<p>This dissertation examines South African artist Irma Stern’s contributions to modernism in South Africa and to modernism as a global movement. It analyzes how Stern’s interactions with South Africans, combined with her early artistic training in Germany and her cultural connections to the South African Jewish community, helped her to bring critical issues of race, gender, and nation into focus through her work. This study goes beyond the work of previous scholars who have suggested that Stern was uninterested in social or political causes, arguing that Stern was acutely aware of how social and political themes contributed to modernism’s development in Europe. Moreover, this study concludes that Stern employed similar strategies to develop a South African modernism. Although she often spoke pejoratively about nonwhite South Africans, she was cognizant of the fact that the act of painting nonwhites made significant artistic and political statements.</p><p>Because Stern is virtually unknown in the United States, this study will do the following: 1) Introduce Stern to an American audience by discussing her work from the beginning of her artistic training in Germany in 1913 to her death in 1966; 2) Reconnect Stern to the larger global debates about modernism in the twentieth century; 3) Analyze Stern’s works that have received little or no attention in previous scholarship; and 4) Discuss the long-term influence that Stern’s work had in shaping the direction of South African art before, during, and after apartheid.</p><p>Formal analysis and close readings of Stern's oil paintings, drawings, travel narratives, and watercolors are crucial in understanding how she used her artistic talents to record visual interpretations of South African culture history. As one of only a few internationally respected South African artists of the apartheid era, an examination of Stern's work and career allows for a more complex understanding of how race, gender, and nation contributed to the development of modernism in South African art history.</p> / Dissertation

As new technology has emerged in the digital era, the public can now choose from a variety of new media from which to get weather information. Weather applications (apps) and social media have emerged as some of the popular new media. This study sought to understand the extent to which these new media are used, how weather apps are perceived, how the news media used Twitter during Hurricane Irma, and how the public engaged with the news media’s tweets. A survey and dataset of tweets were used to evaluate the research questions and hypotheses of this research. The study found that most survey participants used digital sources for weather information, even in severe weather. The weather app was the most used source of all age brackets, though held a stronger majority amongst younger demographics. Numerous relationships were found between weather app usage and gender, smartphone brand and reliance, time of app usage, and app usage frequency. Participants who downloaded a non-standard weather app onto their phone had higher self-perceived weather knowledge and interest. Weather app users perceived their app to be accurate and sometimes inconsistent, which were both found to be correlated to trust. Perceived app accuracy was also moderately correlated with other aspects of the field of meteorology. Respondents indicated that they accounted for uncertainty in a forecast with time and for regional variability of weather when determining if the forecast verified. However, both conclusions will require further research. The final study of this dissertation found that content, frequency, and engagement with news media tweets during Irma fluctuated over the storm’s duration and a relationship was found between content and engagement. Smaller television markets showed less coverage and overall change in coverage and engagement compared to larger markets. Finally, a meteorologist’s tweeting of personal content prior to the storm was found to be weakly correlated with the number of retweets received during the storm.

M.A. (Fine Arts) / The predominant artistic motif in the art of Irma Stern is the fecale figure. Stern prefers certain "types" of females in her art - that of young girls, of adolescents, of female workers, of nudes, of brides, of mature women and of mothers. This dissertation aims to show that these different motifs are not isolated, but rather interrelated to elicit a holistic symbolic syntax in the art of Stern. The symbolic relevance is extended with regard to her personalized world and with regard to the world around her. In Chapter 1 the female figure is analysed in terms of its forma7 qualities and the types of motifs in the art of Stern are juxtaposed with the characteristic types of motif preferred by the German Expressionists. It is noted that the female figure in the art of Stern is closely associated with the cultivation of the land - so much so that a cycle emerges which includes such activities as planting, bearing fruit and harvestirg. Other motifs such as young girls, adolescents and mature women indicate a cycle in the physiological as well as psychic development of the female. In Chapter 2 the symbolic meaning of the motifs is discussed in terms of the cultivation cycle of the land and the cycle tracing the deveThpment of the female. A corollary is also established between the female's role in the cultivation of the land and the female's own development. Chapter 3 examines the symbolic relevance of the art of Stern in terms of her ontogenetic development as human being in relation to society and in terms of the phylogenetic development of society itself. The relevance of the female principle in the art of Stern is evauated in terms of the above approach in the final chapter.

