<p>The aim of this study is to analyse the sexual power relations in contemporary urban novels of Swedish female writers.</p><p>I have identified a discourse in these novels as a heteronormative matrix which power is ruled by norms and assumptions about normality in both the heterosexual and lesbian stories. For this purpose I have related to Ivar B. Neumanns theory that individuals always find a way to confront the discourse by three different strategies. These strategies are used in my study as tools to organise these novels, because it is possible to see that the protagonists find at least one of these strategy’s to her protest.</p><p>The first strategy I studied was the docile. Here I argument that the heroines in Alla vilda, Jag minns alla mina älskare och hur de brukade ta på mig, Inte enklare än så, Lögner and Att älska henne do not reject the discourse about sexual power relationships. The second strategy, named the oppositionist, implies the protagonists refusing to be left as victims. In one way or another, either by change the rolls of the sexes (Ta vad man vill ha) or by problematising the order of them (Ego girl) or find lesbianism as a way to reject the discourse (both the novels by Mian Lodalen: Smulklubbens skamlösa systrar and Trekant). The reluctant is the last strat-egy who is the creative one, which rejects some things and adapt to other. Here I place the heroines from Stjärnor utan svindel, Andra sidan Alex and Storlek 37.</p><p>The result of this study is that despite quite different strategies to oppose against the hetero-sexual power discourse and the normative femininity everyone relates to it and thereby con-firms it.</p>

We provide a formal mathematical definition of the Shortest Paths for All Flows (SP-AF) problem and provide many efficient algorithms. The SP-AF problem combines the well known Shortest Paths (SP) and Bottleneck Paths (BP) problems, and can be solved by utilising matrix multiplication. Thus in our research of the SP-AF problem, we also make a series of contributions to the underlying topics of the SP problem, the BP problem, and matrix multiplication. For the topic of matrix multiplication we show that on an n-by-n two dimensional (2D) square mesh array, two n-by-n matrices can be multiplied in exactly 1.5n ‒ 1 communication steps. This halves the number of communication steps required by the well known Cannon’s algorithm that runs on the same sized mesh array. We provide two contributions for the SP problem. Firstly, we enhance the breakthrough algorithm by Alon, Galil and Margalit (AGM), which was the first algorithm to achieve a deeply sub-cubic time bound for solving the All Pairs Shortest Paths (APSP) problem on dense directed graphs. Our enhancement allows the algorithm by AGM to remain sub-cubic for larger upper bounds on integer edge costs. Secondly, we show that for graphs with n vertices, the APSP problem can be solved in exactly 3n ‒ 2 communication steps on an n-by-n 2D square mesh array. This improves on the previous result of 3.5n communication steps achieved by Takaoka and Umehara. For the BP problem, we show that we can compute the bottleneck of the entire graph without solving the All Pairs Bottleneck Paths (APBP) problem, resulting in a much more efficient time bound. Finally we define an algebraic structure called the distance/flow semi-ring to formally introduce the SP-AF problem, and we provide many algorithms for solving the Single Source SP-AF (SSSP-AF) problem and the All Pairs SP-AF (APSP-AF) problem. For the APSP-AF problem, algebraic algorithms are given that utilise faster matrix multiplication over a ring.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Introdução: A agricultura familiar (AF) e o PNAE após um processo de evolução política se vincularam em 2009 por meio da Lei n°11.947. O agricultor familiar a partir desse momento passou a dispor de um importante mercado institucional. Entretanto, esse ator apresenta dificuldades em atender à demanda do PNAE. Objetivo: Caracterizar a venda da AF para o PNAE e analisar os fatores associados à compra da AF para o PNAE nos municípios do estado de São Paulo em 2012. Metodologia: Trata-se de estudo transversal, envolvendo métodos de análise quantitativa. Os dados analisados foram coletados da pesquisa \"O encontro entre o Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar (PNAE) e a agricultura familiar: avaliação do processo de implementação e dos possíveis efeitos das compras locais, segundo a Lei n°11.947/2009\", a qual avaliou 38 municípios do Estado de São Paulo. Foram coletados dados de 110 agricultores que