University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Economics

Véritable icône mondiale des loisirs, Las Vegas est souvent associée au strass et aux paillettes du Strip, grand boulevard le long duquel se concentrent les casinos et les attractions touristiques. La ville est généralement associée à une licence festive et aux extravagances architecturales, et pourtant près de deux millions d’habitants vivent et travaillent dans cette capitale économique du Nevada.Dans une démarche alliant géographie urbaine et géographie culturelle, cette thèse propose d’étudier l’urbanité et la citadinité végasiennes afin de déconstruire l’image monobloc de la Las Vegas touristique. L’étude identifie l’existence d’imaginaires touristiques qui façonnent les représentations de Las Vegas dans l’opinion commune américaine et qui sont un des facteurs explicatifs des jugements de valeur et des analyses partisanes qui dominent les écrits universitaires qui lui sont consacrés. Ce travail de décryptage des discours produits sur Las Vegas constitue la première étape d’un examen dépassionné de l’urbanité et de la citadinité végasiennes. La recherche met en évidence une tension fondamentale entre la banalité urbaine et l’exceptionnalité qui résulte de la pratique légale des jeux d’argent et de la spécialisation touristique. En s’appuyant sur une articulation entre des données quantitatives et des entretiens qualitatifs auprès des habitants, cette thèse identifie une citadinité de la déficience, caractérisée par la faiblesse des relations de voisinage et du sentiment de communauté. Cette vision synchronique est complétée par une vision diachronique qui interroge les processus de transformation de la citadinité. La notion d’appropriation est plus particulièrement mobilisée, à travers les dynamiques de patrimonialisation et de transformation urbaine du centre-ville, afin d’identifier les pistes utilisées localement pour (re)construire Las Vegas. / As a world-renowned and iconic entertainment center, Las Vegas conjures up images of glitz, glitter and the Strip, the long boulevard featuring all the large hotel-casinos and entertainment options. Las Vegas is usually considered to be a free-wheeling, anything-goes kind of place and an architectural extravaganza. And yet, almost two-million people live and work in the economic capital of Nevada.Combining the approaches of urban and cultural geographies, this dissertation aims to study the “urbanité” and “citadinité” of Las Vegas in order to deconstruct the uniform image of the touristy Las Vegas. This study identifies the existence of tourism imaginaries shaping the Las Vegas perceptions in the American public opinion and explaining the value judgments and partisan analyses that dominate the academic literature dealing with the city. The decoding of the discourses produced on Las Vegas forms the first step of a neutralized study of the Las Vegas’s “urbanité” and “citadinité”. The research reveals a fundamental tension between urban banality and the originality of the specialization in tourism around gaming. This dialectic represents the main interpretation key to understand Las Vegas’s “urbanité” and “citadinité”. Going back and forth between quantitative data and qualitative interviews, this dissertation identifies what is called a “citadinité of defiency”, defined by the weakness of neighborhood interactions and sense of community. This synchronic vision is complemented by a diachronic one that questions the “citadinité” transformation processes. The notion of appropriation is particularly brought to bear through the dynamics of heritage and the transformations of downtown Las Vegas, so as to highlight the means used locally to (re)construct Las Vegas.

For research purposes Saab has developed a generic mathematical model denoted VEGAS of an aircraft with a configuration similar to JAS 39 Gripen. Today parts of Gripen backup control system are used also for VEGAS making the system subject to both corporate and defense secrecy. The main objective of this master thesis is to design, verify and implement public pitch axis flight control system for VEGAS. Furthermore, simplifications regarding the design process is to be examined. Design of pitch axis flight control system for the entire flight envelope has been carried out. Linearization of the dynamic model and programming design environment are used as development tools. The control system has been tested and verified in real-time simulator. Linear quadratic optimization (LQ) and gain-scheduling are often used when designing aircraft control system. This method tends to require extensive design effort. This thesis suggests an alternative method combining LQ and scaling of parameters.

