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There is circumstantial and scientific evidence of nepotism in Europe and USA, and among politicians, judges and other elites. Despite this, an access to positions of power in a liberal democracy is restricted in the sense that occupational following in the offices is subject to public scrutiny. There is a conflict between a personal obligation to promote one's kin and a public obligation to promote liberty. This public duty emerges from a duty to allow access to offices of power to those who have the misfortune of not being born as dynastic followers. It is based on John Rawls's original position which is a thought experiment establishing an impartial environment to detect chief principles adjudicating conflicts of moral doctrines, fairly. In it, the condition of impartiality is achieved by means which are found in this dissertation to be excessive. Its blanked ban on biases immolates even those biases which contribute to fairness, despite their partiality. When nepotism is partly considered an expression of altruism, it shows a capacity to increase cohesion, impede free-driving and improve economy. In order to preserve these virtues, an improved condition of impartiality is offered to enhance Rawls's theory and to classify instances of nepotism according to their effects on improving or hampering...

Em Ubatuba (SP), a pesca apresenta grande importância sócio-econômica e requer, como em outros locais, um manejo adequado. Estudos sobre o conhecimento ecológico local dos pescadores (FEK) vêm sendo considerados promissores para o manejo pesqueiro, porém poucos são delineados especificamente com esse fim. Este estudo objetivou investigar o conhecimento ecológico dos pescadores locais visando fornecer indicadores detalhados sobre a ocorrência espacial e sazonal dos recursos e da pesca, além de propor uma nova metodologia. Para tal, a partir de uma adaptação do método Delphi, caracterizado pela busca de consenso, foram efetuadas 3 rodadas de entrevistas a um total de 109 pescadores locais, em 12 comunidades pesqueiras e 3 pontos de desembarques. O FEK revelou-se sólido e detalhado, visto que permitiu identificar informações relevantes para o manejo pesqueiro com enfoque ecossistêmico. Foi possível encontrar consenso em questões-chave, tais como: (1) a localização dos principais \"pesqueiros\" por arte de pesca, (2) a distribuição espacial e sazonal dos principais recursos, (3) a identificação potencial de habitats essenciais e (4) sugestões para o ordenamento pesqueiro. A metodologia proposta se mostrou de grande valia para a investigação do conhecimento dos pescadores e sua aplicação prática em questões de manejo. Espera-se contribuir para planos de manejo pesqueiro que considerem a \"saúde\" do ecossistema e as necessidades dos pescadores locais. / In Ubatuba (SP), fishing shows a great socio-economic importance, and, just like elsewhere, requires an effective management. Studies on fisher\'s ecological knowledge (FEK) have been considered a promissory field for fisheries management but few efforts have been specifically delineated with such a goal. This study aimed to investigate local FEK in order to provide detailed indicators about the spatial and seasonal occurrence of fishing and its fishery resources. It also proposes a new methodology, adapted from Delphi\'s which is characterized by the search of consensus. Overall, a total of 109 local fishers were interviewed along 12 local communities and 3 landing sites in 3 sequential rounds. FEK proved to be consistent and detailed, allowing to identify important information for ecosystem-based fisheries management and find consensus on key-issues such as: (1) the locations of major fishing grounds per the different fishing gears, (2) the spatial distribution and seasonal occurrence of major fishery resources, (3) identification of potential essential fish habitats (EFH), and (4) fishers\' suggestions for local fishery management. The new methodology proved to be useful for FEK studies and its practical application for management. Thus, it is expected to contribute in local fisheries management plans that consider both the health of the ecosystem and the needs of local fishers.

