Design Expressions and Dynamic Evaluation of CFST Bridges Subjected to Seismic Hazards

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Southeast Asia and China: The role of history and culture in shaping future relations

Despite the position of the United States as de facto global hegemon, China is a rising power in the world. As Chinese power grows, the projection of Chinese influence will be felt most acutely in Southeast Asia. Whether to accommodate, contain or resist China will depend on future developments that none can foresee, including Chinese ambitions, the policies of other international players (the U.S., Japan), and the cohesion or fragility of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN). This paper argues that in deciding how best to deal with China, two factors that will influence the countries of Southeast Asia are their own long histories of bilateral relations with China and their own differing conceptions of how foreign relations should be conducted. This is to argue that history and culture are central to any understanding of the likely future shape of China-Southeast Asia relations. Only by taking history and culture into account will analysts be in a position to predict how the mainland and maritime states of Southeast Asia are likely to respond to a more powerful, confident and assertive China.

Environmentalizing economic development: a South Asian perspective

South Asia's pursuit of economic development has entailed considerable damage to and exposed the fragility of the physical environment of the region. This paper provides an analytical overview of the of the environmental problem that manifest themselves in South Asia in a comparative perspective with East and Southeast Asian countries as well as selected developed market economics. To date, South Asian development process has been environment-intensive and environment-depleting. It is argued that environmental problems are likely to set serious constraints to sustain growth in production to support a growing population. By exploring the relationship between indices of human welfare and bio-diversity conservation. the paper exposes the dichotomy of the development process. Finally, the study underscores the need for a range of policy options that rely both based and non-market based instruments in an integrated setting to enviromnentalize South Asian economic development. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Third sector in transition - A question of sustainability for community service organizations and the sector?

Third sector organizations are transitioning towards entrepreneurial and managerial models as a result of quasi-market strategies. This paper reports on the research findings of a survey of nonprofit disability organizations in Queensland and Victoria impacted upon by quasi-market reform. Enterprising organizations were found to have made substantial change to organizational structures and systems, whilst more traditional organizations made few changes. All organizations demonstrated commitment to a social justice ethos. However across the organizational archetypes there were reports of an organizational 'fragility'. It is argued that the problems of sustainability of community service organizations that existed prior to quasi-market reforms remain. This implies community service organizations will experience ongoing difficulties in the post-market era without further rationalization and change. A conceptual framework for sustainability of the community service sector is presented at the policy and organizational level.

Size-corrected BMD decreases during peak linear growth: Implications for fracture incidence during adolescence

Peak adolescent fracture incidence at the distal end of the radius coincides with a decline in size-corrected BMD in both boys and girls. Peak gains in bone area preceded peak gains in BMC in a longitudinal sample of boys and girls, supporting the theory that the dissociation between skeletal expansion and skeletal mineralization results in a period of relative bone weakness. Introduction: The high incidence of fracture in adolescence may be related to a period of relative skeletal fragility resulting from dissociation between bone expansion and bone mineralization during the growing years. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between changes in size-corrected BMD (BMDsc) and peak distal radius fracture incidence in boys and girls. Materials and Methods: Subjects were 41 boys and 46 girls measured annually (DXA; Hologic 2000) over the adolescent growth period and again in young adulthood. Ages of peak height velocity (PHV), peak BMC velocity (PBMCV), and peak bone area (BA) velocity (PBAV) were determined for each child. To control for maturational differences, subjects were aligned on PHV. BMDsc was calculated by first regressing the natural logarithms of BMC and BA. The power coefficient (pc) values from this analysis were used as follows: BMDsc = BMC/BA(pc). Results: BMDsc decreased significantly before the age of PHV and then increased until 4 years after PHV. The peak rates in radial fractures (reported from previous work) in both boys and girls coincided with the age of negative velocity in BMDsc; the age of peak BA velocity (PBAV) preceded the age of peak BMC velocity (PBMCV) by 0.5 years in both boys and girls. Conclusions: There is a clear dissociation between PBMCV and PBAV in boys and girls. BMDsc declines before age of PHV before rebounding after PHV. The timing of these events coincides directly with reported fracture rates of the distal end of the radius. Thus, the results support the theory that there is a period of relative skeletal weakness during the adolescent growth period caused, in part, by a draw on cortical bone to meet the mineral demands of the expanding skeleton resulting in a temporary increased fracture risk.

