Meninas e meninos são educados para agirem de formas opostas em diversos campos. A maioria dos meninos aprende a gostar de atividades agressivas e competitivas, ao passo que elas aprendem a gostar de atividades rítmicas ou relacionadas às tarefas domésticas, atividades estas que pouco se assemelham às lutas. Com o intuito de identificar os sujeitos e as instituições que influenciam a vida das lutadoras, realizaram-se entrevistas com cinco lutadoras que foram campeãs mundiais ao menos uma vez em sua modalidade. A análise dos dados foi por meio da dialética. Na infância, as lutadoras brincavam juntamente com os meninos, mas não deixaram de participar de brincadeiras socialmente classificadas como femininas. Não foram estigmatizadas nas aulas de Educação Física por serem habilidosas, mas o foram fora dessas aulas. Ao ingressarem na modalidade, elas não foram cobradas por resultados. Por serem grandes lutadoras, não tiveram dificuldades em serem aceitas em um ambiente de treino predominantemente masculino; assim, elas disputam o espaço entre eles, embora os homens se esforcem para manter a superioridade masculina. Algumas federações, confederações e organizadores de campeonatos premiam as mulheres de forma inferior em relação aos homens, o que caracteriza discriminação de gênero / Girls and boys have been taught by society in order to behave and act in opposite ways within many social situations. Since very young most of the boys learn how to enjoy aggressive and competitive activities like martial arts, while girls are socialized to perform activities more connected to dance and household tasks those which have no relationship to the world of competitiveness, sports and martial arts. Considering these issues, in this thesis I have searched for the sports life of high performance sports women who practice martial arts. My aim was to identify people and institutions which have influenced these fighter\'s life. I did indepth interviews with five fighters who were world championships at least once in their kind of martial arts and combat sports, such as boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, karate and taekwondo. The data collected within the interviews were analyzed using the dialectics method. The data have revealed that these fighters played with boys in their childhood; however, they also played games considered by the society as girls games. Their good physical skills have pushed many prejudice against them, however the prejudice have never shown up during their Physical Education classes in their schools. When they started to perform martial arts, there were no pressure for good outcomes. As they were very talented, these athletes have not faced too many obstacles inside the masculine world of the martial arts, its practices and social environment. However, men fighters have always tried to display their masculine power and superiority while practicing with these women. The data also revealed that National and local Federations discriminate women athletes by paying lesser rewards to them than to the men athletes at the end of the competitions

Fighter pilots operate in environments where an erroneous decision may have fatal consequences. A tactical decision support system (TDSS) could aid the pilots to analyze the situation and make correct decisions. The TDSS can, for instance, highlight important information and suggest suitable actions. The aim of this thesis is to provide a situation analysis model of combat survival that can be utilized in a TDSS. The first part of this thesis describes an analysis of what the model needs to describe and how it can be used. It is concluded that the model should evaluate the outcome of different actions with respect to combat survival. This evaluation can guide the pilot’s decision making, so that actions leading to dangerous situations are avoided. The analysis also highlights the need of handling uncertainties, both measurement precision uncertainty regarding the locations and capabilities of the threats (enemies) and inference uncertainties regarding the prediction of how the threats will act. Finally, arguments for focusing the rest of the work on a single fighter aircraft and threats located on the ground are presented. The second part of the thesis suggests a model, which describes the survivability, i.e., the probability that the aircraft can fly a route without being hit by fire from ground-based threats. Thus, the model represents the inference uncertainty, since it describes the probability of survival. The model’s characteristics are discussed, e.g., that the model is implementable and can be adapted to describe different kinds of ground-based threats. Uncertainty in terms of measurement precision influences the estimate of the survivability. Two different ways of representing this is discussed: calculating the worst case scenario or describing the input as random variables and the resulting survivability as a random variable with a probability distribution. Monte Carlo simulations are used for estimating the distribution for survivability in a few illustrative scenarios, where the input is represented as random variables. The simulations show that when the uncertainty in input is large, the survivability distribution may be both multimodal and mixed. Two uncertainty measures are investigated that condense the information in the distributions into a single value: standard deviation and entropy. The simulations show that both of these measures reflect the uncertainty. Furthermore, the simulations indicate that the uncertainty measures can be used for sensor management, since they point out which information that is the most valuable to gather in order to decrease the uncertainty in the survivability. Finally, directions for future work are suggested. A number of TDSS functions that can be developed based on the model are discussed e.g., warnings, countermeasure management, route-planning and sensor management. The design of these functions could require extending the threat model to incorporate airborne threats and the effects of countermeasures. Further investigations regarding the uncertainty in the model are also suggested.

