A complexidade é um tema da maior relevância nos estudos contemporâneos. Inúmeros autores dedicados a estudar as estruturas de organização social, os modos de vida e os sistemas de valor nas sociedades hipermodernas destacam sua condição extremamente heterogênea e mutável. No campo da arquitetura, contextos de complexidade vêm impondo limites severos às abordagens projetuais deterministas, centralizadoras e hierárquicas, demandando dos arquitetos uma revisão profunda nos seus métodos de pensamento e ação. Problemas complexos se caracterizam pela imprevisibilidade de seus elementos causais, pela sua metamorfose diante do esforço em resolvê-los e pela ausência de soluções de referência válidas e diretamente aplicáveis. Eles demandam dos arquitetos habilidades cognitivas e operativas diferenciadas, que potencializem: a emergência criativa, a adaptação constante, a integração com outras inteligências coletivas e um vínculo direto com a ação transformadora. Pode-se afirmar que a identidade da inteligência projetual contemporânea vem sendo redefinida por novas aberturas em seus processos criativos que buscam meios para associar termos como a indeterminação, a inovação e a interatividade. Esta tese considera que um dos caminhos para essa associação pode ser encontrado nos processos de improvisação. A improvisação, analisada a partir do campo da arte, configura um modo de pensar e agir com grande potencial de articulação coletiva e um vínculo direto com a ação criativa em tempo real. Trata-se de um processo de caráter essencialmente experimental, capaz de despertar inúmeras sensibilidades criativas fundamentais para o enfrentamento da complexa realidade dos problemas de projeto. Além de oferecer um rico repertório de estratégias cognitivas para a articulação e o desenvolvimento de ideias, o conceito de improvisação permite traçar um olhar integrado sobre um conjunto emergente de práticas projetuais contemporâneas que, apoiadas nos princípios do código livre, vêm definindo um campo de ação projetual ainda pouco explorado e analisado, que compreende, por exemplo, o Open Design, os Makerspaces, FabLabs, Hackerspaces e as redes de arquitetura coletivas. Na base destes movimentos encontra-se todo um envolvimento com as linguagens eletrônicas, diversas modalidades de computação e uma infraestrutura sistêmica de redes digitais que, hoje, podem ser consideradas os motores da experimentação e da improvisação criativa. Esta pesquisa apresenta, dentre seus objetivos principais: uma leitura crítica e epistemológica das relações entre improvisação e arquitetura, uma proposta de reflexão dos atributos da improvisação frente ao processo de projeto, em suas dimensões operativas e cognitivas, e uma discussão dos resultados práticos das jamsessions criativas, eventos concebidos como laboratórios de reflexão-em-ação. Busca-se, desse modo, contribuir não apenas para uma revisão da noção de improvisação na arquitetura, mas também para uma revisão da própria episteme projetual em tempos complexos. / Complexity is a subject of major relevance in contemporary studies. Hypermodern societies have extremely heterogeneous and changeable social structures, lifestyles and values systems. According several authors, the complexity of current environments have been shaping rigorous limits to deterministic, centralized and hierarchical design approaches. Its dynamic condition demands a revision process in contemporary design methods of thinking and action. Complex problems can be recognized through unpredictable causal factors, metamorphic variability over time and lack of immediate valid and applicable design solutions. These sort of problems request the architect distinctive operational and cognitive skill, such creative emergence, continued adaptation, integration with collective intelligence and direct link with transformative real time actions. The identity of contemporary practice is changing and being redefined by a growing openness in its creative processes. Indetermination, innovation and interaction are terms that must be reflected in connection. In this research we consider improvisation as an alternative to associate these term and suggest possible implications in contemporary design process. Improvisation is a reflection-in-action tactic with great potential for collective thinking and real-time creative experience. It is essentially experimental and engender important creative sensibilities oriented to complex situations. The conceptual analysis of improvisation enables the construction of a congruent systemic view dedicated to emerging practices. Examples such Open Design movement, Maker Spaces, Fab Labs, Hacker Spaces and Collective Architecture Network have a common operational structure governed by open source principles and applied in the real world. They have been involved with very experimental processes of digital technology innovation which embraces improvised reflection-in-action. New computing techniques, electronic language and digital networks are reshaping design process and creating new values and new attributes to architecture. The intentions of this research are to offer a connected reading between improvisation and contemporary design processes, to present a operative and cognitive approach of idiomatic improvisation, to expose the potential of these attributes in the context of architecture practice, and present practical results from a series of design jamsessions based on the articulation of improvisation techniques and physical computing. These reflections are expected to provide elements for a necessary review in the relation of improvisation and architecture thinking, and also contribute to rethink the epistemic direction of architecture in complex times.

