A presente dissertação tem como objetivo mostrar que o ceticismo resultante do Livro I do Tratado da Natureza Humana não pode ser fundado na suposta descoberta, por parte de Hume, de uma oposição entre os princípios que considera fundamentais para a natureza humana. Isso porque a factualidade dessa oposição seria defectiva para a filosofia humeana, uma vez que solapa a distinção entre princípios universais e princípios variáveis, essencial para a distinção entre princípios que devem ser aceitos e que devem ser rejeitados; porque um ceticismo dessa natureza é próprio do fideísmo corrente na Renascença e na Modernidade; e porque a impossibilidade do conhecimento resultante dessa oposição acarretaria na eliminação do estímulo à filosofia. Para negar tal oposição, é preciso afirmar que Hume nega a distinção ontológica entre as qualidades primárias e secundárias, que é a sua raiz. Isso pode ser feito a partir da apreciação da Parte 2 do Livro I do Tratado da Natureza Humana. É também preciso mostrar a possibilidade da existência dos corpos, o que é feito a partir da análise de trechos da Parte 4 do Livro I. Isso feito, uma nova perspectiva sobre a filosofia humeana se apresenta concernindo à natureza do seu ceticismo – um que se constitui pela insegurança – e à relação entre a razão e os instintos naturais – uma relação harmônica, antes que conflituosa. / This work aims to show that the resulting skepticism of Book I of the Treatise of Human Nature cannot be founded on the alleged discovery, by Hume, of an opposition between the principles which he considers fundamentals to human nature. This because the factuality of this opposition would be defective for the Humean philosophy as it undermines the distinction between universal principles and changeable principles, essential to distinguish between those principles which must be accepted and those which must be rejected; because a skepticism of this nature is proper of the current Fideism in the Renaissance and Modernity; and because the impossibility of knowledge that is consequence of this opposition would lead to the removing of the stimulus to philosophy. To deny such opposition, we must affirm that Hume denies the ontological distinction between primary and secondary qualities, that is its root. This can be done from the consideration of Part 2 of Book I of the Treatise of Human Nature. It is also necessary to show the possibility of the existence of bodies, what is done by the analysis of excerpts of Part 4 of Book I. That done, a new perspective on the Humean philosophy about the nature of its skepticism – one that is constituted by insecurity – and about the relation between reason and natural instincts – a harmonic relation, rather than confrontational – is presented.

General aircraft dynamic stability theory was used to predict the natural frequencies, damping ratios and time constants of the dynamic modes for three specific small UAVs with wingspans on the scale from 0.6 meters to 1.2 meters. Using USAF DatCom methods, a spreadsheet program for predicting the dynamic stability and handling qualities of small UAVs was created for use in the design stage of new small UAV concept development. This program was verified by inputting data for a Cessna-182, and by then comparing the program output with that of a similar program developed by DAR Corporation. Predictions with acceptable errors were made for all of the dynamic modes except for the spiral mode. The design tool was also used to verify and develop dynamic stability and handling qualities design guidelines for small UAV designers. Using this design tool, it was observed that small UAVs tend to exhibit higher natural frequencies of oscillation for all of the dynamic modes. Comparing the program outputs with military handling qualities specifications, the small UAVs at standard configurations fell outside the range of acceptable handling qualities for short-period mode natural frequency, even though multiple test pilots rated the flying qualities as acceptable. Using dynamic scaling methods to adjust the current military standards for the short period mode, a new scale was proposed specifically for small UAVs. This scale was verified by conducting flight tests of three small UAVs at various configurations until poor handling qualities were observed. These transitions were observed to occur at approximately the boundary predicted by the new, adjusted scale.

