Background Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic presented major difficulties for many self-employed people because it caused pressures such as decreased customer demand, production stagnation, disruptions in supply chains and increased uncertainty. The vast amount of the studies of self-employed people during the pandemic have focused on traditional pathogenic effects. Hence, overall aim of this thesis is to explore how self-employed people experienced and used internal and external salutogenic resources to navigate the pandemic, from a business challenge and an individual well-being perspective.  Methods Different methods of data collection and analysis were employed in the thesis. For study I, a qualitative design was used to explore whether a sense of coherence was experienced, and any general resistance resources were used by small business managers in Sweden and Norway during the pandemic. For study II, a cross-sectional quantitative design was employed to investigate the well-being of self-employed people in Europe during the pandemic and whether their well-being was influenced by factors representing four socio-ecological levels. Lastly, study III applied a mixed-method design including comparative policy analysis and interviews to gain an understanding of how different governmental financial support measures aimed to aid the resilience of Swedish and Canadian self-employed people and improve their ability to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. Study I was analysed through a deductive content analysis, study II was analysed using independent sample t-tests, correlations and linear regression, and study III used comparative policy analysis and inductive content analysis.  Results Findings from the interviews in study I demonstrated that it was important for the participants to comprehend and manage challenges during the pandemic in a resourceful manner, and to see meaningfulness in their situations. In study II, the findings highlight that the socio-ecological factors of resilience, social support, doing useful work and experiencing rules as clear affected the self-employed people’s well-being, and that these factors may be even more important for those who had difficulties running their business. Study III found that self-employed people in both Sweden and Canada who 10 were unable to telework were relatively less resilient during the pandemic. The interviews revealed that many self-employed people in hard-hit industries were dissatisfied with government financial support measures and found them to be unfairly distributed. In addition, the self-employed people who experienced difficulties running their businesses reported reduced well-being, which had a negative effect on their business survival.  Conclusion  While the three studies in this thesis had different foci, they collectively provide insights into the internal and external salutogenic resources that influenced how self-employed people navigated the pandemic. A sense of coherence, resilience and well-being were deemed important for handling the pandemic well, for both the individuals and their businesses. The research also indicated the interconnectedness between self-employed people and their businesses. For instance, financial difficulties may lead to increased stress and pressure to make decisions to sustain the business. Reduced well-being, in turn, made it harder to adapt and adjust positively to adversity. The importance of supporting factors at multiple socio-ecological levels was also highlighted, and these may be particularly important to those who had difficulties running their businesses.

