The formalization of natural language contracts can make the prescriptions found in these contracts more precise, promoting the development of smart contracts, which are digitized forms of the documents where the monitoring and execution can be partially automated. Full formalization remains a difficult problem, and this thesis makes steps towards solving this challenge by focusing on a narrow sub-problem of formalizing contract refinements. We want to allow a contract author to customize a contract template, and automatically convert the resulting contract to a formal specification language called Symboleo, created specifically for the legal contract domain. The hope is that research towards partial formalization can be useful on its own, as well as useful towards the full formalization of contracts. The main questions addressed by this thesis involve asking what linguistic forms these refinements will take. Answering these questions involves both linguistic analysis and empirical analysis on a set of real contracts to construct a controlled natural language (CNL). This language is expressive and natural enough to be adopted by contract authors, and it is precise enough that it can reliably be converted into the proper formal specification. We also design a tool, SymboleoNLP, that demonstrates this functionality on realistic contracts. This involves ensuring that the contract author can input contract refinements that adhere to our CNL, and that the refinements are properly formalized with Symboleo. In addition to contributing an evidence-based CNL for contract refinements, this thesis also outlines a very clear methodology for constructing this CNL, which may need to go through iterations as requirements change and as the Symboleo language evolves. The SymboleoNLP tool is another contribution, and is designed for iterative improvement. We explore a number of potential areas where further NLP techniques may be integrated to improve performance, and the tool is designed for easy integration of these modules to adapt to emerging technologies and changing requirements.

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A theory of harmony plays a determinant role in the epistemology of tonal structure in music of the common practice, a fact that Schenkerian tonal theorists have long struggled to account for because of the polemical denials issued by Heinrich Schenker regarding the role that harmonic concepts derived from Rameau play in his theoretical frameworks (Schenker [1930] 2014). Attempts have been made recently to rectify the incongruity between Schenker’s uncompromisingly monist musical philosophy and the often-unspoken harmonic premises his ideas rely on (Yust 2015, 2018), but many aspects of how theories of functional harmony relate to the hierarchical structuration of musical time through prolongational processes remain undefined and underexamined. In this thesis, I fill in the lacuna of harmonic accounts in post-Schenkerian frameworks of tonal structure through Harmonic Regional Theory, which defines tonal harmonic process as a containment hierarchy of timespans. Using this framework, I outline a discovery process for properties of tonal stability (Yust 2018, 32) possessed by events and prolongational processes that understands these qualities as the product of stabilizing “forces” (Larson 2012) propagated by the structural influence harmonic-regional “fields” (Quinn 2020). The result is an epistemic model with tremendous analytical utility in both formal and informal analyses of tonal structure, the proof-of-concept for which is provided through the implementation of harmonic-regional theory in an automated analysis of tonal-melodic structure in Beethoven, op. 13, ii.

After its abandonment in the 1980s, threat has re-emerged as an area of theoretical importance in understanding social movement mobilization (Jasper 1998). This case study examines the role of threat in mobilizing members of a movement to empower the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation (a small tribal community in NC). The study explores threats and the emotions that make them up, while also investigating the relevance of other prominent assumptions embedded in mobilization theories. The study employed mixed methodologies including focus groups, individual interviews, and participant observation. Findings supported the idea that threats may be partially responsible for creating mobilization, but also suggest that prominent threats faced by this community complicate the ways in which threat is understood. The findings also shed light on limitations of the prominent Weber-Michels model for movement growth/decline, and highlight potential areas of interest for future research with Indigenous communities.

The purpose of this paper is to use the model revised by Ferris et al. (2002) to study the the Effect of personal positive affect¡Bpersonal negative affect¡Borganizational formalization and organizational centralization on perceptions of organizational politics by SPSS 15.0 for windows and hierachical linear model( HLM). The sample consisted of 1890 employee selected from 41 organizations covering 9 industrial sectors in Taiwan. The data was analyzed by statistical methods are descriptive static, factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis and HLM analysis. For SPSS analysis,the major findings of this study as fallow: 1. perceptions of organizational politics were found have significant relevant with personal positive affect, personal negative affect and organizational centralization 2. perceptions of organizational politics were found have no significant relevant with organizational formalization. For HLM analysis,the major findings of this study as fallow: 1.Personal positive affect had a significant effect on perceptions of organizational politics. 2.Personal negative affect had a significant effect on perceptions of organizational politics. 3.Organizational centralization had a significant effect on perceptions of organizational politics. 4.Organizational formalization had no significant effect on perceptions of organizational politics. 5.Organizational centralization had moderate effect on the relationship between personal negative and perceptions of organizational politics. 6.Organizational centralization had no moderate effect on the relationship between personal positive and perceptions of organizational politics. 7.Organizational formalization had no moderate effect on the relationship between personal negative and perceptions of organizational politics. 8.Organizational formalization had no moderate effect on the relationship between personal positive and perceptions of organizational politics.

