The main aim of this thesis is to create a sequence of mathematical optimization models with different levels of complexity for the efficient management and waste energy utilization. Stochastic programming approach was utilized to deal with random demand and uncertain heating values. Hence, more applicable model of the waste-to-energy plant has been developed. As the next step, the model is enhanced by heating plant extension. Computations are realized for real-world data and optimal solution is found by using GAMS implementation.

Orientador: Valeriano Antunes de Oliveira / Resumo: Neste trabalho, primeiramente, serão apresentados problemas de otimização nos quais a função objetivo é de múltiplas variáveis e de valor intervalar e as restrições de desigualdade são dadas por funcionais clássicos, isto é, de valor real. Serão dadas as condições de otimalidade usando a E−diferenciabilidade e, depois, a gH−diferenciabilidade total das funções com valor intervalar de várias variáveis. As condições necessárias de otimalidade usando a gH−diferenciabilidade total são do tipo KKT e as suficientes são do tipo de convexidade generalizada. Em seguida, serão estabelecidos problemas de controle ótimo nos quais a funçãao objetivo também é com valor intervalar de múltiplas variáveis e as restrições estão na forma de desigualdades e igualdades clássicas. Serão fornecidas as condições de otimalidade usando o conceito de Lipschitz para funções intervalares de várias variáveis e, logo, a gH−diferenciabilidade total das funções com valor intervalar de várias variáveis. As condições necessárias de otimalidade, usando a gH−diferenciabilidade total, estão na forma do célebre Princípio do Máximo de Pontryagin, mas desta vez na versão intervalar. / Abstract: In this work, firstly, it will be presented optimization problems in which the objective function is interval−valued of multiple variables and the inequality constraints are given by classical functionals, that is, real−valued ones. It will be given the optimality conditions using the E−differentiability and then the total gH−differentiability of interval−valued functions of several variables. The necessary optimality conditions using the total gH−differentiability are of KKT−type and the sufficient ones are of generalized convexity type. Next, it will be established optimal control problems in which the objective function is also interval−valued of multiple variables and the constraints are in the form of classical inequalities and equalities. It will be furnished the optimality conditions using the Lipschitz concept for interval−valued functions of several variables and then the total gH−differentiability of interval−valued functions of several variables. The necessary optimality conditions using the total gH−differentiability is in the form of the celebrated local Pontryagin Maximum Principle, but this time in the intervalar version. / Doutor

Thomas S. Kuhn claimed that the meanings of scientific terms change in theory changes or in scientific revolutions. In philosophy, meaning change has been taken as the source of a group of problems, such as untranslatability, incommensurability, and referential variance. For this reason, the majority of analytic philosophers have sought to deny that there can be meaning change by focusing on developing a theory of reference that would guarantee referential stability. A number of philosophers have also claimed that Kuhn’s view can be explained by the fact that he accepted and further developed many central tenets of logical empiricism. I maintain that the genesis of Kuhn’s meaning theorising lies in his historical approach and that his view of meaning change is justified. Later in his career he attempted to advance a theory of meaning and can be said to have had limited success in it. What is more, recent cognitive science has unexpectedly managed to shed light on Kuhn’s insights on the organisation of information in the mind, concept learning, and concept definition. Furthermore, although Kuhn’s critique of Putnam’s causal theory of reference has often been dismissed as irrelevant, he has a serious point to address. Kuhn thought that the causal theory that works so well with proper names cannot work with scientific terms. He held that conceptual categories are formed by similarity and dissimilarity relations; therefore, several features and not only one single property are needed for determination of extension. In addition, the causal theory requires universal substances as points of reference of scientific terms. Kuhn was a conceptualist, who held that universals do not exist as mind-independent entities and that mind-dependent family resemblance concepts serve the role of universals. Further, at the beginning of his career, Kuhn was interested in the question of what concepts or ideas are and how they change in their historical context. Although he did not develop his theorising on this issue, I demonstrate that this is a genuine problem in the philosophy of history. Finally, Kuhn argued that scientists cannot have access to truth in history because we cannot transcend our historical niche, and as a consequence, the truth of a belief cannot be a reason for theory choice. Instead of truth, we can rely on justification. I also discuss Kuhn’s idea that problem-solving is the main aim of science and show that this view can be incorporated into coherentist epistemology.