Beach morphology changes naturally with seasonal and event-driven variability in the wave climate, as well as due to anthropogenic activities such as erosion mitigation efforts. In 2017, category four Hurricane Irma caused beach erosion and dune overwash in Boca Raton, FL. Immediate post-storm perigean spring tides coupled with typical winter high-wind conditions imposed a regime of spatially and temporally extended meteorologic and morphologic variability. This study evaluates the morphologic evolution and post-storm recovery in the first year following Hurricane Irma. Time-series topographic surveys and surface sediment samples were collected. Patterns of accretion and erosion were evaluated with regionally measured water and wind levels. Recovery morphology was generally through berm-building, but lacked shoreline stability. Storm impact regime, mitigation structures, and sediment transport patterns drove the recovery. Total volume lost above the 0 m contour due to the storm was not fully recovered within the year, with a large volume measured in the south. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The purpose of this study was to determine evacuation decisions of residents in Pinellas County, a vulnerable area in Florida, during Hurricane Irma in 2017, and whether those decisions will impact their future decisions to evacuate. This study also examines the resident’s perception of storm surge flooding during a hurricane. To understand evacuation decisions and storm surge perceptions a survey was conducted on residents in vulnerable areas of Pinellas County. The survey examined multiple aspects including the role of media, relationships, and sociodemographic status on decision making. Another aspect examined if their decision to evacuate for Hurricane Irma will impact their decision for the future. Residents were also asked to rate how different aspects of the storm influenced their decision, including flooding from storm surge. It was concluded that their decision to evacuate for Hurricane Irma will significantly impact their decision to evacuate for the next hurricane, with many residents claiming they would leave their local area. Storm surge was not perceived as the greatest threat, instead wind speed and size of storm were determined to be the greater threat. Better understanding of evacuation decisions and perceptions about storm surge can be used to update emergency management preparations and planning for the next hurricane.

<p>Våldtäkt är ett stort samhällsproblem, med över 3000 anmälda våldtäkter i Sverige 2007. Definitionen av våldtäkt är en tolkningsfråga som påverkas av moraliska synsätt. Denna syn</p><p>bygger på historiska, religiösa och kulturella faktorer och kring dem kretsar ett antal vedertagna myter. Sverige är känt för att ha kommit långt på väg mot ett jämställt samhälle, vilket skulle kunna innebära att svenskar har lägre acceptans för dessa myter. Få studier om våldtäktsmyter har gjorts i Sverige. För att granska ämnet närmare genomfördes en kvantitativ</p><p>studie med syfte att undersöka studenters attityder gentemot myter kring våldtäkt i en heterosexuell kontext. Detta genom att studera om samband förelåg mellan studenternas kön</p><p>och acceptans av dessa myter och utifrån teoretiska ramar analysera resultatet. Undersökningen utfördes med hjälp av en amerikansk framtagen mätskala, designad för just våldtäktsmyter, IRMA-skalan. Materialet analyseras sedan med hjälp av socialkonstruktivistiska angreppssätt, där bl.a. genus, hegemonisk maskulinitet, pornografi, könsroller, samt medias skildring och vinkling av våldtäktsproblematiken.</p><p>Den slutsats som kunnat dras av föreliggande studie var att svenska studenter generellt hade låg acceptans av våldtäktsmyter. Dock kunde könsskillnader skönjas, där kvinnor tenderade att ha lägre acceptans för myterna än männen.</p> / <p>Rape is a severe societal problem, with over 3000 police reports in Sweden in 2007. Defining rape is a question of interpretation, influenced by moral views, which are based on historical, religious and cultural ideas, surrounded by a few accepted myths. Sweden’s well-known for its progress concerning gender equality, which could be an indicator of low rape myth acceptance. There are few Swedish studies about rape myths. To</p><p>explore the subject closer, a quantitative study was carried through, with the aim to examine attitudes of university students, in relation to rape myths in a heterosexual context. This by examining whether a connection between the sex of the students and their acceptance of rape myths was found. The results were then analyzed through a theoretical frame. Using an</p><p>American measuring instrument, the IRMA-scale, the examination was carried out. The material was analyzed through a social constructivist perspective, where gender, hegemonic masculinity, pornography, gender roles and the media was used to explain the problems of rape. The conclusion of this study was that Swedish students had generally low rape myth acceptance. However, gender differences were discovered. Female respondents tended to have lower acceptance of the myths compared to the male.</p>

