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Analyses of the nature and structure of scientific theories have predominantly focused on formalisation. The Received View of scientific theories considers theories as axiomatised sets of sentences. In Hilbert-style formalisation theories are considered formal axiomatic calculi to which interpretation is supplied by a set of correspondence rules. The Received View has long been abandoned. The Semantic View of scientific theories also considers theories as formal systems. In the Semantic conception, a theory is identified with the class of intended models of the formal language, if the theory were to be given such linguistic form. The proponents of the Semantic View, however, hold that this class of models can be directly defined without recourse to a formal language. Just like its predecessor, the Semantic View is also not free of untenable implications. The uniting feature of the arguments m this work is the topic of theoretical representation of phenomena. The Semantic View implies that theoretical representation conies about by the use of some model, which belongs to the class that constitutes the theory. However, this is not what we see when we scrutinise the features of actual representation models in physics. In this work particular emphasis is given to how representation models are constructed in Classical Mechanics and Nuclear Physics and what conceptual resources are used in their construction. The characteristics that these models demonstrate instruct us that to regard them as families of theoretical models, as the Semantic View purports, is to obscure how they are constructed, what is used for their construction, how they function and how they relate to the theory. For instance, representation models are devices that frequently postulate physical mechanisms for which the theory does not provide explanations. Thus it seems more appropriate to claim that these representation devices mediate between theory and experiment, and at the same time possess a partial independence from theory. Furthermore, when we focus our attention to the ways by which representation models are constructed we discern that they are the result of the processes of abstraction and concretisation. These processes are operative in theoretical representation and they demand our attention if we are to explicate how theories represent phenomena in their domains.

The importance of sport in the revision of the past has gained much recognition in recent times and the genre of sport history has become ever more popular as a result. This dissertation attempts to locate and trace the historically binary relationship of sport with concepts such as unification and division, inclusion and exclusion, while focussing on the historical divide in South African rugby. While it is true that sport creates community and pulls people together, it is also true that sport often serves as a stage for division and social exclusion. This is well illustrated in the development and diffusion of rugby in South Africa. Various theories have been developed to analyse division within societies which may shed more light on the effectiveness of sport as a social divider in the nineteenth century. The concepts and theories include B. Bernstein, H. L. Elvin and R. S. Peters's ideas on rituals and symbols; Eric Hobsbawm's "Invented Traditions"; Benedict Anderson's "Imagined Communities"; as well as Antonio Gramsci's "Cultural Hegemony". These theories, employed within a strong legacy of British cultural imperialism, could explain how the rugby community in South Africa came to be racially stratified. This dissertation sets out to show how the establishment of schools based on the English public school model, and exclusive rugby clubs and unions in South Africa, all aided in the formalisation of rugby and in doing so unlocked the political power of the sport. By looking to the formalisation, and thus politicisation of rugby, this dissertation attempts to trace the origins of separation in South African rugby. It is thus the aim of this study to discern the link between middle class schools, the establishment of exclusive clubs and unions and the racial stratification of South African rugby. / Dissertation (MHCS)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Historical and Heritage Studies / MHCS / Unrestricted

