The thesis consists of three papers, summarized as follows.        "The Determinants of Labour Market Institutions: A Panel Data Study"    This paper analyses the argument that labour market institutions can be thought of as devices for social insurance. It investigates the hypotheses that a country's exposure to external risk and ethnic fractionalisation are correlated with labor market institutions. Extreme bounds analysis with panel data of fourty years indicates that countries that are more open to international trade have stricter employment protection, strong unions, and a more coordinated wage bargaining process. Moreover, there is evidence that union density is negatively associated with the degree of ethnic fracationalisation.  "Why do Some Studies Show that Generous Unemployment Benefits Increase Unemployment Rates? A Meta-Analysis of Cross-Country Studies"    This paper investigates the hypothesis that generous unemployment benefits give rise to high levels of unemployment by systematically reviewing 34 cross-country studies. In contrast to conventional literature surveys, I perform a meta-analysis which applies regression techniques to a set of results taken from the existing literature. The main finding is that the choice of the primary data and estimation method matter for the final outcome. The control variables in the primary studies also affect the results. "The Effects of Trade on Unemployment: Evidence from 20 OECD countries"    This study empirically investigates if international trade has an impact on aggregate unemployment in the presence of labour market institutions. Using data for twenty OECD countries for the years 1961-2008, this study finds that an increase in trade leads to higher aggregate unemployment as it interacts with rigid labour market institutions, whereas it may reduce aggregate unemployment if the labour market is characterised by flexibility. In a country with the average degree of the labour market rigidities, an increase in trade has no significant effect on unemployment rates.

The aim of this thesis is to study representations of identity and (in)visibility in Swedish lesbian novels written in the 1930s, and to provide a summary of Swedish lesbian literature up to the early 21st century. This study has been done through a close reading primarily of Charlie by Margareta Suber (1932), Fröknarna von Pahlen by Agnes von Krusenstjerna (1930–1935) and Kris by Karin Boye (1934). Lesbian literature is discussed as a loose category, a construction which can be used as an analytical tool in a conscious and reflexive way, with its basis in the categories of author, text and reader. In short, I define lesbian literature as novels written by women, about lesbian figures and/or relationships, and for lesbian readers in the sense that the literature depicts lesbians from an insider’s perspective. As regards the period before 1930, the focus is on romantic friendship and the excitement zone when the romantic friendship becomes a sexual one, as seen in the fictitious case of Sin fars dotter (1920) by Lydia Wahlström. Sexological theories, the image of “the new woman” and changes to the law all colour the first half of the 20th century. This is seen in Charlie by Margareta Suber, where the author makes use of many such explanations in her creation of a lesbian figure. A reading of Fröknarna von Pahlen by Agnes von Krusenstjerna shows an intricate pattern of relationships at its heart. My analysis charts several same-sex couples, a lesbian single woman and two collectives; that is to say, the female collective and the male homosexual collective. The relationships between women are many-faceted and include everything from romantic friendship, kinship and sensualism to eroticism and shared parenthood. In my analysis of Kris by Karin Boye, I focus on Malin, the main character, and the development of her sense of identity, in which the struggle between the language of the world around her and her own emotional experience of love for a woman is a central theme. After the 1930s, the historical context changed in terms of everything from decriminalisation in 1944 via the homophobic panic of the 1950s to the impact of queer theory in the 1990s. Swedish lesbian literature addresses everything from crime of passion (murder) to the coming out process of young women. There exists in all novels from the 1930s an interplay that is (in)visible: the characters or lesbian relationships depicted are both visible and invisible at the same time. The characters are more or less aware of the potential risks attached to being visible as a lesbian, and often they do not notice themselves when this occurs. During the course of the 20th century, (in)visibility becomes replaced by openness and secrecy, and the visibility of the lesbian characters is politicised. / The abstract is translated by Janet French.

The main purpose of the study was to investigate the role of Big Five personality dimensions (Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience, Neuroticism and Agreeableness) and justice perceptions (procedural, distributive, informational and interactional justice) on social loafing in a field setting. Another purpose was to explore potential moderation effects of personality and justice dimensions on social loafing. Data was gathered both from employees and their supervisors working in three leading software companies in Ankara, Turkey. The study was conducted in two phases. In the pilot study, social loafing and perceived coworker social loafing scales were developed. Task visibility scale was adapted to Turkish. The internal consistency reliabilities of the scales were tested by a pilot study with a sample of 53 employees. In the main study, hypothesis and potential moderation effects were tested by gathering data from 156 participants. Results supported only two hypotheses proposing positive relations between extraversion &amp / social loafing and neuroticism &amp / social loafing. Investigating potential moderators, distributive justice turned out to be moderator on the relation between extraversion and social loafing. Moreover, conscientiousness had moderation effect on the relation between informational justice and social loafing. The results were discussed along with practical implications, limitations of the study and future directions.

