En s'appuyant sur un corpus de sources d'archives décidément vaste, et sur une ample bibliographie, cette recherche apporte plusieurs éléments novateurs à l'étude des échanges politiques et diplomatiques dans l'Italie du premier Quattrocento. Au fil des trois parties dont cette thèse se compose, l'analyse des sources (du point de vue non seulement des contenus, mais aussi linguistique) a permis quelques éclaircissements sur la guerre entre Florence et Venise contre Philippe Marie Visconti. L'importance de ce travail réside tout d'abord dans la fourchette chronologique prise en compte : les années Vingt du Quattrocento, en effet, sont quasiment absentes dans l'historiographie sur la diplomatie italienne à la Renaissance, un vide qui peut assurément être allégué à une polarisation documentaire conséquente (les sources d'archives se font plus riches à partir de la seconde moitié du siècle).Deuxièmement, le bassin documentaire a compris plus de 60 fonds d'archives, ce qui a donné à la recherche une base solide pour poursuivre l'enquête historique, grâce aussi à l'osmose et au dialogue établis entre les différentes sources.Quant aux résultats, au-delà du plan strictement événementiel, en ce qui concerne les phénomènes et les trajectoires nous avons pu identifier les évolutions politico-territoriales des puissances italiennes durant la première partie du siècle, bien avant, donc, le moment crucial de la 'Lega italica' (1455), qui est d'habitude vue comme le point de départ de toute analyse diplomatique. Il nous a été possible, par exemple, de remonter jusqu'à la source des liens entre Eugène IV et les Médicis ; ou de montrer les raisons et les enjeux de la montée de la Savoie en Italie ; ou, enfin, de mettre en exergue, au sein de la vie politique italienne, l'évolution de la présence pontificale, qui passa de la neutralité à la gestion des alliances diplomatiques. / Based on a large corpus of archival sources, and on an extensive bibliography, this research sheds a light on several innovative elements regarding the study of political and diplomatic exchanges in Italy during the first Quattrocento. Through the three parts of the thesis, the analysis of the sources (from the point of view not only of the contents, but also a linguistic one) has clarified the meanings of the war between Florence and Venice against Philippe Marie Visconti.The importance of this work remains first and foremost in the chronological range analyzed: the 1420s are almost absent in the historiography on Italian diplomacy during the Renaissance, a vacuum that can certainly be alleged at a documentary polarization (archives sources become richer from the second half of the century).Secondly, the documentary basin included more than 60 archive collections, which gave the research a solid basis for continuing the historical inquiry, as well as the dialogue established between the different sources.As for the results, beyond the strictly event-oriented plan, from the phenomenon point of view, we have been able to identify the political-territorial evolution of the Italian powers during the first part of the century, long before the crucial moment of the 'Lega Italica' 1455), which is usually the starting point of any diplomatic analysis.It has been possible for us, for example, to go back to the source of the links between Eugene IV and the Medici; or to show the reasons and the issues of the rise of Savoy in Italy; or, finally, to highlight, within Italian political life, the evolution of the papal presence, which shifted from neutrality to the management of diplomatic alliances.

