South Africa has been going through severe social changes over the past two decades. In light of these changes the present study aimed to understand adolescents’ expectations of their personal future. Based on the Theory of Possible Selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986) the present research addressed the overall question whether adolescents’ personal future plans incorporate the views they share about the present and the future of their social context. Social context was not only limited to factors such as gender, ethnicity and school environment, but also included both the daily lived experiences of inequality, as is the case in South Africa, and the projected social context of the future. A total of 631 pupils from four Gauteng high schools took part in this cross sectional study. The results support the hypotheses especially within the possible selves’ domain of academic achievement. The interrelatedness between possible selves and shared beliefs about the future of South Africa could, however, not be demonstrated. / Grow Your Own Timber Programme of the University of South Africa / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology (Research Consultation))

Les technologies de reconstruction multi-vues permettent de réaliser un clone virtuel d'un acteur à partir d'une simple acquisition vidéo réalisée par un ensemble de caméras à partir de multiples points de vue. Cette approche offre de nouvelles opportunités dans le domaine de la composition de scènes hybrides mélangeant les images réelles et virtuelles. Cette thèse a été réalisée dans le cadre du projet RECOVER 3D dont l'objectif est de développer une chaîne de production TV complète, de l'acquisition jusqu'à la diffusion, autour de la reconstruction multi-vues. Cependant la technologie utilisée dans ce contexte est mal adaptée à la reconstruction de scènes dynamiques. En effet, la performance d'un acteur est reproduite sous la forme d'une séquence d'objets 3D statiques qui correspondent aux poses successives du personnage au cours de la capture vidéo. L'objectif de cette thèse est de développer une méthode pour transformer ces séquences de poses en un modèle animé unique. Les travaux de recherches menés dans ce cadre sont répartis en deux étapes principales. La première a pour but de calculer un champ de déplacements qui décrit les mouvements de l'acteur entre deux poses consécutives. La seconde étape consiste à animer un maillage suivant les trajectoires décrites par le champ de mouvements, de manière à le déplacer vers la pose suivante. En répétant ce processus tout au long la séquence, nous parvenons ainsi à reproduire un maillage animé qui adopte les poses successives de l'acteur. Les résultats obtenus montrent que notre méthode peut générer un modèle temporellement cohérent à partir d'une séquence d'enveloppes visuelles. / 4D multi-view reconstruction technologies are more and more used in media production due to their abilities to produce a virtual clone of an actor from a simple video acquisition performed by a set of multi-viewpoint cameras. This approach is a major advance for the composition of animations which mix virtual and real images, and also offers new possibilities for the rendering of such complex hybrid scenes. The work described in this thesis takes parts in the RECOVER 3D project which aims at developing an innovative industrial framework for TV production, based on multi-view reconstruction, from studio acquisition to broadcasting. The major drawback of the methods used in this context is that they are not adapted to the reconstruction of dynamic scenes. The output are time series which describe the successive poses of the actor, figured as a sequence of static objects. The goal of this thesis is to transform these initial results into a dynamic 3D object where the actor is figured as an animated character. The research detailed in this manuscript presents two main contributions. The first one is centered on the computation of a motion flow which represents the displacements occurring in the reconstructed scene between two consecutive poses. The second one presents a mesh animation process that leads to the animation of a 3D model from one pose to another, following the motion flow. This two-step operation is repeated throughout the entire pose sequence to finally obtain a single animated mesh that matches the evolving shape of the reconstructed actor. Results show that our method is able to produce a temporally consistent mesh animation from various sequences of visual hulls.

Denna studie undersöker vilka upplevelser och erfarenheter som påverkat individer när de tagit beslutet att lämna en kriminell livsstil; och vilka faktorer som varit avgörande i förändringsprocessen till ett liv utan kriminalitet. Kvalitativa intervjuer har använts som metod för att besvara frågeställningarna. Fem personer med koppling till organisationen KRIS har intervjuats och resultatet har analyserats utifrån en teoretisk referensram bestående av Laub och Sampsons (2006) definition av begreppet turning points; Paternoster och Bushways (2009) identitetsteori om avhopp från kriminalitet; och Emirbayer och Mishes (1998) teoretiska beskrivning av begreppet human agency. Resultatet visar att alla intervjupersonerna påverkats av crystalization of discontent och drivkraften att undvika the feared possible self (Paternoster & Bushway, 2009) när de beslutat att lämna kriminaliteten. Den egna viljan beskrivs av intervjupersonerna som den mest avgörande faktorn i förändringsprocessen. Andra faktorer som varit betydande är socialt stöd och att hålla fast vid nya rutiner kopplade till livet utan kriminalitet. Slutsatserna i uppsatsen är att det sällan räcker med enskilda faktorer, ofta är det ett samspel mellan flera faktorer som leder till förändring. / The purpose of the present study is to identify events and experiences that influences individuals to make the decision to desist from a criminal life style; and to identify crucial and important factors in the process of desisting from a criminal life style. The used method is qualitative interviews. Five persons connected to KRIS (an organization with the aim to help desisters) were interviewed and the results were analyzed through a theoretic framework consisting Laub and Sampson ́s (2006) definition of the concept of turning points; Paternoster and Bushway ́s (2009) identity theory of desistance from crime; and Emirbayer and Mishe ́s theoretical definition of the concept of human agency. The result shows that all interviewees were affected by crystalization of discontent and the motive to avoid feared possible self (Paternoster & Bushway, 2009) when they decided to desist from criminality. The own will was identified as the most crucial factor in the process of criminal desistance. Social support and the importance of hanging on to new routines were mentioned as other important factors in the process. The conclusion of the study is that it is seldom enough with single factors as solutions to the problems of this study. A successful desistance process is often a result of an interplay between several factors.

