Consideration of products' ergonomic qualities is one important component for successful product development. Product designers engaged in the core activity of product development need methods that support the consideration of ergonomics along with other product requirements. This thesis aims to address these needs. The first part of the thesis investigates how people working within product development organisations communicate with and about users of their products. The general need for methods to support communication of user aspects in product development is identified through formal interviews with product developers and a review of the management, ergonomics and design literature. The second part of the thesis studies the factors which affect the integration of ergonomics in product design. Supportive methods, including User Characters, for evoking user consideration among designers together with Overlapping methods for scheduling ergonomics evaluation in product design processes are introduced and argued. The third part of the thesis reviews and discusses computer aided ergonomics as a means for integration of ergonomics in product design. A web-based support system for effective employment of human simulation tools is developed using a participative approach and evaluated based on the system's usability. The objective of the fourth part of the thesis is to study how human simulation tools can aid designers' consideration of human diversity to accommodate users of diverse anthropometric characteristics in multivariate design problems such as automobile cockpits. The work involves the evaluation of different approaches for the generation of specific manikin families which can be used as test groups for fitting trials in the virtual design process. The research demonstrates enhancements in design methodology knowledge to support integration of ergonomics in product design processes with a focus on anthropometric diversity in vehicle design.

Les multiples voyages que réalise Potocki tout au long de sa vie lui permettent de faire l'expérience d'un monde relatif, dont la compréhension appelle, au-delà de la raison, d'autres moyens de connaissance. La variété des normes, des croyances et des valeurs qu'il enregistre témoigne d'une infinie diversité des hommes. Parallèlement à ses récits de voyage, l'auteur revendique pourtant, dans ses écrits historiques, politiques, et dans ses aphorismes, un universel humain, appréhendé à l'aune de la liberté. La thèse met en lumière comment l'auteur tente de faire coïncider cet absolu, posé de manière théorique, avec un très grand relativisme normatif, perçu de manière empirique, et dont il entend rendre compte par une éthique de voyageur, à laquelle il n'est pas toujours fidèle. Précisément l'analyse de cet écart, entre sa manière d'appréhender l'Autre et la démarche qu'il s'était imposée, est riche de sens et dessine des éléments de réponse qui déplacent la question sur l'articulation entre diversité et unité humaines. Celle-ci ne se fait pas sans heurts à l'échelle des Œuvres, mais elle trouve sa pleine expression dans la synthèse proposée par le Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse. Ce constat amène à réfléchir aux possibilités heuristiques offertes par la fiction. Potocki se sert du roman comme d'un laboratoire pour soumettre l'homme à l'expérience de la philosophie du « comme si », et pour mettre à l'épreuve sa nature ontologique. Cette enquête, extrêmement féconde pour comprendre comment l'universel humain favorise paradoxalement la plus grande diversité des peuples et la singularité des individus, soulève néanmoins le problème du relativisme cognitif. L'être et le monde n'existent-ils, pour Potocki, qu'à travers un discours, une représentation ? / Built on a life-long series of travels, Jan Potocki's experience of a relative world calls, beyond the notion of reason, for the unveiling of new paths to knowledge. The wide variety of norms, beliefs and values he has recorded demonstrate the endless diversity of men. Yet, alongside his travel memoirs, the author has also depicted, in his historical, political works, as well as in his aphorisms, a universal humankind in its rapport to freedom. This thesis highlights the writer's attempt to match his search for the Absolute, as defined in theoretical terms, with a compelling normative relativism in its empirical perception. Thus Potocki sought to outline the ethos of the wanderer - without necessarily being true to it himself. The discrepancy between the way he related to his fellow men and the approach he had initially devised for himself is precisely where the analysis becomes meaningful, suggesting in its findings that the contention might in fact revolve around the junctures between the diversity of men and their notional oneness. While research may prove strewn with obstacles in Œuvres, it is most significant and highly relevant in the synoptic Manuscript Found in Saragossa, leading us to reflect upon the heuristic potential of fiction writing. Potocki uses the novel as a laboratory in which he subjects man to the philosophical experiment of the ‘as if', and puts his ontological nature to the test. However fruitful the investigation might be when it comes to understanding the paradox of how universality in men breeds growing diversity and individuality, it also raises the issue of cognitive relativism. Do humankind and the world only exist, according to Potocki, through verbal and mental representations ?

