Nous avons évalué les performances et limitations de différents capteurs susceptibles d’aider à orienter un déficient visuel : GPS, magnétomètre, gyroscope, accéléromètre, baromètre ainsi que la façon de les combiner pour guider efficacement les déficients visuels dans trois contextes différents : le milieu urbain, la randonnée et les intérieurs. Nous avons réalisé des prototypes se plaçant sur la hanche ou tenus à la main fournissant une information présentée sous la forme d’un cap et d’une distance au point à atteindre. Cette information se réactualise en temps réel en fonction des changements de position ou d’orientation de la personne.Nous avons montré par des tests en situation réelle sur des parcours urbains et pédestres de plusieurs kilomètres, effectués par différents déficients visuels, l’efficacité de cette approche très différente de celle du guidage automobile. Les tests ont été également effectués dans des zones où les capteurs sont perturbés : forêts denses ou rues avec des bâtiments hauts (signal GPS perturbé), à proximité des lignes électriques (magnétomètre perturbé), etc. Le cas le plus complexe est celui des intérieurs (stations du métro, centres commerciaux) où le signal GPS est absent. Notre approche ne fait appel à aucun équipement du lieu (de type bornes Bluetooth ou Wifi) et utilise uniquement une cartographie préalable ou relevée sur le site. Nous sommes parvenus à des guidages fonctionnels sur quelques centaines de mètres sous certaines conditions : entrainement de l’utilisateur afin d’assimiler les spécificités du langage de la locomotion utilisé pour le guidage et apprentissage des stratégies de déplacement évitant le disfonctionnement de la centrale inertielle. Nous sommes en mesure de proposer à l’issue de ce travail un outil pouvant être diffusé auprès des utilisateurs avec des solutions fiables pour le milieu urbain et la randonnée. Pour les intérieurs les développements complémentaires se poursuivent et ne seront proposés qu’en béta-test. Cet outil va également être proposé pour initier les déficients visuels non autonomes à des randonnées simples afin de tenter de faire naître l’envie d’améliorer son autonomie. / We have evaluated the possibilities and the limitations of different sensors able to help to the orientation of the visually impaired: GPS, magnetometer, gyroscope, accelerometers, and barometers and also the way to mix their information for guiding efficiently the visually impaired in three different contexts: urban areas, hiking and indoor areas. We have implemented some belt mounted and hand held prototypes giving the information in the way of “heading” and “distance” to the destination to reach. This information is updated in real time taking into consideration the change of the position and orientation of the person. We have shown, during real situation tests, in urban pedestrian paths and hiking circuits of many kilometers done by different visually impaired people, the efficiency of this approach which is very different to the car navigation. The tests have been run including zones where the sensors data is perturbed: dense forest or big buildings in urban areas (GPS signal perturbed), proximity to electrical lines (magnetometer data perturbed), etc. The most complicated case is the indoor navigation (metro stations and commercial centers) where the GPS signal is not available. Our approach does not require any equipment apparatus in the building (such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi hotspots) and uses just a previous cartography or a cartography done in situ. We have achieved functional guidance in few hundred meters under certain conditions: the training of the user in order to make him understand the specific characteristics of the mobility language used for the navigation and the learning of the strategies of displacement in order to avoid the failure of the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). We are in position to offer, at the end of this work, one tool which can be distributed to the users with reliable solutions for the urban areas and the hiking. For the indoor navigation, complementary development is carrying on and it will be proposed just like beta-test version. This tool is also going to be proposed for initiating non-autonomous visually impaired people to easy treks in order to try to make them want to improve their autonomy.