This thesis presents a biologically inspired model of learning and development. This model decomposes the lifetime of a single learning system into a number of stages, analogous to the infant, juvenile, adolescent and adult stages of development in a biological system. This model is then applied to Kohonen's SOM algorithm.In order to better understand the operation of Kohonen's SOM algorithm, a theoretical analysis of self-organisation is performed. This analysis establishes the role played by lateral connections in organisation, and the significance of the Laplacian lateral connections common to many SOM architectures.This analysis of neighbourhood interactions is then used to develop three key variations on Kohonen's SOM algorithm. Firstly, a new scheme for parameter decay, known as Butterworth Step Decay, is presented. This decay scheme provides training times comparable to the best training times possible using traditional linear decay, but precludes the need for a priori knowledge of likely training times. In addition, this decay scheme allows Kohonen's SOM to learn in a continuous manner.Secondly, a method is presented for establishing core knowledge in the fundamental representation of a SOM. This technique is known as Syllabus Presentation. This technique involves using a selected training syllabus to reinforce knowledge known to be significant. A method for developing a training syllabus, known as Percept Masking, is also presented.Thirdly, a method is presented for preventing the loss of trained representations in a continuously learning SOM. This technique, known as Arbor Pruning, involves restricting the weight update process to prevent the loss of significant representations. This technique can be used if the data domain varies within a known set of dimensions. However, it cannot be used to control forgetfulness if dimensions are added to or removed from ++ / the data domain.

Thesis advisor: Sarah Babb / In the early 1990s, at the height of the Washington Consensus, its hegemonic model of neoliberal development was strongly challenged by Japan, the U.S.’s greatest ally. The key event characterizing this challenge occurred when Japan’s Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) began criticizing the World Bank’s famous Structural Adjustment Loans (SALs). This subsequently led to the publication of the “East Asian Miracle Report” by the World Bank financed by the Japanese government. This poses a great puzzle considering Japan’s historically submissive and politically deferential relationship with the U.S. since the end of World War II. I address two questions in my thesis to solve the above puzzle: (1) why did the Japanese state choose to oppose American ideological hegemony in the 1990s? (2) how did the ideas involved in this challenge develop within and beyond the institution of Japanese policy bureaucracy? The theory and methods used in this paper are inspired by the historical institutionalist tradition in sociology and political science. I argue that the shift in Japan’s foreign aid strategy in the late 1980s was driven by a mixture of economic, institutional and political factors. This along with the escalating influence of the Washington Consensus and its interference with Japanese aid policy, drove Japan to oppose American ideological hegemony in the 1990s. Furthermore, tracing the policy discourses of the OECF during this period revealed that not only economic and political factors, but also the developmentalist idea that valued the central role of the state in its economic development was essential in instigating Japan’s construction and promotion of its own development model. I conclude that Japan’s challenge was both a local and a global social construct, developed in the processes of transnational interaction with other states and their actors, and drawing on internationally available economic ideas. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

<p><strong>Aim:</strong> The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between innovation and system complexity, and suggest improvements for an organization to handle innovation and complexity better.</p><p><strong>Method:</strong> The analysis was based on theoretical models about organizational structure, development models and knowledge management. The models were selected to highlight theoretical extremes rather than practical usefulness to avoid practical obstacles in the theoretic evaluations. The work progressed as a strategy development flow based on a model including four phases; analysis, objectives and recommendations, options and Implementation.</p><p><strong>Result & Conclusions: </strong>To significantly improve how complexity and innovation are managed it isn’t sufficient to focus on improvements in one part, such as processes. Organizational goals, external environment, organizational structure, development model, knowledge management and internal culture have to be considered and balanced to achieve significant improvements. For the organization studied it was clear that there was a difference in the official description of the organization and how it worked in practice.</p><p><strong>Suggestions for future research: </strong>Metrics are important to measure value and improvement. Balanced metrics describing how well an organization is adapted to its goals and environment is an area for future work. The effect of Model-Based design on organizational structure is another interesting topic for further research.  </p><p><strong>Contribution of the thesis: </strong>The recommendations and objectives developed in this study can be used to improve an organization with respect to both internal and external environment.</p>

