This thesis aims to contribute to ecocentric views by revising and criticising Callicott&#039 / s conception of environment and ecocentric ethics that he develops in the light of ecology and the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum physics. The thesis also aims to support the ecocentric point of view by suggesting a different approach to the conception of environment in the light of the Existential Interpretation.

Husserl&rsquo / s phenomenology can be analyzed simply by relying on the conception of intentionality. What I want to do is to put forward the logical grounds on which I can construct an acceptable account of Husserl&rsquo / s theory of intentionality. For this aim, firstly, I need to put some light on the nature of intentional acts or experiences.This suggests us that there is a close connection between the acts and what they are directed towards. Actually many have specified the relation between the act and the object, but what they have ignored was to give an exclusive explication of how such a relation can be connected with the content component. The penomenological content mediates between the intentional act and the intended object. There are some disagreements as regards whether the act is also directed towards the content or not. One of the significant aims of this research is to shed some light on the adequate arguments by which I will try to clarify that one can speak of such a directedness of intentional acts. In other words I believe that one can not only describe an intentional relation between the act and the intended object but also similar relations between the act and the content. There seem to be three parts to be examined interconnectedly: these, namely, are act, content and the object. For, the act is directed towards the object with the intermediation of the content. So his theory is not the same as the object theory of intentionality of which there are some defenders. Husserl&rsquo / s content theory is firstly examined in Logical investigations and Ideas respectively.

This study investigates the rate kinetics for BD and PGMEA oxidation by UV/O3 process. The reactor constructs of a 100 cm x 20 cm x 85 cm (L x W x H) stainless steel chamber, in which four vertical steel plates (20 cm x 65 cm, W x H) were inserted to establish a plug flow path for the flowing gas. The reactor has a total effective volume of 170 L. Each of the five compartments of the reactor is equipped with an individual UV irradiation system with a 3.0-cm x 15-cm (ID x L) quartz sheath that housed an UV lamp, and two electric UV power inputs of 0.147 or 0.294 W/L were obtained. The gas flows perpendicularly to the UV lamps in the reactor. The influent tested VOC concentration was adjusted to about 50 ppm, and the gas flows were controlled at the individual flow rate of 60 and 120 L/min. The effects of moisture content (relative humidity, RH), ozone dosage (initial molar ratio of ozone to the tested VOC, m) and UV volumetric electric power input on the removal of the tested VOCs are investigated in the study. Also, kinetic models of the tested VOCs by photolysis, ozonation and UV/O3 have been developed and confirmed with reference to the experimental data. According to the kinetic models, both photolysis rate and oxidation rate by UV/O3 are following the first order behavior with respect to the tested VOC concentrations which are low. The result reveals the absorbance for the reactions is weak absorbance under UV irradiation. The reaction rates are proportional to the UV electric power inputs in UV-initiated reactions. And the parameter, £i, which represents the ratio of OH radical consumption rate by the tested VOC to the total OH radical consumption rate, can be obtained by simulating the performance of experimental data of OH reactions. The experimental results reveal that for BD oxidation with a gas space time of 85 sec and RH = 40 ¡V 99%, BD photolysis did not occur at wavelength of 185 nm with UV electric power inputs of 0.147 and 0.294 W/L. The ozonation efficiency of BD reached 90% at m = 3.5, and RH had no influence on the removal efficiency of BD. The removal efficiencies by UV/O3 process reached 90% with m = 2.2 and 1.6 for UV power inputs of 0.147 and 0.294 W/L, respectively. The addition of ozone apparently encouraged BD removal efficiency by UV/O3 process. And the enhancement of ozone dosage (m = 0.5 ¡V 4.4) would promote the decomposition of BD more effectively than the enhancements of UV power input (from 0.147 to 0.294 W L-1) and RH (from 40 to 99%). For PGMEA photolysis in a batch reactor with volume of 1.188 L, the photolysis occurred at wavelength of 185 nm under UV irradiation. And the photolysis rate follows the first order behavior with respect to the concentration of PGMEA. But PGMEA photolysis did not occurred at UV wavelength of 254 nm. PGMEA ozonation was performed in the same batch reactor; and the removal efficiency of only 50% at m = 3.96 would take 35 min. So, PGMEA ozonation in the plug flow reactor did not be observed at the conditions of the gas space time of 85 sec and RH = 15 ¡V 99%. Besides, the photolysis of PGMEA was carried out at the above conditions. The removal efficiency of PGMEA by UV/O3 could reach 90% at the conditions of the gas space time of 170 sec, UV volumetric electric power input of 0.294 W/L and m = 2.9. And the enhancement of UV power input (from 0.147 to 0.294 W L-1) would promote the decomposition of PGMEA more effectively than the addition of ozone dosage (m = 1.05 ¡V 15.63) and RH = 15 ¡V 99%.

