Thèses sur le sujet « Contexte ITS »

Les défis de l’industrie 4.0 comprennent l’optimisation des flux de données et la décentralisation de la prise de décision, là où les systèmes centralisés deviennent souvent inadéquats. Les véhicules industriels autonomes (VIAs) doivent devenir plus intelligents et coopératifs, en échangeant des données pertinentes sur le trafic entre eux et avec l’infrastructure. Cette thèse vise à renforcer l’autonomie des VIAs à travers des stratégies d’intelligence collective, améliorant leur adaptabilité, prise de décision et efficacité grâce à une communication et un partage d’informations facilités. Notre méthodologie, basée sur la modélisation, la simulation et des tests scénarisés, vise à proposer des stratégies collectives spécifiques pour renforcer les différentes fonctionnalités clés des VIAs. Tout d’abord, nous avons amélioré un algorithme d’évitement d’obstacles et développé une stratégie globale basée sur la perception partagée. Nous avons adapté et proposé des messages standardisés au contexte de l’industrie4.0 et introduit un système de (ré)allocation dynamique des tâches en environnements décentralisés. Ces contributions se basant sur l’hypothèse forte de la perception coopérative, nous avons ensuite proposé une architecture pour générer des données V2X. Enfin,nous avons développé des stratégies collectives de gestion de l’énergie pour chaque VIA basé sur un modèle de décision flou, afin qu’ils puissent déterminer de manière autonome les moments optimaux de recharge et ainsi réduire leurs temps d’inactivité au sein de la flotte
The challenges of Industry 4.0 include optimizing data flows and decentralizing decision-making, where centralised systems often become inadequate. Autonomous Industrial Vehicles (AIVs) need to become smarter and more cooperative by exchanging relevant traffic data among themselves and with the infrastructure. This thesis aims to enhance the autonomy of AIVs through collective intelligence strategies, improving their adaptability, decision-making, and efficiency by facilitating communication and information sharing. Our methodology, based on modeling, simulation, and scenario testing, seeks to propose specific collective strategies to strengthen various key functionalities of AIVs. First, we improved an obstacle avoidance algorithm and developed a global strategy based on shared perception. We adapted and proposed standardized messages for the Industry 4.0 context and introduced a dynamic task (re)allocation system in decentralized environments. Based on the strong assumption of cooperative perception, we then proposed an architecture for generating V2X data. Finally, we developed collective energy management strategies for each AIV using a fuzzy decision model, allowing them to autonomously determine the optimal recharge times and thus reduce their downtime within the fleet

Ce travail étudie les capacités de méthodes d’adaptation pour la prédiction de mots. Le premier groupe de méthodes traite de l’adaptation aux préférences lexicales et syntaxiques de l’utilisateur d’un système de communication assistée. Au sein de ce groupe de méthodes, nous avons étudié le modèle cache, le lexique auto-adaptatif et le modèle d’utilisateur dynamique (MUD), intégrant toute saisie de l’utilisateur. Le deuxième groupe de méthodes rassemble des approches qui ont pour objectif d’exploiter le contexte sémantique. Dans ce contexte, nous avons en particulier étudié l’Analyse Sémantique Latente (LSA), un modèle vectoriel qui se base sur les propriétés distributionnelles. Dans la dernière partie nous présentons un système d’aide à la communication, dans lequel nous avons implémenté les méthodes d’adaptation. Après une description de l’interface utilisateur nous avons exposé quelques expériences réalisées avec ce système, qui est utilisé dans un centre de rééducation fonctionnelle
This thesis investigates the capacities of adaptive methods for word prediction. We present and evaluate several adaptation methods: First, we consider strategies enabling to adapt to the lexical and syntactic preferences of the user of an AAC system. Here we investigate the cache model, an auto-adaptive user lexicon and the dynamic user model (DUM), which integrates every input of the user. The second class of methods aims to adapt to the semantic context. Here we focus in particular on Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), a vectorial model establishing semantic similarity from distributional properties. In the last part an assistive communication system is presented that implements the previously investigated adaptation methods. After a description of the user interface we report results from the application of this system in a rehabilitation center
Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht die Kapazitäten adaptiver Methoden für die Wortprädiktion, einer zentralen Strategie im Kontext der unterstützenden Kommunikation (UK) für sprach- und bewegungsbehinderte Menschen. Zunächst wird eine allgemeine Einführung in die Forschungsgebiete der UK einerseits und derWortprädiktion andererseits gegeben. Dabei wird insbesondere Bezug genommen auf stochastische Sprachmodelle, welche sich für die Prädiktion als sehr geeignet erwiesen haben. Die Untersuchung adaptiver Methoden erfolgt daraufhin entlang zweier Achsen: In einem ersten Abschnitt werden die Verfahren betrachtet, welche die Adaption an die spezifische Lexik und Syntax des Benutzers eines UK-Systems erlauben. Dabei werden insbesondere das sogenannte Cache-Modell, ein selbstlernendes Benutzerlexikon sowie das dynamische Benutzermodell (dynamic user model, DUM) diskutiert. Auf der zweiten Achse werden nun Modelle untersucht, welche auf eine Adaption der Wortprädiktion an den semantischen bzw. topikalischen Kontext abzielen. Hier rückt vor allem eine Methode in den Mittelpunkt: die Latent-Semantische Analyse (LSA), ein vektorraumbasiertes Verfahren, welches semantische Ähnlichkeit durch distributionelle Eigenschaften lexikalischer Einheiten etabliert. Als schwierig erweist sich jedoch die Integration der LSA-basierten semantischen Information in das allgemeine Prädiktionsmodell, weshalb hier verschiedene Integrationsmöglichkeiten untersucht werden. Im letzten Teil dieser Arbeit wird ein UK-System vorgestellt, welches die erfolgreichsten der zuvor betrachteten Adaptionsverfahren implementiert. Nach einer Präsentation der verschiedenen kommunikationsfördernden Komponenten wird von der Anwendung dieses Systems berichtet, welches seit mehreren Jahren in einem Rehabilitationszentrum eingesetzt wird

Orientador: Maria Rosa Rodrigues Martins de Camargo
Banca: Maria Ivonete Barbosa Tamboril
Banca: Robson Antonio Rodrigues
Banca: Edson do Carmo Inforsato
Banca: Adir Casaro Nascimento
Resumo: O principal objetivo deste estudo foi investigar e documentar o processo de aquisição e apropriação da cultura escrita na T. I. Igarapé Lourdes junto às etnias Arara-Karo e Gavião-Ikolen e sua relação com a oralidade (FERREIRO; TEBEROSKY, 1999; FREIRE, 1987, CHARTIER, 1990; CERTEAU, 1998; ONG, 1998). Foi possível sistematizar a história de alfabetização e escolarização dessas sociedades indígenas, bem como compreender o modo de apropriação do objeto escrito. Esta pesquisa foi desenvolvida a partir da concepção de estudo do tipo etnográfico (ANDRÉ, 1995), de 2004 a 2009, na T. I. Igarapé Lourdes, no município de Ji-Paraná, estado de Rondônia. Envolveu oito aldeias e oito escolas públicas de educação escolar indígena, sendo duas pertencentes ao povo Arara-Karo e seis ao povo Gavião-Ikolen. Os colaboradores e colaboradoras Gavião-Ikolen foram quatro lideranças, uma do sexo feminino e três do sexo masculino e doze professores indígenas - todos do sexo masculino. Da etnia Arara-Karo participaram duas lideranças - todas do sexo masculino e sete docentes, sendo três professoras e quatro professores. Os docentes são contratados pela Secretaria de Estado da Educação - SEDUC, a maioria habilitados pelo Projeto Açaí - curso de magistério indígena e atuam com exclusividade nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental. A coleta de dados ocorreu por meio dos seguintes instrumentos: observação participante nas aldeias e nas escolas, entrevistas a docentes e lideranças indígenas, bem como análise documental - cadernos de planejamento e relatório docentes, cadernos e atividades avulsas de alunos e alunas. A análise desenvolvida possibilitou compreender que os povos indígenas da T. I. Igarapé Lourdes, os Arara- Karo e Gavião-Ikolen desenvolvem cotidianamente ações de leitura e escrita. Buscam ler textos como os de gêneros jornalísticos - jornais... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo)
Abstract: Il obiettivo principale in questo studio era quello di indagare e documentare il processo di acquisizione e la proprietà di alfabetizzazione in T. I. Bayou Lourdes vicino al etnica Karo Macaw Hawk e Ikolen e il suo rapporto con l'oralità (FERREIRO; TEBEROSKY, 1999; FREIRE, 1987, CHARTIER, 1990; CERTEAU, 1998; ONG, 1998). E 'stato possibile sistematizzare la storia di alfabetizzazione e di istruzione delle popolazioni indigene, così come capire le modalità di appropriazione della scrittura dell'oggetto. Questa ricerca è stata sviluppata dalla concezione dello studio etnografico (ANDRÉ, 1995), dal 2004 al 2009, in T. I. Igarapé Lourdes, la città di Ji- Paraná, stato Rondonia. Si trattava di otto villaggi e otto scuole pubbliche in materia di istruzione indigene, e due persone appartenenti alla macaw Karo e sei persone di Hawk-Ikolen. Gli sviluppatori e contributori Hawk-Ikolen erano quattro leader, una femmina e tre maschi e dodici insegnanti indigeni - tutti maschi. Etnica Macaw Karo ha preso due leader - tutti i maschi e sette insegnanti, tre insegnanti e quattro insegnanti. Gli insegnanti sono assunti dal Dipartimento di Stato della Pubblica Istruzione - SEDUC, la maggior parte autorizzata dalla Açaí Project - Corso di insegnamento aborigena e ad agire esclusivamente nei primi anni di scuola elementare. La raccolta dei dati è avvenuta attraverso i seguenti strumenti: osservazione partecipante nei villaggi e nelle scuole, colloqui con gli insegnanti e leader indigeni e analisi documentaria - termini di pianificazione e reporting degli insegnanti, libri e attività su misura a ragazzi e ragazze. L'analisi ci ha permesso di comprendere le popolazioni indigene del T. I. Igarapé Lourdes, i Karo e Macaw Hawk-Ikolen sviluppare le attività quotidiane di lettura e scrittura... (Riassunto completo, acesso elettronico clicca qui sotto)
Doutor