The growing demand for sustainable technology has led to an increased application of power electronics. As these devices are often exposed to harsh conditions, their reliability is a primary concern for both manufacturers and users. Addressing these reliability challenges involves a set of activities known as Prognostics and Health Management (PHM). In PHM, predicting the Remaining Useful Life (RUL) is crucial. This prediction relies on identifying failure precursors, which signify the presence of degradation. These precursors are then used to construct a degradation model that enables the prediction of the remaining time that the device can work before failure. The project focuses on examining a MOSFET aging dataset from the NASA PCoE dataset depository and a diode aging dataset from Fraunhofer ENAS. The prediction of the remaining useful life of devices using failure precursors has been done by applying recurrent neural network (RNN) methods. However, the prediction results from a single feature is significantly deviated from the actual values. To improve the prediction, the age of the device was proposed as an additional feature. RNNs with a similar number of weights and RNNs with the same hyperparameters are implemented and their performance is evaluated by the accuracy of prediction. The results show that all the RNN models implemented manage to capture the characteristics of the aging data. Despite its simpler structure, the vanilla RNN manages to produce a comparable result with the GRU and LSTM by simpler mechanism and less number of weights. The results also reveal that the characteristics of the data have a significant impact on the final results. / Den växande efterfrågan på hållbar teknik har lett till en ökad tillämpning av kraftelektronik. Eftersom dessa enheter ofta utsätts för tuffa förhållanden är deras tillförlitlighet ett primärt bekymmer för både tillverkare och användare. Att ta itu med dessa tillförlitlighetsutmaningar innebär en uppsättning aktiviteter som kallas Prognostics and Health Management (PHM). I PHM är det avgörande att förutsäga det återstående användbara livet (RUL). Denna förutsägelse bygger på identifiering av felprekursorer, som anger förekomsten av nedbrytning. Dessa prekursorer används sedan för att konstruera en nedbrytningsmodell som möjliggör förutsägelse av den återstående tiden som enheten kan fungera innan fel. Projektet fokuserar på att undersöka en MOSFET-åldringsdataset från NASA PCoE-datauppsättningen och en diodåldringsdataset från Fraunhofer ENAS. Förutsägelsen av den återstående livslängden för enheter som använder felprekursorer har gjorts genom att använda metoder för återkommande neurala nätverk (RNN). Förutsägelseresultatet från en enskild funktion avviker dock avsevärt från de faktiska värdena. För att förbättra förutsägelsen föreslogs enhetens ålder som en extra funktion. RNN med ett liknande antal vikter och RNN med samma hyperparametrar implementeras och deras prestanda utvärderas av förutsägelsens noggrannhet. Resultaten visar att alla implementerade RNN-modeller lyckas fånga egenskaperna hos åldrande data. Trots sin enklare struktur lyckas vanilj RNN producera ett jämförbart resultat med GRU och LSTM genom enklare mekanism och färre antal vikter. Resultaten visar också att uppgifternas egenskaper har en betydande inverkan på de slutliga resultaten.

Transportsektorn är en av världens största producenter av växthusgas därav är dess avkarbonisering essentiell för att uppnå Parisavtalets mål för CO2-emissioner. Ett viktigt steg för att uppnå dessa mål utförs genom elektrifiering. Litium-jon-batterier (eng. litium-ion batteries, ’LIB’) har blivit väldigt populära energilagringssystem för batteridrivna elektriska fordon (eng. battery electric vehicles, ’BEV’) men tenderar att åldras, precis som alla andra batterier. Därav krävs forskning kring batteriföråldring på grund av nedbrytningsprocessernas inverkan på prissättningen, prestationerna och miljöpåverkan av BEV. Olika modeller används för att beskriva batteriernas åldrande. Datadrivna modeller som förutspår batteriers livstid ökar i popularitet vars noggrannhet och prestationer till stor del beror på indatats kvalitet. Formatet för tidsinhämtade data kräver enorma mängder lagringsutrymme, hög processkapacitet och längre processer; något ’reducerad’ eller ’aggregerad’ data delvis åtgärdar. Denna avhandling fokuserar på att utveckla en metodik för användning av dynamiska fordonsdata i ’aggregerad’ form. Tidsloggade data inhämtade från kallklimatstesting av Scanias BEV-prototyp användes varav interaktionseffekterna mellan diverse fordonsparametrar samt deras effekt på batteriåldring utifrån en batteriåldringsmodell analyserades. Olika tillvägagångssätt för strukturering av dynamiska fordonsdata i modellen undersöktes också. Tolv