The objective of my thesis is to explore and re-define the relationship between threshold and urban density. Threshold is an architectural medium, which divides and bridges spaces with certain meanings. Density is the defining character of the urban condition expressed consistently at different scales: from a city to a block, to a building and to the human habitation. My design project is about an application of threshold in architectural design within the context of urban density. The efficacy of threshold is tested in both external and internal conditions: the existing condition of the site and the internal workings of the program. To test the thesis, a design of a youth hostel in Washington D.C. was undertaken. The experiment was carried out with the following hypotheses: 1) that threshold is an architectural instrument that mitigates the urban density and 2) that threshold negotiates the territories among the inhabitants. The design experiment demonstrated the hypotheses and therefore, confirmed the relationship between threshold and urban density. / Master of Architecture

Diese Dissertation beschaeftigt sich damit wie die vom Nazi Europa vertriebenen Fluechtlinge in Fluechtlingsheimen in Kuba, Amerika und im noch nicht okupierten Europa aufgenommen wurden, bzw. den Gastlaendern entsprechend ihre Identitaeten aenderten. Die Mehrheit der 13 untersuchten Fluechtlingsheime wurden von Quaekern betrieben, wobei Scattergood Hostel (Iowa/USA) am ausfuerhlichsten in dieser Veroeffentlichung beschrieben wird. / This dissertation examines how refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe were received by refugee centers in Europe, Cuba and the United States and assisted in forming new identities commensurate with the host countries. The majority of the 13 centers reviewed were run by Quakers--Scattergood Hostel (Iowa/USA) being the most extensively presented in this work.

The research is a study of the efficiency and robustness of genetic algorithm to instances of both discrete and continuous global optimization problems. We developed genetic algorithm based heuristics to find the global minimum to problem instances considered. In the discrete category, we considered two instances of real-world space allocation problems that arose from an academic environment in a developing country. These are the university timetabling problem and hostel space allocation problem. University timetabling represents a difficult optimization problem and finding a high quality solution is a challenging task. Many approaches, based on instances from developed countries, have been reported in the literature. However, most developing countries are yet to appreciate the deployment of heuristics and metaheuristics in handling the timetabling problem. We therefore worked on an instance from a university in Nigeria to show the feasibility and efficiency of heuristic method to the timetabling problem. We adopt a simplified bottom up approach in which timetable are build around departments. Thus a small portion of real data was used for experimental testing purposes. As with similar baseline studies in literature, we employ genetic algorithm to solve this instance and show that efficient solutions that meet stated constraints can be obtained with the metaheuristics. This thesis further focuses on an instance of university space allocation problem, namely the hostel space allocation problem. This is a new instance of the space allocation problems that has not been studied by metaheuristic researchers to the best of our knowledge. The problem aims at the allocation of categories of students into available hostel space. This must be done without violating any hard constraints but satisfying as many soft constraints as possible and ensuring optimum space utilization. We identified some issues in the problem that helped to adapt metaheuristic approach to solve it. The problem is multi-stage and highly constrained. We first highlight an initial investigation based on genetic algorithm adapted to find a good solution within the search space of the hostel space allocation problem. Some ideas are introduced to increase the overall performance of initial results based on instance of the problem from our case study. Computational results obtained are reported to demonstrate the effectiveness of the solution approaches employed. Sensitivity analysis was conducted on the genetic algorithm for the two SAPs considered to determine the best parameter values that consistently give good solutions. We noted that the genetic algorithms perform well specially, when repair strategies are incorporated. This thesis pioneers the application of metaheuristics to solve the hostel space allocation problem. It provides a baseline study of the problem based on genetic algorithms with associated test data sets. We report the best known results for the test instances. It is a known fact that many real-life problems are formulated as global optimization problems with continuous variables. On the continuous global optimization category therefore, we focus on improving the efficiency and reliability of real coded genetic algorithm for solving unconstrained global optimization, mainly through hybridization with exploratory features. Hybridization has widely been recognized as one of the most attractive approach to solving unconstrained global optimization. Literatures have shown that hybridization helps component heuristics to taking advantage of their individual strengths while avoiding their weaknesses. We therefore derived three modified forms of real coded genetic algorithm by hybridizing the standard real-coded genetic algorithm with pattern search and vector projection. These are combined to form three new algorithms namely, RCGA-PS, RCGA-P, and RCGA-PS-P. The hybridization strategy used and results obtained are reported and compared with the standard real-coded genetic algorithm. Experimental studies show that all the modified algorithms perform better than the original algorithm.

