"Project work" : um estudo de caso numa escola pública portuguesa

Relatório da Prática de Ensino Supervisionada, Mestrado em Ensino de Inglês e Espanhol, Universidade de Lisboa, 2014

Avaliação de fiabilidade de sistemas elétricos e de automação em instalações de frio industrial

Dissertação para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica Ramo de Energia/Automação e Eletrónica Industrial

Finding an upper bound on the increase in execution time due to contention on the memory bus in COTS-based multicore systems

Contention on the memory bus in COTS based multicore systems is becoming a major determining factor of the execution time of a task. Analyzing this extra execution time is non-trivial because (i) bus arbitration protocols in such systems are often undocumented and (ii) the times when the memory bus is requested to be used are not explicitly controlled by the operating system scheduler; they are instead a result of cache misses. We present a method for finding an upper bound on the extra execution time of a task due to contention on the memory bus in COTS based multicore systems. This method makes no assumptions on the bus arbitration protocol (other than assuming that it is work-conserving).

Proposta de modelo para obtenção do Work Index das rochas

Este trabalho pretende estabelecer uma relação entre o Work Index e algumas propriedades das rochas. Através da pesquisa bibliográfica foram identificadas varias propriedades com possível influência no valor do Work Index, das quais foram seleccionadas a massa volúmica aparente, a resistência à carga pontual, a composição química, a composição mineralógica e a abrasividade. Adicionalmente a porosidade aberta e resistência à compressão também foram analisadas. Assim foram analisadas 10 amostras de rocha, quatro de granitos, uma de quartzodiorito, uma de ardósia, uma de serpentinito, uma de calcário, uma de mármore e uma de sienito nefelínico, sobre as quais já eram conhecidos os valores de cinco das propriedades referidas previamente, tendo sido determinados os valores das ainda desconhecidas, resistência à carga pontual e a abrasividade que está representada através do resultado do ensaio capon. Devido à dificuldade de execução do ensaio de determinação do Work Index de Bond foram recolhidos dados bibliográficos de valores do Work Index para as amostras de rocha seleccionadas e adoptado o valor médio para cada uma. Os dados obtidos foram tratados estatisticamente através do método de análise de componentes principais assim como através de regressões lineares simples e múltiplas. A análise de componentes principais permitiu identificar várias propriedades da rocha com possível influência sobre o Work Index de entre as analisadas. Foi possível estabelecer uma relação entre o Work Index e quatro das propriedades seleccionadas, designadamente a porosidade aberta, a resistência à compressão, a resistência à carga pontual e a abrasividade.

Essays on bounded rationality: Individual decision and strategic interaction

Economics is a social science which, therefore, focuses on people and on the decisions they make, be it in an individual context, or in group situations. It studies human choices, in face of needs to be fulfilled, and a limited amount of resources to fulfill them. For a long time, there was a convergence between the normative and positive views of human behavior, in that the ideal and predicted decisions of agents in economic models were entangled in one single concept. That is, it was assumed that the best that could be done in each situation was exactly the choice that would prevail. Or, at least, that the facts that economics needed to explain could be understood in the light of models in which individual agents act as if they are able to make ideal decisions. However, in the last decades, the complexity of the environment in which economic decisions are made and the limits on the ability of agents to deal with it have been recognized, and incorporated into models of decision making in what came to be known as the bounded rationality paradigm. This was triggered by the incapacity of the unboundedly rationality paradigm to explain observed phenomena and behavior. This thesis contributes to the literature in three different ways. Chapter 1 is a survey on bounded rationality, which gathers and organizes the contributions to the field since Simon (1955) first recognized the necessity to account for the limits on human rationality. The focus of the survey is on theoretical work rather than the experimental literature which presents evidence of actual behavior that differs from what classic rationality predicts. The general framework is as follows. Given a set of exogenous variables, the economic agent needs to choose an element from the choice set that is avail- able to him, in order to optimize the expected value of an objective function (assuming his preferences are representable by such a function). If this problem is too complex for the agent to deal with, one or more of its elements is simplified. Each bounded rationality theory is categorized according to the most relevant element it simplifes. Chapter 2 proposes a novel theory of bounded rationality. Much in the same fashion as Conlisk (1980) and Gabaix (2014), we assume that thinking is costly in the sense that agents have to pay a cost for performing mental operations. In our model, if they choose not to think, such cost is avoided, but they are left with a single alternative, labeled the default choice. We exemplify the idea with a very simple model of consumer choice and identify the concept of isofin curves, i.e., sets of default choices which generate the same utility net of thinking cost. Then, we apply the idea to a linear symmetric Cournot duopoly, in which the default choice can be interpreted as the most natural quantity to be produced in the market. We find that, as the thinking cost increases, the number of firms thinking in equilibrium decreases. More interestingly, for intermediate levels of thinking cost, an equilibrium in which one of the firms chooses the default quantity and the other best responds to it exists, generating asymmetric choices in a symmetric model. Our model is able to explain well-known regularities identified in the Cournot experimental literature, such as the adoption of different strategies by players (Huck et al. , 1999), the inter temporal rigidity of choices (Bosch-Dom enech & Vriend, 2003) and the dispersion of quantities in the context of di cult decision making (Bosch-Dom enech & Vriend, 2003). Chapter 3 applies a model of bounded rationality in a game-theoretic set- ting to the well-known turnout paradox in large elections, pivotal probabilities vanish very quickly and no one should vote, in sharp contrast with the ob- served high levels of turnout. Inspired by the concept of rhizomatic thinking, introduced by Bravo-Furtado & Côrte-Real (2009a), we assume that each per- son is self-delusional in the sense that, when making a decision, she believes that a fraction of the people who support the same party decides alike, even if no communication is established between them. This kind of belief simplifies the decision of the agent, as it reduces the number of players he believes to be playing against { it is thus a bounded rationality approach. Studying a two-party first-past-the-post election with a continuum of self-delusional agents, we show that the turnout rate is positive in all the possible equilibria, and that it can be as high as 100%. The game displays multiple equilibria, at least one of which entails a victory of the bigger party. The smaller one may also win, provided its relative size is not too small; more self-delusional voters in the minority party decreases this threshold size. Our model is able to explain some empirical facts, such as the possibility that a close election leads to low turnout (Geys, 2006), a lower margin of victory when turnout is higher (Geys, 2006) and high turnout rates favoring the minority (Bernhagen & Marsh, 1997).

