Open Access Theses - Social Sciences and Humanities - 2011-2020

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  • Publication
    50 years of Democracy in Botswana : The study of the democratic consolidation from 1965-2015 / 50 år av Demokrati i Botswana : En studie av den demokratiska konsolideringen från 1965-2015
    ( 2015)
    Sayed Abdu, Nemma
    Botswana's democracy has been labeled as ‘the African Miracle’ by the international community. However, in its 50 years of independence, there has been no change in government from the ruling party and the opposition is institutionally weak. The purpose for this study is to analyze the extent of democratic consolidation in Botswana and to try to analyze the challenges in the processes of democratic consolidation. In order to answer the research questions that are put forth in this study, Linz and Stepan’s theoretical framework were used against empirical evidence about Botswana from its independence in 1965 to 2015. The results show that in Botswana the democracy is not consolidated and point toward a more stable democracy than a deeply consolidated democracy. Stable democracy is centered upon the actual functions rather the depth of democracy. The main challenges for further democratic consolidation is the constitutional framework that lack accountability for the executive, the longevity of a dominant party system, the uneven ‘playing field’, the weak opposition, the restrictions and limitation upon the independent media and the civil society. Botswana’s exceptional reputation is exaggerated, while the country have had uninterrupted elections, the depth and quality of the democracy is shallow.
  • Publication
    A Case Study on the Extraction of the Natural Cities from Nightlight Image of the United States of America
    ( 2013)
    LIU, QINGLING
    The boundaries of the cities are not immutable, they can be changed. With the development of the economies and societies, the population and pollution of cities are increasing. Some urban areas are expanding with more population or other dynamics of urbanization, while other urban areas are reducing with the changing of the dynamics. Therefore, detecting urban areas or delineating the boundaries of the cities is one of the most important steps for urban studies, which is closely related to human settlements and human activities. Remote sensing data (RS) is widely used to monitor and detect land use and land cover on the surface of the earth. But the extraction of urban areas from the ordinary RS data is not easy work. The Operational Linescan System (OLS) is the sensors of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). The nighttime lights from the DMSP/OLS provide worldwide remotely sensed data to analyze long-term light emissions which are closely related to human activities. But the nighttime lights imagery data contains inherent errors. Therefore, the approaches to calibrate the data and extract the urban areas from the data are complicated. The long-term objective of this thesis is to delineate the boundaries of the natural cities of the continental United States of America (USA) from 1992 to 2010 of nightlight imagery data with all the different satellites. In this thesis, the coefficients for the intercalibration of the nightlight imagery data have been calculated based on the method developed by Elvidge, et al. (2009), but the coefficients are new and available. The approach used to determine the most appropriate threshold value is very important to eliminate the possible data error. The method to offset this possible error and delineate the boundaries of the cities from nightlight imagery data is the head/tail breaks classification, which is proposed by Jiang (2012b). The head/tail breaks classification is also useful for finding the ht-index of the extracted natural cities which is developed by Jiang and Yin (2013). The ht-index is an indicator of the underlying hierarchy of the data. The results of this study can be divided into two categories. In the first, the achieved coefficients for the intercalibration of nightlight images of the continental USA are shown in a table, and the achieved data of the urban areas are stored in a data archive. In the second, the different threshold values of the uncalibrated images and the individual threshold value of the calibrated images are shown in tables, and the results of the head/tail breaks classification and power law test are also drawn. The results show that the acquired natural cities obey the power law distribution. And the results also confirm that the head/tail breaks classification is available for finding a suitable threshold value for the nightlight imagery data. Key words: cities’ boundaries; DMSP/OLS; head/tail breaks classification; nighttime lights; power law; urban areas
  • Publication
    A collection of resources for the study of educational reverse engineering activities in engineering design education
    ( 2015)
    Calderón Saldierna, Marco Lino
    "Paginació: pàg. 1-136 i 1-464 / Educational Reverse Engineering Activities referred to as the acronym -EREA- help engineering design students to: Acquire and develop a set of abilities that raise their awareness of the design process; expand their sources of inspiration, position their actions within the lifecycle of a product, and transform theoretical knowledge into practice. However, it was detected that although such activities sparked interest among engineering design educators, they were either absent from typical engineering design curricula or were not fully exploited. After analysing the causes for it and determining that the creation of a collection of resources for the study of educational reverse engineering activities was the best way to reach a geographically dispersed community and thus start trying to change the existing research situation, the development of such resources began with the goal to address as many of the concerns as possible found whenever trying to implement EREA into existing engineering design curricula. The contents selected for inclusion in the collection of resources then, were derived based on initial exploratory discussions with experts in academia and industry; from the feedback received from peer reviewed conference papers stemming from this doctoral research, and from the presentation of intermediate results to early reviewers of