Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many companies have switched to remote work as this has been the recommendations from the Swedish Public Health Agency (Folkhalsomyndigheten, 2021). While some companies have been able to adapt the entire business to remote work, others have not been able to do so since the job requires physical attendance. This has led managers especially within the public sector to work remotely whilst the employees that work hands on still work on site. Current literature is mostly focused on e-leadership within the private sector and where the entire team is working remotely. Thus, we want to answer the following research question:  How do e-leadership influence employees working on site in public welfare organizations in Sweden? The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of e-leadership's influence on employees working on site in public welfare organizations. To answer the research question and fulfill the purpose, we have conducted seven semi-structured interviews. By using a thematic analysis with an inductive approach, findings suggest that leaders performing e-leadership influences employees working on site in public welfare organizations in Sweden through four different dimensions. Firstly, the leader's absence increases employee empowerment. Secondly, the way leaders establish communication controls the employees perception of the relationship. Thirdly, how leaders show presence regulates employees motivation. Lastly, the restructuring of the organization contributes to employees feeling stressed.  This study contributes to leadership theory by bringing new insights to the area of e-leadership, especially for public welfare organizations in Sweden, within teams that are not fully geographically dispersed. Even if e-leadership is similar to face-to-face leadership in many ways, things like informal conversations, personal feedback and insights into the daily work is likely to decrease or disappear. Thus, making sure that continuous follow-ups are made of how the organization's most important asset, its employees, are being influenced by having an e-leader are beneficial. Our research can provide a basis for, or at least a pointer to, public welfare organizations when updating policies on how their leadership should be carried out to achieve organizational leadership success.

This project intends to broaden the understanding of site by putting an emphasis on social, affectional and relational conditions. Hoping to begin a discourse on what existing values we as architects and developers bring with us into the future when proposing a design. This is achieved by the development and proposal of a methodology for uncovering, documenting and understanding how a community and its inhabitants relate to a specific place. The project aims to bring the question of social, affectional and relational site analysis to the surface, creating a forum for discussions of methodology and architectural approach relevant to all places going through substantial change. This is facilitated through the production of a workshop-series and an attempted interpretation of its rendered results through application in a drawn proposal for the site.

Hydrazine (HZ) and monomethylhydrazine (MMH) are used extensively as hypergolic propellants at Kennedy Space Center. These highly reactive fuels are considered highly toxic, and potentially carcinogenic. Consequently, the transport, handling, and disposal of hydrazines is strictly regulated to protect personnel and the environment. Currently, KSC generates large volumes of hydrazine-laden wastewater for disposal. This waste is contained and shipped on public highways for subsequent disposal by incineration presenting a potentially catastrophic threat to the environment and the general public in the event of an accidental release. Other existing remediation methods include oxidative and reductive pathways as well as biodegradation in fixed film reactors. Each of these methods has associated drawbacks and limitations that make them unsuitable for industrial use. Recently, hydrazine neutralization by reaction with alpha-ketoglutaric acid (AKGA) to form the stabilized pyridazine derivatives PCA and mPCA has been explored. The applicability of this technique for use at KSC has been established and procedural considerations for implementation have been addressed. Experimental evidence based on worst case scenario decontamination processing simulations and reaction characterization has suggested that AKGA can cost effectively function as a drop-in replacement for current neutralizers with minimal modification to existing infrastructure and operating procedures. Further work will be necessary to satisfy permitting iv requirements and verify that the reaction product stream is non-hazardous in light of limited toxicity data.

