The major objective of this master thesis, is to describe the process of forming and development of the social groups connected with the concept of ritual pollution kegare in Japan at the turn of 16th century. The main questions are: In which direction did the development of these groups tend to go from the outset of the Japanese Middle Ages? Did the policies of the unifiers of Japan cause any disruptions to this development, and if so, what was the new direction? Was creation of the Edo outcaste order also motivated by an effort to restrict access to strategical commodities, or was it only a side effect of individual edicts and restrictions? To answer these questions I used two approaches. At first I diachronically described the development of groups connected with the concept of ritual pollution from the ancient times, and to this data I applied Mary Douglas's grid and group theory. Results of this show that during the time period in question development of groups of eta tanners was significantly accelerated, while the status of the non-persons groups of hinin was stagnating, or regressing. This thesis hopefully offers a brief insight into the overlooked aspects of Japanese history, and sheds some light on the reason for the discrimination of descendants of the burakumin group which in Japan...

[pt] Esta dissertação tem o objetivo de aplicar os conceitos e ferramentas da Análise Real e Álgebra Linear num estudo sobre a teoria de existência, unicidade e estabilidade de soluções de sistemas de equações diferenciais ordinárias, considerando sistemas gerais parametrizados, lineares e não-lineares. / [en] This dissertation aims to apply the concepts and tools of Real Analysis and Linear Algebra to the theory of existence, uniquiness and stability of solutions of ordinary differential equations systems, considering general parametric, linear and non-linear systems.

Nous avons étudié dans cette thèse une approche discrète de la synthèse de contrôleurs pour les systèmes hybrides permettant la manipulation de dynamiques non-linéaires : les états sont regroupés dans une partition finie au prix d'une sur-approximation non déterministe de la relation de transition. Nous avons développé des algorithmes permettant de réduire l'explosion du nombre d'états due à la discrétisation en exploitant des propriétés des systèmes ODE. Ces algorithmes sont basés sur une approche hiérarchique du problème de la synthèse en le résolvant pour des sous problèmes et en utilisant ces résultats pour réduire l'espace d'états global. Nous avons aussi combiné des objectifs de vivacité et de sécurité pour s'approcher d'une stabilisation. Des résultats implémentés sur un prototype viennent montrer l'intérêt de cette approche.Pour la vérification, nous avons étudié le problème du model checking d'automates temporisés basé sur la résolution SAT. Nous avons exploré des solutions alternatives pour le codage des réductions SAT basées sur des exécutions parallèles de transitions indépendantes. Alors qu'une telle optimisation a déjà été étudiée pour les systèmes discrets, une approche intuitive pour les automates temporisés serait de considérer que des transitions en parallèle ont lieu au même instant (synchrones). Toutefois il est possible de relâcher cette condition et nous avons montré trois sémantiques différentes pour les séquences temporisées avec des transitions parallèles. Nous montrons la correction des sémantiques et décrivons des résultats expérimentaux réalisés avec notre prototype. / We consider a discretization based approach to controller synthesis of hybrid systems that allows to handle non-linear dynamics. In such an approach, states are grouped together in a finite index partition at the price of a non-deterministic over approximation of the transition relation. The main contribution of this work is a technique to reduce the state explosion generated by the discretization: exploiting structural properties of ODE systems, we propose a hierarchical approach to the synthesis problem by solving it first for sub problems and using the results for state space reduction in the full problem. A secondary contribution concerns combined safety and liveness control objectives that approximate stabilization. Results implemented on a prototype show the benefit of this approach. For the verification, we study the model checking problem of timed automata based on SAT solving. Our work investigates alternative possibilities for coding the SAT reductions that are based on parallel executions of independent transitions. While such an optimization has been studied for discrete systems, its transposition to timed automata poses the question of what it means for timed transitions to be executed “in parallel”. The most obvious interpretation is that the transitions in parallel take place at the same time (synchronously). However, it is possible to relax this condition. On the whole, we define and analyse three different semantics of timed sequences with parallel transitions. We prove the correctness of the proposed semantics and report experimental results with a prototype implementation.