Este trabalho liga os conceitos da Teoria da Complexidade (TC) à Contabilidade por meio da utilização da aprendizagem baseada em problemas (ABP) no âmbito do ensino e nasce da necessidade de reforçar a aquisição de autonomia, habilidade de solução de problemas e o aprendizado. A TC ampara a forma de pensar em diversas áreas, sendo uma vasta tendência anti-reducionista presente em vários setores da ciência que ressalta os aspectos de descontinuidade, contradição, não-linearidade, multiplicidade e aleatoriedade, não reduzindo propriedades emergentes. Por sua vez a ABP é vista como a interação dinâmica entre os agentes que leva a emergência de novas características auto-organizadoras, a novos entendimentos acerca dos problemas em que soluções são construídas coletivamente e essa metodologia aplicada à Contabilidade implica em não isolá-la em partes incomunicáveis. O problema proposto questiona se a ABP provê maiores ganhos de autonomia, aprendizagem e habilidade de solução de problema aos estudantes de Contabilidade. O estudo possui um enfoque exploratório ao enfatizar a ABP como abordagem complexa na educação, e também, um caráter correlacional ao desenvolver um quase-experimento. Para testar a hipótese de que a utilização da ABP na Contabilidade fornece mais autonomia, aprendizagem e habilidade de solução de problema, um quase-experimento foi desenvolvido em duas etapas, com dois grupos de estudantes de graduação em Contabilidade. Na primeira etapa, foi aplicada ao grupo experimental a metodologia de ABP, já no grupo de controle, a metodologia tradicional expositiva. Na segunda etapa os grupos se invertem, revezando-se nas metodologias de ensino aplicadas. Questionários e depoimentos escritos pelos alunos captam a percepção discente, e a solução de caso de ensino e testes de conhecimento de Contabilidade foram utilizados para ratificar as percepções. Os resultados mostram que os alunos expostos a ABP percebem maior ganho de autonomia, de aprendizagem e de habilidade de solução de problema, comparados aos alunos expostos ao ensino tradicional. Os resultados dos pós-teste e testes de avaliação de conhecimento ratificam o melhor desempenho dos estudantes expostos a ABP. Apesar de se mostrar uma metodologia superior nas análises aqui levantadas, a ABP não parece ser substituta de metodologias tradicionais, mas sim, um poderoso complemento. / This piece of work performs a connection between the concepts of the Complexity Theory and Problem Based Learning (PBL), and then, analyzes its application to accounting teaching. It origins from the necessity to add theories to the accounting teaching that reinforce the acquisition of autonomy, problem solving ability and learning. At first instant, Complexity Theory emerges to support different forms of thinking among several areas of knowledge. It refers to a vast tendency anti-reductionist which evolved from many fields in scientific research. Complex epistemology takes form as it puts focus on the aspects of discontinuity, contradiction, non-linearity, multiplicity and randomness instead of reduce its emergence. PBL is the dynamic interaction among agents that lead it to the emergence of new selforganizing features, new understandings on problems to which solutions are collectively built. See Accounting under ideas of Complexity implies not to isolate this science in incommunicable parts, contrarily, it implies to contextualize the Accounting studies in its many functions on the research of organizations assets and its role on society as general. In Accounting, the divided view of reality brings the need of new paradigms to translate the assets performance and entities results, paradigms that support new ways of thinking and are able to be spread by people that act in these contexts. To test the hypotheses that in the student perceptions, a Complex approach to reality in Accounting education provides more autonomy, problem solving ability and learning, compared to a traditional approach, a quasiexperiment is performed in two steps with the participation of students divided in two groups. Firstly, to the experimental group it is applied the PBL methodology and to the control group, traditional methodology is developed, both exposed to a Cost Accounting course. At second step, groups are inverted and alternate in the teaching methods. Questionnaires, statements written by students and case studies solutions are utilized as pre and pos-tests providing data that feed analyzes on this research. To sum it up, this study has an exploratory feature when emphasize PBL as a Complex approach in education, and as well, this study has a correlacional feature when performs a quasi-experiment. The results show us that students participating in PBL Cost Accounting courses perceive more acquisitions of autonomy, knowledge and problem solving ability compared to students that participated in traditional courses. Results in Cost Accounting knowledge evaluation via pos-test and questionnaires, used as students perceptions confirmation tools, reaffirm the better performance of students exposed to PBL courses. Such methodology, despite the fact of being superior in the hypotheses tested in the research, it does not seem to be the traditional methodologies substitute; however, it fits more as a complement to existing tools, since in many learning profile there are students who take advantage from PBL potential and see it as valid option, but in some cases, there are people who do not present affinity with this methodology, according to students statements and performance.