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:01:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fernanda Cristina Sanches.pdf: 4583637 bytes, checksum: a0bd8b5d7cc052a444d0bb02f1175ad4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-07-24 / The tourism as a socio-economic sector becomes job opportunities and income generator, and means of contributing to the reduction of regional and social inequalities. In turn, sustainable tourism emerges as a way to keep the economic performance so as not to harm the environment, meeting the needs of both tourists and local that receive simultaneously, making it necessary to meet the economy, society and the environment, without neglecting the regional culture, biological diversity and ecological systems that coordinate life. In this scenario, rural tourism seeks to contribute to the quality of life of the rural population. To that end, the general objective of this research was to analyze the environmental sustainability practices used by rural tourism enterprises track called "Turismo Sustentável de Base Comunitária no Oeste do Paraná by way of the Barometer of Tourism Sustainability. In order to achieve the main objective, the following specific objectives were outlined: a) characterize the rural tourism projects comprised in the track, relative to the main tourist attractions and areas of operation; b) examine how the tourism enterprises contribute to the development of local and regional actors (externalities) as well as the entrepreneurs themselves; c) to analyze environmental sustainability practices of the tourism enterprises by way of the Barometer of Tourism Sustainability; d) analyze existing local and regional public politics for rural tourism enterprises. Therefore, the development of the study was initially by means of literature, followed by descriptive and qualitative research. Empirical data were collected through interviews on the spot in rural properties, with the entrepreneurs responsible for enterprises. The main results point to the fact that environmental sustainability actions undertaken by enterprises the tourist track, in the current situation, are classified as potentially sustainable. Empirical research has identified still, the rural tourism activity generates socio-cultural, imprint of contributions, mostly economic and environmental, as much to entrepreneurs, as tourists and to society. Overall, the research shows the environmental sustainability activities undertaken by enterprises of the roadmap investigated, presenting the sustainability levels achieved in each of the five systems (water, use of resources, species and populations, ground, air) that make up the scale environmental barometer of tourism sustainability, and the most satisfactory results match the systems "use of resources" and "species and populations". / O turismo enquanto setor socioeconômico se torna gerador de oportunidades de trabalho e renda, sendo instrumento capaz de contribuir para a redução de desigualdades regionais e sociais. Por sua vez, o turismo sustentável se apresenta como uma maneira de manter o desempenho econômico de forma a não prejudicar o meio ambiente, atendendo às necessidades dos turistas e dos locais que os recebem de maneira simultânea, fazendo o necessário para atender a economia, a sociedade e o ambiente, sem desprezar a cultura regional, a diversidade biológica e os sistemas ecológicos que coordenam a vida. Em tal cenário, o turismo rural busca contribuir para a qualidade de vida da população do campo. Nesse intuito, o objetivo geral desta pesquisa foi analisar as práticas de sustentabilidade ambiental utilizadas pelos empreendimentos de turismo rural do roteiro denominado Turismo Sustentável de Base Comunitária no Oeste do Paraná , à guisa do Barômetro de Sustentabilidade do Turismo. Para atingir o objetivo central, delinearam-se os seguintes objetivos específicos: a) caracterizar os empreendimentos de turismo rural compreendidos no roteiro, em relação aos principais atrativos turísticos e áreas de atuação; b) analisar de que forma os empreendimentos turísticos contribuem com o desenvolvimento dos atores locais e regionais (externalidades), bem como, dos próprios empreendedores; c) analisar as práticas de sustentabilidade ambiental dos empreendimentos turísticos, à guisa do Barômetro de Sustentabilidade do Turismo; d) analisar as políticas públicas locais e regionais existentes para empreendimentos de turismo rural. Para tanto, o desenvolvimento do estudo se deu inicialmente por meio de pesquisa bibliográfica, seguida de pesquisa descritiva e qualitativa. Os dados empíricos foram coletados por meio de entrevistas in loco em nove propriedades de turismo rural, com os empreendedores responsáveis pelos empreendimentos. Os principais resultados apontam para o fato de que as ações de sustentabilidade ambiental realizadas pelos empreendimentos do roteiro turístico, no panorama atual, são classificadas como potencialmente sustentáveis. A pesquisa empírica identificou ainda, que a atividade de turismo rural gera contribuições de cunho sociocultural, econômico e principalmente ambiental, tanto aos empreendedores, quanto aos turistas e à sociedade. De maneira geral, a pesquisa demonstra as atividades de sustentabilidade ambiental realizadas pelos empreendimentos do roteiro investigado, apresentando os níveis de sustentabilidade alcançados em cada um dos cinco sistemas (água; uso de recursos; espécies e populações; terra; ar) que compõem a dimensão ambiental do barômetro da sustentabilidade do turismo, sendo que os resultados mais satisfatórios correspondem aos sistemas uso de recursos e espécies e populações .