Submitted by Setor de Tratamento da Informa??o - BC/PUCRS (tede2@pucrs.br) on 2015-10-20T10:09:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 475816 Texto Completo.pdf: 891315 bytes, checksum: 2f04cd28f1d31506ab10c98f28758679 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-10-20T10:09:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 475816 Texto Completo.pdf: 891315 bytes, checksum: 2f04cd28f1d31506ab10c98f28758679 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-10 / The present study aims to establish a relationship between the thinking of Thomas Kuhn in Philosophy of Science and the thinking of Joseph Schumpeter for Economy, establishing a parallel between the concepts of "Scientific Revolution" proposed by Kuhn and "Creative Destruction" proposed by Schumpeter. Despite their interest in different areas, both Thomas Kuhn and Joseph Schumpeter considered that their fields have subjectivities related to human, social, and historical issues, and that organization and progress were the result of human understanding and its ensuing relations. To achieve this goal, we will discuss the central ideas of Thomas Kuhn, including the notions of ?paradigm?, ?normal science? and ?incommensurability?, as described in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn?s main work. We will also emphasize the historical context of Kuhn?s work by highlighting the most prominent Philosophy of Science thinkers preceding him, as well as Kuhn?s responses to the main criticisms to his work, especially "relativism" and "irrationalism." An additional aim of the present study is to describe the evolution of Economy until its establishment as a "normal science" from a Kuhnian perspective.This will be done by illustrating the development on economic thinking until its neoclassical formulation, and by showing the significant consolidation that Economy studies have achieved since the first ideas of Adam Smith. Joseph Schumpeter?s ideas will be detailed from the perspective of the evolution of economic thinking, revealing his estrangement, as also occurs with Kuhn, from traditional ideas of equilibrium of the economic system. We will show that Schumpeter introduces elements of disequilibrium in environments that were previously considered stable, such as consumer behavior and production techniques. Thomas Kuhn and Joseph Schumpeter seem to have understood, each in their own way, that the scientific and economic processes lack a set of neutral categories that are independent of culture, because human and historical aspects are always combined to produce our choices and behaviors. Therefore, absolute rationalism is denied by both thinkers, who assume disequilibrium and disruption as part of their study areas. / A presente disserta??o pretende estabelecer uma rela??o entre o pensamento de Thomas Kuhn na Filosofia da Ci?ncia e o pensamento de Joseph Schumpeter para a Economia, estabelecendo um paralelismo entre os conceitos de ?revolu??o cient?fica? em Kuhn e ?destrui??o criadora? em Schumpeter. Tanto Thomas Kuhn quanto Joseph Schumpeter, apesar de serem pensadores de ?reas distintas, consideravam que seus campos de estudo tinham subjetividades relacionadas a aspectos humanos, sociais, e hist?ricos, onde a organiza??o e progresso davam-se como resultado da compreens?o humana e de suas rela??es. Para tanto, iremos desenvolver as ideias centrais de Thomas Kuhn, como ?paradigma?, ?ci?ncia normal? e ?incomensurabilidade?, a partir de sua principal obra ?A Estrutura das Revolu??es Cient?ficas?. Tamb?m daremos ?nfase a seu contexto hist?rico a partir dos pensadores at? ali destacados na Filosofia da Ci?ncia, e sua resposta ?s principais cr?ticas recebidas, podendo-se destacar o ?relativismo? e o ?irracionalismo?. Este trabalho pretende tamb?m descrever a evolu??o da Economia at? seu estabelecimento como ?ci?ncia normal? a partir de uma perspectiva Kuhniana.Para tanto iremos ilustrar a evolu??o do pensamento econ?mico at? sua formula??o neocl?ssica, onde ser? poss?vel verificar a significativa consolida??o que os estudos da Economia alcan?aram desde as primeiras ideias de Adam Smith. As ideias do economista Joseph Schumpeter ser?o detalhadas a partir da evolu??o do pensamento econ?mico, revelando seu distanciamento, assim como em Kuhn, das ideias tradicionais de equil?brio do sistema econ?mico. Ser? poss?vel observar que Schumpeter colocou elementos de desequil?brio no que antes era considerado est?vel, como o comportamento do consumidor ou as t?cnicas de produ??o. Thomas Kuhn e Joseph Schumpeter parecem ter entendido cada a um seu modo, que no processo cient?fico e econ?mico, n?o h? um conjunto de categorias que sejam neutras e independentes da cultura, pois sempre haveria combina??es nas escolhas e nos comportamentos que teriam aspectos humanos e hist?ricos. Nesse sentido, o racionalismo absoluto ? negado por ambos, j? que consideravam o desequil?brio e a ruptura como parte integrante de suas ?reas de estudo.