Thesis (MScEng (Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Noise, Vibrations and Harshness (NVH) characteristics are becoming ever more significant in today’s vehicle manufacturing industry. Similar to good vibration and harshness characteristics, the perception of a vehicle’s quality is enhanced by a well sounding vehicle interior. This study’s main aim was to develop objective equations to directly optimise interior sound quality of light commercial vehicles ( ½ ton LCVs) on the South African market. The effects the noise of the engine, the wind and road/tyre interaction during steady-state conditions have on the interior sound quality of eleven comparable vehicles was investigated with the aid of a binaural head. Steady-state condition in this content refers to the fact that vehicles were tested at constant speeds, no acceleration involved. A strong emphasis was laid on the influence road noise has on the interior sound quality of LCVs. Other objectives for the thesis were, to provide a method to benchmark the interior SQ of LCVs and to develop target values for objective metrics for these vehicles. Establishing a comprehensive literature survey formed another objective of this study. It seeks to provide a summary of the modern SQ analysis procedure and the findings of a number of studies. The survey also presents an opportunity to compare this thesis’s results with previous studies. A last objective was to develop a list of possible hardware modifications that would improve the vehicle interior sound quality, influenced by different noise sources. A strong correlation between vehicle and engine speed and Zwicker loudness as well as Aure sharpness was found, for all test conditions. The road surface roughness was observed to also have a strong influence on the objective metrics of vehicle interior SQ. Loudness was found to be around 25% higher and sharpness around 5.6% lower in vehicles driving on rough tar roads than on smooth roads. Good correlations between a newly developed metric (the SPF), an equation in Zwicker loudness and Aure sharpness, and subjective ratings was obtained for a number of test conditions. Four objective equations, as well as target values for loudness and sharpness have been developed to objectively optimise the sound quality of LCVs. Benchmarking interior sound quality utilising the developed equations, will ensure continuous improvements in the SQ sector for future LCVs.

Assessment in patients with NMD consists principally of measures of motor impairment since they are well known by clinicians and their measures do not require much equipment. The conventional treatments in patients with NMD are above-all focused on the diminution of motor impairments by maintaining or improving joint mobility, muscle strength and endurance. Nevertheless, a reduction of motor impairments does not directly lead to a higher ability in performing daily activities. Therefore, activity limitations should be measured specifically. A new scale of activity limitations was first developed in children and adults with NMD. The use of the Rasch model provided a scale to assess the fundamental psychometric qualities. Secondly, relationships between motor impairments and activity limitations were investigated to verify the assumption that reduced motor impairments do not necessarily lead to higher activity levels. Finally, to complete the investigation of psychometric qualities, a longitudinal study of the developed questionnaire was carried out to evaluate its sensitivity to change. Chapter 1 presents the development of ACTIVLIM, a Rasch-built measure of activity limitations and its validation in children and adults with NMD. ACTIVLIM is a self-reported questionnaire that assesses the difficulties adult patients and parents of affected children perceive when they or their children perform daily activities. This questionnaire originally included 126 daily activities and was submitted to 369 patients. The Rasch model selected 22 daily activities to define a linear and unidimensional measure of activity limitations in patients with NMD. The validity and the reproducibility of the results were also studied. A second section of Chapter 1 demonstrates why the measure of activity limitations in children with NMD as assessed using the ACTIVLIM questionnaire is based upon the perception of their parents. A third section of Chapter 1 compares the difficulties self-perceived by the patients with the difficulties observed by external examiners. The agreement between both measures is very good, indicating that the use of ACTIVLIM as a self-reporting questionnaire is a valid method to assess activity limitations in patients with NMD. Chapter 2 investigates the relationships between motor impairments and activity limitations as measured with the ACTIVLIM questionnaire. As the anatomical basis and pathophysiology are different from one NMD to another, the relationships between impairments and activity limitations were investigated in six main diagnostic groups and in the whole sample without diagnostic distinction. Gait speed and muscle weakness in proximal and flexor muscle groups were significantly but moderately correlated to the activity limitations, indicating that the latter cannot simply be inferred from motor impairments but should be independently measured and treated. Chapter 3 investigates the sensitivity to change of the ACTIVLIM questionnaire. As NMD are progressive disorders, it is important that the ACTIVLIM questionnaire be able to assess the change over time in the activity level of patients with NMD in order to characterize the disease course and to quantify the effects of new treatments on activity limitations in these patients. Finally, the last section discusses the results of the different chapters and presents perspectives for future research.

