic concepts: some authors refer to morality, while others invoke contractual justice or its economic relevance. Applied to imbalance between professionals, the tools implemented to ensure this control reveal the existence of objective control of the contracts’ expected balance. Although the subjective balance sought by the parties is not set aside, it is overshadowed by the determination of a kind of objective balance motivated by a will both to protect the weaker party and to promote a certain vision of the economy, and commercial exchanges. In this respect, restrictive practices law is an integrative discipline in which it is possible to combine protection of the weaker party with protection of the market. The influence of this discipline on common contract law and, conversely, the “civilization” of competition law under the influence of common law help better understand the mechanism of such objective control of contractual balance. This research aims to describe the objectification of identification criteria for contractual imbalance and the ways of remedying it. To this end, common contract law and law governing restrictive competition practices will be compared to shed light on such control in both these areas. More specifically, this thesis proposes to thwart phenomena of superimposition of and competition between existing systems for the objective control of contractual balance in both these disciplines through precise identification of their fields of application and their respective purposes. It also aspires to describe the functions of such objective control for both the parties and the market by emphasizing the need to examine these contracts by taking into consideration together both their micro and macroeconomic dimensions

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Martins, Vera Lúcia de Oliveira Ferreira. "Atribuindo significado ao seno e cosseno utilizando o software Cabri-Géomètre." Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, 2003. https://tede2.pucsp.br/handle/handle/11234.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:58:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 vera martins.pdf: 540342 bytes, checksum: cce5bbd0100c27ec63e22cb37816c3f8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003-05-22
The objective of this work is to introduce the concepts of sine and cosine in a coordinated form, starting from right-angled triangles, passing through the trigonometric cycle and ending with the graphs of the corresponding functions, aiming to provide conditions which would enable students to attribute meaning to these concepts. To this end, a teaching sequence comprised of seven activities was devised as a means to investigate whether students of the 2nd year of Ensino Médio (High School), who had already studied trigonometry of the right-angled triangles and the trigonometric cycle, would use this knowledge, during the teaching sequence and with the help of the software Cabri-Géomètre, in the construction of graphs of the sine and cosine functions. The design and analysis of the teaching sequence is based on elements of the tool-object dialectic and the notion of the interaction between frameworks of Régine Douady. The activities were administered to a group of 16 students from a state school in the centre of the city of São Paulo during the year of 2002. In the problem-solving processes developed to solve the proposed questions and through the results obtained, the software Cabri-Géomètre demonstrated its efficiency, helping the students to associate the concepts already studied with respect to the right-angled triangle and the trigonometric cycle with the sine and cosine functions. The results also indicated that the majority of students perceived that the sine and cosine studied in the case of right-angled triangle do not differ from those studied in relation to the trigonometric cycle and, moreover, that the sine-curve and cosine-curve provide accurate portrayals of these concepts
O objetivo deste trabalho é introduzir o conceito de seno e cosseno de forma coordenada, partindo do triângulo retângulo, passando pelo ciclo trigonométrico e finalizando com os gráficos das funções correspondentes, tentando propiciar aos alunos, condições para atribuir significado a tais conceitos. Para isto foi elaborada uma seqüência didática composta de sete atividades, com intuito de investigar se alunos do 2° ano do ensino médio, que já trabalharam com trigonometria no triângulo retângulo e no ciclo trigonométrico, possam, por meio dela e com auxílio do software Cabri-Géomètre, utilizar estes conhecimentos, na construção dos gráficos das funções seno e cosseno. A elaboração e análise da seqüência de ensino, apoiam-se em elementos da dialética ferramenta-objeto e na noção de interação entre domínios, de Régine Douady. A aplicação das atividades ocorreu no ano de 2002 em uma escola da rede estadual de ensino, da região central da cidade de São Paulo. O grupo participante era composto por 16 alunos. No decorrer da resolução das questões propostas e pelos resultados obtidos verificou-se que, o software Cabri-Géomètre se mostrou bastante eficaz, auxiliando os alunos a associar os conceitos já estudados no triângulo retângulo e no ciclo trigonométrico, com as funções seno e cosseno. Os resultados obtidos também apontam que, a maioria dos alunos percebeu que o seno e o cosseno estudados no triângulo retângulo não diferem daqueles estudados no ciclo trigonométrico, e mais, que a senóide e a cossenóide retratam fielmente estes conceitos

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Phillips, Timothy Samuel John. "Health and sociability : the cultural significance of the resort in nineteenth-century Russia." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2005. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:9a7e75e8-c234-415c-a74b-e63b780a1a1b.

