There is always a moment, within the act of work, when the decision comes into question; the mind is aware of the goal, seeking out the destination, but the body brings the reality of the task to light, at first whispering its doubts, then speaking in full volume. The physical intensity of the creation of my work enlivens this debate between the consciousness of my intellect and the limitations of my being. The act of defining myself as an artist serves as a challenge to my body’s capabilities as a maker. Through this relationship with my work, I have become deeply intimate with the term labor. My thesis aims to contextualize my engagement with labor within the universal understanding that human beings possess an inherent need to work. While the interchangeable use of terms such as work and labor is highly disputed, I have found that my role as artist, actions as maker, and identity as worker persuade me to define my work as labor and my labors as work. This subsequent body of work serves as a record of the actions of the laborer. A floor sits; frozen in the process of installation, it awaits the return of the laborer to complete the work. Through the cyclical conversation between the workers’ voices embroidered upon the wall and the work being performed on the floor, the installation serves as the preserved space of the anonymous laborer.

Sobre opiso desenvolvem-se todas as atividades a que se destina a edificação. Falhas Em sua execução, tais como, empenamentos, placas soltas, bolhas e manchas têm como conseqüências, desde o desconforto pessoal de andar em uma superfícieirregular, ao risco de acidentes de trabalho, contaminação de produtos por poeira, de salinhamento de equipamentos ou até mesmo a interferência no processo de produção, podendo provocar a paralisação parcial ou total da atividade produtiva da empresa.Tais problemas, muitas vezes são decorrentes do excesso de umidade do substrato de concreto, quando da aplicação do revestimento, por não ter tido o tempo de secagem adequado, de maneira a atingir o nível de umidade ideal. O excesso de água residual decorrente da umidade do substrato é uma das principais causas geradoras de patologias nos pisos de concreto quando utilizados revestimentos suscetíveis à presença de água. O comportamento da umidade do concreto é resultado de uma complexa ação entre a quantidade de água física e quimicamente ligada, durante a hidratação do cimento e a capacidade de transporte de água do sistema de poros do concreto. Neste contexto, o presente trabalho procura contribuir na sistematização do conhecimento sobre o assunto, descrevendo, inicialmente, o comportamento de bases de concreto frente à ação da água e os fatores que a influenciam: grau de hidratação, condições de equilíbrio e fluxo de umidade. É mostrado como ocorre a secagem do concreto e a influencia do tempo de cura, relação água/cimento do concreto e condições ambientes sobre o tempo necessário para que a umidade do concreto atinja o nível ideal para o início do revestimento do piso. São descritos os testes utilizados para a medição do nível de umidade do concreto, enfatizando os de caráter quantitativo, baseados na medição do teor de umidade, taxa de emissão de vapor de água e umidade relativa interna do concreto. Valores dos níveis ideais de umidade, em conformidade com o tipo de teste aplicado e materiais empregados, estabelecidos por entidades representativas de fabricantes de revestimentos para pisos de concreto, são apresentados como referências. O texto é finalizado com a apresentação das recomendações que visam facilitar a secagem do concreto e aspectos a serem observados quando da realização da medição do nível de umidade. / On the floor are developed all the activities the building is destined to. Faults in its execution, such as warping, loose plates, bubbles and stains, bring about from the personal discomfort of walking on an irregular surface, to the risk of workplace accidents, contamination of product due to dust, misalignment of equipment or even the interference in the production process, which may cause a partial or total stalling of the company productive activity. Such problems often derive from excess moisture in the concrete substrate, when the lining is applied, for not having been dried long enough, so as to attain the ideal moisture level. The excess residual water deriving from substrate moisture is one of the main causes generating pathologies on concrete floors when linings susceptible to the presence of water are used. The moisture behavior of concrete derives from a complex action between the amount of physical and chemically related water, during the hydration of the cement and the water transport capacity of the concrete pore system. In thisn context, the present work aims to contribute in systematizing the knowledge on the matter, initially describing the behavior of the concrete bases concerning the action of water and the factors influencing this: degree of hydration, balance conditions and humidity. The work shows how the drying of concrete occurs and the influence of the curing time flux, concrete water/cement ratio and ambient conditions on the time required for the concrete moisture to attain the ideal level to start the floor lining. The tests used to measure the concrete moisture level are described, emphasizing those of quantitative character, based on the measurement of the moisture content, water vapor emission rate and the concrete relative internal humidity. Values of the ideal levels of moisture, in accordance with the type of test applied and materials employed, established by representative manufacturer entities for concrete floors linings, are presented as references. The text concludes with the presentation of recommendations that aim to make the drying of concrete easier and aspects to be observed when the measurement of the moisture level is performed.

