A hybrid method that addresses the design and optimization of long-span steel trusses is presented. By utilizing advancements in present day computing and biologically inspired analysis and design, an effort has been made to automate the process of evolving optimal trusses in an unstructured problem domain. Topology, geometry and sizing optimization of trusses are simultaneously addressed using a three stage methodology. Multi-objective genetic algorithms are used to optimize the member section sizes of truss topologies and geometries. Converting constraints into additional objectives provides a robust algorithm that results in improved convergence to the pareto-optimal set of solutions. In addition, the pareto-curve plotted based on how well the different objectives are satisfied helps in identifying the trade-offs that exist between these objectives, while also providing an efficient way to rank the population of solutions during the search process. A comparison study between multi-objective genetic algorithms, simulated annealing, and reactive taboo search is conducted to evaluate the efficiency of each method with relation to its overall performance, computational expense, sensitivity to initial parameter settings, and repeatability of finding near-global optimal designs. The benefit of using a three stage approach, and also implementing the entire model on parallel computers, is the high level of computational efficiency that is obtained for the entire process and the near-optimal solutions obtained. The overall efficiency and effectiveness of this method has been established by comparing the truss design results obtained using this method on bridge and roof truss benchmark problems with truss designs obtained by other researchers. One of the salient features of thisresearch is the large number of optimal trusses that are produced as the final result. The range of designs available provides the user with the flexibility to select the truss design that best matches their design requirements. By supporting human-computer interactions between these stages, the program also incorporates subjective aesthetic criteria, which assist in producing final designs in consonance with the user's requirements.

This Thesis Work will concentrate on a very interesting problem, the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP). In this problem, customers or cities have to be visited and packages have to be transported to each of them, starting from a basis point on the map. The goal is to solve the transportation problem, to be able to deliver the packages-on time for the customers,-enough package for each Customer,-using the available resources- and – of course - to be so effective as it is possible.Although this problem seems to be very easy to solve with a small number of cities or customers, it is not. In this problem the algorithm have to face with several constraints, for example opening hours, package delivery times, truck capacities, etc. This makes this problem a so called Multi Constraint Optimization Problem (MCOP). What’s more, this problem is intractable with current amount of computational power which is available for most of us. As the number of customers grow, the calculations to be done grows exponential fast, because all constraints have to be solved for each customers and it should not be forgotten that the goal is to find a solution, what is best enough, before the time for the calculation is up. This problem is introduced in the first chapter: form its basics, the Traveling Salesman Problem, using some theoretical and mathematical background it is shown, why is it so hard to optimize this problem, and although it is so hard, and there is no best algorithm known for huge number of customers, why is it a worth to deal with it. Just think about a huge transportation company with ten thousands of trucks, millions of customers: how much money could be saved if we would know the optimal path for all our packages.Although there is no best algorithm is known for this kind of optimization problems, we are trying to give an acceptable solution for it in the second and third chapter, where two algorithms are described: the Genetic Algorithm and the Simulated Annealing. Both of them are based on obtaining the processes of nature and material science. These algorithms will hardly ever be able to find the best solution for the problem, but they are able to give a very good solution in special cases within acceptable calculation time.In these chapters (2nd and 3rd) the Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing is described in details, from their basis in the “real world” through their terminology and finally the basic implementation of them. The work will put a stress on the limits of these algorithms, their advantages and disadvantages, and also the comparison of them to each other.Finally, after all of these theories are shown, a simulation will be executed on an artificial environment of the VRP, with both Simulated Annealing and Genetic Algorithm. They will both solve the same problem in the same environment and are going to be compared to each other. The environment and the implementation are also described here, so as the test results obtained.Finally the possible improvements of these algorithms are discussed, and the work will try to answer the “big” question, “Which algorithm is better?”, if this question even exists.

