Thesis (Ph.D.)--RAND Graduate School, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Biological Sciences Department, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-157). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11753

No description available.

According to realistic conflict theory (RCT), people develop negative attitudes towards others as a result of competition with those others over limited resources. I hypothesized that participants would change their opinions of others in a greater negative direction if those others were competitive in resource use than if those others are cooperative. Additionally, I hypothesized that the participants' own resource use would influence how they changed their opinions of the others. Participants were asked to complete a ten-item trait-rating questionnaire before and after competing in a simulated fishing environment against a simulated group that fished either a little (cooperative opponent) or a lot (competitive opponent). As predicted, when fishing against competitive opponents, participants changed their ratings in a more negative direction than when fishing against cooperative opponents. In addition, participants' own fishing behaviour influenced some of their rating shifts. I discuss an alternative explanation of the results as based on group identity processes (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), and suggest that the effects of such processes should be directly compared with competition over resources in the same study. Limitations of the study are discussed along with potential solutions.

This dissertation comprises three articles that propose explanations for the eventual extinction of Neanderthals in Europe after a period of several thousand years of coexistence with anatomically modern humans (AMH). I propose that bioenergetic differences between Neanderthals and AMH favored the persistence of AMH. This difference in energetic efficiency was augmented by any behavior that was advantageous to AMH. Consequently, such behaviors directly impacted the rate of Neanderthal extinction. The first article proposes a mathematical model that reconstructs Neanderthal and AMH energetic budgets to predict how using fire for cooking might have affected the success of each species. I first use the model to establish that energetic differences alone result in Neanderthal extinction when Neanderthals and AMH occupy the same landscape. I then establish that cooking meat increases its caloric value, and incorporate that parameter into the model. The outcome indicates that differential fire use by Neanderthals and AMH significantly affects the rate of Neanderthal extinction. The second article analyzes the evidence for marrow and bone grease extraction from reindeer carcasses by Neanderthals and AMH during cold climate phases. I analyze two assemblages produced by Neanderthals and three produced by AMH to determine how each group exploited these crucial nutritional resources. Results indicate that marrow processing intensity correlates with site function rather than with human species while bone grease may have been more intensively processed by AMH. In the third article, I integrate these studies within a new theoretical framework combining self-organizing criticality (SOC) and resilience thinking (RT). I explore Neanderthal extinction across multiple scales. SOC explores how interactions at the scale of the individual can combine to cause events such as an extinction. RT provides a systems-level framework for understanding how patterns of change among Neanderthals, AMH, prey populations, and the landscapes they inhabit may lead to instability and collapse. I identify the arrival of AMH into a landscape occupied by Neanderthals as a threshold point that set the process of Neanderthal demise in motion. I then use SOC and RT together to explain Neanderthal extinction as a slow and patchy process, rather than a sudden extinction.

abstract: In recent years, southern Africa has figured prominently in the modern human origins debate due to increasing evidence for precocious behaviors considered to be unique to our species. These significant findings have included bone tools, shell beads, engraved ostrich eggshell, and heavily ground and engraved ochre fragments. The presence of ochre in Middle Stone Age (MSA, ~250-40kya) archaeological sites in southern Africa is often proposed as indirect evidence for the emergence of symbolic or artistic behavior, a uniquely modern human trait. However, there is no remaining artwork from this period and there is significant debate about what the ochre may have been used for. With a few exceptions, ochre has gone largely unstudied. This project tested competing models for ochre use within the Pinnacle Point (PP), South Africa research area. Combined results from characterization and sourcing analyses, color classification, heat treatment analysis, and hafting experiments suggest MSA ochre is tied to early symbolic or ritual behavior. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Anthropology 2012

No description available.

Orientador: Antonio Bathoccio / Dissertação (mestrado profissional) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-06T16:23:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mendes_MariadasGracasCorrea_M.pdf: 2913386 bytes, checksum: 9c0ba1dacf9c763d742d30801cf8ec6c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004 / Resumo: Os impactos das novas tecnologias no comportamento dos recursos humanos identifica-se e analisa-se, através de um estudo de caso, a implantação das novas tecnologias na empresa Alumar-MA, no processo de refinamento e redução de aluminio. Verificam-se os impactos causados nos trabalhadores das áreas de refinaria e redução e como foram administrados. Tratase de uma pesquisa de campo ¿in loco¿ orientada por roteiro semi-estruturado, com aplicação de entrevistas. Evidencia-se, através dos resultados, que a tecnologia de informação é um fator de produtividade e competitividade, provocando uma revolução nas áreas de implantação, nos relacionamento e nas formas de trabalho, necessários para a empresa / Abstract: The impacts of the new technologies in the behavior of the human resources. He/she identifies and it is analyzed, through a case study, the implantation of the new technologies in the company Alumar-MA, in the refinement process and reduction of I aluminize and aluminum. The impacts are verified caused in the workers of the refinery areas and reduction and as they were administered. It is a field research " in loco" guided by semi-structured itinerary, with application of interviews. It is evidenced, through the results, that the technology of information is a productivity factor and competitiveness, proving a revolution in the implantation areas, in the relationship and in the necessary work forms for the company / Mestrado / Planejamento e Gestão Estrategica da Manufatura / Mestre em Mecanica

Information is a vitally important asset to organizations and the information should be protected to sustain the value it provides to the organization. Information is transferred via different mediums in these organizations. An example would be Terrestrial Trunked Radio or TETRA, which is utilized within organizations to provide a technically very secure form of digital radio communication. TETRA is a communications technology that is currently being successfully used throughout the world for secure, reliable and robust critical communication. TETRA is used by Public Safety and Security (PSS) and transportation sectors, amongst others. PSS includes police officers, fire marshals and emergency medical units who require protected and accurate information that could influence decisions that could make difference between life and death. The TETRA educational programme offered by the TETRA Academy at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), educates TETRA users in various aspects of the TETRA standard. TETRA is viewed as a technically very secure communication standard, as it utilizes security features such as mutual authentication, air interface encryption, end-to-end encryption, jamming detection and ambience listening, amongst other security techniques to ensure that the information traversing through the network is kept secure. The TETRA educational programme material includes many physical and technical controls to assist TETRA users in protecting information. However, to what extent does the TETRA educational programme address operational controls? Operational controls address what is often referred to as the weakest link in information security – human behavioural issues. Humans can be exploited through human manipulation attacks, which include social engineering and bribery. Therefore, this study argues towards adapting the TETRA educational programme offered at the NMMU to address these human behavioural issues.