We describe and report on results of employing a new method for analyzing lay conceptions of intentional and unintentional action. Instead of asking people for their conceptual intuitions with regard to construed scenarios, we asked our participants to come up with their own scenarios and to explain why these are examples of intentional or unintentional actions. By way of content analysis, we extracted contexts and components that people associated with these action types. Our participants associated unintentional actions predominantly with bad outcomes for all persons involved and linked intentional actions more strongly to positive outcomes, especially concerning the agent. People’s conceptions of intentional action seem to involve more aspects than commonly assumed in philosophical models of intentional action that solely stress the importance of intentions, desires, and beliefs. The additional aspects include decisions and thoughts about the action. In addition, we found that the criteria that participants generated for unintentional actions are not a mere inversion of those used in explanations for intentional actions. Associations between involuntariness and unintentional action seem to be stronger than associations between aspects of voluntariness and intentional action.

[pt] Este estudo aborda o Food Design como uma lente para o Design Sistêmico e de Serviço em gastronomia, mais especificamente, para instrumentar chefs de restaurantes no Rio de Janeiro a revisar e modificar relacionamentos em cadeias curtas de produção e consumo de alimentos. Esse conjunto de ações objetiva influenciar e estimular a consciência do consumidor, mudando assim o modo como os alimentos são percebidos e consumidos e a relação entre o usuário final e o produtor. A Design Science Research foi aplicada como espinha dorsal metodológica para desenvolver uma solução (artefato) que melhore o fluxo do campo à mesa no Rio de Janeiro, conscientização do consumidor e cadeias agrícolas locais. Para complementar, os métodos de Pesquisa-ação Participante, Food Design, Design Thinking e Design de Serviço foram também adotados, em um processo imersivo e empático na questão em análise, aprimorada neste estudo pela vivência pessoal da autora, experiente chef de cozinha. O estudo aborda os desafios de uma cadeia de alimentos mais saudável e sustentável, benefícios e obstáculos enfrentados pelos chefs que trabalham com agricultores familiares e pequenos produtores. A pesquisa se debruça sobre barreiras existentes e busca entender como o design pode contribuir na superação desses obstáculos, na interação com os prestadores de serviços de alimentação e na promoção do consumo consciente com sistemas e serviços para chefs. Este trabalho é fortemente apoiado pelo conhecimento empírico dos chefs locais selecionados, com iniciativa relevante para encurtar a cadeia, uma vez que a referência escrita sobre o assunto é um tanto escassa e quase nenhum estudo de Design se concentra no restaurante como sistema alimentar ou seus impactos. Outro sustentáculo da pesquisa se apresenta na experiência didática de Design de Serviço para alimentação em um exercício com alunos da Graduação sobre o tema. Os resultados levantados por esta pesquisa fornecem insights e anteveem a possibilidade de replicação, tendo explorado principalmente questões logísticas, culturais, e as facetas diretas de inovação social que ela contém. / [en] This study approaches Food Design as a lens for the Systemic and Service Design in gastronomy, more specifically, to provide tools for chefs in Rio de Janeiro to review and modify relationships in short food supply chains; wherewith influencing and encouraging conscious consumption, thus changing the way food is perceived and consumed and the relationship between the end user and the producer. Design Science Research was adopted as a methodological backbone to develop a solution (artifact) that improves the flow from farm to table in Rio de Janeiro, consumer awareness and local agricultural chains. Participatory Action Research, Food Design, Design Thinking and Service Design methodologies were also adopted, in an immersive and empathetic process in the question under analysis, which was enhanced in this study by the personal experience of the author, versed restaurant chef. The study approaches the challenges of a healthier and more sustainable food supply chain, benefits and obstacles faced by chefs who work with family farmers and small-scale producers. This has been done by surveying existing barriers, understanding how to overcome these obstacles with systems and services for chefs, who rely on a network of small farmers to surpass the difficulties of interacting with food industry service providers and promoting conscious consumption. This work is strongly supported by the empirical knowledge of the selected local chefs with relevant initiative in bypassing this chain, since written reference on the subject is somewhat scarce, and hardly any Design study has focused on the restaurant as a food system or its impacts. Another support of the research is presented in the didactic experience of Service Design for food in an exercise with undergraduate students on the theme. The results raised by this research provide insights and foresee the possibility of replication, having explored logistics and cultural issues mostly, and the direct social innovation facets it contains.