Frågeställning: Hur arbetar CreActive för att främja det sociala kapitalet? Hur kan CreActive främja det sociala kapitalet i en kreativ miljö? Hur underlättas mötet mellan människor på CreActive? Finns det förbättringsmöjligheter för att ytterligare främja det sociala kapitalet på CreActive? Syfte: Syftet med studien är att beskriva hur CreActive skapar nytta för sin omgivning. Det kommer även att undersökas kring hur mötet uppstår mellan människor på CreActive som ska främja det sociala kapitalet. Metod: Studien genomfördes med den kvalitativa metoden, eftersom den fångar upp detaljer och information av intervjupersonernas tolkning av verkligheten, det vill säga deras uppfattning, tankar och känslor. Det medför en inblick kring hur CreActive arbetar med mötet mellan människor, för att främja det sociala kapitalet. Empirin består av intervjuer med studenter och anställda. Slutsats: Det framgår att studenter inte känner till CreActive i den utsträckning som CreActive vill. Det finns ett glapp mellan studenter och företagare som uppehåller sig på CreActive. Det syns att platsen CreActive inte utnyttjas på det sätt som det är tänkt. Brist på rätt utrustning, marknadsföring, studieutrymme samt aktiviteter medför att mötet över gränserna mellan studenter och företag saknas. Det leder till att socialt kapital uteblir. Vi har sett att det finns möjligheter till förbättring och det vi har kommit fram till är sex stycken bidrag som består av nya aktiviteter, annan marknadsföring och utveckling av befintliga idéer. / Research questions: How do CreActive work to improve the social capital? How does CreActive work to improve the social capital in a creative environment? How is the (face-to-face) meeting between people made easier by CreActive? Are there any possibilities for further improving the social capital at CreActive? Purpose: The study’s purpose is to describe how CreActive creates advantages for its environment. The study will also examine how (face-to-face) meeting occur between people in CreActive to promote the social capital. Method: The study was executed with the qualitative method, because it captures the details and information of the interviewee’s interpretation of the reality, namely their perception, thoughts and the feelings. It results in an insight on how CreActive work with the (face-to-face) meetings between people, to promote the social capital. The empirical data is consisting of interviews with students and employees.          Conclusion: In the study it appears that the students don’t know about CreActive in the extents they want. There is a gap between students and business people who visit CreActive. It appears that CreActive is not used in the extent that it was intended. The lack of proper equipment, marketing, place of study and activities contributes to (face-to face) meeting between students and business people are missing. These things lead to the failing of social capital. There are opportunities for improvement and what was developed were six contributions which consists of new activities, marketing and development of existing ideas.