Cette thèse présente les réponses données à la question du fondement du possible et de l’impossible dans la scolastique jésuite espagnole de l’époque moderne : en vertu de quels critères jugeons-nous que telle chose ou tel événement sont possibles, alors que tels autres nous paraissent impossibles ou contradictoires ? La double nature de ce travail, philosophique et historique, s’incarne dès lors en deux volumes à la fois distincts et complémentaires. Le premier volume est consacré à l’analyse philosophique des différentes réponses apportées au problème du possible, entre les premiers pas académiques de la Compagnie de Jésus espagnole jusqu’à son expulsion définitive du royaume en 1767. Après quelques préliminaires généraux sur le développement institutionnel et doctrinal de la scolastique moderne, on y présente successivement les solutions des écoles dominicaine et franciscaine espagnoles du XVIe siècle avant de passer aux différents grands modèles jésuites : les synthèses de Gabriel Vázquez et Francisco Suárez ; l’émergence d’un courant ultra-essentialiste ; la critique inspirée par le nominalisme de Pedro Hurtado de Mendoza ; le développement d’une ontologie conditionnaliste par Juan de Lugo et ses nombreux élèves ; la critique néo-augustinienne de toutes les traditions antérieures par Antonio Pérez et ses nombreux élèves ; le développement d’une ontologie des états de choses par Sebastián Izquierdo ; et enfin le développement d’une série d’autres solutions marginales à la fin du XVIIe siècle. Le travail se clôture sur l’expulsion d’Espagne de la Compagnie de Jésus en 1767 et par quelques réflexions sur la « migration » de ces problématiques vers l’Europe Centrale. Le second volume est quant à lui purement historique et textuel. Il propose l’édition de différents textes, tirés d’ouvrages imprimés anciens ou bien de manuscrits inédits, rédigés par vingt des principaux auteurs engagés dans la querelle des possibles, à savoir, dans l’ordre chronologique : F. Albertini, P. Hurtado de Mendoza, J. de Lugo, R. de Arriaga, Th. Compton Carleton, A. Pérez, F. de Oviedo, M. de Elizalde, T. González de Santalla, T. Muniesa, S. Mauro, S. Izquierdo, G. de Ribadeneira, I.F. Peinado, J. de Sousa, A. Sémery, J. de Campoverde, E. Láriz, Á. Cienfuegos et J. Rufo. Chaque édition de texte est précédée d’une biographie intellectuelle retraçant les principales étapes de la carrière de l’auteur, avec des indications sur ses maîtres, collègues et disciples, ainsi que sur le contexte institutionnel de son enseignement. L’ensemble est précédé d’une étude sur les rapports entre les cours imprimés et manuscrits dans la tradition scolastique moderne. Un troisième et court volume se compose d’un bref « who’s who » scolastique ainsi que d’une bibliographie générale, reprenant toutes les sources primaires et secondaires utilisées.

The representation of Chancery court in Charles Dickens’ Bleak House (1852-3) emphasises the inaccessibility of this institution to members of the laity. Dickens’ critique of Chancery chimes with Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological description of law as a formalistic social field defined by practices of exclusion. Dickens’ Chancery is however further inaccessible since it departs from Dickens’ laypeople’s horizons of expectation as a bureaucratic organisation characterised by its structural dispersion and the generation of great quantities of writing. This thesis therefore scrutinises Dickens’ treatment of Chancery in light of media-theoretical and geocritical, as well as sociological, frameworks and perspectives. This essay demonstrates that Dickens’ account of the institution of Chancery as conceptually inaccessible amounts to what I term a non-world heuristic. I contend that Dickens’ take on law anticipates what Fredric Jameson famously theorises as the dizzying “global world system” of late capitalism; the non-world heuristic of Bleak House—which combats disorientation in the social domain of law—may thus be understood as an early example of what Jameson terms an “aesthetic of cognitive mapping.” The non-world heuristic, this thesis proposes, likely has a role to play also in fictional attempts to cognitively map the global world system. I theorise the non-world heuristic in light of the discourse on accessibility in possible-worlds theory and the Kantian sublime, finding that the sublime non-world of Chancery is made accessible as inaccessible and that this dynamic is integral to Dickens’ aesthetic both as a maker of cognitive maps and as a realist novelist.