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The problem of content management of multimedia data types (e.g., image, video, graphics) is becoming increasingly important with the development of advanced multimedia applications. Traditional database management systems are inadequate for the handling of such data types. They require new techniques for query formulation, retrieval, evaluation, and navigation. In this paper we develop a knowledge-based framework for modeling and retrieving image data by content. To represent the various aspects of an image object's characteristics, we propose a model which consists of three layers: (1) Feature and Content Layer, intended to contain image visual features such as contours, shapes,etc.; (2) Object Layer, which provides the (conceptual) content dimension of images; and (3) Schema Layer, which contains the structured abstractions of images, i.e., a general schema about the classes of objects represented in the object layer. We propose two abstract languages on the basis of description logics: one for describing knowledge of the object and schema layers, and the other, more expressive, for making queries. Queries can refer to the form dimension (i.e., information of the Feature and Content Layer) or to the content dimension (i.e., information of the Object Layer). These languages employ a variable free notation, and they are well suited for the design, verification and complexity analysis of algorithms. As the amount of information contained in the previous layers may be huge and operations performed at the Feature and Content Layer are time-consuming, resorting to the use of materialized views to process and optimize queries may be extremely useful. For that, we propose a formal framework for testing containment of a query in a view expressed in our query language. The algorithm we propose is sound and complete and relatively efficient. / This is an extended version of the article in: Eleventh International Symposium on Methodologies for Intelligent Systems, Warsaw, Poland, 1999.

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Previous literature, although helpful in demonstrating the insidious nature and effects of Islamophobia on Muslims, does not underscore the varying forms and intensities of Islamophobia that a diverse range of Muslims in the West face and the powerful ways in which race and socio-economic class factor into their experiences, coping mechanisms, and stigma responses. This dissertation contributes to the literature on Muslims in The West in three ways: (1) offering a qualitative approach to understanding the ways in which Islamophobia is perpetuated through media discourse and coinciding political legislation, and is experienced differently by a diverse range of Muslims in Canada, (2) adding the concepts of spiritual marginalization, spiritual homelessness, and social status optimization to the analytic vocabulary on integration and articulating their relationship with identity, and (3) making a connection between race and social class and the response to Islamophobia and articulating their relationship with human agency. In chapter one, I provide an in-depth literature review on Islamophobia in the West. In chapter two, I present the results of a discourse analysis study that highlights the structural dimensions of Islamophobia through media representations and framing of incidences involving Muslim vs. non-Muslim perpetrators of violence. In chapter three, I present the results of a study that showcases group level experiences of racism amongst a relatively powerless group of Muslim refugee youth in Hamilton Ontario and St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador. In chapter four, I provide a contrasting response to stigma by reporting on the experiences and mobilization of a socioeconomically privileged group of first, second and third generation Muslims in Edmonton. Finally, I summarize the conceptual findings of each paper, review and discuss the general theoretical and conceptual contributions of the dissertation to existing literature, and provide suggestions on future directions for studying Islamophobia and Muslim integration in The West. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This dissertation analyses the varying forms and intensities of Islamophobia that a diverse range of Muslims in Canada face and the powerful ways in which race and socio-economic class factor into their experiences, coping mechanisms, and stigma responses. The thesis explores three themes: 1) how Islamophobia may be structurally maintained and propagated through media discourse and coinciding political legislation, 2) how Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate is experienced differently by different groups of Muslims in Canada, and (3) how there may be a connection between race and social class in individual responses to Islamophobia. By adding the concepts of spiritual marginalization, spiritual homelessness, and social status optimization to the analytic vocabulary, this work is a unique contribution to existing literature, and to our understanding of the differing lived experiences of being Muslim in the West and the varying ways in which Islamophobia informs the day to day lives of Muslim Canadians.

Title: The Analysis of Selected Swimming Pools in Prague Objectives: The aim of my thesis is to create an analysis of selected swimming pools and to compare them to each others. Furthermore, the thesis should show the threats and opportunities of the selected swimming pools. Methods: The case analysis was chosen as the main research method. In the preparation of this analysis other methods were applied, such as intentional selection, document analysis and semi-structured interview. Based on the results the SWOT analysis was developed. Through this method the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the selected swimming pools are shown. The final comparison of all the swimming pools was made using all the previously mentioned methods. Results: The analysis shows that we can label all the selected swimming pools in Prague as functional swimming pools. Functional swimming pools do not lose money, nor do they profit. However, it was proved that none of the chosen swimming pools would be able to function without getting some form of grants. The location of a swimming pool does not influence the number of visitors coming there. Every location has its advantages and disadvantages. The selected swimming pools should try to make their web sites more interesting and easily accessible to visitors,...