Este trabalho relata a aplicação de uma proposta didática para introduzir a Física no Ensino Fundamental através do estudo do movimento de queda dos corpos. Este fenômeno foi tratado através de três distintas teorias (Aristóteles, Física Clássica e Einstein) tomadas como sucessivos paradigmas na História da Física, o que possibilitou a discussão explícita também de aspectos epistemológicos. A proposta foi aplicada duas vezes, nos anos de 2014 e 2015, com alunos do Ensino Fundamental em formato de oficina, no turno inverso ao das aulas regulares, no colégio João Paulo I – Higienópolis, em Porto Alegre, RS. O planejamento das atividades baseou-se na teoria da aprendizagem significativa de David Ausubel e a atividade científica foi interpretada de acordo com a visão de ciência de Thomas Kuhn (foram debatidos conceitos como paradigma, revolução científica, ciência normal e incomensurabilidade paradigmática). Ao longo da oficina foram introduzidas, de forma qualitativa, a visão aristotélica, a Teoria Clássica e a Teoria da Relatividade Geral como sendo distintas explicações para o movimento de queda dos corpos. A proposta mostrou-se uma boa alternativa para o ensino de Física de uma maneira diferenciada, conseguindo alcançar alguns conceitos de Física Moderna e Contemporânea com resultados exitosos em ambas as aplicações, no sentido de tornar o primeiro contato dos jovens com a Física uma experiência interessante. Além disso, a proposta tornou possível proporcionar aos alunos uma noção menos ingênua e mais crítica sobre a atividade científica, mostrando a Física como uma ciência viva. No final deste trabalho (Apêndice J), há um produto educacional que mostra a sequência didática, contendo textos e atividades, como sugestão ao professor de Física desse nível de ensino. / This work describes the application of a didactic proposal to introduce physics in elementary education through the study of the motion falling bodies. This phenomenon was treated by the study of three different theories (Aristotle´s, Classical Mechanics and Einstein´s) taken as successive paradigms in the history of physics, which also allowed the explicit discussion of epistemological aspects. The proposal was applied twice in the years of 2014 and 2015, with elementary school students in a workshop format in the opposite shift of the regular classes in the school João Paulo I - Higienópolis, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. The planning of activities was grounded in the meaningful learning theory of David Ausubel and scientific activity was interpreted according to Thomas Kuhn vision of science (concepts such as a paradigm, scientific revolution, normal science and paradigm incommensurability were discussed). During the workshop the Aristotelian view, the classical theory and the General Theory of Relativity were introduced, qualitatively, as distinct explanations for falling bodies’ movement. The proposal proved to be a good alternative to teach physics in a different way, managing to teach some concepts of Modern and Contemporary Physics with promising results in both applications, allowing the first contact of young people with Physics to become an interesting experience. In addition, the proposal proved to be a possible way to provide students a less naive and more critical notion of the scientific activity, showing physics as a science that is continuously evolving. At the end of this study (Appendix J), there is an educational product that shows the didactic sequence used, containing texts and activities, as a suggestion to physics teacher at this level of education.

Submitted by Nathalya Silva (nathyjf033@gmail.com) on 2017-05-15T19:04:25Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Tese_EnsinoFisicaComparacao.pdf: 3148542 bytes, checksum: 7bc41a467fd927add0100242848ebc94 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Edisangela Bastos (edisangela@ufpa.br) on 2017-05-26T14:06:33Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Tese_EnsinoFisicaComparacao.pdf: 3148542 bytes, checksum: 7bc41a467fd927add0100242848ebc94 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-26T14:06:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Tese_EnsinoFisicaComparacao.pdf: 3148542 bytes, checksum: 7bc41a467fd927add0100242848ebc94 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-10-22 / O ensino das disciplinas experimentais de Física tem sido realizado com o uso de manuais ou roteiros das experiências. Esta abordagem tem-se mostrado inadequada para aprendizagem de conceitos físicos por parte de estudantes. Em face disto, esta tese teve como objetivo realizar um estudo de uma estratégia de ensino baseado nas ideias de Thomas Kuhn e adaptado por Zylbersztajn (1991) e Arruda; Silva e Laburú (2001) da ciência normal em sala de aula, com o uso da modelagem matemática e ênfase na experimentação de conceitos, leis e teorias. A pesquisa foi realizada com um grupo de alunos nos cursos superiores de Engenharia Civil e Licenciatura em Ciências Naturais; foram feitas análises investigativas por meio de uma abordagem mista (qualitativa e quantitativa), com a qual foi possível confirmar a hipótese do modelo. A despeito de algumas considerações relativas à sua aplicação, esta abordagem mostrou-se apropriada para ensino e aprendizagem de conteúdos de disciplinas experimentais de Física. / The teaching of experimental disciplines of physics has been carried out with the use of manual or experiences of scripts. This approach has proven unsuitable for learning physical concepts by students. In view of this, this thesis aimed to carry out a study of a teaching strategy based on Thomas Kuhn's ideas and adapted by Zylbersztajn (1991) and Arruda; Silva and Laburú (2001) of normal science in the classroom, using mathematical modeling and emphasis on experimental concepts, laws and theories. The survey was conducted with a group of students in higher courses of Civil Engineering and a Degree in Natural Sciences; investigative analyzes were performed using a mixed approach (qualitative and quantitative), with which it was possible to confirm the model assumption. Despite some considerations relating to its application, this approach proved to be suitable for teaching and learning content of experimental disciplines of Physics.