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between innovation and system complexity, and suggest improvements for an organization to handle innovation and complexity better. Method: The analysis was based on theoretical models about organizational structure, development models and knowledge management. The models were selected to highlight theoretical extremes rather than practical usefulness to avoid practical obstacles in the theoretic evaluations. The work progressed as a strategy development flow based on a model including four phases; analysis, objectives and recommendations, options and Implementation. Result &amp; Conclusions: To significantly improve how complexity and innovation are managed it isn’t sufficient to focus on improvements in one part, such as processes. Organizational goals, external environment, organizational structure, development model, knowledge management and internal culture have to be considered and balanced to achieve significant improvements. For the organization studied it was clear that there was a difference in the official description of the organization and how it worked in practice. Suggestions for future research: Metrics are important to measure value and improvement. Balanced metrics describing how well an organization is adapted to its goals and environment is an area for future work. The effect of Model-Based design on organizational structure is another interesting topic for further research.   Contribution of the thesis: The recommendations and objectives developed in this study can be used to improve an organization with respect to both internal and external environment.

Tiriant verslo strategijos modelius, aiškėja, kad verslo strategijos modelių formavimas nagrinėjamas nebuvo. Mokslinėje literatūroje nėra pakankamai išsamių turizmo plėtros strategijos modelių analizės tyrimų, kurie galėtų būti panaudoti, priimant šalies turizmo plėtro planavimo sprendimus. Lietuvos mokslinėje literatūroje tokio mokslinių tyrimų objekto lyg šiol išvis nebūta. Pirmoji Baigiamojo magistrinio darbo dalis skirta strategijos modelių sampratos ir formų analizei, turizmo plėtros strategijos modelių apžvalgai. Antroje darbo dalyje aptariama darbo tyrimo metodika. Trečioje dalyje, atsižvelgiant į turizmo strategijos modelių apžvalgą, turizmo būklę 2007-2008 metais, pateikiamas suformuluotas šalies turizmo plėtros strategijos modelis ir aptariami šalies turizmo darnią plėtrą įtakojantys veiksniai. / Lithuania until now little consideration for sustainable development of tourism business model. European Union Structural Funds, to attract more foreign tourists to our country will be effective only if the sustainable development of tourism. The importance of tourism in many countries in the GDP, the additional jobs, activating the international trade balance. Travel tourism marketing in the company internacionilizations their business, which acceptable customer service, and the rapidly growing demand promotes the development of such enterprises in Lithuania. Based on the experience of foreign countries can be said that one of the most important aspects of a successful tourism business - business strategy models for the creation and formation.

This study, in its exploration of the attached play scripts and their method of development, evaluates the forms, strategies, and methods of an organised model of formalised playwriting. Through the examination, reflection and reaction to a perceived crisis in playwriting in the Australian theatre sector, the notion of Industrial Playwriting is arrived at: a practice whereby plays are designed and constructed, and where the process of writing becomes central to the efficient creation of new work and the improvement of the writer’s skill and knowledge base. Using a practice-led methodology and action research the study examines a system of play construction appropriate to and addressing the challenges of the contemporary Australian theatre sector. Specifically, using the action research methodology known as design-based research a conceptual framework was constructed to form the basis of the notion of Industrial Playwriting. From this two plays were constructed using a case study method and the process recorded and used to create a practical, step-by-step system of Industrial Playwriting. In the creative practice of manufacturing a single authored play, and then a group-devised play, Industrial Playwriting was tested and found to also offer a valid alternative approach to playwriting in the training of new and even emerging playwrights. Finally, it offered insight into how Industrial Playwriting could be used to greatly facilitate theatre companies’ ongoing need to have access to new writers and new Australian works, and how it might form the basis of a cost effective writer development model. This study of the methods of formalised writing as a means to confront some of the challenges of the Australian theatre sector, the practice of playwriting and the history associated with it, makes an original and important contribution to contemporary playwriting practice.

