Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'System/environment paradigm'

While biological scientists justify their research into human genetic engineering on the grounds of its 'therapeutic' potential, art - particularly the genre of science fiction (whose origins can be traced to Mary Shelly's famous tale, Frankenstein) - has acted on the social through culture to alert us to the perilous repercussions of usurping the role of the 'Creator of Life.' Now, at the dawn of the new millennium, the scientific project of mapping human DNA seemingly complete, the plight of the genetically-engineered human has become an intense focus of cultural critique. This doctoral project can be differentiated by its focus on aesthetic inquiry into the implications for expressions and representations of corporeality in relation to contemporary biomedical engineering. It has incorporated stem cell research that entails the manipulation and redirection of adult stem cell fates. The project takes the form of practical and theoretical investigations into cellular responses, and is framed within the matrices of both an innovative collaborative art/science research model and the evolving process of practice-led arts research. The exploratory research is discursively located within the system/environment paradigm. This allows for boundaries between the philosophic and scientific disciplines of: 1. epistemology, 2. ethics and aesthetics and 3. biology and technology to become nodes in a relational network associated with: 1. living and non-living, 2. sentience and consciousness and 3. conceptions of humanness. The cycle of practice-led research culminates in a body of work that began with a project entitled apoptosis, and developed into a three part quasi-scientific vital force series of installations. Each of these installations references nineteenth century scientific experimental processes employed in a search for the essential components of the human being itself. The series of interactive installations is discussed and the processual, pioneering research model, whereby the artist becomes the 'human guinea pig' is theoretically and visually articulated. In addition, time-lapse videomicrograph image data, collected through laboratory experiments is interpreted and recontextualised by the artist-researcher for representation in the vital force series of immersive installations. In these installations the implications of the issues raised by biomedical engineering processes are expressed as a very physical, tactile encounter. The aim is that these encounters engender a multi-sensory experience for the individual viewer, who, when immersed in the aesthetic, corporeal, interactive installations as a participant who completes the work through their engagement. Thus, the significance of the study lies in its re-privileging of the aesthetic experience of corporeality in the discourses surrounding genetic manipulation. This exegesis, like the doctoral project itself, is cyclical; following the inseparable processes of theory and practice through which the implications of the core research issues for a hybrid art/science practice are explored. It echoes the qualitative, post-positivist research methodology used throughout the project, which aimed to overcome the third person perspective through such strategies as interactivity and hybridity.

While biological scientists justify their research into human genetic engineering on the grounds of its 'therapeutic' potential, art - particularly the genre of science fiction (whose origins can be traced to Mary Shelly's famous tale, Frankenstein) - has acted on the social through culture to alert us to the perilous repercussions of usurping the role of the 'Creator of Life.' Now, at the dawn of the new millennium, the scientific project of mapping human DNA seemingly complete, the plight of the genetically-engineered human has become an intense focus of cultural critique. This doctoral project can be differentiated by its focus on aesthetic inquiry into the implications for expressions and representations of corporeality in relation to contemporary biomedical engineering. It has incorporated stem cell research that entails the manipulation and redirection of adult stem cell fates. The project takes the form of practical and theoretical investigations into cellular responses, and is framed within the matrices of both an innovative collaborative art/science research model and the evolving process of practice-led arts research. The exploratory research is discursively located within the system/environment paradigm. This allows for boundaries between the philosophic and scientific disciplines of: 1. epistemology, 2. ethics and aesthetics and 3. biology and technology to become nodes in a relational network associated with: 1. living and non-living, 2. sentience and consciousness and 3. conceptions of humanness. The cycle of practice-led research culminates in a body of work that began with a project entitled apoptosis, and developed into a three part quasi-scientific vital force series of installations. Each of these installations references nineteenth century scientific experimental processes employed in a search for the essential components of the human being itself. The series of interactive installations is discussed and the processual, pioneering research model, whereby the artist becomes the 'human guinea pig' is theoretically and visually articulated. In addition, time-lapse videomicrograph image data, collected through laboratory experiments is interpreted and recontextualised by the artist-researcher for representation in the vital force series of immersive installations. In these installations the implications of the issues raised by biomedical engineering processes are expressed as a very physical, tactile encounter. The aim is that these encounters engender a multi-sensory experience for the individual viewer, who, when immersed in the aesthetic, corporeal, interactive installations as a participant who completes the work through their engagement. Thus, the significance of the study lies in its re-privileging of the aesthetic experience of corporeality in the discourses surrounding genetic manipulation. This exegesis, like the doctoral project itself, is cyclical; following the inseparable processes of theory and practice through which the implications of the core research issues for a hybrid art/science practice are explored. It echoes the qualitative, post-positivist research methodology used throughout the project, which aimed to overcome the third person perspective through such strategies as interactivity and hybridity.<br>Thesis (Professional Doctorate)<br>Doctor of Visual Arts (DVA)<br>Queensland College of Art<br>Full Text

