The subject of this study is long-term, contract-based relationships, demonstrated through a variety of cases in the music industry. An alternative legal approach, the hypothetical doctrine of unconscionably constructed contracts, is propounded, compared with existing law and tested against prominent and recent cases. Observational knowledge gained over fifteen years of experience and contact with writers, performers, managers, agents and lawyers, led to the study. Thus, that industry was specifically considered, although there may be other industries where the concept could be applied. Because the relationships discussed are vulnerable to breakdown causing costly litigation, current rules and doctrines may fall short of providing adequate advice and governance to a needy business class. Whatever the outcome, judicial ruling and cost to the various parties, cases with similar root cause and argument recur time and again, decade after decade. Neither side, creative nor corporate appears to learn enough from experience. Their inability to understand guidance and governance offered by the law is examined, as are other possible reasons for their apparent recalcitrance. Relevant areas of contract law are found to be undue influence, restraint of trade and inequality of bargaining power. Underlying judicial concern over public policy and unconscionable behaviour is recognised as important. Combined with the study of contract law theory and practices, is an examination of the nature of the parties, creative and corporate. Economic, personal and commercial factors which influence their behavioural patterns have been analysed. Economics analysis methodology combined with behavioural and personality analysis has led to an understanding of those aspects of long-term contractual conduct which are often the cause of relational breakdown. The music industry is seen to be receptive to improvements offered by thoughtfully structured law. The parties anticipate intervention and attempt to utilise rules of law in building and severing their obligation to each other. Therefore, it is believed here that the hypothetical doctrine offered would give tighter definition, resulting in better practice in the preparation of contracts and reduce the frequency of costly litigation.

Background: Segregation, within the context of this study, is the removal of a prisoner from the wider prison to an environment that is regimented and controlling, and functions through enforced solitude. There is very little research that explores this environment from the perspective of the prisoners who experience it. By using the voices of the prisoners this study provides rich description of the conceptual understanding of how they and resolved their segregation experiences. Research Aim: The aim of this research was to develop a grounded theory of how prisoners gave meaning to their segregated environment experience. Methodology: This study was guided by a constructivist epistemology and the principles and process of grounded theory (Constructivist Grounded Theory) as described by Glaser, Strauss, and Charmaz. Data was gathered from a participant group of prisoners who were experiencing, or had experienced within the previous two months, time in segregation, from one specific Category A prison, as well as comparable case studies. Data was collected through semi structured interviews, and case study documentary analysis, and analysed using the concurrent processes of constant comparative analysis, data collection, and theoretical sampling. Results: The participants expressed that the main concern of their time in segregation was a desire to survive this experience. They expressed this desire, and the actions and behaviours necessary to achieve it, through a process conceptualised as reframing contextual power. This has three 'subcategories‘ 'Power Posturing', 'Power Positioning', and 'Power Playing', each comprising of further subdivisions of the conceptualisation of the participants main concern. These consisted of 'Knowing Fixed Rules', 'Reading Emergent Rules', 'Relating', 'Resistance', 'Being Bad', 'Being Mad', and 'Being Cool'. Power was the major interlinking concept and this was fundamental to the strategies and actions necessary for the participants to achieve their main concern. While presented as three distinct 'subcategories‘ they are neither independent nor hierarchical, rather they are interconnected and interlinked. The participants were active in the utilisation and enactment of power actions and not passive recipients of power. A theoretical exploration of the power inherent in reframing contextual power demonstrated that no one theory or approach can sufficiently explain power within this context. It is proposed that, drawing from a number of theorists, an integrated approach to viewing and understanding such power is required to allow for a more sophisticated understanding of how the participants reframe contextual power. Conclusions: The findings of this study provide a method of understanding how the participants engaged with, and utilised complex strategies to survive the segregated environment experience. The findings also contribute to how we understand the processes of power within this current (and similar) context(s). I consider that the uniqueness of this thesis is important as it contributes to the extant body of knowledge in this field and thus offers a salient message relating to the (potential) future of segregation and the solitary confinement of prisoners.

Práce je zaměřena na seznámení s vývojem informačních systémů pomocí standardizovaných metodických postupů pro analýzu a návrh. V práci jsou dále představeny základní strukturované metodiky užívané pro vývoj informačních systémů ve světě a přiblížena situace v této oblasti panující v současné době v České republice. V závěru je provedeno srovnání metodik a postupů a ukázáno několik doporučení pro výběr toho nejvhodnějšího postupu.

This study aims to examine the function of education in prisons through the application of a unique analytical model. Prisoner education has become a primary focus for the rehabilitation of offenders, evidenced more recently by the announcement and abandonment of a network of privately run ‘Secure Colleges’ to replace the existing estate for young offenders. This research aims to form a better understanding of what such education provision is designed to achieve through an examination the social, political and penal context in which it has developed. Building on the work of Foucault (1979), Markus (1993) and King (1980) amongst others, the present study triangulates data from political discourse, prison architecture, and still images of prison learning spaces using an analytical model based on research findings from philosophical, sociological, penal and educational theories. The main findings of the study are that the enduring function of prison education is the control of the prisoner-class, which is highly related to the macro-management of the penal system (reducing reoffending) and economic production. The author argues such an approach ignores individual agency, and negatively impacts on approaches to prison education through the marginalisation of educational theory and pedagogic best practice.