The content of this thesis is an analysis of crisis preparedness organizations in the field of education. It consists of a theoretical - methodological part and a practical part. The theoretical part discusses the specifics and peculiarities of crisis management, and analyzes the objectives and nature of crisis preparedness organizations of this type. The practical part presents the current research shows the strengths and weaknesses, as well as the threats and opportunities, which significantly limits the status and level of crisis preparedness of schools surveyed. The penultimate section focuses on the design methodology to ensure crisis preparedness in schools. Conclusion then summarizes and evaluates the investigation. For the sake of better illustration is the work of the Annex attached to the issue more closely.

A presença eminente e a forte influência da C&T na sociedade atual são inevitáveis e impulsionam mudanças nos diferentes espaços-tempos. Dessarte, a aprendizagem e/ou atitudes e valores atribuídos ao ensino de ciências constituem espaço privilegiado na construção da cidadania, autonomia, pensamento e ação na forma como os estudantes incorporam e se beneficiam de tais transformações. Desse modo, o desencanto dos jovens pela ciência e pela carreira científica é algo que tem preocupado professores, acadêmicos e elaboradores de políticas públicas em diversos países na atualidade. Diante dessa constatação, conhecer o perfil dos jovens brasileiros por meio da expressão de seus interesses, opiniões e atitudes acerca da ciência e tecnologia é uma forma significativa de relacionar não só a relevância que ela tem para eles, bem como sua influência sobre suas preferências, tanto no que se refere à opção acadêmica como à profissão, sendo este o objetivo desta pesquisa, que tem como enfoque ampliar e aprofundar essas discussões, inserindo-se no campo da avaliação educacional de natureza quantitativa. Por se tratar de uma tendência internacional, e no intuito de não só compreender, mas buscar conexões entre a construção de indicadores de percepção pública em diferentes contextos socioculturais e como estes influenciam na construção de valores sobre a ciência e tecnologia, a Itália se configurou no cenário de um estudo colaborativo. Os dados da pesquisa foram coletados pelo instrumento Barômetro, em uma amostra de representação nacional, nos dois países, baseados em um plano amostral. Participaram do estudo: Brasil - 78 escolas e 2.368 jovens; Itália - 99 escolas e 3.503 jovens. Os dados encontrados apontam que brasileiros e italianos possuem grande interesse pelos temas científicos abordados na escola, principalmente os que estão relacionados com o corpo humano e seus cuidados, especialmente entre as meninas. De modo geral, os jovens de ambos os países possuem atitudes positivas com relação aos desafios ambientais e visão otimista quanto ao futuro no sentido de que, devido à C&T, haverá melhores oportunidades para as gerações futuras e serão encontradas curas para doenças. Apesar de demonstrarem interesse pelas aulas de ciências, em ambos os países, tanto meninas quanto meninos têm pouca aspiração em serem cientistas e trabalhar com tecnologia avançada. Embora apresentem atitudes positivas e otimistas com relação à C&T, a busca por informações científicas em centros de ciência e museus é incipiente e restrita a uma pequena parcela da população, especialmente no Brasil. O hábito informativo mais utilizado pelos jovens brasileiros, no geral, é assistir à TV, e, especificamente, entre as meninas, dedicar-se à leitura de livros e revistas especializadas. Os italianos assistem a documentários e utilizam a internet para a busca de informações científicas. Tais dados apontam que jovens de países em desenvolvimento, como os brasileiros, estão se alinhando às posturas e atitudes de jovens europeus, embora as diferenças socioeconômicas e culturais, bem como os sistemas de ensino, o currículo e as decisões pedagógicas apresentem diferenças marcantes. Em 2007, por meio do instrumento ROSE, pesquisadores brasileiros buscaram conhecer a percepção dos jovens com relação à C&T, dessa forma, como o Barômetro, em sua construção, considerou a permanência de elementos que pudessem estabelecer relações entre as posturas dos jovens, cabe ressaltar que, por meio de uma série histórica, observou-se que, dentre os sete anos transcorridos entre a primeira coleta de dados e esta pesquisa, os dados indicam que as atitudes positivas com relação à ciência aumentaram e apresentam esperanças de que a ciência venha a contribuir com o mundo e com as explicações que a ciência ainda não descortinou. Entretanto, mantiveram o interesse em conhecer assuntos sobre doenças como o câncer e principalmente no fato de aprender a tratá-las, mas demonstram desinteresse em conhecer doenças como HIV/AIDS e como controlá-la. Com relação ao meio ambiente, mantiveram a percepção de que as pessoas continuam se preocupando pouco com os problemas