<p>For research purposes Saab has developed a generic mathematical model denoted VEGAS of an aircraft with a configuration similar to JAS 39 Gripen. Today parts of Gripen backup control system are used also for VEGAS making the system subject to both corporate and defense secrecy. </p><p>The main objective of this master thesis is to design, verify and implement public pitch axis flight control system for VEGAS. Furthermore, simplifications regarding the design process is to be examined. </p><p>Design of pitch axis flight control system for the entire flight envelope has been carried out. Linearization of the dynamic model and programming design environment are used as development tools. The control system has been tested and verified in real-time simulator. </p><p>Linear quadratic optimization (LQ) and gain-scheduling are often used when designing aircraft control system. This method tends to require extensive design effort. This thesis suggests an alternative method combining LQ and scaling of parameters.</p>

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies, 2008. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-199).

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies, 2008. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-199).

This study investigated the impact of changing climate and growing population on water supply and demand in one of the most rapidly growing cities in the semi-arid regions of western US, Las Vegas Valley (LVV), Nevada. Future scenarios of supply and demand using climate and hydrological models of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3 (CMIP3) and a more recent CMIP5 have been evaluated and a comparison of their results has been made. A system dynamics model for LVV was developed with a period of study from 1989 to 2049. For the study area, climate and hydrological data projections for the future period (2013-2049) were obtained from the outputs of 16 Global Climate Models (GCMs) of CMIP3 model ensemble with 3 emission scenarios and that from 37 GCMs of CMIP5 model ensemble with 4 Representative concentration pathways. Population growth forecast by Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) and prevalent conservation practices by Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) were used for the model. The water availability scenario in the future for LVV in the form of Lake Mead elevation was assessed and the water demand was also predicted. This study found that mean lake elevation for the future period (2013-2049) can go as low as 21.8% lesser than that for the historical period (1989-2012). 59 of 97 projections of CMIP5 models against 27 of 48 projections of CMIP3 models indicated that the future mean lake elevation would be lower than the historical mean. Demand forecasts showed Southern Nevada Water Authority conservation goal for 2035 could be met under prevalent conservation practices. This study can be very useful for the water managers and planners to predict the future water budget, plan accordingly, and make decisions to achieve water sustainability. This study has been performed as a part of the Thriving Earth Exchange (TEX) program to assess the current vulnerability of LVV to drought, and the impact on supply and demand of water resources for the future climate scenarios.

abstract: This study uses the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to simulate and predict the changes in local climate attributed to the urbanization for five desert cities. The simulations are performed in the fashion of climate downscaling, constrained by the surface boundary conditions generated from high resolution land-use maps. For each city, the land-use maps of 1985 and 2010 from Landsat satellite observation, and a projected land-use map for 2030, are used to represent the past, present, and future. An additional set of simulations for Las Vegas, the largest of the five cities, uses the NLCD 1992 and 2006 land-use maps and an idealized historical land-use map with no urban coverage for 1900. The study finds that urbanization in Las Vegas produces a classic urban heat island (UHI) at night but a minor cooling during the day. A further analysis of the surface energy balance shows that the decrease in surface Albedo and increase effective emissivity play an important role in shaping the local climate change over urban areas. The emerging urban structures slow down the diurnal wind circulation over the city due to an increased effective surface roughness. This leads to a secondary modification of temperature due to the interaction between the mechanical and thermodynamic effects of urbanization. The simulations for the five desert cities for 1985 and 2010 further confirm a common pattern of the climatic effect of urbanization with significant nighttime warming and moderate daytime cooling. This effect is confined to the urban area and is not sensitive to the size of the city or the detail of land cover in the surrounding areas. The pattern of nighttime warming and daytime cooling remains robust in the simulations for the future climate of the five cities using the projected 2030 land-use maps. Inter-city differences among the five urban areas are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Aerospace Engineering 2015