aggregeringsscenarion designades och testades. Dessutom valdes tre scenarion för uppskattningar och jämförelser av återstående användbar livslängd (eng. remaining-useful-life, ’RUL’) tillsammans med resultat från tidsinhämtade data. Slutligen drogs slutsatser om: parameterinteraktioner, struktur av dynamiska fordonsdata och RUL. Flera framtida utvecklingsområden har också föreslagits bland annat: tester av andra aggregeringstekniker, utöka modellen till tjänstefordon samt kategorisera användningsbeteenden av fordon för att förbättra RUL-uppskattningar. / The transport sector is one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas producing sector and it’s decarbonisation is imperative to achieve the CO2 emission targets set by the Paris Agreement. One important step towards achieving these targets is through electrification of the sector. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have become very popular energy storage systems for battery electric vehicles (BEVs). However, LIBs like all other batteries, tend to age. Hence, the study of the battery ageing phenomena is very essential since the degradation in battery characteristics hugely determines the cost, performance and the environmental impact of BEVs. Different modelling approaches are used to represent battery ageing behaviour. Data-driven models for predicting the lifetime of batteries are becoming popular. However, the accuracy and performance of data-driven models largely depends upon the quality of data being used as the input. Time-sampled format of logging data results in huge data files requiring enormous amounts of storage space, high processing power requirements and longer processing times. Instead, using data in a ’reduced’ or ‘aggregated’ form can help in addressing these issues. This thesis work focuses on developing a methodology for using dynamic vehicle data in an ‘aggregated’ form. Time-sampled data from a Scania prototype BEV truck, recorded during cold climate test, was used. The interaction effects between various vehicle parameters and their effect on battery ageing in a battery ageing model were analyzed. Different approaches to structuring dynamic vehicle data for use in the model were also studied. Twelve aggregation scenarios were designed and tested. Furthermore, three scenarios were selected for making remaining-useful-life (RUL) estimations and compared alongside time-sampled data results. Finally, conclusions about parameter interactions, structuring of dynamic vehicle data and RUL estimations were drawn. Several next steps for future work have also been suggested such as testing other aggregation techniques, extending the model to vehicle fleets and categorizing vehicle usage behaviours to make better RUL estimations.

Remaining useful life (RUL) prediction is a problem that researchers in the prognostics and health management (PHM) community have been studying for decades. Both physics-based and data-driven methods have been investigated, and in recent years, deep learning has gained significant attention. When sufficiently large and diverse datasets are available, deep neural networks can achieve state-of-the-art performance in RUL prediction for a variety of systems. However, for end users to trust the results of these models, especially as they are integrated into safety-critical systems, RUL prediction uncertainty must be captured. This work explores an approach for estimating both epistemic and heteroscedastic aleatoric uncertainties that emerge in RUL prediction deep neural networks and demonstrates that quantifying the overall impact of these uncertainties on predictions reveal valuable insight into model performance. Additionally, a study is carried out to observe the effects of RUL truth data augmentation on perceived uncertainties in the model.