this project; for such reasons, the information presented in the different resources targets first time (or novice) instructors of reverse engineering activities and takes into account not only the technical but also the pedagogical and administrative considerations implicated in the study of academic activities, and their potential introduction into an existing engineering design curriculum Given that some relevant information about the topic already existed but it was dispersed across different areas of knowledge; rather than developing all topics from scratch again, a conscious effort was made to examine published literature and to consult with domain experts to integrate and contextualise all existing information into a coherent body that could be complemented with the original results originating from this project. The major sections comprising the collection of resources then, are listed below: - Resource 1: Fundamentals of Educational Reverse Engineering Activities - Resource 2: Reverse Engineering and Learning - Resource 3: Misconceptions about Reverse Engineering - Resource 4: Benefits of Reverse Engineering - Resource 5: A Proposed Methodology for Reverse Engineering Analysis in Engineering Design Education - Resource 6: A Suggested Pedagogy for the Teaching of Educational Reverse Engineering Activities - Resource 7: Integrated Example of an Educational Reverse Engineering Activity on a Disposable Camera - Resource 8: Conclusions and Final Remarks - Resource 9: Miscellaneous Resources for the Study of Reverse Engineering The abovementioned resources were of a self-contained nature, could be read either individually or sequentially, and were written using the ""DRM"" framework for research in the area of engineering design. Once finished, a number of academic institutions were contacted to measure their interest in the resources, and in the end 12 different ones in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Denmark and Germany showed their interest in the research project and agreed to receive the document for reading, thus helping fulfil one of the main goals of this research which was to disseminate the results from it. Other results from this project include five peer reviewed conference papers and a report presented at the Technical University of Ilmenau in Germany after spending a visiting internship abroad to learn about similar approaches to the research into reverse engineering by other schools and traditions of design / Las actividades educativas de ingeniería inversa “AEII” tambien conocidas como “EREA” por su acrónimo en inglés ayudan a los estudiantes de ingeniería de diseño a: Adquirir y desarrollar un conjunto de habilidades que elevan su conocimiento del proceso de diseño; tambien a expandir sus fuentes de inspiración, a situar sus acciones dentro del ciclo de vida de un producto, y a transformar conocimiento teórico en practico. Sin embargo, se detectó que a pesar de que tales actividades despertaban el interés de los profesores del área de ingeniería de diseño ellas estaban o ausentes de sus típicos programas de estudio o no explotadas en su totalidad Después de analizar las causas de ello y determinar que la creación de una colección de recursos para el estudio de las actividades educativas de ingeniería inversa era la mejor forma de acceder a un grupo geográficamente disperso y así intentar cambiar la situación de investigación existente, el desarrollo de tales recursos empezó con la meta de atender tantas inquietudes como fueran posible, de aquellas encontradas siempre que se intentaba implementar “AEII” en programas existentes de ingeniería de diseño Los contenidos seleccionados para formar parte de la colección de recursos, fueron definidos en base a conversaciones iniciales de exploración con expertos en la academia y la industria; en base a la retroalimentación recibida de los artículos presentados en conferencia procedentes de esta investigación doctoral, y de la presentación de resultados intermedios a los revisores preliminares de este proyecto; por tales razones, la información presentada en los diferentes recursos está dirigidas a instructores principiantes de actividades de ingeniería inversa y toma en cuenta no solo las consideraciones técnicas sino también las pedagógicas y administrativas involucradas en el estudio de actividades académicas y su potencial incorporación a un programa existente en ingeniería de diseño Dado que cierta información relevante al tema de investigación ya existía pero estaba dispersa entre varias áreas del conocimiento; en vez de desarrollar todos los temas desde cero nuevamente, se realizó un esfuerzo consciente para examinar la literatura existente y consultar con expertos en el tema, para así integrar y contextualizar toda la información disponible en un estudio coherente que pudiera ser complementado con los resultados originales producidos por esta investigación. Las secciones principales que comprenden la colección de recursos se enumeran a continuación: • Recurso 1: Fundamentos de las Actividades Educativas de Ingeniería Inversa • Recurso 2: Ingeniería Inversa y Aprendizaje • Recurso 3: Interpretaciones Equívocas acerca de la Ingeniería Inversa • Recurso 4: Beneficios de la Ingeniería Inversa • Recurso 5: Una Propuesta de Metodología para Utilizar Análisis de Ingeniería Inversa en la Enseñanza de la Ingeniería de Diseño • Recurso 6: Una Propuesta de Pedagogía para la Enseñanza de Actividades Educativas de Ingeniería Inversa • Recurso 7: Ejemplo de una Actividad Educativa de Ingeniería Inversa en una Cámara Desechable • Recurso 8: Conclusiones y Apuntes Finales • Recurso 9: Recursos Diversos para el Estudio de la Ingeniería Inversa Los recursos fueron escritos utilizando la metodología “DRM” para la investigación en el área de ingeniería de diseño y se contactó a diversas instituciones académicas para saber de su interés en tales recursos, al final 12 instituciones en el Reino Unido; Irlanda, Francia, Dinamarca y Alemania mostraron su interés en el proyecto y accedieron a recibir el documento, ayudando así a cumplir una de las metas principales de esta investigación que fue difundir sus resultados entre estudiosos de la ingenierÍa inversa educativa. Tambien como resultado final de esta investigacion se pueden contar 5 artículos presentados en conferencia y el reporte de trabajo de la estancia de investigación en el extranjero."
