FundaÃÃo Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnolÃgico / Este estudo se insere no campo de saber da Bioclimatologia Humana, sob a perspectiva das ideias de Besancenot (2001, 2002). Buscou-se identificar correlaÃÃes fortes e estatisticamente significantes entre as anomalias das temperaturas extremas do ar e de outros atributos climÃticos (temperatura mÃxima, mÃdia e mÃnima do ar, amplitude tÃrmica do ar, temperatura efetiva - Ãndice Te, umidade relativa do ar, velocidade dos ventos e precipitaÃÃo) e a morbidade por DoenÃas Cardiovasculares - DCV - de pacientes idosos, residentes e atendidos em hospitais pÃblicos e conveniados ao SUS para constataÃÃo de ocorrÃncias de ondas de calor e de frio na cidade de Fortaleza no perÃodo de 2004 a 2009. Dos perÃodos tÃrmicos de maior intensidade registrados nos anos da sÃrie das temperaturas extremas do ar, quatro correspondem a perÃodos de calor Forte (eventos dos anos 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 e 2008), e um representa um perÃodo de frescor Forte (evento do ano de 2009). Somente foram certificadas correlaÃÃes fortes em nÃvel p <0,05 entre a temperatura mÃnima do ar, a amplitude tÃrmica, as anomalias da temperatura mÃnima, a precipitaÃÃo e as internaÃÃes hospitalares para o episÃdio tÃrmico positivo do ano de 2007. As medidas de risco relativo (intervalos de confianÃa a 95%) indicaram que a amplitude tÃrmica do ar e a precipitaÃÃo mostraram-se associadas como fator protetor. Em vÃrias associaÃÃes, sobretudo nas do episÃdio do ano de 2007, o aumento do risco relativo no total de internaÃÃes hospitalares ocorreu em nÃvel boderline. Concluiu-se que os perÃodos de calor e de frescor Forte da sÃrie 2004 â 2009 nÃo se configuraram como ondas de calor ou frio devido à ausÃncia de correlaÃÃes fortes e estatisticamente significantes entre as temperaturas extremas ar, as anomalias tÃrmicas e as internaÃÃes hospitalares. Ao considerar a ideia de que as ondas de calor e de frio se definem mais em termos epidemiolÃgicos do que meteorolÃgicos, e que esses eventos extremos atingem, de forma seletiva, a populaÃÃo, em especial, idosos portadores de doenÃas cardÃacas, grupo etÃrio mais vulnerÃvel aos eventos, fica estabelecido, em termos estatÃsticos, que os perÃodos de calor e frescor Forte ocorridos em Fortaleza, no perÃodo de 2004 a 2009, nÃo funcionaram como um dispositivo ambiental no agravo de doenÃas cardiovasculares da populaÃÃo idosa de Fortaleza / This study falls into the scope of Human Bioclimatology under the perspective of ideas by Besancenot (2001, 2002). We sought to identify strong and statistically significant correlations between anomalies of extreme air temperatures and other climatic attributes (maximum, mean and minimum air temperature, thermal amplitude, thermal comfort index- Te- index, relative humidity, wind speed and precipitation) and Cardiovascular Disease - CVD morbidity of elderly patients treated in public and convened hospitals, in order to detect occurrences of heat and cold waves in the city of Fortaleza for the period 2004-2009. Among the thermal periods with greater intensity recorded in the years of the series of extreme air temperatures, four corresponded to periods of strong heat (events in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008) and one referred to a period of strong freshness (event in 2009). We verified strong correlations (p<0.05) between minimum air temperature, thermal amplitude, anomalous