The study of the motion of manoeuvring aircraft has traditionally considered the aircraft to be rigid. This simplifying assumption has been shown to give quite accurate results for the flight dynamics of many aircraft types. As modern transport aircraft have developed however, there has been a marked increase in the size and weight of these aircraft. This trend is likely to continue with the development of future blended-wing-body and supersonic transport aircraft. This increase in size and weight has brought about a unique set of aeroelastic and handling quality issues. The aerodynamic forces and moments acting on an aeroplane have traditionally been represented using the aerodynamic derivative approach. It has been shown that this quasisteady aerodynamic model inadequately predicts the aircraft’s stability characteristics, and that the inclusion of unsteady aerodynamics “greatly improves the fidelity” of aircraft models. This thesis thus presents a novel numerical simulation of an aeroelastic aeroplane for real-time analysis. The model is built around the standard six degree-of-freedom equations of motion for a rigid aeroplane using the mean-axes system, and includes unsteady aerodynamics and structural dynamics. This is suitable for pilot-in-the-loop simulation, handling qualities and flight loads analysis, and control law development. The dynamics of the structure are modelled as a set of normal modes, and the equations of motion are realised in state-space form. The unsteady aerodynamic forces acting on the aeroplane are described by an indicial state-space model, including unsteady tailplane downwash and compressibility effects. An implementation of the model is presented in the MATLAB/ Simulink environment. The interaction between the flight control system, the aeroelastic system and the rigidbody motion of the aeroplane can result in degraded handling qualities, excessive actuator control, and fatigue problems. The introduction of load alleviation systems for the management of loads due to manoeuvres and gusts is also likely to result in the handling qualities of the aeroplane being degraded. This thesis presents a number of studies into the impact of structural dynamics, unsteady aerodynamics, and load alleviation on the handling qualities of a flexible civil transport aeroplane. The handling qualities of the aeroplane are assessed against a number of different handling qualities criteria and flying specifications, including the Neal-Smith, Bandwidth, and CAP criterion. It is shown that aeroelastic effects alter the longitudinal and lateral-directional characteristics of the aeroplane, resulting in degraded handling qualities. Manoeuvre and gust load alleviation are similarly found to degrade handling qualities, while active mode control is shown to offer the possibility of improved handling qualities.

In the thesis the aim is to investigate different aspects of what teachers value when grading in Swedish physical education (PE) and to analyses how sociological background factors impact students’ grades. Grades in PE have included aspects other than those prescribed in the grading criteria, for instance motivation and effort. Teachers sometimes find their value-setting difficult to articulate and refer to a “gut feeling”. In order to explore both explicit and implicit forms of value-setting, the Repertory Grid interview technique is employed. The thesis includes four sub-studies, three interview studies with Swedish PE teachers and a fourth study based on registry data from the Swedish National Agency for Education. The data of all students leaving nine-year compulsory school in 2014 (n=95317) is analysed to explore how sociological background factors, such as migration background, parents’ education, school provider and gender, affect PE grades. The results reveal aspects of grading that are not detectable in the official description of the grading assignment and highlight problems that teachers need to address when grading. Four themes are discerned in the teachers’ grading practices: motivation, knowledge, confidence and social skills. The implementation of a new national curriculum with specified knowledge requirements seems to improve the alignment with the national criteria, but there is still a gap between policy and practice. The knowledge requirements for movement are often interpreted as performances in competitive sports, even if the teachers try to find other interpretations. The odds ratio for getting a higher grade in PE is greater for the variables migration background and parents’ education than for the other investigated