  • Publication
    A Comparison Study on a Set of Space Syntax based Methods : Applying metric, topological and angular analysis to natural streets, axial lines and axial segments
    ( 2013)
    Xia, Xiaolin
    Recently, there has been an increasing interest in looking at urban environment as a complex system. More and more researchers are paying attention to the study of the configuration of urban space as well as human social activities within it. It has been found that correlation exists between the morphological properties of urban street network and observed human social movement patterns. This correlation implies that the influence of urban configurations on human social movements is no longer only revealed from the sense of metric distance, but also revealed from topological and geometrical perspectives. Metric distances, topological relationships and angular changes between streets should be considered when applying space syntax analysis to an urban street network. This thesis is mainly focused on the comparison among metric, topological and angular analyses based on three kinds of urban street representation models: natural streets, axial lines and axial segments. Four study areas (London, Paris, Manhattan and San Francisco) were picked up for empirical study. In the study, space syntax measures were calculated for different combinations of analytical methods and street models. These theoretical space syntax accessibility measures (connectivity, integration and choice) were correlated to the corresponding practical human movement to evaluate the correlations. Then the correlation results were compared in terms of analytical methods and street representation models respectively. In the end, the comparison of results show that (1) natural-street based model is the optimal street model for carrying out space syntax analysis followed by axial lines and axial segments; (2) angular analysis and topological analysis are more advanced than metric analysis; and (3) connectivity, integration and local integration (two-step) are more suitable for predicting human movements in space syntax. Furthermore, it can be hypothesized that topological analysis method with natural-street based model is the best combination for the prediction of human movements in space syntax, for the integration of topological and geometrical thinking.
  • Publication
    A Comparison Study on Urban Morphology of Beijing and Shanghai
    ( 2013)
    Wang, Zhu
    With time going by, urban morphological structures of Beijing and Shanghai have dramatic changes during last decades. These changes often ignored by citizen, but have big influence for human daily life. And the changes of urban morphologies should be easily recognized by citizen. There are many previous comparative studies between these two Chinese cities, and these studies focus on types of areas, such as environment, traffic, city planning and cultures etc.. There are also many comparative studies about using space syntax theory and geometrical statistics to study urban morphologies. However, there are not direct comparison urban morphological study between Beijing and Shanghai, which from multiple perspectives. In order to gain a better understanding of urban morphologies, this thesis take street networks of two Chinese cites as a research object, based on space syntax theory, as well the combination of traditional geometrical statistics, comparative analysis methods to systematic quantitative analyze and comparative study the different street networks of urban space in Beijing and Shanghai. This project work analyzes hierarchy of axial lines, which automatically generated from street networks, to do a morphological comparison from topological perspective. And it analyzes frequency distribution of axial lines’ included angles and length of axial lines to study urban morphologies from geometrical perspective. Results in the project seem to empirical study that, the well-connected streets are minority part, which all most distributed in the sample cities’ ring structures and center areas. Street networks constitute an obvious regular grid pattern of Beijing and a curves pattern of Shanghai. Based on the hierarchical levels of street networks, research samples have same hierarchical levels but without the same number of street lines. The included angles of axial lines have an exceptionally sharply peaked bimodal distribution for both cities and number of most connected street’s length do not increase so much from ring1 to ring6 for Beijing, but they have much change for Shanghai.