minimal temperature and precipitation and hospitalizations only for the positive thermal episode of 2007. The measures of relative risk and 95% confidence interval indicated that air thermal amplitude and precipitation were associated as a protective factor. In many associations, particularly those concerning the episode of the year 2007, the increase in relative risk for total hospitalizations occurred in a borderline level. It was concluded that heat and fresh periods of the series 2004 - 2009 were not configured as heat or cold waves due to the lack of strong and statistically significant correlations between extreme air temperatures, thermal anomalies and hospitalizations. Given that heat and cold waves are defined more meteorologically than epidemiologically and affect the population selectively, especially elderly patients with heart disease (age group most vulnerable to the events), it was statistically established that the heat and cold periods that occurred in Fortaleza in the period 2004-2009 did not work as an environmental device in aggravation of cardiovascular disease in the elderly population of Fortaleza

A Water Safety Plan for Extreme Events - PSAEE, has the purpose of description the procedures in potentially critical situations due to the occurrence of extreme weather events (droughts and floods). Provides the developing of preventive actions and contingency plan as a way to mitigate the effects of these phenomena. Will be developed in different and complementary steps, aiming anticipation, recognition and risk assessment, identification and monitoring of vulnerable regions and the implementation of a warning network against Floods and Droughts. The present document describes guidelines for structuring a Water Safety Plan for Extreme Events, Floods and Droughts, structured in five (05) steps; 1. Preliminary Steps, 2 Diagnostic System; 3 Operational Monitoring; 4. Management Plans and 5.Validation and Verification. As a case study, the document analyzed the process of implementing the Situation Room of the Water Resources Management Company of Cearà - COGERH , also presenting some suggestion of a Work Plan for the Situation Room, which will serve as a Management Center of Extreme Hydrological Events for the State of CearÃ, Brazil. / Um Plano de SeguranÃa de Ãgua para Eventos Extremos â PSAEE, tem como objetivo a descriÃÃo de procedimentos em situaÃÃes potencialmente criticas devido a ocorrÃncia de eventos climÃticos extremos (Secas e Cheias). Prevà o desenvolvendo de aÃÃes preventivas e plano de contingÃncia como forma de mitigar os efeitos destes fenÃmenos. Serà desenvolvido em etapas distintas e complementares, visando a antecipaÃÃo, reconhecimento e avaliaÃÃo de riscos, a identificaÃÃo e monitoramento de regiÃes vulnerÃveis, a implementaÃÃo de rede de alerta contra Cheias e Secas. O presente trabalho descreve diretrizes para estruturaÃÃo de um Plano de SeguranÃa de Ãgua para Eventos Extremos, Cheias e Secas, estruturado em 05 (cinco) etapas; 1. Etapas Preliminares, 2. DiagnÃstico do Sistema; 3. Monitoramento Operacional; 4. Planos de GestÃo e 5. ValidaÃÃo e VerificaÃÃo. Como estudo de caso, o trabalho analisou o processo de implantaÃÃo da Sala de SituaÃÃo da Companhia de GestÃo dos Recursos HÃdricos do Cearà â COGERH, apresentando, tambÃm, sugestÃo de um Plano de Trabalho para a Sala de SituaÃÃo, a qual servirà de Centro de GestÃo de Eventos Extremos HidrolÃgicos para o Estado do CearÃ, Brasil.