[pt] Nos ní­veis atuais de globalização, fluxo de informações e sensibilidade das economias e empresas em todo o mundo, e onde os mercados financeiros,os processos, operações e dinâmicas organizacionais são cada vez mais padronizados, torna-se cada vez mais importante a precisão dos indicadores e dados que são utilizados na avaliação de empresas para a percepção quanto as suas situações financeiras por meio da observação de indicadores de capital de giro, em especial, em novos mercados e paí­ses e para as empresas globalizadas. Este trabalho proprõe um modelo de avaliação de situação econômico-financeiro de empresas baseado em uma analise conjunta da aplicação dos clássicos e tradicionais Indicadores de Liquidez com o Modelo Dinâmico de Capital de Giro, estudado e desenvolvido por Michel Fleruiet. O trabalho propõe sua aplicação em empresas de quatro paí­ses da America Latina, Argentina, Brasil, Chile e México. Testes aplicados sobre as Demonstrações Financeiras das empresas dos setores de tecnologia e energia representando cem por cento das empresas de capital aberto destes setores nos paí­ses revelaram que e benéfica a utilização conjunta dos modelos de avaliação de situação econômico-financeiro e de autofinanciamento. / [en] On the current globalization levels, information flow and economies and companies sensibility all over the world, and where financial markets, the procedures, operatives and organizational dynamics are at each more standardized, becomes as more important the indicators precision and the data that are used evaluating companies to perceive regarding its financial situations by the observation of the working capital indicators, specially over new markets and countries and for globalized companies. This study intend to propose an evaluation model for financial-economic companies situation based on a jointly application of the classics and traditional Liquid Indicators with the Dynamic Working Capital Model studied and developed by Michel Fleuriet. The studies propose to apply it over four Latin America countries, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Such trials accomplished over Financial Statements of technology and energy companies representing one hundred percent of open market capital companies of these segments on countries, revealed that it's beneficial the use of both models of evaluation of the financial-economic situation and auto- sufficiency jointly.

This study aims to explore power asymmetry in the organisation of teacher-student interaction by looking at turn-taking systems and the restriction of participants. This is achieved by combining the frameworks institutional discourse, conversation analysis (CA) and critical discourse analysis (CDA) and by looking at sequences of teacher-student interactions at seminars. The study encompasses analyses of classroom discourse at university level and uses data culled from the Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English, MICASE. These data are analysed in relation to turn-taking systems and power asymmetry (i) to explore how teachers organise their classroom talk in terms of the allocation of turns, sanctions and control over the discourse and (ii) to determine to what extent teacher-student interactions show signs of power asymmetry. The results show that the teachers control the classroom discourse in a number of ways. Firstly, the analysis shows that the participatory roles of “teacher” and “student” have different claims to power and that these roles are more or less restricted by the design of the turn-taking system in place. Secondly, the teachers are found to organise the discourse in turn-taking systems that have implicit rules. Thirdly, the teachers not only have greater participation rights, but also greater control over the students’ participation rights, as witnessed by the fact that the students get disciplined if they break the rules of the system.

Orientador: Andréa Rossi Scalco / Resumo: No passado a qualidade era percebida como atendimento a padrões, hoje quando falamos de qualidade, remetemos ao atendimento a vários atributos, muitas vezes subjetivos ao produto ou serviço. A produção de alimentos na atualidade é dominada por um sistema de produção que vem passando por uma série de questionamentos da sociedade pela perda de valores nutricionais, pelos problemas ambientais causados, pelos impactos econômicos para o pequeno produtor e pela falta de identificação clara de quem produz. Assim, a qualidade do alimento que até então tinha como sinônimo o atendimento a padrões, vem tomando um outro significado, atrelada a valores sociais, ambientais e de localização. Sendo assim, esse trabalho identificou e analisou os atributos de qualidade valorizados por consumidores que adquirem produtos em cadeias curtas de proximidade espacial, sendo o estudo direcionado a dois canais de comercialização específico, Lojas de Produtos Locais e Comunidades que Sustentam a Agricultura (CSA). Foi utilizado como suporte teórico, no que compete as motivações na aquisição de produtos agroalimentares em cadeias curtas, a teoria das convenções, especificamente as convenções da qualidade, uma vez que ela norteia a forma como o indivíduo toma decisão de compra nesses canais específicos. A coleta de dados foi realizada em lojas de produtos locais de São Paulo/SP e Botucatu/SP, além de CSA’s em diversas regiões do país, utilizando como metodologia uma abordagem quali-quanti. Na fase quantit... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In the past quality was perceived as meeting standards, today when we speak of quality, we refer to the attendance of several attributes, often subjective to the products or services. Currently, food production is dominated by a production system that has undergone a series of societal questions about loss of nutritional values, environmental problems caused, economic impacts on smallholder, and lack of clear identification of who produces it. Thus, the quality of food, which until then had as synonymous the service to standards, has taken on another meaning linked to social, environmental and location values. In this way, this work identified and analyzed the quality attributes valued by consumers who buy products in short chains of spatial proximity, the study was directed to two specific marketing channels, Local Products Stores and Communities that Support Agriculture (CSA). The theory of conventions, specifically the conventions of quality, was used as a theoretical support, as it relates to motivations in acquisition of agri-food products in short chains, since it guides the way in which the individual makes purchasing decision in these specific channels. Data collection was carried out at local products stores in São Paulo / SP and Botucatu / SP, as well as CSAs in several regions of the country, using a qualitative-quantitative approach as methodology. In quantitative phase, the use of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were neces... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

A virada linguística da filosofia contemporânea implicou a recaracterização de problemas epistemológicos em termos da natureza e estrutura da linguagem (lógica), assim como em termos de interpretações das práticas linguísticas concretas (pragmática). Nesta última forma, a concepção da linguagem como instrumento de interação social, somada à constatação do caráter contextual das situações de interação, conduz em alguns casos a um tratamento das diferentes linguagens como jogos fechados em si mesmos, dotados de regras próprias e, nos casos extremos, incomensuráveis. É por esse caminho que Richard Rorty conduz a sua versão da virada linguística. Para Rorty, os desenvolvimentos da filosofia analítica em especial, a forma como W. O. Quine, W. Sellars e D. Davidson carregam o bastão que julgam receber das Investigações filosóficas de L. Wittgenstein apontam para uma concepção holística (contextual) da linguagem e, consequentemente, da racionalidade. Essa maneira de entender a linguagem tem, naturalmente, implicações para o tratamento de outras questões filosóficas morais, políticas e para a caracterização da própria atividade filosófica. Este trabalho procura reconstruir e indicar deficiências das elaborações de Rorty em relação a tais questões. / The linguistic turn in contemporary philosophy entailed the restatement of epistemological problems in terms of the nature and structure of language (logic), and in terms of interpretations of linguistic practices (pragmatics). In the latter form, the conception of language as an instrument of social interaction, together with the contextual understanding of interaction situations, leads in some cases to the treatment of different languages as closed games endowed with their own rules and, in extreme cases, incommensurable. This is the path down which Richard Rorty takes his own version of the linguistic turn. For Rorty, the developments of analytical philosophy most importantly, the way W. O. Quine, W. Sellars and D. Davidson follow the lead of Wittgensteins Philosophical Investigations point to a holistic (contextual) understanding of language and, as a consequence, of rationality. This way of understanding language is related to Rortys treatment of other philosophical issues (moral and political) and to his characterization of Philosophy itself. This dissertation aims at reconstructing (and pointing to shortcomings of) Rortys understanding of these issues.

