Thesis advisor: R. Shep Melnick / This paper analyzes Pope Francis’s view of politics, particularly politics in the United States. Beginning with his speech before a special joint session of Congress on September 24, 2015, this paper explores many of the themes the Pope introduces in this speech, and compares those themes to those in other works he has published since being elected Pontiff in 2013. Then, this paper applies what he has said about contemporary American politics with the analysis of other scholars of American politics. Ultimately, I find that the Pope is very aware of problems in the United States, but hopes to present a positive alternative to address what he identifies as the contemporary world’s ills. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

Students may engage in behavior during instruction that impacts the acquisition of skills. Intervening on student behavior using group contingencies may be more efficacious than other intervention methods. Directly programming for generalization of treatment effects may increase the durability of behavior change and further increase the efficacy of group contingencies. The current study examined the effect of a randomized dependent group contingency and programming common stimuli on levels of academic engagement and problem behavior for second-grade participants receiving small-group reading and writing instruction. The results showed that a randomized dependent group contingency increased the academic engagement of primary participants and several of the other participants during small-group instruction. The findings also showed that high levels of academic engagement were maintained when common stimuli were present and the dependent group contingency was withdrawn.

Submitted by PPG Engenharia e Tecnologia de Materiais (engenharia.pg.materiais@pucrs.br) on 2017-12-26T10:44:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Joel_de_Oliveira_Santos_DIS.pdf: 2391365 bytes, checksum: 494fe700a3624e9b996ee073b4bc0283 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-12-26T19:01:58Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Joel_de_Oliveira_Santos_DIS.pdf: 2391365 bytes, checksum: 494fe700a3624e9b996ee073b4bc0283 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-26T19:06:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Joel_de_Oliveira_Santos_DIS.pdf: 2391365 bytes, checksum: 494fe700a3624e9b996ee073b4bc0283 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-10-31 / The presente work aims to evaluate exhaust gas emissions and particulate matters in a diesel cycle engine. A Cummins ISB Maxi Power (EURO III) Ford F250 pickup truck with electronic commom rail fuel injection system was used to identify which blend achieves the best environmental performance without compromising power and torque. The exhaust gases (CO, NOx, SO2) and particulate matters in different engine operating regimes were analyzed using commercial diesel oil B7 (diesel oil with 7% biodiesel volume) and additions of biodiesel up to B100. The procedures used in the tests were based on the ESC (European Stationary Cycle) test of engines in chassis dynamometer. The dynamometer used was the BOSCH model FLA 203, in conjunction with a TESTO model 350 gas analyzer, a NAPRO model NA 9000 opacimeter, and a 24-channel Pro Model FUEL TECH Datalogger. The results showed that the carbon monoxide (CO) had a significant reduction of 57.22% with the engine running with B100 at 750 rpm and 84.39% at 2600 rpm in a regime of 75% of the maximum power compared to B7. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) had an increase of 145.43% with B100 at 2600 rpm. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) produced by the combustion of diesel S10, represents low values, reaching 0 ppm in any of the engine operating regimes operating with the blends. The power and torque of the engine had an increase of 2.85% and 2.81% with the B15 mixture compared to the B7 fuel, even with the B15 we can verify that the carbon monoxide (CO) had a reduction of 35.78%, nitrogen oxides (NOx) had an increase of 40.71% and opacity a reduction of 1.9%. / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar as emiss?es de gases de exaust?o e materiais particulados em um motor ciclo diesel. Foi utilizado um ve?culo caminhonete Ford, modelo F250, com motor Diesel Cummins ISB Maxi Power (EURO III), com gerenciamento eletr?nico de inje??o de combust?vel Commom Rail, buscando identificar qual mistura obt?m o melhor desempenho ambiental sem comprometer pot?ncia e torque. Foram analisados os gases de exaust?o CO, NOx, SO2 e material particulado em diferentes regimes de funcionamento do motor, utilizando o ?leo diesel comercial (B7 - ?leo diesel com 7% em volume de biodiesel) e percentuais de biodiesel at? B100. Os procedimentos utilizados nos testes foram baseados na norma ESC (European Stationary Cycle) de teste de motores em dinam?metro de chassi. O dinam?metro usado foi da marca BOSCH, modelo FLA 203, em conjunto com analisador de gases da marca TESTO, modelo 350, opac?metro da marca NAPRO, modelo NA 9000, e Datalogger da marca FUEL TECH, 24 canais, modelo Pro. Os resultados mostraram que o mon?xido de carbono (CO) teve uma redu??o de 57,22% com o motor operando com B100 em marcha lenta (750 rpm) e 84,39% na rota??o de 2600 rpm, comparado com B7. Os ?xidos de nitrog?nio (NOx) tiveram aumentos de 145,43% com B100 a 2600 rpm. O di?xido de enxofre (SO2) apresentou valores pr?ximos a 0 ppm em qualquer um dos regimes do motor. A pot?ncia e torque tiveram aumentos de 2,85% e 2,81% com B15 comparado com B7, e com B15 o mon?xido de carbono (CO) teve redu??o de 35,78%, os ?xidos de nitrog?nio (NOx) tiveram aumentos de 40,71% e a opacidade redu??o de 1,9%.