Desastres naturais sempre fizeram parte da vida dos seres humanos, porém nos últimos anos devido ao crescimento dos grandes centros urbanos, da dificuldade de aplicação e cumprimento de políticas de preservação ambiental e de alterações climáticas crescentes, as catástrofes naturais estão se tornando comuns, e no caso particular deste estudo os danos causados por cheias têm afetado as populações próximas aos leitos hídricos, causando prejuízos materiais, mortes, desaparecimentos, flagelados e desalojados. Para se conhecer melhor o comportamento destes eventos extremos e aumentar a segurança evitando com isto a perda de vidas e minimizando o prejuízo econômico que advém destes desastres, se faz necessário um estudo das possíveis áreas afetadas identificando os locais de risco e quantificando a criticidade de um evento de grande magnitude. Com base em estudos de eventos anteriores, como os registros de grandes enchentes, e utilizando técnicas modernas de posicionamento por GPS (Global Positioning System), processamento digital de imagens geradas por satélites e representação temática do nivelamento geométrico destas cheias, pode-se reproduzir em modelos estes eventos e quantificá-los com uma boa precisão de seus efeitos nos dias atuais. A simulação destes eventos extremos em um modelo de base confiável que, disponibilizado à defesa civil, traz um conhecimento prévio dos possíveis efeitos de uma ocorrência deste tipo, onde poderão ser planejadas rotas de fugas e ações mitigadoras, minimizando perdas de vidas e grandes prejuízos econômicos. Os mesmos modelos servem também de ferramenta de análise de impacto e planejamentos para melhoria do plano diretor de desenvolvimento social, econômico, ambiental e pesquisas na área acadêmica. Os modelos apresentados contemplam apenas uma pequena parte das possibilidades que um trabalho como este viabiliza na área da pesquisa. Os mapas temáticos com as curvas de nível, médias das enchentes registradas, área destinada à preservação ambiental da orla do rio e o mapa das regiões onde o evento extremo de 41 atingiu, ficam disponibilizados para livre utilização. / Natural disasters have always been part of the human lives, but in recent years due to growth of large urban centers, the difficulty of implementation and compliance of environmental preservation policies and increasing climate change, natural disasters are becoming common, and in the particular case of this study the damage caused by floods have affected populations beds near the water resources, causing material damage, deaths, disappearances, flagellates and homeless. To better understand the behavior of these extreme events and increase safety avoiding the lives loss and minimizing the economic losses that arise from these disasters, it is necessary to study the possible affected areas identifying the risk sites and quantifying the criticality of an event of great magnitude. Based on studies of past events, as the records of large floods, and using modern techniques of GPS positioning, digital image processing generated by satellites and thematic representation of capping geometry of these floods, we can play in these models events and quantify them with a good accuracy of its effects today. The simulation of these extreme events in a confident base model that available to bring the civil defense prior knowledge of the possible effects of an event this kind, which may be planned escape routes and mitigating actions minimizing loss of life and large economic losses. The same models also serve as analysis impact tool and planning for improvement of the master plan for social development, economic, environmental and research in the academic area. The models presented cover only a small part of the possibility that a work like this enables on research area. Thematic maps with contour lines, medium flood recorded, for environmental conservation area bordering the river and the map of the regions where the extreme event of 41 hit, are available for free use.

Orientador: Laura Leticia Ramos Rifo / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Matematica, Estatistica e Computação Cientifica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-15T01:44:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bernardini_DiegoFernandode_M.pdf: 1483229 bytes, checksum: ea77acd21778728138eea2f27e59235b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: Iniciamos o presente trabalho apresentando uma breve introdução a teoria de valores extremos, estudando especialmente o comportamento da variável aleatória que representa o máximo de uma sequência de variáveis aleatórias independentes e identicamente distribuídas. Vemos que o Teorema dos Tipos Extremos (ou Teorema de Fisher-Tippett) constitui uma ferramenta fundamental no que diz respeito ao estudo do comportamento assintóticos destes máximos, permitindo a modelagem de dados que representem uma sequência de observações de máximos de um determinado fenômeno ou processo aleatório, através de uma classe de distribuições