Current Canadian Building Codes mandate prescribed design requirements for the protection of vertical floor openings by means of draft stops and closely spaced sprinklers. In the event that a design cannot meet the requirements, they also allow for the use of an alternative solution as long as the alternative solution can be proven to provide at least an equivalent level of performance as that prescribed in the Code. A commonly suggested alternative to the use of draft stops includes the construction of a recession at the perimeter of the floor opening; however, the performance of this design relative to that of an equivalent draft stop design has not been thoroughly evaluated. In this research, the available methods for the evaluation of ceiling recession designs are reviewed in order to identify appropriate tools with which to conduct such an analysis. While both analytical analysis and experimental testing could be used, experimental testing of the design is not considered here as this option would not commonly be pursued by design teams due to restrictions on both project budget and design timelines. From the available analytical tools, the fire modeling software Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is selected for evaluation of the ceiling recession design due primarily to the ability of FDS to address complex geometries with appropriate spatial resolution to investigate details of flow and thermal profiles at the ceiling level in a larger compartment. Previous FDS studies are reviewed and an independent validation study is conducted in order to develop an analysis methodology which is appropriate for the evaluation of ceiling recession designs. A case study evaluation is conducted consisting of two dimensionally distinct ceiling recession configurations in the same compartment and two separate source fire heat release rates (HRR). Results are analyzed to evaluate the selected analysis methodology with respect to the characteristics of the simulated flow, and thermal detector response. Results show that the presence of an obstruction to the ceiling jet flow significantly improves thermal detector response where the source fire HRR is low. At higher source fire HRRs, the difference in activation time is found to be minimal amongst configurations of ceiling recession considered in the study. Predictions of thermal detector response time for a selected ceiling recession design are compared to predictions made for code-prescribed draft stop configuration as would be necessary for an alternative solution evaluation. Results indicate that ceiling recession designs provide a reduced level of performance at both low and high source fire HRRs when the thermal detector is placed at the recession ceiling level. In contrast, when the thermal detectors are located at distances greater than 80 mm below the upper ceiling, a design which is permitted by the Code, the performance of the ceiling recession appears better than that of the prescribed draft stop design. Results from the model for detectors placed at distances from the ceiling exceeding 40 mm, however, require further confirmation through experimental testing or additional modeling.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wyoming, 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 17, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

The thesis analyses the relationship between shop-floor militancy and union politics in the period after the birth of "new unionism" in Brazil in the 1980s and addresses the problems and dilemmas faced by this new type of union movement. It is based on a case study of steelworkers at the National Steel Company and their representative union, the Metal workers' Union of Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The research design has emphasised qualitative methods such as in-depth interviewing and field observation. The researcher has also made use of the computer in the analysis of data, through a new type of computer software which is being introduced in sociological research. The objectives of the thesis are two-fold. First, it offers an in-depth study of the relationship between shop-floor politics and union politics in a steel plant. The theoretical framework is based on the concept of "politics of production" introduced by Michael Burawoy, and on the debate around levels of leadership representation of union members, as inaugurated by Robert Michels. The second objective is to assess the developments of "new unionism" in Brazil, ten years after its birth, and to discuss the extent to which it has actually broken with populist and bureaucratic types of unionism and advanced towards more democratic forms of union politics. With the knowledge available today of national level politics, it is possible to argue that in the course of the 1980s the "new unionist" movement developed a significantly more legitimate and democratic relationship between union leaders and their base, and that this helped to break with the "regulated citizenship" of working-class groups in society by expanding their labour rights, by successfully pressing for changes in the Labour Code and by participating in national level politics. The analysis of the case study suggests that the contribution of the new union movement was especially significant in the politicised use of the CIPA (Internal Committee for the Prevention of Accidents) and in the innovative use of the Labour Courts. The significance of these dimensions was that they involved an attempt to expand workers' rights as well as to create new bases under which the rights were granted. On the other hand, the case study suggests that the internal dynamics of the "new union" movement still have elements which may be characterised as non-democratic, and that this generated a new set of problems and dilemmas for organised labour in Brazil for the 1990s.

Current Canadian Building Codes mandate prescribed design requirements for the protection of vertical floor openings by means of draft stops and closely spaced sprinklers. In the event that a design cannot meet the requirements, they also allow for the use of an alternative solution as long as the alternative solution can be proven to provide at least an equivalent level of performance as that prescribed in the Code. A commonly suggested alternative to the use of draft stops includes the construction of a recession at the perimeter of the floor opening; however, the performance of this design relative to that of an equivalent draft stop design has not been thoroughly evaluated. In this research, the available methods for the evaluation of ceiling recession designs are reviewed in order to identify appropriate tools with which to conduct such an analysis. While both analytical analysis and experimental testing could be used, experimental testing of the design is not considered here as this option would not commonly be pursued by design teams due to restrictions on both project budget and design timelines. From the available analytical tools, the fire modeling software Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is selected for evaluation of the ceiling recession design due primarily to the ability of FDS to address complex geometries with appropriate spatial resolution to investigate details of flow and thermal profiles at the ceiling level in a larger compartment. Previous FDS studies are reviewed and an independent validation study is conducted in order to develop an analysis methodology which is appropriate for the evaluation of ceiling recession designs. A case study evaluation is conducted consisting of two dimensionally distinct ceiling recession configurations in the same compartment and two separate source fire heat release rates (HRR). Results are analyzed to evaluate the selected analysis methodology with respect to the characteristics of the simulated flow, and thermal detector response. Results show that the presence of an obstruction to the ceiling jet flow significantly improves thermal detector response where the source fire HRR is low. At higher source fire HRRs, the difference in activation time is found to be minimal amongst configurations of ceiling recession considered in the study. Predictions of thermal detector response time for a selected ceiling recession design are compared to predictions made for code-prescribed draft stop configuration as would be necessary for an alternative solution evaluation. Results indicate that ceiling recession designs provide a reduced level of performance at both low and high source fire HRRs when the thermal detector is placed at the recession ceiling level. In contrast, when the thermal detectors are located at distances greater than 80 mm below the upper ceiling, a design which is permitted by the Code, the performance of the ceiling recession appears better than that of the prescribed draft stop design. Results from the model for detectors placed at distances from the ceiling exceeding 40 mm, however, require further confirmation through experimental testing or additional modeling.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 154-160).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-166).

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, August, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-63).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 1982. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 200-211).