A "Specification Document" was developed for the design of a constructivist, hypermedia learning environment (CHLE) to facilitate the knowledge construction of fractions. Specifications for the design of the CHLE were created from an investigation into children's knowledge construction of fractions. This entailed a review of the mathematical structure of fractions to build fraction tasks which were then used to investigate children's understandings of fractions. The investigation was couched in the constructivist paradigm. Guba and Lincoln's (1989) methodology of constructivist inquiry incorporating the Hermeneutic Dialectic Circle was adopted. Clinical interviews, talk-aloud protocols and non-participant observations operated within the Hermeneutic Dialectic Circle. Findings from the investigation addressed: (i) teaching interventions, (ii) children's strategies for solving the fraction tasks, and (iii) the goodness of the analog objects used in the tasks. Teaching interventions involved task sequencing and teaching episodes to assist children over impasses or gaps in their knowledge. Task sequencing moved from circular region models to rectangular region models and length models. One to six analog objects (representative of these three models) were shared between two, three, four, five and six people. Task sequencing was unique for each child and contingent upon each child's knowledge constructions of fractions. Findings indicated that children who did not possess sound knowledge of the partitive quotient fraction construct relied heavily upon their knowledge of the part-whole fraction construct to quantify each person's share. In most cases, this knowledge was fractured and incomplete, therefore most teaching episodes focused on partwhole notions. Children employed four categories of strategies to solve the tasks. These strategies were categorised according to their ability to: (i) generate fair shares, (ii) facilitate the accurate quantification of each of the shares, and (iii) facilitate a conceptual mapping between the concrete activity and the partitive quotient fraction construct. Category 1 strategies met all three criteria. Category 2 strategies met only the first two criteria. Category 3 strategies met only the first criteria and Category 4 strategies met none of the criteria. The goodness of the analog objects was judged according to three criteria: (i) ecological validity, (ii) abstract ability, and (iii) ease of partitioning. Findings revealed that the icecream bar (rectangular region model) and the licorice strap (length model) were easier to partition than the pizza and apple pie (circular region models) but lacked ecological validity. The pizza and apple pie had ecological validity but were difficult to partition. The cake ("wide" rectangular region model) did not have ease of partitioning because it supported both vertical and horizontal partitioning. The circular region models of the pikelet and the pancake did not satisfy any of the criteria and were not considered suitable analogs for inclusion in the design of the CHLE. The findings from the teaching interventions and strategies were translated into "Content" specifications, and the findings from the goodness of the analog objects were translated into "Context" specifications. These two sets of specifications informed the Specification Document for the design of the CHLE. Specifications were presented as: (i) scenarios which correlated instructional objectives of the CHLE with "WHAT" the children should do to meet these instructional objectives and "HOW" the system should address the "WHAT", (ii) interface design as it applies to Object Orientated User Interfaces (OOUI's), and (iii) vignettes which are supported with accompanying screens to indicate screen layout, typography, language, graphics, illustrations, and the look, feel and operation of the system. The CHLE was designed to embody realistic contexts in which children construct their own knowledge as a consequence of their experiences with the fraction tasks.

Transportation is a key component of the urban realm due to its high fossil fuel consumption, GHG emissions and pollution generation (among other negative externalities) that have been aggravated by an individual motor vehicle-driven society. In order to achieve a balanced urban growth for the future, the transportation paradigm requires a complete shift that will depend upon a change on people’s behaviors and perceptions about mobility. Being the biggest, most populous city of Brazil and the western hemisphere, as well as the financial motor behind the country’s economy, São Paulo currently faces a very serious transportation problem: an extremely high car per capita ratio in conjunction with a deficient public transport network. Furthermore, socioeconomic disparities exert an additional pressure to this dilemma, limiting the access to mobility and deeply embedding the car from a cultural standpoint. Given its prominence, São Paulo is the ideal city to evaluate how specific cultural and socio- spatial niches can steer a cultural paradigm shift that could ultimately trigger a socio-technical transition towards sustainability. In this case study, the role of policies, technology, and infrastructure as policymaking instruments are analyzed in the context of urban spaces in emergent nations, where political and economic structures are strong social determinants. Moreover, this study has shown how these instruments could not only produce a new set of mobility practices (or a new transportation culture) but also the creation of an equitable and thriving urban environment.