人才對於促進一國經濟發展的重要性，從人力資本理論在二十世紀五、六十年代興起以來，隨著知識經濟來臨，受到廣泛的重視便可得知。面對中國大陸經濟迅速發展，人才的需求越來越高，台灣卻存在人才流失及金融產業競爭力下降等現象。尤其近幾年來，台灣與中國往來密切，兩岸貿易及業務越趨開放，人才流動也更加頻繁。 在金融交流方面，雙方於2009年11月簽訂兩岸金融監理備忘錄後，開始有了較正式且完善的進展，兩岸人才流動將擴及金融業，可能加遽台灣人才的外流。為了釐清此現象並探究成因，本文以分析兩岸金融開放與交流之經驗以及深度訪談學界及產業界人士的方式，來探討兩岸金融人才的流動狀況。研究發現，鑑於大陸的經濟成長、人才強國戰略以及金融市場需求，兩岸金融人才的流動並不平衡。銀行業、證券業、保險業在不同時期都呈現出不同的流動族群及流動模式。總的來說，兩岸的人才流動從2001年開始，由陸資金融機構挖角、外資金融機構從台灣培訓人才以拓展大中華業務，到2009年簽訂兩岸金融監理備忘錄後，轉向以台資金融機構外派為主。本文進一步透過推拉因素來解釋這個現象，其中薪資所得、政策、金融市場是中國吸引台灣金融人才的拉力因素，而社會融入、升遷管道、以及家庭因素、生活環境等問題則是中國的推力因素。這些因素在不同程度上影響人才移動的決策。最後，本文也提出金融業人才流動的正負影響以及流動現象背後所隱含的台灣經濟環境的問題。 / Talent, one of the most important factors of fostering a country’s economic development, has caught great attention with the development of knowledge economy since human capital theory boomed in 1950s and 1960s. With the rapid growth of Chinese economy, the demand of talent is huge. As for Taiwan, it is facing brain drain and the decrease of competitiveness in financial industry. Especially in recent years, the relationship is getting closer between Taiwan and China. The trade and business are increasing, as well as talent flow. In terms of financial communication, Taiwan and China have made a big progress since the agreement of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in November, 2009. However, it may worsen the problem of brain drain in Taiwan. In order to get a clear idea of this situation, the research thesis examines the condition and discusses the reasons by analyzing cross-strait financial exchange experience and interviewing professionals from academic and industrial fields. The findings are as follows. Due to economic growth, talent strategy with nation strengthening and the demand of financial market in China, the cross-strait talent flow is unbalanced. It shows that banking industry, securities industry and insurance industry have their own type of talent flow within recent years. Generally speaking, the cross-strait financial talent flow started from 2001, with Chinese financial industry’s poaching to learn more skills and foreign financial industry’s training to expand their business in greater China. Until 2009 when the agreement of MOU was signed, it changed by more and more expatriates in China sending from Taiwanese financial industry. Furthermore, the research thesis analyzes the reasons through Pull and Push Theory, which salary structure, policies and financial market are pull factors of China, while social integration, career path plan, family, dwelling environment, etc. are push factors of China. These factors variably affect peoples’ decisions by their own concern. Finally, the thesis comes up with pros and cons of financial talent flow and thus tells the problems which Taiwanese economic circumstances are facing.

In the media, one type of prejudice is often discussed as isolated from other types of prejudice. For example, after Breivik’s massacre, intolerance toward Muslims was intensely debated (for good reasons). However, his manifesto also disclosed extreme attitudes towards women and gays, a fact which passed without much notice. Still, in understanding why some individuals are so extremely intolerant compared to others, the psychological unity underlying different kinds of prejudice (e.g., racism, sexism) needs to be considered. This psychological unity, referred to as generalized prejudice, provided the starting point for personality theories on prejudice because it suggests that some people are simply more biased than other people in principle. Today it is well known that two basic personality characteristics, agreeableness and openness to new experiences, are powerful predictors of prejudice. However, more precisely what these variables can, versus cannot, explain has received little attention. Consequently, the aim of this thesis was to provide a more fine-grained analysis of generalized prejudice and its personality roots. Paper I demonstrated that personality mainly accounts for variance shared by several prejudice targets (generalized prejudice) whereas group membership mainly predicts unique variance in prejudice towards a particular target group. Thus, personality and group membership factors explain prejudice for different reason, and do not contradict each other. Paper II demonstrated, across three studies, that agreeableness and openness to experience are related to self-reported (explicit) prejudice, but not automatically expressed (implicit) biases. Personality seems informative about who chooses to express devaluing sentiments, but not who harbors spontaneous biases. Finally, Paper III examined the assumption that personality explains (explicit) generalized prejudice because some people simply favor their own group over all other groups (ethnocentrism). Providing the first direct test of this assumption, the results from three studies suggest that while agreeableness and openness to experience explain generalized prejudice, they do not account for purely ethnocentric attitudes. This indicates a fundamental difference between ethnocentrism and generalized prejudice. All in all, self-reported personality seems to have little to do with spontaneous group negativity or simple ingroup favoritism. However, personality strongly predicts deliberate and verbalized devaluation of disadvantaged groups. / I media diskuteras ofta fördomar mot en viss grupp som helt skilda från fördomar mot andra grupper. Efter Breivik’s massaker debatterades till exempel intolerans mot muslimer i stor utsträckning, men det diskuterades inte mycket kring att han även uttryckt extrema åsikter om kvinnor och homosexuella. Likväl är den gemensamma nämnaren i sådana attityder av yttersta vikt för att förstå varför vissa individer är mer intoleranta än andra. Tidigare forskning visar att personer som är mer rasistiska än andra också tenderar att vara mer sexistiska, samt nedvärdera till exempel, handikappade människor. Den gemensamma nämnare i sådana attityder kallas generaliserad fördomsfullhet och utgör grundbulten i personlighetsteorier om fördomar då det pekar på att somliga alltid tycks ogilla/nedvärdera utsatta grupper. Idag är det även välkänt att två personlighetsvariabler, vänlighet och öppenhet för nya erfarenheter, beskriver vem som uttrycker mer