ambientais e que cada um pode influenciar de forma positiva na proteção ambiental. Continuam demonstrando grande interesse pela ciência escolar e pelas aulas de ciências, porém, de forma significativa, caiu o interesse em seguir carreiras científicas e que lidem com tecnologia. Diante dos resultados apresentados, espera-se abrir caminhos para futuras investigações, bem como fomentar reflexões com base em um diálogo entre as vozes manifestas, currículos, livros didáticos, professores e elaboradores de políticas públicas. / The prominent presence and the strong influence of S&T in society today are inevitable and promote changes in different spaces-times. In this sense, learning and/or attitudes and values assigned to the teaching of science are a privileged space in the building of citizenship, autonomy, thought, and action in how students incorporate and benefit from such changes. Thus, the disenchantment of young people with science and scientific career is an issue that has concerned teachers, academics and policy makers in many countries nowadays. Considering this fact, to know the profile of young Brazilians through the expression of their interests, opinions and attitudes about science and technology is a significant way to relate not only the relevance it has for them as well as their influence on their preferences, both in terms of academic option and of profession. This is the objective of this research, which focuses on broadening and deepening these discussions, inserting itself in the field of quantitative educational assessment. Because it is an international trend, and in order to not only understand, but also to seek connections between the construction of public perception indicators in different socio-cultural contexts and how they influence the construction of values about science and technology, Italy has emerged in the scenario of a collaborative study. The survey data were collected by the barometer instrument, in a nationally representative sample, in both countries, based on a sampling plan. Study participants: in Brazil - 78 schools and 2,368 young people; in Italy - 99 schools and 3,503 young people. The findings show that Brazilians and Italians have great interest in scientific topics covered in school, mainly those related to the human body and its care, especially among girls. In general, youngsters of both countries have positive attitudes towards environmental challenges and an optimistic vision of the future in the sense that, due to S&T, there will be better opportunities for future generations and cure for diseases will be found. Although students show interest for science classes, in both countries, boys and girls have little aspiration to be scientists and to work with advanced technology. Although presenting positive and optimistic attitudes to S&T, the search for scientific information in science centers and museums is incipient and restricted to a small portion of the population, especially in Brazil. The informative habit most used by young Brazilians in general is to watch TV, and specifically among girls, to devote themselves to reading books and specialized magazines. Italians watch documentaries and use the internet to search for scientific information. These data indicate that young people in developing countries, such as Brazil, are approaching the postures and attitudes of young Europeans, although the socioeconomic and cultural differences, as well as the education systems, curricula and pedagogical decisions show notable differences. In 2007, through the ROSE instrument, Brazilian researchers sought to understand the perception of young people with regards to S&T. In this way, as the barometer in its construction considered the permanence of elements that could establish relations between the attitudes of young people, it is noteworthy that, through a historical series, it was observed that among the seven years between the first data collection and this research, the data indicate that positive attitudes towards science have increased and they also hope that science will contribute to the world and to the explanations that science has not yet unveiled. However, they continued interested in knowing issues about diseases like cancer and particularly in learning to treat them, but show disinterest in learning about diseases like HIV/AIDS and how to control it. Regarding the environment, they maintained the perception that people worry little about the environmental problems and that each individual can have a positive influence on environmental protection. They continue to show great interest in school science and science classes, but there was a significant drop in the interest in scientific careers and in those dealing with technology. With the results presented here, we expect to open avenues for future research, and to encourage reflections based on a dialogue between the manifest voices, curricula, textbooks, teachers and policy makers.

