Women today are still highly outnumbered by men in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This study analyzes the relationship between girls’ gender role attitudes in adolescence and their likelihood of working in a STEM occupation between the ages of 25 and 30 years old. My paper focuses on how conservative gender role attitudes, with men thought of as the breadwinners and women as the homemakers, may negatively affect a woman’s likelihood of holding a STEM career. I use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) to analyze both a strict definition of STEM as well as a broader one that includes related professions in the social sciences and teaching. Via a regression approach, I hold constant other adolescent attributes to find a direct, negative relationship between adolescent girls with conservative gender role attitudes and future STEM careers. I find that for strict STEM careers, women are .46 percentage points less likely than men to work in STEM between the ages of 25 and 30 years old with statistical significance at the 1% level. Creating an interaction variable for conservative gender role attitudes and female, I distinguish by gender to find an additional improbability of holding a STEM job for conservative women. Conservative women are .32 percentage points less likely work in a STEM job between the ages of 25 and 30 years old with statistical significance at the 5% level. Helping to explain the gender gap in STEM, my results show that adolescent girls with conservative gender role attitudes are much less likely than boys to work in a STEM career.

In order to enhance safety and prevent the recurrence of major accidents it is necessary to understand why they occur. This understanding is gained by utilising accident causation theory to explain why a certain combination of events, conditions and actions led to a given outcome: the process of accident analysis. At present, the systems approach to accident analysis is arguably the dominant research paradigm. Based on the concepts of systems theory, it views accidents as the result of unexpected and uncontrolled relationships between a system s components. Various researchers claim that use of the systems approach, via systemic accident analysis, provides a deeper understanding of accidents when compared with traditional theories. However, the systems approach and its analysis techniques are yet to be widely adopted by the practitioner community and, therefore, a research-practice gap exists. The implication of such a gap is that practitioners may be applying outdated accident causation theory and, consequently, producing ineffective safety recommendations. The aim of this thesis was to develop the current understanding of the systemic accident analysis research-practice gap by providing a description of the gap, considering its extent and examining issues associated with bridging it. Four studies were conducted to achieve this aim. The first study involved an evaluation of the systemic accident analysis literature and techniques, in order to understand how their characteristics could influence the research-practice gap. The findings of the study revealed that the systems approach is not presented in a consistent or clear manner within the research literature and that this may hinder its acceptance by practitioners. In addition, a number of issues were identified (e.g. model validation, analyst bias and limited usage guidance) which may influence the use of systemic analysis methods within industry. The examination of how the analysis activities of practitioners may contribute to the gap motivated Study 2. This study involved conducting semi-structured interviews with 42 safety professionals and various factors, which affect the awareness, adoption and usage of the systems approach and its analysis methods, were highlighted. The combined findings of Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that the systemic accident analysis research-practice gap is multifaceted in nature. Study 3 investigated the extent of the gap by considering whether the most widely used analysis technique (the Swiss Cheese Model) can provide a systems approach to accident analysis. The analysis of a major rail accident was performed with a model based on the Swiss Cheese Model and two systemic analysis methods. The outputs and usage of the three analysis tools were compared and indicate that the Swiss Cheese Model does provide a means of conducting systemic accident analysis. Therefore, the extent of the research-practice gap may not be as considerable as some proponents of the systems approach suggest. The final study aimed to gain an insight into the application of a systemic accident analysis method by practitioners, in order to understand whether it meets their needs. Six trainee accident investigators took part in an accident investigation simulation and subsequently analysed the data collected during the exercise with the Systems Theoretic Accident Modelling and Processes model. The outputs of the participants analyses were studied along with the evaluation feedback they provided via a questionnaire and focus group. The main findings of the study indicate that the analysis technique does not currently meet the usability or graphical output requirements of practitioners and, unless these issues are addressed, will struggle to gain acceptance within industry. When considering the research findings as a whole a number of issues are highlighted. Firstly, given the benefits of adopting the systems approach, efforts to bridge the systemic accident analysis research-practice gap should be made. However, the systemic analysis methods may not be best suited to analyse every type of accident and, therefore, should be considered as one part of an investigator s analysis toolkit . Adapting the systemic analysis methods to meet the needs of practitioners and communicating the systems approach more effectively represent two options for bridging the gap. However, due to the multidimensional nature of the gap and the wide variety of individuals, organisations and industries that perform accident analysis, it seems likely that tailored solutions will be required. Furthermore, due to the differing needs of the research and practice communities, efforts to bridge the gap should focus on collaboration between the two communities rather than attempting to close the gap entirely.