Företag över hela världen är beroende av innovation för att vara fortsatt konkurrensstarka på sin respektive marknad. Innovation existerar i olika grad där låg innovation, eller inkrementellinnovation, kan ses som en vidareutveckling av en produkt eller tjänst där mindre ändringar görs. Hög innovation, eller radikal innovation, kan istället ses som en utveckling av en helt ny produkt eller tjänst, som inte redan är existerande på marknaden. Alla företag använder projekt av olika storleksgrad med olika syfte. Projekten kan skilja sig sinsemellan med avseende på den grad av innovation som de har. I denna rapport undersöks och diskuteras det hur olika grader av innovation påverkar utvecklingsprocessen i projekt. Undersökningen har skett på ett företag inom halvledarindustrin som specialiserar sig inom högteknologiska produkter. Undersökningen har skett i form av fyra intervjuer av anställda med olika roller på företaget. Det är ett relativt litet företag som även är ensamma i Norden med tillverkning och distribuering av sina produkter. Inför arbetet har en litteraturundersökning genomförts, följt av intervjuer med fyra respondenter på det aktuella företaget. Resultatet visar på att det egentligen inte är några skillnader mellan projekt av olika innovationsgrad när det kommer till planeringsfasen av projekten. Under hela utvecklingsprocessen skiljer sig projekt av olika innovationsgrad åt med avseende på tid, resurshantering, externa parters påverkan, vikten av ett effektivt projekt samt hur viktigt ett projekt är för företaget. Resultaten från denna studie är inte absoluta i och med att det är ett litet företag med endast ungefär 50 anställda. Det är även ett företag inom en nischad bransch. För att resultatet ska vara applicerbart inom samtliga organisationer och företag krävs fortsatt forskning och en vidareutveckling på detta arbete där fler företag av olika storlekar inom olika sektorer analyseras och jämförs med varandra. De insikter och slutsatser samt den kunskap som detta arbete genererat kan då vara en källa till fortsatt forskning inom ämnet. / Companies all over the world are dependent on innovation in order to continuously keep their position on their specific market. Innovation exists within different grades whereas low innovation, or incremental innovation, can be seen as a further development of an already existing product or service. High innovation, or radical innovation, can instead be seen as a development of a completely new product or service, which is not already on the market. All companies use projects of different sizes and with different goals. The projects might differ between themself with respect to the grade of innovation. This report examines and discusses how different grades of innovation affect the development process within the project. The study has taken place on a company within the semiconductor industry where they specialize in highly technological products. It is a rather small company who is singularly responsible for the manufacturing and distribution of the products in the Nordic. Before the study, a preliminary investigation was made, followed by interviews with four respondents on the company in question. The results show that there is no actual difference between projects of different grades of innovation when it comes to the planning phase of the project. During the whole development phase the projects differ with respect to time, handling of resources, the impact of external parties, the importance of an effective project and the importance of the project to the company. The results from this study are not absolute due to the fact that it is a small company with only about 50 employees. It is also a company within a fairly niche industry. To have the result being applicable within all industries and companies, continuous research and further development of this study is needed where different companies of different sizes in different industries are analyzed and compared to each other. The experience and knowledge that this report brings might be a source for further research within the subject.