Si au cours des vingt dernières années la pratique en matière de mesure barométrique de la satisfaction clients s’est largement développée auprès des entreprises, la fiabilité des indicateurs de performance issus de ces mesures n’est pas forcément maitrisée. La satisfaction comme indicateur de performance est aujourd’hui admise par les managers, néanmoins son utilisation au quotidien pose quelques questions, notamment celle qui touche la capacité des indicateurs produit à partir de la mesure barométrique d’évaluer fidèlement la performance. La question théorique que nous traitons dans cette thèse concerne l’étude de la représentativité et de la sensibilité des indicateurs de satisfaction face à l’existence de certaines sources exogènes (facteurs sociodémographique et géographique) que nous avons qualifiées de facteurs de contingence. Notre recherche repose sur l’examen des indicateurs de satisfaction lorsque ces derniers sont utilisés comme des instruments de comparaison entre magasins : d’un point de vue transversal (comparaison entre unité de gestion) et d’un autre longitudinale (l’évolution dans le temps des indicateurs). Par le biais de trois propositions, nous avons confronté une série de facteurs de contingence au fonctionnement des indicateurs satisfaction afin de connaitre si les indicateurs remplissent bien leurs rôles. Pour arriver aux résultats, un cadre théorique explicatif de l’action des facteurs de contingence et des analyses statistiques basées sur les procédures bayésiennes pour le calcul de l’importance ont été mis en place. Les données d’analyse sont issues de deux baromètres de satisfaction. Les cumuls en termes d’individus interrogés dans chaque baromètre sont de 175000 individus pour le premier et de 40000 individus pour chaque trimestre (16 trimestres sont disponibles) pour le second. Les conclusions de nos travaux pointent la défaillance de l’indicateur de satisfaction issu des baromètres à concorder avec les exigences des instruments de contrôle de performance. Le tout avec des actions importantes des facteurs de contingence type géographique. / Even if during the last twenty years the practice of barometric measurement of customer satisfaction has developed significantly among companies, the reliability of performance indicators derived from these measures has not necessarily been mastered. Satisfaction as a performance indicator is now accepted by managers however, its everyday use poses some issues, including those affecting the ability of barometric indicators to accurately assess performance. The theoretical question we address in this thesis is the study of the representation and the sensitivity of indicators of satisfaction which are affected by the existence of certain exogenous sources (demographic and geographic factors), which we refer to as contingency factors. Our research is based on the review of indicators of satisfaction when they are used as instruments for comparing shops: on a transverse view (comparison between management units) and another longitudinal view (changes in time indicators). Through three proposals, we have looked for a series of contingency factors on operating satisfaction indicators to know if the indicators fulfill their roles. To achieve the results, an explanatory theoretical framework for action of contingency factors and statistical analysis based on the methods of calculating fiducial-Bayesian importance were established. Data analyses are based on two satisfaction surveys: accumulations in terms of individuals interviewed in each barometer with 175 000 individuals in the first one and 40 000 individuals for each quarter (16 quarters are available) in the second one. The conclusion of our work shows the failure of the barometric satisfaction indicator to match the requirements of theperformance monitoring tools. The most important of these being the geographical contingency factors.