Même si la littérature présente de nombreux ouvrages qui analysent le système de gestion environnementale (SME) au niveau de l'organisation, très peu mettent l'accent sur la qualité de l'intégration de ce système (toutes les pratiques environnementales intégrées), la qualité analysée à travers les facteurs qui l'influencent et caractérise également l'orientation de l'organisation pour les questions environnementales. Le but principal de la thèse de doctorat, c'est d'élaborer diverses méthodologies quantitatives et qualitatives, méthodes et outils de travail pour améliorer le processus de mise en oeuvre, l'intégration et le fonctionnement qui définissent le système de gestion de l'environnement au niveau de l'organisation. Pour atteindre l'objectif visé par la thèse, on a démarré une recherche, basée sur la méthode du questionnaire, sur un échantillon de plus de 70 organisations, principalement des organisations industrielles du secteur NE de la Roumanie, au niveau de 178 responsables. Les contributions théoriques et pratiques les plus importantes apportées sont les suivantes: (1) la clarification et la synthèse des facteurs potentiels les plus importants qui ont un caractère général et applicable pour toute organisation, des facteurs qui peuvent agir comme des " obstacles " dans le processus de mise en oeuvre du système de gestion environnementale (2) le développement et la proposition d'un modèle théorique SME - conformément à la norme ISO 14001, comme processus complexe, cette approche scientifique est unique et originale au niveau de la littérature spécialisée consultée; (3) le développement d'un cadre conceptuel et des méthodologies de recherche cohérentes qui permettent l'étude quantitative et qualitative de la relation entre l'orientation de l'organisation en matière de gestion de l'environnement et la qualité de la mise en oeuvre du SME, (4) le développement d'un modèle systématique pour améliorer le processus de prise de décision environnementale, (5) le développement d'une méthodologie d'enquête sur l'importance du système de connaissance de l'environnement, en raison de son influence sur la qualité de la prise de décision environnementale et d'une méthode simple pour quantifier le degré d'importance de ce système; (6) le développement de modèle montrant: (a) l'architecture de l'ensemble des influences entre les variables qui décrivent la mise en oeuvre du SME et de la qualité de l'intégration sous certaines conditions, (b) l'estimation des corrélations entre les facteurs spécifiques à l'orientation de l'organisation en ce qui concerne la gestion de l'environnement et la variabilité synthétique / globale qui définit la qualité de mise en oeuvre / intégration du EMS; (7) la proposition et le développement de solutions pratiques pour améliorer la qualité de la mise en oeuvre du SME et d'intégration au niveau des organisations du NE de la Roumanie; (8) le développement d'un cadre conceptuel et une méthodologie cohérente de recherche, qui donnent la possibilité d'évaluer l'amélioration de la mise en oeuvre du SME et la qualité de l'opération par la transformation de son architecture basée sur la paradigme de la philosophie fractale<br>Although the literature presents many works that analyze the Environmetal management system (EMS) at the organization level, very few focus on the quality of integration of this system (all integrated environmental practices), quality analyzed through the factors that influence it and also characterizes the organization's orientation to environmental issues. The main purpose of the doctoral theses it's to elaborate various quantitative and qualitative methodologies, methods and work tools to improve implementation, integration ans functioning process that define the Environmental Management System at the organizational level. In order to achieve the intended purpose of theses, it was conducted a research, based on questionnaire method, with a sample of over 70 organizations mainly industrial organization from N-E of Romania, at the level of 178 managers. Most important practical and theoretical contributions made, are: (1) clarification and the synthesis of the most important potential factors tant have a general character unaniously valid for any organization, factors that may act as a " barriers " in the implementing process of an Enviromental managmenent system; (2) development and proposal of EMS theoretical model - in accordance with ISO 14001, as a complex process; this scientific approach is unique and original in the specialized littrature level consulted; (3) development of a conceptual framework ans a coherent research methodologies that allow quantitative and qualitative study of the relationship between the organization orientation in environmental management issues and EMS implementation quality; (4) Development of a systematic model to improve environmental decision making process; (5) development of an investigation methodology of the environmental knowledge system importance due to its influence on the quality of the environmental decision and of a simple method to quantify the importance level of this system; (6) development of models showing: (a) architecture of all influences between variables that describe the organization's orientation regarding environmental management and variables that describe EMS implementation and integration quality under certain conditions; (b) estimation of correlations between organization's orientation synthetic variable/ global that defines EMS implementation/ integration quality; (7) proposal and development of practical solutions to improve the quality of EMS implementation and integration at N-E Romania organizations level; (8) development of a conceptual framework and a coherent research methodology, that allow possibility to evaluate improvement of EMS implementation and operation quality by transforming and adapting its architecture based on fractal philosophy paradigm