In this thesis I am going to explore the relationship between happiness and imprisonment. I will discuss three theories of happiness - hedonism, life satisfaction theories and emotional states theories. I will argue that the main problem of these theories is that they take happiness to consist only of psychological states. Because of this, I will turn my attention towards those theories that evaluate happiness in terms of how well life is going for the person who is living it. I will argue that my Aristotelian account is the most plausible way to understand the relationship between happiness and imprisonment. This is because it takes into account both the external circumstances and the psychological and emotional life of pnsoners. Through this thesis, I will show that my account of happiness in prison accomplishes three tasks: i) it solves the problems encountered by the other theories of happiness in the evaluation of prisoners' happiness, ii) it does not suffer from two of the main objections to the other objectivist theories of happiness, and iii) it can help us to investigate the happiness of prisoners empirically more accurately.

Theories about ship wake structure, bubble dynamics, acoustic propagation through bubble clouds, backscattering and target strength of bubble clouds have been investigated and related Matlab simulations have been carried on. Research has been carried on algorithms for ship wake acoustic detection and tracking. Particle filter method has been simulated with Matlab for target tracking using wake echo measurements. Simulation results are promising.

This thesis presents a study concerning stop consonant to vowel transitions which are modeled making use of acoustic tube model. Characteristics of the stop consonant to vowel transitions are tried to be obtained first. Therefore several transitions including fricative to vowel transitions are examined based on spectral and time related properties. In addition to these studies, x-ray snapshots, lip videos and also experiments including subjects are used to intensify the characterization, from the production and the perception side of views. As results of these studies the plosive to vowel transitions are observed to be uttered by exponential vocal tract movements and the perception mechanism is observed to be highly related with exponential spectral changes. A model, based on the acoustic tube model, is tried to be established using the knowledge and the experience gained during characterization therefore proposed model involves the vocal tract parameters observed in characterization part. Finally, plosive to vowel transitions including three types of plosives (alveolar, labial and velar) are synthesized by the proposed model. The formants of the synthesized sounds are compared with the formants of the natural sounds. Also the intelligibility tests of these sounds are done. Performance evaluation tests show the proposed model&rsquo / s performance to be satisfactory.

Finite element method and strip method are two widely used techniques for analyzing steel plate shear wall (SPSW) systems. Past research mostly focused on the prediction of lateral load capacity of these systems using these numerical methods. Apart from the lateral load carrying capacity, the lateral stiffness of the wall system needs to be determined for a satisfactory design. Lateral displacements and the fundamental natural frequency of the SPSW system are directly influenced by the lateral stiffness. In this study the accuracy of the finite element method and strip method of analysis are assessed by making comparisons with experimental findings. Comparisons revealed that both methods provide in general solutions with acceptable accuracy. While both methods offer acceptable solutions sophisticated computer models need to be generated. In this study two alternative methods are developed. The first one is an approximate hand method based on the deep beam theory. The classical deep beam theory is modified in the light of parametric studies performed on restrained thin plates under pure shear and pure bending. The second one is a computer method based on truss analogy. Stiffness predictions using the two alternative methods are found to compare well with the experimental findings. In addition, lateral stiffness predictions of the alternate methods are compared against the solutions provided using finite element and strip method of analysis for a class of test structures. These comparisons revealed that the developed methods provide estimates with acceptable accuracy and are simpler than the traditional analysis techniques.

Noise, which is a noteworthy problem in the world of workers, influences the health, safety, productivity and efficiency of those working in heavy industries and especially those working in petroleum industry. The objective of this study is to reassess the protective measures, taken previously by the company, from the point of view of the negative effects of noise on the workers. For this purpose, two approaches are adopted. Firstly, through questionnaires (response rate: 86%) distributed to workers, their subjective rating of, the noise levels to which they are exposed, the factors affecting their working efficiency and, their working conditions are searched. Secondly, noise levels, in the buildings rated as highly and very highly noisy, are measured by sound level meter. Self-exposure of 28 workers is measured by dosimeter. The overall ambient noise level of the 11 buildings and effect of noise on the working efficiency of the workers working in these buildings were respectively found to be moderate and slightly affected. The workplace index was 3 (out of 5). The working conditions index was on the average 4 (out of 5). The Leq values measured in six of the buildings were found to be in the range of 66, 8 &ndash / 100, 0 dBA. 12 out of 28 workers were observed to be exposed to noise levels greater than 80 dBA. The objective (noise measurements) and subjective (questionnaire) results obtained at the end of the afore-mentioned approaches will be of help in the orientation of the workers while estimating their work efficiency and will also serve as a data base for the planning strategy of the interested company.

Underwater acoustic channel models have been studied in the context of communication and sonar applications. Acoustic propagation channel in an underwater environment exhibits multipath, time-variability and Doppler eects. In this thesis, multipath fading channel models, underwater physical properties and sound propagation characteristics are studied. An underwater channel model for sonar applications is proposed. In the proposed model, the physical characteristics of underwater environment are considered in a comprehensive manner. Experiments /simulations were carried out using real-life data. Model parameters are estimated for a specific location, scenario and physical conditions. The channel response is approximated by fitting the model output to the recorded data. The optimization and estimation are conducted in frequency domain using Mean Square Error criterion.