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This thesis considers the subject of resorts in nineteenth-century Russia, focussing, in particular, on the three resorts of Lipetsk, Kavkazskie Mineral'nye Vody and Yalta. It considers their historical development and the role that they played in Russian culture as a whole. It shows how resorts were, at once, important phenomena in themselves and also provoked contemporaries to contemplate broader social, political and philosophical issues. It considers how the image of the resort was constructed and disseminated in contemporary texts, including guidebooks, travelogues, newspaper articles, novels and poems. It examines how the state maintained an interest in the empire's resorts from an early date, and how, for the population as a whole, resorts were an important barometer of national success and failure. It explores, in detail, resorts' role as centres for medical treatment and palliative care, as well as their role as leisure towns, and shows how these two functions interacted and conflicted. It scrutinizes the various forms that resort leisure took in the nineteenth century, trying to understand how moral pressures and recreational desires interrelated. The thesis also investigates, in detail, the social and class background of visitors to Russian resorts. It shows how resorts' clientele changed over time, and particularly in the period after the Great Reforms, and suggests that, by the end of the nineteenth century, many visitors can be described as middle-class. Throughout, this thesis insists on a European context for Russian resorts, showing how, not only in their genesis, but also in their continuing development and in the meanings that were attributed to them, Russian resorts had much in common with their European counterparts.

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Perry, Guy J. M. "The career and significance of John of Brienne, king of Jerusalem, emperor of Constantinople." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:6efad77d-921d-499a-8fa6-eccabcb0c608.

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This thesis is a biographical study of John of Brienne, king of Jerusalem and later Latin emperor of Constantinople (d. 1237). John’s extraordinary career is touched on by many commentators concerned with the crusades and the Latin East in the early thirteenth century, but it has not been properly re-assessed for more than seventy years. A comprehensive re-examination opens up new angles on the political structures and social landscapes that produced it. John’s career illustrates some residual strengths of the Jerusalemite monarchy just before the start of the Hohenstaufen epoch. It also sheds light on a period in the history of the Latin empire all too easily regarded as largely a void. But within the biographical context, the thesis’s focus is more on the complex interplay between the Latin West and East in the early thirteenth century. A principal theme in this regard is the mobility, in geographical and politico-hierarchical terms, of a specific echelon of the high aristocracy in early thirteenth-century Europe, building on Bartlett’s conception of the contemporaneous western European ‘aristocratic diaspora’. Aristocrats who are ‘not quite first rank’ can be discerned on the make in regions, both west and east, distant from their original homelands. Much of the significance of that lies in the context, the variety of opportunities, and also the limitations on such figures. Whilst this thesis dwells on John’s experience of patronage and dependency, it also identifies grounds for tensions in his ‘new’ environments, as well as highlighting the opportunities and pitfalls presented by ‘dynastic interstices’. In this way, the thesis unpacks many of the ‘more normal’ features of the aristocratic diaspora out of John’s exceptional career. The thesis links together the thematic material to focus, in particular, on the interactions between various Western great powers and John as a client figure.

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Camps, i. Calbet Marta. "Revisiting the 40,000 BP crisis in Iberia : a study of selected transitional industries and their significance." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2004. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:e9192d1c-a897-462e-8bf3-22a2f774ac24.

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This thesis focuses on the Mid/Upper Palaeolithic Transition in the Iberian Peninsula, and questions whether this process took place as hitherto widely claimed, by testing the validity of the traditional characteristics said to portray this event throughout Europe. Research was carried out at different levels: old archaeological collections from two transitional sites (Abric Romani and Reclau Viver), previously unstudied, were systematically analysed and specific organic components (perforated shells) were radiocarbon dated. A thorough bibliographic database including information on these and all other Iberian sites was complied, in order to extend the study. The theoretical perspective of the topic was also investigated, to assess epistemological factors which are so often overlooked in this field of study. The socio-political events that have marked Spain and Portugal's contemporary histories, were also studied, since they played a crucial role in shaping Palaeolithic Research in both countries. The so-called '40,000 BP Crisis', specifically located in northern Iberia, was revisited by studying not only the traditional sites which have produced chronometric readings around that date, but also others in the same region whose transitional layers have yielded much younger dates, to see if that phenomenon really existed or has been created by generalisations that have masked vital - but ultimately uncomfortable - information. The study of this event is also placed into the peninsular and the wider European contexts, an exercise that has disclosed the vast complexity of the Transition, in terms of both the actual archaeological record and the theoretical interpretations that have been presented so far. Ultimately, this research calls for a revision of some of the theoretical perspectives of Palaeolithic archaeologists, as well as far more careful site and regional-level research, in order to redress the abundant misconceptions that distort our understanding of the Transition process.

