Historic house museums have been the subject of very little structured research. As ideal learning environments for young children they have the potential to facilitate very special educational interactions, yet children's experiences in house museums remain relatively unexplored, with very little professional analysis of the nature, the value or the impact of school visits. As museums, historic houses are educational institutions, yet with limited professional expertise and restricted resources as commonplace, many house museums provide very little in the way of structured educational experiences for schools. This study aims to increase our understanding of educational encounters in house museums. Using Falk and Dierking's Interactive Experience Model this thesis explores the personal, physical and social contexts of young children's visits to house museums. It follows the progress of children aged 5-8 years, as they participate in class visits to two very different kinds of house museum. A structured, age-appropriate education program implemented at Calthorpes' House is compared to the approach taken at Blundells' Cottage, where a lack of resources and professional expertise has resulted in unstructured school visits, typical of amateur house museums throughout Australia. The study directly compares these structured and non-structured museum visits to determine the immediate and long term value of constructed learning experiences in historic houses. The thesis concludes that the structure of a school visit has a significant influence on the museum experience. Research revealed that structured education programs prepare children better for their visit, allow for more successful interactive experiences on site, encourage enjoyable social interactions and result in more detailed museum memories. Finally this thesis outlines implications for house museums as a result of this research and makes recommendations to assist under-resourced house museums provide more structured, more informed educational interactions for schools.

During the past several decades, earthquakes have caused extensive damage to buildings, including wood-frame, single-family dwellings, in the United States. In order to mitigate future losses, existing buildings in earthquake prone areas should be evaluated for their seismic safety. This is also an important issue for buildings in Oregon due to the Cascadia subduction zone along its west coast. One seismically vulnerable element observed in wood-frame, single-family dwellings is the shear walls. In general, assessment of shear wall seismic performance can be accomplished by a building-specific engineering calculation. Extra effort is required if the effects of plan irregularity are a concern. This project aims to facilitate seismic evaluation of wood-frame dwellings by proposing a new engineering-based rapid visual screening method to examine the expected performance level of the structure's exterior shear walls to resist lateral forces from ground motions, including torsional forces induced from plan irregularity. In order to achieve the objective, SAPWood software was used to perform a series of nonlinear time-history analyses for 480 representative models, covering different combinations of shape parameters and shear wall opening-related parameters. The evolutionary parameter hysteresis model was used to represent the load-displacement relationship of structural panel-sheathed shear walls and a ten parameter CUREE hysteresis model for gypsum wallboard sheathed walls. The calculated maximum lateral drifts were used as basic information for the development of the new method. Through the development process, the significance of both plan configuration and shear wall openings were emphasized as they affect the overall seismic performance of a building through building mass, lateral stiffnesses, and eccentricities. Within the study range, single-family dwellings with two stories, a larger percentage of openings, and having a garage door were shown to be more vulnerable to seismic events. Plan configuration and shear wall openings were important features especially in houses located in high 1 (0.5g ≤ S[subscript a] < 1.0g) and high 2 (1.0g ≤ S[subscript a] < 1.5g) seismicity regions, as they could potentially lead to severe damage. For low and moderate seismicity, the performance ranges from satisfying the collapse prevention limit to the immediate occupancy limit. The developed piRVS (plan irregularity Rapid Visual Screening) takes into consideration the shape of the floor plan, number of stories, base rectangular area, percent cutoff, and openings from doors/windows and garage doors, and supports evaluation at the immediate occupancy (IO), life safety (LS), and collapse prevention (CP) performance levels. The piRVS provides relatively more conservative assessment results than FEMA 154 and ASCE 31 Tier 1. Its prediction for the two applicable Northridge earthquake damage samples is reasonable. This method will help architects, engineers, building officials, and trained inspectors in examining the expected seismic performance of shear walls, considering the effects of plan irregularity in wood-frame, single-family dwellings / Graduation date: 2012

It is no secret that over the last several decades, prison populations have grown exponentially due to an increasingly “tough on crime” policy stance and war on drugs. Although male offending populations continue to make up the majority of prison inmates nationwide, the fastest growing prison population has actually been female offenders, many who are locked up for nonviolent offenses like drug possession and larceny. Until recently, female offenders have been treated as an afterthought to male-dominated prison statistics. However, further research shows that female offending patterns are starkly different from their male counterparts, and women are contributing to higher recidivism rates because of their unmet needs prior to, during, and after incarceration. Therefore, this paper argues that state and federal governments must institute gender-responsive policies in order to combat stubbornly high recidivism rates through reentry alternatives, especially halfway houses.