The integrity of positioning systems has become an increasingly important requirement for location-based Intelligent Transports Systems (ITS). The navigation systems, such as Global Positioning System (GPS), used in ITS cannot provide the high quality positioning information required by most services, due to the various type of errors from GPS sensor, such as signal outage, and atmospheric effects, all of which are difficult to measure, or from the map matching process. Consequently, an error in the positioning information or map matching process may lead to inaccurate determination of a vehicle’s location. Thus, the integrity is require when measuring both vehicle’s positioning and other related information such as speed, to locate the vehicle in the correct road segment, and avoid errors. The integrity algorithm for the navigation system should include a guarantee that the systems do not produce misleading or faulty information; as this may lead to a significant error arising in the ITS services. Hence, to achieve the integrity requirement a navigation system should have a robust mechanism, to notify the user of any potential errors in the navigation information. The main aim of this research is to develop a robust and reliable mechanism to support the positioning requirement of ITS services. This can be achieved by developing a high integrity GPS monitoring algorithm with the consideration of speed, based on the concept of context-awareness which can be applied with real time ITS services to adapt changes in the integrity status of the navigation system. Context-aware architecture is designed to collect contextual information about the vehicle, including location, speed and heading, reasoning about its integrity and reactions based on the information acquired. In this research, three phases of integrity checks are developed. These are, (i) positioning integrity, (ii) speed integrity, and (iii) map matching integrity. Each phase uses different techniques to examine the consistency of the GPS information. A receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM) algorithm is used to measure the quality of the GPS positioning data. GPS Doppler information is used to check the integrity of vehicle’s speed, adding a new layer of integrity and improving the performance of the map matching process. The final phase in the integrity algorithm is intended to verify the integrity of the map matching process. In this phase, fuzzy logic is also used to measure the integrity level, which guarantees the validity and integrity of the map matching results. This algorithm is implemented successfully, examined using real field data. In addition, a true reference vehicle is used to determine the reliability and validity of the output. The results show that the new integrity algorithm has the capability to support a various types of location-based ITS services.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the quality of the disclosure IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements, paragraphs 122 and 125 in the annual reports of Swedish publicly listed firms. These paragraphs state that firms are required to disclose judgments made by management in preparing financial statements that may have significant impact on the recognized carrying amount. These paragraphs should also include information about major sources of estimation uncertainty. A quantitative research approach is used and the sample consists of 1,519 annual reports over a 7-year period. We construct a disclosure index to assess the quality of the disclosures in Critical judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty (IAS 1:122 and 1:125) note and categorize the annual reports into four index groups. Additionally, the number of headlines in the note are counted and sorted into three other groups, creating a headline index. Lastly, we multiply the disclosure index with the headline index to get a score, which then enable us to distinguish and rank the quality of disclosure between firms. Further, we count the number of words in each individual disclosure in each annual report. This additional quantitative data enable regression analyses, further ensuring objectivity in assessing the disclosure quality. Agency theory and political cost theory are used as base for determining which firm characteristics may affect disclosure quality. We examine the firm characteristics firm visibility, ownership concentration and leverage to investigate any relationship with disclosure quality. We use the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression method to analyse this data. The analysis shows that firm visibility and leverage have positive relationships with disclosure quality. This supports the political cost theory and suggests that firms that are more visible have stronger incentives to attain a high disclosure quality. Our findings also support debt-associated agency problems and are also in line with prior studies that found a positive relationship between disclosure quality and the degree of leverage, which indicates that disclosures reduces the information gap.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO
Tomada como uma resposta à questão da brasilidade, a antropofagia é, no entanto, algo além. Configura-se como um pensamento oriundo de problemas de proveniências múltiplas tendo, por isso, significados múltiplos. Por um lado, é produto das rupturas propostas pelas vanguardas artísticas europeias; por outro, deve sua existência à situação brasileira de então, quer no terreno das teorias sobre o Brasil, quer no campo socioeconômico. Sua origem, entretanto, não restringe seu potencial especulativo. Tanto assim que ela é passível de ser vista não apenas como uma filosofia da cultura ou uma estética – o que atesta sua filiação às áreas de pensamento supracitadas -, mas também como uma teoria que tem matizes ontológicas. Dito isso, a presente dissertação tem por objetivo elucidar as condições de possibilidade do surgimento da antropofagia e, com isso, expor seu potencial criativo. A nossa tese é a de que a antropofagia é formulado de modo a estar entre a filosofia da cultura e a ontologia, sendo necessária a incursão em ambas para que se possa compreendê-lo de maneira mais profunda. Ademais, buscamos defender a ideia de que a antropofagia é um pensamento original brasileiro na dupla acepção da expressão: original por dever sua origem ao Brasil, dando ênfase na origem do pensamento; e original por ser uma contribuição, tal e qual a contribuição milionária dos erros já anunciada por Oswald de Andrade no Manifesto da Poesia Pau-Brasil de 1924.
Usually thought of as an answer to what it means to be a Brazilian, the modernist notion of anthropophagy is something that goes beyond this simplistic point of view. We claim here that anthropophagy is a philosophy that originates from multiple sources having, because of that, multiple meanings. In one hand, it is one of the many byproducts of European avant-garde; on the other, we could say it also owns its existence to the Brazilian context of the time of its creation, namely 1928. Because of that, we also claim that anthropophagy is not only a philosophy of culture nor is it only aesthetics or a way of making art: even though it is also those two things, it is not restricted to them, being also a theory with ontological nuances. With that in mind, the present work has one clear objective: to clarify the conditions which were necessary for such a way of thinking to emerge. By doing that, we believe, we will also be exploring the creativity inherent to that philosophy. Our thesis is that anthropophagy is a hybrid thought that lies between ontology and philosophy of culture. One must understand both aspects of this thought in order to understand anthropophagy itself. We also seek to defend the idea that the anthropophagic thought of Oswald de Andrade is an original Brazilian philosophy. Original here means two different things: first, being indebted to Brazilian context in order to exist because it was created to answer what the Brazil of then was all about, so its origin in Brazilian because it originates from Brazil; secondly original because it is also singular and, because of that, unique.