fördomar än andra. Däremot har det inte ägnats mycket kraft åt frågan vad exakt det är som dessa variabler förklarar, respektive inte förklarar. Syftet med avhandlingen var därmed att erbjuda en mer detaljerad analys av kopplingen mellan personlighet och generaliserad fördomsfullhet. Artikel I visade att personlighet förklarar den gemensamma nämnaren i olika typer av fördomar, medan grupptillhörighet (exempelvis kön) förklarar skillnader som är unika för fördomar mot en viss grupp (kvinnor). Personlighet och grupptillhörighet kompletterar alltså varandra som förklaringar snarare än att vara motsägelsefulla, såsom vissa forskare menat. Tre studier från Artikel II visade att vänlighet och öppenhet till nya erfarenheter hänger samman med viljekontrollerade fördomar, men inte spontana negativa associationer. Målet med Artikel III var att undersöka om personlighet förklarar fördomar av anledningen att vissa alltid favoriserar sin egen grupp över andra grupper (så kallad etnocentrism). Denna tanke har tagits för givet inom forskning om fördomsfullhet, men antagandet har inte testats empiriskt. Resultaten från tre studier pekar på att, till skillnad från generaliserad fördomsfullhet, så visar etnocentrism i sig inte på några starka samband med personlighet. Sammanfattningsvis så hänger varken vänlighet eller öppenhet ihop med spontan gruppnegativitet eller att ogilla ”de andra”. Däremot så pekar personlighetsfaktorer i stor utsträckning på vem som väljer att uttryckligen nedvärdera utsatta grupper.

Executive coaching has been described as a multibillion dollar enterprise (Ennis, 2004) costing some organisations up to $15,000 (USD) a day (Berglas, 2002). Executive coaching has also been reported as the second fastest growth industry (Wasylyshyn, 2003). Despite these astounding figures, empirical executive coaching research is still limited, thus more randomised, controlled studies are required (Grant, 2005). There is a fundamental need for high quality research to demonstrate the effects of executive coaching and provide justification for the level of commitment expended. The current research program addressed this need through three studies which together provide empirical evidence as to the psychological and behavioural effects of executive coaching. In the first study, twenty-three leaders from a year long transformational leadership development program volunteered to participate in six sessions of executive coaching. The study examined the effects of executive coaching on leaders’ psychological states, specifically, their self-efficacy, developmental support, positive affect, openness to new behaviours and developmental planning. The study had an experimental design with random assignment of leaders to training and control groups which provided a rigorous basis to distinguish the effects of executive coaching from the effects of other leadership interventions in the program. Comparison of the training group (after six executive coaching sessions) with the control group (who had not received coaching) revealed that the training group reported significantly higher levels of self-efficacy, developmental support, openness to new behaviours, and developmental planning compared with the control group. No significant effects were observed for positive affect. Further analysis, however, revealed that the significant differences between the training group and the control group were due to a decrease in the control group before they commenced executive coaching, rather than because the training group increased on the psychological measures after participating in executive coaching. It was proposed that this pattern of results occurred because the pre-coaching measures were obtained at the end of a two day training workshop, when the psychological measures may have already been relatively high. Thus, the effect of executive coaching was to sustain the impact of the workshop for the training group. A longitudinal analysis was also carried out in Study One to examine whether the effects of executive coaching on the psychological variables were sustained over time. The pattern of change was examined at three time points: time one, prior to the commencement of executive coaching, time two, after the completion of six coaching sessions, and time three, six months after the completion of the six coaching sessions. This analysis was also affected by the training group’s high precoaching measures, but when the analyses were restricted to the control group (n=6) – who by this stage had received executive coaching, significant change over time was observed on all of the study measures, which was sustained up to six months after the completion of regular coaching sessions. However, because the control group sample was small, these findings were tested again in Study Two. The primary aim of Study Two though was to evaluate effects of executive coaching on transformational leadership behaviour, measured with self, supervisor and team member ratings. Twenty-seven leaders participated in this study. In the first instance, an experimental design was used to investigate whether leaders in the training group, who had been exposed to executive coaching, received higher ratings in transformational leadership behaviour compared with leaders in the control group. In the second instance this study examined whether there was change in transformational behaviour over time, observed in the area that was the focus of leaders’ developmental efforts. Both approaches yielded similar findings in that the team member feedback identified significant improvement in leaders’ transformational leadership behaviour after executive coaching. There were no significant changes in leaders’ self or supervisor ratings after executive coaching. When the psychological effects of executive coaching were re-examined in Study Two, the expected differences were observed between the training and control groups. However, once again, the data from the training group failed to show the anticipated pattern of improvement over time. This failure was attributed to the small sample size and low statistical power. Consequently, a final analysis was conducted combining the data from leaders who participated in Study One and Study