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Cao, Qin. "Roles of weapons : significance, identity and value in Anyang late Shang (c. 1200-1050 B.C.) society China." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:e9a70177-8acb-4745-a94b-ddefa08dab98.

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Weapons of the late Shang (c.1200-1050 B.C.), characterised by their frequent discovery and various forms and materials, have often been dogmatically deciphered as either symbolic signifiers or representing military equipment. Adopting an object biographical approach, the main objective of this thesis is to employ the corpus of weapons to explore the martial facet of Shang society. Multiple strands of evidence have been compiled for the investigation: two datasets composed of over 200 complete tombs with their assemblages from the Anyang site of the late Shang, finds from non-burial contexts, the British Museum bronze weaponry collection, and contemporaneous texts. Using for the first time both statistical tools and metalwork wear analysis, this thesis challenges our understanding of the weapons of the Shang from their classification in archaeological reports to their functions and roles in society. The diverse types and materials of weapons and their multifaceted functions also shed light on interactions between objects and human beings.

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Susi, Tarja. "The puzzle of social activity : the significance of tools in cognition and cooperation." Doctoral thesis, Linköping : Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-7283.

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Peveler, Edward. "The supply of building materials to construction projects in Roman Oxfordshire : logistics, economics, and social significance." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2018. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:9208b07b-7c9d-447b-a2b1-26873f951018.

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Whilst Roman architecture has long stood as a discrete branch of classical studies, investigated for its artistic merit and cultural importance, the technical details of Roman construction have only recently started to receive considerable attention. This thesis contributes to a growing trend in Roman scholarship, that of the investigation of the processes, materials, and technologies behind the Roman built environment. The most prestigious buildings of the Empire often remain the focus of many of these studies, and so this thesis turns to explore the use of more everyday buildings and building materials, seeking a Romano-British vernacular, and investigating the processes of construction, building material production, and transport. It is argued, through using theoretical calculations of building material quantities, that even for relatively minor constructions, considerations of building material supply must have represented highly significant economic and logistical investment. To comprehend fully the subject it is asserted that building materials should not be treated, as they often are, as disparate artefacts, divided by substance into stone, ceramic, mortar, metal, etc., but rather they should be considered as related fragments of a building. They require synthetic analysis, through which a far truer understanding of the incredible effort involved in construction in the ancient world can be gained. The built environment of Roman Oxfordshire, and the Roman building material assemblage from Dorchester on Thames, are used as case studies. Primary analysis of building materials is carried out using an integrated analytical approach, combining thin section petrography with scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis. The outcomes of these analyses are interpreted against a background of archaeological and historical evidence for construction and material supply, in both the Roman and later periods, in the region and beyond.

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Islam, Ranty Rajat. "Massive black hole remnants of the first stars and their significance in present-day galactic halos." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2003. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:195544ab-80a3-4f46-a7cc-43ba55fadd0c.

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We investigate the possibility that present-day galaxies and their dark matter halos contain a population of massive black holes (MBHs) that form by hierarchical merging of the black hole remnants of the first stars in the Universe. Some of the MBHs may be large enough or close enough to the centre of the galactic host that they merge within a Hubble time. We estimate to what extent this process could contribute to the mass of the super-massive black holes (SMBHs) observed in galactic centres today. The relation between SMBH and galactic bulge mass in our model displays the same slope as that found in observations. Many MBHs will not reach the centre of the host halo, however, but continue to orbit within it. In doing so MBHs may remain associated with remnants of the satellite halo systems of which they were previously a part. Using a semi-analytical approach that explicitly accounts for dynamical friction, tidal disruption and encounters with galactic disks, we follow the hierarchical merging of MBH systems and their subsequent dynamical evolution inside the respective host halos. In this context two types of dynamical processes are examined in more detail. We predict the mass and abundance of MBHs in present-day galactic halos and also estimate the MBH mass accretion rates considering two different accretion scenarios. On this basis we determine the bolometric, optical and X-ray luminosity functions for the accreting MBHs using thin disk and advection dominated accretion flow models. Our predicted MBH X-ray emissions are then compared with observations of ultra-luminous X-ray sources in galaxies. We find that the slope and normalisation of the predicted X-ray luminosity function are consistent with the observations. We also estimate the rate of gravitational wave events received from MBH mergers across all redshifts. At the end of their lives the first stars may explode in supernovae that are associated with gamma ray bursts (GRBs). Provided these are in principle detectable we have estimated the expected rate of events observed.