venderam para o PNAE. Os eixos de variáveis dos agricultores estudadas foram: características socioeconômicas dos municípios, características do agricultor, apoio institucional e característica da venda. O PIB, IFDHM, presença de PAA no município e o apoio técnico e institucional oferecidos aos Agricultores Familiares dos 38 municípios estudados foram elencados em modelo hierárquico com o intuito de identificar os fatores associados à compra da AF para o PNAE. A compra da AF para o PNAE foi a variável desfecho do estudo. A descrição e caracterização foram calculadas por meio de medidas de tendência central e dispersão e frequências absolutas e relativas. O teste de McNemar foi utilizado para verificar diferenças entre a comercialização antes e depois da Lei n° 11.947/09. Foi feita uma regressão simples bivariada com o intuito de verificar o incremento no percentual da compra da AF para o PNAE entre 2011 e 2015. E foi utilizada a análise de regressão logística múltipla para analisar os fatores associados à compra da AF para o PNAE. Resultados: Os 16 municípios dos AFs apresentaram IDHM alto (87%); os alimentos produzidos pelos agricultores eram em sua quase totalidade in natura; os agricultores depois da Lei n°11.947/2009 aumentaram suas vendas para os mercados institucionais; a média no percentual da compra da agricultura familiar nos 16 municípios estudados subiu de 25,3% para 36,3% entre os anos de 2011 a 2015. Com relação aos fatores associados à compra da AF para o PNAE o apoio da prefeitura aos AFs do município e o levantamento da produção agrícola junto aos AFs do município feito pela nutricionista se associaram com a compra da agricultura familiar para o PNAE. Conclusão: O apoio técnico da nutricionista e o apoio institucional da prefeitura oferecidos aos Agricultores Familiares são fatores importantes associados à compra da AF para o PNAE. / Introduction: The Family Farming and The Brazilian School Feeding Program (PNAE) after a process of political evolution were associated in 2009 by Brazilian act 11.947/2009. Since that time, the family farmer has an important institutional market available. However, this actor has difficulties to achieve the market demand. Objective: To analyze the factors associated to the sale of Family Farming to the PNAE in the cities of the state of São Paulo in 2012. Methodology: The study is transverse, using quantitative analysis methods. The analyzed data were collected from the study \"The meeting of the National School Feeding Program and Family Farming: evaluation of the implementation process and the possible effects of local purchases, according to the act 11.947/2009\", which evaluated 38 cities in the São Paulo state. Data were collected from 110 family farmers who sold to the PNAE. The main variables studied were: cities socioeconomic characteristics, farmer characteristics, institutional support and sale characteristics. The highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP), High Human Development Index (HDI), previous experience with the Family Agriculture Food Acquisition Program (PAA) and technical and institutional support to family farmers of 38 municipalities studied were listed in a hierarchical model in order to identify the associated factors. The purchase of AF for PNAE was the variable outcome of the study. The description and characterization were calculated through measures of central tendency and dispersion and absolute and relative frequencies. McNemar´s test was used to verify differences between sales before and after the act 11.947/09. A simple bivariate linear regression was performed in order to verify the increase in the percentage of the FF purchases for the PNAE between 2011 and 2015. The multiple logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the factors associated to the FF purchase to PNAE. Results: The studied cities had high Human Development Index (HDI) (87%); the produced food by family farmers was almost entirely in natura; the family farmers after the act 11.947/09 increased their sales to the institutional markets; the average percentage of FF purchases in the 16 studies cities increased from 25.3% to 36.3% between 2011 and 2015. Regarding the factors associated with the purchase of family farming for PNAE, the support of the municipality offered to the family farmers and the survey of the agricultural production made by the nutritionist were associated with the outcome. Conclusion: The technical support of the nutritionist and the institutional support of the cities to family farmers are important factors associated with the local purchases.