Esta pesquisa buscou pensar as relações de experiência, memória e oralidade como dimensões de uma linha específica de história oral que cada vez mais se pretende autônoma e pública. Essas relações foram feitas a partir de duas formas narrativas: uma contada - construída em colaboração durante entrevistas com procedimentos dessa história oral e outra narrativa cantada - composição musical que Adálio Pereira de Oliveira, um nordestino na Amazônia, fez para contar sua história de vida. Essa linha de história oral valoriza os aspectos subjetivos das experiências narradas e possui pressupostos epistemológicos claros: a colaboração, a mediação e a dimensão pública do texto produzido. / This research intended to think about experiences and their relations, memories and orality as dimensions of a specific oral history hat becomes more autonomous and public. Those relations were maid from two narrative forms: one: spoken built on interviews with a certain oral history procedures and the other: narrative song-composed that Adálio Pereira de Oliveira, a northeastern in Amazon, made to tell his history of life. This oral history line values the subjective aspects of narrated experiences and clear epistemological beddings: common work, mediation and the public dimension of the document.

Este trabalho desenvolve uma investigação sobre as noções de coerência e comunidade nas obras de Bento de Espinosa (1632-1677), em especial na Ética demonstrada em ordem geométrica. A noção de coerência, entendida como modo pelo qual as partes da natureza se relacionam para compor o todo do universo, é um problema central em toda a história da filosofia. Espinosa também se posicionou em relação a essa questão, formulando uma teoria que procura explicar a relação entre as partes do universo sem recorrer a nenhuma causa exterior a ele, configurando assim uma filosofia da imanência. Nessa perspectiva, o objetivo da pesquisa consiste em mostrar como o problema da coerência apareceu em diferentes campos da obra espinosana, sendo sempre solucionado através de uma mesma explicação imanente da natureza, que se estabeleceu definitivamente com a introdução da noção de comum na cadeia dedutiva da Ética. Para isso, partimos de uma perspectiva histórica e examinamos inicialmente algumas cartas de Espinosa, verificando como a pergunta sobre a coerência da natureza foi ali respondida. Posteriormente, ao analisar a Ética, apresentamos como, em cada de uma de suas cinco partes, a ideia de comunidade se faz presente, emergindo tanto no campo especulativo quanto no campo prático. / This work develops and investigation about the notions of coherence and community in Baruch Spinozas (1632-1677) works, especially in the Ethics Demonstrated in Geometrical Order. The notion of coherence, understood as mode through which the parts of nature relate to each other to compose the whole of the universe, is a central problem to the whole history of philosophy. Spinoza also took a stand on this issue, formulating a theory that tries to explain the relation among the parts of the universe without resorting to any cause external to it, thus configuring a philosophy of immanence. In this perspective, the aim of the thesis consists in showing how the problem of coherence appeared in different fields of Spinozas works, always being solved by the same immanent explanation of nature, which was definitely established by the introduction of the notion of common into the deductive chain of the Ethics. For this purpose, we start from a historical perspective and initially examine some of Spinozas letters, verifying how the question concerning the coherence of nature was answered. Afterwards, analyzing the Ethics, we show how the idea of community is present in each of its five parts, emerging both in the speculative field and in the field of practice.