conhecida como família de distribuições de Valor Extremo Generalizada (Generalized Extreme Value - GEV). A distribuição Gumbel, associada ao máximo de distribuições como a Normal ou Gama entre outras, é um caso particular desta família. Torna-se interessante, assim, realizar inferência para os parâmetros desta família. Especificamente, a comparação entre os modelos Gumbel e GEV constitui o foco principal deste trabalho. No Capítulo 1 estudamos, no contexto da inferência clássica, o método de estimação por máxima verossimilhança para estes parâmetros e um procedimento de teste de razão de verossimilhanças adequado para testar a hipótese nula que representa o modelo Gumbel contra a hipótese que representa o modelo completo GEV. Prosseguimos, no Capítulo 2, com uma breve revisão em teoria de inferência Bayesiana obtendo inferências para o parâmetro de interesse em termos de sua distribuição a posteriori. Estudamos também a distribuição preditiva para valores futuros. No que diz respeito à comparação de modelos, estudamos inicialmente, neste contexto bayesiano, o fator de Bayes e o fator de Bayes a posteriori. Em seguida estudamos o Full Bayesian Significance Test (FBST), um teste de significância particularmente adequado para testar hipóteses precisas, como a hipótese que caracteriza o modelo Gumbel. Além disso, estudamos outros dois critérios para comparação de modelos, o BIC (Bayesian Information Criterion) e o DIC (Deviance Information Criterion). Estudamos as medidas de evidência especificamente no contexto da comparação entre os modelos Gumbel e GEV, bem como a distribuição preditiva, além dos intervalos de credibilidade e inferência a posteriori para os níveis de retorno associados a tempos de retorno fixos. O Capítulo 1 e parte do Capítulo 2 fornecem os fundamentos teóricos básicos deste trabalho, e estão fortemente baseados em Coles (2001) e O'Hagan (1994). No Capítulo 3 apresentamos o conhecido algoritmo de Metropolis-Hastings para simulação de distribuições de probabilidade e o algoritmo particular utilizado neste trabalho para a obtenção de amostras simuladas da distribuição a posteriori dos parâmetros de interesse. No capítulo seguinte formulamos a modelagem dos dados observados de máximos, apresentando a função de verossimilhança e estabelecendo a distribuição a priori para os parâmetros. Duas aplicações são apresentadas no Capítulo 5. A primeira delas trata das observações dos máximos trimestrais das taxas de desemprego nos Estados Unidos da América, entre o primeiro trimestre de 1994 e o primeiro trimestre de 2009. Na segunda aplicação estudamos os máximos semestrais dos níveis de maré em Newlyn, no sudoeste da Inglaterra, entre 1990 e 2007. Finalmente, uma breve discussão é apresentada no Capítulo 6. / Abstract: We begin this work presenting a brief introduction to the extreme value theory, specifically studying the behavior of the random variable which represents the maximum of a sequence of independent and identically distributed random variables. We see that the Extremal Types Theorem (or Fisher-Tippett Theorem) is a fundamental tool in the study of the asymptotic behavior of those maxima, allowing the modeling of data which represent a sequence of maxima observations of a given phenomenon or random process, through a class of distributions known as Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) family. We are interested in making inference about the parameters of this family. Specifically, the comparison between the Gumbel and GEV models constitute the main focus of this work. In Chapter 1 we study, in the context of classical inference, the method of maximum likelihood estimation for these parameters and likelihood ratio test procedure suitable for testing the null hypothesis associated to the Gumbel model against the hypothesis that represents the complete GEV model. We proceed, in Chapter 2, with a brief review on Bayesian inference theory. We also studied the predictive distribution for future values. With respect to the comparison of models, we initially study the Bayes factor and the posterior Bayes factor, in the Bayesian context. Next we study the Full Bayesian Significance Test (FBST), a significance test particularly suitable to test precise hypotheses, such as the hypothesis characterizing the Gumbel model. Furthermore, we study two other criteria for comparing models, the BIC (Bayesian Information Criterion) and the DIC (Deviance Information Criterion). We study the evidence measures specifically in the context of the comparison between the Gumbel and GEV models, as well as the predictive distribution, beyond the credible intervals and posterior inference to the return levels associated with fixed return periods. Chapter 1 and part of Chapter 2 provide the basic theoretical foundations of this work, and are strongly based on Coles (2001) and O'Hagan (1994). In Chapter 3 we present the well-known Metropolis-Hastings algorithm for simulation of probability distributions, and the particular algorithm used in this work to obtain simulated samples from the posterior distribution for the parameters of interest. In the next chapter we formulate the modeling of the observed data of maximum, presenting the likelihood function and setting the prior distribution for the parameters. Two applications are presented in Chapter 5. The first one deals with observations of the quarterly maximum for unemployment rates in the United States of America, between the first quarter of 1994 and first quarter of 2009. In the second application we studied the semiannual maximum of sea levels at Newlyn, in southwest of England, between 1990 and 2007. Finally, a brief discussion is presented in Chapter 6. / Mestrado / Estatistica / Mestre em Estatística