Partindo da hipótese de que a população de rua, tal como é concebida hoje, não existiu desde sempre, o objetivo deste trabalho é interrogar parcialmente os jogos de relações que definem este fenômeno enquanto uma questão social. Isto através de três perspectivas fundamentais: sua constituição histórica, sua contestação política e sua regulação institucional. Para tal, utilizo-me do conceito foucaultiano de dispositivo, de modo a tratar esta realidade como efeito de correlações dinâmicas entre agentes, discursos e instituições, estrategicamente situadas no centro da cidade de São Paulo. No primeiro capítulo, busco, através de trajetórias entrecruzadas de atores diretamente envolvidos com o tema, traçar a trama de uma história capaz de expor o nascimento da população de rua como questão social, bem como delinear seu campo de aparição. No segundo capítulo, através de uma cadeia de cinco mobilizações sociais, apresento rituais políticos capazes de exporem as dimensões públicas e conflituosas do fenômeno, assim como o campo de forças em que este se situa, dando especial destaque para os modos no qual o Movimento Nacional da População de Rua (MNPR) elabora um discurso sobre si frente a outras alteridades políticas. No terceiro e último capítulo, apresento a população de rua como um problema de gestão e segurança, descrevendo alguns componentes da rede de atendimento e proteção deste contingente, destacando a importância do albergue nesta composição, e problematizando etnograficamente os usos destes equipamentos institucionais. Entende-se, neste trabalho, que a definição do fenômeno população de rua é um objeto provisório, foco de múltiplos agenciamentos urbanos, e cujo contorno constitui-se como o alvo privilegiado dos questionamentos que o presente estudo busca interrogar. / This study works from the hypothesis that the homeless population (população de rua) of São Paulo, today considered a problem in terms of its growth and control, has not always been considered in these terms. The study seeks, therefore, to interrogate the sets of relations that define this phenomenon as a social question. This approach is developed through three central perspectives: the historical formation of this population, the political conflicts that surround it and its institutional regulation. To this end, the Foucaultian concept of dispositif is considered as a way of treating this reality as the consequence of dynamic correlations between agents, discourses and institutions, strategically situated in the centre of the city of São Paulo. In chapter one, the history of the appearance of the homeless population as a social question is explored through a series of intertwined trajectories of individuals and organizations directly involved with this issue. In chapter 2, through the analysis of a sequence of five political protests, the study explores the ways in which political rituals expose the public and conflictive dimensions of this phenomenon, as well as the political context in which it is situated, with particular emphasis on the ways in which the National Movement of the Homeless Population (Movimento Nacional da População de Rua) elaborates its discourse in dialogue with other political entities. In the third and last chapter of this study, the homeless population is considered as a management and security problem. This chapter describes some of the components of the network of assistance and protection services offered to the homeless, highlighting among these the importance of the hostel, and exploring, from an ethnographic perspective, the uses of these institutional services. This study considers the definition of the phenomenon of homelessness as a provisional object, the focus of a multitude of urban agencies whose configurations represent the field of reference that this study seeks to explore.