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T20:31:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ROSENEIDE CIRINO.pdf: 2488116 bytes, checksum: eecf64cd624e996814075f5220ac0253 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-11-27 / This research analyzes the conceptions that support the teaching praxis of university professors in academic education process to work in inclusive settings. To this end, we assumed as central thesis the fact that, by providing an academic education focused on elements and categories that differentiate men, such as: deficient, efficient, capable, incapable, able, unable, normal, abnormal; the Academy has contributed to perpetuate exclusionary processes. We made the theoretical and practical analysis from the following arguments: 1) the legal documents that organize inclusive policies are guided by the inclusion of specific groups and not in human diversity; 2) linear assimilation of legal documents within the teaching praxis imposes, in the education process, the perpetration of exclusionary practices, as well as the denial of uno/diverse condition; and 3) if the society proclaimed in legal documents is an inclusive society, this idea can not be restricted in the initial education to the discussion of experts on specific groups. These arguments articulate with each other and promote reciprocal mediation between objective and subjective conditions in relation to working with human diversity, so we took as analysis-base the categories:work, totality and contradiction. With the dialectical methodological foundation, we presented to the subject professors of this research five (5) problem situations of the Basic Education school routine which did not report for students with disabilities, but they were read and interpreted under this condition. Sixty-four teachers working in five (5) degree courses offered in UNESPAR Campus Paranaguá were invited to participate in interviews, which were Pedagogy, Literature, Mathematics, Biological Sciences and History. From the invited professors, forty-four (44) decided to contribute. The research showed the following results; 1) the arguments that support the teaching praxis are articulated to the condition of disability and, by extension, to the clamor for a specialized professor, perpetuating a dual education system articulated to national documents; 2) the teaching praxis converge largely with the guidelines for the undergraduate courses in focus as well as the basis conceptions of Pedagogical Master Plan of the courses; 3) the concepts that support the teaching praxis are marked by speeches and welfare-based ideology, eugenicist, deterministic, biologicist, constructivist, neoconstrutivist, productivist and social adaptation, whose epistemological assumptions are guided in inatism, empirical and constructive fundamentals. Still, we obtained as a result the indication, from the teachers, of the need to demystify ideas that reinforce categorization and articulate the theoretical education to the practical experience in the reality of basic school -which cannot be ignored by the academy. / Esta pesquisa analisou as concepções que sustentam a práxis docente dos professores universitários no processo de formação de acadêmicos para atuar em contextos inclusivos. Para tanto, tomamos como tese central o fato de que, ao propiciar a formação acadêmica centrada em elementos e categorias que diferenciam os homens, como: deficiente, eficiente, capaz, incapaz, apto, não apto,normal, anormal; a academia tem contribuído para perpetuar os processos excludentes. Tecemos as análises teóricas e práticas a partir dos seguintes argumentos: 1) os documentos legais que organizam as políticas inclusivas pautamse na inclusão de grupos específicos e não na diversidade humana; 2) a assimilação linear dos documentos legais no âmbito da práxis docente impõe, no processo formativo, a perpetração de práticas excludentes, bem como a negação da condição uno/diverso; e 3) se a sociedade proclamada nos documentos legais é uma sociedade inclusiva, essa ideia não pode ficar restrita, na formação inicial, à discussão de especialistas acerca de grupos específicos. Esses argumentos articulam entre si e promovem mediações recíprocas nas condições objetivas e subjetivas frente ao trabalho com a diversidade humana, por isso, tomamos como base de análise as categorias: trabalho, totalidade e contradição. Com o fundamento metodológico dialético, apresentamos aos professores sujeitos desta pesquisa cinco (5) situações problemas do cotidiano escolar da Educação Básica as quais não se referiam a alunos com deficiência, mas foram lidas e interpretadas sob essa condição. Foram convidados a participar das entrevistas sessenta e quatro professores atuantes nos cinco (5) cursos de licenciatura oferecidos na Universidade Estadual do Paraná (UNESPAR) Campus Paranaguá, sendo elas: Pedagogia,Letras, Matemática, Ciências Biológicas e História. Dos professores convidados, quarenta e quatro (44) propuseram-se a contribuir. A pesquisa evidenciou os seguintes resultados: 1) os argumentos que sustentam a práxis docente estão articulados à condição de deficiência e, por extensão, ao clamor por um professor especializado, perpetuando um sistema de formação dual articulado aos documentos de âmbito nacional; 2) a práxis docente converge, em grande medida,com as diretrizes das licenciaturas em foco, bem como as concepções base dos Projetos Pedagógicos dos Cursos (PPCs); 3) as concepções que sustentam a práxis docente são marcadas por discursos e ideologias de base assistencialistas,eugenistas, deterministas, biologicistas, construtivistas, neoconstrutivistas,produtivistas e de adaptação social, cujas premissas epistemológicas são pautadas nos fundamentos inatistas, empirista e construtivista. Ainda, obtivemos como resultado o indicativo, por parte dos professores, da necessidade de desmitificar ideias que reforçam a categorização do ser humano e de articular a formação teórica à vivência prática na realidade da escola básica - o que não pode ser ignorado pela academia.

Made available in DSpace on 2008-10-20T20:23:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CPDOC2005RitadeFatimaManhaes.pdf: 5324042 bytes, checksum: 1a8205192b6ad0963d3b4bd99009d901 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-12-15T00:00:00Z / Comtato Magazine and Current Perspectives of the Special Education - Emphasizing the present description - ideological dimension in our formation, and thinking the challenges of the construction of the knowledge and the reproduction of attitudes concerning the internalization of the difference/deficiency, it points the use of the alternative communication - the Comtato Magazine - as half to express multiple actions and reflections on the special education. / Revista Comtato e Perspectivas Atuais da Educação Especial Enfatizando a dimensão histórico-ideológica presente em nossa formação, e pensando os desafios da construção do conhecimento e a reprodução de atitudes acerca da internalização da diferença/deficiência, aponta a utilização da comunicação alternativa a Revista Comtato como meio de expressar múltiplas ações e reflexões sobre a educação especial.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T20:21:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 pre-texto tese revisada II.pdf: 64640 bytes, checksum: d84745c4239e0f9b81cddfc05283d9a2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-06-08 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The purpose of this thesis is to reveal how Brazilian racism is present in the Brazilian organizations, from national to multinational companies, starting with the perception of afro-descendents at different occupational levels, from specialized workers up to administrative graduated professionals. The development of this project is justified by the lack of specific research within this area, in particular about racism in the daily routines from the Brazilian organizations. The hypothesis that was built is that the national companies would be more racist with afro-descendents than the multinationals or transnationals companies, once these companies have programs to minimize the racism. The reach this objective, testimonials of workers in this situation were analyzed. The research is based on the importance of memory and their possibilities to gather facts whose treatment through this resource seems to be correct. The analysis of ideologies, like the racial democracy and the whiteness, in the studies developed in the last decades, were also important to base the statements analysis. The obtained results enable the identification of other relevant questions related to afro-descendents discrimination in the jobmarket, starting from the first contact when they look for new jobs, at this time, camouflaged and fraudulent mechanisms of racism avoid the entrance of these professionals in the jobmarket. If this phase is passed by, new obstacles are created to difficult the jobmobility / Essa tese tem como finalidade revelar como o racismo brasileiro se manifesta nas organizações brasileiras, de capital nacional ou multinacional, a partir da percepção dos afro-descendentes, em vários níveis ocupacionais, abrangendo desde operários especializados até profissionais administrativos com formação superior. O desenvolvimento deste estudo justifica-se pela carência de trabalhos específicos nessa área, tratando especificamente do racismo no cotidiano das organizações brasileiras. A hipótese levantada questiona se as empresas