This thesis attends the problem of institutional and political structure in a post-war economy of Lebanon. Lebanon was one of the countries in the Near east, which tried to apply principles known as Washington consensus. On this case we try to demonstrate the problem which appeared also in other countries of the world, where the same set of principles was applied and it was the insufficient attention dedicated to the issue of informal networks. We pay special attention to a confessional system in Lebanon which is based on division of powers on the basis of religion. This type of political structure produces creation of informal networks which substitute state apparatus and instigate corruption. The thesis proposes a modification of Lebanese system which will treat the institutional background with greater attention.

The minimum wage is a tool of public policy which despite being in favor of politics tends to be in displeasure of economists. Recent consensus study shows (Alston, 1992; Fuller, 2003) that consensus on minimum wage among economists has a tendency for weakening. The goal of my thesis was to map the consensus of economists on minimum wage in the course of the 20th century and to help to answer the question how the view of economists has changed on this topic and which events were of greatest influence. As a way of measuring the consensus I chose the studying of academic articles because it is the direct output of academic community. My study shows that from the 1930s we can see a constant strengthening of ideas that a minimum wage has a negative effect on economy.

The aim of this paper is to analyze descriptively the consensual and differential dimensions of political leadership social representations, based on a convenience sample composed of Psychology, Philosophy and Humanities college students from Tucumán National University, Argentina. Results show a representational universe in tension characterized by opposite nuclear components: Leadership and Representation versus Power and Corruption, as well as opposite dimensions: Features / Positive Political Aspects versus Features / Negative Political Aspects, as well as two relevant clusters consistent with the latter two. Differences are also observed when analyzing variables such as: year in college, student’s political group membership, university political involvement and background / types of political figures. / Se analiza descriptivamente la faceta consensual y diferencial de las representaciones socialessobre la dirigencia política, en base a una muestra de estudiantes de la Facultad de Psicología y en la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (UNT)-Argentina. Los resultados muestran un universo representacional en tensión caracterizado por componentes nucleares contrarios: Liderazgo y Representación versus Poder y Corrupción; y por dimensiones opuestas: Características/Aspectos Políticos Positivos versus Características/Aspectos Políticos Negativos, así como por conglomerados primordiales concordantes con estas últimas. Se observan también diferencias en función de variables como año de cursado, militancia en agrupaciones políticas estudiantiles, antecedentes de participación política en la Universidad y cargos/figuras políticas de diversa índole.

The dissertation focuses on how to best represent the consensus and attitude dynamic of a group given the attitudes of its individuals. This is done in the Bayesian epistemology framework using pooling with imprecise probabilities, and in utility theory extending Harsanyi's aggregation theorem to characterize other directed attitudes like spite and altruism. The final part of the dissertation considers attitudes within social networks and provides explanations and simulation models for online segregation and tribalism as well as the spread of rumors through contagion. The dissertation hopes to contribute to foundational issues like that of epistemic consensus, but also to new emerging phenomena in social epistemology.

La vie en groupe représente de nombreux défis pour les animaux et l’un d’entre eux est le maintien de la cohésion groupe. Comment les animaux décident collectivement où et quand se déplacer, se nourrir, se reposer alors qu’ils n’ont pas les mêmes motivations ou besoins ?Dans ce travail de thèse je me suis intéressée aux mécanismes qui sous-tendent les décisions collectives lors des déplacements chez le cheval domestique et notamment le poids des différences interindividuelles et des relations sociales sur ces mécanismes. Pour cela, j’ai étudié quatre groupes de chevaux contenant uniquement des juments ou des groupes familiaux contenant un étalon et des juments. J’ai pu mettre en évidence 1) l’absence de leader et l’existence de décisions partagées par l’ensemble du groupe, 2) l’importance de la personnalité et des relations sociales sur la décision des individus, 3) l’importance de la période précédant le départ sur la rapidité du consensus et 4) la coexistence de mécanismes auto-organisés et individualisés. Enfin en étudiant plus précisément les étalons, j’ai pu montrer que contrairement à l’idée populaire, ils ne sont pas les leaders de leur groupe. Leur rôle s’apparente plus à celui de surveillant et parfois de catalyseur. Ces résultats suggères que les chevaux vivent au sein d’un système hybride ou décisions partagées et non partagées coexistent. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This diploma thesis deals with the creation of a design for the utilization of blockchain technology in a corporate environment. The main goal of this work is to create a proposal for a business process and its implementation in a specific blockchain platform. The analysis of the current state of the process describes current process and company’s requirements for the functionality of new technology. In the design part of the work, I compared specific blockchain platforms. As a result of this part I chose the most suitable solution for the implementation of my proposal. This chapter further includes the design of a methodology for verifying whether the process is suitable for the implementation of a blockchain technology or not. Moreover, it describes how to proceed when choosing a suitable solution and highlights its key factors.