Fuzzy rule-based systems (FRBS) use the principle of fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic to describe vague and imprecise statements and provide a facility to express the behaviours of the system with a human-understandable language. Fuzzy information, once defined by a fuzzy system, is fixed regardless of the circumstances and therefore makes it very difficult to capture the effect of context on the meaning of the fuzzy terms. While efforts have been made to integrate contextual information into the representation of fuzzy sets, it remains the case that often the context model is very restrictive and/or problem specific. The work reported in this thesis is our attempt to create a practical frame work to integrate contextual information into the representation of fuzzy sets so as to improve the interpretability as well as the accuracy of the fuzzy system. Throughout this thesis, we have looked at the capability of the proposed context dependent fuzzy sets as a stand alone as well as in combination with other methods in various application scenarios ranging from time series forecasting to complicated car racing control systems. In all of the applications, the highly competitive performance nature of our approach has proven its effectiveness and efficiency compared with existing techniques in the literature.

Our increasing knowledge of the critical landscape in the 4^th and 3^rd centuries BC makes it timely to consider how Hellenistic poets may have been responding, in the way they composed their poems, to contemporary debates about the function of poetry, its defining characteristics, its style and how it should be read. In doing so we may gain a greater understanding of their poetry and its context. Callimachus’ poetry provides the most compelling case study for looking at this type of interaction and in this thesis I want to focus on a number of aspects of Callimachus’ poetic style and to set them in the context of roughly contemporary literary criticism, reading practice and linguistic theory. One of the major themes of the thesis is the relationship between Callimachus’ poetic style and use of language and Aristotelian theory. This ranges from the argument that it is often useful to assess aspects of Callimachean style against the background of Aristotelian theory, to the suggestion that at times Callimachus may be responding to specific Aristotelian ideas. I also discuss the idea put forward by certain scholars that Stoic theory can illuminate aspects of Callimachean style and linguistic practice. In the course of the thesis there is a movement away from an initial focus on Aristotelian theory and its formal concerns to the development of etymology as an exegetical practice and the allegorical mode of interpretation. In a shorter first part I outline the critical idea, linguistic theory or reading practice in question, before looking in the second part at the relevant aspect of Callimachus’ poetic style and how it might be interacting with, or responding to, the material discussed previously.

Le système de transport coopératif intelligent (C-ITS) a attiré beaucoup d'attention ces dernières années en raison du grand nombre d'applications / cas d'usage qui peuvent améliorer l'expérience de conduite future.Les futurs véhicules seront connectés grâce aux plusieurs technologies de communication qui ouvriront la porte aux nouvelles menaces et vulnérabilités qui doivent être prises en compte. La protection de la vie privée et la sécurité est un sujet clé à aborder avant le déploiement de C-ITS. De plus, la grande variété de cas d'utilisation / applications C-ITS qui nécessitent des exigences de sécurité différentes fait de la sécurité un grand défi.La confidentialité et la protection des données des utilisateurs constituent également un défi. L'industrie automobile et les opérateurs doivent se conformer à la législation nationale et internationale pour la protection des données dans C-ITS. Afin de faire face aux problèmes de confidentialité, la solution existante consiste à disposer d'un pool d'identités pseudonymes valides, par le véhicule, et à les modifier lors de la communication.L'une des motivations de cette thèse est d'étudier les performances de rechargement de certificats pseudonymes. En d'autres termes, il est important de s'assurer que la latence du rechargement des certificats de pseudonyme à partir de l'ICP tout en conduisant à des vitesses différentes est acceptable. La deuxième motivation est l'analyse des menaces et des vulnérabilités, en particulier sur celles qui proviennent de l'utilisation du certificat pseudonyme. L'objectif est de mettre en œuvre ces attaques et de proposer de nouvelles solutions ou de trouver des améliorations à la solution existante pour détecter et prévenir les attaques de sécurité. La sécurité et la confidentialité dans C-ITS sont considérées comme de grands défis. Beaucoup de travail a été fait et de bonnes solutions existent dans le domaine de la sécurité et de la confidentialité. Nous remarquons que les systèmes ne peuvent pas être sécurisés à 100%, mais la sécurité du conducteur est liée à la sécurité du système. Pour cela, le but de cette thèse est de faire du hack blanc du C-ITS afin d'améliorer la solution existante. Une évaluation des risques est nécessaire pour identifier notre objectif d'évaluation et analyser les risques potentiels. L'objectif final de cette thèse est de proposer une plaque de validation de sécurité et de performance pour la communication véhiculaire dans le cadre des C-ITS
Cooperative Intelligent Transportation System (C-ITS) has gained much attention in the recent years due to the large number of applications/use cases that can improve future driving experience. Future vehicles will be connected through several communication technologies which will open the door to new threats and vulnerabilities that must be taken into account. The security protection is a key subject to address before C-ITS deployment. Moreover, the wide variety of C-ITS use cases/application with different security requirements makes the security a big challenge. User's privacy and data protection are also a challenge. Automotive industry and operators should comply with the national and international legislation for the data protection in C-ITS. In order to deal with privacy issues, existing solution consists of having a pool of valid pseudonym identities, by the vehicle, and changing them during the communication. One of the motivations of this thesis is to study the performance of pseudonym certificate reloading. In other words, it is important to ensure that the latency of reloading pseudonym certificates from the PKI while driving at different speeds is acceptable. The second motivation is the investigation on threats and vulnerabilities, especially on those that come from the pseudonym certificate's use. The objective is to implement those attacks and propose new solutions or find improvements to the existing solution for detecting and preventing security attacks. Security and privacy in C-ITS are considered as big challenges. A Lot of work has been done and good solutions exist in the security and privacy domain. We notice that systems cannot be secure at 100% but driver's safety is related to system's security. For this, the aim of this thesis is to do white hack of the C-ITS in order to improve the existing solution. A risk assessment is needed to identify our target of evaluation and analyse potential risks. The final goal of this thesis is to propose a security and performance validation plate-form for vehicular communication in the context of C-ITS

The value creating mechanism of business networks has been acknowledged in research (Casson & Della Giusta, 2007, p. 221; Granovetter, 1973; Jones, Hesterly & Borgatti, 1997, p. 912). Within small business research, focus has been on network structure (Jack, Moult, Anderson & Dodd. 2010, p. 317; Shaw, 2006, p. 5; Curran et al., 1993, p. 13), disregarding dynamic factors such as network content, strength and processes. Network studies within start-up businesses have received attention (Witt, 2004, p 392); hence limited research exists concerning more well-established small businesses’ networks. These research gaps will here be addressed from the perspective of a smaller business, a micro business, at a stage of firm maturity. Small business research suffers from methodological fragmentation and underdevelopments, favoring positivistic and quantitative methods (Blackburn & Kovalainen, 2009, p. 128-129). To address this, this research seeks to explore qualitative alternatives, which can be increasingly fruitful for the small business field when studying networks (Jack et al., 2010, p. 317). Recognizing the social and contextual embeddedness of the micro business and its sensitivity to external changes (Curran & Blackburn, 2001, p. 7), this research opts for a qualitative in-depth case study to explore these contextual mechanisms. This research adopts a critical realist stance using ethnographic and process research methods of grounded theory, taking the sequence of events into account in the analysis. This present research combines strands of research of core disciplines (sociology) to newer disciplines (entrepreneurship) to produce a conceptual mapping. This deductive conceptual mapping is used as basis for the data collection and as a tool for analysis in this by nature inductive study. This study finds that network tie content and strength deepen the understanding of networks and their maintenance, beyond the static mapping of structure. Network tie content and strength does influence structure and is in turn influenced by context. This provides answer to why the network appears as it does. The appearance of the mature micro business’ network indicates that growth ambitions can be inhibited by contextual factors such as limited access to new opportunities. This present study finds and agrees with Van Maanen (2011a, p. 226-227) that the single case study and ethnographic observant-participant methods, often criticized for not producing substantial findings, are informative as they allow exploring the influence of contextual factors. The intended audience of research academics and local/regional/national entrepreneurship policy makers should recognize that research which enhances tools for apprehending contextual factors can provide interesting results. The research design disregards generalization capabilities in favor of accounting for the research process of the researcher and its subject. This is argued to give a fruitful version of truth of network appearance in terms of content and strength and why it appears as such.