A presente dissertação investiga a adequação do método da Corrente Crítica para a programação dos projetos de parada de plataformas marítimas de exploração de petróleo, que envolvem processos de tomada de decisões em condições de risco. O método da Corrente Crítica (Critical Chain Project Management - CCPM), baseado na Teoria das Restrições (TOC), se propõe a oferecer instrumentos de controle mais precisos e focados que os tradicionalmente utilizados no método do Caminho Crítico (Critical Path Method - CPM), indicando em que momento agir, onde e como deve ser direcionada a ação. A hipótese subjacente à pesquisa é a de que a Corrente Crítica (CCPM) traduz, de forma mais adequada que o Caminho Crítico (CPM), a incerteza existente na parada de plataforma, permitindo a elaboração de um cronograma a um só tempo mais realista e mais desafiador, no sentido de atender metas de menor interrupção na produção. Com base nessa hipótese, as duas principais perguntas que nortearam toda a investigação foram: 1. O método da Corrente Crítica é adequado à programação da parada de plataformas marítimas de exploração de petróleo? 2. Que vantagens poderia trazer em comparação aos métodos tradicionais de programação de projetos em uso nas paradas de plataformas? Para responder a tais perguntas, além de revisar a bibliografia existente sobre o assunto, optou-se por coletar depoimentos de diversos especialistas do setor, por meio de três abordagens qualitativas: pesquisa-ação, entrevistas semi-estruturadas e grupo focal. A análise e interpretação dos dados revelaram que, devido aos seus instrumentos de controle de restrição de recursos serem mais afinados, o Método da Corrente Crítica (CCPM) é mais adequado ao problema da parada de plataformas marítimas - caracterizado pelo ambiente de alta limitação de recursos e por grande paralelismo de atividades. O presente estudo leva a concluir que a implantação do novo método, por oferecer aos gestores ferramentas mais precisas de controle, resulta em melhores chances de cumprimento do prazo dos projetos. / The present study discusses the adequacy of the Critical Chain Project Management Method (CCPM) - also known as the Critical Chain Method - for scheduling projects involving shutdowns on oil platforms, as such projects involve decision-making processes under risk conditions. The CCPM is based on the Theory of Constraints and aims at providing more precise and more clearly focused control instruments than those traditionally used in the Critical Path Method (CPM). The CCPM also indicates the best moments to act and where and how the action should be directed. The hypothesis underlying the research is that the CCPM portrays, more adequately than the CPM, the uncertainty that exists in a platform shutdown. This characteristic also makes it possible to draw up a schedule that is both more realistic and more challenging, as it addresses the goal of causing less interruption of production. On the basis of this hypothesis, the two main questions that oriented the entire investigation were: 1) Is the CCPM suitable for scheduling the shutdown of an offshore oil platform and, 2) What advantages might it have over the traditional scheduling methods in use on platform shutdown? To answer these questions the authors reviewed the existing bibliography on the topic and made direct on-site observations during an actual shutdown. In addition, interviews were held with a number of specialists in the area using qualitative approaches, namely, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and action research. The Data analysis revealed that the instruments used in the CCPM for controlling the constraints of resources are more refined, so the method has been proven to be more adequate than others for facing problems that come up in offshore platform shutdowns, which are characterized by strict constraints on resources and considerable parallelism of activities. The results have led to the conclusion that the implementation of the CCPM provides managers with more precise tools for control than the CPM, and may thus increase the chances for complying with the timeframes set down for projects.

The No-U-Turn Sampler (NUTS) is a relatively new Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm that avoids the random walk behavior that common MCMC algorithms such as Gibbs sampling or Metropolis Hastings usually exhibit. Given the fact that NUTS can efficiently explore the entire space of the target distribution, the sampler converges to high-dimensional target distributions more quickly than other MCMC algorithms and is hence less computational expensive. The focus of this study is on applying NUTS to one of the complex IRT models, specifically the two-parameter mixture IRT (Mix2PL) model, and further to examine its performance in estimating model parameters when sample size, test length, and number of latent classes are manipulated. The results indicate that overall, NUTS performs well in recovering model parameters. However, the recovery of the class membership of individual persons is not satisfactory for the three-class conditions. Also, the results indicate that WAIC performs better than LOO in recovering the number of latent classes, in terms of the proportion of the time the correct model was selected as the best fitting model. However, when the effective number of parameters was also considered in selecting the best fitting model, both fully Bayesian fit indices perform equally well. In addition, the results suggest that when multiple latent classes exist, using either fully Bayesian fit indices (WAIC or LOO) would not select the conventional IRT model. On the other hand, when all examinees came from a single unified population, fitting MixIRT models using NUTS causes problems in convergence.