Made available in DSpace on 2013-08-07T19:07:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 000430611-Texto+Completo-0.pdf: 946857 bytes, checksum: c668ce12dea709e9c43054357c1770d0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / The present dissertation refers to the study of the families constituted by women that identify themselves as lesbians and have children. Through three articles the objective of knowing how these women are experiencing motherhood in lesbian conjugal relations can be discussed and better understood. The first article introduces the theme related to the families and their diversity, with emphasis in the homomaternal families; the second article relates the language to the studies of gender and the legal issues of paternity and maternity associated to sexual orientation and the third article presents narratives of lesbian mothers about their homomaternal families. Through the feminist perspectives of gender, it is possible to interlace and trace dialogues between the studied themes and the theories which refer to them. Taking into consideration that the feminist studies of gender used in this study seek an equal relation between men and women, where the female is not oppressed or subjugated by the male and heterosexuality is not seen as a norm, the reflections that follow pervade these issues and invite other sciences to also dialogue. We understand that it is necessary to have the knowledge and comprehension of the diversity of the existing families, in this case of the homomaternal families, so that they can have their citizenship respected in all aspects, contributing with the existence of a fairer society with more solidarity. / A presente dissertação refere-se ao estudo das famílias constituídas por mulheres que se identificam como lésbicas e possuem filhos e/ou filhas. Através de três artigos, o objetivo de conhecer como essas mulheres estão vivenciando a maternidade nas relações de conjugalidade lésbica pode ser discutido e melhor compreendido. O primeiro artigo introduz o tema relacionado às famílias e à sua diversidade, com ênfase nas famílias homomaternais; o segundo artigo relaciona a linguagem com os estudos de gênero e as questões legais da paternidade e maternidade associadas à orientação sexual e o terceiro artigo apresenta as narrativas das mães lésbicas sobre suas famílias homomaternais. Através de perspectivas feministas de gênero, é possível fazer entrelaçamentos e traçar diálogos entre as temáticas estudadas e as teorias que referem-se à elas. Levando em consideração que os estudos feministas de gênero utilizados neste estudo buscam uma relação igualitária entre homens e mulheres, onde o feminino não seja mais oprimido e subjugado pelo masculino e a heterossexualidade não seja tida como norma, as reflexões que seguem perpassam esses assuntos e convidam outras ciências a dialogarem também. Entendemos que é preciso haver o conhecimento e compreensão da diversidade das famílias existentes, neste caso, das famílias homomaternais, para que possam ter a sua cidadania respeitada em todos os seus aspectos, contribuindo para a existência de uma sociedade mais justa e solidária.

Made available in DSpace on 2013-08-07T19:08:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 000411106-Texto+Completo-0.pdf: 680962 bytes, checksum: cad052506989066e76c9f56e4fade2bc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / This dissertation presents two articles, according to the norms of the Graduated Program of Psychology of PUCRS, both addressing issues about female homosexuality or lesbianism articulated with gender issues. The first theoretical article problematizes the historic construction of femininity, with the purpose of understanding the construction of subjectivity in women who identify themselves as lesbians. The analyses made, using feminist and post-structuralist theory, point to a need for constructing a new history of women, allowing us to envision the lesbian experience as one possibility among many female experiences. The second empirical article sought to learn about the process of recognizing oneself as a lesbian and how this sexual orientation is experienced, also seeking to learn about their perceptions regarding the visibility or invisibility of their sexual orientation in family and in society. / Esta dissertação apresenta dois artigos, conforme as normas estabelecidas pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia da PUCRS, abordando as questões da homossexualidade feminina ou lesbianidade, articuladas com as questões de gênero. O primeiro artigo teórico problematiza a construção histórica da feminilidade, com o objetivo de compreender a construção da subjetividade de mulheres que se identificam como lésbicas. As reflexões realizadas, a partir da teoria feminista e pós-estruturalista, apontam para a necessidade de se construir uma nova história das mulheres, permitindo visualizar a experiência de lésbicas como uma possibilidade entre as experiências femininas. O segundo artigo empírico buscou conhecer o processo de reconhecer-se lésbica e a vivência dessa orientação sexual, bem como conhecer suas percepções frente à visibilidade ou invisibilidade de sua orientação sexual na família e na sociedade.