Two. This analysis measured change in leaders’ psychological states from pre-to post-executive coaching and confirmed that after executive coaching leaders experienced effects in the five psychological states measured. Thus, overall, the data from the two studies supported the psychological impact of executive coaching. In Study Three a qualitative approach was employed to triangulate the quantitative results from Study One and Study Two. Eight leaders were randomly identified from the Study One and Study Two samples, and interviews were carried out with these leaders, their supervisors, two team members and their coaches (a total of 40 interviews). The interview data confirmed the effect of executive coaching on the previously investigated psychological variables and also identified coaching as providing leaders with a sense of greater control. In terms of transformational leadership behaviours, all participants in the study identified improvements in leaders’ behaviour, particularly in communication, and the transformational leadership dimensions of intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and individualised consideration. One further aim of Study Three was to investigate the environmental conditions to determine the impact they had on the effectiveness of executive coaching. Constant change and high work load were most frequently identified as restricting participants’ ability to benefit from executive coaching. Overall, this program of research has demonstrated leadership development through executive coaching. The studies revealed that executive coaching positively enhanced the psychological states of self-efficacy, developmental support, positive affect, openness to new behaviours, and developmental planning. Impressively, the results also showed that executive coaching had sustained effects on some of the psychological states, and on team members’ perceptions of their leader’s transformational leadership behaviour. Practically, these findings justify the use of executive coaching in organisational settings. Theoretically, these outcomes augment the limited body of knowledge in this area.

A maioria dos trabalhos sobre o impacto macroeconômico da abertura da conta de capital não encontra nenhum efeito da liberalização sobre as variáveis reais. No entanto, uma leitura cuidadosa desta literatura revela que a maioria destes estudos não trata realmente da teoria que se propõe a testar. Aqueles que defendem um impacto positivo da liberalização financeira sobre o crescimento econômico aceitam as previsões do modelo de crescimento neoclássico de redução permanente no custo do capital e aumento temporário no investimento nos mercados emergentes, quando estes liberalizam suas contas de capital. A maior parte dos artigos que não encontram efeitos da liberalização sobre as variáveis reais não testa estas previsões. Uma ramificação pequena, mas crescente, desta literatura sobre a relação entre liberalização da conta de capital e crescimento econômico, que leva em conta a natureza temporal das previsões do modelo neoclássico (os artigos que adotam o chamado enfoque do experimento de política), encontra evidências de que a abertura da conta de capital em um país emergente gera efeitos significativos sobre o investimento e crescimento econômico. A desagregação dos dados, ou seja, a aplicação do enfoque do experimento de política a dados de firmas, fornece uma ligação mais forte com a teoria e graus de liberdade suficientes para se adotar uma nova estratégia de identificação que permite testar a eficiência na alocação dos recursos dentro do país em desenvolvimento que abriu sua conta de capital. O objetivo desta dissertação é tratar das teorias e evidências do impacto da liberalização da conta de capital nos países emergentes sobre o crescimento de suas economias, analisando-se as metodologias empíricas existentes aplicadas no teste desta relação, enfatizando as teorias que dão suporte a seus testes empíricos, bem como suas principais descobertas. Os efeitos da abertura da conta de capital no Brasil, na década de 90, serão analisados, utilizando-se uma estratégia de identificação recente a partir de dados de firmas, para se checar a validade empírica das previsões do modelo de crescimento neoclássico nesta situação. / Most writings on the macroeconomic impact of capital account openness find no effects of liberalization on real variables. However, a critical reading of this literature reveals that most of these studies do not really address the theory they set out to test. Those who defend a positive impact of financial liberalization on economic growth accept the neoclassical growth model’s predictions of permanent reduction on the cost of capital and temporary increase in investment in emerging markets when they liberalize their capital account. The lion’s share of papers that find no effect of liberalization on real variables do not test these predictions. A small but growing branch of this literature on the relationship between capital account liberalization and economic growth that takes the time series nature of the neoclassical model’s predictions seriously (papers that adopt the policy-experiment approach) find that opening the capital account within an emerging country generates significant effects on investment and economic growth. Disaggregating the data, that is to say, applying the policy-experiment approach to firm-level data, provides a tighter link to the theory than aggregate data and enough degrees of freedom to adopt a new identification strategy that allows of the test on the efficiency of capital allocation within the developing country that opened its capital account. The objective of this dissertation is to address the theories and evidences of the impact of capital account liberalization in emerging countries on their economic growth, analyzing the existing empirical methodologies applied to test this relationship, emphasizing the theories that support their empirical tests as well as their main findings. The effects of capital account opening in Brazil, in the 90’s, will be analyzed, using the recent firm-level data identification strategy, to check the empirical validity of the neoclassical growth model’s predictions in this situation.