GESTÃO DE RISCO E GOVERNANÇA CORPORATIVA: AS EMPRESAS BRASILEIRAS NA BOLSA DE VALORES DE NOVA YORK

Esta dissertação trata da importância da Governança Corporativa e da Gestão de Risco para as empresas brasileiras que tem suas ações negociadas nas Bolsas de Valores de Nova York e de São Paulo. Tem como principais objetivos: a avaliação do atual estágio de adequação dessas empresas brasileiras às normas da Lei Sarbanes & Oxley, a confirmação da importância do gerenciamento de risco para a Governança Corporativa, buscando fazer uma associação da ocorrência de perdas patrimoniais com as ferramentas da gestão de risco e das fraudes com a fragilidade de normas de controle interno e com as normas emanadas dos órgãos externos regulatórios. O trabalho acadêmico, um estudo exploratório, teve como ponto de partida uma pesquisa bibliográfica de livros e artigos técnicos versando sobre Governança Corporativa com foco na gestão de riscos. A pesquisa foi feita através da leitura dos relatórios de administração das empresas selecionadas e a aplicabilidade das normas da Lei Sarbanes Oxley. Como conclusão foi possível confirmar com razoável certeza que as grandes perdas, que levaram empresas internacionais a quebra, ocorreram pela falta de uma eficaz gestão de risco ou por um deficiente sistema de controle interno associada a falta de ações preventivas. Por outro lado, apesar dos esforços das empresas brasileiras em se adequar às novas exigências para poder atuar no mercado financeiro do Brasil e dos Estados Unidos da América, parte das empresas pesquisadas ainda se encontra em fase de implementação dos Comitês de Auditoria, de Normas e Procedimentos de Controle Interno e das demais práticas de Gestão Corporativa. Novas pesquisas sobre o tema central deste estudo poderão ensejar no aprofundamento da questão da relação custo x benefício da implantação das práticas de Governança Corporativa e na questão da eficácia dos sistemas corporativos de gerenciamento e controle considerando os custos incorridos em sua implantação e manutenção e os benefícios obtidos. Propõe-se ainda um estudo que busque a revisão das responsabilidades das autoridades reguladoras no que tange ao controle ante e pós-fato. Um dilema a ser resolvido e que deve instigar futuros pesquisadores.(AU)

TRANSMISSÃO GERACIONAL E A PRESENÇA DA ESCOLA NA FORMAÇÃO DA CONSCIÊNCIA AMBIENTAL Estudo exploratório de famílias que convivem em áreas de proteção aos mananciais

Este projeto de pesquisa trata sobre a influência de processos educacionais e de conscientização junto a dois grupos de famílias, em três gerações, que convivem em áreas de proteção dos mananciais da represa Billings, reservas de produção hídrica de alta importância estratégica para gestão de um ambiente e seus ecossistemas frágeis com uma acentuada necessidade preservacionista e estrutural para a manutenção de sua qualidade para as atuais e futuras gerações. A importância dos resultados obtidos pela pesquisa sobre o longo processo de conscientização destas comunidades são fundamentais para perceber o status em que se encontram, seja a partir das condições e de seu status quanto as relações da escola na formação da consciência ambiental através de observações das condições de vida no próprio habitat, pela questão da terra, da relação fundiária conquistada quanto à propriedade em que residem, pelo esgotamento sanitário, incluindo condição e destino dos dejetos e águas residuárias, origem da água para dessedentação e da gestão sobre as doenças. Além destas questões este trabalho buscou importantes relações quanto às condições das fontes hídricas e seus usos múltiplos pela comunidade local, seja para lazer e consumo de bens naturais, tipos de tratamento da poluição e contaminação ambiental, infra-estrutura e equipamentos públicos existentes como suporte sustentável a qualidade de vida dos cidadãos locais.

Structure of liquid and glassy ZnCl2

The method of isotope substitution in neutron diffraction was used to measure the structure of liquid ZnCl2 at 332(5)?°C and glassy ZnCl2 at 25(1)?°C. The partial structure factors were obtained from the measured diffraction patterns by using the method of singular value decomposition and by using the reverse Monte Carlo procedure. The partial structure factors reproduce the diffraction patterns measured by high-energy x-ray diffraction once a correction for the resolution function of the neutron diffractometer has been made. The results show that the predominant structural motif in both phases is the corner sharing ZnCl4 tetrahedron and that there is a small number of edge-sharing configurations, these being more abundant in the liquid. The tetrahedra organize on an intermediate length scale to give a first sharp diffraction peak in the measured diffraction patterns at a scattering vector kFSDP?1 Å-1 that is most prominent for the Zn-Zn correlations. The results support the notion that the relative fragility of tetrahedral glass forming MX2 liquids is related to the occurrence of edge-sharing units.