This study is centred on transformation towards sustainable living. It investigated how global education prepares learners to live a sustainable lifestyle. To explore this area, the concept of sustainability, global education and transformative learning were critically examined, with a view to finding their relationships. Literature on sustainability, transformative learning and global education were reviewed to find out how their relationships impact on international students learning about sustainable living. The focus of the thesis is on environmental sustainability, especially through management of anthropogenic factors. The mixed methods research, involving the collection of quantitative and qualitative data was employed for the study. Quantitative data collection was done using survey instruments while qualitative data collection was through face-to-face interview of research participants. Each set of data was collected and analysed separately. The outcomes of the analysis of the two sets of data were integrated at the stage of discussion of findings. The aim of the study was to find out whether global education transforms learners towards sustainable living. Findings from the study showed that global education field transforms students towards sustainable living. Evidence from the study suggests that global education help students to acquire the skills and knowledge required for living sustainably. Also, the actions and behaviours of international students were found to be influenced more towards sustainable lifestyle than those from the host country. The degree of transformation students experience was measured by attitude change, intention to change and actions of students toward the environment. This study contributed to the conceptual understanding of the relationship between global education and transformation of learners towards sustainable living. It made both theoretical and practical contribution to knowledge. The findings from the study will be of benefit to different impact groups. These groups include business organisations, policy makers in government, educational institutions, and individuals.

Este trabalho descreve o desenvolvimento de um ambiente integrado para modelagem, simulação e implementação de sistemas de tempo real distribuídos (STRD), especialmente aqueles voltados para automação industrial. O ambiente proposto faz use do paradigma de orientação a objetos, sendo baseado no ambiente SIMOO, desenvolvido no Âmbito de uma tese de doutorado no CPGCC. A motivação para a realizado deste trabalho surgiu através de alguns estudos de caso, que constataram que as ferramentas CASE existentes não incorporavam todas as propriedades desejadas em termos de suporte para modelagem e implementação dos STRD. Dentre estas propriedades, destacam-se a capacidade para especificação de restrições temporais, o suporte a simulação do modelo desenvolvido e a capacidade de geração automática de código para a aplicação final. O ambiente proposto tem por objetivo suprir as carências observadas, adicionando ao ambiente SIMOO original facilidades para a descrição de restrições temporais e facilidades para descried° de comportamento do modelo desenvolvido. Além disso, é incorporada ao ambiente a capacidade de geração automática de código em uma linguagem que suporte as restrições temporais descritas no modelo. Este trabalho foi desenvolvido no contexto do projeto ADOORATA (A Distributed Object-Oriented Architecture for Real-Time Automation), como parte do Programa de Cooperação entre Brasil e Alemanha, financiado pelas agencias CNPq e DLR.<br>This work describes the development of an integrated object-oriented environment for modeling, simulation and implementation of distributed real-time systems (DRTS), especially those conceived for industrial automation. This work extends the SIMOO environment, conceived as part of a Ph.D. thesis in the CPGCC at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Its motivation began during some case studies, which concluded that existing CASE tools don't incorporate all the desired features for modeling and implementation of DRTS. Among these features, capacities to specify timing constraints, to simulate/animate the model and to automatically generate the final application code are highlighted. The proposed environment intends to overcome these lacks, adding to the original environment features for the specification of timing requirements and the application behavior, allowing the creation of an object-oriented simulation model. Additionally it automatically generates the application executable code, which makes use of the incorporated specifications to guarantee its correctness. This work has been developed within the context of the ADOORATA project (A Distributed Object-Oriented Architecture for Real-Time Automation), as part of the Brazilian-German Cooperation Program, sponsored by CNPq and DLR.