The impacts of climate change on temperate forests are predicted to accelerate, with widespread implications for forest biodiversity and function. Remote sensing has provided insights into regional patterns of vegetation dynamics, and experimental studies have demonstrated impacts of specific changes on individual species. However, forests are diverse and complex ecosystems. To understand how different species in different forests respond to interacting environmental pressures, widespread ground-based monitoring is needed. The only practical way to achieve this is through the involvement of non-professional researchers, i.e., with citizen science. However, many techniques used to identify subtle changes in forests require expensive equipment and professional expertise. This thesis aimed to identify practical methods for citizen scientists to collect useful data on forest ecosystem dynamics in relation to climate change. Methods for monitoring tree phenology and canopy-understorey interactions were the main focus, as tree phenology exerts strong control on understorey light and forest biodiversity, and is already responding to climate change. The response of understorey vegetation to canopy closure in four woodlands from a single region of England (Devon) was examined in detail. These geographically close woodlands differed considerably in their composition and seasonal dynamics. The spring period was particularly important for herb-layer development, and small variations in canopy openness had important effects on herb-layer cover and composition. This work highlights the need to monitor a range of different woodlands at the regional scale, with sufficient resolution to pick up small but crucial differences through time. Citizen scientists could help to collect such data by monitoring herb-layer cover and changes in the abundance of key species, alongside monitoring the overstorey canopy. The spring leaf phenology of four canopy trees (ash, beech, oak and sycamore) were monitored intensively in one woodland using a range of methods: counts, percentage estimates and photography. First budburst and leaf expansion dates were compared with estimates of leaf expansion timing and rate, derived from time-series data using logistic growth models. Frequently used first-event dates were potentially misleading due to high variation in leaf development rates within and between species. Percentage estimates and counts produced similar estimates of leaf expansion timing and rate. A photo-derived greenness index produced similar estimates of timing, but not rate, and was compromised by practical issues of photographing individual crowns in closed canopy woodland. Citizen science should collect time-series data instead of frequently-used first event dates―visual observations offer the most practical way to do this, but further work is needed to test reliability with citizen scientists. Given high intra- and inter-species variation in tree phenology, whole forest canopies need to be monitored to infer canopy closure timing. Canopy openness was assessed using sophisticated hemispherical photography and a range of low-cost alternatives, across four Devon woodlands over a year. Visual estimates and ordinary photography were too coarse to identify fine-scale variation in canopies. Smartphone fisheye photography analysed with free software was identified as a reliable surrogate for estimating relative, though not absolute, canopy openness. The method has high potential as a citizen science tool, as different phone models and users gave similar canopy openness estimates. In a detailed follow-up study, smartphone fisheye photography, hemispherical photography and visual observations of leaf expansion were used every other day to characterise spring canopy development. Logistic growth models estimated canopy closure timing and rate. Visual observations identified much earlier canopy development than either photographic method. Smartphone fisheye photography performed comparably to hemispherical photography. There is good potential for practical application of smartphone fisheye photography, as similar canopy closure estimates were gained from photos taken once every two weeks. The research in this thesis identifies a range of methods suitable for widespread monitoring of forest ecosystem dynamics in relation to climate change. Developing a smartphone app for automatic analysis and submission of canopy images will be an important next step to enabling widespread use. A pilot project is underway to begin testing methods with citizen scientists. Further research into data quality with citizen scientists is needed before the methods can be rolled out widely with confidence.