The need for regulation of the credit rating agencies (CRAs) arose due to their role in the subprime mortgage crisis. The CRAs awarded risky securities '3-A' investment grade status and then failed to downgrade them quickly enough when circumstances changed which led to investors suffering substantial losses. The causes identified by the regulators for the gatekeeper failure were conflicts of interest (as the issuers of these securities pay for the ratings); lack of competition (as the Big Three CRAs have dominated the market share); and lack of CRA regulation. The regulators, both in the US and EU, have tried to address these problems by introducing soft law self-regulation in accordance with the International Organisation of Securities Commissions Code and hard law statutory regulation such as that found in the "Reform Act" and "Dodd-Frank Act" in the US and similar provisions in the EU. This thesis examines these provisions in detail by using a doctrinal black-letter law method to assess the success of the regulators in redressing the problems identified. It also examines the US case law regulation relating to the legal liability of CRAs. The findings are that the US First Amendment protection, exclusion clauses and case law, all lack a deterrent effect on the actions of CRAs. As CRAs have escaped substantial damages, investors are left uncompensated for their losses. The thesis concludes that the issues of conflicts of interest and an anti-competitive environment persist. This thesis recommends the introduction of liability for the CRAs based on the Australian Bathurst case and which should be put in a statutory footing, including the requirements that are needed for making exclusion clauses effective. Rotation of CRAs for every three years would minimise the conflicts of interest. Regulators should require CRAs to purchase professional indemnity insurance, if available, to compensate investors.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND HUMANITIES. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 231-233. / by Janet Marchel Levin. / Ph.D.

L'objectif de ce travail est de développer une méthode capable de déterminer automatiquement l'état de vigilance chez l'humain. Les applications envisageables sont multiples. Une telle méthode permettrait par exemple de détecter automatiquement toute modification de l'état de vigilance chez des personnes qui doivent rester dans un état de vigilance élevée (par exemple, les pilotes ou les personnels médicaux).Dans ce travail, les signaux électroencéphalographiques (EEG) de 58 sujets dans deux états de vigilance distincts (état de vigilance haut et bas) ont été recueillis à l'aide d'un casque à 58 électrodes posant ainsi un problème de classification binaire. Afin d'envisager une utilisation de ces travaux sur une application du monde réel, il est nécessaire de construire une méthode de prédiction qui ne nécessite qu'un faible nombre de capteurs (électrodes) afin de limiter le temps de pose du casque à électrodes ainsi que son coût. Au cours de ces travaux de thèse, plusieurs approches ont été développées. Une première approche propose d'utiliser un pré-traitement des signaux EEG basé sur l'utilisation d'une décomposition en ondelettes discrète des signaux EEG afin d'extraire les contributions de chaque fréquence dans le signal. Une régression linéaire est alors effectuée sur les contributions de certaines de ces fréquences et la pente de cette régression est conservée. Un algorithme génétique est utilisé afin d'optimiser le choix des fréquences sur lesquelles la régression est réalisée. De plus, cet algorithme génétique permet la sélection d'une unique électrode.Une seconde approche est basée sur l'utilisation du Common Spatial Pattern (CSP). Cette méthode permet de définir des combinaisons linéaires des variables initiales afin d'obtenir des signaux synthétiques utiles pour la tâche de classification. Dans ce travail, un algorithme génétique ainsi que des méthodes de recherche séquentielle ont été proposés afin de sélectionner un sous groupes d'électrodes à conserver lors du calcul du CSP.Enfin, un algorithme de CSP parcimonieux basé sur l'utilisation des travaux existant sur l'analyse en composantes principales parcimonieuse a été développé.Les résultats de chacune des approches sont détaillés et comparés. Ces travaux ont aboutit sur l'obtention d'un modèle permettant de prédire de manière rapide et fiable l'état de vigilance d'un nouvel individu. / The aim of this work is to develop a method able to automatically determine the alertness state of humans. Such a task is relevant to diverse domains, where a person is expected or required to be in a particular state. For instance, pilots, security personnel or medical personnel are expected to be in a highly alert state, and this method could help to confirm this or detect possible problems. In this work, electroencephalographic data (EEG) of 58 subjects in two distinct vigilance states (state of high and low alertness) were collected via a cap with $58$ electrodes. Thus, a binary classification problem is considered. In order to use of this work on a real-world applications, it is necessary to build a prediction method that requires only a small number of sensors (electrodes) in order to minimize the time needed by the cap installation and the cap cost. During this thesis, several approaches have been developed. A first approach involves use of a pre-processing method for EEG signals based on the use of a discrete wavelet decomposition in order to extract the energy of each frequency in the signal. Then, a linear regression is performed on the energies of some of these frequencies and the slope of this regression is retained. A genetic algorithm (GA) is used to optimize the selection of frequencies on which the regression is performed. Moreover, the GA is used to select a single electrode .A second approach is based on the use of the Common Spatial Pattern method (CSP). This method allows to define linear combinations of the original variables to obtain useful synthetic signals for the task classification. In this work, a GA and a sequential search method have been proposed to select a subset of electrode which are keep in the CSP calculation.Finally, a sparse CSP algorithm, based on the use of existing work in the sparse principal component analysis, was developed.The results of the different approaches are detailed and compared. This work allows us to obtaining a reliable model to obtain fast prediction of the alertness of a new individual.