In the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, inadequate collaboration between project stakeholders and disciplines often leads to conflicts and interoperability issues. Research has been conducted in knowledge formalization to bridge the knowledge gaps and information silos. Formalizing construction knowledge is challenging to formalize because most construction knowledge implicitly resides in the minds of construction experts, which is difficult to represent in a formal and explicit manner. The proposed study is built upon previous research findings, and attempts to formalize tacit knowledge in Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) design coordination by capturing necessary information with a model-based information capture system and reasoning about the captured data with data mining techniques. The vision of this research is that the formalized knowledge can be used to provide guidance for early design review incorporating construction considerations, facilitate structured learning from past experience, as well as train novice engineers. In summary, this research has three main contributions. First, this research presents a formalized knowledge representation schema to capture process knowledge in design coordination, which was successfully implemented in a model-based knowledge capture system developed by the author. Second, a model-based knowledge capture system was developed to store clash information in the form of categorized features and link such categorized information directly to the relevant model elements, which can also facilitate organization and management of clashes and supports searching and grouping functions. A prototype system was developed as a plugin to a widely used BIM-based design coordination application and was demonstrated with project data gathered from three new construction projects in the United States. Third, this research applied data mining techniques for knowledge discovery and reuse in MEP design coordination. Classification models were developed to provide predicted solutions for identified clashes based on historical data. The classification algorithms that produced the best results were selected, which reached precision rates of over 70%. The effectiveness of the classification models was tested in a novice experiment. / text

After its abandonment in the 1980s, threat has re-emerged as an area of theoretical importance in understanding social movement mobilization (Jasper 1998). This case study examines the role of threat in mobilizing members of a movement to empower the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation (a small tribal community in NC). The study explores threats and the emotions that make them up, while also investigating the relevance of other prominent assumptions embedded in mobilization theories. The study employed mixed methodologies including focus groups, individual interviews, and participant observation. Findings supported the idea that threats may be partially responsible for creating mobilization, but also suggest that prominent threats faced by this community complicate the ways in which threat is understood. The findings also shed light on limitations of the prominent Weber-Michels model for movement growth/decline, and highlight potential areas of interest for future research with Indigenous communities.

El objeto de este estudio es establecer la relación existente entre las dos variables de estudio, la productividad como variable no dependiente y la formalización de las micro y pequeñas empresas de Lima en el período 2007-2017 como variable dependiente, teniendo en cuenta como indicadores de la productividad a la rentabilidad, la tasa impositiva y la tasa de interés de referencia. The purpose of this study is to establish the relationship between the two study variables, productivity as a non-dependent variable and the formalization of Lima's micro and small enterprises in the 2007-2017 period as a dependent variable, taking into account as indicators of productivity to profitability, the tax rate and the reference interest rate.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T15:13:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissrtacao Jose Oto Konzen.pdf: 1477614 bytes, checksum: af1ccf81716f43a926c36191920b8dbe (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-07-13 / This work is part of the Line of Research on "Fundamentals of educational processes" and questions John Dewey‟s ethical educational project, which converts scientific procedure into a regulating principle of individual and institutional relationships through which it seeks to reconcile the tensions that are at the basis of modern thought in order to restore unity. This work is theoretical and aims to understand the logical and historical meaning of that logical reconciliation proposed by the author, together with the generalization of the formal procedure. Its development rests on the central works of the author and gathers a number of thinkers from the philosophical tradition in order to analyze the meaning of the changes related to the formalization of knowledge, truth and subjectivity and to assess their impact on ethics and education. The result points to the need to recover the possibility of conceiving knowledge, subjectivity and truth on historical basis, and being capable of straining the limits of formal procedure, whose guidelines are presented in the last chapter, based on Theodor Adorno‟s critical thinking. / O trabalho integra a Linha de Pesquisa Fundamentos dos Processos Educativos e problematiza o projeto ético-educativo de John Dewey, que converte o procedimento científico em princípio de regulação das relações individuais e institucionais, através do que busca reconciliar as tensões que estão na origem do pensamento moderno, para restabelecer-lhe a unidade. O trabalho é de natureza teórica e objetiva compreender o sentido lógico e histórico da reconciliação lógica proposta pelo autor, associada à generalização do procedimento formal. Seu desenvolvimento apóia-se nas obras centrais do autor e mobiliza um conjunto de pensadores da tradição filosófica para analisar o sentido das mudanças associadas à formalização do conhecimento, da verdade e da subjetividade e para avaliar seus impactos sobre a eticidade e a educação. O resultado aponta para a necessidade de resgatar a possibilidade de conceber o conhecimento, a subjetividade e a verdade em bases históricas, capaz de tensionar com os limites do procedimento formal, cujas linhas mestras são apresentadas no último capítulo, baseado na concepção teórico-crítica de Theodor Adorno.

Dans cette thèse, nous examinons comment un assistant de preuve peut être utilise pour étudier les fondements de la géométrie. Nous débutons en nous concentrant sur les façons d’axiomatiser la géométrie euclidienne et leurs relations. Ensuite, nous exposons une nouvelle preuve de l’indépendance de l’axiome des parallèles des autres axiomes de la géométrie euclidienne du premier ordre. Cela nous amène à affiner la classification des plans de Hilbert de Pejas en considérant les propriétés de décidabilité. Mais, notre intuition nous amène souvent à négliger leur utilisation. Un assistant de preuve nous permet d’utiliser un outil parfait qui ne possède aucune intuition : un ordinateur. De plus, les assistants de preuve nous laissent exploiter les capacités de calcul des ordinateurs. Nous démontrons comment utiliser de méthodes algébriques de déduction automatique en géométrie synthétique. Enfin, nous présentons une procédure spécifique destinée à automatiser des preuves d’incidence. / In this thesis, we investigate how a proof assistant can be used to study the foundations of geometry. We start by focusing on ways to axiomatize Euclidean geometry and their relationship to each other. Then, we expose a new proof that Euclid’s parallel postulate is not derivable from the other axioms of first-order Euclidean geometry. This leads us to refine Pejas’ classification of parallel postulates. We do so by considering decidability properties when classifying the postulates. However, our intuition often guides us to overlook uses of such properties. A proof assistant allows us to use a perfect tool which possesses no intuition: a computer. Moreover, proof assistants let us leverage the computational capabilities of computers. We demonstrate how we enable the use of algebraic automated deduction methods thanks to the arithmetization of geometry. Finally, we present a specific procedure designed to automate proofs of incidence properties.