A hybrid method that addresses the design and optimization of long-span steel trusses is presented. By utilizing advancements in present day computing and biologically inspired analysis and design, an effort has been made to automate the process of evolving optimal trusses in an unstructured problem domain. Topology, geometry and sizing optimization of trusses are simultaneously addressed using a three stage methodology. Multi-objective genetic algorithms are used to optimize the member section sizes of truss topologies and geometries. Converting constraints into additional objectives provides a robust algorithm that results in improved convergence to the pareto-optimal set of solutions. In addition, the pareto-curve plotted based on how well the different objectives are satisfied helps in identifying the trade-offs that exist between these objectives, while also providing an efficient way to rank the population of solutions during the search process. A comparison study between multi-objective genetic algorithms, simulated annealing, and reactive taboo search is conducted to evaluate the efficiency of each method with relation to its overall performance, computational expense, sensitivity to initial parameter settings, and repeatability of finding near-global optimal designs. The benefit of using a three stage approach, and also implementing the entire model on parallel computers, is the high level of computational efficiency that is obtained for the entire process and the near-optimal solutions obtained. The overall efficiency and effectiveness of this method has been established by comparing the truss design results obtained using this method on bridge and roof truss benchmark problems with truss designs obtained by other researchers. One of the salient features of thisresearch is the large number of optimal trusses that are produced as the final result. The range of designs available provides the user with the flexibility to select the truss design that best matches their design requirements. By supporting human-computer interactions between these stages, the program also incorporates subjective aesthetic criteria, which assist in producing final designs in consonance with the user's requirements.

This study is the first one devoted solely to the writings of the South African black novelist Miriam Tlali. It argues that her works constitute literary resistance not only to apartheid, noted by previous scholars, but also to South African patriarchies. Examining Tlali’s novels Muriel at Metropolitan (1975) and Amandla! (1980), and several short stories from Mihloti (1984) and Footprints in the Quag (1989), the study pits these texts against the black literary tradition dominated by men and also reads them within the social context of South African patriarchies, with its social restrictions on women and its taboos concerning sexualities. To distance herself from the patriarchal values inherent in the male literary tradition and to negotiate social and sexual restrictions on women, I argue, Tlali deploys narrative strategies like generic difference, generic dialogism, a double-voiced discourse, “whispering,” and “distancing.” Drawing on the theories of Mikhail Bakhtin and Julia Kristeva, this study first explores “novelistic” traits in Muriel which function both to resist male literary conventions, like the epic mode of narrative, and to criticise their patriarchal ideology. Second, relying on Bakhtin, it analyses the generic dialogism and double-voicedness in Amandla!. Finally, making use of Kristeva’s semiotics and her theory of sacrifice, the study traces the development of a sacrificial discourse of gendered violence from Amandla! to some of Tlali’s short stories. Supported by Martha J. Reinecke’s explication of Kristeva, I show that Tlali’s texts insist that gendered violence upholds the sacrificial economies of both patriarchal apartheid and African patriarchy. The strategies of “whispering” and “distancing,” I claim, surface in Tlali’s addressing of the sensitive issues of black women’s victimisation and gendered violence. “Whispering” entails muting the criticism of the perpetrators of gendered violence, whereas “distancing” results in dis/placing gendered violence on the margins of the community. This study also examines the literary/social context of Tlali’s oeuvre: it explores specific traits of the South African black literary tradition, how the issue of rape has been addressed there, and the depiction of African patriarchy in autobiographies by South African black women.

This thesis looks at two cases of women who murdered women - the Papin sisters (Le Mans, 1933) and Parker-Hulme (Christchurch, 1954) - and considers their diverse representations in theatre and film, paying particular attention to Jean Genet’s play The Maids (1947), Peter Jackson’s film Heavenly Creatures (1994) and Peter Falkenberg’s film Remake (2007), in which I played a part. What happens when two women (sisters, girl friends) commit violent acts together - not against a man, or a child, but against another woman, a mother or (as in the case of the Papin sisters) against women symbolically standing in place of the mother? How are these two cases - the Papin sisters and Parker-Hulme - presented in historical documents, reinterpreted in political, psychoanalytic and feminist theories, and represented in theatre and film? How might these works of theatre and film, in particular, be seen to explain - or exploit - these cases for an audience? How is the relationship between prurience - the peeping at women doing something bad - and the use of these cases to produce social commentary and/or art, better understood by looking at these objects of fascination ourselves? My thesis explores how these cases continue to interest and inspire artists and intellectuals, as well as the general public - both because they can be seen to violate fundamental social taboos against mother-murder and incest, and because of the challenge they pose for representation in theatre or film.