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Simoni, Michela. "Age-related white matter changes in patients with TIA and stroke : population-based study on aetiological and prognostic significance." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:d3e55744-5cc1-44e9-a33f-589abbc50c93.

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White matter changes (WMC) seen on CT and MRI brain scans of healthy subjects and of vascular or dementia patients are strongly associated with age. Their pathogenesis is still under debate, and associations with vascular risk factors have varied according to studies. Their prognostic meaning, both in the general population and in stroke patients, is also not completely established. I systematically reviewed the literature on prevalence and associations of WMC and then evaluated CT and MRI scans of the first 8 years of a population-based study of all strokes and TIA in Oxfordshire (OXVASC). In this population I researched sex and age-specific associations between WMC and different types of strokes (TOAST), different components of blood pressure, and possible vascular risk factors. I also looked into their prognostic meaning for stroke recurrence and outcome, cognitive performance and mortality. 1840 patients were assessed by MRI (520) and/or CT (1717). White matter changes were independently associated with the lacunar type of stroke. The association with hypertension was confirmed (using 10 years of pre-morbid blood pressure readings), and it was particularly strong in the younger patients, mainly for diastolic hypertension. There was no association with blood pressure variability and peripheral pulse pressure. Hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes, smoking, ischaemic heart disease, carotid stenosis and atrial fibrillation were not associated with white matter changes. There was also no association with gender. Severe WMC posed a higher risk of disability and cognitive impairment at one year from the stroke, and of death in the following 10 years. This is the first study on white matter changes associations and on their prognostic meaning, to be set in a large population-based cohort of stroke and TIA. I confirmed the association between white matter changes and higher blood pressure, in particular diastolic hypertension. I also showed the association with lacunar type of stroke to be independent from vascular risk factors, and WMC to reduce life expectancy and functional and cognitive outcome of patients with stroke.

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Maria, Daniela João Sota. "Da imagem gráfica ao objecto retratado : imagem, significado e identidade das instituições enquanto marca, no caso o IPSantarém." Master's thesis, Universidade de Lisboa. Faculdade de Arquitetura, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/7944.

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Farah, Mary Anne. "The significance of the introduction of electronic interaction to the history of the art object and the viewer." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1995. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/MQ54365.pdf.

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Filipe, Rita Almeida. "Transposição dos objectos tradicionais para a contemporaneidade." Master's thesis, Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/4412.

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Tese de Mestrado em Design de Produto
O trabalho sobre a “Transposição dos Objectos Tradicionais para a Contemporaneidade” procura fazer o cruzamento de diversas questões relacionadas com a cultura tradicional e a cultura popular, numa perspectiva teórica transdisciplinar, procurando aprofundar a contextualização e legitimação de processos criativos que articulam ou traduzem o legado tradicional local para a cultura global contemporânea, no âmbito do design. Considerando a cultura contemporânea como uma realidade em constante mutação, simultaneamente articulada com o passado, o presente e o futuro, os objectos tradicionais são aqui tidos como um legado cultural significativo para a construção de sentido, como um laboratório de memórias inerente à produção de significado na nossa vivência do quotidiano. Refiro-me portanto a todos os objectos localmente reconhecíveis, de produção industrial ou artesanal, inseridos quer na cultura popular quer na cultura tradicional. Este trabalho propõe também o método etnográfico como um processo de observação participada, no âmbito do design. A transposição dos objectos tradicionais para a globalização coloca questões importantes no que se refere ao contexto funcional e produtivo original, e sobre a forma como poderá ser feita a sua transposição para o quotidiano contemporâneo, diverso e plural, procurando evitar os aspectos relacionados com o exotismo dos objectos tradicionais.
ABSTRACT - This work concerns a research on identity, traditional and contemporary culture, as conceptual tools to build a universe (panorama) of knowledge, as a fertile reading and legitimating reality, for sustained design productive opportunities, from a local into a global context. More specifically, it concerns the study of traditional concepts and typologies, which reveal themselves meaningful, now and then, consequently opportune for a contemporary material and behavioural transposition. Thought traditional objects ‘real life’ experience, at their own original context, might be an important (re)insert on today’s culture and everyday life. The work on “Traditional Objects Contemporary Transposition” searches to legitimate and contextualize different creative design processes, through traditional culture and daily life experience on an ethnographic methodology, as a laboratory, on design field. Considering contemporary culture and reality as in constant reformulation, simultaneously articulated with the past, the present and the future, traditional material culture can be taken as a collective legacy, readable by all individuals, as a meaningful memory, intrinsic on personal, social, local and global identity in permanent (re)construction.