The broad theme of this thesis is engineering decision-making. The various factors that shape technological development are investigated using the development of Sydney's sewerage system as a case study. The thesis focuses on various key decisions, past and present, including the choice of water-carriage technology for sewage collection, the selection of sewage treatment technologies, and on-going preference of engineers and bureaucrats for ocean disposal. Also covered are the legislative and regulatory mechanisms, the policies of the Sydney Water Board with regard to industrial waste disposal and the relationship between the Board and the public. A study was made of historical documents, engineering reports and papers, parliamentary debates, annual reports, minutes, newspaper reports and secondary sources and personal interviews were conducted. Various bodies of literature were referred to and used, including the books and articles on the history and sociology of engineers, the politics of expertise and public participation and the emerging discipline of science and technology studies. It is concluded that the development of Sydney's sewerage system has been shaped by social, political and economic factors and that engineers have played a pivotal role in the decisions made through their deliberate shaping of knowledge and the performance of predictions they have made for various options. The decisions made in this way have been defended against public opinion and public participation in the decision-making process has been kept to a minimum. This thesis supports the argument that technology is socially constructed, that the technical cannot be separated from the social, and that an interactive model of technological development is more appropriate than a linear, causal one. It shows that the role of power in the shaping of technology is crucial, and in particular the alliance of state and professional power that occurs in the shaping of public sector technology.

Os paradigmas da teoria de metacomunidades atribuem diferentes graus de importância à dispersão, filtros ambientais, interações bióticas e processos estocásticos na organização de comunidades. Incluir atributos funcionais em conjunto com aspectos espaciais da estrutura da paisagem pode resultar em uma poderosa ferramenta para a investigação dos diferentes processos que atuam na organização de comunidades biológicas. Neste estudo, utilizamos o potencial de análise e de levantamento de hipóteses que os atributos funcionais proporcionam em uma metacomunidade de peixes, formada por 37 lagoas em uma bacia hidrográfica na região costeira do sul do Brasil (29º37’ a 30º30’ de latitude Sul e 49º74’ a 50º24’ de longitude Oeste). Os objetivos deste trabalho foram identificar qual é a relação entre a diversidade taxonômica com índices de redundância e diversidade funcional. Também verificar se variáveis espaciais são determinantes na variação de índices funcionais, e das composições taxonômica e funcional, e se ocorrem padrões de convergência e de divergência de atributos. Através de sistemas de informação geográfica (imagens Spot e Landsat-TM5), estas lagoas foram mapeadas e delas foram obtidas variáveis estruturais (área, forma, distância do mar, coeficiente de variação da área, conectividade primária e conectividade estuarina). Os dados da ictiofauna foram obtidos através de amostragem padronizada, utilizando-se redes de espera, e uma série de atributos relacionados às habilidades de dispersão e de uso de recursos alimentares foram tomados. A diversidade taxonômica demonstrou ser fortemente correlacionada com a redundância e a diversidade funcional. Os modelos que melhor explicam a redundância funcional são aqueles que incluíram a forma e o coeficiente de variação da área das lagoas, mas a diversidade funcional não foi predita significativamente por nenhuma variável espacial. Não foram encontrados padrões de convergência e de divergência de atributos, e lagoas semelhantes em suas características espaciais não possuem composição funcional similar. Nossos resultados sugerem que o paradigma neutro de metacomunidades é a abordagem que melhor explica a estruturação deste sistema, o qual prediz equivalência funcional entre espécies.<br>The metacommunity theory paradigms attribute different degrees of importance to dispersal, environmental filtering, biotic interactions and stochastic processes in community assembly. To include the jointly use of functional traits with the spatial aspects of landscape structure could result in a powerful tool for the investigation of the different processes involved in the organization of biological communities. In this study, we used the potential of analysis and survey of hypotheses that functional traits provide in a fish metacommunity, composed by 37 lagoons in a river basin in the coastal region of southern Brazil (29º37' to 30°30' south latitude and 49º74' to 50°24' west longitude). The aims of this work were to identify the relation between taxonomic diversity indices with redundancy and functional diversity. Also, it was verified if spatial variables are determinants for the variation in functional indices, taxonomic and functional composition of fishes. We also look for trait convergence and trait divergence assembly patterns. Through geographic information systems (Spot e Landsat-TM5 images), these lagoons were mapped and were quantified structural variables (area, shape, distance to the ocean, coefficient of variation of area, primary connectivity and estuarine connectivity). Ichthyofauna data were obtained through standardized sampling, using gillnets, and a set of traits related to dispersal abilities and use of food resource were obtained. The taxonomic diversity showed to be strongly correlated with functional diversity and redundancy. The models that best explain the functional redundancy are those involving the shape and area variation coefficient, however, the functional diversity was not significantly predicted by any spatial variable. We did not find trait convergence and trait divergence assembly patterns, and lagoons that share similar spatial features do not have similar functional composition. Our results suggest that the neutral metacommunity paradigm is the approach which has the best explanation for the structure of this system, which predicts functional equivalence among species.