This paper covers the JRPG subgenre as it compares to the greater RPG genre. These will be compared through how games can, through their mechanics, be traced back to which types of society the games originate from. These societal types are collectivism and individualism, as defined by Richard Brislin (2000). The games are divided into Japanese games and Western games, and are examined for evidence of societal ties in their gameplay mechanics that tie them to their country of origin, or evidence that contend those ties. / Detta examensarbete täcker JRPG-subgenren och jämför denna med den bredare RPG-genren. Dessa jämförs genom hur spel kan, genom deras mekaniker, spåras tillbaka till vilka typer av samhälle spelen härstammar från. Dessa samhällsformer är kollektivism och individualism, enligt definitionen av Richard Brislin (2000). Spelen är uppdelade i japanska spel och västerländska spel och undersöks för bevis på samhällsband i deras spelmekanik som knyter dem till sitt ursprungsland eller bevis som strider mot dessa band.

Thesis submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Durban University of Technology, 2008. / The development of an evolutionary optimisation method and its application to the design of an advanced composite structure is discussed in this study. Composite materials are increasingly being used in various fields, and so optimisation of such structures would be advantageous. From among the various methods available, one particular method, known as Evolutionary Structural Optimisation (ESO), is shown here. ESO is an empirical method, based on the concept of removing and adding material from a structure, in order to create an optimum shape. The objective of the research is to create an ESO method, utilising MSC.Patran/Nastran, to optimise composite structures. The creation of the ESO algorithm is shown, and the results of the development of the ESO algorithm are presented. A tailfin of an aircraft was used as an application example. The aim was to reduce weight and create an optimised design for manufacture. The criterion for the analyses undertaken was stress based. Two models of the tailfin are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed ESO algorithm. The results of this research are presented in the study. / M

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of History / Michael A. Ramsay / This dissertation examines combat leadership in the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in infantry and machine gun units at the company level and below to highlight the linkages between the training and professional development of junior officers and noncommissioned officers (NCOs) and the army's overall military effectiveness in World War I. Between 1865 and 1918, the growing lethality of the battlefield had forced changes to tactics and formations that placed novel demands on small unit leaders. The proliferation of new weapons in infantry companies and the thinning and extension of formations required junior officers and NCOs able to exercise an unparalleled degree of initiative and independence while also mastering new tactical and technical skills. When the United States entered World War I, the Regular Army was still grappling with how to reconcile its traditional expectations of small unit leadership with the new "skill sets" required of junior leaders in modern warfare. Faced with the need to produce officers and NCOs to lead its rapidly expanding mass army, the regulars improvised a system for identifying, training, and assigning company-level leaders. Unfortunately, the Regular Army's unpreparedness to wage a modern war, and the host of systemic problems associated with raising a mass army, meant that much of the training of these key leaders was so ill-focused and incomplete that the new officers and NCOs were woefully unprepared to face the tactical challenges that awaited them in France. These problems were only compounded when unexpected casualties among officers and NCOs in the summer and fall of 1918 led to a further curtailment in leader training the U. S. Army. The end result of the U. S. Army's failure to adequately train and develop its junior leaders was that its combat units often lacked the flexibility and "know how" to fight without suffering prohibitively high casualties. When the junior leaders failed, faltered and bungled, the AEF's battles became confused and uncoordinated slugging matches that confounded the plans and expectations of the army's senior leaders. The heavy casualties that resulted from these slugging matches further undermined the AEF's effectiveness by reducing the morale and cohesion of the army's combat units and hindering the army's overall ability to learn from its mistakes due to the high turn-over of junior officers and NCOs.