Rationality as a barrier to peace:micro-evidence from Kosovo

Despite a significant expansion of the literature on conflicts and fragility of states, only a few systematic attempts have been made to link the theoretical literature on social conflicts to the available micro-level information about the people who are involved in these conflicts. We address this lacuna in the literature using a household-level data set from Kosovo. Our analysis suggests that it is individually rational for competing ethnic communities, Kosovar Albanians and Kosovar Serbs, to resist a quick agreement on a social contract to share the region's resources.

Structure of glassy GeO2

The full set of partial structure factors for glassy germania, or GeO2, were accurately measured by using the method of isotopic substitution in neutron diffraction in order to elucidate the nature of the pair correlations for this archetypal strong glass former. The results show that the basic tetrahedral Ge(O-1/2)(4) building blocks share corners with a mean inter-tetrahedral Ge-O-Ge bond angle of 132(2)degrees. The topological and chemical ordering in the resultant network displays two characteristic length scales at distances greater than the nearest neighbour. One of these describes the intermediate range order, and manifests itself by the appearance of a first sharp diffraction peak in the measured diffraction patterns at a scattering vector k(FSDP) approximate to 1.53 angstrom(-1), while the other describes so-called extended range order, and is associated with the principal peak at k(PP) = 2.66( 1) angstrom(-1). We find that there is an interplay between the relative importance of the ordering on these length scales for tetrahedral network forming glasses that is dominated by the extended range ordering with increasing glass fragility. The measured partial structure factors for glassy GeO2 are used to reproduce the total structure factor measured by using high energy x-ray diffraction and the experimental results are also compared to those obtained by using classical and first principles molecular dynamics simulations.

Ankyrin is the major oxidised protein in erythrocyte membranes from end-stage renal disease patients on chronic haemodialysis and oxidation is decreased by dialysis and vitamin C supplementation

Chronically haemodialysed end-stage renal disease patients are at high risk of morbidity arising from complications of dialysis, the underlying pathology that has led to renal disease and the complex pathology of chronic kidney disease. Anaemia is commonplace and its origins are multifactorial, involving reduced renal erythropoietin production, accumulation of uremic toxins and an increase in erythrocyte fragility. Oxidative damage is a common risk factor in renal disease and its co-morbidities and is known to cause erythrocyte fragility. Therefore, we have investigated the hypothesis that specific erythrocyte membrane proteins are more oxidised in end-stage renal disease patients and that vitamin C supplementation can ameliorate membrane protein oxidation. Eleven patients and 15 control subjects were recruited to the study. Patients were supplemented with 2 × 500 mg vitamin C per day for 4 weeks. Erythrocyte membrane proteins were prepared pre- and post-vitamin C supplementation for determination of protein oxidation. Total protein carbonyls were reduced by vitamin C supplementation but not by dialysis when investigated by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Using a western blot to detect oxidised proteins, one protein band, later identified as containing ankyrin, was found to be oxidised in patients but not controls and was reduced significantly by 60% in all patients after dialysis and by 20% after vitamin C treatment pre-dialysis. Ankyrin oxidation analysis may be useful in a stratified medicines approach as a possible marker to identify requirements for intervention in dialysis patients.

Europe’s Growth Emergency

Highlights: • The European Union growth agenda has become even more pressing because growth is needed to support public and private sector deleveraging, reduce the fragility of the banking sector, counter the falling behind of southern European countries and prove that Europe is still a worthwhile place to invest. • The crisis has had a similar impact on most European countries and the US: a persistent drop in output level and a growth slowdown. This contrasts sharply with the experience of the emerging countries of Asia and Latin America. • Productivity improvement was immediate in the US, but Europe hoarded labour and productivity improvements were in general delayed. Southern European countries have hardly adjusted so far. • There is a negative feedback loop between the crisis and growth, and without effective solutions to deal with the crisis, growth is unlikely to resume. National and EU-level policies should aim to foster reforms and adjustment and should not risk medium-term objectives under the pressure of events. A more hands-on approach, including industrial policies, should be considered.