This Dissertation investigates all of A.W.N. Pugin’s known English residential architecture for the first time, placing it in the context of the domestic and institutional architecture of comparable small buildings, particularly Anglican parsonages, of the period in which he lived and worked. The Dissertation is preceded by a summary of the theoretical issues that architects were addressing from the beginning of the nineteenth century, in particular those which Pugin was later to make a central part of his own theoretical writings. Following an examination of the conventions of the domestic architecture of the period, the Dissertation analyses Pugin’s own buildings, primarily categorising them by plan type. Pugin’s attitude to the orientation, location and landscape of his work is then considered, followed by an analysis of his preferred building forms, their materials, their detailing, and their decoration. In addition, the Dissertation investigates the extent to which Pugin’s architecture was actually historicist, reviving English or Continental Gothic forms and details. The Dissertation further investigates Pugin’s professional practice as a domestic architect, defining the nature of his partnership with his favoured building contractor, George Myers, in the context of contemporary contracting practice. The practical problems of Pugin’s constructions, and the character of his professional relationship with his clients are also assessed. The thesis proposes that elements of Pugin’s architectural theory existed previous to his career amongst English architectural writers and critics, but that medium and small houses designed between 1800 and the mid-1840s were overwhelmingly based on a limited number of conventionalised plans. It will show that Pugin’s residential planning was inherently different from that of these conventional buildings, and that it is classifiable into a number of distinct categories. This thesis furthermore argues that Pugin’s residential architecture was often far from functional and was not essentially historicist. This thesis will show that the planning of medium and small houses changed radically from the 1840s, incorporating aspects of planning which Pugin had pioneered; a conclusion suggests to what extent Pugin’s architectural creativity was expressive of cultural change and preoccupation beyond the realm of architecture. An Appendix is attached which summarises the chronology of all of Pugin’s known residential works.

The focus of this thesis is the Visio Baronti (VB), an account of a seventh-century monk's journey to the other world. This text serves as a metaphoric fulcrum to support a more extensive study of early medieval conceptions of the other world and the historical context in which visionary accounts were produced. Chapter 1 contains an introduction to ideas of the other world, a survey of types of visionary experiences, their uses, imitations and historiographical responses to them. Chapter 2 focuses on medieval and modern responses to visions. This chapter includes a survey of the terminology for dreams and visions found in theoretical writings, compares dream theory with otherworld visions and identifies medieval methods of determining the validity of a visionary experience. Chapter 3 investigates the manuscript tradition of the VB, in order to illuminate medieval receptions and treatments of this text. Because the text appears unusual for the seventh century, chapter 4 provides an analysis of the grounds for dating the VB to the seventh century, while chapter 5 treats the VB in its seventh-century monastic context and assesses what influences shaped this text. Chapter 6 compares Barontus's vision with ninth-century visions and other Carolingian writings to consider Carolingian interest in the VB in light of their contributions to the genre. Chapter 7 examines the artistic response to this text through an examination of the illustrations which accompany the text in the ninth-century St Petersburg manuscript. A brief conclusion to this study follows.

The prologue studies the Tory publication of Milton's Character of the Long Parliament (1681). It argues that the provenance of this tract is best explained if Milton did in fact attempt to include the Digression in his History of Britain. Further ambiguities in Milton's early reputation are discussed in a review of the History's reception. Chapter I surveys Milton's response to the long­ standing demand for a national history and briefly reconsiders his ideas on history and historiography. Chapter II proposes that his political sympathies led Milton to look to the British legends for his historical subject. The strong Protestant and Tudor associations of such native myth have been largely overlooked, and yet they bear strongly on Milton's proposals for a British historical poem. His reappraisal of the myths in the History indicates his disillusionment with his original historical project: and reflects his changing opinion of the national character. Chapter III charts Milton's response to the legends surrounding Lucius, Constantine and the early British church, and traces conflicts between his need to deny church history and his desire to rewrite it. It then turns to his curiously muted views on the Saxon church. Chapter IV compares the use of Gildas's De Excidio in the History with Milton's relative silence on Arthur. Milton's regard for this ancient British jeremiad recalls that of the Reformers and suggests the instability of his commitment to purely classical styles of historiography in his time. Chapter V surveys the conflicting ideological and religious pressures on the history of the Saxons and the Conquest and compares Milton's shifting response to these in his political tracts with his views in the History. The Epilogue returns to Milton's view of the national character, with special reference to the Digression. Presenting his references to climate theory in a wider context, it argues that in moving from a loosely predestinarian position to a belief in free will, Milton first sought some determining natural force to explain England's conduct through the ages.

This thesis seeks to develop our understanding of the Scriblerians' attitude towards 'scientific' discoveries, theories and practices, and in particular seeks to emphasize the significance of the cultural context of science. Chapter One analyses the satirical 'miscegenation' of alchemy, the new science and index learning in Swift's A Tale of a Tub, before outlining the relevance of Richard Bentley's Boyle lectures to Swift's early works. In Chapter Two consideration of Swift's depiction of Isaac Newton's involvement in the Wood's Halfpence affair in The Drapier's Letters leads to an analysis of the 'Voyage to Laputa' in the context of the political hegemony of Newtonianism in the Hanoverian court. The third chapter considers how Pope discriminated between areas of scientific enquiry: supporting Newton but wary of 'Newtonianism'; interested in science but suggesting it can become an obsession. While discussing lesser-known texts by Arbuthnot and Gay, Chapter Four attempts to show that the Scriblerians were intensely aware that the legitimation of scientific narratives depended upon creating boundaries between rival theories and practices: sites of cultural exchange they exploited in their satires. The Conclusion suggests that understanding Scriblerian attacks on science must acknowledge the widest possible cultural context and accept that on occasions the 'science' itself may not be the main satiric target.

Although civil societies in Central and Eastern Europe are often portrayed as similar, united by a shared communist past, they have developed along increasingly divergent trajectories over the past three decades. This article investigates the current state of civil society in the region and the role the institutional context plays in it. Drawing on historical institutionalism and the process of European integration, we classify the 14 countries under investigation into three distinct groups and analyze data from a survey of more than 350 local civil society experts. We find that, together with domestic governments, international donors and the EU are perceived as the most influential institutional actors for civil society organizations. Their respective influences, however, depend largely on a country's stage in the EU accession process. Overall, the study provides a differentiated mapping of civil society in this region and a better understanding of how the institutional context relates to a Country's civil society.

The thesis is an attempt to reconcile contradictions and devise historical meaning from a problematic text. The book is Wilhelm Reich's Character Analysis, first published in 1933. This influential psychoanalytic work embodies both a radical social theory and disturbing authoritarian attitudes. The thesis uses a variety of methodologies, in particular Roland Barthes' techniques for ascribing historical meaning to certain formal qualities of writing. The thesis proceeds from a summary of methodological studies in intellectual history and criticism, including those of I. A. Richards, R. G. Collingwood, and Dominick LaCapra, as well as Barthes, to a description of Character Analysis and its various historical contexts - biographical, social, and intellectual. The thesis relies on the authoritative biography of Reich, by Myron Scharaf, on autobiographical accounts by Reich's wife and son, on other texts in psychoanalytic social theory by Erik Erikson, Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, Georges Bataille, and Max Horkheimer, and on secondary scholarship on the origins of National Socialist ideology. The thesis argues that despite the influence of reactionary tendencies in Reich's personality and cultural and social milieu, Character Analysis remains a valuable work in the development of a convincing theory of liberation.

The trends in todays tele- and datacommunication market point toward using IP for all sorts of service delivery ranging from voice calls to TV. The next natural step in this evolution is to provide the same set of services to the end users independent of the access technology and device used. The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is an IP based telecommunications platform which targets this and lets the operators develop new services once which can then be used on many different devices.

This thesis examines the integration of IPTV and IMS. Can IMS be used to deliver TV services and can the IPTV set-top-boxes of today be used as clients in IMS? Since this is a new and previously unexamined area an explorative approach is taken. The aim is to identify how such an integration could be performed and the possible problems which have to be solved. To assist in this exploration a TV-push service based on IMS technology is constructed.

Based on the experiences from this service a general architecture for IPTV in IMS is suggested.

A number of problems crucial to solve for a successful integration are identified and possible solutions to these are discussed.