Em Ubatuba (SP), a pesca apresenta grande importância sócio-econômica e requer, como em outros locais, um manejo adequado. Estudos sobre o conhecimento ecológico local dos pescadores (FEK) vêm sendo considerados promissores para o manejo pesqueiro, porém poucos são delineados especificamente com esse fim. Este estudo objetivou investigar o conhecimento ecológico dos pescadores locais visando fornecer indicadores detalhados sobre a ocorrência espacial e sazonal dos recursos e da pesca, além de propor uma nova metodologia. Para tal, a partir de uma adaptação do método Delphi, caracterizado pela busca de consenso, foram efetuadas 3 rodadas de entrevistas a um total de 109 pescadores locais, em 12 comunidades pesqueiras e 3 pontos de desembarques. O FEK revelou-se sólido e detalhado, visto que permitiu identificar informações relevantes para o manejo pesqueiro com enfoque ecossistêmico. Foi possível encontrar consenso em questões-chave, tais como: (1) a localização dos principais \"pesqueiros\" por arte de pesca, (2) a distribuição espacial e sazonal dos principais recursos, (3) a identificação potencial de habitats essenciais e (4) sugestões para o ordenamento pesqueiro. A metodologia proposta se mostrou de grande valia para a investigação do conhecimento dos pescadores e sua aplicação prática em questões de manejo. Espera-se contribuir para planos de manejo pesqueiro que considerem a \"saúde\" do ecossistema e as necessidades dos pescadores locais. / In Ubatuba (SP), fishing shows a great socio-economic importance, and, just like elsewhere, requires an effective management. Studies on fisher\'s ecological knowledge (FEK) have been considered a promissory field for fisheries management but few efforts have been specifically delineated with such a goal. This study aimed to investigate local FEK in order to provide detailed indicators about the spatial and seasonal occurrence of fishing and its fishery resources. It also proposes a new methodology, adapted from Delphi\'s which is characterized by the search of consensus. Overall, a total of 109 local fishers were interviewed along 12 local communities and 3 landing sites in 3 sequential rounds. FEK proved to be consistent and detailed, allowing to identify important information for ecosystem-based fisheries management and find consensus on key-issues such as: (1) the locations of major fishing grounds per the different fishing gears, (2) the spatial distribution and seasonal occurrence of major fishery resources, (3) identification of potential essential fish habitats (EFH), and (4) fishers\' suggestions for local fishery management. The new methodology proved to be useful for FEK studies and its practical application for management. Thus, it is expected to contribute in local fisheries management plans that consider both the health of the ecosystem and the needs of local fishers.

This thesis studies the Supreme Court decision, Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944) and its historical context, using a narrative perspective and reviewing aspects of narrative viewpoints with reference to legal studies in order to introduce the present study as a method of assessing narratives in legal settings. The study reviews the Supreme Court decision to reveal its arguments and focuses on the context of the case through the presentation of the public story, the institutional story, and the ethnic Japanese story, which are analyzed using Walter Fisher's narrative perspective. The study concludes that the narrative paradigm is useful for assessing stories in the law because it enables the critic to examine both the emotional and logical reasoning that determine the outcomes of the cases.

Inspired by Gould, who claimed life would be arriving at a different outcome each time it were allowed to run from the same beginning, I have attempted to determine the repeatability of the adaptive course of one Pseudomonas fluorescens lineage. In addition, my study aimed to establish whether the likelihood of parallel evolution of the two synonymous single-nucleotide substitutions was contingent upon a prior motility-impairing deletion or a prior increase in fitness. Further, the study was designed to provide empirical data addressing the long-standing question of the effect of starting fitness on the ensuing rate of adaptation. Although no exact replay of the initial evolutionary trajectory was observed, I have demonstrated that gtsB, but not gtsC gene, is likely to be a mutational hotspot under the low glucose with a recovery of two undescribed mutations in gtsB. My data are consistent with a notion that substitutions in gtsB may be contingent upon Δ35kB(fliJ-PFLU4466) motility-impairing deletion, but not the fitness increase associated with it. Finally, the features of the adaptive landscape of P. fluorescens in the minimal glucose provide languid support for Fisher’s hypothesis of a decrease in adaptation rate with the rise in the starting fitness. Taken together, these original results reinforce the non-negligible role of history in shaping the outcomes of biological evolution and call for caution in attempting a formulation of rigid predictive models of evolutionary change. Inspiré par les travaux de Stephen J. Gould qui affirmait que la vie sur terre arriverait à une forme différente si elle repartait à zéro, je présente ici mes travaux où je teste la reproductibilité du cours adaptatif d’une lignée expérimentale de Pseudomonas fluorescens. L’objectif de cette étude était de déterminer si la probabilité que deux mutations synonymes évoluent en parallèle est affectée par la présence d’une délétion affectant la motilité de la bactérie ou de l’augmentation de la valeur sélective de celle-ci. De plus, le design expérimental de cette étude permet de tester si la valeur sélective initiale d’une population affecte le taux d’adaptation de cette même population. Bien d’une reproductibilité exacte du cours adaptatif initial ne fut pas observée, je démontre que le gène gtsB est probablement un « hotspot »mutationnel permettant l’adaptation à de bas niveau de glucose, ayant trouvé deux mutations dans ce site; alors que le gène gtsC ne l’est pas. Mes données sont également conséquentes avec le fait que les mutation dans le gène gtsB dépendent de l’effet de la délétion Δ35kB(fliJ-PFLU4466) affectant la motilité de la bactérie, mais non de l’augmentation de la valeur sélective qui y est associée. Finalement, la forme du plateau adaptative associé à de bas niveaux de glucose chez P. fluorescens supporte l’hypothèse émise par Fisher qui stipule que le taux d’adaptation d’un organisme diminue avec la valeur sélective initiale qui y est associée. L’ensemble de ces résultats supporte le rôle non-négligeable de l’histoire de vie d’une population en ce qui attrait à l’évolution future de cette même population. Aussi, ces résultats appelle à la prudence quand vient le temps de formuler des modèles prédictifs des changements évolutifs d’une population.