Through the years, there has been a great deal of archaeological research focused on the earliest farming cultures of Europe (i.e. Early Neolithic). However, little effort has been expended to uncover the type and nature of daily activities performed within Early Neolithic dwellings, particularly in the Balkans. This thesis conducts a spatial analysis of the Early Neolithic pit house levels of the Foeni-Salaş site in southeast Romania, in the northern half of the Balkans, to determine the kinds and locations of activities that occurred in these pit houses. Characteristic Early Neolithic dwellings in the northern Balkans are pit houses. The data are analyzed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology in an attempt to identify non-random patterns that will indicate how the pit house inhabitants used their space. Both visual and statistical (Nearest Neighbor) techniques are used to identify spatial patterns. Spreadsheet data are incorporated into the map database in order to compare and contrast the results from the two techniques of analysis. Map data provides precise artefact locations, while spreadsheet data yield more generalized quad centroid information. Unlike the mapped data, the spreadsheet data also included artefacts recovered in sieves. Utilizing both data types gave a more complexand fuller understanding of how space was used at Foeni-Salaş. The results show that different types of activity areas are present within each of the pit houses. Comparison of interior to exterior artifact distributions demonstrates that most activities take place within pit house. Some of the activities present include weaving, food preparation, butchering, hide processing, pottery making, ritual, and other activities related to the running of households. It was found that these activities are placed in specific locations relative to features within the pit house and the physical structure of the pit house itself. This research adds to the growing body of archaeological research that implements GIS to answer questions and solve problems related to the spatial dimension of human behaviour. / February 2008

Mindre än en timmes solsken på vår planet innehåller mer energi än hela världens energiförbrukning på ett helt år. Ett vanligt villatak i Sverige tar på ett år emot flera gånger mer energi än vad dess behov är. Potentialen för solenergi är mycket stor. Samtidigt använder samhället idag stora mängder energi och det mesta av energin kommer från icke-förnyelsebara källor. Sverige har visserligen en hög andel förnyelsebar energi jämfört med andra länder men ändå är mer än hälften av energin som vi använder icke förnyelsebar. Syftet med den här rapporten är att utveckla ett mer hållbart samhälle genom att använda solenergi. Målet har varit att undersöka hur solenergi används i nybyggda villor och hur användningen av solenergi kan öka. Tre huvudfrågor har utarbetats för att kunna nå målet. Hur används solenergi idag? Hur kan användningen av solenergi öka i nyproducerade villor? Hur ser användningen av solceller ut i ett internationellt perspektiv? Dessa frågor besvaras i den här rapporten med hjälp av litteraturstudier och intervjuer. En genomgång av ett stort antal rapporter och böcker om solenergi som skrivits under de senaste fem åren har gjorts. Uppgifter ifrån småhustillverkare och leverantörer har inhämtats genom intervjuer både personliga möten och via telefon. Resultatet visar att solenergi är en hållbar lösning för framtiden men den används i liten utsträckning idag. I Sverige finns det idag 30 000 småhus som har solfångare och mindre än 900st installationer med solceller. Småhustillverkare erbjuder nästan aldrig någon form av solenergi till sina hus och menar också att efterfrågan är dålig. För att kunna öka användningen av solenergi i nyproducerade villor krävs information, statlig styrning och anpassade lösningar. Marknadsföring, nettodebitering, bidrag ifrån staten, hårdare energikrav, dyrare elpriser samt lösningar som är estetiska, driftsäkra och praktiska är också förslag som framkommer i rapporten. Internationellt pågår det en mycket stor ökning av andelen solceller. Vissa länder har uppnått att el ifrån solceller har lägre eller samma pris som konventionella källor till el. I Danmark ökade installationer av solceller från 11MW till 327MW under 2012. Under 2012 installerades det totalt 100 000 MW solceller i hela världen. / Less than one hour's sunshine on our planet contains more energy than the whole world's energy consumption in one year. A common roof for residential dwellings in Sweden receives several times more energy in one year than what its needs are. The potential for solar energy is huge. At the same time the society today uses large amounts of energy and most of the energy comes from non-renewable sources. Sweden does have a high percentage of renewable energy compared to other countries but more than half of the energy we use are non-renewable. The purpose of this report is to obtain a more sustainable society by using solar energy. The goal has been to investigate how solar energy is used in the newly built small houses and how the use of solar energy can increase. Three main issues have been developed in order to achieve the purpose. How is the use of solar energy today? How can solar energy increase in newly constructed homes? How is the use of solar cells in to an international perspective? These questions have been answered in this report using literature reviews and interviews. A review of numerous reports and books on solar energy in the last five years has been done. Data from small houses manufacturers and suppliers have been obtained by interviewing both in personal meetings and by phone. The results show that solar power is a viable solution for the future, but it is used to a small extent today. In Sweden, there are 30,000 single-family homes that have solar panels and less than 900 installations with solar cells. Small houses manufacturers offer almost never any kind of solar energy into their houses and they also says that demand is poor. In order to increase the use of solar energy in small houses, information, government control, and customized solutions are all needs. Marketing, net metering, grants from the state, tougher energy requirements, higher electricity prices, and solutions that are aesthetic, reliable, and practical are also possibilities presented in the report. Internationally, it is a very large increase in the proportion of solar cells. Some countries have reached that electricity from solar cells is lower or the same price as conventional electricity sources. In Denmark, installations of solar cells increased from 11MW to 327MW in 2012. In 2012 it was installed 100,000 MW solar cells worldwide.