This is a study of some of the works of the Japanese novelist, Ozaki Koyo (1867-1903). The aim has been to identify the legacy that the fiction of the Tokugawa period (1600-1868) left in his work, so comparatively little attention has been paid to his life or to works that throw no light on this question, such as his adaptations and translations of western literature. Koyo's fiction was influenced by two distinct literary traditions from the Tokugawa period. His interest in ninjobon, a genre of romantic novel, spanned his creative life and imparted to his works a tendency towards complex romantic plots and a concern for realistic dialogue. For a few years, however, this source of influence yielded to another: Koyo was involved in the revival of the works of Ihara Saikaku which took place in the years around 1890, and this profoundly affected his language and style for several years. Attempts to imitate Saikaku's fiction also enabled him to experiment with uses of the narrator that were foreign to ninjobon writers, and he became progressively more interested in probing the minds of his characters. He took these developments further in his last two novels, stimulated both by the western fiction he had read and by current literary fashions. In Tajo takon he used the narrator to express his rejection of views of marriage imported from the West; in Konjiki yasha he combined the qualities of ninjobon with a study of usury. Apart from revealing some of the areas in which Meiji fiction was indebted to tradition, Koyo's works show that the influence of Tokugawst fiction was not always as harmful as it is often supposed to be.

The specific problem this research studied is the relationship between principal instructional leadership behaviors and student achievement in Nigeria. Eight of the often cited principal instructional leadership behaviors were selected for study. They are: set goals; set expectation; provide resources, human/material; manage/coordinate curriculum and instruction; establish school climate; promote staff professional development; and monitor student progress. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the eight selected principal instructional leadership behaviors and student achievement in Nigeria. Using the stratified random sampling technique, a sample of 400 teachers, and 40 principals was selected from 40 secondary schools in Edo State. Two questionnaires were developed to gather data for the study. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and pictorial presentation. The descriptive demographic variables gender, age, experience, and education, were used to describe the data gathered. The independent and dependent variables were subjected to inferential statistics using the Pearson product – moment correlation coefficient technique. Eight null hypotheses were tested to determine the statistically significant relationship between the eight independent variables and the dependent variable. The level of significance chosen was .05. The primary findings indicated that there are no statistically significant relationship between any of the eight independent variables and the dependent variable. Therefore, it could be concluded that there are other variables that are related to student achievement in Nigeria, though the eight independent variables could enhance it. Student intrinsic motivation, discriminating synthesis of old and new values, and a return to the Nigerian tradition are variables offered as those that are related to student achievement in Nigeria. Of all these variables, student intrinsic motivation seems to be the recurring variable that is most related to it. Nine main recommendations were made to the Nigerian students, scholars, school system, and society.

Resumé Diploma thesis Zagreb in Croatian urban prose at the turn of 20th and 21st century deals with roles and influence of the Croatian capital on main characters of selected works of mentioned authors. The turn of the century was chosen deliberately, due to the disintegration of Yugoslavia, subsequent war conflict in Balkan and postwar search for certainties. These factors led to migration of a huge amount of people, e.g. into the area of New Zagreb which is an important urban feature of Croatian metropolis and therefore of this thesis. This thesis will try to clarify through the main characters of selected works the turbulent events and uncertain life circumstances from the end of the previous century and from the beginning of the new one which meant for some people a change of their lifestyle and stabilized order.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Nursing) / The number of healthcare institutions that has embraced Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) as an effective and efficient method of neonatal care especially in Edo State, Nigeria has not multiplied even after more than a decade of its recommendation by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2003. Nigeria ranks seventh among the ten African countries where newborns have the highest risk of dying with over 700 newborn deaths per10, 000 live births. This is worrisome because Edo State is one of the 36 states in Nigeria that contribute about 6,700 neonatal deaths to the 255,500 mortality rate recorded in Nigeria annually. This has led to a concern about the knowledge and attitude of the key drivers in neonatal care of simplified methods aimed at reducing neonatal mortality despite previous training efforts. The development of a strategy to enhance the early implementation of the WHO KMC guidelines in all healthcare facilities across the state was therefore conceptualized. Strategies to increase implementation are considered important to the success of KMC because reducing neonatal mortality rate is contextual. This research aimed to explore and describe the application of the KMC guidelines by the nurses, administrators and parents of preterm infants in the care of premature babies and to develop strategies to enhance its early implementation in healthcare facilities in Edo State, Nigeria.