Education in the halls : students' perspectives on cultural expression and resistance

This research is a qualitative study of cultural reproduction and resistance from students' perspectives. Thirteen teenagers (eight in attendance in regular high schools and five drop-outs) were recruited to take part and were involved to varying degrees through interviews, journal writing, and group interactive sessions. A purposive sampling design was used initially to recruit individuals known to the researcher through contacts in an alternate education setting. Other participants were recruited throughout the research phase. The theoretical aspects are premised on the work of Paul Willis, Michel Foucault, and Pierre Bourdieu. The reflexive praxeology of Bourdieu reflects the position taken as one way of understanding how students construct and respond to the situations of cultural dominance they experience in schools. The same reflexivity is offered for suggestions as to how teachers can respond to their own position in the education system.

Icewine fermentation by Saccharomyces cervisiae : fundamental stress responses and comparative fermentation dynamics

Please consult the paper edition of this thesis to read. It is available on the 5th Floor of the Library at Call Number: Z 9999.5 B63 P54 2007

Empowering Nursing Leaders to Facilitate Healthy Work Environments: First Steps

The purpose of this project was to examine the literature for perspectives on healthy work environments (HWE). HWEs have been identified as important factors in the nursing profession to enhance recruitment, retention, job satisfaction, and accountability. This paper identifies that the front line manager is an essential role within organizations, and directly impacts work environments. Within this paper it has been pointed out that professional organizations have provided some general recommendations for improving work environments which include increasing nurses’ accountability and teamwork, providing opportunities for shared decision making, having supportive leadership, providing recognition, educational support, and adequate staffing. However, enacting them all can be difficult due to front line manager capacity, the impending nursing shortage, organizational resources and barriers. Based on the literature, conclusions have been drawn and recommendations for future research have been identified. HWE strategies have been developed with implementation plans for my practice area.