No verão do ano 2000, um evento extremo de chuva ocorreu em Campos do Jordão, causando deslizamento de encostas em vários pontos da área urbana, em bairros considerados de risco. Este evento provocou a morte de 10 pessoas e um saldo de aproximadamente 3000 desabrigados. Os impactos ambientais e sociais desse acontecimento foram catastróficos. A ocupação de encostas, de maneira geral, é feita de maneira desordenada onde se verifica a remoção da vegetação existente para a construção das moradias de baixo padrão, processo que altera a morfodinâmica local e traz implicações para a própria população.No caso específico de Campos do Jordão, houve um grande crescimento da ocupação das encostas entre os anos de 1986 e 2003, principalmente nas áreas com declividade superior a 45 áreas consideradas de alto risco para a construção de moradias mas que mesmo assim, são invadidas e ocupadas irregularmente. A partir do evento de chuvas/deslizamentos ocorrido no ano 2000, a Prefeitura Municipal de Campos do Jordão passou a intervir, de forma mais intensa e sistematizada, na busca de soluções para gestão das áreas de risco, por exemplo, com a aquisição de áreas para formação de loteamentos onde serão vendidos terrenos para as famílias que ocupam as áreas de risco muito alto. / On the 2000 Summer, an extreme rain event occurred in Campos do Jordão, causing landslide of the slopes in several points of the urban area in places considered on risk.This event causes the death of ten people an approximately 3000 (three thousand) homelesses. The social and environment impacts of this event were catastrophic. The occupation of the slopes, in general, is made in a disorganized way where it checked the removal of the existing vegetation for houses building, process that changes the morfodynamic local and brings implications to the own population. In the specific case of Campos do Jordão, there was a great increasing of the slopes occupation between 1986 and 2003, mainly in areas with superior slopes up 45 considered as high risk to the dweeling construction even so, are irregulary invaded and occupated. From the landslides/rain events onwards occurred on 2000, the Municipal Prefectures of Campos do Jordão, started to intervene on a systematic and intense way, in search of solutions for management of risk areas, for example, with the acquisition of areas to form portions that will be saled on pieces to the families that occup very high risk areas.

Submitted by Estagiário SPT BMHS (spt@fgv.br) on 2013-07-30T12:35:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertation Felipe Buchbinder.pdf: 1585162 bytes, checksum: b566d391b5cfffdea11553af4c3fcd3e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Estagiário SPT BMHS (spt@fgv.br) on 2013-07-30T12:36:04Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertation Felipe Buchbinder.pdf: 1585162 bytes, checksum: b566d391b5cfffdea11553af4c3fcd3e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Estagiário SPT BMHS (spt@fgv.br) on 2013-07-30T12:36:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertation Felipe Buchbinder.pdf: 1585162 bytes, checksum: b566d391b5cfffdea11553af4c3fcd3e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-07-30T12:36:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertation Felipe Buchbinder.pdf: 1585162 bytes, checksum: b566d391b5cfffdea11553af4c3fcd3e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-06-08 / Competitive Strategy literature predicts three different mechanisms of performance generation, thus distinguishing between firms that have competitive advantage, firms that have competitive disadvantage or firms that have neither. Nonetheless, previous works in the field have fitted a single normal distribution to model firm performance. Here, we develop a new approach that distinguishes among performance generating mechanisms and allows the identification of firms with competitive advantage or disadvantage. Theorizing on the positive feedback loops by which firms with competitive advantage have facilitated access to acquire new resources, we proposed a distribution we believe data on firm performance should follow. We illustrate our model by assessing its fit to data on firm performance, addressing its theoretical implications and comparing it to previous works.