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Mansell, Jordan. "Unpacking the adaptive significance of the political spectrum : do liberal and conservative ideological differences reflect alternative strategies for obtaining reciprocity?" Thesis, University of Oxford, 2017. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:80591e62-c6b9-403c-8e7e-936bcfd716dc.

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In the following thesis I examine the possible evolutionary significance of behavioural differences associated with liberal and conservative ideological orientations. In investigating the evolutionary significance of these two orientations I have two primary research questions. First, how do liberal and conservative oriented individuals differ in their responses to the same socio-environmental stimuli? Second, do differences in their responses to socio-environmental stimuli represent alternative behavioural strategies for social interaction, specifically adaptive strategies to maximize returns from social interactions? To answer these research questions I evaluate how trust and cooperation among liberal and conservative oriented individuals are affected by conditions of social change and inequality. Previous research finds that attitudes and behaviours consistent with the tolerance or intolerance of social change and inequality are strong predictors of ideological orientation across a liberal-conservative scale. Based on a synthesis of behavioural research I construct two theoretical frameworks to account for the adaptive utility associated with a sensitivity to social change and inequality; 1) The Group Reciprocity Hypothesis, and 2) The Social Risk Hypothesis. I test these frameworks using an experimental research design. I predict that, if liberal and conservative orientations are reflective of alternative adaptive strategies to maximize returns from social interaction, then the willingness of liberal and conservative individuals to participate in a social interaction should be differentially affected by conditions related to social change and inequality.

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Aston, Daniel. "The influence of nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP) signalling and the significance of the organization of lysosomes in cardiac myocytes." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2017. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:532cbe1b-1375-4316-bf36-7cd946f009cf.

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The central role of calcium ions in the generation of contractile force in the heart has been understood for many decades. In many mammals, a large proportion of the calcium responsible for activation of the contractile apparatus is released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), and this release is regulated via many mechanisms. One regulatory factor that has earned much attention in recent years is Nicotinic Acid Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate (NAADP) and its probable receptor, Two-Pore Channel-2 (TPC2), which is found on the surface of lysosomes. NAADP has been found to function in a wide range of tissues from both animals and plants. In the heart, it is thought that NAADP may be generated in response to stimulation of cardiomyocytes with β-adrenergic agonists and that it acts at the lysosome to cause release of calcium. This calcium may then regulate the release and reuptake of calcium by the SR. Due to the importance of calcium in the heart, substances that modulate calcium release in cardiac cells may be expected to have a broad array of effects. Under some circumstances, the dysregulation of calcium signalling caused by these substances may also be expected to have pathological consequences, both acutely and over the long term. The exposure of ex-vivo hearts perfused via Langendorff apparatus to the -adrenergic agonist isoprenaline resulted in ventricular arrhythmias following electrical burst pacing in wildtypes, but not in hearts from TPC2 knockout (Tpcn2^-/-) animals. This data supports the hypothesis that NAADP is important in the acute cardiac response to -agonists, and more specifically that it has an influence on the calcium handling events that lead to arrhythmogenesis in these cells. Similarly, chronic treatment of cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes with the adrenergic agonists isoprenaline and noradrenaline is known to induce a hypertrophic response associated with re-activation of the foetal gene program. This response was found to be strongly attenuated by the NAADP antagonist Ned-19, which prevented both the increase in cell size and the increase in expression of foetal genes associated with hypertrophy. These results suggest that in addition to the role of NAADP in acute responses to β-adrenergic agonists, it may also be important in chronic responses. Calcium released from the lysosome in response to NAADP action at TPC2 is thought to modulate calcium release from the SR. This process is likely to require a close spatial relationship between these organelles. Data from confocal microscopy experiments demonstrate an association between lysosomes and the SR, while membrane contact sites (MCS) between these structures are shown to exist using electron microscopy. These observations support the hypothesis that functional calcium signalling microdomains exist between lysosomes and the SR in the heart.

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Zelený, Miroslav. "Automatizované sledování pohybujících se objektů pomocí robotického manipulátoru." Master's thesis, Vysoké učení technické v Brně. Fakulta elektrotechniky a komunikačních technologií, 2021. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-442440.

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This diploma thesis deals with the tracking of objects using a robotic manipulator Epson C3 and a color camera. The work describes the basic qualities of the device to be used. The OpenCV library and its wrapper EmguCV are used as software tools for computer vision. It discusses the basic issues and principles of tracking objects in the image and introduces some methods of tracking. These methods have been tested and therefore their strengths and weaknesses, which appeared during testing, are listed here. Furthermore, there is a procedure for calculating the new coordinates of the camera and the manipulator effector using homogeneous transformations. The work contains the results of testing the algorithms and their evaluation. The output of the work is a test application for the Epson C3 robot.

