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Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:52:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo4668_1.pdf: 1143987 bytes, checksum: 36c6fc38310aacde3356e242c41d08a1 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003 / Diversos sistemas de integração de dados têm sido propostos na literatura com o objetivo de prover acesso integrado a diferentes fontes de dados, que podem ser autônomas e heterogêneas. O problema de integração de dados consiste em oferecer uma visão uniforme das fontes de dados (chamada esquema de mediação ou esquema global) e definir um conjunto de consultas (chamadas consultas de mediação) as quais determinam como obter cada elemento do esquema de mediação em função dos dados armazenados nas fontes locais. Sistemas de integração de dados podem ser classificados de acordo com a abordagem adotada para definição dos mapeamentos entre as fontes de dados e o esquema de mediação. Duas abordagens principais são apresentadas na literatura: Visão Global e Visão Local. Na abordagem Visão Global cada elemento do esquema de mediação é representado como uma visão sobre as fontes de dados. Na abordagem Visão Local cada elemento em uma dada fonte de dados é definido como uma visão sobre o esquema de mediação. Uma das contribuições deste trabalho é a proposta de um sistema de integração de dados que adota a abordagem Visão Global. Um importante diferencial deste sistema é que além de prover acesso integrado a dados distribuídos e heterogêneos, o sistema também oferece soluções para os problemas relacionados à geração e à manutenção das consultas de mediação. Além disso, o sistema proposto usa XML como modelo de dados comum para troca e representação de dados. Para representar os esquemas das fontes de dados locais é adotada a linguagem XML Schema, proposta pelo W3C como linguagem padrão para definição de esquemas para classes de documentos XML. Para prover uma representação de mais alto nível para as informações descritas nos esquemas XML é proposto um modelo conceitual, chamado X-Entity. Além do modelo conceitual, também é apresentado o processo de conversão de um esquema XML (definido na linguagem XML Schema) para um esquema definido no modelo X-Entity. O principal problema com o uso da abordagem Visão Global diz respeito à manutenção das consultas de mediação em conseqüência das atualizações nos esquemas das fontes de dados locais. Em ambientes dinâmicos, as consultas de mediação devem ser flexíveis a fim de permitir modificações nos esquemas locais, adição e remoção de fontes de dados e alterações nos requisitos de usuários. Para gerenciar a evolução do nível de mediação (esquema e consultas de mediação) foram desenvolvidos: i) um conjunto de operações que descrevem os diferentes tipos de evolução nas fontes locais e nos requisitos dos usuários, ii) um conjunto de primitivas de propagação que descrevem as modificações a serem realizadas no esquema e nas consultas de mediação e iii) um conjunto de regras de propagação. Este trabalho também propõe um processo de propagação que define como difundir os diferentes tipos de atualizações. Este trabalho propõe uma abordagem incremental para o desenvolvimento do nível de mediação baseado na evolução dos esquemas das fontes locais e evolução dos requisitos dos usuários. Mais precisamente, a adição de uma nova fonte de dados ao sistema não implica que as consultas de mediação sejam completamente refeitas. Ao invés disso, é possível adicionar a nova fonte de dados às consultas existentes. Quando uma fonte de dados é removida, as consultas de mediação afetadas por esta remoção devem ser reescritas ou removidas. Da mesma forma, mudanças nos requisitos dos usuários também podem ser refletidas no nível de mediação. Esta solução permite a evolução incremental do nível de mediação aumentando tanto a flexibilidade quanto a escalabilidade do sistema de integração proposto