The charcoal market in Africa is an informal economy. This enables millions of people to earn a living producing, selling and trading charcoal, due to low barriers to market entry. However, research and policy on charcoal has long focused on the downsides of informality. Informal charcoal production is commonly linked to criminality, an undermining of social cohesion, poor working conditions and most of all, forest loss. These negative perspectives continue to shape our approaches to charcoal markets, despite a recent reframing of charcoal as a potential sustainable development opportunity. This thesis aims to provide an alternative perspective. I argue that by focusing on the negative aspects of charcoal production, in particular forest loss, we end up misdiagnosing the problems and excluding stakeholders. The focus on forest loss has obscured research on the role of charcoal in rural livelihoods and has led to research that is primarily interested in large-scale production providing charcoal to major urban areas. This means small-scale charcoal production has been comparatively neglected in academic research, despite its importance for rural livelihoods and overall charcoal supply. Through three empirical chapters, I provide perspectives on small-scale charcoal production, its role in rural livelihoods and some of the factors that shape this role. I strive to provide novel analytical insights by moving away from questions of charcoal’s environmental impact and towards an approach that situates charcoal within the politics of rural livelihoods. I explore these ideas using case studies from Mozambique and a mixed methods approach. The results show small-scale charcoal production is a flexible form of income, primarily used as a livelihood diversification strategy. Furthermore, charcoal production is closely linked to the agricultural practices of producers. This means that conventional theoretical approaches to forest loss that treat charcoal production as distinct from agricultural practice may misinterpret the role of charcoal production in deforestation and forest degradation. I then move on to look at approaches to charcoal market formalisation in Mozambique. The results show that the regulations, whilst shaped by a variety of processes, concentrate on governing charcoal as an environmental problem. Changes to forest management requirements within the regulations have done little to improve sustainability as they are incapable of reaching out to small producers, in part due to inherent barriers within the formalisation process - stringent forest management plans and a conceptualisation of charcoal as a full-time, professional livelihood. The picture of charcoal production that emerges from the thesis is one of a flexible cash-income generating strategy, complicated by the politics of forest loss and livelihoods at local and national levels. The results show that charcoal plays a vital role in rural economies, not only in spite of its informality, but because of it. I argue throughout the thesis that small-scale charcoal production should be seen as a livelihood strategy to be nurtured rather than neglected and marginalised. The research questions whether the formalisation and modernisation of charcoal markets can engage small producers and concludes that in order to allow charcoal livelihoods to flourish and to improve sustainability, interventions need to work with, and for, charcoal as an informal economy.

Habilitation à diriger des recherches : Informatique : Rennes 1 : 1998. / Bibliogr. p.143-158.

Thèse de doctorat : Linguistique anglaise : Rennes 2 : 2006. / Bibliogr. f. 330-336.

Texte remanié de: Th. Etat--Sémiologie--Paris--EHESS, 1982. Titre de soutenance : Thèse soutenue sous le titre : Pour un schématisme de la structure. / Bibliogr. p. 411-433. Index.

A first-rate public transport system is one of the critical building blocks of any world-class economy. The minibus-taxi industry has developed into the dominant public transport provider in South Africa and is a beacon of black economic empowerment. However, the industry’s informal operation is plagued with problems like poor road safety and declining profit margins. This research project sets out to investigate these impediments in an effort to provide a framework for the transformation of the industry into a high-quality, customer focused enterprise. The TOC thinking processes is systematically employed to design a robust solution for this multifaceted operation. The research presents a positive prospect of genuinely safe, secure and reliable public transport for the first time in South Africa. / Dissertation (M.Eng (Technology Management))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / unrestricted

Les transformateurs de puissance sont des éléments clés des systèmes électriques. Leurs défaillances sont très coûteuses, principalement à cause de la non-disponibilité du service électrique qu'elles entraînent. L'évaluation rapide et précise de défauts internes des transformateurs est en conséquence un facteur clé d'une exploitation efficace et sûre. Un tel diagnostic est généralement établi par un expert humain qui fait corréler différents types d'informations telles que des résultats d'essais électriques ou chimiques, le déclenchement de protections ou l'historique de l'appareil… Cette thèse présente une méthode d'aide au diagnostic de défauts originale qui reprend, en les formalisant, la démarche et la capitalisation d'expérience de l'expert. Les informations disponibles sur le transformateur à étudier sont mises en correspondance avec le système proposé de manière systématique. Des hypothèses de défaut sont alors formulées et un degré de confiance calculé pour chacune d'elle. Pour améliorer la confiance en certaines de ces hypothèses la méthode recherche, et propose, de renseigner des informations utiles pouvant améliorer le diagnostic. Il progresse ainsi jusqu'à ce que la confiance d'au moins une hypothèse soit suffisante pour l'utilisateur. Le système peut de plus évoluer efficacement dans le temps en prenant facilement en compte de nouveaux types d'essais ou de nouvelles informations pouvant être discriminants dans un diagnostic, et ainsi améliorer les diagnostics futurs automatiquement. / Power transformers are keys components to the electrical systems. Its failures are very expensive mostly by causing long electrical service unavailability. Quick and accurate assess of transformer's internal faults is consequently a key issue for an efficient and safe service life. Such diagnosis is mainly led by a human expert, due to his ability to link together many different kind of information as electrical or chemical tests, tripped protections or history of the apparatus… This thesis presents an original method of diagnosis aid that behaves somehow like an expert, and capitalizes his experience, by formalizing it. The available information on a particular transformer are used to search any similarities within the developed system, on a systematic base. Then faults hypothesis are proposed and according confidences are calculated. To improve those hypothesis' confidences the method will propose to inform new useful information that could improve the diagnosis. Then it continues up until at least one hypothesis confidence is high enough for the user. This system could easily evolve over time by taking into account new kind of tests or new information that could be significant in any diagnosis, and then improve future diagnosis automatically.