3D列印技術最早可以被追溯到18世紀，直到2012年英國經濟學人期刊表示3D列印技術將引爆第三次工業革命後，全球各國與產業界更加投入於此。直至今日，世界智慧財產權組織(WIPO)於2015年公布的《世界智慧財產報告》仍將3D列印列為三大前鋒技術之一，Gartner在2016年所提出之年度預測中，亦表示3D列印在2017年仍是最重要之技術之一，本文研究發現其具備設計靈活、材料多樣、一體成型、以及材料節省等特性，在技術與設備逐漸成熟、價格降低等因素下，業界已將其運用在產品製造的各個階段－設計、製造、銷售、與維修階段，且根據研究許多企業亦對於3D列印抱持正面、積極之態度，可見3D列印技術之價值。本文因此以3D列印技術為對象討論，並討論所涉及之著作權議題。 本文觀察到在3D列印中有兩個值得關注的部分，首先，由於其可使用多種材料製作多樣列印成品，當中包括了實用性物品之設計，即兼具藝術性與實用性之創作，會產生是否可受著作權保護之疑問，以及不同於純藝術之創作，為避免給予保護後將逾越著作權之立法精神，是否需要適用額外之著作權保護要件之問題；其次，由於3D列印在製造過程中，可分為建模階段、列印階段，當中涉及空間轉換之情形，因此會產生我國著作權法上如何評價此議題之疑問，本文針對以上兩部分進行研究，透過我國與美國實務與學說見解，分析與提出建議。 根據我國著作權法之規範，本文認為我國著作權法在圖形著作與美術著作中係有兼具實用性與藝術性之創作類型存在，惟過去我國實務在美術著作僅以「手工」、「一品製作」之「美術工藝品」，本文認為專利法與著作權法並非互斥，有雙重保護之可能下，應揚棄「手工」、「一品製作」要件，縱使獲得設計專利保護、或屬於「機械」、「大量製造」之工業設計，亦可獲得著作權保護，因此本文建議修正「美術工藝品」用語為「應用美術」。接著是否需額外著作權保護要件上，本文發現我國判決曾引用美國著作權法之實用性原則之內涵，同時研究後認為在美國Star Athletica, LLC v. Varsity Brands, Inc.案後，統一適用步驟與標準，解決以往美國實務與學說所產生之矛盾與爭議，建議我國可以修法引進實用性原則，便於實務操作、判斷。 在著作空間轉換議題，主要爭議是來自於立法沿革，目前實務、主管機關與學說見解共識在於著作於平面轉立體時，並非一概屬於實施行為，而不受著作權規範。實務、主管機關表示需視「立體物實際展現之內容」判斷為重製、改作、或實施，對此學說有不同意見，主要爭議在於考量因素與實施意義認定之差異，本文研究後提出著作空間轉換模型，以利實務判斷，並認為立體轉為平面亦可以同理判斷。 最後，在3D列印之CAD檔案與列印成品可著作性上，本文認為最主要的問題除了實用性原則外，尚包括原創性部分，原創性之判斷會受到不同創作方式影響，但仍有受到著作權保護之可能。在實用性原則部分，Star Athletica, LLC v. Varsity Brands, Inc.案最高法院所提出標準相較以往更為寬鬆，本文認為若採取此見解，將會更容易取得著作權保護，對於3D列印創作人較為有利。 / 3D printing can be traced back to the 18th century at the earliest time. After The Economist Journal said 3D printing is one of important breakthroughs leading to the factory of the future and digital manufacturing, amount to the third industrial revolution in 2012, countries and industries around the world paid more attention on it. Until now, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) published new WIPO report in 2015 and shows three frontier technologies that hold the potential to boost future economic growth are 3D printing, nanotechnology and robotics. In Gartner’s 2017 annual predictions about the future of 3D printing, Gartner also said that 3D printing is still one of the most important technologies. This thesis finds that 3D printing has the characteristics of flexible design, diversified materials, production in one-step and products without cost penalties in manufacturing, and so on. As the technology and equipment gradually mature and price decreases, the industry has applied 3D printing to various stages of producing- design, manufacturing, distribution, and after-sale service. According to the studies that many companies also have a positive attitude towards 3D printing. For the above reasons, this thesis therefore discusses 3D printing technology, and focuses on the copyright issues of it. This thesis discovers that there are two questions worthy of attention in 3D printing. First of all, because there are many materials used for 3D printing to produce a variety of printed products, including the design of useful articles, which are both artistic and utilitarian products. It will call into questions whether the design of useful articles is copyrightable or not, and if the answer is yes, what is the protection scope? Second, there are two stages in the process of 3D printing- executing Computer-Aided design file (CAD file) stage and printing stage involved in space conversion (2D-3D, 3D-2D) question. This thesis focuses on the above two questions, and refers to the scholars’ and the courts’ opinions of U.S. and R.O.C copyright law to propose some advice and opinions. For the first question, this thesis conclusion is that the design of useful articles is protectable in R.O.C copyright law, which might be pictorial and graphical works or artistic works. Besides, it is not reasonable to add two elements of applied arts- craftsman and only one production. After the Supreme Court held in Star Athletica, LLC v. Varsity Brands, Inc. that it proposed unified and appropriate test for implementing the useful article doctrine, the useful article doctrine becomes easier to apply. Therefore it might be a good solution to decide whether the design of useful articles is copyrightable or not, and if the answer is yes, what is the protection scope? For the second question, it happened because of amendment of R.O.C copyright law, and this thesis proposes a model to assist judgment. Last but not least, this thesis shows that the most two important elements determine whether the design of useful articles is copyrightable or not are originality and the useful article doctrine. According the opinions about Star Athletica, LLC v. Varsity Brands, the unified test for implementing the useful article doctrine becomes easily accessible and will beneficial for creators to be protected by U.S. copyright law.