Cette thèse porte sur l'étude des chalcogénures de bore sous conditions extrêmes. Après un bref examen de la littérature (Chapitre I) sur le bore et ses composés sous haute pression (HP), la partie expérimentale (Chapitre II) donne une description des appareils HP utilisés dans ce travail de thèse. Les techniques d'analyses employées sont décrites ainsi que les grands principes des calculs théoriques ab initio utilisés. La partie suivante est consacrée à β-B2O3 et r-BS. Le chapitre III présente les résultats de diffraction X in situ à HP et les mesures de phonons (Raman et IR) de β-B2O3 à température ambiante. Les données expérimentales ont été examinées et complétées par des calculs ab initio. Avec le jeu de données obtenues, les descriptions complètes des modifications sous pression de la structure de β-B2O3 et du comportement des phonons en compression à température ambiante ont été faites. Le chapitre IV présente les résultats de diffraction X in situ à HP et de spectroscopie vibrationnelle sur r-BS à température ambiante. En combinaison avec les calculs théoriques, la structure et la nature des phonons de r-BS sur une large plage de pression à température ambiante sont décrites. En outre, la formation d'une nouvelle phase HP métastable de BS est présentée et sa structure probable ainsi que son équation d’état sont discutés. Le chapitre V concerne la première étude in situ de diffraction X sous HP-HT du système B-Se. Selon les résultats de diffraction X et des mesures Raman effectuées sur les échantillons récupérés, un nouveau composé a été synthétisé. Ce composé est métastable à l’ambiante. Sa composition chimique et sa structure probable sont discutées. / This thesis deals with the study of the boron chalcogenides under extreme conditions. After a short review of boron and boron compounds under extreme conditions (Chapter I), the experimental part (Chapter II) provides a brief description of the high-pressure devices used in this PhD work. The employed analytical techniques are described as well as the main principles of the performed ab initio theoretical calculations. The following part is devoted to our experimental and theoretical studies of β-B2O3 and r-BS. Chapter III presents the results of in situ high pressure XRD and phonon measurements (Raman and IR) of β-B2O3 at room temperature. The experimental data were considered and completed with results of ab initio calculations. Based on the total obtained dataset the complete description of β-B2O3 structure change and phonon behavior under compression at room temperature are detailled. Chapter IV contains the results of in situ high pressure XRD and vibrational spectroscopy studies on r-BS at room temperature. In combination with results of theoretical calculations the structure and phonon nature of r-BS in a wide pressure range at ambient temperature are described. Also, the formation of a new metastable high-pressure phase of BS is described and its probable structure and EoS are discussed. The last part (Chapter V) concerns the primary in situ XRD HP-HT studies in B-Se system. Based on the results of XRD and Raman measurements of the recovered samples, a new compound was synthesized. This compound was found to be metastable at ambient conditions. Its probable chemical composition and structure are discussed.