Byggnadssektorn uppskattas idag stå för närmare 40 % av vår totala energiförbrukning, varav nästan 60 % utgörs av uppvärmning och varmvatten. Från myndigheter såväl som allmänheten börjar högre krav ställas på energihushållning i vårt byggnadsbestånd. I media duggar informationen tätt om nya metoder för energieffektivisering, ändå visar statistiken att mycket finns kvar att göra. Frågan som bör ställas är var problemet ligger. Detta examensarbete behandlar projekteringens roll för slutresultatet med avseende på energianvändningen i flerbostadshus. Syftet är att identifiera förbättringsfaktorer för hur projekteringen kan påverka byggprocessen mot ett mer energieffektivt slutresultat. Arbetet grundar sig på tidigare studier och utnyttjar dels en fallstudie av ett 3 st. flerbostadshus i Västerås från 2000-talets början, dels en intervjustudie med fokus på upplevda svårigheter i arbetet med energifrågor bland byggbranschens aktörer. I den inledande litteraturstudien identifierades tekniska och processberoende faktorer som avgör en byggnads energianvändning. Den knyter också an till liknande studier för att tillvarata tidigare erfarenheter. Fallstudien resulterade i att uppmärksamma hur stora konsekvenserna blir av att inte beakta energianvändningen i tillräcklig omfattning. Intervjustudien resulterade i att identifiera likheter och skillnader i de olika aktörernas syn på projekteringen med avseende på byggnaders energianvändning. Bland de förbättringsfaktorer som identifierats bör framför allt en mer framträdande roll hos byggherren nämnas. En tydlig ambitionsnivå för projektet tillsammans med kravformuleringar är också en nödvändighet. Ett samarbete mellan aktörer där all tillgänglig kompetens utnyttjas redan i tidiga skeden krävs också för att kunna beakta energifrågan på allvar. Tekniska konsulter måste ges tillfälle att påverka projektet innan det låsts i alltför stor utsträckning. Fokus genom hela projekteringen bör ligga på ett betraktningssätt där hela byggnaden ses som ett sammanhängande system. Under arbetets gång har också uppmärksammats ett behov av att underlätta uppföljning av utförda byggprojekt. Uppföljning är nödvändigt för att utveckla branschen och frångå ryktet om en byggbransch oförmögen att lära av tidigare misstag. Slutligen kan nämnas att en ökad efterfrågan från samhället måste ske som incitament för byggherren att bygga mer energieffektivt. Samtidigt handlar det för byggherren om att marknadsföra fördelarna med energieffektiva alternativ till konventionella bostäder för att skapa efterfrågan.