A presença eminente e a forte influência da C&T na sociedade atual são inevitáveis e impulsionam mudanças nos diferentes espaços-tempos. Dessarte, a aprendizagem e/ou atitudes e valores atribuídos ao ensino de ciências constituem espaço privilegiado na construção da cidadania, autonomia, pensamento e ação na forma como os estudantes incorporam e se beneficiam de tais transformações. Desse modo, o desencanto dos jovens pela ciência e pela carreira científica é algo que tem preocupado professores, acadêmicos e elaboradores de políticas públicas em diversos países na atualidade. Diante dessa constatação, conhecer o perfil dos jovens brasileiros por meio da expressão de seus interesses, opiniões e atitudes acerca da ciência e tecnologia é uma forma significativa de relacionar não só a relevância que ela tem para eles, bem como sua influência sobre suas preferências, tanto no que se refere à opção acadêmica como à profissão, sendo este o objetivo desta pesquisa, que tem como enfoque ampliar e aprofundar essas discussões, inserindo-se no campo da avaliação educacional de natureza quantitativa. Por se tratar de uma tendência internacional, e no intuito de não só compreender, mas buscar conexões entre a construção de indicadores de percepção pública em diferentes contextos socioculturais e como estes influenciam na construção de valores sobre a ciência e tecnologia, a Itália se configurou no cenário de um estudo colaborativo. Os dados da pesquisa foram coletados pelo instrumento Barômetro, em uma amostra de representação nacional, nos dois países, baseados em um plano amostral. Participaram do estudo: Brasil - 78 escolas e 2.368 jovens; Itália - 99 escolas e 3.503 jovens. Os dados encontrados apontam que brasileiros e italianos possuem grande interesse pelos temas científicos abordados na escola, principalmente os que estão relacionados com o corpo humano e seus cuidados, especialmente entre as meninas. De modo geral, os jovens de ambos os países possuem atitudes positivas com relação aos desafios ambientais e visão otimista quanto ao futuro no sentido de que, devido à C&T, haverá melhores oportunidades para as gerações futuras e serão encontradas curas para doenças. Apesar de demonstrarem interesse pelas aulas de ciências, em ambos os países, tanto meninas quanto meninos têm pouca aspiração em serem cientistas e trabalhar com tecnologia avançada. Embora apresentem atitudes positivas e otimistas com relação à C&T, a busca por informações científicas em centros de ciência e museus é incipiente e restrita a uma pequena parcela da população, especialmente no Brasil. O hábito informativo mais utilizado pelos jovens brasileiros, no geral, é assistir à TV, e, especificamente, entre as meninas, dedicar-se à leitura de livros e revistas especializadas. Os italianos assistem a documentários e utilizam a internet para a busca de informações científicas. Tais dados apontam que jovens de países em desenvolvimento, como os brasileiros, estão se alinhando às posturas e atitudes de jovens europeus, embora as diferenças socioeconômicas e culturais, bem como os sistemas de ensino, o currículo e as decisões pedagógicas apresentem diferenças marcantes. Em 2007, por meio do instrumento ROSE, pesquisadores brasileiros buscaram conhecer a percepção dos jovens com relação à C&T, dessa forma, como o Barômetro, em sua construção, considerou a permanência de elementos que pudessem estabelecer relações entre as posturas dos jovens, cabe ressaltar que, por meio de uma série histórica, observou-se que, dentre os sete anos transcorridos entre a primeira coleta de dados e esta pesquisa, os dados indicam que as atitudes positivas com relação à ciência aumentaram e apresentam esperanças de que a ciência venha a contribuir com o mundo e com as explicações que a ciência ainda não descortinou. Entretanto, mantiveram o interesse em conhecer assuntos sobre doenças como o câncer e principalmente no fato de aprender a tratá-las, mas demonstram desinteresse em conhecer doenças como HIV/AIDS e como controlá-la. Com relação ao meio ambiente, mantiveram a percepção de que as pessoas continuam se preocupando pouco com os problemas ambientais e que cada um pode influenciar de forma positiva na proteção ambiental. Continuam demonstrando grande interesse pela ciência escolar e pelas aulas de ciências, porém, de forma significativa, caiu o interesse em seguir carreiras científicas e que lidem com tecnologia. Diante dos resultados apresentados, espera-se abrir caminhos para futuras investigações, bem como fomentar reflexões com base em um diálogo entre as vozes manifestas, currículos, livros didáticos, professores e elaboradores de políticas públicas. / The prominent presence and the strong influence of S&T in society today are inevitable and promote changes in different spaces-times. In this sense, learning and/or attitudes and values assigned to the teaching of science are a privileged space in the building of citizenship, autonomy, thought, and action in how students incorporate and benefit from such changes. Thus, the disenchantment of young people with science and scientific career is an issue that has concerned teachers, academics and policy makers in many countries nowadays. Considering this fact, to know the profile of young Brazilians through the expression of their interests, opinions and attitudes about science and technology is a significant way to relate not only the relevance it has for them as well as their influence on their preferences, both in terms of academic option and of profession. This is the objective of this research, which focuses on broadening and deepening these discussions, inserting itself in the field of quantitative educational assessment. Because it is