Cette thèse a trait à la représentation de la peine capitale pendant la période moderne et se situe au carrefour des domaines poétique, politique et éthique. Trois auteurs majeurs qui appréhendent l’imaginaire de l’exécution de manière contrastée sont pris en considération — Hugo, Baudelaire et Camus. L’examen des stratégies de représentation qu’ils élaborent afin de promouvoir ou de dénoncer le couperet révèle que, après 1789, la littérature opère comme le support privilégié d’un questionnement sur l’efficacité de la justice létale et sur sa négation de l’intégrité et de la communication humaines. Réciproquement, l’image moderne de la décapitation met le langage littéraire face à sa difficulté à représenter des événements qui outrepassent à la fois solidarité sociale et entendement humain. En identifiant et en analysant le dialogue noué entre trois écritures qui explorent cette dynamique réciproque, l’on démontre qu’elles mettent à mal deux présupposés; l’un pénal, et l’autre littéraire. D’une part, malgré leur désaccord quant à la recevabilité de la peine capitale et quant à la fonction de la littérature, chacun des auteurs concernés invalide, de manière explicite ou implicite, les prémisses progressistes qui légitimèrent la guillotine depuis la Révolution française jusqu’à l’abolition. D’autre part, cette invalidation des prétendues vertus de l’échafaud figure dans des textes qui compliquent l’opposition conventionnelle entre une littérature essentiellement soucieuse d’esthétique et une autre inquiète des questions politiques. Loin de conforter cet antagonisme, les œuvres étudiées ouvrent le paradigme restreint de la littérature dite engagée à des formes inattendues de discours éthiques. / This dissertation pertains to the representation of capital punishment in the modern period. It sets out to answer the question “How does post-Revolutionary literature act in the face of Western society’s most violent legal practice, the death penalty?” It focuses on three canonical authors who portray the imaginaire of execution in contrasting ways and investigates the intersection of poetics, politics, and ethics. The writings forged by Hugo, Baudelaire, and Camus to promote or denounce capital punishment show that literature served as a medium that questions the law’s negation of human values and communication after 1789. Conversely, the modern image of decapitation confronts language with the limits of its power to represent events that exceed social solidarity and human understanding. By placing the three writers in a transhistorical dialogue that explores this reciprocal dynamics, I demonstrate that they undo two preconceptions: one penal, and the other literary. First, despite their disagreement on the legitimacy of lethal justice and the function of literature, the authors invalidate, explicitly or implicitly, the premises that legitimated the guillotine from the French Revolution until the abolition of capital punishment in 1981: the supposed painlessness and immediacy of beheading, and the machine’s ability to maintain order in society. Second, this invalidation of the supposed virtues of head severance emerges from texts that complicate the apparent divide between strictly aesthetic literature and politically committed writing. On the contrary, these works open up the restrictive category of littérature engagée to new, unexpected forms of ethical discourses. [1697 carac.]

Agile programming methods have become popular in software development projects. These methods increase productivity and support teamwork processes. In this thesis, we have analyzed three well-known Agile methods - Scrum, Extreme Programming and Crystal Orange - from the perspective of situated cognition to investigate how well the methods support cognition. Specifically, we looked at how the methods aid memory and attention through the use of external representations. The study suggests that the methods support different aspects of situated cognition reasonably well. However, among the investigated methods, Scrum stands out due to aspects of task representation (progress charts), its approaches to externalize what-to-do (memory), and the means to focus on the important programming tasks for the day (attention).

Agile methods change the software processes. Agile processes such as Scrum, ExtremeProgramming (XP), Open Unified Process (OpenUP) etc. have techniques that improve softwarequality. No doubt that the purpose of these techniques is to inject quality assurance into theproject under development. This thesis presents quality assurance techniques in Open UnifiedProcess (OpenUP) along with comparative study to extreme programming (XP) for agilesoftware development. OpenUP is an agile and unified process that contains the minimal set ofpractices that help teams to be more effective in developing software. It assists to achieve qualityby an iterative and incremental approach with artifacts, checklists, guidelines, disciplines androles. On the other side XP emphasizes on values such as communication, feedback, respect,and courage. In addition, XP prescribes a collection of techniques, which aim to improvesoftware quality. Both these processes have the same purpose, to develop software that meets the stakeholder’sneeds and expectations, however they uses different approaches to achieve their goals. Thisthesis compares both processes in four different points of view, by comparing their qualitytechniques, focus in time, and cost of usage and social perspective. We have proposed an extrarole of the quality coordinator (QC) in OpenUP/XP. QC can support and coordinate project inall quality assurance activities. The objective of an extra role is to use the knowledge of QC toachieve highest possible product quality in software development process.Keywords: Agile Development, Quality assurance (QA), Open unified process (OpenUP),extreme programming (XP), Quality coordinator (QC)