Les guerriers kouchites avaient la réputation d’exceller en tant qu’archers, les anciens Égyptiens appelant ainsi la région Ta-Seti : « le Pays de l’arc ». Kouch est le nom d’un district mais également d’une entité politique. Et comme toute entité politique, les différents royaumes de Kouch présentaient une force guerrière, une force armée qui n’a cessé d’évoluer durant les siècles, dû également à la série d’importantes occupations égyptiennes et kouchites sur ce territoire. Cette étude consiste en une description et une classification typologique et technique des armes et équipements d’armes fabriqués et utilisés durant l’Antiquité dans le Nord du Soudan : couteaux, dagues, épées, haches de combat, massues, lances, carquois, arcs, flèches, brassards et anneaux d’archer, etc. Adaptées au contexte militaire de chaque époque, ces armes sont pour l’archéologie des outils de connaissance, les témoins d’une situation qui n’a cessé d’évoluer en fonction de multiples critères tels que la notion de « chaîne opératoire », l’organisation des ateliers, le savoir-faire des artisans, les choix et les influences techniques, stylistiques et culturels, les échanges commerciaux, la distinction entre importations et fabrications locales, le statut des guerriers et des autres porteurs d’armes, les dépôts en contexte funéraire, et, naturellement, les symboliques politiques et religieuses qui s’y rattachent. / Kushite warriors were reputed to excel as archers, ancient Egyptians called the region Ta-Seti, “the land of bow”. Kush is the name of a district but also a political entity. As any political unit, the different kingdoms of Kush had a warrior force, which has continuously evolved over the centuries, due also to the series of Egyptian and Kushite occupations of the territory. This study consists of a description and a typological and technical classification of weapons produced and used during the Sudanese antiquity: knives, daggers, swords, battle axes, maces, spears, quivers, bows, arrows, archer braces, archer rings, etc. Adapted to the military context of each period, these weapons are tools of knowledge, witnessing a situation that has evolved based on multiple criteria such as the notion of “chaîne opératoire”, the organization of workshops, the skills of artisans, the technical, stylistic and cultural choices and influences, the distinction between imports and local manufacturing, the warriors status, the funerary deposits, and the political and religious symbols attached to it.

Ten men participated in this study; all had fathers who served six months or more in active combat during World War II. Each son was asked about his relationship with his father specific to the father's combat experience. Each interview was audiotaped and transcribed. From each transcribed interview a narrative was developed representing the life story of growing up with a combat veteran father. Reading across all ten narratives, eight themes were extracted that were consistent for seven to ten of the participants. Two follow-up questions were later asked of each participant. These questions were also taped and transcribed and formulated into themes. The four most important themes were: avoiding the topic of combat, emotional distancing, father's perceived change in personality because of the war, and wanting to have more intimate time with their fathers growing up. Fifty-five years after the end of World War II there remains a residual effect on these sons. It is anticipated that this research will assist Canada's Peacekeepers in adjusting to their civilian life as they raise their families. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This dissertation focuses on the development of three classes of brain-inspired machine learning classification models. The models attempt to emulate (a) multi-sensory integration, (b) context-integration, and (c) visual information processing in the brain.The multi-sensory integration models are aimed at enhancing object classification through the integration of semantically congruent unimodal stimuli. Two multimodal classification models are introduced: the feature integrating (FI) model and the decision integrating (DI) model. The FI model, inspired by multisensory integration in the subcortical superior colliculus, combines unimodal features which are subsequently classified by a multimodal classifier. The DI model, inspired by integration in primary cortical areas, classifies unimodal stimuli independently using unimodal classifiers and classifies the combined decisions using a multimodal classifier. The multimodal classifier models are be implemented using multilayer perceptrons and multivariate statistical classifiers. Experiments involving the classification of noisy and attenuated auditory and visual representations of ten digits are designed to demonstrate the properties of the multimodal classifiers and to compare the performances of multimodal and unimodal classifiers. The experimental results show that the multimodal classification systems exhibit an important aspect of the “inverse effectiveness principle” by yielding significantly higher classification accuracies when compared with those of the unimodal classifiers. Furthermore, the flexibility offered by the generalized models enables the simulations and evaluations of various combinations of multimodal stimuli and classifiers under varying uncertainty conditions. The context-integrating model emulates the brain’s ability to use contextual information to uniquely resolve the interpretation of ambiguous stimuli. A deep learning neural network classification model that emulates this ability by integrating weighted bidirectional context into the classification process is introduced. The model, referred to as the CINET, is implemented using a convolution neural network (CNN), which is shown to be ideal for combining target and context stimuli and for extracting coupled target-context features. The CINET parameters can be manipulated to simulate congruent and incongruent context environments and to manipulate target-context stimuli relationships. The formulation of the CINET is quite general; consequently, it is not restricted to stimuli in any particular sensory modality nor to the dimensionality of the stimuli. A broad range of experiments are designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the CINET in resolving ambiguous visual stimuli and in improving the classification of non-ambiguous visual stimuli in various contextual environments. The fact that the performance improves through the inclusion of context can be exploited to design robust brain-inspired machine learning algorithms. It is interesting to note that the CINET is a classification model that is inspired by a combination of brain’s ability to integrate contextual information and the CNN, which is inspired by the hierarchical processing of visual information in the visual cortex. A convolution neural network (CNN) model, inspired by the hierarchical processing of visual information in the brain, is introduced to fuse information from an ensemble of multi-axial sensors in order to classify strikes such as boxing punches and taekwondo kicks in combat sports. Although CNNs are not an obvious choice for non-array data nor for signals with non-linear variations, it will be shown that CNN models can effectively classify multi-axial multi-sensor signals. Experiments involving the classification of three-axis accelerometer and three-axes gyroscope signals measuring boxing punches and taekwondo kicks showed that the performance of the fusion classifiers were significantly superior to the uni-axial classifiers. Interestingly, the classification accuracies of the CNN fusion classifiers were significantly higher than those of the DTW fusion classifiers. Through training with representative signals and the local feature extraction property, the CNNs tend to be invariant to the latency shifts and non-linear variations. Moreover, by increasing the number of network layers and the training set, the CNN classifiers offer the potential for even better performance as well as the ability to handle a larger number of classes. Finally, due to the generalized formulations, the classifier models can be easily adapted to classify multi-dimensional signals of multiple sensors in various other applications.