The reception of Eugen Wüster’s work and the development of terminology

L’objectif principal de cette thèse est d’explorer et d’analyser la réception de l’œuvre d’Eugen Wüster afin d’expliquer comment ses travaux ont influencé le développement disciplinaire de la terminologie. Du point de vue historique, les travaux de Wüster, en particulier la Théorie générale de la terminologie, ont stimulé la recherche en terminologie. Malgré des opinions divergentes, on s’entend pour reconnaître que les travaux de Wüster constituent la pierre angulaire de la terminologie moderne. Notre recherche vise spécifiquement à explorer la réception de l’œuvre wüsterienne en étudiant les écrits relatifs à cette œuvre dans la littérature universitaire en anglais, en espagnol et en français entre 1979 et 2009, en Europe et en Amérique. Réalisée dans le cadre du débat sur la réception de l’œuvre de Wüster, cette étude se concentre exclusivement sur l’analyse des critiques et des commentaires de son œuvre. Pour ce faire, nous avons tenu compte de la production intellectuelle de Wüster, de sa réception positive ou négative, des nouvelles approches théoriques en terminologie ainsi que des études portant sur l’état de la question en terminologie entre 1979 et 2009. Au moyen d’une recherche qualitative de type exploratoire, nous avons analysé un corpus de textes dans lesquels les auteurs : a. ont cité textuellement au moins un extrait d’un texte écrit par Wüster ; b. ont référé aux travaux de Wüster dans la bibliographie de l’article ; ou c. ont fait un commentaire sur ces travaux. De cette manière, nous avons cerné les grandes lignes du débat autour de la réception de son œuvre. Les résultats de notre étude sont éloquents. Ils offrent une idée claire de la réception des travaux de Wüster dans la communauté scientifique. Premièrement, Wüster représente une figure centrale de la terminologie moderne en ce qui concerne la normalisation terminologique. Il fut le premier à proposer une théorie de la terminologie. Deuxièmement, la contextualisation appropriée de son œuvre constitue un point de départ essentiel pour une appréciation éclairée et juste de sa contribution à l’évolution de la discipline. Troisièmement, les résultats de notre recherche dévoilent comment les nouvelles approches théoriques de la terminologie se sont adaptées aux progrès scientifiques et techniques. Quatrièmement, une étude menée sur 166 articles publiés dans des revues savantes confirme que l’œuvre de Wüster a provoqué des réactions variées tant en Europe qu’en Amérique et que sa réception est plutôt positive. Les résultats de notre étude font état d’une tendance qu’ont les auteurs de critiquer les travaux de Wüster avec lesquels, dans la plupart des cas, ils ne semblent cependant pas être bien familiarisés. La « méthodologie des programmes de recherche scientifique », proposée par Lakatos (1978) et appliquée comme un modèle interprétatif, nous a permis de démontrer que Wüster a joué un rôle décisif dans le développement de la terminologie comme discipline et que la terminologie peut être perçue comme un programme de recherche scientifique. La conclusion principale de notre thèse est que la terminologie a vécu des changements considérables et progressifs qui l’ont aidée à devenir, en termes lakatosiens, une discipline forte tant au plan théorique que descriptif.

Figures of Time : Preemptive Narratives in Recent Television Series

Faute de droits d'auteurs pour les captures d'écrans, mon document ne contient pas d'images. Si vous voudriez consulter ma thèse avec les images, veuillez me contacter.

A Study On Vortex Knots

In this thesis an attempt is made to study vortex knots based on the work of Keener . It is seen that certain mistakes have been crept in to the details of this paper. We have chosen this study for an investigation as it is the first attempt to study vortex knots. Other works had given attention to this. In chapter 2 we have considered these corrections in detail. In chapter 3 we have tried a simple extension by introducing vorticity in the evolution of vortex knots. In chapter 4 we have introduced a stress tensor related to vorticity. Chapter 5 is the general conclusion.Knot theory is a branch of topology and has been developed as an independent branch of study. It has wide applications and vortex knot is one of them. As pointed out earlier, most of the studies in fluid dynamics exploits the analogy between vorticity and magnetic induction in the case of MHD. But vorticity is more general than magnetic induction and so it is essential to discuss the special properties of vortex knots, independent of MHD flows. This is what is being done in this thesis.

Studies on the effect of selected metals on the productivity of two species of algae

The thesis embodies the results of a study on the variations in the parameters of productivity of two test species, a chlorophycean alga and a diatom. The chlorophycean alga Scenedesmus abundans was isolated from a fresh water pond whereas the diatom Nitzschia clausii was from the Cochin backwaters. Their growth parameters and their variations due to the effect of addition of some heavy metals have been studied. The growth parameters include biomass, production, respiration, photosynthetic pigments and end products of photosynthesis. The cell numbers were estimated by using a haemocytometer and production and respiration by oxygen light and dark technique. Spectrophotometric analysis for pigments, anthrone method for carbohydrate and heated biuret method for protein were the different methods employed in the present investigation. The present study is confined to nickel, cobalt, trivalent and hexavalent chromium. Different metals are discharged from various industries in and around Cochin. The effects of these metals individually and in combination are studied. Experiments to determine the effects of interaction of metals in combination enabled the assessment of the antagonistic and synergistic effect of metals on test species. The concentration or accumulation of metals on algae was determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The thesis has been divided into seven chapters. The introductory chapter explains the relevance of the present investigation. Chapter two presents the review of literature based on the work in relation to toxicity. Third chapter gives a detailed description of the material and specialized methods followed for the study. The effects of various metals selected for study - nickel, cobalt, trivalent and hexavalent chromium on the qualitative and quantitative aspects of productivity forms the subject of matter of the fourth chapter. The fifth chapter gives the impact of metals in combination on two species of algae. A general discussion and summary are included in the sixth and seventh chapters

Decent work?