variables. The concepts formulated by Bernstein are applied to explore the relations between teachers’ grading practices and cultural and political influences and to discuss how the tensions between different interests could affect teachers’ grading. The conclusion is that the gap between policy and practice confirmed in this study is related to tensions between the interests and purposes of different agents, all of whom strive to influence steering documents and practice. Cultural and political influences need to be considered and facilitate discussions about how to understand which knowledge is valued in PE and who has better possibilities to assimilate it. / Forskningslinjen Utbildning

This research study focused on the coaching practices of five internal Regional Learning and Development Managers in a multimedia organisation from 2009 to 2011. Twelve written narratives were initially used to gather information from both coaches and clients about their perceptions and experiences during a coaching session. Survey questionnaires were sent to all 135 managers who had completed the Coaching Programme since its inception in 2009, to supplement the information established from the narrative stage. Three problems were identified: employed Learning and Development Managers were expected to deliver a coaching programme in the workplace for which they were ill-equipped, unqualified and inexperienced; there was a lack of tangible benchmarks to demonstrate the success of the clients’ development; and an inconsistent standard of coaching was delivered potentially compromising ethical coaching practices and behaviour. Coaching is a specialised field of people development, which can have a noticeable impact on both employee performance and on achieving business aims. ‘Internal coaching’ has evolved from a necessity to develop people within the workplace using internal resources and a limited budget. The study reflects on an example of internal coaching and discusses the successes and failures of such a practice. According to the narratives and survey it is the coach who is the key to the success of coaching and a successful coach must be trustworthy with confidential matters; objective and able to understand the culture and operations of the company; have business credibility; is independent of the person being coached and, therefore, is not their line manager. A customised blend of appropriate styles including mentoring, instruction and coaching is recommended to achieve the best results in coaching.

Esta tese investiga como a emoção constitui o discurso jornalístico. A partir da premissa de que a emoção desempenha vários papéis na tomada de decisão dos sujeitos, a pesquisa se insere em um novo paradigma dentro dos estudos em jornalismo: aquele que entende a emoção como um conceito com valor epistemológico, pois a compreende como parte intrínseca da atividade jornalística e de seus discursos. O telejornalismo, em especial a reportagem de TV, é objeto desta investigação, devido às características da televisão como uma tecnologia de intimidade, com qualidades estéticas que convidam o telespectador a sentir. A tese parte da seguinte hipótese: a construção discursiva da reportagem de TV está ancorada nas qualidades estéticas da televisão, que acionam a emoção como eixo de produção de sentidos; nesse processo, a emoção organiza o enquadramento da reportagem por meio da articulação de uma avaliação moral. A metodologia utilizada é a Análise de Discurso, e o corpus é constituído por 18 reportagens do Jornal Nacional, o telejornal brasileiro de referência. Considerou-­‐se cada uma das emoções universais (tristeza, raiva, surpresa, medo, aversão, desprezo e alegria) como uma formação discursiva, com sentidos mais ou menos estáveis. O objetivo principal é compreender como a emoção organiza a construção do enquadramento da reportagem de televisão. A análise comprova que as qualidades estéticas da reportagem acionam a emoção como eixo produtor de sentidos de duas formas: construindo emoções principais de forma explícita, que dominam a organização do enquadramento por meio da expressão de avaliações morais que parecem não levantar dissensos culturais; e propondo emoções de fundo de forma implícita, que sugerem sua inscrição em uma emoção apenas pela indicação de uma avaliação moral, de um gatilho ou tema vinculado àquela formação discursiva. Sobre as funções das qualidades estéticas, a análise demonstra: a) sobre sujeitos e suas performances: a performance dos apresentadores pode introduzir ou reforçar a emoção principal de uma reportagem, ou pode indicar ou pontuar a