Orientador: Fernando Luiz Pio dos Santos / Resumo: O vírus da dengue (DENV) possui quatro sorotipos distintos (DENV 1-4), podendo qualquer um desses ocasionar alterações fisiológicas de diferentes severidades em humanos, como a dengue febril (DF) na forma clássica e a dengue hemorrágica (DH), o caso mais severo. Em particular, a DH pode ocorrer no lactente na infecção primária por qualquer um dos sorotipos, devido à transferência vertical de anticorpos específicos vindo de sua mãe imune ao DENV. Estes anticorpos específicos desempenham um papel importante na vida do lactente, conferindo proteção ao infante nos primeiros meses de vida, mas em seguida, à medida que os níveis séricos das imunoglobulinas diminuem, aumenta-se a chance de ocorrer uma infecção através da resposta dependente de anticorpos, causando a DH. Propõe-se neste trabalho o desenvolvimento de um modelo matemático compartimental para investigar analiticamente e numericamente a dinâmica da DH em lactente com infecção primária causada pelo DENV. O modelo matemático proposto neste trabalho é descrito por um sistema de equações diferenciais ordinárias não-lineares, cujas variáveis de estados do modelo representam os anticorpos do lactente transferidos de sua mãe imune ao DENV, monócitos não infectados e infectados e o vírus da dengue ao longo do tempo também são considerados. O modelo foi analisado matematicamente, estabelecendo-se as condições para a existência dos pontos de equilíbrio livre da doença e o da persistência a partir do número reprodutivo básico do mo... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Dengue virus (DENV) has four distinct serotypes (DENV 1-4), and any of these can cause physiological changes of different severities in humans, such as febrile dengue fever (DF) in classical form and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), when it is the severer case. In particular, DHF can occur in the infant in the primary infection by anyone of the serotypes, due to the vertical transfer of specific antibodies from its imune mother to the infant. These specific antibodies play an important role in the infant's life, providing protection in the first months of life, however, as long as antibodies serum levels decrease, the chance of infection occurring through the antibody-dependent response increases, which implies in DHF. In this study we propose to develop a mathematical compartmental model to investigate numerically and analytically the dynamics of DHF in infants with primary DENV infection. The mathematical model in this work is described by a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, wherein the state variables represent the infant's antibodies, uninfected and infected monocytes and the dengue virus over time. The model was analyzed mathematically, establishing the conditions for the existence of dengue free equilibria points and the persistence of disease from the basic reprodutive number R_0 of the model. Sensistivity analysis was carried out in this work in order to investigate which one of the parameters was more influent at R_0 result. The dynamical system was... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Nesta Tese desenvolvemos várias abordagens "Darbouxianas"para buscar integrais primeiras (elementares e Liouvillianas) de equações diferenciais ordinárias de segunda ordem (2EDOs) racionais. Os algoritmos (semi-algoritmos) que desenvolvemos seguem a linha do trabalho de Prelle e Singer. Basicamente, os métodos que buscam integrais primeiras elementares são uma extensão da técnica desenvolvida por Prelle e Singer para encontrar soluções elementares de equações diferenciais ordinárias de primeira ordem (1EDOs) racionais. O procedimento que lida com 2EDOs racionais que apresentam integrais primeiras Liouvillianas é baseado em uma extensão ao nosso método para encontrar soluções Liouvillianas de 1EDOs racionais. A ideia fundamental por tras do nosso trabalho consiste em que os fatores integrantes para 1-formas polinomiais geradas pela diferenciação de funções elementares e Liouvillianas são formados por certos polinômios denominados polinômios de Darboux. Vamos mostrar como combinar esses polinômios de Darboux para construir fatores integrantes e, de posse deles, determinar integrais primeiras. Vamos ainda discutir algumas implementações computacionais dos semi-algoritmos.

Dans cette thèse on classe les cycles homoclines robustes de<br /> $\mathbb{R}^4$ en présence de symétries. On se borne au cas<br /> ou le groupe de symétrie $G$ est fini et, sans perte de<br /> généralité, contenu dans le groupe orthogonal $O(4)$. On<br /> montre notamment qu'une famille infinie de cycles existe; on<br /> fournit les générateurs, une présentation ainsi qu'une<br /> étude détaillée de ses groupes de symétrie. La topologie<br /> des cycles est aussi étudiée.\\ Ces cycles peuvent<br /> appara\^{\i}tre par bifurcation à partir d'un équilibre<br /> trivial. Ceci permet de déterminer des champs de vecteurs<br /> possédant des branches de tels cycles homoclines dans les cas<br /> les plus simples. En intégrant ces champs à l'aide du<br /> logiciel de simulation de systèmes dynamiques $\mathbf{Dstool}$,<br /> on visualise les projections de ces cycles sur des plans.