nacionais seriam mais discriminadoras com relação aos afro-descendentes do que as empresas multinacionais ou transnacionais, uma vez que essas normalmente possuem programas de valorização de diversidade. Para responder a esse questionamento foram analisados os depoimentos de trabalhadores com essa identidade e também de profissionais de recursos humanos. A pesquisa está fundamentada na importância da memória e suas possibilidades para o levantamento de questões, cujo tratamento através desse recurso parece ser bastante adequado. A análise de ideologias como a democracia racial e do branqueamento nos estudos desenvolvidos nas últimas décadas foram também importantes para a fundamentação teórica da análise dos depoimentos. Os resultados apurados possibilitaram identificar outras questões proeminentes no mercado de trabalho, decorrentes dos primeiros contatos que esses indivíduos estabelecem com as organizações na procura de empregos. Nessa fase, o processo de discriminação se desenvolve por meio de mecanismos camuflados e formas sub-reptícias para evitar o ingresso de tais profissionais. Ao superarem essas barreiras, outras são engendradas, mas para dificultar a mobilidade ocupacional

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T14:55:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 pre-texto tese revisada II.pdf: 64640 bytes, checksum: d84745c4239e0f9b81cddfc05283d9a2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-06-08 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The purpose of this thesis is to reveal how Brazilian racism is present in the Brazilian organizations, from national to multinational companies, starting with the perception of afro-descendents at different occupational levels, from specialized workers up to administrative graduated professionals. The development of this project is justified by the lack of specific research within this area, in particular about racism in the daily routines from the Brazilian organizations. The hypothesis that was built is that the national companies would be more racist with afro-descendents than the multinationals or transnationals companies, once these companies have programs to minimize the racism. The reach this objective, testimonials of workers in this situation were analyzed. The research is based on the importance of memory and their possibilities to gather facts whose treatment through this resource seems to be correct. The analysis of ideologies, like the racial democracy and the whiteness, in the studies developed in the last decades, were also important to base the statements analysis. The obtained results enable the identification of other relevant questions related to afro-descendents discrimination in the jobmarket, starting from the first contact when they look for new jobs, at this time, camouflaged and fraudulent mechanisms of racism avoid the entrance of these professionals in the jobmarket. If this phase is passed by, new obstacles are created to difficult the jobmobility / Essa tese tem como finalidade revelar como o racismo brasileiro se manifesta nas organizações brasileiras, de capital nacional ou multinacional, a partir da percepção dos afro-descendentes, em vários níveis ocupacionais, abrangendo desde operários especializados até profissionais administrativos com formação superior. O desenvolvimento deste estudo justifica-se pela carência de trabalhos específicos nessa área, tratando especificamente do racismo no cotidiano das organizações brasileiras. A hipótese levantada questiona se as empresas nacionais seriam mais discriminadoras com relação aos afro-descendentes do que as empresas multinacionais ou transnacionais, uma vez que essas normalmente possuem programas de valorização de diversidade. Para responder a esse questionamento foram analisados os depoimentos de trabalhadores com essa identidade e também de profissionais de recursos humanos. A pesquisa está fundamentada na importância da memória e suas possibilidades para o levantamento de questões, cujo tratamento através desse recurso parece ser bastante adequado. A análise de ideologias como a democracia racial e do branqueamento nos estudos desenvolvidos nas últimas décadas foram também importantes para a fundamentação teórica da análise dos depoimentos. Os resultados apurados possibilitaram identificar outras questões proeminentes no mercado de trabalho, decorrentes dos primeiros contatos que esses indivíduos estabelecem com as organizações na procura de empregos. Nessa fase, o processo de discriminação se desenvolve por meio de mecanismos camuflados e formas sub-reptícias para evitar o ingresso de tais profissionais. Ao superarem essas barreiras, outras são engendradas, mas para dificultar a mobilidade ocupacional