Thee market-driving approach has been cited by several business academic scholars (Jaworski,Kohli, &amp; Sahay, 2000; Carpenter, Glazer, &amp; Nakamoto, 2000; Kumar, Scheer, &amp; Kotler, 2000;Harris &amp; Cai, 2002; Hills &amp; Sarin, 2003; Carrillat, Jaramillo, &amp; Locander, 2004; Schindehutte,Morris, &amp; Kocak, 2008) as a significant approach of the market-oriented company that canprovide a sustainable competitive advantage. Moreover, the organizational cultures developed bythe transformational leadership behavioral style are likely to play an important role in themarket-driving approach (Carrillat et al., 2004). Hence, it is necessary for the market-orientedfirm to understand the interrelationship between these two elements in order to develop asuccessful competitive position in the long-run.The main purpose of our thesis is to create a framework for understanding the interrelationshipbetween the market-driving approach and the organizational culture, which is applicable for amarket-oriented firm. To achieve this objective, we have to identify the types of organizationalcultures and leadership behavioral styles, which are occupied in a market-driving company.Furthermore, we also have to define the relationship between the market-driving approach andthe organizational culture; whether the market-driving approach or the organizational culture isthe origin of effect to the other.To answer our research question, a qualitative approach was applied by conducting semistructuredinterviews with two case studies, which are well-known market-driving companiesoperating in Thailand, IKEA Thailand and Land and Houses. We scope the area of study only inThailand according to our ability of understanding, analyze and access the sources of informationregarding Thai companies.From the research findings, both IKEA and Land and Houses share a similarity of theirorganizational culture, adhocracy and market cultures, and their leadership behavioral style,transformational leaderships. The relationship between the organizational culture and the marketdrivingapproach within these two companies reveals only one direction; their organizationalcultures led by transformational leadership stimulate their market-driving approach. Moreover,we also found that transformational leadership itself can directly generate the market-drivingapproach.Hence, this result provided us with a new conceptual framework that indicates thetransformational leadership as the main factor, which directly and indirectly develops themarket-driving approach.

The discovery and excavation of Long Barrows has been one of the major developments in the understanding of the Early Neolithic in Southern Scandinavia during the last decade. The Long Barrows are one of the oldest monumental burial forms that we see in northern Europe in the neolithic. They are also the first example of a common idea that is connected to a monumental burial form amongst the people. In this essay I attempt to show that there actually are quite a large number of Long Barrows in Scandinavia that show similarities with Long Barrows in well-known areas such as Kujavia (Poland) and Pommerania (Germany/Poland), in both architecture and location in the landscape. I also scrutinise some theories regarding this phenomenon and discuss, and i some cases, criticise them. I especially focus on the stated similarity between LBK houses and Long Barrows. My aim was to see if these theories were appliciable to the relatively recent discoveries of Long Barrows in Southern Scandinavia.

A prefabricated timber frame house previously built by Villafabriken AB has been modeled in Autodesk Revit Architectural, a 3D-program based on BIM-technology. This has been done tosee if it’s possible to produce the publications that Villafabriken demands from the designengineer’s work, and examine which possible extra values that may arise compared to traditional 2D-CAD drawing.BIM is short for Building Information Modeling. Everything is stored in a single database and a change in the project file is automatically updated across the project. BIM provides more than just drawings since information from the model can be retrieved in various ways such as lists and quantity schedules.It was possible to produce the publications that Villafabriken demanded using Revit, but BIM doesn’t only mean a new way of drawing, it also require a change in the company’s process were the information from the model is being used.

Since the emergence of knowledge economy, items discussed in traditional accounting practices seemed not to represent the real value of an enterprise effectively. Thus, the conception of intellectual capital has been proposed. However, current intellectual capital measurement methods have limitations such as confirming causation difficultly, lacking integration sufficiently. The purpose of this dissertation is to propose an effective method and process to evaluate intellectual capital. We collected data from annual reposts of IC (Integrated Circuits) design houses in Taiwan. In basis of indicators and association analysis, strategy map for IC design house can be built. Then we compared the efficiency of intellectual capital for IC design houses. The results showed small scale companies might be more efficient than large scale companies. We also observed that intellectual capital value might not be reflected only through association and efficiency analysis. Then system dynamics was adopted to analyze one case. The side effect and leverage factor that hidden in uni-direction thinking of balanced scorecard were found out. This theme also found out indicators of intellectual capital and dynamic loops for the case. Finally, we suggest the policy to increase intellectual capital value for the case.