Na segunda metade do século XIX, leis abolicionistas, como a Lei Eusébio de Queiroz que impedia o tráfico negreiro, levaram os fazendeiros paulistas a buscar novas alternativas para suprir a necessidade de abastecimento de mão de obra. Uma das alternativas foi trazer europeus. As hospedarias de imigrantes desempenharam importante papel no processo migratório brasileiro, por ser local de transição de estrangeiros e nacionais após a longa viagem do seu ponto de origem ao seu destino. Entre o navio da Europa até a chegada às fazendas no interior paulista, as hospedarias de imigrantes foram importantes para acolhê-los, alimentálos e direcioná-los para o trabalho, quer nas fazendas, quer nas cidades. Nosso objetivo foi localizar hospedarias que não costumam ser elencadas pela historiografia e compreender a quem se destinavam, como se organizavam e quem as comandava. Através da análise textual e paleográfica da documentação oficial dos relatórios de Império e Província, da legislação, dos periódicos e de manuscritos do Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo e da historiografia localizamos hospedarias de imigrantes, de núcleos coloniais e de internação, que funcionaram entre 1875 e 1886. Consideramos que os cafeicultores paulistas, principais interessados em obter alternativas à mão de obra escrava, ficaram à frente na organização das hospedarias de imigrantes. Para se manter na organização das hospedarias, ora criaram associações de imigração, que se sucederam, ora atuaram como encarregados do governo. Também consideramos que as hospedarias de imigrantes, independentemente da localização, mantiveram a continuidade dos serviços, oferecendo três refeições diárias por até oito dias, prestando atendimento médico e funerário em caso de necessidade. Além da hospedaria de imigrantes, houve outras com funções diferentes como as que serviram para abrigar os que tinham por destino os núcleos coloniais e os que eram encaminhados para São Paulo, internados, para manter-se longe das ameaças de contrair doenças como febre amarela. / In the second half of the nineteenth century abolitionist laws such as the Law Eusebio de Queiroz which prevented slave trading, led São Paulo farmers to seek new alternatives to supply the need for manpower provision. One of these alternatives was to bring Europeans. The immigrants hostels played an important role in the Brazilian migratory process, by being a transition place for foreign and domestic workers after their long journey from their point of origin to their destination. A point between their departure from Europe and their arrival at the inland farms, the immigrants hostels were important to welcome them, feed them and direct them to work either on farms or at the city. Our goal was to find hostels that are not usually listed by historiography and understand to whom they were intended, how they were organized and who controlled them. Through textual and paleographical analysis of official documentation of the Empire and Province reports, of legislation, of periodicals and manuscripts from the Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo and of historiography we located immigrants hostels, of colonial settlements and internalization, which ran between 1875 and 1886. We believe that Paulistas coffee planters, key stakeholders in obtaining alternatives to slave labor, were ahead in the organization of these immigrants hostels. To keep controlling these hostels, sometimes they created immigration associations that followed, sometimes they acted as government tenders. We also consider that the immigrants hostels, regardless their location, maintained the continuity of services, offering three meals a day for up to eight days, and providing medical and funeral assistance when needed. Besides the immigrants hostel, there were others with different functions, such as those that sheltered immigrants who were destined for the colonial settlements and who were sent to São Paulo, interned, in order to keep them away from the threats of contracting diseases such as yellow fever.

The Czech Republic is one of those countries where it is possible to monitor a trend of excessive hard drinking; and the alcohol consummation is quite common and tolerated phenomenon in this country, the same as smoking of tobacco products. The society toleration is high within this field. Experimenting with habit-forming substances is an integral part of this period; therefore just this became the target of my thesis. The theoretical part brings the knowledge of individual socially tolerated habit-forming substances (alcohol, tobacco, excessive use of medicines, caffeine and anabolic substances) and of the related problems. Furthermore, this part contains specifics of university population. The aim of this thesis was to map the problem of the socially tolerated habit-forming substances in university students in term of the students{\crq} preferences and attitudes towards such substances. Simultaneously, the thesis was to verify two forward hypotheses. This verification was followed by the chosen questioning method by means of questionnaires. The questionnaires were addressed to students of the South Bohemian University in České Budějovice. The research set to collect the questionnaire data is made up by 213 respondents as a whole. H1 Hypothesis supposed that university students use the socially tolerated habit-forming substances to a higher degree during the examination period. This hypothesis was not verified. H2 Hypothesis supposed that the student hostel life encourages and increases use of the socially tolerated habit-forming substances. The observed results brought the verification of such hypothesis. The attitude of the students towards the socially tolerated habit-forming substances is predominantly positive. The thesis brought new knowledge and mapped the situation within the socially tolerated habit-forming substances abuse in university students; hence it can serve to implementation of the effective prevention focused on this specific group.