Strategic planners in retail banks are increasingly challenged to improve productivity, ensure high service quality and reduce operations costs while implementing their e-service strategy. This work aims to assess the current e-service operations strategy in the bank sector in Jordan and develop a framework for formulating e-banking strategies using gap analysis. Limitation of resources is hindering the shift from the current situation of the bank sector to a point where both the customer and the bank perspectives are fully matched and the gap between them is zero. If the available resources of the bank sector are utilised properly, the bank sector can move to a position near to that point which is closer to the customer requirements than the current situation. This can be achieved by constructing a model for an e-bank, the 'Composite bank', which represents the industry best practice. Its performance captures the capabilities, resources and competences of the bank sector. A representative sample of the bank's customers was interviewed to fulfil a fully structured questionnaire based on the extant literature. Targeted managers in the bank 3 sector were then interviewed and completed a fully structured questionnaire based on the customer questionnaire. Both questionnaires were pre-tested to assure validity and reliability. The data analysis method was based on gap-analysis technique. The gap model provides a tool to identify critical elements for successful implementation of operations strategy and suggests actions to deal with them. The gap analysis approach was proved to be useful in other settings, such as measuring service quality, but there is paucity of applications in e-service operations strategies. An assessment tool and 'working sheet' were delivered to pave the way for the strategic planners to assess the current situation of the e-banking strategy and to focus on the attributes/services which need more development. This procedure can be generalised to be applied in other industries (in service or e-service contexts), and other countries, both developed and developing.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This study aims to investigate the relation between foreign direct investment (FDI) and per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in Pakistan. The study is based on a basic Cobb-Douglas production function. Population over age 15 to 64 is used as a proxy for labor in the investigation. The other variables used are gross capital formation, technological gap and a dummy variable measuring among other things political stability. We find positive correlation between GDP per capita in Pakistan and two variables, FDI and population over age 15 to 64. The GDP gap (gap between GDP of USA and GDP of Pakistan) is negatively correlated with GDP per capita as expected. Political instability, economic crisis, wars and polarization in the society have no significant impact on GDP per capita in the long run.

The primary aims of this dissertation were to (1) identify and characterize the water-gap complex in seeds of Geraniaceae, (2) investigate its role in physical dormancy (PY) break and (3) develop a new classification system for water-gap complexes in seeds of angiosperms. The winter annuals Geranium carolinianum and G. dissectum were selected as the main representative species for the study, and seeds of an additional 29 species from the Geraniaceae were used to compare the water-gap complex within the family. A new classification system for water-gap complexes in species with PY was developed by comparing the morpho-anatomical features of PY seeds and fruits of 16 families. The water-gap complex of G. carolinianum was identified as a micropyle-hinged valve gap complex, and only a slight morpho-anatomical variation was observed within the family. Ontogenetic studies of the seed coat of G. carolinianum revealed that the water-gap region of Geraniaceae develops as an entity of the micropyle. The timing of seed germination with the onset of autumn can be explained by PY-breaking processes involving (a) two-temperature-dependent steps in G. carolinianum, and (b) one or two moisture-dependent step(s) along with the inability to germinate under high temperatures in G. dissectum. Step-I and step-II in PY-breaking of G. carolinianum are controlled by chemical and physical processes, respectively. This study indicates the feasibility of applying the developed thermal time model to predict or manipulate sensitivity induction in seeds with two-step PY-breaking processes. The model is the first and the most detailed one yet developed for sensitivity induction in PY-break. Based on the morpho-anatomical features, three basic water-gap complexes (types I, II and III) were identified in species with PY in 16 families. Depending on the number of openings involved in initial imbibition, the water-gap complexes were subdivided into simple and compound. The new classification system enables the understanding of relationships between water-gap complexes of taxonomically unrelated species with PY.

La maîtrise du calcul prévisionnel du comportement dynamique de structures mécaniques demeure un enjeu majeur pour l'amélioration de la conception en présence de facteurs mal maîtrisés. Dans ce document, nous présentons des méthodologies de conception permettant de prendre en compte dans le processus de décision, les incertitudes sur les paramètres de conception, les incertitudes sur les mesures ou encore l'impact des modifications. Dans la première partie, nous étudions le potentiel d'une méthode de synthèse modale basée sur l'utilisation des modes propres orthogonaux. Une méthodologie de vérification et d'optimisation de super-éléments est également présentée. Enfin, nous montrons qu'un algorithme génétique peut permettre une sélection optimale des coordonnées physiques dans les méthodes de réduction. La deuxième partie concerne l'identification paramétrique des structures mécaniques à partir d'observations incertaines et la quantification de l'information susceptible d'être obtenue grâce à des mesures expérimentales. Nous utilisons dans cette étude une formulation probabiliste des problèmes inverses. Une planification d'essais en vue d'un gain d'information est réalisée avec des plans d'expérience bayésiens. Dans la dernière partie, l'approche non-probabiliste info-gap est appliquée afin d'évaluer la robustesse aux incertitudes de deux méthodes de recalage. Cette méthode permet aussi de vérifier que, dans un environnement incertain et pour un critère de performance donné, il peut être préférable de choisir un modèle " satisfaisant" plutôt qu'un modèle optimal.