an international trend, and in order to not only understand, but also to seek connections between the construction of public perception indicators in different socio-cultural contexts and how they influence the construction of values about science and technology, Italy has emerged in the scenario of a collaborative study. The survey data were collected by the barometer instrument, in a nationally representative sample, in both countries, based on a sampling plan. Study participants: in Brazil - 78 schools and 2,368 young people; in Italy - 99 schools and 3,503 young people. The findings show that Brazilians and Italians have great interest in scientific topics covered in school, mainly those related to the human body and its care, especially among girls. In general, youngsters of both countries have positive attitudes towards environmental challenges and an optimistic vision of the future in the sense that, due to S&T, there will be better opportunities for future generations and cure for diseases will be found. Although students show interest for science classes, in both countries, boys and girls have little aspiration to be scientists and to work with advanced technology. Although presenting positive and optimistic attitudes to S&T, the search for scientific information in science centers and museums is incipient and restricted to a small portion of the population, especially in Brazil. The informative habit most used by young Brazilians in general is to watch TV, and specifically among girls, to devote themselves to reading books and specialized magazines. Italians watch documentaries and use the internet to search for scientific information. These data indicate that young people in developing countries, such as Brazil, are approaching the postures and attitudes of young Europeans, although the socioeconomic and cultural differences, as well as the education systems, curricula and pedagogical decisions show notable differences. In 2007, through the ROSE instrument, Brazilian researchers sought to understand the perception of young people with regards to S&T. In this way, as the barometer in its construction considered the permanence of elements that could establish relations between the attitudes of young people, it is noteworthy that, through a historical series, it was observed that among the seven years between the first data collection and this research, the data indicate that positive attitudes towards science have increased and they also hope that science will contribute to the world and to the explanations that science has not yet unveiled. However, they continued interested in knowing issues about diseases like cancer and particularly in learning to treat them, but show disinterest in learning about diseases like HIV/AIDS and how to control it. Regarding the environment, they maintained the perception that people worry little about the environmental problems and that each individual can have a positive influence on environmental protection. They continue to show great interest in school science and science classes, but there was a significant drop in the interest in scientific careers and in those dealing with technology. With the results presented here, we expect to open avenues for future research, and to encourage reflections based on a dialogue between the manifest voices, curricula, textbooks, teachers and policy makers.

Please note: This degree was awarded by the University of Kwazulu-Natal. Permission was granted to archive it in this database for teaching purposes.This study reports the development and use of an original methodology to measure inflation credibility, as well as the first results of such measurement in terms of an inflation credibility barometer. The barometer is an instrument measuring the degree of acceptance of the accuracy of historic inflation figures. Despite the lack of knowledge about inflation and the low inflation credibility recorded by this first calculation of an inflation credibility barometer for South Africa, valuable information about inflation is unveiled to the authorities. The research results serve as a benchmark, but cannot be compared to earlier research, as this study represents the first systematic measurement of inflation credibility in South Africa. The barometer yields better results than the limited current international measurement of perceptions of the accuracy of historic inflation figures. The barometer (i) reports the credibility of inflation figures as a figure between zero and 100; (ii) will highlight changes in credibility over time with repeated use; (iii) can be explained easily to the general public; (iv) provides for international comparison between countries; and (v) can be used by all countries. The use of inflation credibility barometers and changes in barometer readings over time can also serve as an early warning system for changes in inflation perceptions that might feed through to inflation expectations. Sampling results used to calculate a South African inflation credibility barometer show little public understanding of the rate of inflation. Owing to an increased focus on inflation figures in countries using an inflation-targeting monetary policy, central banks entrusted with such a policy should adopt a communication strategy highlighting the calculation and measurement of the rate of inflation. This study shows that no generally accepted international benchmarks for successful central-bank communication strategies have been developed, but the use of the methodology developed in this study will assist in the assessment of the effectiveness of communication strategies. This study makes three further contributions of significance to available