Våldtäkt är ett stort samhällsproblem, med över 3000 anmälda våldtäkter i Sverige 2007. Definitionen av våldtäkt är en tolkningsfråga som påverkas av moraliska synsätt. Denna syn bygger på historiska, religiösa och kulturella faktorer och kring dem kretsar ett antal vedertagna myter. Sverige är känt för att ha kommit långt på väg mot ett jämställt samhälle, vilket skulle kunna innebära att svenskar har lägre acceptans för dessa myter. Få studier om våldtäktsmyter har gjorts i Sverige. För att granska ämnet närmare genomfördes en kvantitativ studie med syfte att undersöka studenters attityder gentemot myter kring våldtäkt i en heterosexuell kontext. Detta genom att studera om samband förelåg mellan studenternas kön och acceptans av dessa myter och utifrån teoretiska ramar analysera resultatet. Undersökningen utfördes med hjälp av en amerikansk framtagen mätskala, designad för just våldtäktsmyter, IRMA-skalan. Materialet analyseras sedan med hjälp av socialkonstruktivistiska angreppssätt, där bl.a. genus, hegemonisk maskulinitet, pornografi, könsroller, samt medias skildring och vinkling av våldtäktsproblematiken. Den slutsats som kunnat dras av föreliggande studie var att svenska studenter generellt hade låg acceptans av våldtäktsmyter. Dock kunde könsskillnader skönjas, där kvinnor tenderade att ha lägre acceptans för myterna än männen. / Rape is a severe societal problem, with over 3000 police reports in Sweden in 2007. Defining rape is a question of interpretation, influenced by moral views, which are based on historical, religious and cultural ideas, surrounded by a few accepted myths. Sweden’s well-known for its progress concerning gender equality, which could be an indicator of low rape myth acceptance. There are few Swedish studies about rape myths. To explore the subject closer, a quantitative study was carried through, with the aim to examine attitudes of university students, in relation to rape myths in a heterosexual context. This by examining whether a connection between the sex of the students and their acceptance of rape myths was found. The results were then analyzed through a theoretical frame. Using an American measuring instrument, the IRMA-scale, the examination was carried out. The material was analyzed through a social constructivist perspective, where gender, hegemonic masculinity, pornography, gender roles and the media was used to explain the problems of rape. The conclusion of this study was that Swedish students had generally low rape myth acceptance. However, gender differences were discovered. Female respondents tended to have lower acceptance of the myths compared to the male.

