This thesis investigates and discusses the current design approaches and development trends of urban streets in China. As the methodological focus, multiple case studies and interviews are used to examine actual street design practice to identify the development policy bias of local governments. Since the 1990s, the great economic achievement in most Chinese cities has evoked significant growth in the number of automobiles, as well as the increasingly serious problems of road casualties and congestion. The traffic-engineering-based design approach which used to be widely adopted and implemented in western countries has dominated the development patterns of urban streets in modern China. The conventional paradigm exclusively focuses on the traffic function in urban streets resulting in morphological changes to the urban circulation environment and keeps on neglecting non-vehicular movement and non-traffic needs. The automobile- dominated urban circulation environment has had negative economic, social and public health impacts. Thus, a paradigm shift which calls for a more inclusive design approach for urban streets which balances functions of place and movement is urgently needed in China. To determine the challenges and opportunities for the new paradigm, this research identifies the cultural, political and technical factors for the traffic-centred design trends and the policy bias. Based on this, policy recommendations and an agenda for revolutionary change for achieving better design practice for urban streets in post-modern China are suggested.

The present experiment is designed to test certain hypotheses made concerning the nature of conditioning in a verbal operant paradigm, and the relationship of such conditioning with awareness of contingencies.

Submitted by Haroudo Xavier Filho (haroudo.xavierfo@ufpe.br) on 2016-04-18T19:08:02Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação finalizada - André Carvalho de Moura.pdf: 1708748 bytes, checksum: ada1eaf485165eb90a708c40a3d5919c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-18T19:08:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação finalizada - André Carvalho de Moura.pdf: 1708748 bytes, checksum: ada1eaf485165eb90a708c40a3d5919c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-25 / FACEPE / Esta dissertação irá tratar de um enunciado político singular, que comporta uma racionalidade litigiosa e que arrisca escapar ao cômputo dos ordenamentos de poder. Sua capacidade de atravessar diversas estruturas e unidades permite uma análise a partir de um corpus estético-fotográfico: um conjunto de fotografias digitais heterogêneas, extraídas contemporaneamente de Vitória de Santo Antão, mas referentes a uma mesma fórmula pathos chamada Tentações de Santo Antão – uma alusão à alegoria de Antão Abade, asceta dos primeiros séculos da cristandade e padroeiro da cidade. A configuração de uma fórmula patética, que encerre essas imagens variadas, segue o carro daquilo que Giorgio Agamben estabeleceu enquanto método: arqueologia paradigmática, uma forma de conhecimento nem indutiva e nem dedutiva, mas analógica, que se move de singularidade a singularidade. O objetivo é elaborar uma construção metodológica e analítica – a partir da aproximação teórica de autores como Didi-Huberman, Jacques Rancière, Aby Warburg, Michel Foucault e o próprio Agamben –, que exponha a dinâmica dos saberes visuais daquele saber político distinto. Assim, esta pesquisa pretende investigar se as imagens aqui expressas, nos termos de um paradigma visual, podem produzir reflexões sobre uma ação possível fora dos aparatos do poder, nesta cidade tão longamente assenhorada por oligarquias. De fato, nos limites de suas temporalidades, o estatuto lacunar das imagens possibilita ao pesquisador um fecundo lugar de investigação. / This paper will deal with a singular political statement, which includes a litigious rationality and risks escape the calculation of power order. Its ability to cross various structures and units allows an analysis from an aesthetic-photographic corpus: a set of heterogeneous digital photographs, extracted in the contemporaneity of the country city Vitória de Santo Antão in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil, but also referring to the same pathos formula so called Temptations of St. Anthony – an allusion the allegory of Anthony the Abbot, ascetic of the first centuries of Christianity and patron of the city. The set of a pathetic formula, which shuts down these different images, follows what Giorgio Agamben established as a method: paradigmatic archeology, a kind of knowledge nor inductive or deductive but analog, which moves from uniqueness to uniqueness. The goal is to develop a methodological and analytical construction – from the theoretical approach of authors such as Didi-Huberman, Jacques Rancière, Aby Warburg, Michel Foucault and Agamben himself – that exposes the dynamics of a plural visual knowledge of that distinct political statement. Thus, this research aims to investigate whether the images here expressed in terms of a visual paradigm, can produce reflections on a possible action out of the apparatuses of power in this city so long oppressive dominated by landlords oligarchies. In fact, within the limits of its temporalities, the incomplete status of the images allows to the researcher a fruitful research place.