  • Publication
    A Global Governance Shift in Development : A study on how transnational corporation´s CSR initiative can address Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining and how that can facilitate development
    ( 2016)
    Runesson, Sophie
    Through globalization non-state actors including transnational corporations (TNC), have taken on a more important global governance role from the nation state, where they through their CSR initiatives, impact social issues surrounding development. There are however conflicting views whether CSR could contribute to development in the society. TNCs CSR engagement mainly concerns social issues at the workplace such as complying with labour rights. But workers right to organize and bargain collectively (FoA), which is a universally adopted labour right, is not emphasized on despite being vital for a democratic and sound labour market that ensures decent working and living conditions and even facilitates poverty reduction and development. Respecting FoA is particularly important in the context of a low-skilled and labor-intensive workforce with a low rule law and bad working conditions, which is often the case in developing countries where many of the apparel and telecom sector produces. Based on the importance of FoA and the critical views whether TNCs CSR initiatives really can improve FoA and thus development, this thesis will explore whether and how three TNCs, that produces in the above described context, address FoA by analyzing their strict policy and practical measures taken. Through using and applying theory and empirics of CSR and FoA, this thesis is conducted as a comparative case study of H&M, IKEA and Ericsson through a qualitative text analysis. The result shows that two out of three TNCs do not emphasize on addressing FoA since they disregard it as well as do not enforce practical measures directed toward FoA, but takes a more overall human rights approach. Whereas H&M highly address FoA by enforcing many projects that physically involves thousands of workers and enables them to organize and bargain collectively, which facilitates improved working and living conditions. The conclusion is that when TNCs, through their CSR initiatives, takes on a global governance role, they should address FoA by enforcing practical measures that physically involves and enable workers to organize and bargain collectively, since this can facilitate poverty reduction and development.
  • Publication
    A Mixed Methods Study on The Leader in Me Process| How Does Fostering Student Leadership Capacity Influence Behavior, Efficacy, and Achievement?
    ( 2016)
    Cummins, Kimberly
    The purpose of this study was to examine the link between FranklinCovey’s The Leader in Me (LIM) implementation and school improvement. Specifically, this study sought to identify whether or not longitudinal student data improved during LIM implementation, teacher perception of the LIM implementation, and the relative impact of the four LIM process components on school improvement. These process components include school vision of leadership, staff-created implementation, 7 Habits (Covey, 1989), and student leadership. By employing a mixed methods approach, the study incorporated both quantitative and qualitative data to gain a more comprehensive analysis of the impact of the LIM on school improvement. Longitudinal quantitative student data sets in the areas of attendance, DIBELS reading assessment, and discipline referrals was examined to determine whether or not there were data improvements during LIM implementation at one school. Quantitative data from closed-ended survey responses from staff members at four LIM schools was collected and analyzed to determine teacher perceptions of the LIM process as a whole, as well as the implementation levels of the four process components. Qualitative data in the form of focus group interview responses were collected and analyzed in order to determine the underlying causes of the student data improvements and overall school culture/climate improvements from the perspective of teachers at one LIM school. The data revealed that there appears to be a link between the LIM implementation and school improvement. Student data sets over time at the case study school did improve, and the teachers at that school indicated vast improvements in school culture/climate throughout the LIM implementation. In addition, the data analysis indicated strong positive feelings expressed by teachers at LIM schools, as well as a statistically significant positive correlation between the four process components
  • Publication
    A semantic description model for the development and evaluation of personalized learning environments based on distributed systems
    ( 2016)
    Gutiérrez Carreón, Gustavo Alfonso
    L'objectiu d'aquesta tesi doctoral és implementar i avaluar Entorns Virtuals d'Aprenentatge (EVA) distribuïts amb el suport de models semàntics per a la descripció de serveis d'aprenentatge i la seva incorporació dins en escenaris d'aprenentatge basats en tecnologies Grid i de Còmput al Núvol. Aquests EVA distribuïts compten amb funcionalitats que permeten la col·laboració i personalització per part dels estudiants, així com demanen un intercanvi coordinat i flexible dels recursos de la xarxa, els quals són recol·lectats de forma dinàmica per individus i institucions, per als quals s'estableixen mecanismes que permeten el correcte intercanvi de la informació i un control estricte dels recursos a compartir. Els serveis d'aprenentatge són components fonamentals dels EVA distribuïts, representant funcionalitats que poden ser fàcilment reutilitzats sense conèixer els detalls de la forma en què s'han implementat. / El objetivo de esta tesis doctoral es implementar y evaluar Entornos Virtuales de Aprendizaje (EVA) distribuidos con el soporte de modelos semánticos para la descripción de servicios de aprendizaje y su incorporación dentro en escenarios de aprendizaje basados en tecnologías Grid y de Cómputo en la Nube. Estos EVA distribuidos cuentan con funcionalidades que permiten la colaboración y personalización por parte de los estudiantes, así como demandan un intercambio coordinado y flexible de los recursos de la red, los cuales son recolectados de forma dinámica por individuos e instituciones, para los cuales se establecen mecanismos que permiten el correcto intercambio de la información y un control estricto de los recursos a compartir. Los servicios de aprendizaje son componentes fundamentales de los EVA distribuidos, representando funcionalidades que pueden ser fácilmente reutilizados sin conocer los detalles de la forma en que se han implementado. / The objective of this doctoral thesis is to implement and evaluate distributed Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) supported with semantic models for the description of learning services and their incorporation within learning scenarios based on Grid and Cloud technologies, with features that allow students' personalization and collaboration. These distributed VLEs demand a flexible and coordinated form of sharing network resources, which are dynamically collected by individuals and institutions, and establishing mechanisms for the correct exchange of information and a strict control of the resources to share. Learning services are fundamental components of distributed VLEs representing functions that can be easily reused without knowing the details of how services have been implemented.