A presente dissertação tem por objetivo discutir a importância de uma postura resiliente para a busca do urbanismo sustentável. O termo \"sustentável\" e suas variantes passaram por um desgaste nas últimas décadas, formando uma barreira prejudicial à sua aplicação efetiva. A \"resiliência\", surge, então, como uma forma de revisitar a questão, através de um conceito oriundo da física, que possibilita conceber uma transposição teórica para a arquitetura e o urbanismo, disciplinas nas quais o tema pode colaborar na formulação de novas ferramentas e conceitos aplicáveis ao planejamento e projeto. Almeja-se, através da sua conceituação teórica, contribuir para a elaboração de uma postura resiliente e promover o termo \"resiliência urbana\" em direção ao enfrentamento da crise urbana, ocasionada pelo crescimento vertiginoso da urbanização mundial e da consequente aglomeração populacional nas cidades. Nos países em desenvolvimento, essa abordagem pode ser de grande utilidade, dado que a crise urbana é fortalecida pelo avanço da informalidade e pela formação de novos tecidos urbanos às margens do planejamento. O conceito de resiliência, neste caso, possibilita uma discussão voltada às questões de espontaneidade, improvisos, constantes mudanças e transformações, inerentes à condição urbana, se discutido dentro de uma abordagem de Sistemas Adaptativos Complexos. Para tanto, elaborou-se uma análise reflexiva, a fim de aferir a transferência da teoria para prática, a partir de três projetos urbanos já implantados: as intervenções em torno da Línea K, em Medellín, Colômbia, o sistema teleférico do Complexo do Alemão e o Parque Sitiê, ambos na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. A partir daí, pôde-se constatar que a visão sistêmica adaptativa e complexa da resiliência traz a possibilidade de promover a inter-relação entre sociedade, economia e ambiente na construção do meio urbano e, assim, encorajar uma nova postura frente a difusão de um Urbanismo Sustentável.<br>The present dissertation aims to discuss the importance of a resilient posture in the search for a sustainable urbanism. The term \"sustainable\" and its variants have gone through a wear and tear through the last few decades, forming a barrier which prejudices its effective application. The \"resilience\" term then appears as a way of revisiting this matter, through a concept derived from physics, that allows a theoretical transposition to architecture and urbanism disciplines in which the subject can cooperate in the formulation of new tools and concepts that can be applied into planning and project design process. Over the theoretical conception, it is intended the contribution on the elaboration of a resilient attitude and therefore promotes the term \"urban resilience\" towards the current urban crisis, caused by the dramatical growth of the world urbanization and the consequent population cluster within cities. In developing countries, the approach can be very useful, given that the urban crisis is strengthened by the rise of informality and the formation of new urban networks at the edge of planning actions. The concept of resilience, in this case, enables a discussion focused on spontaneity issues, improvisations, changes and transformations, inherent to the urban condition, discussed within a Complex Adaptive Systems approach. However to elaborate a reflexive analysis it is necessary to verify the transformation of theory into practice from three urban projects already implemented: Line K\'s urban interventions in Medellín, Colombia, cable car system at Alemão Complex and Sitiê Park, both in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In conclusion, an adaptive and complex systemic view of resilience has the potential to promote an interrelationship between society, economy and environment during the construction of an urban environment and therefore encourage a new attitude towards the diffusion of Sustainable Urbanism.