literature on inflation in South Africa. The first is an analysis of prices increases and inflation over a period of 85 years (1921 to 2006) and a selected comparison of salaries and remuneration over a period of 78 years (1929 to 2006). To this end data sets were developed for comparative purposes, thereby distinguishing between perception and reality about the accuracy of inflation figures over time. As this comparison has not been done before, a methodology was developed that can be used in future research. Based on these comparisons an inflation accuracy indicator (IAI) is developed for the first time. The research showed no systematic over or under-reporting of price increases, therefore confirming the general accuracy of the consumer price index (CPI) over time. As with the inflation credibility barometer, this methodology can be used internationally to confirm the accuracy of countries’ inflation figures over time. This methodology can also be used by developing countries with capacity constraints in economic modelling and forecasting. The second contribution to available literature is the first analysis of South Africa’s experience with inflation over a period of 85 years from the perspective of the central bank. This analysis highlights not only the difficulties encountered by a central bank to contain inflation, but also focuses the attention on the policy errors of the authorities in their quest to contain rising prices. The third contribution is an analysis of international and domestic initiatives aimed at improving the accuracy and measurement of inflation. The implications of these initiatives for developing countries are considered in the interest of a level international playing field between developed and developing countries. eo / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Economics / PhD / Unrestricted

The diploma thesis deals with the detection of falls and impacts, based on data obtained from inertial sensors, and by measuring the distance using a laser. The aim of this thesis is to extend the functionality of locators from Sewio. The thesis describes the procedure for designing algorithms for detection of falls and impacts. Then there is a procedure for development of hardware and software solution, for laser distance measurement by locator, together with presentation of achieved measurement results realized by locator after implementation of proposed solution. The work also emphasizes the minimization of energy consumption of individual solutions. In conclusion, there is a discussion of achieved results with evaluation of efficiency and usability of proposed solutions.

This thesis deals with the design and theoretical description of the hybrid control system for quadrocopter. First, a mathematical model is presented, sensors needed for development and their principles. This work shows the system architecture design and scheme of communication channels between the blocks. Implementation section discusses specific uses of computing nodes/sensors and their settings. In this thesis there are illustrated messages sent between computing nodes and the control loop machine. It also describes how to test the sensors, measurement results and techniques for improvement.

<p dir="ltr">The Farm Service Agency's Guaranteed Loan Program supports eligible lender's ability to provide credit to farms who would otherwise not qualify for loans by guaranteeing up to 95% of principal and interest if the farmer defaults. The first chapter examines the degree to which bank characteristics influence FSA guaranteed loan rates paid by farmers. We leverage the unique characteristics of a panel of FSA guaranteed loans that include both borrower and lender information. Relative to pooled OLS, our preferred fixed-effects regression specification suggests that both time-varying and invariant lender effects are a significant determinant of FSA guaranteed loan rates. Further, when controlling for lender-effects, the significance of borrower characteristics largely diminish. These findings are consistent with prior studies of broader lending market interaction. This is the first study to examine FSA guaranteed loans which accounts for bank-level variation in lending terms. The findings may be of interest to policymakers, program administrators, lenders, and farmers.</p><p dir="ltr">Bankers’ expectations have been shown to provide reasonable forecasts of land value. In the second chapter, we test the informativeness of bankers’ expectations in predicting FSA guaranteed loan application volumes. Once again, we leverage proprietary administrative data from the FSA and, this time, pair it with survey data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to evaluate bankers’ forecasts. Results show that bankers’ forecasts are outperformed by naïve models, and including bankers’ expectations does not improve predictive models. Once again, these results will be of interest to FSA program administrators, lenders, and potential borrowers.</p><p dir="ltr">The study of risk is an important thread of farm management research as agriculture is an industry with many sources of risk. In the third chapter, we link broad measures of policy risk in the form of Equity Market Volatility trackers to farmer’s perceptions of risk and uncertainty. We consider disagreement in ex ante sentiment questions to measure farmer risk. Through a series of pairwise VARs, we show which sources of risk matriculate as concerns for farmers measured by uncertainty in the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer. Increases in tax policy, trade policy and infectious disease uncertainty are found to Granger-cause movement in farmer sentiment uncertainty.</p>