Many-objective optimisation poses great challenges to evolutionary algorithms. To start with, the ineffectiveness of the Pareto dominance relation, which is the most important criterion in multi-objective optimisation, results in the underperformance of traditional Pareto-based algorithms. Also, the aggravation of the conflict between proximity and diversity, along with increasing time or space requirement as well as parameter sensitivity, has become key barriers to the design of effective many-objective optimisation algorithms. Furthermore, the infeasibility of solutions' direct observation can lead to serious difficulties in algorithms' performance investigation and comparison. In this thesis, we address these challenges, aiming to make evolutionary algorithms as effective in many-objective optimisation as in two- or three-objective optimisation. First, we significantly enhance Pareto-based algorithms to make them suitable for many-objective optimisation by placing individuals with poor proximity into crowded regions so that these individuals can have a better chance to be eliminated. Second, we propose a grid-based evolutionary algorithm which explores the potential of the grid to deal with many-objective optimisation problems. Third, we present a bi-goal evolution framework that converts many objectives of a given problem into two objectives regarding proximity and diversity, thus creating an optimisation problem in which the objectives are the goals of the search process itself. Fourth, we propose a comprehensive performance indicator to compare evolutionary algorithms in optimisation problems with various Pareto front shapes and any objective dimensionality. Finally, we construct a test problem to aid the visual investigation of evolutionary search, with its Pareto optimal solutions in a two-dimensional decision space having similar distribution to their images in a higher-dimensional objective space. The work reported in this thesis is the outcome of innovative attempts at addressing some of the most challenging problems in evolutionary many-objective optimisation. This research has not only made some of the existing approaches, such as Pareto-based or grid-based algorithms that were traditionally regarded as unsuitable, now effective for many-objective optimisation, but also pushed other important boundaries with novel ideas including bi-goal evolution, a comprehensive performance indicator and a test problem for visual investigation. All the proposed algorithms have been systematically evaluated against existing state of the arts, and some of these algorithms have already been taken up by researchers and practitioners in the field.

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / With the introduction of wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) in many organizations, it became much easier to intercept confidential files and personal health records. The present study focused on radio frequency propagation in a high-rise building, specifically, the attenuation between floors, and the possibility of intercepting signals through the floors. The current work is based on simulations using the Urbana software tool. It is used to predict the contour of the power levels of signals for a given physical model of the environment using high-frequency ray-tracing methods. The simulation results indicated that the signal levels for a 1 W transmitter could only be detected at the -70 dBm level within two floors (above or below). Even within the two floor range the signal distribution was very nonuniform due to the effects of multipath. The results indicated that closing doors reduced the signal levels, but only slightly for wood doors. Signals escaped the building through the window and were able to travel between floors via this path. The ray tracing accounted for only single diffraction, and therefore rays diffracted two or more times were not included. / Captain, Tunisian Air Force

This study tested dual-process decision-making models as predictors of between-person and within-person variation in risk-taking behavior. Additionally, the study integrated trait perspectives on self-control and impulsivity with decision-making processes to explain risk-taking. Participants were 580 college students ages 18 and older (M age = 20.45, range = 18 to 52 years). This study involved three parts. First, participants completed a survey assessing decision-making processes, self-control, impulsivity and risk-taking behavior. Second, a sub-set of participants completed laboratory-based measures of self-control and impulsivity. Third, participants completed a longitudinal online assessment of their risk-taking behavior. Dual-process models explained concurrent risk-taking, but only the reasoned decision-making process explained longitudinal risk-taking. The dual decision-making processes appear to operate through similar pathways, with components from each pathway exhibiting indirect effects through the other pathway. Impulsivity was linked to higher levels of risk-taking because of higher levels of behavioral intentions and willingness, whereas self-control was linked to lower levels of risk-taking because of lower levels of behavioral intentions. Between-person effects were as common as within-person effects, so future researchers are urged to consider decision-making processes averaged across forms of risk-taking and within each form of risk-taking. Altering decision-making pathways may be an effective way to intervene with individuals at high risk for engaging in risk-taking behavior.

In 2016 Chile adopted a new law (Ley N° 20.915) that aims to strengthen the public and democratic character of the political parties and facilitate their modernization. For the political parties in the country this means a set of measures imposing obligations concerning their transparent and democratizing internal processes. The aim of this paper is to examine how the transparency within the Chilean political parties has changed since the introduction of the law 20.915 and how the citizens trust for these political entities has changed during the same period. What have the political parties done to increase the transparency? How has the relationship between transparency and trust in the political parties developed since the introduction of the law 20.915? What factors are important for understanding the relationship between transparency and trust? Is the increased trust in political parties due to the introduction of the law 20.915 or are there other aspects to consider? The theoretical framework resulted in two hypotheses. The first is based on the idea that increased transparency in political parties leads to higher trust for the political parties and therefore expect trust in parties in Chile to increase. The second hypothesis take into account that this effect might be stronger in the short run, but over time the effect will diminsh because there are other aspects to take into consideration as well, and if these are not seen to, the trust won’t continue to increase alongside the transparency. The expectations of the first hypothesis received support as both transparency and trust increased after the introduction of transparency reforms. But the indication of such relationship diverged at the end of the period, when trust decreased despite the continued improvement of transparency. This could be seen as an indication of support for the expected outcome of the second hypothesis, and the discussion concerning the reason for this result focused on the role of perception of corruption, time, medial attention and social media platforms among others. The analysis has been conducted through a qualitative case study based on various documents and scientific articles. The method used is both descriptive and theory trying since the paper aims to answer both questions as “how”, “what” and “which”, and also aims to test the stated hypotheses on the empirical material.