The purpose of this thesis is to highlight how tacit and silenced knowledge appear in various contexts in the nuclear power industry.  Attention is paid primarily to the dilemma that the instructor is faced in the teaching of courses and programs of theoretical and practical nature. Organization and leadership are considered to be important parameters in the education context as well.   The method used is called “the dialogue seminar method”. The empirical material has its foundation in the examples that originates from the dialogue seminar sessions in the masters programme, as well as from previous dialogue seminar series at KSU. From a linguistic perspective, some parts of the text have gone the whole hog out in order to create a greater depth in what is written. Some call it poetry.   The thesis considers that tacit knowledge takes a long time to achieve, but it can be lost quickly.  It also describes various dilemmas associated with knowledge and learning, from both the instructor and the student's perspective. The thesis demonstrates the importance of the three knowledges, namely propositional, procedural and personal knowledge. These three types of knowledges can not be separated. For example, if procedural knowledge is reduced to a minimum, it will affect the other two as well.   Since the aim is to highlight training in the nuclear power industry, the primary goal has not been to achieve any specific results. But what emerges is the importance of an organization or leadership which does not restrict the individual, but affirms thirst for knowledge and desire to do good work. Furthermore, it is needed to create opportunities for “on the job training” and in the continuation of self-development. The thesis also shows the importance of welcoming new employees in a good way as well as how knowledge from a colleague who will retire or quit is conveyed to another employee.   In the nuclear power industry, "operational excellence" refers as something to strive for. But what it means or how it affects instructor’s practice is not defined yet. Excellence can be seen as something that comes from within oneself and cannot come from outside and in. / Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att lyfta upp tyst och tystad kunskap och hur den ter sig i olika sammanhang i kärnkraftsbranschen. I första hand ägnas uppsatsen åt de dilemman som instruktören står inför vid genomförande av kurser och utbildningar av teoretisk och praktisk karaktär. Även organisation och ledarskap beaktas som viktiga parametrar i sammanhanget utbildning. Uppsatsen syftar inte till att ge några entydiga svar och gör inte heller anspråk på att komma med lösningar. I de resonemang som förs kommer emellertid svar och lösningar att beröras. Den metod som använts kallas för dialogseminariemetoden och den har tillämpats fullt ut genom de exempel som används. Det empiriska materialet bottnar i de exemplen som har sitt ursprung från de dialogseminarietillfällen som föregått uppsatsskrivandet i masterutbildningen samt från tidigare dialogseminarieserier. Sett ur ett språkligt perspektiv har svängarna tagits ut en del med syfte att skapa ett större djup i det som skrivs. En del kallar det för poesi. Då uppsatsen i första hand betraktar tyst kunskap kommer det fram att den tar lång tid att erövra, men kan förloras snabbt. Uppsatsen beskriver olika dilemman som hänger ihop med kunskap och kunskapsinhämtning både ur instruktörens samt kursdeltagarens perspektiv. Uppsatsen visar vikten av att de trekunskapstyperna påstående-, färdighets- och förtrogenhetskunskap inte glider ifrån varandra. Om till exempel förtrogenhetskunskapen reduceras till ett minimum kommer det att påverka de andra två kunskapstyperna också.  Då syftet är ett belysa utbildning i kärnkraftsbranschen har målet inte varit primärt att nå några resultat. Men det som framkommer är vikten av att en organisation eller ledarskap inte begränsar individen utan bejakar kunskapstörst och viljan att göra ett bra arbete. Därtill kommer att skapa förutsättningar för verkspraktik och fortsatt egen utveckling. Uppsatsen visar också på vikten av att ta emot nyanställda på ett bra sätt såväl som hur kunskap förmedlas från en kollega som kommer att gå i pension. I branschen nämns "Operational excellence" som något att sträva efter. Men vad det innebär eller hur det påverkar instruktörernas praxis går inte att läsa ut än. Excellence kan ses som något som kommer inifrån en själv och kan inte komma utifrån och in.