Orientador: Afira Vianna Ripper / Tese (Doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-20T09:11:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Guinle_MariaHelenadeMeloFlores_D.pdf: 4873128 bytes, checksum: 4e9529de1c95ef3e99b43154fe33b6c7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1995 / Resumo: No "diálogo" que se estabelece entre o aprendiz e sua leitura da linguagem computacional Logo, entre o aprendiz e a leitura que o facilitador faz da linguagem Logo, foram investigados os conceitos do Logo que suscitam zonas de imprecisão tais como ambiguidades, metáforas inadequadas, falhas conceituais. Nesse intercambio entre linguagem natural e linguagem artificial, o presente trabalho evidenciou: - que o discurso pontuado de imprecisões abriu caminho a um '"vir a conhecer" idéias poderosas pouco exploradas pelo paradigma "escolar" do conhecimento - que essa tendência a se criar uma via distinta do paradigma escolar, não se sustenta fora de uma prática regular de se depurar as imprecisões nas suas diferentes facetas / Doutorado / Psicologia Educacional / Doutor em Educação

Advanced computer technologies can transform the traditional electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring system for better efficiency and accuracy. ECG records a heart's electrical activity using electrodes placed on the skin, and it has become an essential tool for arrhythmia detection. The complexity comes from the variety of patients' heartbeats and massive amounts of information for humans to process correctly. The first part of the thesis presents an image based two-dimensional convolution neural network (CNN) to classify the arrhythmia heartbeats with inter-patient paradigm. It includes a new data pre-processing method. The inter-patient paradigm simulates the practical use case of an ECG heartbeat classifier. Compared to the reported work in the literature, the proposed solution achieves superior experiment results. The rest of the thesis introduces the remote ECG monitoring system. The RESTful API design concepts of the system are described. The proposed API supports an efficient and secure way of interaction between each module in this remote monitoring system. / Graduate

Competition policy is meant to ensure a level-playing in the market, but its ultimate goal is to enhance consumer interests. The telecommunications sector is one of the two sectors that have set up a competition policy in Hong Kong. This paper examines the current competition policy framework in the telecommunications sector by analyzing the level of consumer protection using the Structure-Conduct-Performance Paradigm. It examines in detail the consumer related complaint cases received by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority in four markets: fixed line telephone services, mobile phone services, International Direct Dialing services, and Internet services. Regression analysis results reveal that more competition in a market has a positive and significant effect on the frequency of complaints about misleading or deceptive conduct on the part of operators in the period from 1999 to 2006. Also, smaller and newer operators tend to receive more complaints. From the lessons we have drawn from the telecommunications sector, a more comprehensive policy coped with consumer protection regulation is needed in order to better promote consumer interests in Hong Kong.

Drilled foundations are often considered to be a standard method of installation of steel core piles and similar foundation components in sensitive environments such as urban areas where other common technologies such as stranding or diging cannot be applied. Much research has been made in the area of how the piles interact in the clay. BESAB, who are specialists within underpinning, have observed that it takes time for a house to settle after an underpinning. There are uncertainties when it comes to how the house adapts to an underpinning. During interviews experts have given many different possible explanations but it seems to be a lack of knowledge in the area. All agree that it takes a couple of years for a house to adapt to an underpinning. The recommendation is to wait at least 2 years before proceed with the work in the house. In the project that has been studied in this research, precision leveling points have been measured 2-3 times a week to monitor the settlements throughout the project. The measurements have shown a greater settlement on the street level than in the basement, 2 floors down from the street level during the same amount of time which lead to the question: What are the effects of underpinning in a house? The major reason for that settlement has occurred in the area is that the foundation, consisting of wooden piles, has lost its carrying capacity due to the lowered ground water level. During underpinning the house is mostly affected by dynamic forces. The structure gets temporary weakened when holes are made in walls for beams and drilling is made in already sensitive foundation. The fixated parts of the structure, where the load transferring elements are already installed between the pile and the structure, can get locally loaded when drilling is made in adjacent areas. After underpinning the house with its weight is settling on the piles. The house has to adapt to a new mode of action. This can be done either by just leaving the house and wait for the piles to take load and get compressed or by pre-load the piles with the expected final load of the house to avoid the time for the compression of the piles. The greatest risk linked to this phenomenon is that new cracks can occur due to post settlements and in worst case in an elevator shaft or in the water proofing in bathrooms or kitchen. If renovation work starts before the house have stopped settle than the risk is big that cracks will occur in the newly renovated areas resulting in that the renovation have to be re-done. 4 Effective communication is essential to assess risks involved with an underpinning and to avoid tensions between actors involved in an underpinning project if damage due to post settlement will occur. The problem investigated in this report is translated in to Kuhn’s theory on science the beginning of the crisis. Further research is required to develop the empirics in to theory. Accurate measurements must be collected and these must be processed in mathematical statistics. Models must be built and existing theories within structural- and geotechnical engineering must be studied in further depth to be able to state a new paradigm in this area.