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur begreppet mångfald i relation till värdegrundsarbetet tolkas och praktiseras i olika förskoleverksamheter. Målgruppen har varit verksamma förskollärare inom samma kommun utan några krav på erfarenhet eller ålder. Undersökningen är tänkt att skapa diskussioner kring värdegrundsarbetet. Undersökningens resultat grundar sig på åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer där förskollärare har beskrivit sin syn på vad mångfald i barngruppen innebär samt hur de arbetar med att synliggöra mångfalden i barngruppen genom värdegrundsarbetet.   Resultatet av vår undersökning visar på att begreppet mångfald i relation till värdegrundsuppdraget är komplext och svårt att definiera. Förskollärarna reflekterar över de effekter som barngruppens mångfald bidrar till, både de positiva men även de utmaningar som kan uppstå med värdegrundsarbetet. En slutsats vi dragit av resultatet är att det krävs medvetenhet och samsyn kring begreppet. För att uppnå detta krävs närvaro, lyhördhet och gemensam reflektion. / The purpose of the study is to examine how the concept of diversity in relation to the values work is interpreted and practiced in different pre-school activities. The target group has been an active preschool teacher in the same municipality without any requirements for experience or age. The survey is intended to create discussions about the values work. The results of the survey are based on eight semi -structured interviews where preschool teachers have described their views on what diversity in the children's group means and how they work to make the diversity of the children's group visible through the values work.   The results of our survey show that the concept of diversity in relation to the work of values is complex and difficult to define. Preschool teachers reflect on the effects of the diversity of children's groups, both positive but also the challenges that may arise from the work of values. One of the conclusions we have drawn from the results are that awareness and consensus are needed on the concept. To achieve this, presence, responsiveness and joint reflection are required.

The gene regulatory network (GRN) controls the expression of genes providing phenotypic traits in living organisms. In particular, transcriptional regulation is essential to life, as it governs all levels of gene products that enable cell survival and numerous cellular functions. However, there is still poor understanding of how shifts in gene regulation alter the underlying evolutionary dynamics and consequently generate evolutionary innovations. By employing Wagner's GRN model, this dissertation investigates how the interplay of simple evolutionary forces (mutation and recombination) with natural selection acting on gene regulatory dynamics can generate major evolutionary innovations. In this dissertation, firstly, I review all currently available research papers using Wagner's GRN model, which is also employed as the computational model used extensively in the remaining chapters. I then describe how Wagner's GRN model and its variants are implemented. Finally, network properties such as stability, robustness and path length in initial populations are investigated. In the first study, I explore the characteristics of compensatory mutation in the context of genetic networks. Specifically, I find that 1) compensatory mutations are relatively insensitive to the size and connectivity of the network, 2) compensatory mutations are more likely to occur in genes at or adjacent to the site of a previous deleterious mutation and 3) compensatory mutations are more likely to be driven by mutations with a relatively large regulatory impact. In the second study, I further investigate the evolutionary consequences of the properties of compensatory mutation discovered previously. Specifically, I find that 1) compensatory mutations can occur regardless of patterns of selection, 2) networks with compensatory mutations exhibit proportionately higher robustness when compensatory mutations interact closely with deleterious mutations or have large effects on gene regulation, and 3) regulatory complexity can arise as a consequence of the propensity for co-localised and large-effect compensatory mutations. In the third study, I provide a mechanistic understanding of how recombination benefits sexual lineages. Specifically, I find that 1) recombination together with selection for developmental stability can drive populations towards the optimum, 2) recombination does not frequently disrupt well-adapted lineages as conventionally expected, and 3) recombination facilitates finding good genetic combinations which are robust to disruption, although it also rapidly purges weaker configurations. In the final study, I show that the selection pressure acting on rewiring gene regulation is critical to increasing benefits for sexual lineages whilst mitigating costs of sex and recombination. Specifically, I find that 1) strong selection strength can greatly benefit low-fitness sexual lineages, especially at the early stage, 2) recombination is initially costly, but it can rapidly evolve to compensate for costs of sex and recombination, and 3) sexual lineages with low levels of sex and recombination can outcompete strictly asexual populations under higher selection pressure and lower mutation rates. The results presented for all of the studies are important for mechanistically understanding evolutionary innovations through altering transcriptional regulatory dynamics. These innovations include 1) facilitating alternative pathway evolution, 2) driving regulatory complexity, 3) benefiting sexual reproduction, and 4) resisting invasion against asexual lineages.