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T17:27:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Lucas Alessandro Duarte Amaral.pdf: 773996 bytes, checksum: 353d3896a32504e9a11774de4e66ea7b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-10-18 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The present work aims to investigate the space theme in two years of Kant s thought, namely, 1768 and 1769. Undoubtedly, this brief period collaborated decisively to the mature doctrine of the philosopher concerning the subject, as we intend to show in this dissertation. Thus, in order to fulfil such task, it was made a division in three stages. In a first moment, it will be exposed the context in which this theme is inserted, which aims to address some of the aspects of Leibniz s and Newton s positions around the theme, as well the influence of both in a few earliest writings of the philosopher of Königsberg. Then, in the chapter 2, it will be exposed the opuscule of 1768, a famous writing in which Kant breaks definitively with a notion that was defended by himself in his youth: the notion of relative space, passing to accept the Newtonian thesis of absolute space. Finally, in the chapter 3, from a brief but well known Reflection of the philosopher, it will be exposed a new and determinant theory concerning the space. This one, different from that first (i.e., of the young Kant), as well from that other one founded in the opuscule of 1768, therefore, showing this time a doctrine bit more close of what Kant asserts about the space, for instance, in the Transcendental Aesthetics of the Critique of Pure Reason / O presente trabalho tem por objetivo investigar o tema do espaço em dois anos na carreira acadêmica de Kant, a saber, 1768 e 1769. Incontestavelmente, esse breve período colaborou de modo decisivo à doutrina madura do filósofo com respeito ao tema em questão, conforme pretendemos mostrar nesta dissertação. Desse modo, a fim de realizar tal tarefa, foi feita a divisão em três etapas. Num primeiro momento, será exposto o contexto no qual esse assunto encontra-se inserido, pretendendo-se tratar de certos aspectos das posições de Leibniz e Newton em torno à temática, bem como da influência de ambos em alguns dos primeiros escritos do filósofo de Königsberg. Em seguida, no capítulo 2, será exposto o opúsculo de 1768, um conhecido escrito de Kant em que ele rompe definitivamente com uma noção de espaço defendida em sua juventude: a noção de espaço relativo, passando a aceitar a tese newtoniana de espaço absoluto. Finalmente, no capítulo 3, a partir de uma breve, porém célebre Reflexão do filósofo, será exposta a descoberta de uma nova e determinante teoria acerca do espaço. Esta, diferente tanto daquela primeira (i.e., a do jovem Kant) quanto da outra encontrada no opúsculo de 1768, mostrando-se, pois, desta vez uma doutrina mais próxima ao que diz Kant sobre o espaço, por exemplo, na Estética Transcendental da Crítica da Razão Pura

This thesis investigates the influence of attitude on the life of an individual and the role that it can play inside and outside today’s organizations. The purpose of the thesis is to gain insight on the subject of attitude and its significance both in the life of today’s employee and on the management and leadership of today’s organizations. I will endeavor to investigate the importance of cultivating a positive attitude and the consequences of yielding to a negative attitude. I will also discuss why attitude not only can influence the firm’s progress but also the external image and advancement of the organization as well.With the abduction and narrative approaches, I will endeavor to explain the importance of maintaining a positive attitude and ways of understanding individuals’ attitudes and their influence on their overall performance. I will also attempt to address how employees in a given organization can deal with a customer who has a sour attitude. Moreover, I’ll address some of the possible causes of negative attitudes. The theoretical research will help expound on the subject matter. Through empirical research, I’ll attempt to address the fact that despite an employee’s skills and competence, positive attitude can be an added advantage.With an understanding based of my personal life experience, I’ll explain how I struggled with negative attitudes especially during my early years in Sweden and how I eventually made an attitude adjustment. My personal experience at the Sheraton will be used as a case study on the subject of attitude. Furthermore, I’ll examine some other life experiences such as the lessons I learned from my father on the subject. Besides, I’ll discuss the challenge of attitude on leadership as well. Finally, I will conclude with a discussion on the fact that attitude needs to be addressed in a good-enough approach thereby circumventing the trap of making attitude appear to be the principle aspect as this may lead to absolutism. / Uppsatsnivå: D