The purpose of this study was to identify health and emotional-related issues of service members after a deployment to Iraq. Secondary data analysis and a cross-sectional descriptive design, were used to analyze data from the Department of Defense Post Deployment Health Assessment (PDHA) database. The cognitive appraisal model of stress and coping (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984) guided this study. Several statistical techniques were used including: frequency distributions cross tab evaluations, factor analysis, reliability calculations, regression analysis and tests for mediation. The study sample included 510, 352 service members (49,998 females, 460,349 males) with a mean age of 29 years. The sample represented all components and branches of the military. Of the total sample, 51.9% (n=264,777) saw wounded, killed or dead individuals and 22.1% (n=112,620) discharged their weapon in combat. Environmental exposures were an important source of stress. Exposures to sand and dust were the largest complaint (89.8% of the sample). Multiple physical symptoms were identified and 40% of the sample reported four or more symptoms (e.g. diarrhea, back pain, headache, fatigue). PTSD symptoms were identified in 11.8% (n = 60,200) and depressive symptoms in 26.5%, (n=123,808) of participants. Results of the study indicated that age, gender, rank, race/ethnicity, military component and branch were important predictors of emotional and health-related concerns in this sample. Appraisal variables (danger of being killed and exposure concerns) mediated the relationship between immediate (physical and depressive symptoms) and long term outcomes (health perception, PTSD symptoms) for the majority of the analyses; supporting the study hypothesis. However, length of deployment did not have a significant impact on stress-related outcomes in this study. Implications for practice, policy and future research are discussed.

A civil-military divide exists within the United States and is perpetuated by a distinct lack of communication between the civilian and military sectors within the population. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine whether attitudes and behaviors of combat veterans affect their positive reintegration into civilian communities. Binder’s social ecology theory provided the framework for the study. Data were collected from 255 combat veterans who responded to a survey. Results were analyzed using a hierarchical multiple linear regression model to determine the influence of military job satisfaction, post-deployment stressors, post-deployment support, and civic engagement on community reintegration efforts, while controlling for age, branch of military service, place of residence, political party affiliation, education, rank, reason for ending military service, and sex. There were statistically significant results that indicate prediction for successful community reintegration may be dependent upon the identification of key associations, including post-deployment support, education, rank, and the reason an individual transitioned out of military service. Findings may also provide policymakers with information about the community reintegration process, which may be used to improve reintegration efforts of combat veterans transitioning back to civilian life for positive social change.