China’s achievement of developing a vigorous market economy is based on Chinese communist party (CCP)’s top-down reform and opening-up policies since 1978. Meanwhile, political reform of the second largest economy in today’s world is continuously delayed. Without an agenda of bringing democracy and regulation-making process into workplaces, China’s state-owned enterprises were swiftly transformed to be profit-oriented economic entities with managerial supremacy. As an authoritarian regime still run by communist party, China has to negotiate with its own socialist tradition, which entails not only restructuring labour relations in workplaces but its national ideology. This study explores Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) politics of labour management in China’s local state sector. With use of multiple qualitative inquiring techniques, the study selects two state-owned corporations located in Shanghai region as cases, and provides an in-depth analysis on Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) politics of managing labour force formulation as well as re-shaping employment relationship within those transitioning SOEs. The study is expected to illuminate the diversity within and across regions and industrial sectors in China. Also, these case studies suggest that CCP adopts pragmatic approaches over labour managing matters so as to ensure its sovereign influence. I will argue that the key to understand SOEs’ management rebuilding is CCP’s governing tradition of co-option and elite selection, which is a prolong legacy that has shaped the party’s personnel managing system since revolutionary era. It is also hoped that the findings of my empirical research will lead to theoretical discussion on China’s path of industrial relations in future: if such dynamic managerialism in the state sector is able to guarantee further delays of workplace political liberalisation of labour relation, or not.

A bound for Betti numbers of sets definable in o-minimal structures is presented. An axiomatic complexity measure is defined, allowing various concrete complexity measures for definable functions to be covered. This includes common concrete measures such as the degree of polynomials, and complexity of Pfaffian functions. A generalisation of the Thom-Milnor Bound [17, 19] for sets defined by the conjunction of equations and non-strict inequalities is presented, in the new context of sets definable in o-minimal structures using the axiomatic complexity measure. Next bounds are produced for sets defined by Boolean combinations of equations and inequalities, through firstly considering sets defined by sign conditions, then using this to produce results for closed sets, and then making use of a construction to approximate any set defined by a Boolean combination of equations and inequalities by a closed set. Lastly, existing results [12] for sets defined using quantifiers on an open or closed set are generalised, using a construction from Gabrielov and Vorobjov [11] to approximate any set by a compact set. This results in a method to find a general bound for any set definable in an o-minimal structure in terms of the axiomatic complexity measure. As a consequence for the first time an upper bound for sub-Pfaffian sets defined by arbitrary formulae with quantifiers is given. This bound is singly exponential if the number of quantifier alternations is fixed.

Internationally, female L2 learners of English are believed to outperform males in all areas including writing. However, in the context of Sweden, the gender gap has been reducing in recent decades. A body of literature focusing on gender differences and syntactic complexity of Swedish high school L2 learners of English using the Uppsala Learner English Corpus (ULEC) has not provided strong evidence to suggest female students outperform male students. Furthermore, the analyses of most of these studies do not take into consideration other important control variables, lack thorough statistical testing and use small datasets. This study uses linear regression analysis to test the hypothesis of whether females outperform males. It uses the ratio of dependent clauses to total clauses (DC/C) as a proxy of syntactic complexity which is estimated using the L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer (L2SCA). A total of 663 essays written by year one and year two senior high school L2 learners taken from the ULEC dataset are used in the analysis. The results clearly reject the hypothesis that females outperform males. An inconclusive yet interesting insight which requires further investigation is some evidence from the results which suggests that males may, in fact, outperform females when programme fixed effects are considered.