During my Ph.D., my research focused on the involvement and the role of mitochondrial potassium homeostasis in the context of pathophysiological processes. I have been working on three related projects, for which the common aspect is the study of the mitochondrial potassium homeostasis and its modulation by pharmacological tools. My thesis contains a general introduction, in order to give a general up-to-date overview covering all the topics treated during my Ph.D., followed by a collection of the papers where I gave my contribution. Concerning the first project, my studies provided new insights into the mechanism of action of an emerging pro-apoptotic, oncologically relevant molecule, namely salinomycin. This molecule was considered a valinomycin-like K+ ionophore. Its recent identification as a selective inducer of apoptosis in cancer stem cells (CSCs) and different types of non-stem cancer cells, together with the ability to spare healthy cells, led to an increased interest in unravelling its mechanism of action, poorly understood so far. Moreover, since salinomycin has been suggested to act as a K+ ionophore, it is expected to impact mitochondrial function; however detailed information on its mitochondrial effects were not available from the literature. Therefore, I explored its early effects on mitochondrial bioenergetics. In order to do this, I compared its activity with that of valinomycin (K+ ionophore) or of nigericin (K+/H+ exchanger), for which the action was already well defined by others in the past. By using different approaches, ranging from classical bioenergetic studies on isolated mitochondria to more innovative measurement of bioenergetic parameters on intact cells, and of course by exploiting different cellular biology techniques, it has been concluded that salinomycin mediates K+/H+ exchange across the inner mitochondrial membrane, similarly to nigericin. It has been observed that salinomycin was also able to induce cell death of cells lacking some crucial actors of the apoptotic pathway (Bax/Bak-less double- knockout MEF cells). These results were compatible with the idea of direct modulation of mitochondrial function. At this point, the specificity of its action on pathologic B cells isolated from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) versus B cells from healthy subjects has been investigated. The results indicated that salinomycin, when used above μM concentrations, exerts direct, mitochondrial effects, thus compromising cell survival, even in non-tumoral cells. These results were published in Managò et al., Cell Death and Disease, 2015. Having acquired the “know-how” to assess mitochondrial bioenergetic functions, I also actively contributed to a project carried out in collaboration with Prof. Erich Gulbins from University of Essen (Germany), where I also spent five months of my Ph.D. A strict collaboration between the lab where I did my Ph.D. and the lab of Prof. Gulbins led to the discovery of a mitochondrial voltage-gated potassium channel, mtKv1.3 and to the clarification of its important role during apoptosis. Mechanistically, it has been demonstrated that the pro-apoptotic protein Bax directly interacts with and inhibits mtKv1.3, via a toxin-like mechanism. The direct inhibition of mtKv1.3 leads to hyperpolarization, mitochondrial ROS production, opening of the permeability transition pore (PTP), release of cytochrome c and finally to apoptosis. In accordance to this model, direct pharmacological inhibition of mtKv1.3 by using the membrane-permeant Kv1.3 inhibitors Psora-4, PAP-1 and clofazimine leads to cell death in different types of cancer, as demonstrated by our group. The starting point of my second project was the fact that pyocyanin, a membrane-permeant toxin released by the Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa shows structural similarity to clofazimine, a membrane-permeant mtKv1.3 inhibitors. P. aeruginosa causes lung infections in immunocompromised patients and it is known that pyocyanin induces death of neutrophils, which plays an important role in the host’s early acute defence against pulmonary P. aeruginosa infections. However the exact mechanism of action of pyocyanin is still unknown therefore we determined whether its effect is related to Kv1.3 expression, given the crucial role of mtKv1.3 in apoptosis and the structural similarity of pyocyanin to mtKv1.3 inhibitors. First of all, it was observed by patch clamp experiments that pyocyanin is able to inhibit Kv1.3 current. At low concentration (up to 10µM), pyocyanin induced cell death preferentially in cells expressing Kv1.3. However, in the literature pyocyanin was mostly used at higher concentrations (50-100 µM), since in the sputum of patients with P. aeruginosa infections it might reach such a high concentration. Moreover, data from the literature suggested that pyocyanin might have a mitochondrial action and is able to produce high amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Therefore, it has been investigated how pyocyanin impacts on mitochondrial function on a short time scale when used at high concentration (at 50µM). Again, intact cells or isolated mitochondria were used to assay the effect of this compound. It has been shown that pyocyanin determines an instantaneous production of superoxide anion at mitochondrial sites and a rapid but incomplete dissipation of the mitochondrial membrane potential. Further, it has been observed that pyocyanin can replace the function of complex III, while it does not directly alter the function of complex I. Moreover, it has been shown that ROS production induced by pyocyanin activates the acid sphyngomyelinase, shown to be present in mitochondria. This event in turn leads to the formation of ceramide, induction of apoptosis and release of cytochrome c. Genetic deficiency of acid sphyngomyelinase or scavenging of ROS induced by pyocyanin prevented cell death in neutrophils, meaning that pyocyanin, at high concentrations, induces cell death via mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial acid sphyngomyelinase, independently of the expression of the voltage gated potassium channel Kv1.3. These results were published in Managò et al., Antioxidant and redox signaling, 2015. During the last period of my Ph.D, I also studied the effect of newly synthesized Psoralen derivatives and clofazimine for the treatment of cancer. Concerning the first group, they are specific inhibitors of the voltage gated potassium channel Kv1.3; the second one is a molecule already in use in clinic to treat pathologies like leprosy, which also inhibits Kv1.3 current. Due to their lipophilic structure, they are all membrane-permeant, therefore able to reach intracellular membranes, like inner mitochondrial membrane where the voltage gated potassium channel Kv1.3 is also expressed and active. As mentioned above, the specific inhibition of mtKv1.3 triggers cell death. It has previously been demonstrated that Psora-4, PAP-1 (Psoralen derivatives) and clofazimine are able to specifically induce apoptosis in cancer cells in vitro on many cancer cell lines, ex vivo on B-CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukaemia) cells obtained from patients and in vivo on melanoma tumour model. Following these promising results, in collaboration with Professor Cristina Paradisi (Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova), PAP-1 and clofazimine derivatives have been synthesized in order to make these molecules more soluble and mitochondriotropic (i.e.: increased tendency to target mtKv1.3). I tested the ability of these new compounds to induce cell death in cancer cells first in vitro. Since the results obtained on different cell lines in vitro were promising and death was strictly dependent on Kv1.3 expression, it has been decided to test these compounds also in vivo on a melanoma model and on a pancreatic cancer model. During my 2-month stay at the end of the first year of my Ph.D. at the Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, University of Kiel (Germany), I performed in vivo experiments, using PAP-1 derivatives and clofazimine on SCID mouse injected with Colo357, a human pancreas tumour Kv1.3 expressing cell line, obtaining a significant reduction of the mass of the tumour (Zaccagnino, Managò et al., under submission to Oncotarget). Moreover, PAP-1 derivatives have been tested on a melanoma model in vivo, obtaining relevant results (Leanza, Romio, Becker, Azzolini, Trentin, Managò et al., manuscript in preparation, not included in the present thesis). The treatment exerted an effect on cancer, without significant side effects on healthy tissues. Some of the most promising clofazimine-derivatives have been selected to be tested on cells deriving from acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patient. I carried out these experiments during my stay in Germany at the Department of Molecular Biology University of Duisburg-Essen. Blood samples came directly from the haematology ward of the university-hospital in Essen. So far, we obtained preliminary results which are however controversial, since different patients were diagnosed at different stage of the disease (i.e. have different levels of pathological cells) and AML itself is a heterogeneous disease at the molecular and cytogenetic level. Therefore this work has not been included in the thesis. Furthermore, I took part in a project of the laboratory of Prof. Holger Kalthoff (University of Kiel, Germany), concerning the study of the mechanism of action of a seaweed extract, for which I performed the experiments of bioenergetics (Geisen , Zenthoefer , Peipp , Kerber , Plenge , Managò et al., Marine drugs, 2015). Beside the laboratory-based projects, I also contributed to the preparation of two reviews, one concerning intracellular ion channels and cancer (Leanza, Biasutto, Managò et al., Frontiers on Physiology, 2013) and the other regarding in vivo pharmacological targeting of ion channels as possible therapeutic tool against cancer (Leanza, Managò et al., BBA Mol. Cell Research, 2015).
Durante il mio dottorato, la mia ricerca si è concentrata sul coinvolgimento e il ruolo dell'omeostasi mitocondriale di potassio (K+) in processi fisiopatologici. Ho lavorato su tre progetti correlati, per cui l'aspetto comune è lo studio dell’omeostasi del potassio mitocondriale e la sua modulazione tramite strumenti farmacologici. La mia tesi contiene un'introduzione generale, al fine di dare una descrizione generale aggiornata di tutti gli argomenti trattati durante il mio dottorato di ricerca, seguiti da una raccolta di pubblicazioni scientifiche in cui ho dato il mio contributo. Per quanto riguarda il primo progetto, i miei studi hanno fornito nuove informazioni sul meccanismo d'azione di una molecola pro-apoptotica emergente, rilevante dal punto di vista oncologico, nota come salinomicina. Questa molecola è stata considerata uno ionoforo di K+ simile alla valinomicina. La sua recente identificazione come induttore selettivo di apoptosi in cellule staminali tumorali (CSCs) e diversi tipi di cellule tumorali non-staminali, insieme alla sua capacità di risparmiare le cellule sane, ha portato a un interesse crescente verso la comprensione del suo meccanismo d'azione, poco noto finora. Inoltre, poiché è stato suggerito che la salinomicina agisca come uno ionoforo di K+, ci si aspetta un suo effetto sulla funzione mitocondriale. Tuttavia non erano disponibili in letteratura informazioni dettagliate sugli effetti mitocondriali di questa molecola. Pertanto, ho esplorato i suoi effetti istantanei sulla bioenergetica mitocondriale. Per fare questo, ho confrontato la sua attività con quella della valinomicina (ionoforo di K+) e della nigericina (scambiatore K+/H+), l'azione delle quali era già stata ben definita da altri in passato. Utilizzando diversi approcci, che vanno dagli studi bioenergetici classici su mitocondri isolati alla misurazione di parametri bioenergetici con strumenti più innovativi su cellule intatte, e, naturalmente, sfruttando diverse tecniche di biologia cellulare, si è concluso che la salinomicina media lo scambio K+/H+ attraverso la membrana mitocondriale interna , analogamente alla nigericina. Inoltre, è stato visto che la salinomicina è stata in grado di indurre la morte cellulare delle cellule prive di alcuni attori cruciali del processo apoptotico (doppio knock-out di Bax/Bak in cellule MEF). Questi risultati sono compatibili con l'idea di una modulazione diretta della funzione mitocondriale da parte della salinomicina. A questo punto, è stata studiata la specificità della sua azione su cellule B patologiche isolate da pazienti con leucemia linfatica cronica (CLL) versus cellule B di soggetti sani. I risultati hanno indicato che la salinomicina, quando usata sopra concentrazioni mM, esercita effetti mitocondriali diretti, compromettendo così la sopravvivenza delle cellule, anche di quelle non tumorali. Questi risultati sono stati pubblicati in Managò et al., Cell Death and Disease, 2015. Avendo acquisito il "know-how" per valutare le funzioni bioenergetiche mitocondriali, ho anche contribuito attivamente a un progetto realizzato in collaborazione con il Prof. Erich Gulbins dell'Università di Essen (Germania), dove ho anche trascorso cinque mesi del mio dottorato di ricerca. Una stretta collaborazione tra il laboratorio dove ho fatto il mio dottorato di ricerca e il laboratorio del Prof. Gulbins ha portato alla scoperta di un canale del potassio voltaggio-dipendente mitocondriale, mtKv1.3 e al chiarimento del suo importante ruolo durante l'apoptosi. Meccanicisticamente, è stato dimostrato che la proteina pro-apoptotica Bax interagisce direttamente con mtKv1.3 e lo inibisce, tramite un meccanismo simile a quello di alcune tossine. L'inibizione diretta di mtKv1.3 porta ad iperpolarizzazione, produzione di ROS a livello mitocondriale, apertura del poro di transizione di permeabilità (PTP), rilascio di citocromo c ed infine all'apoptosi. Secondo questo modello, l'inibizione farmacologica diretta di mtKv1.3 utilizzando inibitori di Kv1.3 permeanti la membrana come Psora-4, PAP-1 e clofazimina, porta alla morte cellulare in diversi tipi di cancro, come dimostrato dal nostro gruppo. Il punto di partenza del mio secondo progetto è stato l’evidenza che la piocianina, una tossina permeante la membrana rilasciata dal batterio Gram-negativo Pseudomonas aeruginosa mostra somiglianza strutturale alla clofazimina, un inibitore di Kv1.3 permeante la membrana. P. aeruginosa provoca infezioni polmonari nei pazienti immunocompromessi ed è noto che la piocianina induce morte cellulare nei neutrofili, che svolgono un ruolo importante nella difesa precoce acuta dell'ospite contro infezioni polmonari da P. aeruginosa. Tuttavia l'esatto meccanismo d'azione della piocianina è ancora sconosciuta quindi abbiamo voluto studiare se il suo effetto è legato all'espressione di Kv1.3, dato il ruolo cruciale di mtKv1.3 nell’apoptosi e l'affinità strutturale della piocianina agli inibitori di Kv1.3. Prima di tutto, è stato osservato dagli esperimenti di patch-clamp che la piocianina è in grado di inibire la corrente di Kv1.3. A basse concentrazioni (fino a 10 µM), la piocianina induce morte cellulare preferenzialmente in cellule esprimenti Kv1.3. Tuttavia, in letteratura la piocianina è stata utilizzata principalmente a concentrazioni più elevate (50-100 µM), poiché nell'espettorato di pazienti con infezioni da P. aeruginosa potrebbe raggiungere tale concentrazioni. Inoltre, diversi dati in letteratura hanno suggerito che la piocianina potrebbe avere un'azione mitocondriale ed è in grado di produrre elevate quantità di specie reattive dell'ossigeno (ROS). Pertanto, è stato esaminato l'impatto della piocianina sulla funzione mitocondriale con cinetiche brevi, quando usata ad alta concentrazione (50 µM). Ancora una volta, cellule intatte o mitocondri isolati sono stati usati per saggiare l'effetto di questo composto. E 'stato osservato che la piocianina determina una produzione istantanea di anione superossido a livello di siti mitocondriali e una dissipazione rapida ma incompleta del potenziale di membrana mitocondriale. Inoltre, è stato visto che la piocianina può sostituire la funzione del complesso III, mentre non altera direttamente la funzione del complesso I. Infine, è stato dimostrato che la produzione di ROS indotta dalla piocianina attiva la sfingomielinasi acida, presente anche in mitocondri. Questo evento a sua volta porta alla formazione di ceramide, induzione di apoptosi e rilascio del citocromo c. La mancanza di espressione della sfingomielinasi acida o lo scavenging di ROS indotta dalla piocianina impedisce la morte cellulare in neutrofili, che indicando che la piocianina, ad alte concentrazioni, induce la morte cellulare attraverso specie reattive dell'ossigeno mitocondriali e sfingomielinasi acida mitocondriale, indipendentemente dall'espressione del canale del potassio voltaggio dipendente Kv1.3. Questi risultati sono stati pubblicati in Managò et al., Antioxidant and redox signaling, 2015. Durante l'ultimo periodo del mio dottorato di ricerca, ho anche studiato l'effetto di alcuni derivati di psoraleni di nuova sintesi e della clofazimina per il trattamento del cancro. Per quanto riguarda il primo gruppo, essi sono inibitori specifici del canale del potassio voltaggio dipendente Kv1.3; la seconda è una molecola già in uso in clinica per il trattamento di patologie come la lebbra, che agisce anche come inibitore della corrente di Kv1.3. Grazie alla loro struttura lipofila, sono tutti permeanti la membrana, quindi in grado di raggiungere le membrane intracellulari, come la membrana mitocondriale interna dove il canale del potassio voltaggio dipendente Kv1.3 è espresso e attivo. Come accennato in precedenza, l'inibizione specifica di mtKv1.3 innesca la morte cellulare. È stato dimostrato che Psora-4, PAP-1 e clofazimina sono in grado di indurre specificamente apoptosi nelle cellule tumorali in vitro su molte linee cellulari tumorali, ex vivo su cellule B ottenute da pazienti con leucemia linfatica cronica e in vivo su modello di melanoma. A seguito di questi risultati promettenti, in collaborazione con la Prof. Cristina Paradisi (Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Padova), sono stati sintetizzati derivati del PAP-1 e della clofazimina in modo da rendere queste molecole più solubili e mitocondriotropiche (i.e.: indirizzate al mitocondrio). Ho testato prima la capacità di questi nuovi composti di indurre morte cellulare nelle cellule tumorali in vitro. Poiché i risultati ottenuti su diverse linee cellulari sono stati promettenti e l’induzione di morte cellulare era strettamente dipendente dalla espressione Kv1.3, si è deciso di testare questi composti anche in vivo in un modello di melanoma e di tumore pancreatico. Durante il mio soggiorno di due mesi al termine del primo anno di mio dottorato presso l'Istituto per la ricerca sperimentale sul cancro, Università di Kiel (Germania), ho eseguito esperimenti in vivo, usando derivati del PAP-1 e clofazimina su topi SCID iniettati con Colo357, una linea di cellule tumorali umane di pancreas esprimenti Kv1.3, ottenendo una riduzione significativa della massa del tumore (Zaccagnino, Managò et al., under submission alla rivista Oncotarget). Inoltre, i derivati del PAP-1 sono stati testati su un modello in vivo di melanoma, dando risultati rilevanti (Leanza, Romio, Becker, Azzolini, Trentin, Managò et al., manoscritto in preparazione, non incluso nella presente tesi). Il trattamento ha esercitato un effetto sul tumore, senza rilevanti effetti collaterali sui tessuti sani. Alcuni dei più promettenti derivati della clofazimina sono stati selezionati per essere testati su cellule derivanti da pazienti con leucemia mieloide acuta (AML). Ho eseguito questi esperimenti durante il mio soggiorno in Germania presso il Dipartimento di Biologia Molecolare dell'Università di Duisburg-Essen. I campioni di sangue provenivano direttamente dal reparto di ematologia della clinica universitaria di Essen. Finora, abbiamo ottenuto risultati preliminari che sono però controversi, poiché i pazienti sono stati diagnosticati a diversi stadi della malattia (cioè hanno livelli differenti di cellule patologiche nel sangue) e poiché la leucemia mieloide acuta è di per sé una malattia eterogenea a livello molecolare e citogenetico. Questi studi non sono stati inclusi nella tesi. Inoltre, ho partecipato a un progetto del laboratorio del Prof. Holger Kalthoff (Università di Kiel, Germania), riguardante lo studio del meccanismo d'azione di un estratto di alghe marine, per il quale ho eseguito gli esperimenti di bioenergetica (Geisen, Zenthoefer, Peipp, Kerber, Plenge, Managò et al., Marine drugs, 2015). Oltre ai progetti basati sull’attività in laboratorio, ho anche contribuito alla preparazione di due review, una in materia di canali ionici intracellulare in relazione al cancro (Leanza, Biasutto, Managò et al., Frontiers on Physiology, 2013) e l'altra riguardante l’utilizzo in vivo di canali ionici come bersaglio farmacologico come possibile strumento terapeutico nella cura del cancro (Leanza, Managò et al., BBA Mol Cell. Research, 2015).