À l'instar de ses homologues européens, le Conseil d'État a été érigé en juge de droit commun du droit de l'Union. L'exercice de cet office ne s'est pas fait sans heurts dès lors que le droit de l'Union européenne est venu défier certaines conceptions solidement enracinées dans la culture juridique nationale. Facteur de déstabilisation de l'office juridictionnel du Conseil d'État, l'ordre juridique de l'Union européenne s'est progressivement imposé comme le vecteur de sa modernisation et de la transformation de sa fonction juridictionnelle. La mise en œuvre de ce droit a conduit le Conseil d'État à se départir des dogmes juridiques auxquels il était profondément attaché et qui se trouvaient au cœur de son autolimitation. L'incidence de l'octroi de cet office juridictionnel se déploie au-delà de la stricte mise en œuvre des exigences mises à sa charge. Se matérialise, à l'échelle de l'Europe, l'émergence d'un espace européen partagé des juges qui se révèle être le berceau d'une circulation spontanée du droit. L'inscription du Conseil d'État en son sein participe inexorablement du processus d'enrichissement de son office en ce qu'il le conduit à s'ériger en acteur de l'édification d'un droit commun et du rapprochement de la justice administrative en Europe. / Like its European counterparts, the French Council of State was established to judge ordinary law in the European Union. Carrying out this duty has resulted in some conflict, as European Union law goes against certain notions that are entrenched in the national legal culture. The European Union's legal system, which has been a destabilising factor in the Council of State’s judicial duties, has gradually become an essential vector for the Council's modernisation and the transformation of its judicial function. Implementing this law has led the Council of State to move away from the legal dogmas that were at the centre of its self-limitation, to which it was profoundly attached. The implications of granting this judicial duty go far beyond rigidly implementing the requirements under its responsibility. At European level, a European space shared between the courts is starting to emerge, and is revealing itself to be the origin of a spontaneous movement of law. The Council of State's inclusion within this space is inexorably contributing to the process of enhancing its function, as it has resulted in the Council establishing itself as a player in the construction of ordinary law and in the alignment with European administrative justice.

Student Number : 9102146D - MA research report - School of Graduate School - Faculty of Humanities / This is a study of local integration of Congolese refugees from The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) living in Johannesburg. The point of departure is from Jacobsen’s assertion that refugees are de facto integrated when they are not in physical danger, are able to sustain livelihoods through access to land or employment, and can support themselves and their families, are socially networked into host communities so that intermarriage is common, ceremonies like weddings and funerals are attended by everyone and there is no distinction between refugees and local communities. The study looks at the amount of interaction between refugees and South Africans, the dynamics involved in social integration and the perception of integration by refugees and service providers. Refugees and service providers in Johannesburg were interviewed and conclusions are drawn from their responses and the literature consulted.

Leadership has been an important aspect in the affairs of men as far back as the beginning of the ages. It has provided the compass with which humanity found its way in times when existence needed to be maintained or change became desirable. It has shaped the way many reasons; it has shaped civilizations, industries, and institutions. But existing side by side with the concept is that of followership which we have used in this work to mean ‘employee’. Both concepts have been employed in this work within the realms of modern-day corporate business organizations. They have been highlighted and polished to reveal what makes business organizations work the way they do and to determine what room there is for improvement and how to exploit it.  While the authors acknowledge the fact that the concept of leadership has metamorphosed and developed into different styles, it does not constitute a dilution but remains pivotal in organizational efficiency and needs to be harnessed. Of concern, therefore, is how we can determine the best styles leadership has to offer and analyses the role it plays in motivating employees and spurring them to perform better within the organization they are committed to. This work is therefore centered on the effectiveness of the various styles of leadership are in influencing an employee of a given organization to do more at his job and deliver better results.

A common belief about inflation and economic growth has developed during recent years. This belief is that a “low” and stable inflation rate favors economic growth. The underlying arguments for this are that a low inflation rate create a beneficial playground for all participants. A playground which will meliorate investments and ensure a stability for consumers which in return will give a favorable environment for the economy to thrive. This paper aims to clarify this relationship between inflation and economic growth in Sweden between the period 1971-2017 and thus investigate the co-integration relation between the two variables. Additional test will be conducted to explore a potential threshold level of inflation. This threshold level is defined as the point where inflation starts to harm growth.