This diploma thesis deals with an oriented graph processing applying a multi-agent system designated for traffic simulation. The thesis was written as a research study. Based on the study, a simulation environment was created able to respond to various stimuli. Meant as the agents, there are vehicles and their drivers that have various features, based on which they respond to the given stimuli. Communication is conducted via a so-called super-agent that monitors all action on the map and passes this information on particular agents. The agents are able to respond in advance to traffic jams (closures, accidents). In such situations, an algorithm designated for a new route finding is conducted. Besides the controlled ones, there can operate on the map also agents simulating common traffic.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:31:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rosa Amalia Espejo Trigo.pdf: 813191 bytes, checksum: ea3c7c885ecc939322a070be8c240abe (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-10-04 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / This work has as aim to study the processuability of the political agent that participates in collective popular rooms. The research was carried out with militants that participate of the Formation Urban Rural Center Irmã Araújo Cefúrio, with seat in Curitiba Paraná, that for more than 25 years gives subsidies to distinct groups and movements in their formation and political mobilization. The theoreticalmethodologic reference adopted is based on the conception of a historic-social agent, of which we detach the work of Vygotski that allows to privilege the processes of transformation of the agent as singularity that express, at the same time, the effect of the political-social context. Others authors that sustain the conception of a historial social agent also contributed with our theoretical interpretation. It was used the semistructured interview as a research tool where sixteen agents were interviewed, eight of which were selected, in this study, for the analysis for the abrangency and representativity of their deposition.** The analysis of the data searchs for characterize the processuality of the interviewed agents, in the apprehension of the senses given to the reality of the elaboration of the affection, thoughts and wills, while psychosocial categories constitutive of the agents. In this way, it was searched in the depositions unities of sense that in the configuration of a reality process turned it possible the comprehension and analysis of moments of transformation and stagnation, constituted and constituent of the interviewed agents. Through this analysis it is possible to reflect about the affective-volitional base that maintain them participating. Having these people, their ideals directed to social transformation, what motivate them extremely is to promote in the diverse social sectors the participation. The political life of these people is a daily fight for participation and in this sense, elaborate their plans of action, their strategies and their own projects of life. We have found in these people a strong strength of will, a passion that make them face the conflicts, the crisis, the difficulties, not as elements that could disturb their own participation but as factors that promote them to find unknown alternatives, new ways of political action that turn it possible to amplify their field of action. This work of research demonstrated that the necessities that motivate these people are come back to the others , in the search of collective spaces that beyond politicians, are communitarian and solidary, trying the most dispossessed spaces of life for of the society. In this direction, we find in these agents, the thical agentes that if affect with the others and the agents thar walks for its develoment and the freedom / Este trabalho tem como objetivo estudar a processualidade do sujeito político que participa em espaços coletivos populares. A pesquisa foi realizada com militantes que participam do Centro de Formação Urbano-Rural Irmã Araújo Cefuria, com sede em Curitiba Paraná, que há mais de 25 anos dá subsídios a distintos grupos e movimentos em sua formação e mobilização política. O referencial teóricometodológico adotado se fundamenta na concepção de um sujeito histórico-social, da qual destacamos a obra de Vygotski que permite privilegiar os processos de transformação do sujeito como singularidade que expressa ao mesmo tempo o efeito do contexto sócio-político. Outros autores que sustentam a concepção de um sujeito histórico social também contribuíram com nossa leitura teórica. Foi utilizada a entrevista semi-estruturada como instrumento de pesquisa, sendo entrevistados dezesseis sujeitos, dos quais oito foram escolhidos, neste estudo, para a análise pela abrangência e representatividade de seus depoimentos. A análise dos dados busca caracterizar a processualidade da participação política dos sujeitos entrevistados, na apreensão dos sentidos dados à realidade na elaboração dos afetos, pensamentos e vontade, enquanto categorias psicossociais constitutivas dos sujeitos. Para tanto, buscam-se nos depoimentos unidades de sentido, que, na configuração de um processo da realidade, nos possibilitem a compreensão e análise de momentos de transformação e estagnação, constituídos e constituintes dos sujeitos entrevistados. A partir da análise, é possível refletir sobre a base afetivo-volitiva que os mantém na participação. Encontramos, nestas pessoas, uma força de vontade, uma paixão que as leva a enfrentar os conflitos, as crises, as dificuldades, não como elementos que possam abalar sua própria participação, mas, como fatores que as promovem a procurar brechas , novas formas de ação política que ampliem o campo dessa ação. Este trabalho de pesquisa demonstrou que as necessidades que motivam a estas pessoas estão voltadas aos outros , na busca de espaços coletivos que, além de políticos, sejam comunitários e solidários, ensejando espaços de vida para os mais despossuídos da sociedade. Nesse sentido, encontramos nestes sujeitos, o sujeito ético que se afeta com os outros e o sujeito que caminha para seu desenvolvimento e para a liberdade

Early systems engineering and requirements definition requires quantitative information about potential solutions prior to having sufficient information or time to develop detailed models. This research develops and demonstrates a transparent and repeatable process for rapidly creating quantitative models that leverage existing expert knowledge. This process is built upon established modeling frameworks and current literature for low fidelity modeling and hierarchical expert-based methods. The process includes system definition using interactive morphological analysis and gathering information from subject-matter experts with computer-based interfaces in order to create a series of linear performance models. Available volunteers provided data for a relevant aerospace design to test the process as a whole and several hypotheses about specific methodological decisions made during the development. The collected data was analyzed for similarity among participants and for similarity to model parameters of an existing trusted truth model. The results of the analysis demonstrated the ability for expert-based models to accurately match the behavior of the truth models and of historical data.