The Common Good was the ancient patrimony of a Scottish burgh, and the central resource of urban government before local rates. By the early nineteenth century this revenue was under considerable strain due to rapid population growth and urban expansion. As pressure on urban institutions and resources increased, so did debts secured against the revenue stream from Common Good assets, anxieties about which triggered the campaign for burgh reform. In 1833, as the Burgh Reform Act changed the electoral basis of burgh government, Edinburgh was declared bankrupt due to levels of borrowing incurred to build and extend the New Town and to expand Leith harbour. This thesis uses Common Good accounts as its quantitative basis. The disbursements of extant accounts for the period 1820-56 were recorded and assigned analytical categories in order to compare expenditure of different types over time. Such detailed analysis constitutes a major contribution to the existing historiography of Scottish cities and local government, providing insight into changing spending and priorities, and the effects on the unravelling of the old political order. It also facilitates discussion of the changing nature of corruption and probity in public life during a period when expectations of those holding office changed substantially. In the 1820s burgh reform seemed likely, yet in responding to the challenges of urban government, the unreformed Council was innovative. Two case studies illustrate the contingency function of the Common Good. Whilst George IV’s visit is well-known, that the Council used Common Good money to provide civic hospitality and promotion is not. The Great Fires of Edinburgh of 1824 were very damaging, especially around Parliament Square, and the Council offered a sophisticated response using the resources of the Common Good which included emergency aid to those in need, and the establishment of the first municipal fire brigade. In 1833 Edinburgh was declared bankrupt, and the City’s assets were transferred to trustees appointed for the Creditors. Without control of its finances during protracted negotiations, the new, elected Council suffered from a ‘legitimacy deficit.’ The Settlement Act 1838 served to ‘translate’ the Burgh Reform Act, 1833 to Edinburgh’s needs, as it restructured municipal debt and gave Leith a portion of Edinburgh’s Common Good, which meant Leith could make use of its police burgh status gained in 1833. This case shows the higher importance of local legislation to a major city rather than general acts. With the problems of the former political system resolved, Edinburgh’s 1856 Extension Act expanded municipal boundaries and transferred police powers to the Council, so moving towards a unitary authority. Neither burgh reform nor the restructuring of local government can be understood without first analysing how the Common Good was used, and this thesis takes important strides in that direction.

The concept of the common, found in Hardt and Negri, provides the possibility of theorising struggle that avoids the critiques that suggest Empire remains intangible, ethereal and postmodern. The concept, however, remains fragmentarily developed by the authors themselves, and is rarely the subject of sustained analysis in the secondary literature. Therefore, in order to substantiate the concept, I consider the common through three distinct moments which I identify as the urban, digital and political moments. This task is achieved through theoretical interlocutions and reflections on the 2011 Occupy movement. Throughout this thesis, and through each moment of the common, I argue that the concept must be understood as distinctly physical. Firstly, struggles over the urban common revolve around the physical (re)production of ideas, knowledge, culture and relationships in urban environments. Whilst the digital common often implies a lack of physicality, I argue that the common offers a means of thinking social media and perpetual connectivity primarily as a process of transforming the way humans engage with one another and their environments, and the radical possibilities therein. I argue that these moments of the common necessitate the development of an appropriate political moment of the common. Through centring on the physicality of struggle, Hardt and Negria's concept of the common is substantiated whilst contributing to wider debates in the field of radical theory and social movements.