  • Publication
    A Working-Class Party? The Swedish Social Democrats and the Descriptive Representation of Workers
    ( 2015)
    Bennich-Björkman, Anna
    The Social Democrats’ have had an incomparable influence over Swedish politics during the 20th century. This study looks at how this working-class party descriptively represents the working-class on its ballot lists for the Swedish parliament, Riksdagen. Using a mixed methods approach this study builds on an original data set including all of the Social Democratic ballot lists for Riksdagen from 1970 to 2014. The data is combined with qualitative interviews with party representatives in two constituencies. The combined results of the studies show that the Social Democrats are not descriptively representing the Swedish working-class. The party representatives seem to want to represent the working-class and they think that they are descriptively representing this social class. The results indicate that it might be more important for the party to find candidates that are loyal, than candidates who want to represent working-class interests. Furthermore, there are indications that the party might define the working-class in outdated terms; rather than focusing on the level of education, the party defines the working-class largely in terms of those employed in manual labor and heavy industry.
  • Publication
    Access Denied| An Investigation of the Impact of Aphasia on Social Inclusion in Long-term Care Facilities
    ( 2016)
    Hartwell, Jamie
    This dissertation focused on the impact of aphasia on social inclusion in LTC facilities. Data were gathered and examined using a qualitative research methodology. This research design used several data collection procedures including participant observation, ethnographic interviews, videotaped conversations, and artifact analysis. These procedures preserved the authenticity of the data and allowed for thick description of social interaction as it unfolded in real-time. The results of these data were examined using categorization of the context and culture of each environment, community-based strategies used during social interactions, and the linguistic and interactive devices used during conversational interactions. The views, reactions, and affective reactions of IWA were also explored and discussed. Patterns emerged from the data that revealed the types of strategies that IWA employed to overcome contextual barriers within the nursing home environment. This study uncovered the importance of considering the contextual makeup of nursing homes when examining IWA and the value in exploring the on-line behaviors and strategies that are implemented by IWA as they negotiate social action within these contexts. This study has important implications regarding the value of qualitative research paradigms in investigating social access and inclusion in IWA in LTC settings and exploring the complex interdependent and synergistic relationship of language and its situated context.
  • Publication
    Analysis of phosphorus retention variations in constructed wetlands receiving variable loads from arable land
    ( 2011)
    Johannesson, Karin
    Seven wetlands, constructed on agricultural land in the south of Sweden, were investigated with respect to phosphorus (P) retention. The overall aim was to increase the understanding of P retention and find possible explanations for the variations in retention that have been observed in previous studies. This was done by i) investigating P retention in wetlands receiving various water and P loads, ii) investigating the effect of variations in water flow on P transport, iii) comparing how well retention estimates based on water quality data agreed with measurements of the amount of P accumulated in the sediment. Results showed that P retention was positive in all wetlands, but it was variable (1–58 kg ha-1 yr-1) and months with negative retention were observed in nearly all wetlands. Such monthly negative retention coincided with i) high flow periods, when particulate P was either flushed straight through the wetlands or resuspended from the bottoms, and ii) warm low flow periods, in which case dissolved P was probably released from wetland sediments due to anoxic conditions. The results from the two methods for estimating P retention differed. Based on water quality data, the total P load during four years was 65 kg ha-1 and the mean P retention 2.8 kg ha-1 yr-1, or 17% of the total P load. In contrast, the amount of P accumulated in the inlet zone alone amounted to 78% of the P load, and the P content in the upper sediment of the whole wetland area exceeded the P load with a factor four. This discrepancy showed the need to add studies of sediment accumulation to inflow-outflow estimates for an improved understanding of wetland P retention.