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Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy v Praze DIPLOMOVÁ PRÁCE 2012 Bc. et Bc. Karolína Kudláčková Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy v Praze Katedra pedagogiky Diplomová práce Karolína Kudláčková Sociální podnikání jako forma sociálně-pedagogické práce The Social Enterprise as the Form of Social Pedagogy's Working 2012 Vedoucí práce: PhDr. Jitka Lorenzová, Ph. D. Děkuji vedoucí své diplomové práce PhDr. Jitce Lorenzové, Ph.D. za cenné rady v průběhu jejího psaní. Chci ale vyjádřit svou vděčnost také všem ředitelům a vedoucím, kteří mi umožnili realizovat kvalitativní výzkum ve svých organizacích, jejich zaměstnancům a externím pracovníkům pak za jejich ochotu a otevřenost, s nimiž mi sdělili své názory a postoje. Byla jsem mile překvapena, s jakým pochopením jsem se setkala nejen v neziskových organizacích, nýbrž také v řadách státních úředníků. Prohlašuji, že jsem tuto diplomovou práci vypracovala samostatně a výhradně s použitím citovaných pramenů, literatury a dalších odborných zdrojů. Tato má práce, ani její části nebyly využity v rámci jiného vysokoškolského studia či získání jakéhokoliv akademického titulu. Karolína Kudláčková v. r. V Praze dne 28. června 2012 Anotace Diplomová práce Sociální podnikání jako forma sociálně-pedagogické práce se snaží předložit co možná nejcelistvější pohled na...

Ao longo dos últimos 20 anos, o modelo de concessão de serviço público no Brasil, tem evoluído consideravelmente, com destaque para o setor elétrico, e especialmente o segmento de transmissão de energia elétrica. O arcabouço normativo vigente tem buscado garantir a prestação adequada do serviço mediante a avaliação de desempenho do serviço prestado, por empresas públicas ou privadas, numa visão da qualidade do produto e da continuidade ou disponibilidade do serviço para o usuário. Concomitantemente, surgiu e desenvolveu-se rápida e globalmente, o conceito de sustentabilidade, no qual o desenvolvimento sustentável deve satisfazer as necessidades da geração atual, sem que se comprometam as necessidades das gerações futuras (World Comission on Environment and Development WCED), compreendendo essencialmente as três dimensões econômica, social e ambiental (conceito de Triple Bottom Line 3BL), permitindo a captura do impacto das atividades das empresas e organizações por meio de indicadores definidos para cada uma das três dimensões. Ainda, nesse contexto, desenvolveu-se as novas técnicas de planejamento estratégico e de gestão de desempenho, baseados em indicadores, com destaque para a Teoria das Partes Interessadas (Stakeholders). Adicionalmente, os diversos métodos de avaliação econômica e de demonstração contábil das empresas também realizaram um movimento de convergência internacional, principalmente, para aplicação de análise de risco e de avaliação do valor adicionado, com uso do fluxo de caixa dos benefícios esperados, incluído o período da perpetuidade ou valor residual/terminal; e de padrões contábeis internacionais (a IFRIC 12), que altera a estrutura de composição do ativo, uma vez que a norma não permite o reconhecimento da infraestrutura relacionada à concessão no ativo imobilizado das concessionárias, prática atualmente comum no Brasil. Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho propõe a formulação de um novo indicador para a prestação do serviço público de transmissão de energia elétrica, a partir das informações sistematizadas nos Procedimentos de Rede do Operador Nacional do Sistema Elétrico (ONS) referentes aos diversos indicadores de desempenho apurados para a operação e manutenção da transmissão de energia elétrica, visando facilitar o acompanhamento da gestão dos ativos físicos, quanto aos requisitos contratuais de atualidade e conservação do serviço adequado, mediante a avaliação da perda ou ganho na expectativa de vida útil dos componentes ou das funções de transmissão, a partir de uma idade determinada, ou seja, indicador de longevidade dos ativos físicos da concessão de transmissão de energia elétrica. Além disso, este mesmo indicador de longevidade pode ser usado na avaliação do valor de perpetuidade (estimativa do valor terminal) de empresas, quer pelo método tradicional de projeção dos fluxos de caixa descontado da perpetuidade ou pela simples abordagem comparativa da expectativa de vida útil ao final do período de concessão dos prestadores do serviço público. / Over the past 20 