O aumento das doses de potássio (K) para atender a demanda nutricional desse nutriente em cafezais produtivos induz a deficiência de Mg. Esta pesquisa foi realizada com o objetivo de compreender como a classe de solo interfere na interação entre esses nutrientes (K e Mg), de maneira que a aplicação de alta dose de K não afete a nutrição da planta em relação ao Mg. Dois experimentos foram conduzidos em duas classes de solo: Latossolo, com textura muito argilosa, em Machado-MG, e Argissolo, com textura media sobre argilosa, em Monte Santo de Minas-MG. Adotou-se delineamento fatorial com três doses de K (110, 260 e 390 kg ha-1 K2O) x cinco doses de Mg (0, 81, 162, 324 e 405 kg ha-1 MgO), com três repetições. No Argissolo, a lixiviação de K impediu a redução da concentração foliar de Mg, independentemente da dose de K. No Latossolo, a concentração de Mg foliar variou com a dose de K, e apresentou ajuste quadrático. A concentração foliar de Mg aumentou linearmente com a dose desse nutriente, independentemente da classe de solo e da dose de K. / The increasing levels of potassium (K) applied to attend coffee nutritional demand has induced a widespread of Magnesium (Mg) deficiency. The purpose of this research is to understand how the soil features interfere on the interaction between these nutrients (K and Mg) in the coffee, to guide the management of potassium fertilizer, where the application of high doses of K does not interfere with nutritional status the coffee with respect to Mg. Two experiments were conducted in contrasting soil classes at two sites: Oxisol, with a clay textured soil at Machado-MG, and an Ultisol, with medium texture at Monte Santo de Minas, in a factorial design with three rates of K (110, 260 and 390 kg ha-1 K2O) x 5 rates of Mg (without Mg, 81, 162, 324 and 405 kg ha-1 MgO) with three replications. On the Ultisol, K leaching prevented the reduction of leaf Mg content, independently of the application rate of K. On Oxisol, leaf Mg content was modified according to K rate, and presented quadratic adjust. Mg leaf content was enhanced linearly with the application of this nutrient, independently of the soil class and the K rate.

Sobre as fronteiras e territórios do design e do marketing pesam a influência de fatores endógenos, provenientes de novidades e controvérsias inerentes aos campos, e exógenos, advindos da atual conjuntura socioeconômica, cultural e ambiental. Isto, além impactar o contexto do mundo globalizado, representa novos desafios práticos e teóricos que, sugerem um novo nível de atuação das áreas, bem como mudanças no futuro deste relacionamento, que ainda hoje é tratado de forma hierarquizada. Posto isso, questiona-se: quais as consequências práticas e epistemológicas advindas do relacionamento entre o design e o marketing sobre os respectivos campos e a conjuntura atual, considerando-se os interesses, as características e a inevitável coexistência das áreas no complexo ambiente globalizado? Com efeito, analisando-se a questão central, tendo como base, os panoramas passado, atual e futuro deste relacionamento, decidiu-se pelo uso de duas técnicas de coletas de dados. Esta pesquisa baseou-se em métodos qualitativos, por isso, primeiramente, optou-se pelo uso de uma abordagem teórica, à luz da revisão bibliográfica, com o intuito de situar o problema e apresentar os principais eventos e conceitos relacionados ao tema. Em segundo lugar, optou-se pelo uso de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com respondentes da área de design, em busca de dados pertinentes e relevantes sobre o panorama da interação entre o design e o marketing e suas consequências. A presente pesquisa tem caráter exploratório, não exaustivo e pretende colaborar com o campo do design, como subsídio para a reflexão de outros pesquisadores. Por este motivo, optou-se pela pesquisa qualitativa, que propicia, dentre outras coisas, a reflexão mediante a correlação entre a teoria e prática. Posto isso, conclui-se que há uma expressiva relação entre a interação dos campos do design e do marketing que projeta novos cenários e novas perspectivas futuras. / On the borders and territories of design and marketing, weigh the influence of endogenous factors, from novelties and controversies inherent areas, and exogenous, caused by the current conjuncture socioeconomic, cultural and environmental. This, in addition to impacting the context of a globalized world, poses new practical and theoretical challenges the suggest a new level of performance areas, as well as changes in the future of this relationship, today is still is treated in a hierachical way. That said the question is: What are the practical and epistemological consequences arising from the relationship between design and marketing on their respective areas and current situation, considering the interests, characteristics and inevitable coexistence of areas in the complex globalized environment? This research was based on qualitative methods, so first, we opted for the light of the literature review, in order to situate the problem and the present the main concepts and events related to the theme. Secondly, we chose to use semi- structured interviews with respondents from the design area, looking for pertinent and relevants data panorama of the interaction between design and marketing and it consequences. This research is exploratory, not exhaustive and intends to collaborate with the design area , as a subsidy for the reflection other stakeholders. For this reason, we chose to qualitative research, which provides, among other things, a reflection upon the correlation between theory and practice. That said, it is concluded that there is a significant relationship between the interaction of the fields of design and marketing designing new scenarios and new prospects.