No description available.

No / This paper provides an analysis of the socio-economic impacts of river restoration schemes, and is novel in considering how a wide range of socio-economic variables can be used to understand impacts on the entire resident population within an area. A control-impacted approach was applied to explore differences in socio-economic characteristics of areas within which a restoration scheme had been carried out compared to areas without such a scheme. The results show that significant differences exist between control and impacted areas for a range of socio-economic variables. However, due to constraints in the methods and the data available, there are currently limitations in the extent to which socio-economic impacts of river restoration schemes can be fully explored. Additional datasets that become available in the future may increase the ability to detect associations between improvements in the water environment and socio-economic benefits. However, whilst the secondary data used in this paper are potentially powerful, they should be used alongside other techniques for assessing the impacts of decisions as part of future frameworks to deliver sustainable water management.

The importance of the electric power infrastructure has been exposed by several blackouts throughout the world in the last decade. These blackouts were caused mainly by physical vulnerabilities, human errors and natural disasters. The power grid is becoming more and more prone to outages which affect not only the power system network, but also other infrastructures and the society in several ways. Utilities generally operate with an (N-1) security level (no violations for single outage), and blackouts are generally caused by higher order contingencies. There is lack of effective methods and analysis tools to deal with higher order contingencies. Higher order contingences include multiple line outages, multiple generator outages or a combination of both. This research work focuses on developing tools to take corrective actions based on sensitivity for these multiple outages. Algorithms developed are Multiple Line Outage Bus Sensitivity Factor (MLOBSF), Multiple Line Outage Voltage Sensitivity (MLOVS), Multiple Generator Outage Bus Sensitivity Factor (MGOBSF) and Multiple Generator Outage Voltage Sensitivity (MGOVS) algorithms based on DC and AC load flow models. These developed algorithms provide the impact on the system due to multiple contingencies and help the operator at the control center to take corrective actions in a quick and effective way. These developed algorithms were tested on three test systems; the six buses, thirty seven buses and the 137 buses actual utility test case. The test results demonstrate that given situational awareness the algorithms provide additional decision support that can be used for remedial actions and/or for recovery after an outage. Integrating these into a power system energy management system (EMS) will provide a tool for operators to have a better understanding of the system before and during an extreme condition.

Recent evidence suggests that when performing reach-and-grasp actions on day-to-day objects, lift-actions are faster to execute relative to use-actions, and that a “use-on-lift” interference occurs and produces switch costs when changing actions from using to then lifting (Jax & Buxbaum, 2010; Osiurak & Badets, 2016). Such findings result from paradigms that include the sudden appearance of objects, requiring participants to react quickly to the features of the object, independent of the functionality of the objects. Because of the importance this topic has to day-to-day interactions with objects, the following four experiments were executed with objects continuously visible to participants. When imitating images of hand actions on objects, participants showed no differences in the initiation time of use- and lift-actions, suggesting that no systematic differences exist between these two actions. Using this as a baseline, we compared a more generative approach, as when actions are instructed by auditory sentences. In this case, we see that switching actions is difficult, switching objects is even more difficult, and that use-actions are modestly faster than lift-actions; the reverse of what previous research shows. In a third experiment modelled after the paradigm used in studies producing rapid lift- and slowed use-actions, we showed that use-actions are actually facilitating lift-actions. Further, we demonstrate that having a use-action goal in mind provides the knowledge required to perform a lift-action, and that use-actions are again faster than lift-actions. These results are a critical addition to the task-switching literature on the cognitive control of motor processes associated with hand actions as distinctions are made between non-naturalistic and realistic settings relevant to day-to-day interactions with objects. We show that use-actions facilitate lift-actions and that, in realistic settings, both use- and lift-actions require access to stored knowledge. / Graduate / 0633 / hvanmook@uvic.ca

in English This master's thesis is concerned with collective redress mechanisms in the area of competition law of the European Union. Taking into account the ongoing modernization of private enforcement of competition law, the European Commission had decided to create a complementary system of collective and representative actions. Implementation of such instruments was recommended by the European Commission in Commission Recommendation of 11 June 2013 on common principles for injunctive and compensatory collective redress mechanisms in the Member States concerning violations of rights granted under Union Law. The main research question of this thesis is whether the European Commission has taken a wise approach towards collective redress mechanisms by creating the complementary system of collective redress, using the opt-in mechanism. This master's thesis is divided into 5 main chapters. In the first chapter, the readers are introduced to the topic of enforcement of competition law in the European Union. Further, the main research question is laid down, followed by the sources and methodology used in this thesis. The second chapter shortly describes each way of enforcement of competition law in the European Union. It aims mainly at describing private enforcement of competition law, as it forms the...