In African countries emerging from periods of violent crisis a layer of civil society practitioners and peacebuilders appear to play a critical role in mediating the inevitable disputes and tensions that arise. This treatise focuses on a sample of these mediating practitioners who perceive themselves in a variety of different ways, as peacebuilders, as conflict managers, as conflict resolution practitioners and as conflict transformation practitioners. The practitioners who participated in this study work at multiple levels to support the mediative processes that are needed in contexts of crisis and transition. They form part of a wider group of practitioners who have taken the initiative to organise insider mediators into a learning community of practitioners, under the auspices of the African Insider Mediators Platform (AIMP). This platform provides scholars with a useful research opportunity. The overall aim of this study is to explore the relationship between conflict transformation theory and the establishment of the AIMP as perceived by AIMP practitioners. It captures the perceptions that mediators have of the nature of the conflicts in which they are engaged and the influence of theoretical approaches on their practice. The treatise focuses on the perceptions of selected mediation practitioners associated with the AIMP. It draws out the conceptual lenses that are used to inform perceptions of effective mediation practice and that connect the perceptions of practitioners with the concepts contained within the conflict transformation theory. In so doing it describes the perceptions of practitioners and discusses the extent to which these perceptions resonate or deviate from theoretical conceptualisations of conflict in Africa and the theoretical frameworks that outline what constitutes an effective mediative response to this conflict. The insights into effectiveness that emerge from this approach are outlined in the treatise, drawing from background research that has informed the formation of the AIMP as well as from interviews carried out with selected mediation practitioners. The research findings suggest that there are several perceived connections between the theoretical underpinnings of conflict transformation approaches and the practice of the insider mediators involved in this study. The discussion of the data puts forward the proposition that the conceptual perceptions of the insider mediators involved in the study, in their description of elements of mediation practice and the nature of conflict, resonate strongly with the theories associated with conflict transformation thinking. In addition several additional theoretical influences appear to have been incorporated into an overall approach to discrete and collaborative mediation efforts that reinforce a strong connection between conflict transformation thinking and the practice of insider mediators. These relational connections between theory and practice are outlined in some detail in the description of the study that follows.

This document only includes an excerpt of the corresponding thesis or dissertation. To request a digital scan of the full text, please contact the Ruth Lilly Medical Library's Interlibrary Loan Department (rlmlill@iu.edu).

This paper talks about the international standards for commercial mediators. It introduces the standards of eight different jurisdictions and afterwards, evaluates whether there should be one accrediting standard for all international commercial mediators. In the introduction chapter, the paper talks about the problems with the current legal system and then explains the growth of mediation in today’s society. By discussing the nature and practice of mediation, whether mediation should be compulsory or voluntary in light of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, rationale of the various jurisdictions covered, the paper then talks about the attributes that make a good mediator as well as the accreditation and training of mediators. From chapter two to chapter nine, the paper focuses on eight jurisdictions in which mediation is firmly enshrined within one legal culture to those that are just embarking on the concept (namely Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Hong Kong, California and Canada). Each chapter talks about the developments of commercial mediation, law and institutions as well as training and accreditation of mediators within their respective jurisdictions. In the concluding chapter, it discusses whether there should be one accrediting standard for international commercial mediators by exploring the advantages and disadvantages of having one accrediting standard as well as the author’s analysis and point of view on the subject.

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The major objective of this project was to examine the potential for mediators of IgE-mediated allergic reactions to alter neural activity. The project was divided into three parts. In Part I, the ability of endogenously released chemical mediators to alter neural activity in vitro was assessed by measuring isometric contractile responses to electrical field stimulation (EFS) (2-128 Hz, 20 V, 0.5 msec. duration) of sensitized rabbit bronchi before and after exposure to the antigen horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Antigen enhanced bronchial responses to EFS with low frequencies: mean log (± S.E.) frequency which produced 20% of maximum response decreased from 1.04 (± 0.05) to 0.90 (± 0.07) Hz (p < 0.05). Responses of unsensitized bronchi were not enhanced by antigen. Chlorpheniramine, an H₁ antagonist, abolished the antigen effect. Antigen did not enhance the responses to exogenous acetylcholine. Hence, the antigen is apparently modulating neural activity and not smooth muscle per se. In Part II, the capacity for histamine to modulate vagally-induced bronchoconstriction in anesthetized, vagotomized, mechanically-ventilated rabbits was examined in vivo. Changes in pulmonary resistance induced by electrically stimulating the cut ends of the vagi (2-32 Hz, 20 V, 0.5 msec. duration) were assessed before and 10 minutes after histamine aerosolization (10 breaths of 10 mg/ml). Histamine inhalation potentiated vagally-induced bronchoconstriction at low frequencies: mean log (± S.E.) frequency producing a 20% change in pulmonary resistance decreased from 0.88 (± 0.09) to 0.56 (± 0.15) (p < 0.05). Chlorpheniramine abolished this effect. In Part III, the dependence on IgE antibodies of the in vitro modulation of neurally-induced contraction of sensitized bronchi was investigated. Rabbits were passively immunized with fractions enriched with HRP-specific IgE, IgG, or IgM antibodies. After 72 hours, rabbits were sacrificed and the responses of bronchi to EFS were assessed before and after antigen challenge. Antigen enhanced the responses to EFS only of bronchi passively sensitized with IgE. Therefore, antigen enhancement of neural activity was dependent on IgE. These studies demonstrate that the interaction between antigen and IgE antibodies can induce the release of chemical mediators which can alter neural activity.