This thesis analyzes the direction of time problem in the framework of philosophy of science. The radiation arrow, Newtonian arrow, thermodynamical arrow and quantum mechanical arrow have been studied in detail. The importance of the structure of space-time concerning direction of time is emphasized.

The primary concern of this piece of work is to reconsider scientific realism debate in the philosophy of science. Accordingly, the overall aim is to come up with the clues of a viable scientific realist attitude in the face of anti-realist interpretations of scientific theories. To accomplish this aim, I make use of two modified versions of scientific realism, that is, &lsquo / epistemic structural realism&rsquo / and &lsquo / entity realism&rsquo / . Epistemic structural realism is a realist position of which proponents claim that the only knowable part of the reality is the structure of it which is expressed by the mathematical equations of our best scientific theories. On the other hand, according to entity realism, the only assured knowledge obtained from scientific theories is the existence of theoretical entities posited by these theories. I argue that a combination of the properly construed versions of these two positions might fulfill the afore-mentioned aim of this thesis.

This thesis is a comparison of the philosophical systems of Zen Buddhism, which is an Eastern Philosophy, with Ludwig Wittgenstein&rsquo / s philosophical studies, who is an extraordinary name of the Western Philosophy in the 20th century. The history and sources of Zen Buddhism were given with its adoption in the use of language and arts. Besides, this study exemplifies the philosophy of Zen Buddhism with the examples from the life story of Wittgenstein. The thesis is written with a full awareness of the sensitivity of comparing different systems which always embody counterexamples and speculations. This is the reason why speculative ideas and resources were deliberately ignored. The aim is to contribute the cultural life of Turkey by taking such a subject to the academic milieu. Moreover, Turkey is the passage of the East and the West both geographically and culturally. There are resemblances between Zen and Wittgenstein by means of method and the useof language. Furthermore, it was given the names of the books that Wittgenstein read and the philosophers who influenced Wittgenstein. The parallels between Zen and Wittgenstein are justified.

Phenomenal consciousness presents a recalcitrant problem for the scientific conception of the world and the physicalist thesis that claims that everything that exists (including whatever is involved in any mental phenomena) is physical and physically explainable. Thus, on this view, every truth is a physical truth. By Putnam-Kripkean considerations and for several other reasons, I defend the claim that any version of such a physicalist thesis must be a necessary thesis, which ultimately means that contingent physicalism is not tenable. Against this thesis, philosophers have put forward several anti-physicalist arguments including the knowledge argument, the conceivability/modal argument, the explanatory gap argument, and the property dualism argument. All these arguments rest on the assumption of an epistemic/explanatory gap, which I call the &ldquo / phenomenal-physical gap,&rdquo / between the phenomenal and the physical. I claim that the phenomenal-physical gap (the PP-gap) is unbridgeable, from which it can be concluded that a priori physicalism is not tenable. The phenomenal concept strategy (PCS), which is a specific strategy within a posteriori necessary physicalism, aims at offering an explanation in physical terms of why we have such an unbridgeable gap by differentiating between phenomenal and physical concepts in a fundamental way. Nevertheless, proponents of PCS&mdash / the most promising version of a posteriori necessary physicalism&mdash / face a severe problem that I call &ldquo / the problem of phenomenal subjecthood&rdquo / in explaining in physical terms why we have the PP-gap. The phenomenon of &ldquo / experiencing&rdquo / consists of three substantially existing elements: the phenomenal subject (the experiencer), the experiential item (what is experienced by the subject), and the phenomenal s-v-o relation (the experiential relation) between the first two. I argue for the substantial existence of phenomenal subjects based on an argument I provide, the reality of some mental phenomena such as phenomenal unity and continuity, and the mental facts concerning phenomenal peculiarity, phenomenal agency, and the sense of phenomenal I-ness, the reality of all of which one cannot deny. Since PCS accounts are mostly qualia-centered accounts that ignore the reality of phenomenal subjects and the phenomenal s-v-o relation, they cannot account for the PP-gap in physical terms without first offering substantial theories of phenomenal subjecthood. But once they grant the substantiality of phenomenal subjects, they face severe difficulties in establishing their accounts of the nature of phenomenal concept, and thus the PP-gap in physical terms.

