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Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Robert J. Peterman / This thesis presents results from transfer length measurements on prestressed concrete railroad ties. Results are shown from the four main producers of concrete ties in the United States. Six prestressed concrete tie plants were visited by the research team to measure transfer length on ties with various mix designs and prestressing reinforcement. After all plants had been visited, a total of nine concrete-mix designs and 10 reinforcement variations were tested. Overall, 220 transfer length measurements were conducted on prestressed concrete railroad ties during the duration of this research project. This was the first coordinated effort to measure transfer lengths in concrete railroad ties ever conducted in the industry. Concrete strains were monitored using the standard Whittemore gage, as well as a non-contact procedure called laser-speckle imaging (LSI). This method to measure transfer lengths has been developed at Kansas State University (KSU). Ties measured using the Whittemore gage were sent back to the civil engineering structural laboratory at KSU so the long-term transfer lengths could be monitored. After a certain period of time, the ties were load-tested according to the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) loading specifications of the rail-seat positive moment test.

La violence conjugale est une problématique préoccupante dans les temps modernes ; l’enfant exposé à cette violence, entre ses parents, trouve des difficultés importantes dans la construction d’un lien d’attachement avec ceux-ci. Le concept d’attachement n’est pas défini par la psychanalyse, il s’invite comme concept articulateur, notamment en ce qui concerne le débat sur le surgissement de la théorie de l’attachement. C’est à l’appui d’un modèle théorico-clinique transversal croisant la théorie de l’attachement et la psychanalyse que cette recherche tente de déterminer dans quelle mesure la violence conjugale altère la qualité du lien d’attachement de l’enfant exposé. La sécurité du lien permet à l’enfant d’explorer l’environnement et de consolider ses représentations, sauf dans le cas d’exposition à la violence conjugale où l’insécurité plane sur le lien de l’enfant avec ces figures d’attachement. Quand le père bat la mère, l’enfant y exposé perçoit une attaque du lien, et la sécurité du lien de l’enfant avec son parent dépend de la sécurité du lien entre les parents. L’exposition à violence conjugale affecte la qualité du lien de l’enfant avec son parent, l’insécurité de l’attachement semble être traumatisante et génère des conflits identificatoires. La violence conjugale altère les capacités représentatives de l’enfant, les figures d’attachement le sidèrent dans un contexte de froideur relationnelle, ils offrent de la haine au lieu de l’amour, de l’insécurité au lieu de la confiance. / The domestic violence is a worrisome problem in modern times; the child exposed to this violence, between his parents, finds important difficulties in the construction of a link of attachment with these. The concept of attachment is not defined by the psychoanalysis, it invites himself as articulator concept, in particular as regards the debate on the appearance of the theory of the attachment. This is in support of a cross-theoretical clinical model crossing the attachment theory and psychoanalysis that this research attempts to determine the extent to which domestic violence alters the quality of the attachment link of the exposed child.Safety of the link allows the child to explore the environment and to strengthen its representations, except in the case of exposure to domestic violence where insecurity hovers over the link between the child and the attachment figures. When the father beats the mother, the child y exposed perceives an attack of the link, and the safety link between the child and his parents depends on the safety of the link between the parents.Exposure to domestic violence affects the quality of the link between the child and his parents, the insecurity of the attachment seems to be traumatic and generates identifying conflicts. Domestic violence distorts the representative capacities of the child, the attachment figures bewilder him in a context of relational coolness, they offer hatred instead of love, insecurity rather than confidence.

Utilizing the random effects model and Faccio (2010)’s methodology for classifying political connections, I find that politically connected Southeast Asian firms tend to have higher taxes and accounting performance than non-politically connected firms. The type of connection matters, with state-ownership producing the strongest benefits for market share. Contingent country-level variables, such as the economy, corruption, and the legal environment, also influence the value of corporate political ties. I find that Faccio (2010)’s results are likely more economically important than mine, even when controlling for the panel data effect.

While organizations have significantly reduced the overt and intentional forms of sex discrimination that impeded women’s careers in the past, a great deal of research suggests women continue to face informal barriers in the workplace. One such arena in which women tend to be disadvantaged is in their workplace networks. In many ways, men and women have similar networks, yet women are less likely than their male counterparts to have personal relationships with high status coworkers. Scholars have long suggested that these strategic connections are valuable and may be especially beneficial to or necessary for women. Networking has long been touted as one way women can overcome workplace disadvantage by strategically developing and/or capitalizing on such networks, which can enable their success and satisfaction at work. However, networking is a considerable investment. Indeed, networking has been called women’s third shift, after work and family responsibilities. As such, it is vital that we understand how women and men can best capitalize on their investments in networking. This research seeks to add to our scholarly understanding by examining the extent to which men and women can translate their networking behaviors into high status connections and capitalize on those connections to enhance their performance and job satisfaction. Results suggest networking behaviors enable men and women to have friends with higher informal status. However, while men’s networking behaviors are related to having higher ranking (formal status) friends, women’s networking behaviors are related to having lower ranking friends. Post-hoc analyses begin to explore the possibility that these gender differences are due to choices made by or others’ reactions to male and female networkers. Results also distinguish between employees’ gender and legitimacy to shed light on how and why men and women can develop and capitalize on high status connections, providing practical implications for employees and organizations seeking to intervene to enable women and men to develop high status connections. This research uses multimethod data to illuminate ways in which both women and men can translate their networking behaviors into high status connections, workplace performance, and job satisfaction.

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This paper starts where previous research in this scientific field, research about individuals who managed to end their criminal lifestyle, ends – by talking in terms of Pierre Bourdieu’s forms of capital. In former studies the researchers pointed out access to a job and parenting as helpful factors to end a criminal lifestyle. Our purpose with this paper, however, was to find out if it is possible to understand criminals successfully ending their criminal lifestyle from Bourdieu’s capital metaphors and Mark Granovetter’s concept of strong and weak ties. The empirical data consists of interviews with a life story perspective by eight members of an organization called KRIS (Criminals Return Into Society). All the interviewees included in this study have managed to end their respective criminal lifestyle. The results indicate that our interviewees had help in their ending of the criminal lifestyle by access to or by establishing social capital. The social capital in the interviewees’ cases were constituted by on one hand strong ties, on the other hand weak ties. In a couple of cases both types of ties were involved. Nevertheless, the results indicate that the social capital itself cannot make an ending of the criminal lifestyle possible. The following factors in the individual’s life has to be fulfilled in order to end his or hers criminal lifestyle: (1) exhort a strong motive inside him-/herself, (2) accept no drug use of any kind and (3) carry through a switch of field from the criminal society to the conventional.

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This study delves into the local food system of Eugene, Oregon to focus on this community’s small-scale growers and their distribution strategies. The various distribution strategies open to small-scale local growers each require their own kind of work. In determining how to allocate their time and energy, growers consider these activities alongside the benefits that each distribution strategy offers. Certain distribution arrangements with smaller bulk buyers like restaurants and community grocery stores, which I term “direct wholesale” arrangements, offer the benefit of providing long-term, close relationships. These arrangements provide value that more than compensates for the work of establishing and maintaining these arrangements in the first place. In this context, these close-ties developed through “direct wholesale” provide the best platform for the viability of a small-scale, local farm in Eugene, Oregon.