This thesis investigates cultural associations and values connected to women in Swedish society, with regard to action space, autonomy and social position. This is done through a discourse analysis of the media debate about public breastfeeding between the years 1980-2016, especially putting focus on the female body, motherhood, and women's access to public space. Main theories are Sara Ahmed’s various works on feelings and public comfort, as well as theories about taboo, mainly Purity and Danger by Mary Douglas. In line with early feminist anthropology on women’s subordinated position, this study finds liminality between opposing binaries to be important for the discourse, placing breastfeeding women in a position of taboo and inconvenience. In the discourses I studied, the two most important binaries are the nature-culture dichotomy, and the separation between private and public space. The discourses concerning public breastfeeding are also connected to notions of Swedish Exceptionalism and gender equality, mostly in contrast to beliefs about prudish influences from the U.S. In the thesis is discussed how the media debate about public breastfeeding seems to have intensified from the 1990s onwards, which correlates with increased neoliberalization of the Swedish welfare system, causing changes in women’s life circumstances. In the concluding chapter is brought forth how public breastfeeding is a focal point for several contradictory expectations on breastfeeding women, placing them in a double bind and making women responsible for everyone else’s comfort. It is also illuminated how the binary oppositions mainly contribute to disadvantaging categorizations of women, as well as how neoliberal reforms seem to have a damaging effect on gender equality in Sweden.

In my thesis I have focused on the issue of social networks and (social) bullying at elementary schools. In the first part of my paper I summarize the theoretical background and provide an overview of findings and opinions published by experts in relation to the issue of bullying and cyber-bullying, while in the second part of my paper I analyze the results of a research performed with the use of an anonymous questionnaire at four (4) elementary schools in the South Bohemia Region (Jihočeský kraj). The schools involved in the research were: two (2) schools with less than 270 pupils in the Prachatice region, one school with more than 270 pupils in the town of Prachatice and one school with more than 270 pupils in the city of České Budějovice. The purpose of the questionnaire investigation was to collect information on the extent in which aggressive behavior and cyber-bullying appear among pupils attending the 5th through 9th grades of the elementary school (age range 11-15). In the final part of the thesis I provide an overview of the results obtained through the research with the use of a BPAQ questionnaire (BussPerry Aggression Questionnaire and aggressive acts).

Submitted by Glauber Assunção Moreira (glauber.a.moreira@gmail.com) on 2018-09-20T20:08:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 tese arquivo único_final.pdf: 1735509 bytes, checksum: 93313d86a6b81b4dba7fc85873f82a71 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ednaide Gondim Magalhães (ednaide@ufba.br) on 2018-09-25T12:46:29Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 tese arquivo único_final.pdf: 1735509 bytes, checksum: 93313d86a6b81b4dba7fc85873f82a71 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-25T12:46:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese arquivo único_final.pdf: 1735509 bytes, checksum: 93313d86a6b81b4dba7fc85873f82a71 (MD5) / Esse trabalho pretende construir uma teia discursiva particular, a partir das ideias de memória, imaginação e poesia, cruzando perspectivas teórico-críticas à minha leitura sobre como as discursividades sobre/para a infância têm negociado suas produções na contemporaneidade. Aqui, me coloco em primeira pessoa, fugindo da retórica discursiva abstrata da modernidade, que forja uma expressão universalista de mundo. Ao desenhar meu lugar de fala, a partir da minha experiência de criadora de um produto transmidiático para a infância: Miúda e o guarda-chuva, pretendo discutir os usos da infância, desejando uma maior politização das ações artísticas voltadas para crianças, que repense modelos engessados, estereotipados e estagnados. O primeiro capítulo relaciona os discursos produzidos sobre a infância à literatura, partindo do conto e da relação proibitiva da ideia de tabu com a infância. O segundo capítulo apresenta textos escritos sobre a peça Miúda e o guarda-chuva, que foram disparadores de muitas das reflexões desse trabalho. A leitura crucial, portanto, redimensiona infância e teatro, aventando conexões entre o tabu e o estereótipo, como instâncias de luta e de conforto. O terceiro capítulo relaciona os discursos produzidos sobre a infância ao cinema dirigido a ela. Parte dele se debruça sobre a mudança paradigmática que se processa na atualidade, no tocante à revisão de estigmas hegemônicos em narrativas fílmicas infantis contemporâneas. Nele também, procuro agenciar leituras sobre a infância à articulação de três pesquisas de grupo focal feitas sobre o curta e a versão em longa-metragem, ambas de animação, de Miúda e o guarda-chuva. As considerações finais apontam para o fim desse processo como o começo de uma nova jornada, a construção do meu segundo espetáculo para crianças: Para o menino-bolha. / This work intends to build a particular discursive web out of notions such as memory, imagination and poetry, crossing critical theoretical perspectives to my view as to how discursivities about/for childhood have been dealing with its productions in contemporary times. Here I use the first person in na attempt to escape modernity´s abstract discursive rhetorics, which forges an universalist world expression. By highlighting my locus of speech, from my experience as a creator of a transmediatic product for childhood: Miúda and the Umbrella, I intend to discuss the uses of the childhood notion, aspiring to a greater politization of artistic actions for children which may rethink cast, stereotyped and stagnant models. The first chapter relates the discourses produced on childhood to literature, starting from the short story and the prohibitive idea of taboo in childhood. The second chapter presents written texts about the play Miúda and the Umbrella, which triggered many of the reflections present in this work. That crucial reading, therefore, resizes childhood and theater, suggesting connections between taboo and stereotype, as both mourning and comfort instances. The third chapter links discourses produced on childhood to the cinema especially produced for children. Part of it is dedicated to the paradigmatic shift taking place today, when it comes to revising hegemonic stigmas in contemporary child filmic narratives. I also try to enable ways of looking looking at childhood, articulating three focus group researches made on the short and long versions of the animated film Miúda and the Umbrella. Final comments point at the end of this process, as much at the beginning of a new journey – the construction of my new play for children: To the bubble-boy.