Financial processes may possess long memory and their probability densities may display heavy tails. Many models have been developed to deal with this tail behaviour, which reflects the jumps in the sample paths. On the other hand, the presence of long memory, which contradicts the efficient market hypothesis, is still an issue for further debates. These difficulties present challenges with the problems of memory detection and modelling the co-presence of long memory and heavy tails. This PhD project aims to respond to these challenges. The first part aims to detect memory in a large number of financial time series on stock prices and exchange rates using their scaling properties. Since financial time series often exhibit stochastic trends, a common form of nonstationarity, strong trends in the data can lead to false detection of memory. We will take advantage of a technique known as multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA) that can systematically eliminate trends of different orders. This method is based on the identification of scaling of the q-th-order moments and is a generalisation of the standard detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) which uses only the second moment; that is, q = 2. We also consider the rescaled range R/S analysis and the periodogram method to detect memory in financial time series and compare their results with the MF-DFA. An interesting finding is that short memory is detected for stock prices of the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and long memory is found present in the time series of two exchange rates, namely the French franc and the Deutsche mark. Electricity price series of the five states of Australia are also found to possess long memory. For these electricity price series, heavy tails are also pronounced in their probability densities. The second part of the thesis develops models to represent short-memory and longmemory financial processes as detected in Part I. These models take the form of continuous-time AR(∞) -type equations whose kernel is the Laplace transform of a finite Borel measure. By imposing appropriate conditions on this measure, short memory or long memory in the dynamics of the solution will result. A specific form of the models, which has a good MA(∞) -type representation, is presented for the short memory case. Parameter estimation of this type of models is performed via least squares, and the models are applied to the stock prices in the AMEX, which have been established in Part I to possess short memory. By selecting the kernel in the continuous-time AR(∞) -type equations to have the form of Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative, we obtain a fractional stochastic differential equation driven by Brownian motion. This type of equations is used to represent financial processes with long memory, whose dynamics is described by the fractional derivative in the equation. These models are estimated via quasi-likelihood, namely via a continuoustime version of the Gauss-Whittle method. The models are applied to the exchange rates and the electricity prices of Part I with the aim of confirming their possible long-range dependence established by MF-DFA. The third part of the thesis provides an application of the results established in Parts I and II to characterise and classify financial markets. We will pay attention to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), the NASDAQ Stock Exchange (NASDAQ) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The parameters from MF-DFA and those of the short-memory AR(∞) -type models will be employed in this classification. We propose the Fisher discriminant algorithm to find a classifier in the two and three-dimensional spaces of data sets and then provide cross-validation to verify discriminant accuracies. This classification is useful for understanding and predicting the behaviour of different processes within the same market. The fourth part of the thesis investigates the heavy-tailed behaviour of financial processes which may also possess long memory. We consider fractional stochastic differential equations driven by stable noise to model financial processes such as electricity prices. The long memory of electricity prices is represented by a fractional derivative, while the stable noise input models their non-Gaussianity via the tails of their probability density. A method using the empirical densities and MF-DFA will be provided to estimate all the parameters of the model and simulate sample paths of the equation. The method is then applied to analyse daily spot prices for five states of Australia. Comparison with the results obtained from the R/S analysis, periodogram method and MF-DFA are provided. The results from fractional SDEs agree with those from MF-DFA, which are based on multifractal scaling, while those from the periodograms, which are based on the second order, seem to underestimate the long memory dynamics of the process. This highlights the need and usefulness of fractal methods in modelling non-Gaussian financial processes with long memory.