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von, Bennigsen Sandra, and Anneli Westermark. ""Mer tid, energi och fokus helt enkelt" - En sociologisk studie om att välja alternativ konsumtion eller minimalism i ett senmodernt konsumtionssamhälle." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-67598.

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Overconsumption has become a common phenomenon in our contemporary consumer society. Furthermore, overconsumption has repeatedly been pointed out for its negative impact on the wellbeing of both humans and the environment. Alternative consumption and minimalism have, in recent years, become increasingly noticeable as a solution to this problem. The purpose of this study is threefold. First, from a Swedish context provide information on the motives of individuals who choose an alternative consumption or a minimalistic lifestyle, second, how these choices are important to the construction of these individuals’ self-identity, and third to discuss the significance of objects for these individuals. Previous research shows that motives for individuals who choose alternative ways of consumption are both personal benefits and activist ideologies. Financial capacity also plays a major role in an individual’s ability to consume alternatively or choose a minimalistic lifestyle. We have noted that previous research is currently lacking to explain how alternative ways of consumption are related to the construction of self-identity. Previous research also shows that there seems to be an ongoing discussion about the definition of the concepts of alternative consumption and minimalism. Our study is based on qualitative interviews with five individuals where both alternative consumers and minimalists are represented. This study's findings show that the main motive of our interviewees to choose alternative ways of consumption is that these lifestyles has given rise to increased well-being. It also shows that some participants have been able to develop an emotional distance to their belongings through these lifestyle choices. The results also indicate that the interviewees do in fact construct their self-identity through alternative ways of consumption. Also, that class affiliation is a crucial factor for the individuals' ability to choose a lifestyle characterized by alternative ways of consumption.
Överkonsumtion har blivit ett vardagligt fenomen i vårt samtida konsumtionssamhälle. Detta har upprepade gånger pekats ut som en bidragande faktor till att välbefinnandet hos både människa och miljö påverkats negativt. Både alternativ konsumtion och minimalism har på senare år blivit allt mer uppmärksammade som lösningar på detta problem. I denna studie är syftet att utifrån en svensk kontext bidra med kunskap om vilka motiv individer har till att välja en alternativ konsumtion eller en minimalistisk livsstil, hur detta i sin tur har betydelse för konstruktionen av självidentiteten samt vilken betydelse ting har för dessa individer. Tidigare forskning har visat att personliga fördelar och aktivistiska ideologier varit motiv för individer till att välja alternativa konsumtionssätt. Förutsättningarna för att göra dessa livsstilsval skiljer sig dock beroende på vilken ekonomisk kapacitet människor besitter. Vi har uppmärksammat att nuvarande forskning är bristfällig i att förklara hur alternativa konsumtionssätt står i relation till identitetsskapande. Det tycks även finnas en pågående diskussion i tidigare forskning om definitionen av begreppen alternativ konsumtion och minimalism. Vår studie är baserad på kvalitativa intervjuer med fem intervjupersoner där både alternativa konsumenter och minimalister finns representerade. Studiens resultat visar att intervjupersonernas huvudsakliga motiv till att välja ett alternativt konsumtionssätt är att livsstilen givit upphov till ett ökat välbefinnande. Resultatet visar även att vissa deltagare har utvecklat en emotionell distansering till sina ägodelar genom deras val av livsstil. Resultatet tyder även på att intervjupersonerna konstruerar sin självidentitet genom alternativa konsumtionssätt samt att klasstillhörigheten återigen anses vara en avgörande faktor för individers förmåga att välja en livsstil präglad av alternativa konsumtionssätt.

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Parsons, Darryl C. "The application of a technique for enhancing recall to improve learning in the science classroom." Curtin University of Technology, Science and Mathematics Education Centre, 2007. http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=17778.

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There has existed for many years a memory enhancement technique ("memory pegs") that although having dramatic demonstrable success in some individual cases has not been generally applied in education. The emergence of constructivist epistemology has emphasised the notion that learning occurs as a result of connecting new material with previously learnt concepts. There is, therefore, the implication that effective learning requires some previous knowledge upon which to attach new concepts - and thus realisation of the importance of learning with respect to acquiring factual information as a prerequisite to learning new processes and/or skills. This issue has focussed my attention on the need to ensure that the more physiological skills of accessing 'memory', both for learning and recall, are optimised for maximum learning. Further, there are some indications that the physiological skills of memory access (storage and retrieval) may respond favourably to training and 'exercise'. This study was designed to find out whether or not a repeated 'exercise' using a simple memory enhancement technique would lead to a determinable and statistically significant increase in overall performance in a range of cognitive skills (as indicated by science and mathematics examination results), whether learning such a technique would affect a student's attitudes towards science, whether there was a relationship between the amount of time spent practicing the technique and the degree of effect, and whether the memory technique did actually improve the ability to recall lists of objects.