Na segunda metade do século XIX, leis abolicionistas, como a Lei Eusébio de Queiroz que impedia o tráfico negreiro, levaram os fazendeiros paulistas a buscar novas alternativas para suprir a necessidade de abastecimento de mão de obra. Uma das alternativas foi trazer europeus. As hospedarias de imigrantes desempenharam importante papel no processo migratório brasileiro, por ser local de transição de estrangeiros e nacionais após a longa viagem do seu ponto de origem ao seu destino. Entre o navio da Europa até a chegada às fazendas no interior paulista, as hospedarias de imigrantes foram importantes para acolhê-los, alimentálos e direcioná-los para o trabalho, quer nas fazendas, quer nas cidades. Nosso objetivo foi localizar hospedarias que não costumam ser elencadas pela historiografia e compreender a quem se destinavam, como se organizavam e quem as comandava. Através da análise textual e paleográfica da documentação oficial dos relatórios de Império e Província, da legislação, dos periódicos e de manuscritos do Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo e da historiografia localizamos hospedarias de imigrantes, de núcleos coloniais e de internação, que funcionaram entre 1875 e 1886. Consideramos que os cafeicultores paulistas, principais interessados em obter alternativas à mão de obra escrava, ficaram à frente na organização das hospedarias de imigrantes. Para se manter na organização das hospedarias, ora criaram associações de imigração, que se sucederam, ora atuaram como encarregados do governo. Também consideramos que as hospedarias de imigrantes, independentemente da localização, mantiveram a continuidade dos serviços, oferecendo três refeições diárias por até oito dias, prestando atendimento médico e funerário em caso de necessidade. Além da hospedaria de imigrantes, houve outras com funções diferentes como as que serviram para abrigar os que tinham por destino os núcleos coloniais e os que eram encaminhados para São Paulo, internados, para manter-se longe das ameaças de contrair doenças como febre amarela. / In the second half of the nineteenth century abolitionist laws such as the Law Eusebio de Queiroz which prevented slave trading, led São Paulo farmers to seek new alternatives to supply the need for manpower provision. One of these alternatives was to bring Europeans. The immigrants hostels played an important role in the Brazilian migratory process, by being a transition place for foreign and domestic workers after their long journey from their point of origin to their destination. A point between their departure from Europe and their arrival at the inland farms, the immigrants hostels were important to welcome them, feed them and direct them to work either on farms or at the city. Our goal was to find hostels that are not usually listed by historiography and understand to whom they were intended, how they were organized and who controlled them. Through textual and paleographical analysis of official documentation of the Empire and Province reports, of legislation, of periodicals and manuscripts from the Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo and of historiography we located immigrants hostels, of colonial settlements and internalization, which ran between 1875 and 1886. We believe that Paulistas coffee planters, key stakeholders in obtaining alternatives to slave labor, were ahead in the organization of these immigrants hostels. To keep controlling these hostels, sometimes they created immigration associations that followed, sometimes they acted as government tenders. We also consider that the immigrants hostels, regardless their location, maintained the continuity of services, offering three meals a day for up to eight days, and providing medical and funeral assistance when needed. Besides the immigrants hostel, there were others with different functions, such as those that sheltered immigrants who were destined for the colonial settlements and who were sent to São Paulo, interned, in order to keep them away from the threats of contracting diseases such as yellow fever.