У диссертаційному дослідженні розроблені теоретико-методологічні, науково-методичні та практичні засади, сформовано концепцію трансформації системи природокористування України на засадах "зеленої" економіки як нового етапу розвитку еколого-економічних відносин і просторово-сектральної парадигми, основним елементом якої є механізм реалізації принципів сталого розвитку, що забезпечує узгодження критеріїв економічної ефективності, соціальної стабільності та екологічної безпеки. При цитуванні документа, використовуйте посилання http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/36759

La investigación realizada a los sistemas de seguridad electrónica de edificios, plantea como objetivo principal el reconocimiento de tres gestos de un lenguaje corporal del personal de vigilancia, y la consecuente activación de alarma en forma automática. Inicialmente se realizó una encuesta dirigida a las administraciones y personal de edificios, para saber cuales eran las ocurrencias que vulneraban la seguridad de un edificio multifamiliar, luego se observaron y analizaron las imágenes capturadas por una cámara de vigilancia ubicada en la recepción, identificando las ocurrencias más vulnerables y gestos asociados a dichos eventos; se seleccionaron tres gestos que en forma inconsciente realizaba el personal de vigilancia ante dichas situaciones. A determinados cuadros que comprenden estas imágenes se le aplicaron técnicas de procesamiento espacial, con ayuda de una iluminación artificial que era más intensa en la parte posterior del sujeto de análisis, consiguiéndose la definición de una silueta binarizada en el entorno Matlab, técnicas como selección del plano rojo, plano de bits más significativo, invertir imagen y transformaciones morfológicas tipo cerradura, definieron una silueta que ayudó a desarrollar un algoritmo matemático para generar una señal eléctrica en el puerto serial USB del ordenador, donde se conectó físicamente una plataforma de hardware Arduino que activa la alarma. La elección de esta plataforma se debió a que Matlab cuenta con un grupo de instrucciones para Arduino, con el objetivo de lograr una comunicación sincronizada entre ordenador e interface. Las técnicas utilizadas reconocieron 62,5% de los eventos descritos en las encuestas realizadas y que no son mencionadas en temas de investigación similar. Para lograr el objetivo fue necesario analizar un cuadro por segundo. The research poses as their main objective the three gestures recognition of a body language of surveillance personnel and the consequent activation of alarm automatically. It was initially carried out a survey of the administration and the offices of the buildings to know which were the occurrences that violate the security of a multi-family building, then were observed and analyzed images captured by a surveillance camera located in the reception, identifying the most vulnerable occurrences and gestures associated with these events; were selected three gestures that unconsciously performs surveillance personnel before such situations; to certain pictures that comprise these images were applied spatial processing techniques, with the help of an artificial lighting that was more intense in the back of the subject of analysis, getting the definition of a silhouette binarized in the Matlab environment, techniques such as plane selection red, more significant bit plane, to invest an image and convolution close type, defined a silhouette that allowed to develop a mathematical algorithm that generated an electrical signal in USB serial port of the computer, where it is physically connected a hardware platform Arduino that active the alarm.This platform choice is due to the fact that Matlab has a group of instructions for Arduino, achieving an orderly communication between computer and interface. The techniques used recognized 62.5 % of the events described in the surveys carried out and which aren’t mentioned in similar research topics. To achieve the objective was necessary to analyze a picture per second.