In recent years, global mobile data traffic has been increasing exponentially as mobile devices pervade our daily lives. To cope with the ever growing demands for higher data rates and seamless connectivity, one solution is to drastically increase the number of macro base stations in the conventional cellular architecture. However, this results in high deployment costs. Deploying low-power nodes such as relays that do not require a wired backhaul connection within a macrocell is one of cost-effective ways to extend high data rate coverage range. Relays are typically deployed to increase signal strength in poor coverage areas or to eliminate dead spots. But more importantly, relays provide a natural diversity, called cooperative diversity. In addition to a direct signal from a base station, extra copies of the same signal are forwarded from relays. Utilizing this diversity at the destination can yield significant performance enhancements. Thus, cooperative relay strategies need to be considered to enable high data rate coverage in a cost-effective manner. In this dissertation, we consider a simple single-relay network and present low-complexity and power-efficient cooperative relay designs that can achieve low error rate. We first study decode-and-forward (DF) relay networks with a single antenna at each node, where the relay decodes the received signal and forwards the re-encoded information to the destination. In DF relay scheme, decoding at the relay is not perfect and the error-propagation phenomenon is a detrimental problem, preventing the destination from collecting the cooperative diversity. To enable cooperative diversity in DF relay networks, we adopt link-adaptive power-scaling relay strategies where the relay scales the transmission power of the re-encoded signal based on the reliability of the source-relay link. We generalize power-profile designs and analyze the diversity order enabled by the general power-profile designs. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the designs to enable full cooperative diversity at the destination. In the second part of this dissertation, we extend the power-scaling relay strategy to DF multi-input multi-output (MIMO) relay networks, where multiple antennas are adopted at each node, and show that full cooperative diversity can also be achieved here. To collect spatial diversity provided by multiple antennas without using maximum-likelihood equalizers (MLEs) or near-ML detectors which exhibit high complexity, channel-controlled automatic repeat request (CC-ARQ) scheme is developed for DF MIMO relay networks to enable spatial diversity with linear equalizers (LEs) maintaining low-complexity. We also show that joint cooperative and spatial diversity can be achieved at the destination when the power-scaling strategy and the CC-ARQ with LEs are combined. Finally, amplify-and-forward (AF) MIMO relay designs, where the relay simply amplifies the received signal and forwards it to the destination, are studied with consideration of peak-power constraints at the relay. One practical concern for AF relaying is that the output signal at the relay may suffer from large peak-to-average power ratio (PAR), which may cause nonlinear distortion and/or saturation in the transmitted signal due to the limited linear range of power amplifiers. Thus, we first investigate peak-power constrained power-scaling strategies and find a sufficient condition to enable joint cooperative and spatial diversity at the destination. Based on this study, we propose simple and practical AF MIMO relay designs with peak-power constraint at the relay. CC-ARQ is also applied to AF MIMO relay networks to reduce the decoding complexity.

Disputats. Rheinische Friedrick-Wilhelms-Universität, 2000. / Haves kun i elektronisk udg.

The aim of this study is to analyse the sexual power relations in contemporary urban novels of Swedish female writers. I have identified a discourse in these novels as a heteronormative matrix which power is ruled by norms and assumptions about normality in both the heterosexual and lesbian stories. For this purpose I have related to Ivar B. Neumanns theory that individuals always find a way to confront the discourse by three different strategies. These strategies are used in my study as tools to organise these novels, because it is possible to see that the protagonists find at least one of these strategy’s to her protest. The first strategy I studied was the docile. Here I argument that the heroines in Alla vilda, Jag minns alla mina älskare och hur de brukade ta på mig, Inte enklare än så, Lögner and Att älska henne do not reject the discourse about sexual power relationships. The second strategy, named the oppositionist, implies the protagonists refusing to be left as victims. In one way or another, either by change the rolls of the sexes (Ta vad man vill ha) or by problematising the order of them (Ego girl) or find lesbianism as a way to reject the discourse (both the novels by Mian Lodalen: Smulklubbens skamlösa systrar and Trekant). The reluctant is the last strat-egy who is the creative one, which rejects some things and adapt to other. Here I place the heroines from Stjärnor utan svindel, Andra sidan Alex and Storlek 37. The result of this study is that despite quite different strategies to oppose against the hetero-sexual power discourse and the normative femininity everyone relates to it and thereby con-firms it.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