Cette thèse présente des contributions dans le domaine de la planification en intelligence artificielle, et ce, plus particulièrement pour une classe de problèmes qui combinent des actions concurrentes (simultanées) et de l'incertitude. Deux formes d'incertitude sont prises en charge, soit sur la durée des actions et sur leurs effets.Cette classe de problèmes est motivée par plusieurs applications réelles dont la robotique mobile, les jeux et les systèmes d'aide à la décision.Cette classe a notamment été identifiée par la NASA pour la planification des activités des rovers déployés sur Mars. Les algorithmes de planification présentés dans cette thèse exploitent une nouvelle représentation compacte d'états afin de réduire significativement l'espace de recherche. Des variables aléatoires continues sont utilisées pour modéliser l'incertitude sur le temps. Un réseau bayésien, qui est généré dynamiquement, modélise les dépendances entre les variables aléatoires et estime la qualité et la probabilité de succès des plans. Un premier planificateur, ACTUP LAN nc basé sur un algorithme de recherche à chaînage avant, prend en charge des actions ayant des durées probabilistes. Ce dernier génère des plans non conditionnels qui satisfont à une contrainte sur la probabilité de succès souhaitée. Un deuxième planificateur, ACTUP LAN, fusionne des plans non conditionnels afin de construire des plans conditionnels plus efficaces. Un troisième planificateur, nommé QUANPLAN, prend également en charge l'incertitude sur les effets des actions. Afin de modéliser l'exécution simultanée d'actions aux effets indéterminés, QUANP LAN s'inspire de la mécanique quantique où des états quantiques sont des superpositions d'états classiques. Un processus décisionnel de Markov (MDP) est utilisé pour générer des plans dans un espace d'états quantiques. L'optimalité, la complétude, ainsi que les limites de ces planificateurs sont discutées. Des comparaisons avec d'autres planificateurs ciblant des classes de problèmes similaires démontrent l'efficacité des méthodes présentées. Enfin, des contributions complémentaires aux domaines des jeux et de la planification de trajectoires sont également présentées.

This study is an effort to trace the growth and value of the Pennsylvania militia through its various structural arrangements and military actions.

This bachelor thesis is about the possibility of restoring a eutrophic bay in the Baltic Sea. Today the Baltic sea is affected by unnatural amounts of nutrients which affects the ecology in a negative way. To restore the ecology of the Baltic sea national, international and local actions must be undertaken. The case-study of this essay is about the project “Rädda Burgsviken” that is doing local efforts when trying to save the bay from eutrophication. Thepurpose is to see how effective local actions are when trying to achieve a good ecological balance in the bay. Furthermore, the purpose is to acknowledge which actions are effective and what they require to be executed and sustained. The essay is based on a qualitative text analysis and qualitative interviews with two central respondents. The result of this essay indicates that the actions been made have a good or potential good outcome and that they must cooperate with the local area regarding tourism and business because they are dependent on each other.

This thesis presents a rat model, by which the effects of repeated ethanol withdrawal on withdrawal severity was investigated, in relation to the cognitive and behavioural deficits associated with repeated episodes of withdrawal. Repeated ethanol withdrawal in the rat has been well established to model the effects of repeated episodes of human alcohol detoxification. This model has enabled the study of withdrawal severity and the role of the prefrontal cortex in the form of rat behaviour. Chronic ethanol consumption led to disrupted circadian rhythm especially in measures of wakefulness and NREM sleep. However, there were no cumulative effects of multiple ethanol withdrawals. These results were confounded by altered circadian rhythms observed in the control group. Repeated ethanol withdrawal induced significantly higher levels of C-Fos, a marker of neuronal activation, compared to a single withdrawal episode. In!addition, repeated ethanol withdrawal also induced significantly higher Zif 268 expression, a marker for neuronal plasticity, in the prelimbic cortex. These findings indicated a sensitivity of prefrontal cortical areas in response to repeated ethanol withdrawal. In assessing performance on a 2-choice serial reaction time task, repeated ethanol withdrawal resulted in more sessions to criterion, indicating possible learning deficits but only when the withdrawal experience occurred prior to behavioural training and testing. Repeated ethanol withdrawal did not significantly impair attentional set shifting ability on the intradimensional/extradimensional task. The findings of this current thesis suggest that repeated ethanol withdrawal did not produce significantly severe cognitive deficits as measured by behavioural tasks sensitive to prefrontal cortical damage, despite neurobiological activation of prefrontal areas.

It is commonly accepted that instrumental responses that have been extinguished can return. For example, in a phenomenon known as the renewal effect, extinguished behaviors return upon removal from the extinction context. Another well-accepted notion is that instrumental behaviors can be thought of as goal-directed actions, which form over the course of moderate amounts of practice or training, and habits, which form after extended practice. Despite years of research on both topics, what happens to actions and habits following extinction is poorly understood. The present experiments examined the renewal of actions and habits following retroactive interference paradigms such as extinction and additional training. Experiment 1 examined renewal of an action following its extinction in a separate context, and demonstrated that the extinguished behavior renewed as an action upon return to the acquisition context. Experiment 2 asked the same question about habits, and found that the behavior renewed as a habit after extinction upon return to the acquisition context. Experiment 3 examined renewal of goal-directed responding in one context following extensive training and conversion into habit in another context. It demonstrated that a single response could manifest as a habit in one context, and renew as an action in the original training context. Experiment 4 asked if this effect depends on returning to the acquisition context, or simply removal from the habit training context. The results suggest that mere removal from the habit training context is sufficient to renew the goal-directed properties of a behavior. Together, the results suggest that actions and habits can be inhibited in a context-specific manner by extinction, and that instrumental behaviors can have both action and habit properties that can each renew under the proper circumstances. The results also expand on the notion that habits are especially context specific, while actions can transfer across contexts.