emoção de fundo; a performance dos repórteres mostra ou promove a emoção principal; e a performance das fontes encarna a emoção principal; b) sobre a dimensão audiovisual: os planos e a edição de imagem são capazes de evidenciar a emoção principal, ou de propor ou autenticar uma emoção; os efeitos visuais podem autenticar uma emoção; e o som pode potencializar a emoção principal; c) sobre a dimensão verbal: quando associada aos sujeitos, a enunciação dos repórteres e apresentadores pode contextualizar a emoção principal ou sugerir uma emoção de fundo, e a enunciação das fontes pode contextualizar ou ser o alvo de uma emoção; quando associada às imagens, o texto pode narrar, apontar ou contextualizar uma emoção. Finalmente, a partir da análise do enquadramento – através da definição do problema, da interpretação causal, da avaliação moral e da recomendação de tratamento construídos no discurso da reportagem –, conclui-­‐se que, de forma explícita ou implícita, o enquadramento depende da emoção como eixo de produção de sentidos para conformar-­‐se. É ao articular a avaliação moral que a emoção organiza o frame, o que comprova a hipótese inicial. Esse processo depende dos temas e gatilhos da emoção, de mapas culturais supostamente compartilhados e de saberes de crença supostamente consensuais. A tese está disposta em dois volumes. O primeiro contém a tese propriamente dita. O segundo traz um apêndice com a decupagem das reportagens. / This thesis investigates how emotion constitutes journalistic discourse. Based on the premise that emotion plays multiple roles in the process of making decisions, this research is part of a new paradigm in journalism studies: one that understands emotion as a concept of epistemological value, since it approaches it as an intrinsic part of journalistic activity and its discourses. Television news, particularly TV news reports, is the object of this investigation, due to this device being a technology of intimacy, with aesthetic qualities that invite the viewers to feel. The thesis has the following hypothesis: the discursive construction of TV news reports is anchored in the aesthetic qualities of television, which sets emotion as an axis of meaning; in this process, emotion organizes the framing of the report through the articulation of a moral evaluation. The methodology employed is Discourse Analysis, and the corpus is composed of 18 television news reports by Jornal Nacional, a Brazilian reference newscast. Each universal emotion (sadness, anger, surprise, fear, disgust, contempt and joy) was considered as a discursive formation, with meanings more or less stable. The main objective of the thesis is to understand how emotion organizes the construction of a frame in a TV news report. The analysis proves that the aesthetic qualities of the report set emotion as an axis of meaning in two different ways: constructing main emotions explicitly, which dominate the organization of frames through the expression of moral evaluations that don’t evoke cultural dissent; and proposing background emotions implicitly, suggesting the inscription in an emotion just by pointing out a moral evaluation, a trigger or a theme connected to that discursive formation. In relation to the functions of the aesthetic qualities, the analysis demonstrates: a) about subjects and their performances: presenters introduce or reinforce main emotions, and indicate or punctuate background emotions; reporters show or promote main emotions; and sources embody main emotions; b) about audio-­‐visual dimension: camera frames and editing evidence main emotions, or offer and authenticate emotions; visual effects authenticate emotions; and sound potentiates main emotion; c) about verbal dimension: when bound to subjects, enunciation by reporters or presenters contextualise main emotions or suggest background emotions, and enunciation by sources contextualise or are target of emotion; when bound to images text can narrate, point or contextualise emotions. Finally, frame analysis showed that – through problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation and/or treatment recommendation – explicitly or implicitly, framing depends upon emotion as an axis of meaning to be conformed. It is by articulating a moral evaluation that emotion organizes the frame, which proves our initial hypothesis. This process depends on themes and triggers of emotion, on allegedly shared cultural maps and on allegedly consensual beliefs. This thesis is divided in two volumes. The first one contains the research itself. The second is an appendix, with the transcription of the corpus.