  • Publication
    Assessing virtual accessibility : Swedish municipality websites for persons with disabilities
    ( 2016)
    Nilsson, Erik
    The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities outlines the right of persons with disabilities to equal access to information. This paper builds on previous research on the international and national level and examines whether persons with disabilities have equal access to information online on the municipal level of government in Sweden. Also assessing the perception of municipality official’s view on the concept of accessibility, this thesis uses both qualitative and quantitative methods. Findings indicate that clear differences are present among municipalities and that article nine of the CRPD is not fully implemented on the municipal level in this aspect, but that no clear relationship between party control and web accessibility can be found. This paper concludes that further efforts needs to be put towards education and information towards the issue of online accessibility.
  • Publication
    Attachment Theory and an Equine Prison-Based Animal Program| A Case Study
    ( 2016)
    Loeffler, Maris
    Attachment Theory and an Equine Prison-Based Animal Program| A Case Study
  • Publication
    Before its time? : a case study and lessons of the Yasuní-ITT initiative
    ( 2014)
    Dyar, Joel
    Masters in Science / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional & Community Planning / Stephanie A. Rolley / This case study considers the lessons of Ecuador’s Yasuní-ITT initiative for future climate change policy and international conservation and development efforts. A comprehensive post-cancellation history of the initiative and background information regarding key domestic and international actors and institutions is presented in the Literature Review. Documents identified from LexisNexis and Google searches are analyzed to identify seven narratives of the initiative’s failure, which provide a basis for the suggestion of lessons. Questions regarding supply-side climate policy opportunities and challenges are explored. The initiative’s political mismanagement, design omissions and insufficient domestic political efforts, and a lack of contribution incentives are identified as the key causes of failure. The author concludes that the initiative’s supply-side model of shared sacrifices has the potential to align developed and developing country needs in support of greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals while addressing the difficulties posed by an emergent political economy of developing world resource extractivism in Ecuador and elsewhere. Future research regarding supply-side climate policies is suggested.
  • Publication
    Bioremediation of PCB-contaminated marine sediments: From identification of indigenous dehalorespirers to enhancement of microbial reductive dechlorination
    ( 2015)
    Nuzzo, Andrea
    Marine sediments are the main accumulation reservoir of organic recalcitrant pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). In the anoxic conditions typical of these sediments, anaerobic bacteria of the phylum Chloroflexi are able to attack these compounds in a process called microbial reductive dechlorination. Such activity and members of this phylum were detected in PCB-impacted sediments of the Venice Lagoon. The aim of this work was to investigate microbial reductive dechlorination and design bioremediation approaches for marine sediments of the area. Three out of six sediment cultures from different sampling areas exhibited dechlorination activities in the same conditions of the site and two phylotypes (VLD-1 and VLD-2) were detected and correlated to this metabolism. Biostimulation was tested on enriched dechlorinating sediment cultures from the same site using five different electron donors, of which lactate was the best biostimulating agent; complementation of microbial and chemical dechlorination catalyzed by biogenic zerovalent Pd nanoparticles was not effective due to sulfide poisoning of the catalyst. A new biosurfactant-producing strain of Shewanella frigidimarina was concomitantly obtained from hydrocarbon-degrading marine cultures and selected because of the low toxicity of its product. All these findings were then exploited to develop bioremediation lab-scale tests in shaken reactors and static microcosms on real sediments and water of the Venice lagoon, testing i) a bioaugmentation approach, with a selected enriched sediment culture from the same area, ii) a biostimulation approach with lactate as electron donor, iii) a bioavailability enhancement with the supplementation of the newly-discovered biosurfactant, and iv) all possible combinations of the afore-mentioned approaches. The best bioremediation approach resulted to be a combination of bioaugmentation and bioremediation and it could be a starting point to design bioremediation process for actual marine sediments of the Venice Lagoon area.
  • Publication
    Can the CCCTB Alleviate Tax Discrimination Against Loss-making European Multinational Groups?