years, the model of public service concessions in Brazil, has evolved considerably, especially in the electricity sector, and the transmission segment of electricity. The existing regulatory framework has sought to ensure the proper provision of the service through the performance evaluation of the service provided by public or private, in view of product quality and continuity of service or availability to the user. Concomitantly, emerged and developed rapidly and globally, the concept of sustainability, in which \"sustainable development should meet the needs of present generation without compromising the needs of future generations\" (World Commission on Environment and Development - WCED) comprising essentially three economic, social and environmental (concept of Triple Bottom Line - 3BL), allowing you to capture the impact of corporate activities and organizations by means of indicators defined for each of the three dimensions. Still, in this context, new techniques of strategic planning and performance management were developed, based on indicators, notably the Theory of Stakeholders. Additionally, the various methods of economic evaluation and financial statement of companies have also made a movement of international convergence, especially for application of risk analysis and assessment of value added, using the cash flow of the expected benefits, including the period perpetuity or the residual value or terminal value, and international accounting standards (IFRIC 12), which alters the structure of asset composition, since the standard does not permit the recognition of infrastructure related to the granting of fixed assets in utilities, currently common practice in Brazil. In this context, this paper proposes the formulation of a new indicator for the provision of public electric power transmission, from the systematic information in the Grid Procedures of the Operador Nacional do Sistema Elétrico (ONS) for the different performance indicators established for the operation and maintenance of electric power transmission, to facilitate monitoring of the management of physical assets, the contractual requirements of current conservation and appropriate service, by assessing the loss or gain in life expectancy of the components or the functions transmission, from a certain age, ie, an indicator of longevity of the physical assets of the granting of electric power transmission. Furthermore, this same indicator of longevity can be used in assessing the value of perpetuity (estimated terminal value) of companies or by the traditional method of projection of cash flows discounted perpetuity or for the simple approach of comparative life expectancy of the end of the concession of public service providers.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:24:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Flavia Poyares Miranda.pdf: 2223256 bytes, checksum: e6eb51910d4122b24414e871421453ce (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-23 / This paper aims to address one of the major problems afflicting the legal community, which is the slow pace of justice. The process serves to ensure the right to due process, constitutionally provided, and seek access to a just legal system. Then it is necessary to use mechanisms to ensure the right to qualified legal protection, due process, regarding the contradictory and full defense, equal treatment of the parties, always present in the Democratic Rule of Law. Also addresses the changes introduced by the new Civil Procedure Code. Forms of cognition in the provisional guardianships are also analyzed, highlighting the need for the delivery of fair and effective adjudication / Esta dissertação tem por finalidade abordar um dos maiores problemas que aflige a comunidade jurídica, que é a morosidade da Justiça. O processo serve para garantir o direito ao devido processo legal, previsto constitucionalmente, e visar o acesso a uma ordem jurídica justa. Portanto, mister se faz o emprego de mecanismos para assegurar o direito à tutela jurisdicional qualificada, ao devido processo legal, com respeito ao contraditório e ampla defesa, à igualdade de tratamento das partes, sempre presentes no Estado Democrático do Direito. São abordadas também as mudanças introduzidas pelo Novo Código de Processo Civil. As formas de cognição nas tutelas provisórias também são analisadas, destacando-se a necessidade da entrega da prestação jurisdicional justa e efetiva