<p>This essay describes the philosophy of science that Thomas Kuhn puts forth in his work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The question is, does his description of the scientific paradigm work as well today as in the examples he gave in the book?</p><p>The conclusion is that there are certain factors that make for a number of differences between science today and, for example in the seventeenth century. There is also a growing theory or vision of a post normal science laid developed by among others Jerome Ravetz. This theory or vision is an idea of a science close to peer-communities and fast as well as critical decisions involving opposite values.</p>

This essay describes the philosophy of science that Thomas Kuhn puts forth in his work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The question is, does his description of the scientific paradigm work as well today as in the examples he gave in the book? The conclusion is that there are certain factors that make for a number of differences between science today and, for example in the seventeenth century. There is also a growing theory or vision of a post normal science laid developed by among others Jerome Ravetz. This theory or vision is an idea of a science close to peer-communities and fast as well as critical decisions involving opposite values.

This dissertation aims to contrast the differences between Montesquieu¡¦s and Quesnay¡¦s thoughts of China Despotism theory, to analyze the methodology and epistemology used by the two scholars to demonstrate and observe traditional China despotism, and, to expound and examine the description of traditional China despotism in Montesquieu¡¦s and Quesnay¡¦s thoughts. Montesquieu was a rare one among Enlightenment philosophers who profoundly discussed China Despotism in the eighteenth century. In the elaboration of Montesquieu¡¦s China Despotism, there were lots of contradictions in De L'espirt Des Lois. Traditional China government was depreciated by him. From the empirical induce methodology, positivism epistemology and ontology¡¦s point of view, this dissertation tries to deeply analyze and research Montesquieu¡¥s China Despotism. At the time, there were also some Enlightenment Philosophers who have a different view of China Despotism. The representative was a Physiocrat ¡V Francois Quesnay. In his Le Despotisme De La Chine, he marked traditional China government positively. Quesnay, who developed his view based on the same empirical facts about traditional China according to the eighteenth century¡¦s Jesuits, travelers and businessmen and with the same natural science methodology, had totally different views and thoughts about China Despotism from Montesquieu. This dissertation has a detailed study and review on these differences. Questions will be explored in this dissertation are as below. Did the natural science methodology and epistemology of Montesquieu¡¦s and Quesnay¡¦s China Despotism strengthen the judgment of how they valued traditional China government? Were there pre-judgments in their so-called neutral and objective denouncement about the way they researched China Despotism in the empirical induce methodology and epistemology? Were Montesquieu¡¦s and Quesnay¡¦s judgments about China Depotism enhanced by the natural science methodology and epistemology a kind of western centralism? Did they, in the name of neutral and objective empirical induce methodology and epistemology that could not reason non-western value, refuse and devaluate other non-western value? This dissertation has a deeply reflection on these from the ¡§paradigm¡¨ and ¡§incommensurable¡¨ methodological concepts of Thomas S. Kuhn¡¦s. If Montesquieu¡¦s China Despotism was the main point of western culture, was the way Quesnay observed traditional China government presenting a different value in the west culture and there were still some admiring this kind of value? Was this kind of evaluation neglected by recent Chinese intellects? This is a serious problem worthy of reconsideration and reflection. Keywords: Montesquieu, François Quesnay, Physiocracy, Despotism, enlightened despotism, China Despotism, natural science methodology, theory laden, Thomas S. Kuhn, paradigm, incommensurable

This thesis focuses on the development of guidance algorithms in order to avoid a prescribed obstacle primarily using the Collision Cone Method (CCM). The Collision Cone Method is a geometric approach to obstacle avoidance, which forms an avoidance zone around the obstacles for the vehicle to pass the obstacle around this zone. The method is reactive as it helps to avoid the pop-up obstacles as well as the known obstacles and local as it passes the obstacles and continue to the prescribed trajectory. The algorithm is first developed for a 2D (planar) avoidance in 3D environment and then extended for 3D scenarios. The algorithm is formed for the optimized CCM as well. The avoidance zone radius and velocity are optimized using constraint optimization, Lagrange multipliers with Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions and direct experimentation.