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Alcaraz, León María José. "La teoría del arte de Arthur Danto: de los objetos indiscernibles a los significados encarnados." Doctoral thesis, Universidad de Murcia, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/10823.

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El objeto de esta investigación es analizar la definición del arte propuesta por Arthur Danto y evaluar su validez. Es notable que la propuesta de Danto dependa estrechamente de la aceptación del experimento de los indiscernibles perceptivos. Por ello he analizado la concepción de la percepción implícita en la formulación del experimento y he tratado de caracterizar la validez del experimento teniendo en cuenta las posibles concepciones que son compatibles con el. Asimismo he analizado la noción de "mundo del arte" propuesta por Danto como condición necesaria para el arte y, finalmente, he abordado su definición del arte -que consta de dos condiciones: "ser sobre algo" y "encarnar un significado". La definición resulta insuficiente pues no es obvio que todas las obras sean sobre algo en el mismo sentido ni tampoco que todas "encarnen un significado".
The subject matter of this dissertation is Arthur Danto's art's definition, whose validity I have tried to assess. It is noticeable that Danto's proposal strongly depends upon the acceptance of the experiment of perceptual indiscernible objects that nevertheless have a different ontological status. For this reason, I have analyzed the perceptual view implied by the formulation of the experiment and I have also tried to characterize other compatibles perceptual views that are compatible with the experiment in order to grant its validity. I have analyzed the notion of "artworld" which was put forward by Danto as a necessary condition for art and, finally, I have assessed his art's definition in terms of "aboutness" and "embodiment". This definition is not sufficient to cover all the objects we usually classify as art for it is not at all obvious that every object satisfy them.

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Spallek, Andrew John. "St. Paul's use of [ek pisteōs] in Romans and Galatians the significance of Paul's choice of prepositions with [pistis] as object and its bearing upon justification by faith /." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 2005. http://www.tren.com.

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Meyer, Philippe. "Approche clinique de la difficulté d'apprendre à l'école chez l'enfant de 3 à 12 ans." Thesis, Strasbourg, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015STRAG010/document.

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Les élèves des écoles maternelles et élémentaires sont évalués. En cas de suspicion de troubles des apprentissages, ils sont adressés dans une unité d'évaluations pour une expertise médicalisée. Cette recherche porte sur la manière dont ce dispositif a pris place dans celui de l'école dans le but de traiter ces éventuels troubles des apprentissages. Car, ces enfants semblent enlisés dans des procédés d'apprentissages repérables chez des enfants de maternelle et de cours préparatoire. Les apports de la psychologie du développement nous permettent de les décrire, mais ne nous éclairent pas sur l'articulation entre les développements cognitif et affectif. C'est donc au regard des apports de la psychopathologie clinique et de la psychanalyse, en nous appuyant sur des études de cas, que nous traitons de ces problématiques interférant sur les apprentissages scolaires. À partir de là nous interrogeons la pertinence du dispositif médical pour le traitement de la difficulté scolaire
The pupils of preschool and elementary school are estimated. In case of suspicion of possible leaming disorders they are sent in a unit of evaluation for a medical expertise. This research suggests examining how the medical device has come in that of the school to detect at thepupil's of possible leaming disorders and treat them. Yet these children seem to stay in processes of leaming which are the ones of children of preschool and first year of elementary school. The contributions theories of cognitive development allow us to describe them, but does not enlight us about the articulation between the cognitive and emotional development. lt is therefore, based on the contributions of the clinical psychopathology and the psychoanalysis, based on several case studies, that we treat problems susceptible to interfere on the school leaming. From there we question the relevance of the medical device for the treatment of the school difficulty

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Drochytka, Jan. "Vliv specifické lokality na cenu rezidenčního objektu na Brněnsku." Master's thesis, Vysoké učení technické v Brně. Ústav soudního inženýrství, 2020. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-413826.

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Rawson, Helen C. "Treasures of the University : an examination of the identification, presentation and responses to artefacts of significance at the University of St Andrews, from 1410 to the mid-19th century, with an additional consideration of the development of the portrait collection to the early 21st century." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/990.