This study focuses on fabrication of dry adhesives mimicking gecko adhesion. We also look into the origin of the supreme adhesion of geckos, which have inspired the fabrication of fibrillar dry adhesives during the last decade or so. In principle, the superior material properties of ??-keratin (the main material comprising the fibrillar feature on gecko toe pads) along with the hierarchical high aspect-ratio fibrillar structure of geckos??? foot pad have enabled geckos to stick readily and rapidly to almost any surface in both dry and wet conditions. In this research, non-sticky fluoropolymer (Teflon AF) resembling ??-keratin rigidity and having an extremely low surface energy and dielectric constant was applied to fabricate a novel dry adhesive consisting of extremely high aspect-ratio nanopillars (200 nm in diameter) terminated with a fluffy top nanolayer. Both the nanopillars and the terminating layer were fabricated concurrently by replica-molding using a nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide membrane as the mold. In particular, upon infiltration of Teflon AF melt into the anodic aluminum oxide nanopores, the polymer melt fingered over the pore walls. The fingerlike structure formed during infiltration, subsequently collapsed after removal of the mold, developing a unique sheet-like nanostructure on top of the base nanopillars. Concurrent fabrication of the terminating nanostructure helps the fabrication of extremely high aspect-ratio (27.5???225) nanopillars which, up to an aspect-ratio of 185, neither collapse at the tip nor bundle. In order to fabricate nanopillars of different topographical properties, in our first approach, the height of the nanopillars as well as the size and density of the terminating nanostructure are carefully controlled by adjusting the processing temperature. Following that, a novel replica-molding technique for fabrication of bi-level Teflon AF nanopillars is reported. The developed technique relies on the concurrent heating and cooling of the Teflon AF melt which filled vertically-aligned alumina nanochannels. Unlike conventional polymer infiltration methods which consist of filling the mold by only heating the polymer above its glass transition temperature, in our novel method, the polymer melt is also simultaneously cooled down during the infiltration process. Concurrent cooling of the Teflon AF melt allows control over the interfacial instabilities of the polymer thin film, which forms ahead of the polymer melt upon its infiltration into the alumina nanochannels. Doing so, the geometrical properties of the subsequently developed peculiar fluffy nanostructure ??? after removal of the mold ??? on top of the extremely high aspect-ratio Teflon AF nanopillars (~25 ??m tall) are modified. In this project, we have also shown that the adhesion of the fabricated dry adhesives for the most part arises from electrostatic interactions of the applied polymer. In other words, Teflon AF, having an exceptional potential for developing electric charges at its surface upon contact with other materials via the so-called contact electrification phenomenon, can develop significant electrostatic interactions at its surface upon contact. In the current thesis, tribological results were discussed in detail to clarify the contribution of the structural properties of the fabricated dry adhesives toward their remarkable adhesion and friction forces generated via contact electrification. Nanopillars of specific geometrical properties have achieved remarkable adhesion and friction strengths, up to ~2.1 N/cm2 and 17 N/cm2, respectively (up to ~2.1 and 1.7 times larger than those of a gecko toe pad). It is commonly accepted that the adhesive performance of other synthetic bio-inspired dry adhesives is due to the formation of van der Waals interactions at the tip or side of the dry adhesives fibrils with the substrate they are brought into contact with. However, what has been usually neglected in this connection is that electrostatic interactions may also be developed at the contact between any two materials via the familiar contact electrification phenomenon. Although contact electrification is common and can have a large influence on interfacial interaction forces, its impact on adhesive properties of synthetic dry adhesives has been overlooked. Our results on adhesion of bi-level Teflon AF nanopillars, which can generate strong adhesion forces relying on electrostatic interactions arising from contact electrification, have brought to light again the idea that charging the surface of dry adhesives, specifically polymeric ones, can play a very crucial role in their adhesive behavior. From this perspective, the main reasons that have caused this lack of attention to this concept and the possible contributions of contact electrification to interfacial interactions of polymeric dry adhesives, other than bi-level Teflon AF nanopillars, are also thoroughly discussed in this thesis. Besides synthetic fibrillar dry adhesives, the possibility of the occurrence of contact electrification and its contribution to the supreme dry adhesion of geckos have also been overlooked for several decades. In this research, by the simultaneous measurement of electric charges and adhesion forces that gecko toe pads develop on two distinct substrates (a sticky and a non-sticky one), we have shown that the toe pads generate significantly large amounts of electric charge on both substrates. More importantly, we have found that there is a direct correlation between the contact electrification-driven electrostatic forces and the measured adhesion forces. Otherwise stated, we have shown that what makes the difference that geckos stick strongly to one surface and not to the other are the electrostatic interactions arising from contact electrification, and not van der Waals interactions, which have been considered as the prime source of adhesion of geckos for many years.