The first chapter provides some basic definitions and results from the theory of convex analysis and nonlinear mappings related to our work. Some sufficient conditions for the existence of a solution of problem (GVIP) are also recalled. In the second chapter, we first illustrate the scope of the auxiliary problem procedure designed to solve problems like (GVIP) by examining some well-known methods included in that framework. Then, we review the most representative convergence results for that class of methods that can be found in the literature in the case where F is singlevalued as well as in the multivalued case. Finally, we somewhat discuss the particular case of projection methods to solve affine variational inequalities. The third chapter introduces the variational convergence notion of Mosco and combines it with the auxiliary problem principle. Then, we recall the convergence conditions existing for the resulting perturbed scheme before our own contribution and we comment them. Finally, we introduce and illustrate the rate of convergence condition that we impose on the perturbations to obtain better convergence results. Chapter 4 presents global and local convergence results for the family of perturbed methods in the case where F is singlevalued. We also discuss how our results extend or improve the previous ones. Chapter 5 studies the multivalued case. First, we present convergence results generalizing those obtained when there is no perturbations. Then, we relax the scheme by means of a notion of enlargement of an operator and we provide convergence conditions for this inexact scheme. In Chapter 6, we build a bundle algorithm to solve problem (GVIP) and we study its convergence.

<p>In this work we investigated fabrication of semiconductor nanomaterials and evaluated their potential for photo-chemical and photovoltaic applications. We investigated two different II-VI semiconductor nanomaterial systems; (i) ZnO oriented nanowire arrays non-epitaxially grown from a substrate; and (ii) colloidal CdTe nanotetrapods synthesized by solution-based thermal decomposition of organo-metallic precursors. In both the cases our main focus has been optimizing material synthesis for improving potential applications based on photon-electron interactions.</p><p>We have studied the synthesis of vertically aligned ZnO nanowire arrays (NWA), by a wet chemical process on various substrates. The synthesis is based on epitaxial growth of ZnO seed-layer on a substrate in a chemical bath consisting of an aqueous solution of zinc nitrate and hexamethylenetetramine (HMT). We have suggested an additional role played by HMT during the synthesis of ZnO nanowire arrays. We have also extended this synthesis method to fabricate hierarchical nanostructures of nanofibers of poly-L-lactide acting as a substrate for the radially oriented growth of ZnO nanowires. The combination of high surface area of the nanofibrous substrate with the flexibility of the PLLA-ZnO hierarchical nanostructure enabled the proof-of-principle demonstration of a ‘continuous-flow’ water treatment system that could effectively decompose single and combination of known organic pollutants in water, as well as render common waterborne bacteria nonviable.</p><p>We have studied another chemical synthesis that is commonly used for size controlled synthesis of colloidal quantum dots, which was modified to obtain anisotropic nanocrystals mainly for CdE (E=S, Se, Te) compositions. In this work we demonstrate by use of oleic acid (instead of alkylphosphonic acids) it is possible to synthesize CdTe and CdSe nanotetrapods at much lower temperatures (~180 ºC) than what is commonly reported in the literature, with significantly different  formation mechanism in the low-temperature reaction.</p><p>Finally, we have performed preliminary photoconduction measurements with CdTe nanotetrapods using gold ‘nanogap’ electrodes fabricated in-house, and obtain up to 100 times enhancement in current levels in the <em>I–V </em>measurements under illumination with a white light source.</p> / QC20100607

<p> </p><p>Since the 1990s and the Swedish membership in the European Union in 1995, the presence of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) has increased radically in the Swedish economy. The objective with this study is to analyze MNEs effects in different regions within the Swedish manufacturing industry in terms of productivity. Is a region with more MNEs, more pro-ductive than a region with a lower share of MNEs? The theory claims that productivity spillovers of MNEs occurs through three channels namely, via R&D, increased competi-tion and transmission of technology. By observing 81 regions which consists of all 290 municipals in Sweden and taking the average value of productivity and the explanatory variables trough 1997-2004, a cross-sectional analysis is conducted. The results evidently showed signs of productivity spillovers of MNEs on local firms in the manufacturing in-dustry. Findings suggest that (1) a regions with higher share of MNEs did face a higher re-gional productivity. However the spillovers was not successfully absorbed by regions with a industry structure that was not dominated by a the manufacturing industry. (2) Larger re-gions, in terms of population, tend to show a lower productivity level compared to the av-erage levels of the rest of the regions, since their structure was dominated by the service sector. (3) Regions with small technological difference compared to the MNEs, tends to hold the skills and knowledge needed to efficiently exploit the productivity spillovers, hence MNEs influence on regional productivity was greater in these regions than regions with a lower level of technical capability.</p><p> </p>