Partindo da hipótese de que a população de rua, tal como é concebida hoje, não existiu desde sempre, o objetivo deste trabalho é interrogar parcialmente os jogos de relações que definem este fenômeno enquanto uma questão social. Isto através de três perspectivas fundamentais: sua constituição histórica, sua contestação política e sua regulação institucional. Para tal, utilizo-me do conceito foucaultiano de dispositivo, de modo a tratar esta realidade como efeito de correlações dinâmicas entre agentes, discursos e instituições, estrategicamente situadas no centro da cidade de São Paulo. No primeiro capítulo, busco, através de trajetórias entrecruzadas de atores diretamente envolvidos com o tema, traçar a trama de uma história capaz de expor o nascimento da população de rua como questão social, bem como delinear seu campo de aparição. No segundo capítulo, através de uma cadeia de cinco mobilizações sociais, apresento rituais políticos capazes de exporem as dimensões públicas e conflituosas do fenômeno, assim como o campo de forças em que este se situa, dando especial destaque para os modos no qual o Movimento Nacional da População de Rua (MNPR) elabora um discurso sobre si frente a outras alteridades políticas. No terceiro e último capítulo, apresento a população de rua como um problema de gestão e segurança, descrevendo alguns componentes da rede de atendimento e proteção deste contingente, destacando a importância do albergue nesta composição, e problematizando etnograficamente os usos destes equipamentos institucionais. Entende-se, neste trabalho, que a definição do fenômeno população de rua é um objeto provisório, foco de múltiplos agenciamentos urbanos, e cujo contorno constitui-se como o alvo privilegiado dos questionamentos que o presente estudo busca interrogar. / This study works from the hypothesis that the homeless population (população de rua) of São Paulo, today considered a problem in terms of its growth and control, has not always been considered in these terms. The study seeks, therefore, to interrogate the sets of relations that define this phenomenon as a social question. This approach is developed through three central perspectives: the historical formation of this population, the political conflicts that surround it and its institutional regulation. To this end, the Foucaultian concept of dispositif is considered as a way of treating this reality as the consequence of dynamic correlations between agents, discourses and institutions, strategically situated in the centre of the city of São Paulo. In chapter one, the history of the appearance of the homeless population as a social question is explored through a series of intertwined trajectories of individuals and organizations directly involved with this issue. In chapter 2, through the analysis of a sequence of five political protests, the study explores the ways in which political rituals expose the public and conflictive dimensions of this phenomenon, as well as the political context in which it is situated, with particular emphasis on the ways in which the National Movement of the Homeless Population (Movimento Nacional da População de Rua) elaborates its discourse in dialogue with other political entities. In the third and last chapter of this study, the homeless population is considered as a management and security problem. This chapter describes some of the components of the network of assistance and protection services offered to the homeless, highlighting among these the importance of the hostel, and exploring, from an ethnographic perspective, the uses of these institutional services. This study considers the definition of the phenomenon of homelessness as a provisional object, the focus of a multitude of urban agencies whose configurations represent the field of reference that this study seeks to explore.

This thesis deals with selected educational problems of pupils accommodated in a particular youth home. It explains the function and content of the youth home. It defines the life period and associated developmental tasks that help us explain and understand the behavior and manners of adolescents. Then there are characteristics of educational problems and risk behavior of adolescents. The longest part of the thesis describes some selected types of risk behavior. The theoretical part is complemented by the practical part. It is based on qualitative research that mentions the most common behavioral problems, for these there are analyzed selected case studies.

This diploma thesis focuses on analyzing limitations of marketing communication of Služby Blansko, Ltd. It tries to establish how these shortcomings could be eliminated and in achieving these goal different tools like marketing mix analysis is used. Based on the feedbacks from the customers and discussion with the management of the company, some measures on how to properly react to each individual customer demand and increase attendance and popularity of Služby Blansko, Ltd. were suggested.