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T18:39:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dalgi Sequeira Santos.pdf: 459515 bytes, checksum: 067388b08d48c23b142f655159808db8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-11-12 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The objective of this study is to check compliance of the depreciation rates used by the companies, in conformity with the explanatory notes of property, plant and equipment included in their annual reports, with the concept of depreciation described in the Accounting Theory. The depreciation rates suggested by the Brazilian income tax regulation were utilized to compare the depreciation rates used in the balance sheets published. Based on this objective, three questions were raised: (i) is the accounting standard effective in Brazil, as regards depreciation rate, in accordance with the Accounting Theory?; (ii) is the accounting practice followed by the companies, with regard to depreciation rate, consistent with the definitions of the standard?; and (iii) did the new accounting legislation lead to the adoption of depreciation rates different from those recommended by the Tax Authorities? In order to obtain answers to the questions above, three hypotheses were corroborated, namely: (i) I the Brazilian accounting standard is in conformity with the Accounting Theory as regards the concepts of useful life of assets; (ii) II assets submitted to different conditions and systems to explore their benefits will have various economic useful lives. However, in hypothesis III, it is expected that, according to hypotheses I and II, and considering the definition of useful life of assets given by the Accounting Theory, the depreciation rates used be determined in accordance with the useful life of the asset and, therefore, be different, depending on their use and lines of business. Accordingly, for the same asset different depreciation rates will be used in different businesses, which means that not always the depreciation suggested by the Tax Authorities can be adopted as a rule. That hypothesis was refuted, based on the empirical surveys. The research adopted three methods to obtain the necessary information and data: (i) bibliographic research for the theoretical basis; (ii) documental research for surveying the standards in effect; and (iii) empirical research for surveying the data in primary sources / O objetivo deste estudo é verificar a aderência das taxas de depreciação utilizadas pelas empresas, conforme as notas explicativas de ativo imobilizado contidas em seus relatórios anuais, com o conceito de depreciação da Teoria da Contabilidade. Para comparação das taxas de depreciação utilizadas nos balanços publicados, utilizaram-se as taxas de depreciação sugeridas pela legislação brasileira de imposto de renda. Com base neste objetivo, foram levantadas três questões: (i) a norma contábil vigente no Brasil, no tocante à taxa de depreciação, está de acordo com a Teoria Contábil?; (ii) a prática contábil observada nas empresas, no tocante à taxa de depreciação, está coerente com as definições da norma?; e (iii) a nova legislação contábil levou à adoção de taxas de depreciação diferentes das recomendadas pelo Fisco? A fim de obter as respostas às questões anteriores, três hipóteses foram corroboradas, a saber: (i) I a norma brasileira de contabilidade está alinhada com a Teoria da Contabilidade no que se refere aos conceitos de vida útil do ativo; (ii) II ativos submetidos a diferentes condições e regimes de exploração de seus benefícios terão diversas vidas útil-econômicas. No entanto, na hipótese III, espera-se que, de acordo com as hipóteses I e II e considerando a definição de vida útil do ativo dada pela Teoria da Contabilidade, as taxas de depreciação utilizadas sejam estipuladas segundo a vida útil-econômica do ativo e, dessa forma, sejam diferentes conforme seu uso e em diversos ramos de negócios. Assim, para um mesmo ativo, diferentes taxas de depreciação serão utilizadas em negócios diversos, afastando-se da depreciação sugerida pelo Fisco. A referida hipótese foi refutada com base nos levantamentos empíricos. A pesquisa foi empreendida com a utilização de três métodos para obter as informações e os dados necessários: (i) pesquisa bibliográfica para a base teórica; (ii) pesquisa documental para o levantamento das normas vigentes; e (iii) pesquisa empírica para o levantamento dos dados em fonte primária