The manos and metates of Santa Rita Corozal, Belize are analyzed to compare traditional maize-grinding types to the overall assemblage. A reciprocal, back-and-forth grinding motion is the most efficient way to process large amounts of maize. However, rotary movements are also associated with some ground stone implements. The number of flat and trough metates and two handed manos are compared to the rotary-motion basin and concave type metates and one-handed manos to determine predominance and distribution. Flat is the predominant type and, together with the trough type, these grinding stones make up the majority of metates at the site. Manos are highly fragmented, but the two-handed variety is more common among those fragments able to be identified. While this would at first glance support a fully maize dependent subsistence, the presence of two additional non-reciprocal motion metate types and the fact that the trough metates are clustered in one sector of the site suggest that, in addition to maize, significant processing of other foods also occurred in association with these grinding stones.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Polyketides are a class of natural products that exhibit remarkable structural and functionally diversity and are highly sought after due to their medicinally important activities. For many decades now, polyketide synthases (PKSs), the mega-enzymes responsible for biosynthesis of polyketides have been the focus of extensive investigation to make new polyketides by polyketide engineering strategies. While there are many established methods to investigate polyketide enzymes and biosynthesis mechanisms, they have substantial shortcomings that have limited the extent of success with polyketide engineering efforts. This thesis focuses on developing simple, flexible yet powerful tools for examining polyketide biosynthesis by overcoming some deficiencies in currently used techniques. Reactive heterocylces have been designed for direct labeling of key polyketide synthase enzymes to provide a direct insight into its functions and mechanisms. First β-lactones and then β-lactams have been used as small molecule probes to perform site-specific labeling of acyl carrier proteins and further used for mechanistic interrogation of key steps in polyketide biosynthesis. The utility of these probes has been demonstrated by comparison to traditional probes and has been successfully applied to examine substrate selectivity of keto synthases, key enzymes in polyketide biosynthesis. The applications of the tools described in this manuscript only scratch the surface of their capabilities and are expected to significantly aid in the study of new and existing PKS systems leading to improved understanding of how these extraordinary biosynthetic machines function.

<p> This work was the first study at the beam port # 4 at the McMaster Nuclear Reactor, involving prompt gamma in vivo neutron activation analysis. The project consisted of experimental and computational parts. The computational part was done using MCNP program, which simulates the neutron and photon transport in the medium. The first thing assessed was the energy dependent neutron fluence rate in the collimated neutron beam, at the site. This was done in order to figure out the complete source (sdef) card for further MCNP calculations. This was combined experimental and computational work. For the experimental part, various activation foils were used and computational part was done by using MCNP programming.</p> <p> The second part of the project involved experimental prompt gamma in vivo activation analysis using 7 different phantoms, ranging from 30 mL to 2 L. Three different elements were observed. The prompt gamma in vivo detection of cadmium was the preliminary calibration study and the experiments were done with all seven phantoms. The calibration lines and MDL were assessed for all phantoms, with concentration ranging from 0 to 50 ppm. The prompt gamma in vivo detection of boron and mercury was done using 30 mL phantoms. Calibration lines and MDL for both elements were assessed as well.</p> <p> MCNP experimental simulations for 30 mL water phantoms were done and they were in close agreement with the experimental results. Furthermore, the MCNP gamma and neutron dose survey in the cave was done.</p> <p> The results obtained showed that there are numerous open possibilities for improvement in terms of in vivo prompt gamma analysis at the site. It predominantly includes the improvements in prompt gamma detection techniques and MCNP source definition. Furthermore, it was found that MCNP programming is the ideal tool for assessment and control of the experimental results in this case. It means that in the future research, the MCNP modeling will be the essential part of the in vivo prompt gamma activation analysis at this beam port.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

<p> As older adults increasingly make use of the Internet to enhance their personal and professional lives, the study of web site usability for older adults is becoming increasingly relevant. Web site usability is concerned with both utilitarian (i.e. functional) and hedonic (i.e. pleasure-related) aspects. This study explores the impact of age on select utilitarian (mental model accuracy and performance) and hedonic (disorientation and engagement) measures of web site usability, and the subsequent impact of these utilitarian and hedonic measures on user satisfaction. A laboratory experiment was conducted where 50 younger and 51 older participants interacted with an experimental web site. The results of the PLS analysis suggest that age has a more pronounced impact on utilitarian constructs than hedonic ones. Specifically, older adults were less able to create an accurate mental model of the web site and in turn had poorer performance with the web site. In terms of impact on user satisfaction, the contribution of hedonic constructs was significant while the impact of utilitarian constructs was not. </p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)