Os constantes avanços técnico-científicos, nas diversas áreas da engenharia, ocasionaram grandes mudanças nos inúmeros métodos de abordagem do cotidiano e também, realizaram papel fundamental, na aproximação de novos usuários, com ou sem conhecimentos específicos, à utilização das novas técnicas. Na Cartografia, por exemplo, esses avanços e a aproximação de novos usuários, com diferentes necessidades de uso, possibilitaram o desenvolvimento de modernos modos de abordagem para problemas do dia a dia. A criação da estruturação de dados digitais geográficos permitiu o desenvolvimento de novas ferramentas computacionais que, como os Sistemas de Informação Geográficas, agilizaram as etapas referentes aos processos de pesquisas relacionados a utilização de dados geográficos. Contudo, para uma correta utilização das novas ferramentas, os conjuntos de dados geográficos, devem apresentar-se de modo estruturado, seguindo normas e técnicas bem elaboradas sobre esse assunto. Um esforço que, por muitas vezes, não ocorre por parte dos usuários finais que acabada por comprometer toda a eficiência do sistema eletrônico. Este trabalho aborda assim, os benefícios envolvidos na utilização de padrões e técnicas de desenvolvimento de softwares bem definidas e eficientes; as instituições internacionais responsáveis por estabelecerem as regras base e os esforços necessários para o desenvolvimento com qualidade de uma aplicação que utilize banco de dados espaciais. / The constant technical and scientific advances, in various areas of engineering, have led to changes in the many methods of everyday approach and played a fundamental role in attracting new users, with or without specific knowledge, to the use of these new techniques. In cartography, in special, these advances and the approximation of new users, with different skill levels, enabled the development of modern methods for resolution of problems. The creation of data structure for geographic applications allowed the development of new computational tools that, as the Geographic Information Systems, helped the development related to the research processes with geographic data. However, for a correct use of these new tools, spatial databases must be developed in a structured way, following well-developed standards and techniques. An effort that, for many times, does not occur on the part of the end users that end up compromising all the efficiency of the computational system. This work present: The benefits involved in the use of standards and techniques for developing efficient software; showing the international institutions responsible for establishing the base rules and the necessary efforts for the development with quality of an application that uses spatial databases.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-22T22:04:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTACAO MARCELO DA SILVEIRA.pdf: 1755449 bytes, checksum: 0ce48ac9cf6fd238f8ac316804b52800 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-11-20 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study seeks to understand the reasons/motivations that led to the Federative Republic of Brazil to choose historically roads as the main means of inducing national development, despite the gigantism of its territory and its consequent diversity of economic, social and environmental realities. To this, it was performed a choice s analysis for maintaining this standard in the context of the twenty-first century, focusing on the work of the BR-319 s reconstruction project, that connects Manaus (AM) to Porto Velho (RO), which is quite elucidative, since this was a road designed and built in one of the key moments of national road transport boom and that although it was completely paved it not remained functional. Thus, the paper aims to show the road s peculiarities through of the strength of this country development project, even in highly diverse context and, especially, at a time in that various parts of the world is discussing new ways or rationales for the socio-economic and environmental, is still present in the Brazilian government proposals. / O presente trabalho busca compreender as razões/motivações que levaram a República Federativa do Brasil a optar historicamente pelo modal rodoviário como principal meio de indução do desenvolvimento nacional à revelia do gigantismo territorial e de sua consequente pluralidade de realidades econômicas, sociais e ambientais. Para tal, foi realizada uma análise da escolha pela manutenção deste padrão no contexto do século XXI, tendo como recorte do trabalho o projeto de reconstrução da BR-319, que liga Manaus (AM) a Porto Velho (RO), que é bastante elucidativo, visto que esta foi uma estrada projetada e construída num dos principais momentos de boom rodoviarista nacional e que, apesar de ter sido completamente pavimentada, não se manteve funcional. Assim, o trabalho pretende demonstrar, através das peculiaridades desta estrada, a força desse projeto de desenvolvimento no país que, mesmo em contextos extremamente diversos e, especialmente, num momento em que em diversas partes do mundo se discutem novas formas ou racionalidades para o desenvolvimento socioeconômico e ambiental, se mantém presente nas propostas governamentais brasileiras.

Os constantes avanços técnico-científicos, nas diversas áreas da engenharia, ocasionaram grandes mudanças nos inúmeros métodos de abordagem do cotidiano e também, realizaram papel fundamental, na aproximação de novos usuários, com ou sem conhecimentos específicos, à utilização das novas técnicas. Na Cartografia, por exemplo, esses avanços e a aproximação de novos usuários, com diferentes necessidades de uso, possibilitaram o desenvolvimento de modernos modos de abordagem para problemas do dia a dia. A criação da estruturação de dados digitais geográficos permitiu o desenvolvimento de novas ferramentas computacionais que, como os Sistemas de Informação Geográficas, agilizaram as etapas referentes aos processos de pesquisas relacionados a utilização de dados geográficos. Contudo, para uma correta utilização das novas ferramentas, os conjuntos de dados geográficos, devem apresentar-se de modo estruturado, seguindo normas e técnicas bem elaboradas sobre esse assunto. Um esforço que, por muitas vezes, não ocorre por parte dos usuários finais que acabada por comprometer toda a eficiência do sistema eletrônico. Este trabalho aborda assim, os benefícios envolvidos na utilização de padrões e técnicas de desenvolvimento de softwares bem definidas e eficientes; as instituições internacionais responsáveis por estabelecerem as regras base e os esforços necessários para o desenvolvimento com qualidade de uma aplicação que utilize banco de dados espaciais. / The constant technical and scientific advances, in various areas of engineering, have led to changes in the many methods of everyday approach and played a fundamental role in attracting new users, with or without specific knowledge, to the use of these new techniques. In cartography, in special, these advances and the approximation of new users, with different skill levels, enabled the development of modern methods for resolution of problems. The creation of data structure for geographic applications allowed the development of new computational tools that, as the Geographic Information Systems, helped the development related to the research processes with geographic data. However, for a correct use of these new tools, spatial databases must be developed in a structured way, following well-developed standards and techniques. An effort that, for many times, does not occur on the part of the end users that end up compromising all the efficiency of the computational system. This work present: The benefits involved in the use of standards and techniques for developing efficient software; showing the international institutions responsible for establishing the base rules and the necessary efforts for the development with quality of an application that uses spatial databases.