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T17:20:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 27 / Nenhuma / O presente trabalho pretende desenvolver a idéia de um Direito Eco-Evolutivo baseado em níveis de observação/percepção capazes de possibilitar decisões em conflitos ambientais hipercomplexos. A comunicação ecológica provoca relações de complementaridade, concorrência e antagonismo no seio das instituições jurídicas, promovendo interações de desorganização/reorganização permanentes, similares a de um ecossistema. Através da transposição de categorias originárias da biologia (heterotrofia, parasitismo, mutações), física (termodinâmica) e química (entropia), bem como da utilização de metáforas do Sistema da Arte, linguagem e Semiótica possibilitar-se-á compreensões aprimoradas do fenômeno social no que tange a alta complexidade dos problemas ambientais postos à decisão junto ao Direito. Para tanto, propõem-se a construção de sete níveis de observação, sete tipos de lentes microscópicas, das quais se utilizarão os órgãos jurídicos responsáveis por dirimir/decidir acerca destas situações. Desta forma, busca-se a / The present work intends to develop the idea of an Eco-Evolution Right based on levels of perceptions capable to make possible decisions in Hyper-Complexity ambient conflicts. The ecological communication provokes relations of complementarities, competition and antagonism in the role of the legal institutions, promoting permanent, similar interactions of reorganization of an ecosystem. Through the transposition of originary categories of biology (heterotrophy, parasitism, mutations), physics (thermodynamic) and chemistry (entropy), as well as of the use of metaphors of the System of the Art, language and Semiotics improved understandings of the social phenomenon will be made possible in that it refers to the high complexity of the ambient problems ranks to the together decision to the Right. For in such a way, they consider it construction of seven levels of comment, seven types of microscopically lenses, which will use the responsible legal agencies for decisions about of these situations. Of this form, it p

This thesis examines the theological and practical functioning of American Baptist Women’s Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA, as it has engaged in a “Becoming Beloved Community” initiative. It argues that theological grounding in a vision of Beloved Community is a necessary missing element in transforming the way the organization pursues its mission. Since 2014, the organization has conducted a cultural audit, assessing attitudes and readiness, and it has developed some strategies and tactics as a result. However, without a solid theological grounding and a deeper understanding of what adhering to a vision of beloved community may mean in terms of structure and decision-making processes, these strategies and tactics are less effective than they could be. This thesis draws upon the writings of Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King, Jr., on process theology, and on woman’s liberation theologies to assess current practices in AB Women’s Ministries and provide a more robust theological grounding for the concept of “Becoming Beloved Community.” In constructing the theological grounding, a list of marks of beloved community is developed and used as an evaluative tool for current practices in the organization. Using adaptive leadership theory and complexity leadership theory, the thesis also develops recommendations for the future.

La modalité est un phénomène linguistique qui ne peut pas être défini à partir de critères uniquement sémantiques. Une définition complète de la modalité doit prendre en compte ses propriétés sémantiques, fonctionnelles et structurelles. Dans la présente étude, nous bâtissons d’abord un cadre théorique en nous servant d’une approche onomasiologique, pour ensuite analyser les différentes manières dont les sens modaux peuvent être exprimés en français de façon sémasiologique. Cette analyse s’attarde aussi sur des porteurs de modalité moins étudiés comme les particules modales, les verbes et les connecteurs impliquant le statut factuel ou assertif de la proposition qu’ils introduisent et le rapport entre la structure informationnelle et la modalité. Notre analyse s’appuie sur les corpus Frantext, WebCorp, Wortschatz Leipzig et la collection French Web 2012 de Sketch Engine et comprend plus de douze milliards de mots. Certaines caractéristiques des éléments modaux du français ne peuvent être relevées que lorsqu’ils interagissent avec d’autres éléments modalisant la même proposition. L’étude de ces manifestations complexes de la modalité complète ce portrait de la catégorie sémantico-fonctionnelle de la modalité en français. / Modality is a linguistic phenomenon that cannot be defined in purely semantic terms. A complete definition of modality has to take into account all of its semantic, functional, and structural properties. In the present work, we first build up a theoretic framework based on an onomasiological approach, and then analyze the different ways modal meanings can be expressed in French from a semasiological point of view. This analysis includes the elements most prototypical for the category of modality, such as modal verbs, modal adverbs and mood. Furthermore, it also takes into account less prototypical modal elements, such as modal particles, verbs and connectors implying the factual or assertive status of the proposition they introduce, as well as the relation between information structure and modality. The analysis is based upon the corpora Frantext, WebCorp, Wortschatz Leipzig and the text collection French Web 2012 in Sketch Engine. Certain properties of modal elements in French can only be detected when they interact with other elements modalizing the same proposition. The study of these complex manifestations of modality completes this portrait of the functional-semantic category of modality in contemporary French.