    ( 2014)
    " Ortmann, Regina, Sureth, Caren"
    In March 2011, the European Commission submitted a proposal for a Council Directive on an optional common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB). If this proposed CCCTB system comes into force, taxes calculated under the currently existing system of separate accounting might be replaced by a system of group consolidation and formulary apportionment. Then, multinational groups (MNGs) would face the decision as to whether to opt for the CCCTB system. Prior research focuses mainly on the differences in economic behaviour under both systems in general. By con-trast, we study the conditions under which one or the other tax system is preferable from the per-spective of an MNG, with a particular focus on loss-offsets. We identify four effects that determine the decision of an MNG: the tax-utilization of losses, the allocation of the tax base, the dividend and intragroup interest taxation. We find mixed results, e.g., that the CCCTB system proves ad-vantageous for increasing loss/profit streams (e.g. from start-ups or R&D projects) of the individual group entities, whereas the system of separate accounting is beneficial for decreasing profit/loss streams (e.g. caused by a decrease in return from a mature product). The results of our analysis are helpful for MNGs facing the decision as to whether to opt for the CCCTB system and can also support legislators and politicians in the EU but also in other regions in their tax reform discussions. (authors' abstract) / Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Series
  • Publication
    Catch share management in the Northeast multispecies fishery| Implications for the commercial groundfish fishery in New Hampshire
    ( 2016)
    Feeney, Rachel Gallant
    This dissertation tests theories about catch share approaches to fishery management, examining their validity and limits relative to the Northeast groundfish sector program, and potentially modifies them in light of research outcomes. Participants of the groundfish fishery based in New Hampshire are the particular focus of research, but broader impacts are considered. Studies of this catch share program have been limited to date, and studies of catch share programs generally have focused on a particular dimension (e.g., biological, social, economic) rather than integrate across dimensions, despite increasing needs to do so for management. Here, six key aspects of fishing are investigated: fishing practices, social capital, bycatch, economic performance, safety, and well-being. Thus, this work is a novel contribution to the field of impact assessment research, both in its topic and scope.

    The primary research question is: How has the advent of catch shares impacted the Northeast commercial multispecies fishery, particularly in New Hampshire? This is answered through a case study that involved a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches, using semi-structured interviews of 2 informants, including members of groundfish sectors, common pool members, former fishermen, and fish dealers. Although social research often involves a process of theory generation, in the case of the Northeast groundfish fishery, and catch share programs more generally, a number of theories have already emerged that are ripe for testing. It was hypothesized here that fishing under the control rules governing sectors has resulted in: more efficiency and flexibility for fishermen to decide where, when, and how to fish; greater social capital among fishermen; reduced bycatch; and improved economic performance, safety, and well-being.

    The groundfish fishermen of New Hampshire revealed that the theorized benefits of catch share programs do not necessarily hold true. Of the six key aspects of fishing investigated here, only the benefits related to fishing practices, bycatch and safety aligned with what has occurred in this local fishery, but even some of those benefits have qualifiers. The informants who were sector members generally felt that fishing in a sector was more efficient and flexible than the former Days-At-Sea program had been, generally due to shifting catch limits from a trip basis to an annual one. This had allowed more concentration of effort during times with greater potential for profitability (e.g., fish availability, favorable markets). Reducing bycatch was an important goal of the informants, and the sector participants indicated that their level of bycatch had decreased, primarily through eliminating the trip limits and discards of legal-sized fish. Some informants went above and beyond regulations to avoid bycatch in recognition of the need to steward stocks for the future. However, some sector members identified new pressures to discard when unobserved, driven largely by the high lease costs of choke stocks. There were no major changes in safety, because the informants largely strive to be safe no matter the management program. However, removal of trip limits for sector participants created flexibility and less pressure to fish in unsafe conditions.

    Theorized benefits for social capital, economic performance, and well-being did not hold true. Despite being a novel focal point for industry organization, informants felt that sectors have not been catalysts for social capital. Rather, sectors have been based on and built off of pre-existing social capital. In some cases, social capital was reduced as increased organizational responsibilities were seen as a burden and fishing became more competitive and secretive. Economic profitability and predictability had not been realized, though the concomitant decline in, and persistently low, catch limits for certain key species (e.g., cod, yellowtail flounder) vanquished any potential that catch shares had for the economic success of this fishery. The need to lease quota of constraining stocks to harvest the available fish in one’s own portfolio has been a substantial and new cost, with risky debt obligations, for several informants. Business predictability declined for a majority of informants. Catch shares has, however, transformed the business climate of the groundfish industry, with more focus on maximizing one’s utility. With declines in fishery participation, and dim potential for positive economic performance, the sense of well-being and future outlook for self and fishery had diminished since the advent of the catch share program. Job satisfaction decreased for most of the sector members, and a majority of all informants said that they would not advise a young person to enter fishing. The New Hampshire-based fishermen have, on the whole, not fared as well as could be assumed based on theory, exemplifying the consequences of catch shares, the potential for declining performance by those participants unable to adapt