Can the reflection of legal scholars concerning the rule of law be enriched by the cultural conception of Freud about law? This article develops this question, based on how the rule of law was conceived in modernity, from a reading of the work of Hume and Rousseau, in order to show the potential compatibility that this conception had with the later work of Freud. Thus, Freud’s thinking about law is presented as a dialectical or paradoxical civilizatory force, restraining the passions even though they drive it, from a reading of his work Totem and Taboo. In this reconstruction, the genealogy of law is portrayed, from his story of the primal horde, and unconscious dynamics behind the law itself. Then the uses that various legal scholars have made of Freud in writing about the rule of law are analyzed, criticizing how they neglect the tragic sentiment of the Freudian cultural vision regarding law. Finally, the article states that the notions developed by Freud can serve critical legal thinking only if the law is seen as part of the culture, which leads to consider legal studies as a form of cultural studies. / ¿La reflexión de los juristas sobre el gobierno del derecho puede ser enriquecida con la concepción cultural de Freud sobre el derecho? El presente artículo desarrolla esta interrogante, partiendo de cómo en la modernidad se concibió al gobierno del derecho, desde una lectura a los trabajos de Hume y Rousseau, para así mostrar la potencial compatibilidad que esta concepción tenía con la posterior obra de Freud. De este modo, se presenta el pensamiento de Freud sobre el derecho como una fuerza civilizadora dialéctica o paradójica que restringe las pasiones a pesar de que ellas lo conduzcan, desde una lectura de su obra Tótem y tabú. En esta reconstrucción se retrata la genealogía del derecho, desde su relato de la horda primitiva, y las dinámicas inconscientes que están detrás del derecho mismo. Después, se analiza los usos que le han dado a Freud diversos académicos del campo jurídico que han escrito sobre el gobierno del derecho, criticando como estos han dejado de lado el elemento trágico de la visión cultural freudiana sobre el derecho. Por último, el artículo plantea que las nociones desarrollados por Freud pueden servir al pensamiento jurídico crítico solo si el derecho es visto como parte de la cultura, lo que conlleva ver a los estudios jurídicos como una forma de estudios culturales.

In this essay, I have investigated whether players of World of Warcraft change their language to suit the gender of the character they play. I have researched if there are gender differences that correspond to what is defined as male and female language in mixed-sex conversations. Chat-logs, collected during four participant observations, were used for making an analysis based primarily on research by Coates (1993) and Yale (2007). Seven features were selected for analysis: amount of participation, hedges, questions, directives and commands, taboo language, compliments and grammar. It was possible to discover gender differences, but these were not consistent in all areas of research. For example, female characters had a higher contribution than males, as well as a higher use of hedges and tag-questions among males, which contradicts previous research. The lack of consistency might be due to the fact that the participants do not specifically consider all areas as typically female or male, or their unawareness of these tendencies. We also need to consider disagreement in previous gender studies as well as folklinguistic belief. The explanation of the lack of consistent differences may be a more equal relationship between males and females in this context, or due to thepossibility that the participants, who are usually male, make use of their normal male language.