Esse estudo trabalha com as formulações de Umberto Eco sobre a abertura poética e os limites da interpretação, as quais caracterizam um modelo de teorização sobre a plurissignificação/ambiguidade das obras artísticas e o entendimento de que as estratégias semióticas que essas obras veiculam não permitem toda sorte de interpretação, sendo necessário percorrer a intenção da obra e transformar o leitor empírico em estratégia textual (a noção de leitor-modelo). Além disso, o estudo defende que o pensamento econiano, ao privilegiar a atividade de interpretação como sendo uma negociação entre a intenção da obra e a intenção do leitor(-modelo), possa oferecer um tipo de aparato crítico-teórico que contribua, em sentido amplo, para as reflexões acerca do entendimento da figura do leitor em formação projetada em contextos de ensino de literatura. De modo a percorrer esses intentos, dividimos nossa pesquisa em quatro capítulos: o primeiro deles volta-se para a formulação principal sobre o modelo teórico-crítico econiano; o segundo, contém exemplos de experiências interpretativas que almejem uma aplicação do modelo em questão; o terceiro, foca-se na função do leitor no domínio desse modelo, segundo o qual o leitor passa a ser uma estratégia interpretativa; e o quarto capítulo delineia uma noção de autonomia do leitor que caiba nesse mesmo contexto. Outra parte importante do nosso estudo é a das “Considerações iniciais”, em que comentamos sobre as escolhas que orientaram a pesquisa em tela e também sobre as principais limitações filosóficas e teóricas do pensamento econiano visitado. / This study works with the notions of openness and the limits of interpretation formulated by Umberto Eco. These notions characterize a model of theorization of plurisignification/ambiguity of artistic works and also the understanding that the semiotic strategies which these works present do not allow for every kind of interpretation, being it necessary to percuss the intention of the text, and to transform the empirical reader in a textual strategy (the notion of model reader). In addition this study proposes that Eco’s critical/theoretical model, since it gives special attention to the activity of interpretation as a negotiation between the intention of the text and the intention of the (model)reader, might contribute in a broad sense to the understanding about the reader as beginner which is placed in literary teaching contexts. In order to undergo these attempts, we divided our research in four chapters. The first one targets the main formulation about Eco's critical/theoretical model. The second contains examples of interpretative experiences that aim at applying the theoretical model in question. The third focuses on the role of the reader in this model’s scope, in which the reader becomes an interpretative strategy. The fourth chapter delineates a notion of the reader’s autonomy that fits the same context. Another important part of our study is the “Initial considerations” in which we comment both on the choices that guided the research on screen and on the main philosophical and theoretical limitations of the Eco's thoughts. / Este estudio trabaja con las formulaciones de Umberto Eco sobre la abertura poética y los límites de la interpretación, las cuales caracterizan un modelo de teorización sobre la plurisignificación/ambigüedad de las obras artísticas y el entendimiento de que las estrategias semióticas que esas obras conducen no permiten toda la suerte de interpretación, siendo necesario recorrer la intención de la obra y transformar al lector empírico en estrategia textual (la noción de lector modelo). Además, el estudio sostiene que el pensamiento econiano, cuando favorece la actividad de la interpretación como una negociación entre la intención de la obra y la intención del lector(-modelo), puede ofrecer una especie de aparato crítico-teórico que contribuya, en sentido amplio, con la reflexión sobre la comprensión de la figura del lector en formación diseñada en los contextos de enseñanza de la literatura. Con el propósito de recorrer dichos intentos, dividimos nuestra investigación en cuatro capítulos: el primero de ellos se dirige para la formulación principal sobre el modelo crítico-teórico econiano; el segundo contiene ejemplos de experiencias interpretativas que pretenden una aplicación del modelo en cuestión; el tercero se centra en la función del lector en el dominio de dicho modelo, en el cual el lector pasa a ser una estrategia interpretativa; y el cuarto capítulo delinea una noción de autonomía del lector que corresponde a ese mismo contexto. Otra parte importante de nuestro estudio es el de las “Consideraciones iniciales”, en que comentamos sobre las elecciones que orientaron la presente investigación y también sobre las principales limitaciones filosóficas y teóricas del modelo econiano analizado.