  • Publication
    Clash of Cultures? "Noble Savages" in Germany and America
    ( 2016)
    Usbeck, Frank
    Als Ferdinand Pettrich im September 1835 in den USA eintraf, waren Vorstellungen vom Wesen amerikanischer Ureinwohner in den deutschen Staaten bereits ausgeprägt und folgten bestimmten Mustern. Die Zeit der Indianerbegeisterung als Massenphänomen, die Karl May zum meistgelesenen deutschsprachigen Schriftsteller machte und Hunderttausende in die Vorstellungen amerikanischer und deutscher Wild-West-Shows trieb, lag damals zwar noch etliche Jahrzehnte in der Zukunft, und die bildlichen Vorstellungen vom berittenen Krieger der Prärien als dem ‚Standardindianer' würden sich erst ab Ende der 1830er- und während der 1840er-Jahre mit den Illustrationen von Bodmer und Catlin entwickeln. Jedoch war ‚der Indianer' bereits ein fester Bestandteil in der Vorstellungswelt von Amerika wie auch der eigenen Gruppenidentität. Bereits an den ersten transatlantischen Erkundungsreisen waren Deutsche beteiligt, frühe Berichte über die Bewohner dieser ‚neuen Welt' verbreiteten sich Dank der Entwicklung des Buchdrucks schnell durch Mitteleuropa. Beim Eintreffen Pettrichs in Amerika war Coopers Letzter Mohikaner bereits in der deutschen Übersetzung erschienen und zum Verkaufsschlager geworden. / When Ferdinand Pettrich arrived in the United States in September 1835, perceptions about the nature of Native Americans had already become established and followed certain patterns. The era of Indian enthusiasm as a mass phenomenon—which made Karl May the most-read writer in the German-speaking world and drove hundreds of thousands to American and German Wild West shows—at that time still lay a number of decades in the future. Pictorial representations of mounted warriors of the prairie, which became the ‘standard Indian,’ were first developed through the illustrations of Karl Bodmer and George Catlin around the end of the 1830s and during the 1840s. Nevertheless, 'the Indian' was already a standard part of the vocabulary of perception for America—as well as of the Germans’ self-perception as a group. Germans took part in the fi rst transatlantic explorations, and early reports about the inhabitants of this ‘new world’ spread across Central Europe thanks to the quick development of the printing press. Upon Pettrich’s arrival in America, James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last Mohican had already been translated into German, becoming a bestseller there
  • Publication
    Climate change effects on migratory birds and on the ecology and behaviour of the willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)
    ( 2015)
    Hedlund, Johanna
    Recent global climate change is influencing the behaviour and ecology of species worldwide. Birds are typical systems to study in this context, as they are often migratory and thus subjected to a variety of environmental effects. This thesis employs the use of long-term ringing records, field observations, historical maps and historical volunteer observations with the aim of describing behavioural and ecological responses of birds to the current environmental change. An investigation into the spring arrival, reproduction and autumn departure in willow warblers (Phylloscopus trochilus) breeding at a southern study site in Sweden (65°N 18°E) showed that all three phenological events had advanced in parallel. Thus birds arrive earlier, start breeding earlier and leave Sweden earlier, with the breeding period staying the same in length. By teasing apart the migratory responses of different individuals, it became clear that particularly early arriving males and early departing juveniles had advanced migration. However, willow warblers migrating past a northern study site in Sweden (65°N 23°E) displayed no change in autumn departure. When migration in the two regionally separate populations were analyzed in relation to climatic variables, the results indicated that foremost a combined effect of growing season onset and the North Atlantic Oscillation influenced migratory timing, and only in individuals that had advanced migration. As growing season onset had advanced at both regions, but only elicited migratory change in southern willow warblers, it is proposed that intra-specific difference between populations prepare them differently to climate change. Willow warblers breeding at northern latitudes were also displaying absence of an otherwise common behaviour of the species: philopatry. It is suggested that the climate induced change in onset of the growing season, coupled with an increase in available territories, could have enabled a southern influx of dispersal-prone birds adopting a less philopatric breeding behaviour. Availability of territories was also studied in southern Sweden, in relation to 100 years of land use change and future climate change effects on forestry. The mass-conversion of grazed forest into coniferous sylvicultures that has occurred in Sweden 1900-2013 was shown to have negatively affected territory availability for willow warblers. The second most common bird species in Sweden, the chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), was however shown to be largely unaffected. In a future scenario where rising temperatures will increase growth rates of trees, harvest rotation will be faster and both sylvicultures and logged areas will increase in coverage, favouring both species. Thus commonness in terms of landscape and species occurrence has altered historically and is dynamically linked. Historic perspectives were also applied to observations of spring arrival of 14 migratory bird species. A relative comparison of two data sets, collected over 140 years, revealed that short-distance migrants have changed their spring arrival more than long-distance migrants in southern Sweden. In conclusion, the results of this thesis provide insights into climate change effects on avian behaviour and ecology, document unique observations and contribute with a great spectrum of knowledge, from exact details on responses by individual birds, through long-term changes in populations to historical perspectives on shifts in entire landscapes /

    At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.