Introdução: A agricultura familiar (AF) e o PNAE após um processo de evolução política se vincularam em 2009 por meio da Lei n°11.947. O agricultor familiar a partir desse momento passou a dispor de um importante mercado institucional. Entretanto, esse ator apresenta dificuldades em atender à demanda do PNAE. Objetivo: Caracterizar a venda da AF para o PNAE e analisar os fatores associados à compra da AF para o PNAE nos municípios do estado de São Paulo em 2012. Metodologia: Trata-se de estudo transversal, envolvendo métodos de análise quantitativa. Os dados analisados foram coletados da pesquisa \"O encontro entre o Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar (PNAE) e a agricultura familiar: avaliação do processo de implementação e dos possíveis efeitos das compras locais, segundo a Lei n°11.947/2009\", a qual avaliou 38 municípios do Estado de São Paulo. Foram coletados dados de 110 agricultores que venderam para o PNAE. Os eixos de variáveis dos agricultores estudadas foram: características socioeconômicas dos municípios, características do agricultor, apoio institucional e característica da venda. O PIB, IFDHM, presença de PAA no município e o apoio técnico e institucional oferecidos aos Agricultores Familiares dos 38 municípios estudados foram elencados em modelo hierárquico com o intuito de identificar os fatores associados à compra da AF para o PNAE. A compra da AF para o PNAE foi a variável desfecho do estudo. A descrição e caracterização foram calculadas por meio de medidas de tendência central e dispersão e frequências absolutas e relativas. O teste de McNemar foi utilizado para verificar diferenças entre a comercialização antes e depois da Lei n° 11.947/09. Foi feita uma regressão simples bivariada com o intuito de verificar o incremento no percentual da compra da AF para o PNAE entre 2011 e 2015. E foi utilizada a análise de regressão logística múltipla para analisar os fatores associados à compra da AF para o PNAE. Resultados: Os 16 municípios dos AFs apresentaram IDHM alto (87%); os alimentos produzidos pelos agricultores eram em sua quase totalidade in natura; os agricultores depois da Lei n°11.947/2009 aumentaram suas vendas para os mercados institucionais; a média no percentual da compra da agricultura familiar nos 16 municípios estudados subiu de 25,3% para 36,3% entre os anos de 2011 a 2015. Com relação aos fatores associados à compra da AF para o PNAE o apoio da prefeitura aos AFs do município e o levantamento da produção agrícola junto aos AFs do município feito pela nutricionista se associaram com a compra da agricultura familiar para o PNAE. Conclusão: O apoio técnico da nutricionista e o apoio institucional da prefeitura oferecidos aos Agricultores Familiares são fatores importantes associados à compra da AF para o PNAE. / Introduction: The Family Farming and The Brazilian School Feeding Program (PNAE) after a process of political evolution were associated in 2009 by Brazilian act 11.947/2009. Since that time, the family farmer has an important institutional market available. However, this actor has difficulties to achieve the market demand. Objective: To analyze the factors associated to the sale of Family Farming to the PNAE in the cities of the state of São Paulo in 2012. Methodology: The study is transverse, using quantitative analysis methods. The analyzed data were collected from the study \"The meeting of the National School Feeding Program and Family Farming: evaluation of the implementation process and the possible effects of local purchases, according to the act 11.947/2009\", which evaluated 38 cities in the São Paulo state. Data were collected from 110 family farmers who sold to the PNAE. The main variables studied were: cities socioeconomic characteristics, farmer characteristics, institutional support and sale characteristics. The highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP), High Human Development Index (HDI), previous experience with the Family Agriculture Food Acquisition Program (PAA) and technical and institutional support to family farmers of 38 municipalities studied were listed in a hierarchical model in order to identify the associated factors. The purchase of AF for PNAE was the variable outcome of the study. The description and characterization were calculated through measures of central tendency and dispersion and absolute and relative frequencies. McNemar´s test was used to verify differences between sales before and after the act 11.947/09. A simple bivariate linear regression was performed in order to verify the increase in the percentage of the FF purchases for the PNAE between 2011 and 2015. The multiple logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the factors associated to the FF purchase to PNAE. Results: The studied cities had high Human Development Index (HDI) (87%); the produced food by family farmers was almost entirely in natura; the family farmers after the act 11.947/09 increased their sales to the institutional markets; the average percentage of FF purchases in the 16 studies cities increased from 25.3% to 36.3% between 2011 and 2015. Regarding the factors associated with the purchase of family farming for PNAE, the support of the municipality offered to the family farmers and the survey of the agricultural production made by the nutritionist were associated with the outcome. Conclusion: The technical support of the nutritionist and the institutional support of the cities to family farmers are important factors associated with the local purchases.