No description available.

In this qualitative study, parental perspectives were sought about the overall experiences of seeking support for children with Emotional/Behavioural Disorders (E/BD), from the early signs of disordered behaviour through the processes of diagnosis, assessment, and treatment. The parents of 4 children with Severe E/BD participated in interviews exploring child and family history, previous access to supports and services, and the perceived need for additional services for the child and/or family. Results were examined using multiple case study design, and indicated that parenting a child with E/BD results in significant impact on parental stress, employment, and health. The processes of assessment and diagnosis were perceived as confusing and overwhelming, and relationships with school personnel were often strained. The participants had variable experiences accessing supports outside of school. Examination of these perspectives suggests that continuity, collaboration, and communication continue to be necessary building blocks for developing effective child and family supports. / Special Education

Submitted by Automação e Estatística (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2018-04-11T20:06:38Z No. of bitstreams: 1 JoaoMarcosTeixeiraLacerda_TESE.pdf: 2501621 bytes, checksum: 99185146bcff087f88f53cf6f0e68bc8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2018-04-16T21:47:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 JoaoMarcosTeixeiraLacerda_TESE.pdf: 2501621 bytes, checksum: 99185146bcff087f88f53cf6f0e68bc8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-16T21:47:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JoaoMarcosTeixeiraLacerda_TESE.pdf: 2501621 bytes, checksum: 99185146bcff087f88f53cf6f0e68bc8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-06-16 / A comunicação de sistemas de informação com dispositivos biomédicos tornou-se complexa, não só devido à existência de vários protocolos de comunicação proprietários, mas também à maneira imutável de incorporar esse software a esses dispositivos. Nesse sentido, esta tese propõe uma arquitetura orientada a serviço para acessar dispositivos biomédicos como uma forma de abstrair os mecanismos de escrita e leitura de dados desses dispositivos, contribuindo assim, para que o foco da equipe de desenvolvimento de software biomédico se destine a seus requisitos funcionais, ou seja, regras de negócio relevantes para o domínio do problema. A arquitetura deste trabalho consiste em seis componentes principais: um Web Service para transporte e conversão dos dados do dispositivo, protocolos de comunicação para acessar os dispositivos, processadores de dados, um repositório de dispositivos para armazenar dados e informações transmitidas, um componente para tratamento de erros e por fim, um componente para configuração da arquitetura. Para o desenvolvimento de SOA-BD, foram utilizadas tecnologias como a linguagem XML e a linguagem de programação Java. Além disso, foram utilizados Padrões de Projeto como projeto de software. Para a validação deste trabalho, os dados foram coletados de monitores de sinais vitais em um centro de terapia intensiva utilizando o padrão médico HL7. Os testes obtiveram uma diferença de cerca de 1 segundo em termos de tempo de resposta com o uso da arquitetura. Para fins conclusivos, foi constatado que a SOA-BD obteve resultados importantes, como a redução da complexidade do protocolo de acesso, a oportunidade de tratar os pacientes em longas distâncias, permitindo um desenvolvimento mais fácil de aplicações de monitoramento e interoperabilidade com dispositivos biomédicos de diversos fabricantes. / The communication of information systems with biomedical devices has become complex not only due to the existence of several private communication protocols, but also to the immutable way that software is embedded into these devices. In this sense, this thesis proposes a service-oriented architecture to access biomedical devices to abstract the mechanisms of writing and reading data from these devices, thus contributing to enable the focus of the development team of biomedical software to be intended for its functional requirements, i.e. business rules relevant to the problem domain. The SOA-BD architecture consists of six main components: A Web Service for transport and conversion of the device data, Communication Protocols to access the devices, Data Parsers to process data, a Device Repository to store data and transmitted information, Error handling, for error handling of these information and Setup, for configuration of the architecture. For the development of SOA-BD, technologies such as the XML language and the Java programming language were used. In addition, Design Patterns were used as software design. For the validation of this work, data has been collected from vital sign monitors in an Intensive Care Unit using the HL7 standard. The tests obtained a difference of about only 1 second in terms of response time with the use of SOA-BD. For conclusive purposes, SOA-BD achieves important results such as the reduction on the access protocol complexity, the opportunity for treating patients over long distances, allowing easier development of monitoring applications and interoperability with biomedical devices from diverse manufacturers.