A produção científica de psicologia e o debate sobre política social

Postgraduate studies in Psychology have passed through intense process of growth and consolidation, attested by current high levels of scientific production. It is questionable, however, the return that psychological science has given to a society that has made large investments. Considering the increasing integration of Psychology in the social welfare area, a form of possible and necessary contribution is by the expansion of social policy debate. This work aimed to discuss how Psychology postgraduate studies can contribute to understand the issue of social policy. The object were academic theses defended in the 2007/2009 triennium related to one of the five thematic criteria, which resulted in 105 theses of 824 defended in the period. The main results point to the existence of the issue in Psychology programs in a sprayed way, predominantly, albeit for a limited set of researchers and programs, "social policy" appears as a priority object of research, indicating incipient systematization of these studies. Moreover, it was found that while the majority of theses can be characterized by fragility of the theoretical frameworks in relation to the subject, with most research in a strictly technical perspective, some proportion of the studies reveals concern about putting the social policy debate into a broader social context, which represents the essential condition to construct a reasoned and robust theoretical critic. In conclusion, this thesis defends that psychological science can only contribute effectively to the society development if academic community promotes a structured articulation around the theme, deepens the theoretical debate and transforms the knowledge built into organized political practice

Unidades geoambientais e áreas de preservação permanente como instrumentos de auxílio para o planejamento ambiental - o caso da via costeira de Natal-RN

Brazilian law provides a series of rules and policies which regulate space use and occupancy as well as guide environmental planning. Among those are the Permanent Preservation Areas (PPAs) which purpose is to ensure the preservation of elements that are essential to maintain the environmental function and landscape. Another important instrument identifier of spaces are geoenvironmental units, which are synthesis elements grouping areas of similar characteristics and can be used for the analysis of risk, fragility and potential use of spaces. The geoenvironmental units are defined by more complex processes (information integration), focusing not only on individual elements, but being determined from a systemic analysis. Is It possible to identify and delineate APPs from the identification and determination of geoenvironmental units? The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of geoenvironmental units in the process of identification and delineation of APPs a see how much of the study area, the area by the Coast line in Natal/RN, is still good for occupation. It was used the physiognomic method, in which the limits of the units are plotted on a synthetic document (aerial photographs), valuing aspects of relief in a range of detail by the analysis of systemic categories (element, structure, function and interaction), observed. The methodology used allowed the identification and delineation of eleven geoenvironmental units and, from these, it was possible to identify and delineate four out of the five PPAs occurring in the study area. Only a small space of 1.2 ha of the study area is not considered APP by law. Thus, the occupation of the unoccupied area by the Coast line is not feasible from a legal standpoint. The geoenvironmental units as well as the identified and delineated APPs in the area by the Coast line are spaces which preservation is guaranteed by law in various scopes and are necessary to maintain the environmental functions of the area. The planning for the use and occupation of the area should involve the recovery of degraded areas and the creation of elements that make possible the use as well as attract the community, as provided in the initial planning, by ensuring the public utility and social interest in the Project.

Argumentação em foco: a perspectiva de avaliação do ENEM

Nowadays ENEM is the main large-scale evaluation instrument of Brazilian education. Universities also often use it in order to select their candidates. Reading exam seeks to evaluate student’s capacity of producing argumentative and dissertation prose writing about a social, scientific, cultural or political theme. This paper is located in this context: we want to discuss the evaluation of ENEM’s Writing Exam argumentation. Our startpoint is presuppose that the capacity to develop a well-argued text evaluation goes through several specific skills, which cover different aspects of what is understood about argumentation process. Therefore, considering argumentation as an object of different theoretical approaches and covers different concepts, we intend to verify not only the approaches, but also subjacent concepts and how they were converted into skills and competences established on the ENEM Writing Exam’s matrix of correction. With regard to the nature, it is a theoretical paper, in other words, we intend to offer only a discussion about the theme, not necessarily offering a practical application. Concerning to the goals, it has an exploratory character as we intend to offer a problem treatment, in order to make it more explicit and them construct some hypotheses. In these terms, we surveyed some theoretical approaches about argumentation and presented three conceptions: rhetorical argumentation, textual argumentation and linguistics argumentation. At next, we analyzed the participant’s guide (ENEM’s 2013 Writing Exam ) and how each one of these conceptions are mobilized in the writing evaluation, beginning from how they are considered on the description of competences and skills up to used on correction. This analysis shows that is not assumed a very well established theoretical base, which can contribute to a certain fragility on the Writing Exam evaluation process.