Pastoralism and ranching are two different rangeland-based livestock systems in dryland areas of East Africa. Both usually operate under low and irregular rainfall and consequently low overall primary biomass production of high spatial and temporal heterogeneity. Both are usually located far from town centres, market outlets and communication, medical, educational, banking, insurance and other infrastructure. Whereas pastoralists can be regarded as self-employed, gaining their livelihood from managing their individually owned livestock on communal land, ranches mostly employ herders as wage labourers to manage the livestock owned by the ranch on the ranches’ own land property. Both production systems can be similarly labour intensive and – with regard to the livestock management – require the same type of work, whether carried out as self-employed pastoralist or as employed herder on a work contract. Given this similarity, the aim of this study was to comparatively assess how pastoralists and employed herders in northern Kenya view their working conditions, and which criteria they use to assess hardship and rewards in their daily work and their working life. Their own perception is compared with the concept of Decent Work developed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Samburu pastoralists in Marsabit and Samburu Districts as well as herders on ranches in Laikipia District were interviewed. A qualitative analysis of 47 semi-structured interviews yielded information about daily activities, income, free time, education and social security. Five out of 22 open interviews with pastoralists and seven out of 13 open interviews with employed herders fully transcribed and subjected to qualitative content analysis to yield life stories of 12 informants. Pastoralists consider it important to have healthy and satisfied animals. The ability to provide food for their family especially for the children has a high priority. Hardships for the pastoralists are, if activities are exhausting, and challenging, and dangerous. For employed herders, decent conditions are if their wages are high enough to be able to provide food for their family and formal education for their children. It is further most important for them to do work they are experienced and skilled in. Most employed herders were former pastoralists, who had lost their animals due to drought or raids. There are parallels between the ILO ‘Decent Work’ concept and the perception of working conditions of pastoralists and employed herders. These are, for example, that remuneration is of importance and the appreciation by either the employer or the community is desired. Some aspects that are seen as important by the ILO such as safety at work and healthy working conditions only play a secondary role to the pastoralists, who see risky and dangerous tasks as inherent characteristics of their efforts to gain a livelihood in their living environment.

Prevalencia de los síntomas otorrinolaringológicos y factores asociados en los trabajadores de una central de llamadas en la ciudad de Bogotá Colombia

La industria de las centrales de llamadas es uno de los sectores de más rápido crecimiento en el mundo desarrollado, gracias a los avances tecnológicos han permitido su uso cada vez más generalizado desarrollando servicios integrales que son accesibles las 24 horas del día. Los operadores telefónicos o tele-operadores de esta industria se ven enfrentados a jornadas laborales en las que se exponen al uso constante de la voz, utilización permanente de auriculares de comunicación, confinamiento en estaciones de trabajo delimitadas pero no aisladas; aumentando así la prevalencia de síntomas como los otorrinolaringológicos. Este estudio tiene como objeto identificar la prevalencia de síntomas otorrinolaringológicos dados por alteraciones de la voz, compromiso auditivo y síntomas de la vía respiratoria superior durante la jornada laboral de los trabajadores de una central de llamadas de una prestigiosa empresa aseguradora de la ciudad de Bogotá Colombia, así como también identificar la asociación de factores demográficos organizacionales y biológicos con los síntomas otorrinolaringológicos y analizar el medio ambiente laboral de dicha empresa y la relación de los síntomas otorrinolaringológicos con mediciones de ruido, temperatura y humedad. La población estudiada fue de 81 tele operadores de los cuales 61 (75.3%) fueron mujeres, se evidencio que las enfermedades respiratorias altas tienen una prevalencia del 36%, también se reporto una prevalencia del 85% (69) tele operadores reportaron por lo menos un síntoma de voz y solo 12 tele operadores 15% no reportaron ningún síntoma. En cuanto a la hipoacusia solo 5 (6.2%) reportaron disminución de la agudeza auditiva

Give or take: thoughts on museum collections as working tools and their connection with human beings

This paper proposes a look at museums from the perspective of sociomuseology, an area of research and practice under development in countries such as Portugal, Brazil and Spain. Sociomuseology was born from the Latin new museology tradition and is closely connected with the International Movement for a New Museology (MINOM/ICOM). The Lusofona University in Lisbon offers MA and PhD programmes in Sociomuseology. The University supports a research centre in Sociomuseology and publishes the journals Cadernos de Sociomuseologia, in Portuguese, and Sociomuseology, in English (for more information see http://tercud.ulusofona.pt.). Sociomuseology concerns the study of the social role of museums and of the continuous changes in society that frame their trajectories. The practice of sociomuseologists is based on their work with the different dimensions of social and community development from ecomuseums to networking and other ways of organizing social action in the 21st century in which heritage plays a strategic role.