All human communication is narrative in nature (Fisher, 1987) and should adhere to narrative rationality and value-laden idealistic-moralistic or materialistic Master Analogues to be accepted by audiences (Fisher, 1985). This study examined the persuasive nature of the visual narratives presented by the 2020 presidential candidate’s official Facebook posts as well as examine how the candidates’ rhetorical visions create referential points in constructing the viewers’ own identities as supporters (Messaris, 1997). As Foss, Foss, & Trapp (2002) contend, “a basic function of the media is the creation of representations or simulations – reproduced versions of reality” (p. 313). The version of reality being presented on each candidate’s official Facebook page creates narratives as means of influence and cultivating group identity.

Advances in brain science and computer technology in the past decade have led to exciting developments in brain-computer interface (BCI), thereby making BCI a top research area in applied science. The renaissance of BCI opens new methods of neurorehabilitation for physically disabled people (e.g. paralyzed patients and amputees) and patients with brain injuries (e.g. stroke patients). Recent technological advances such as wireless recording, machine learning analysis, and real-time temporal resolution have increased interest in electroencephalographic (EEG) based BCI approaches. Many BCI studies have focused on decoding EEG signals associated with whole-body kinematics/kinetics, motor imagery, and various senses. Thus, there is a need to understand the various experimental paradigms used in EEG-based BCI systems. Moreover, given that there are many available options, it is essential to choose the most appropriate BCI application to properly manipulate a neuroprosthetic or neurorehabilitation device. The current review evaluates EEG-based BCI paradigms regarding their advantages and disadvantages from a variety of perspectives. For each paradigm, various EEG decoding algorithms and classification methods are evaluated. The applications of these paradigms with targeted patients are summarized. Finally, potential problems with EEG-based BCI systems are discussed, and possible solutions are proposed.

This study addresses the extent to which feminist jurisprudence literature has developed the potential to initiate a legal paradigm shift leading to legal and consequent social change that would alleviate gender inequality. Drawing upon Kuhn's (1970) and Stacey and Thorne's (1985) arguments, I theorized that for a paradigm shift centered upon women and women's experiences to occur, feminist jurisprudence, particularly second- and third-phase feminist jurisprudence, needs to be incorporated into, and accepted by the mainstream. Through quantitative analysis I evaluated, first, the publication and citation patterns and the diffusion of feminist jurisprudence litearature as evidenced in articles published between the years 1983 and 1994 in legal journals assigned impact factors by the Social Science Citation Index. Second, using content analysis, I classified feminist jurisprudence articles published in the subfields of family and penal law --theorized to differ in degree of androcentrism-- according to the three phases of feminist jurisprudence theory. My quantitative analysis showed that the number of feminist jurisprudence articles published in mainstream legal journals is increasing over time. Further, feminist jurisprudence articles published in legal journals with higher impact factors tend to receive larger numbers of citations than articles published in journals with lower impact factors. Finally, although the overall impact factor of journals publishing feminist jurisprudence articles is declining, feminist jurisprudence literature is present among a wide spectrum of legal specializations. My qualitative analysis showed that there was an equivalent number of family and penal law articles which exhibited second- and third-phase characteristics. However, family law articles tended to cover a wider range of topics than penal law articles. Furthermore, family law scholars were more likely than penal law scholars to address issues of differences among women and feminists, thus, exhibiting third-phase characteristics. In constrast, penal law scholars tended to focus upon differences between feminists and non-feminists and the practical difficulties resulting from the structure, organization and practitioners of the criminal justice. Overall, my analysis showed that feminist jurisprudence appears to have developed the potential to initiate a paradigm shift within the legal discipline. However, in addition to feminist theorizing, feminist activism is important for the realization of legal and social changes that will alleviate gender inequality. / Ph. D.