Decisions are the result of a deliberative process that evaluates the suitability of specific options. Studies about decision making have been mainly conducted by using restricted tasks in which humans or animals are requested to discriminate between options. However, the influence that factors related to embodiment, such as motor cost, might have on this process has frequently been ignored. In this thesis, we adopt a combined experimental and theoretical approach to examine the effect that such factors have on decision making. Our results confirm an important bias of behavior and neural activity resulting from factors related to embodiment that are external to the goal of the task itself. We use computational models to account for this bias and to shed some light on the neural mechanisms producing it. Our results translate into significant progress in the understanding of embodied decision making, providing new insights into neural mechanisms and theoretical models.
Las decisiones son el resultado de un proceso de deliberación que evalúa la idoneidad de opciones específicas. Los estudios acerca de la toma de decisiones han estado principalmente dirigidos usando tareas restringidas en las que a los humanos o animales se les pide escoger entre opciones. Sin embargo, la influencia que factores relacionados con la corporificación de la toma de decisiones podrían tener en este proceso se ha ignorado frecuentemente. En esta tesis, adoptamos un enfoque experimental y teórico combinado para examinar la influencia que estos factores tienen en la toma de decisiones. Nuestros resultados confirman un importante sesgado del comportamiento y de la actividad neuronal causados por factores que son externos al objetivo de la tarea en sí. Utilizamos modelos computacionales para interpretar este sesgado que, a su vez, nos da una intuición del mecanismo neuronal que los está produciendo. Nuestros resultados se traducen en un significante progreso en la comprensión de la toma de decisiones corporificada, aportando nuevos conocimientos sobre los mecanismos neuronales y modelos teóricos.
Les decisions són el resultat d'un procés de deliberació que avalua la idoneïtat d'opcions específiques. Els estudis sobre la presa de decisions han estat principalment dirigits fent servir tasques restringides a les quals, als humans o animals, se'ls demana escollir entre opcions. No obstant, la influència que factors relacionats amb la corporificació de la presa de decisions podrien tenir en aquest procés s'ha ignorat freqüentment. En aquesta tesi, adoptem un enfocament experimental i teòric combinat per tal d'examinar la influència que aquests factors tenen en la presa de decisions. Els nostres resultats confirmen un important esbiaixat del comportament i de l'activitat neuronal degut a factors externs a l'objectiu de la tasca en sí. Fem servir models computacionals per tal d'interpretar aquest esbiaixat que, a la vegada, ens dóna una intuïció del mecanisme que l'està produint. La tesi conclou amb la presentació d'un únic model que integra tots els descobriments presentats i que podria utilitzar-se com a nou marc teòric per a recerques futures. En general, els resultats inclosos aquí es tradueixen en un significant progrés a la comprensió de la presa de decisions corporificada, aportant nous coneixements sobre els mecanismes neuronals i models teòrics.