This thesis is a reflection from the cultural studies point of view of my personal volunteer experience in Ukraine. Its focus is to present practical use of anthropology or cultural studies knowledge in such field as volunteer or humanitarian work in a different culture. It suggests use of photography as a method of cognition of the environment. It presents an auto- photographic method as an alternative to a research using classical methods of visual anthropology. This thesis also presents two sets of photographs taken by children in a local orphanage which record their possible worlds. Key words: volunteering, auto-photography, visual anthropology, qualitative research, possible worlds

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore the literacy practices of marginalized adolescent youth in India and the relationship of these practices to imagination and identity construction. More than just tools for communication, language and literacy practices allow individuals to express their selves and identities as they voice their thoughts, negotiate meaning (Dyson & Genishi, 2005; Gee, 2003), and enact themselves within society (Janks, 2010; New London Group, 1996). This qualitative case study took place in Lucknow, India; the subjects were a group of adolescent girls at a nonprofit all-girls school in a seventh-grade classroom. Using discourse analysis, the data revealed the ways in which the girls used literacy to agentively position themselves as actual selves in their societies, as imagined social selves and others, in relationship to social others, and in imagined events.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T10:46:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 VALDIR JOSE DE MEDEIROS FILHO.pdf: 543399 bytes, checksum: 688bf108e2548a5e73b08c35d5d050d2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-14 / The right of health was raised by the National Constitution of 1988 for the category of fundamental rights with immediate applicability as shown in the first paragraph of the fifth article of our Constitution. The immediate applicability of these fundamental social rights annihilated the programmatic character of these constitutional laws that establish the right to health. In this way, from a systemic view of the Brazilian legal system, balancing the nature of the principles laws that establish these fundamental social rights, can confirm that the principle of human dignity and of the minimum existential are discarded the thesis of the reserve for the possible advocated by the State, for not to put into practice the public health services that do grow these social rights. Because of the inertia of the State for to provide the public health services by the reason of insufficient funds to provide these services, the protection exercised in relation to decisions and interpretations of laws made by higher courts take energetic and active position in defense of society, and these are public services that guarantee the social rights, ordered and implemented by the Judiciary. Judges of first instance and superior courts, replacing the representatives of government, constitutionally responsible for the effectiveness of these fundamental rights, started to determine the respect to the commands of the Federal Constitution regarding the rights of health, invoking in opposition to the thesis of reserve for the possible or insufficiency of funds, the principle of human dignity and the minimum existential. / O direito social da saúde foi alçado pela Constituição Federal de 1988, à categoria de direito fundamental com aplicabilidade imediata, conforme prescreve o parágrafo primeiro do artigo quinto de nosso texto constitucional. Esse viés da aplicabilidade imediata desse direito fundamental social contribuiu para aniquilar o caráter programático das normas constitucionais que estabelecem o direito fundamental à saúde. Por essa via, a partir de uma visão sistêmica do ordenamento jurídico brasileiro sopesando a natureza principiológica das normas que estabelecem esse direito social fundamental, verifica-se que o princípio da dignidade da pessoa humana e do mínimo existencial vêm afastando a tese da reserva do possível defendida pelo Estado, para não implementação e entrega dos serviços públicos de saúde que densificam esse direito social. Em razão dessa inércia do Estado (Poder Executivo) prestar serviços públicos de saúde alegando a insuficiência de verba (reserva do possível), a tutela jurisdicional assume posição enérgica e atuante em defesa da sociedade, sendo esses serviços públicos que garantem o direito à saúde, ordenados e implementados pelo Poder Judiciário. Juízes de primeiro grau e dos tribunais superiores, em substituição aos representantes do poder Executivo, responsáveis constitucionalmente pela efetividade desses direitos fundamentais determinam o respeito aos mandamentos da Constituição Federal relativos ao direito social da saúde, invocando em contra-argumentação a tese da reserva do possível, o princípio da dignidade da pessoa humana e o mínimo existencial.

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<p>The paper contains comment, clarification and criticism, even constructive criticism, of some theses that have been put forward by Laurence Bonjour in his In Defense of Pure Reason.</p><p>It presents a concept of experience that deals with the relation between cognizer and object of experience that has a great similarity to that of Bonjour. Through analysis it is shown that the concept of a priori entails that Bonjour has two concepts of a priori, a narrow and a broad one. The narrow one is, in my own words: According to moderate rationalism a proposition p is a priori justified if and only if you apprehend that p must be true in every possible world. This doesn’t mean that Bonjour doesn’t believe in an epistemological, metaphysical and semantic realm. The broad one does not mention anything about possible worlds.</p><p>Casullo in his A priori justification rejects Bonjour’s argument against Quine’s coherentism. A defense is put forward with the concept ‘an ideal of science for apparent rational insights’. The concept of axiomatic system and foundationalism is used. If we assume that the colour proposition ‘nothing can be red all over and green all over at the same time’ has the meaning that we, in this very moment, are representing a property in the world, thus we have an argument of superposition for the correctness of the proposition. The ground for this argumentation relies on the identification of colours with superposing electromagnetic waves.</p>