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Since its foundation between 1410 and 1414 the University of St Andrews has acquired what can be considered to be ‘artefacts of significance’. This somewhat nebulous phrase is used to denote items that have, for a variety of reasons, been deemed to have some special import by the University, and have been displayed or otherwise presented in a context in which this status has been made apparent. The types of artefacts in which particular meaning has been vested during the centuries under consideration include items of silver and gold (including the maces, sacramental vessels of the Collegiate Church of St Salvator, collegiate plate and relics of the Silver Arrow archery competition); church and college furnishings; artworks (particularly portraits); sculpture; and ethnographic specimens and other items described in University records as ‘curiosities’ held in the University Library from c. 1700-1838. The identification of particular artefacts as significant for certain reasons in certain periods, and their presentation and display, may to some extent reflect the University's values, preoccupations and aspirations in these periods, and, to some degree, its identity. Consciously or subconsciously, the objects can be employed or operate as signifiers of meaning, representing or reflecting matters such as the status, authority and history of the University, its breadth of learning and its interest and influence in spheres from science, art and world cultures to national affairs. This thesis provides a comprehensive examination of the growth and development of the University's holdings of 'artefacts of significance' from its foundation to the mid-19th century, and in some cases (especially portraits) beyond this date. It also offers insights into how the University viewed and presented these items and what this reveals about the University of St Andrews, its identity, which changed and developed as the living institution evolved, and the impressions that it wished to project.

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Langridge, C. "An Investigation into the Ontological Significance of Sculptural Objects." 2006. http://eprints.utas.edu.au/3587.

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The research is developed through sculptural artworks that seek to raise the question of their being. They do this through their indeterminate presence, which often awakens people to ask ‘What is it?’ I ask how sculpture can encourage people to wonder about what things are, and how the relationship/s we form with art can then lead us to reflect upon our other more worldly relationships. I also pursue the questions of what is sculpture, and what is contemporary art, in order to map out an understanding of the domain of my practice, and the issues at stake regarding the making and display of sculpture. Through a reading of the ideas of Martin Heidegger and other Continental philosophers, I have focused upon the way our (Modern Western) relationship with things in the world is problematic, and how art can help us to address some of these problems. It is through art’s poetic ambiguities that our usual determined and closed relationship with the world can be opened up to other readings. An investigation into contemporary art practices reveals several issues that put the artwork into context and shed light upon difficulties facing contemporary artists particularly in terms of: what am I to do, why should I do it and how should I proceed? My artworks are aimed at raising questions for the viewer about being, sculpture and contemporary art. I have developed the coopering technique of wooden construction to make unusually shaped wooden container-like sculptures. I have also investigated other semi-industrial working methods to construct sculptural objects that oscillate between various possibilities for the viewer. These artworks operate in the field between the familiar/unfamiliar, functional/non-functional and the known/unknown. They resist the viewer’s efforts at stilling the oscillation between possible readings and evade some of the common roles of contemporary art such as being a site for social and political dialogue or being a reflection of contemporary/pop/consumer culture. This project contributes to the dialogue already in play between several Post-Minimal sculptors whose work touches upon constructed and or manufactured ambiguous forms. It further develops the language of how to discuss these issues through my philosophical readings. It extends the coopering technique beyond the simple cask form to discover the technical possibilities for this method of construction. It brings to the gallery visitor an actual experience of what Heidegger writes about art, particularly in terms of his ideas about ‘the truth of being as revealing/concealing’. The research also develops our understanding of the nature of contemporary art through questioning several aspects of it and through adopting outmoded and laborious methods of making that are at odds with our digital age. The artworks are the result of working toward a position of indeterminacy that is alluring, by partially resisting the viewer’s efforts to know them.

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Gomes, Eurico Micael Lisboa. "A casa Vanna Venturi : ou a importância do significado no objecto arquitectónico." Master's thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10316/15820.

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Molepo, Phineas Lesiba. ""What does that mean?" Objects of significance in residential programmes for young persons in South Africa." Diss., 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/1150.

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Many young persons live under difficult circumstances. Factors including HIV/AIDS pandemic, exacerbate the need to place young persons into alternative placements. The new and the unknown can be frightening but carrying a faithful transitional object establishes therapeutic bridge between the old and known and the new and unknown. This study sought to explore South African child and youth care workers' awareness of young persons' objects of significance in residential care settings. The rational was that with greater awareness, important objects may become a more useful option for the promotion of young persons' well-being. The research confirmed that South African child and youth care workers are aware of the existence and importance of significant objects. It further revealed that young persons possess different objects of significance to which workers need to pay careful attention.
Research Institute for Theology and Religion
M.Tech. (Child and Youth Care)

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Significant objects'

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