The purpose of this study is to advance understanding of the probable intentions of the current Soviet leadership in their initiatives for peace, cooperation, and disarmament. This study concludes that, rather than embodying new political thinking that might evoke well-founded hope in the West for genuine peace and stability, Soviet initiatives reflect a long-term Soviet orientation toward unilateral strategic advantage. The West should therefore respond to these initiatives with caution and vigilance. The primary methodology of this study is qualitative content analysis of key expressions of Soviet policy by authoritative spokesmen. Two areas of background to contemporary Soviet peace programs, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, 1973-75, and Soviet commentary on U.S. nuclear freeze movements in 1980-84, are examined as well. Keywords: Balance of power, Threats, International negotiations, East West relations, Western security international, Theses. (edc)

This thesis focuses on the Summa Angelica de casibus conscientie written by Angelo da Chivasso (d. 1495), first printed in 1486. Angelo belonged to the Observantine branch of the Franciscan Order and was its vicar general four times. Having documented Angelo's life and career, the thesis centres on the construction and purpose of his Summa. It assesses its originality within the tradition of confession manuals and the reasons for its popularity. It argues that the structure is very clear because Angelo intended it for the use of simplices confessores, by which he probably meant priests who did not have a university degree. He arranged his material alphabetically and in the longer sections, paragraphs were numbered, making cross-referencing easy. He included a list of authorities and explained the manner of quoting from them. Not all these features were original, but together they helped to make the Summa popular. There are several noteworthy features of Angelo's Summa. The procedures described had been laid down in earlier manuals, including the need for more rigorous questions - ad status – relating to the profession of each penitent and where this might lead to sin. Angelo however diverged from some earlier authorities by warning about excessive rigour. Circumstances were to be taken into account, and where possible penitents to be given the benefit of the doubt. The number of copies of Angelo's Summa printed throughout Western Christendom during his lifetime and following his death are a tribute to its importance. The period of fame however, was short. Martin Luther was a particularly virulent critic of the Summa, and the Catholic Church changed the method of hearing confessions, making much of it redundant, though it survived for some centuries more as a work of reference for confessors.