S tím, jak se neustále vyvíjejí nové technologie pro energeticky náročná průmyslová odvětví, stávající zařízení postupně zaostávají v efektivitě a produktivitě. Tvrdá konkurence na trhu a legislativa v oblasti životního prostředí nutí tato tradiční zařízení k ukončení provozu a k odstavení. Zlepšování procesu a projekty modernizace jsou zásadní v udržování provozních výkonů těchto zařízení. Současné přístupy pro zlepšování procesů jsou hlavně: integrace procesů, optimalizace procesů a intenzifikace procesů. Obecně se v těchto oblastech využívá matematické optimalizace, zkušeností řešitele a provozní heuristiky. Tyto přístupy slouží jako základ pro zlepšování procesů. Avšak, jejich výkon lze dále zlepšit pomocí moderní výpočtové inteligence. Účelem této práce je tudíž aplikace pokročilých technik umělé inteligence a strojového učení za účelem zlepšování procesů v energeticky náročných průmyslových procesech. V této práci je využit přístup, který řeší tento problém simulací průmyslových systémů a přispívá následujícím: (i)Aplikace techniky strojového učení, která zahrnuje jednorázové učení a neuro-evoluci pro modelování a optimalizaci jednotlivých jednotek na základě dat. (ii) Aplikace redukce dimenze (např. Analýza hlavních komponent, autoendkodér) pro vícekriteriální optimalizaci procesu s více jednotkami. (iii) Návrh nového nástroje pro analýzu problematických částí systému za účelem jejich odstranění (bottleneck tree analysis – BOTA). Bylo také navrženo rozšíření nástroje, které umožňuje řešit vícerozměrné problémy pomocí přístupu založeného na datech. (iv) Prokázání účinnosti simulací Monte-Carlo, neuronové sítě a rozhodovacích stromů pro rozhodování při integraci nové technologie procesu do stávajících procesů. (v) Porovnání techniky HTM (Hierarchical Temporal Memory) a duální optimalizace s několika prediktivními nástroji pro podporu managementu provozu v reálném čase. (vi) Implementace umělé neuronové sítě v rámci rozhraní pro konvenční procesní graf (P-graf). (vii) Zdůraznění budoucnosti umělé inteligence a procesního inženýrství v biosystémech prostřednictvím komerčně založeného paradigmatu multi-omics.

Smart Cyber-Physical Systems (sCPS) are complex systems performing smart coordination that often require decentralized and network resilient operation. New development in the fields of the robotic systems, Industry 4.0 and autonomous vehicular system brings challenges that can be tackled with deployment of ensemble based sCPS, but require further refinement in terms of network resilience and data propagation. This thesis maps the use cases of the sCPS in the aforementioned domains, discusses requirements on the ensemble based architecture in terms of network properties, and proposes recommendations and technical means that help to design network aware ensemble based sCPS. The proposed solutions are evaluated by the means of target systems simulation using state of the art realistic network and vehicular simulators.

abstract: ABSTRACT Understanding complex and adaptive socio-ecological systems (SES) to deal with our most challenging and overlapping problems such as global climate change, biodiversity loss, and rising consumption rates requires sustainability theory that is commensurate with these problems’ size and complexity. The received United Nations-based sustainability framework aims to achieve a balance among three pillars—economics, environment, and social equity—for today and for future generations. Yet, despite applying this sustainability framework for over a quarter of a century, the Earth is less sustainable, not more. Theoretical trade-offs between environmental conservation and economic growth have often reinforced business-as-usual practices and educational paradigms, and emphasized economic values over ecological limits. How can the principles of foundational naturalists help clarify, enhance, and advance sustainability discourse? I propose that the principles of Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), Aldo Leopold (1887-1948), Rachel Carson (1907-1964), and Edward O. Wilson (1927-), express a worldview that captures and integrates a range and depth of historical, normative, economic, ecological, scientific, and social values for a viable and applicable discourse of sustainability. This analytical study relies on (i.) textual analysis and interpretation of four key naturalists and humanists, (ii.) analysis of secondary sources that illuminate their proto- ecological and sustainability principles, and (iii.) interviews with leading sustainability scholars. Because these thinkers integrate science and ethics, natural history and philosophy, ecology and society, and environmental and economic problems within a holistic worldview, I call them systems naturalists. Their transdisciplinary worldview of one holistic system, with economics subordinated to environmental limits, links important values from the natural sciences and the humanities. The writings and examples of systems naturalists provide more robust historical sustainability principles that can help solve our most challenging SES problems by synthesizing a broad range of knowledge in the sciences, social sciences, and the humanities to inform sustainability paradigm, practices, and pedagogy.<br>Dissertation/Thesis<br>Doctoral Dissertation Sustainability 2015

The process control domain is intrinsically complex and dynamic. It has proved to be difficult to construct and maintain process control systems under the traditional software development methodologies. Object Orientation is the latest paradigm in software development. The reason for its widespread acceptance is that it allows the application of the principles of hierarchical structuring and component abstraction which is essential in building large systems. It also promotes component reusability which makes systems easier to maintain and modify. For the process control domain, these are important benefits. Furthermore, most process control systems have physical devices which can be modeled naturally as objects with the timing and performance issues of each object directly addressed. A Target System Reference Model which addresses various aspects of the process control domain is proposed within this dissertation. The objective is to provide a frame of reference within which a process control system can function.<br>Computing<br>M. Sc. (Computer Science)