Inspired by Gould, who claimed life would be arriving at a different outcome each time it were allowed to run from the same beginning, I have attempted to determine the repeatability of the adaptive course of one Pseudomonas fluorescens lineage. In addition, my study aimed to establish whether the likelihood of parallel evolution of the two synonymous single-nucleotide substitutions was contingent upon a prior motility-impairing deletion or a prior increase in fitness. Further, the study was designed to provide empirical data addressing the long-standing question of the effect of starting fitness on the ensuing rate of adaptation. Although no exact replay of the initial evolutionary trajectory was observed, I have demonstrated that gtsB, but not gtsC gene, is likely to be a mutational hotspot under the low glucose with a recovery of two undescribed mutations in gtsB. My data are consistent with a notion that substitutions in gtsB may be contingent upon Δ35kB(fliJ-PFLU4466) motility-impairing deletion, but not the fitness increase associated with it. Finally, the features of the adaptive landscape of P. fluorescens in the minimal glucose provide languid support for Fisher’s hypothesis of a decrease in adaptation rate with the rise in the starting fitness. Taken together, these original results reinforce the non-negligible role of history in shaping the outcomes of biological evolution and call for caution in attempting a formulation of rigid predictive models of evolutionary change. Inspiré par les travaux de Stephen J. Gould qui affirmait que la vie sur terre arriverait à une forme différente si elle repartait à zéro, je présente ici mes travaux où je teste la reproductibilité du cours adaptatif d’une lignée expérimentale de Pseudomonas fluorescens. L’objectif de cette étude était de déterminer si la probabilité que deux mutations synonymes évoluent en parallèle est affectée par la présence d’une délétion affectant la motilité de la bactérie ou de l’augmentation de la valeur sélective de celle-ci. De plus, le design expérimental de cette étude permet de tester si la valeur sélective initiale d’une population affecte le taux d’adaptation de cette même population. Bien d’une reproductibilité exacte du cours adaptatif initial ne fut pas observée, je démontre que le gène gtsB est probablement un « hotspot »mutationnel permettant l’adaptation à de bas niveau de glucose, ayant trouvé deux mutations dans ce site; alors que le gène gtsC ne l’est pas. Mes données sont également conséquentes avec le fait que les mutation dans le gène gtsB dépendent de l’effet de la délétion Δ35kB(fliJ-PFLU4466) affectant la motilité de la bactérie, mais non de l’augmentation de la valeur sélective qui y est associée. Finalement, la forme du plateau adaptative associé à de bas niveaux de glucose chez P. fluorescens supporte l’hypothèse émise par Fisher qui stipule que le taux d’adaptation d’un organisme diminue avec la valeur sélective initiale qui y est associée. L’ensemble de ces résultats supporte le rôle non-négligeable de l’histoire de vie d’une population en ce qui attrait à l’évolution future de cette même population. Aussi, ces résultats appelle à la prudence quand vient le temps de formuler des modèles prédictifs des changements évolutifs d’une population.

This diploma thesis is focused on the analysis of small samples where it is not possible to obtain more data. It can be especially due to the capital intensity or time demandingness. Where the production have not a wherewithall for the realization more data or absence of the financial resources. Of course, analysis of small samples is very uncertain, because inferences are always encumbered with the level of uncertainty.