The public’s demand for competent and safe health care obligates the profession to meet the challenges of high quality care with current knowledge and skills. The maintenance of competence and the participation in continuous professional development (CPD) has firmly been established as a professional standard with the purpose of ensuring the safety of the public. The enhancement and maintenance of knowledge and skills can be obtained through participation in CPD programmes. Despite the importance of CPD, not many critical care nurse practitioners avail themselves of the opportunity to attend CPD programmes. The overall aim of this research was to reach consensus regarding the reasons for the unsatisfactory attendance of a CPD programme developed for critical care units in a private hospital in Gauteng. A consensus methodology was used to involve the critical care nurse practitioners in planning and prioritising strategies for a future continuous professional development programme. Using the nominal group technique the critical care nurse practitioners reflected on their experience related to the current CPD programme and provided inputs and ranked priorities. Fourteen critical care nurse practitioners participated in the nominal group session. Consensus was reached regarding five priorities that should be implemented as strategies to enhance attendance of future CPD programmes. In rank order these priorities were communication, continuous professional development, clinical training, time constraints and financial implications. A central theme “attitude” was included as attitude has a powerful effect on all of the above mentioned priorities. In conclusion the study focussed on identifying and discussing the reasons for unsatisfactory attendance of a CPD programme. Based on the reasons identified priorities were set and strategies were collaboratively developed to enhance future attendance of a CPD programme. / Dissertation (MCur)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2015 / Nursing Science / MCur / Unrestricted

Supplementary feeding continues to be a widespread strategy for child health promotion though its efficacy remains contested. The long-standing, Malaysian national food assistance program for children - Program Pemulihan Kanak-Kanak Kekurangan Zat Makanan (PPKZM) - fits this pattern, receiving severe criticism for its limited impact on child nutritional status. Still, the program remains, producing a seeming paradox and prompting questions of how it fits into (1) the larger political context of national health policy and (2) more localized village and clinic environments. This research combines historical inquiry with the in-depth, ethnographic study of two predominantly Malay coastal villages in Malaysian Borneo, where child anthropometry and household food insecurity rates establish a clear need for the PPKZM despite low coverage rates. This study assesses the ways in which common, local foods are perceived and categorized and the degree to which these understandings are shared both (1) within the communities and (2) between the communities and the clinics that serve them. Community members do not share a single core set of well-known food items. Instead, multiple microenvironments within the fieldsites likely dictate differential diets and prioritize distinct sets of foods. Agreement is more pronounced among clinic workers, who display a simple food classification system based almost exclusively on taxonomic differences with the rationale for these distinctions expressed in nutritional terms. Although community members recognize the same constitutive kinds, their categories are more nuanced and reflect the concerns of day-to-day practice, encompassing when and how a food item is encountered; its origins, relative expense, and common usage; and who will likely consume it. The dissertation relates cultural models for food classification to health education messages, PPKZM programming guidelines, community conditions, and food beliefs and practices. It facilitates an understanding of place - as viewed through the lens of food security - and addresses the relative fit of current nutritional programming within this context. The study offers concrete design recommendations for a successful, child-specific food package in the short-term while arguing for a more holistic, household-level solution.

Spacecraft formation flying refers to the coordinated operation of a group of spacecraft with a common objective. While the concept has been in existence for a long time, practical fruition of the ideas was not possible earlier due to technological limitations. The topic has received widespread attention in the last decade, with the development of autonomous control, improved computational facilities and better communication technology. It allows a number of small, lightweight, economical spacecraft to work together to execute the function of a larger, heavier, more complex and expensive spacecraft. The primary advantage of such systems is that they are flexible, modular, and cost-effective.<div><br></div><div>The flexibility of formation flying and other derived concepts comes from the fact that the units are not physically attached, allowing them to change position or orientation when the need arises. To fully realize this possibility, it is important to develop methods for spatial reorganization. This thesis is an attempt to contribute to this development. </div><div><br></div><div>In this thesis, the reconfiguration problem has been formulated as a single system with multiple inputs and multiple outputs, while preserving the individuality of the agents to a certain degree. The agents are able to communicate with their neighbors by sharing information. In this framework, a distributed closed-loop stabilizing controller has been developed, that would drive the spacecraft formation to a target shape. An expression for the controller gain as a function of the graph Laplacian eigenvalues has also been derived. The practical applications of this work have been demonstrated through simulations</div>

Cette thèse traite de l'identification des paramètres du point de vue de l'optimisation et du contrôle de suivi distribué des systèmes multi-agents d'ordre fractionnaire (FOMASs) en tenant compte des retards, des perturbations externes, de la non-linéarité inhérente, des incertitudes des paramètres et de l'hétérogénéité dans le cadre d'une topologie de communication fixe non dirigée / dirigée. Plusieurs contrôleurs efficaces sont conçus pour réaliser avec succès le contrôle de suivi distribué des FOMASs dans différentes conditions. Plusieurs types d'algorithmes d'optimisation de l'intelligence artificielle et leurs versions modifiées sont appliquées pour identifier les paramètres inconnus des FOMASs avec une grande précision, une convergence rapide et une grande robustesse. Il est à noter que cette thèse fournit un lien prometteur entre la technique d'intelligence artificielle et le contrôle distribué. / This thesis deals with the parameter identification from the viewpoint of optimization and distributed tracking control of fractional-order multi-agent systems (FOMASs) considering time delays, external disturbances, inherent nonlinearity, parameters uncertainties, and heterogeneity under fixed undirected/directed communication topology. Several efficient controllers are designed to achieve the distributed tracking control of FOMASs successfully under different conditions. Several kinds of artificial intelligence optimization algorithms andtheir modified versions are applied to identify the unknown parameters of the FOMASs with high accuracy, fast convergence and strong robustness. It should be noted that this thesis provides a promising link between the artificial intelligence technique and distributed control.