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / Este trabalho tem como propÃsito explicitar a continuidade do pensamento de Heidegger a respeito da relaÃÃo entre o Dasein e a linguagem, especificamente a partir da abordagem de trÃs textos: Ser e tempo (1927); Sobre o humanismo (1946) e O caminho para a linguagem (1959). O objetivo principal à examinar esta relaÃÃo antes e depois do que foi considerado uma âviradaâ (Kehre) na filosofia de Heidegger, destacando uma nova concepÃÃo de linguagem e ser humano que resulta desse movimento. Parte-se de uma abordagem hermenÃutica de Heidegger e de uma ampliaÃÃo do contexto da analÃtica existencial nÃo no sentido de uma âantropologia filosÃficaâ, em que se poderia firmar a essÃncia do homem, de seu pensar e agir, mas no sentido de uma âfilosofia antropolÃgicaâ, se assim for possÃvel propor, que pressupÃe a contingÃncia e a faticidade. A centralidade da reviravolta lingÃÃstica na filosofia contemporÃnea, como uma forma de radicalizaÃÃo da relaÃÃo de âpertenÃaâ entre linguagem e âhumanoâ, à atrelada a este contexto em funÃÃo de sua importÃncia no pensamento filosÃfico que pÃe em xeque o pensar metafÃsico. Neste movimento, busca-se saber atà que ponto o pensamento de Heidegger efetivamente se transforma, ou simplesmente se desdobra a partir de pressupostos que jà estavam dados desde Ser e tempo. Por um lado, o abandono da analÃtica existencial do Dasein como âmediaÃÃoâ em favor de uma ampliaÃÃo do sentido da linguagem do ser distancia Heidegger da âantropologiaâ, por outro, se consideramos a centralidade da poesia no pensamento da âhistÃria do serâ e da âverdade do serâ, vemos que o Dasein permanece uma referÃncia central reconfigurada, e que nos remete a uma nova possibilidade de âantropologiaâ. Opondo-se à determinaÃÃo lÃgica do conhecimento em favor do aspecto hermenÃutico da compreensÃo, o pensamento de Heidegger aponta a âlogiaâ como determinante para que o anthropos tenha se tornado a referÃncia central da filosofia. Abandonando-se a âlogiaâ do logos enquanto lÃgica, e este parece ser o caminho de Heidegger desde o inÃcio, remanesce a centralidade do Dasein como abertura ao ser e como pÃlo da diferenÃa ontolÃgica; vigora o homem no lugar do sujeito do conhecimento; permanece o logos enquanto linguagem. / This work intends to explain the continuity of Heideggerâs thought on the relation between Dasein and language, specifically through the approach of three texts: Sein und Zeit (1927), Ãber humanismus (1946) and Der Weg zur Sprache (1959). The main objective is approaching this relation before and after the so called turn (Kehre) in Heideggerâs philosophy, emphasizing a new conception of language and human being which results of this movement. Our starting point is an hermeneutical approach of Heidegger and an enlargement of the existential analyses not towards a âphilosophic anthropologyâ, in which we could set up the essence of the human being, of his thinking and acting, but in the sense of an âanthropological philosophyâ, if it is possible, which presupposes contingency and facticity. The preponderance of the linguistic turn in the contemporary philosophy, as a way of increasing the âbelongingâ relation between language and the dimension of âhumanâ, is linked to this context, according to its importance in the philosophical thought that keeps in check the metaphysical thinking. This approach aims to know how far Heideggerâs thought effectively moves towards a transformation or barely unrolls itself starting to presumptions which were already in Being and time. On one hand, when Heidegger leaves the existential analyses of the Dasein as âmediationâ on behalf of an ampliation of the sense on seinâs language, he stays apart from the anthropology. On the other hand, if we consider the preponderance of poetry in the thinking of the âhistory of beingâ and âtruth of beingâ, we see that Dasein remains as an important reference in other terms, which send us to a possibility of a new anthropology. Criticizing the logical determination of knowledge in the name of hermeneutical feature of comprehension, Heideggerâs thought indicates that âlogyâ has determine the anthropos to become the central reference of philosophy. Abandoning the âlogyâ of logos, and this seems to be Heideggerâs orientation since his beginning, the preponderance of the Dasein stays as openness of being and as pole of the ontological difference; the man is in verve instead of the epistemic subject; the logos remains as language.