Forskning inom temporära organisationer har tidigare fokuserat på förtroende från projektledarens perspektiv, därmed fann vi det intressant att undersöka vikten av förtroende utifrån medarbetarnas perspektiv. Syftet med studien har varit att, med utgångspunkt från medarbetare i temporära organisationer, undersöka om projektledare behöver besitta vissa specifika egenskaper för att skapa förtroende. Vidare att undersöka om dessa egenskaper har en lika stor påverkan av skapandet av förtroende eller om det enbart är vissa egenskaper som anses vara grundläggande.Med en kvalitativ forskningsansats har vi genomfört elva semi-strukturerade intervjuer där insamlad data sedan har transkriberats, analyserats och diskuterats och jämförts med studiens teoretiska utgångspunkter. Vi kunde därefter urskilja vissa specifika egenskaper som en projektledare bör besitta vid skapandet av förtroende. Av insamlad empiri fann vi olika benämningar för egenskaper hos en projektledare som kunde kategoriseras. Till följd av detta identifierade vi istället egenskaperna som faktorer vilka medarbetarna hävdade vara av vikt vid skapandet av ett förtroende. Dessa kategorier var; konsekvent beteende, integritet, delegering, kommunikation, visande av intresse och kunskap och kompetens.Resultatet pekar på att förtroende för en projektledare skapas utifrån individuella behov och värderingar. Samtidigt kunde vissa faktorer urskiljas som mer primära än andra, vilket bidrog till att dessa delades upp i två kategorier, hårda faktorer (primära) och mjuka faktorer (sekundära). Ytterligare slutsats blev att förtroende skapar både möjligheter och hinder i en temporär organisation vilket är en intressant aspekt att forska vidare kring. För vidare forskning är det även intressant att studera mer ingående kring hur man skapar ett initialt förtroende i temporära organisationer men även att man fördjupar sin kunskap kring temporära organisationer och dess speciella utformning och krav.

The aim of this thesis is to defend a reading of Descartes' theory of sensory perception in which, against a widespread interpretation, the mind is not a passive receiver of inputs from the environment, but an active decoder of neural information that contributes to the representational content of ideas. I call this the 'mental activity thesis' and, in the overall picture, I identify it as one of the philosophical implications of the seventeenth-century scientific revolution. Within Descartes' dualism, to offer a theory of sensory perception amounts to describing the interplay between the natural world, the brain, and the mind. Given his mechanistic, micro-corpuscular conception of matter, Descartes developed detailed physiological descriptions of the interaction between external objects and the brain. He envisaged it as an isomorphic relation in which the characteristics of objects are transmitted through the nerves to the brain as patterns of geometrically reduced properties. This process is often read as culminating with the mind being passively affected by a corporeal isomorph. Descartes' doctrine becomes elusive in its mental phase, but the passivity reading, so I contend, remains inadequate. I argue for the mental activity thesis through four claims. First, I subscribe the known view that Descartes is concerned about a version of the mind-body problem that is not equivalent to the problem of substance interaction. It is rather a problem of dissimilarity between mental representations and mechanistic explanations. The question is how the qualitative character of sensory experiences can arise from the quantitative notions of physical science. As a way of emphasising the weight that the problem of dissimilarity has for Descartes' philosophical decisions, I show that it motivates a metaphysically interesting distinction between types of causes for the case of brain-mind interaction. Second, I defend the position that, despite not holding a perfectly unambiguous doctrine, Descartes' introduction of natural signs is the closest that he got to formulating a full-fledged theory of sensory perception. The appeal to natural signs has been normally deemed as metaphorical in the literature. I argue that, on the contrary, it is possible to reconstruct a causal story for brain-mind interaction along the lines of a semantic model based on Descartes' identification of neural events with natural signs. A causal-semantic model emerges as a charitable, plausible reading that reveals the mind as an active interpreter. Third, in light of the mental activity thesis, I read Descartes' late appeal to the innateness of all ideas (notably in the Comments on a Certain Broadsheet) as a strategy to account for a type of representational content needed for sensory ideas that, while produced by the mind, is different from that of his paradigmatic innate ideas. I assist Descartes in exploring how the category of innateness captures mental activity within a causal-semantic theory. Fourth, in the course of this argumentation, and for further support, I address the role of the distinction between primary and secondary qualities in Descartes' theory. I tackle a pervasive objection stemming from his alleged association of the perception of primary qualities with the intellect. By reassessing Descartes' views on mental activity, this interpretation aims at a lucid description of sensory perception that goes beyond the rigid rationalism that is often credited to him.