Ripon Minster has usually been discussed in the context of England’s cathedrals and monastic churches. Its status as parish church has been overlooked. This thesis examines its role as parish church and its place in the society of its parish. An interdisciplinary approach is employed to analyse both the building and the institution. The following subjects are addressed: the exercise of power and authority by the minster clergy, the social significance of the use of space in the minster, the renovation of the church building after 1450, the minster as an employer of building craftsmen, and the minster as landlord. The Chapter of canons wielded significant power over the parish with its authority coming from St Wilfrid. The institutional aspect of the minster set it apart from most contemporary parish churches and had an effect on how parishioners could use and alter the building, and also had a significant impact on liturgy and commemoration. Nevertheless, lay foundation of guilds within the minster and widespread support for the building campaigns after 1450 demonstrate devotion to the minster as parish church. By analysing the use of the building, the disruptive effects of the tower repair and nave renovation campaigns are demonstrated. While the primary focus is on the building and its use, the minster cannot be understood in its social context without examining it in the wider parish. Analysis of the chapels and charitable institutions of the parish shows that the minster became increasingly important as parish church around 1400. The Fabric’s employment practices and urban estate management are also significant in that they show how the minster’s needs fuelled the building industry and shaped the urban landscape in a time when the Fabric was forced to respond to the social changes caused by the Black Death.

This thesis comprises a critical examination of Information System Strategy (ISS) formation in a public sector context, namely the Police Service in Scotland. Despite the apparent importance attached to ISS, and the proliferation of many methods to assist those engaged in ISS formation, the practice of ISS formation remains comparatively ill-understood. The concepts of strategy and power can be viewed as being closely linked. Using theory based accounts of power, we put forward a multi-dimensional conceptualisation of power as an aid to organisational analysis of ISS formation. Consequently, the focus of this work is not only a detailed investigation into ISS formation practice, but also one in which we evaluate the way in which a multi-dimensional conceptualisation of power affects our understanding of ISS formation practice. This research is based upon six longitudinal case studies of ISS formation in the Police Service. Data collection involved a number of methods: in-depth semi-structured interviews, informal conversation, participation, collection of documentation produced within the case study settings, and collation and analysis of documentary materials from secondary sources. The abstraction of several themes from a cross-case comparative analysis of issues has led to the development of a conceptual framework which underpins our contribution to knowledge: namely, a means of understanding ISS formation as micro-political activity, based upon an ongoing process of construction and reconstruction of social reality. This in turn can be considered as being based upon individual mental constructs, which in turn are influenced by the themes identified. Our framework has been developed as an epistemological device to aid thinking about ISS formation, rather than as a representation of what an ISS formation process is. Implicit in the framework is the contention that ISS formation reflects power relations; however, the practical difficulties in researching power issues should not be underestimated. Several areas for further research arising from this thesis are discussed.

The broadcasting sector is a subject of continual debate in modern society. One of the oldest segments of the rapidly-evolving information technology and communications industry, it is still the most content rich and the most popular. Australians who watch television spend more time doing so than doing any other leisure activity – except those who fish (ABS 1998). Broadcasting is highly pervasive. Some kind of service is available and used in every Australian household. Everyone is an expert, everyone has an opinion. Since the Federal Government decided to allow the introduction of domestic subscription television in 1992, pay television has been broadly dismissed by its media rivals as being unpopular, unprofitable and unnecessary. In turn, the Australian pay television industry considers that it is over-regulated, especially compared to the free-to-air sector, and that much of this regulation severely constrains its ability to grow its subscriber base. This thesis examines whether the Australian subscription television industry has achieved the aims set for it by the legislators in 1992 – that is, whether it has ‘met its promise’. To achieve this, the thesis first identifies the ‘promises’ of an Australian subscription television industry. In assessing whether the industry has met its promise, the thesis considers various aspects of the industry, including what the industry has needed to do to make itself profitable and ensure its longevity and the environment within which the industry operates. The thesis examines the role that content plays in attracting subscribers and considers whether minimal content regulation has resulted in a paucity of local content on subscription television in Australia. The thesis draws on existing academic literature, government publications, information released by the subscription television industry itself and interviews conducted in the course of the project with the Australian subscription television sector. It also uses and builds on ratings data to examine the programs and channels that are offered by Australian pay television services. In concluding, this thesis makes an assessment of whether the Australian pay television industry has met its promise.

Electronic mail has become the medium of choice in most organizations because of some of its special features. E-mail, like all computer-mediated communication, changes the way we interact and has therefore an impact on working conditions, sometimes in a negative direction. Research findings so far show divergent opinions about how e-mail has influenced work.

The main purpose of this thesis is to understand and explain if and why there are possible negative outcomes of e-mail usage in organizations, and to use the findings to develop a guiding model for organizational e-mail use. In order to meet the goals set, earlier research in the area Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) that focus on the effects on the social system was used. This research is mainly based on theories of media choice and communication theories, which offer a valuable contribution for understanding why e-mail might be used in improper ways in organizations. Empirical data was collected in several steps using different techniques. The target group was managers in different kinds of organizations, but also administrative staff and teachers. The result shows that there are several reasons why e-mail usage might be a problem in organizations like expectations of fast feedback and being constantly updated, post absence backlog, too much information in e-mail, too many incoming e-mails, irrelevant information, decreased personal contact, a more sedentary work environment and e-mail splitting the respondents' time.

The contribution of this thesis is that possible negative aspects of e-mail use in organizations are due to a combination of factors. To overcome any organizational disadvantages of e-mail it is vital to consider the e-mail users' behaviors, feelings and attitudes in a specific organizational context in combination with e-mail's special features. A number of guidelines are presented to help organizations and individuals make e-mail use more efficient and satisfying.

This is a study of the long-term political economy of public health work in northern Ghana, and of the contingent application of medical knowledge under different political regimes. Covering the period from 1900 to 2000, the thesis asks how the north and its people's enduring peripherality - defined in various ways - shaped the evolution of public health institutions and conditioned the state's attention to particular diseases. It assesses key public health transitions across the century, including the creation of the north's Native Authority health system in the 1930s, the entrenchment of church authority for healthcare in the 1950s, and the government's gradual cession of medical oversight to international organisations from the late 1960s, a process which was partially reversed in the late 1990s. It examines specific disease control programmes against sleeping sickness, onchocerciasis, and guinea worm, for what they reveal about the social history of medical work on the margins of the state, and about the political contexts for population-level health interventions. Colonial-era tsetse control inadvertently contributed to the serious prevalence of onchocerciasis in the north at independence, and this high prevalence of onchocerciasis made northern Ghana a focus of international health fundraising ahead of the WHO Onchocerciasis Control Programme, which began in 1974. In the urban south, guinea worm disease was substantially reduced in the early twentieth century, but in the north the disease only received concerted attention from the 1980s. In the historical literature on health in Ghana, there are few studies which adequately disaggregate the north and its particular experiences of public health work. Using sources from northern regional archives, the archives of the World Health Organisation, and interview testimony from government health officials and village communities, the thesis aims to make a contribution to this area.

This research provides a quantitative analysis of data collected by the MRC funded 'Twins Early Development Study - Environment' also known as the E-Risk study. The E-Risk study is a national sample of 1116 families with twin children who were born in 1994-95. The families were home-visited in 1999-2000 when the children were 5 years old. Using a multi-disciplinary approach the research aims to build knowledge about risk factors and protective factors for childhood antisocial behaviour. Our analysis is fourfold. First, we examine how far distinct measures of parenting behaviour and maternal attitude impact on child antisocial behavioural outcomes. We define parenting behaviour as parental discipline, and measure it by our variable frequency of smacking. Maternal attitude is measured by four variables which assess maternal expressed emotion: maternal warmth, maternal positive comments, maternal negative comments and maternal negativity. Parenting behaviour and maternal attitude are examined from a 'between' family perspective. Second, we extend our analysis beyond the parent-child dyad and examine how far the wider context within which the child develops (Bronfenbrenner 1979), for example, family structure, marital conflict, poverty, and parental antisocial behaviour, impact on child antisocial behaviour outcomes. Third, we introduce our statistically significant parenting and contextual variables into a model to identify some of the key risk factors for antisocial behaviour in children aged 5 years old. Frequency of Smacking relates to both parents smacking of children, whilst maternal attitude measures the mother's attitude only. Lastly, we examine how far our four contextual factors impact on parenting practices. We continue by examining to what extent parenting behaviour and maternal attitude mediates the effect of these contextual factors on child antisocial behaviour at age 5 years old. Our research utilises the E-Risk sampling frame which oversampled younger mothers and we examine the results in terms of a weighted sample which is representative of all mothers and is referred to as 'all' mothers, a younger mother sample and an older mother sample.