Aquest treball és una contribució als estudis de diversitat del genoma humà i pretén estudiar la variació genètica existent a nivell mundial en dos gens, causants de malaltia, el gen CFTR i el gen GBA, en cromosomes d'individus sans. Mutacions en aquests gens produeixen la fibrosi quística i la malaltia de Gaucher respectivament. La fibrosi quística és la malaltia autosòmica recessiva més comuna en poblacions europees. La malaltia de Gaucher és la malaltia lisosòmica d'acumulació lipídica més freqüent. L'estudi analitza la variació genètica en diferents polimorfismes d'ambdós gens; reconstrueix els haplotips i analitza la seva distribució geogràfica; i analitza l'extensió i distribució geogràfica del desequilibri de lligament entre loci. Pel gen GBA, hem ampliat la regió, abastant fins al gen PKLR (que codifica per a la piruvat quinasa). A més a més, pel cas de CFTR, pot ajudar a entendre l'origen de les mutacions més freqüents causants de fibrosi quística. / This work is a contribution to human genome diversity studies and it aims to study the world-wide genetic variation that exists in two disease genes, CFTR and GBA gene, in healthy chromosomes. Mutations in these genes are known to cause cystic fibrosis and Gaucher disease respectively. Cystic fibrosis is the most common severe autosomal recessive disease in patients of European descent. Gaucher disease is the most frequent lysosomal storage disorder. The study analyzes the genetic variation in CFTR and GBA polymorphisms; estimates haplotype frequencies and describes their geographic distribution; and measures linkage disequilibrium between loci. For GBA gene, we have extended the analysis covering PKLR gene (that encodes for a pyruvate kinase). Moreover, for CFTR gene, we have tried to understand the origin of the most common cystic fibrosis causing mutations.

The desire to enhance and make ourselves better is not a new one and it has continued to intrigue throughout the ages. Individuals have continued to seek ways to improve and enhance their well-being for example through nutrition, physical exercise, education and so on. Crucial to this improvement of their well-being is improving their ability to remember. Hence, people interested in improving their well-being, are often interested in memory as well. The rationale being that memory is crucial to our well-being. The desire to improve one’s memory then is almost certainly as old as the desire to improve one’s well-being. Traditionally, people have used different means in an attempt to enhance their memories: for example in learning through storytelling, studying, and apprenticeship. In remembering through practices like mnemonics, repetition, singing, and drumming. In retaining, storing and consolidating memories through nutrition and stimulants like coffee to help keep awake; and by external aids like notepads and computers. In forgetting through rituals and rites. Recent scientific advances in biotechnology, nanotechnology, molecular biology, neuroscience, and information technologies, present a wide variety of technologies to enhance many different aspects of human functioning. Thus, some commentators have identified human enhancement as central and one of the most fascinating subject in bioethics in the last two decades. Within, this period, most of the commentators have addressed the Ethical, Social, Legal and Policy (ESLP) issues in human enhancements as a whole as opposed to specific enhancements. However, this is problematic and recently various commentators have found this to be deficient and called for a contextualized case-by-case analysis to human enhancements for example genetic enhancement, moral enhancement, and in my case memory enhancement (ME). The rationale being that the reasons for accepting/rejecting a particular enhancement vary depending on the enhancement itself. Given this enormous variation, moral and legal generalizations about all enhancement processes and technologies are unwise and they should instead be evaluated individually. Taking this as a point of departure, this research will focus specifically on making a case for ME and in doing so assessing the ESLP implications arising from ME. My analysis will draw on the already existing literature for and against enhancement, especially in part two of this thesis; but it will be novel in providing a much more in-depth analysis of ME. From this perspective, I will contribute to the ME debate through two reviews that address the question how we enhance the memory, and through four original papers discussed in part three of this thesis, where I examine and evaluate critically specific ESLP issues that arise with the use of ME. In the conclusion, I will amalgamate all my contribution to the ME debate and suggest the future direction for the ME debate.