Ce travail se penche sur la question suivante : pourquoi, dans des villes en difficulté, une part importante des ressources est-elle attribuée à des biens symboliques? A cette fin, la thèse s'intéresse à l'évolution des «politiques d'image» pour interpréter la mutation du pouvoir et des politiques urbaines depuis la seconde guerre mondiale. Ce travail se fonde sur l'étude approfondie de deux villes nées de l'industrie: Roubaix et Sheffield. La thèse propose ainsi d'affiner la grille économico-politique couramment utilisée par les études urbaines critiques en introduisant une périodisation en cinq temps. La première partie analyse l'apparition des politiques d'image dans les deux villes, au tournant des années 1960, comme reflétant un processus de « fordisation des politiques urbaines». Cette partie propose une division de l'ère fordiste en deux sous-périodes idéal-typiques, l'early urban fordism et le !ate urban fordism. Consacrée aux années où la désindustrialisation s'accélère, la deuxième partie met en lumière le rôle des mouvements sociaux dans l'évolution divergente des politiques d'image. Enfin, la troisième partie consacrée à « l'entrepreneurialisation des politiques urbaines» propose de subdiviser cette fois l'ère postfordisteen deux sous-périodes, l'early urban entrepreneuria!ism et le tate urban entrepreneurialism. L'évolution des politiques d'image, de leur production et de leurs cibles résulte conjointement de la poursuite du déclin de l'industrie dans la base économique des villes, de la fragmentation de la classe ouvrière et du rapprochement des gouvernements urbains avec les intérêts privés survenue dans les deux villes depuis la fin des années 1970. / This work addresses the following question: why, in cities in difficulty, is a significant share of resources allocated to symbolic goods? To this end, the thesis examines the evolution of the "image policies" to interpret the shift in urban power and policy since the Second World War. This work is based on a thorough study of two cities born of the industry: Roubaix and Sheffield. The thesis proposes to refine the chronological political economic analysis commonly used by critical urban studies by introducing a periodization in five steps. The first part analyses the emergence of image policies in both cities at the turn of the 1960s, as reflecting a process of "fordisation of the urban policy." This section proposes a division of the Fordist era into two ideal-typical periods, early urban Fordism and late urban Fordism. Devoted to the years when de-industrialization increases, thesecond part highlights the role of social movements in the divergent evolution of the political picture. The third section on "the entrepreneurialisation of urban policy" proposes to subdivide the post-Fordist era into two sub-periods, early urban entrepreneurialism and late urban entrepreneurialism. The evolution of image policies, of their production and their targets, jointlyresult in the decline of industry in the economic base of cities, the fragmentation of the working class and the closer cooperation of urban governments with interests private which occurred in both cities since the late 1970s.

The Russian invasion of Chechnya in December 1994 represented the culmination of a crisis that was perceived to threaten the very foundations of federal security. The conflict is intrinsic to an understanding of post-communist Russia and this study identifies the issues behind the evolution of Russia's conflict with Chechnya, investigating why a political crisis was permitted to deteriorate into a full-scale war. Existing studies of the causes of the conflict contain little theoretical interpretation regarding the role of Russia's transitional status. Given that Russia has been undergoing democratisation throughout the duration of its contemporary struggle with Chechnya, it is pertinent to investigate the link between the process and the potential for internal conflict. Edward Mansfield and Jack Snyder are the most notable advocates of the proposition that the characteristic instability of a transitional period greatly increases the likelihood of both international and intrastate war. They ascribe the increased risk of conflict to domestic political competition between old and new elites, who exploit nationalistic sentiments in order to mobilise popular support for their faction, facilitated by the weak institutionalisation of the democratising state. The lack of any formal regulatory mechanisms encourages abuse of power within state structures, as officials and members of the ruling elite cannot be held fully accountable to the electorate. Thus, in order to assess the impact of the transition process upon the deterioration of Russian-Chechen relations and provide a more rigorous theoretical framework against which to examine the causes of the war, existing models of transition, particularly the democratisation and war thesis, are analysed and applied to the case-study of Russian decision-making with regards to Chechnya. The persistent crisis is investigated within the context of the Federation's transition away from communist rule, focusing on the extent of any potential correlation between the Russian democratisation project and its violent struggle with a constituent part. The study reveals that the conflict is attributable to both the democratisation project and the wider concept of systemic transformation, and conclusions are drawn on the process of post-communist democratic transition.

Doctor of Philosophy / School of Security Studies / Emizet Kisangani / This dissertation analyzes the role that the international community has played in African states' post-conflict reconstruction. It thus intends to answer three questions: How does the presence or the absence of coordination among international and local actors contribute to the success or failure of post-conflict reconstruction? How does the international community’s coordination influence the architecture of post-conflict state reconstruction in Africa? How do actors, leadership, and power within a coordination network structure affect post-conflict reconstruction? The study argues that lack of coordination between the international and local actors is a critical factor explaining the failure of rebuilding states after civil wars. It develops a new theoretical framework (Hybridized model) that combines market, hierarchical, and network models of coordination. This coordination theory shows how actors, leadership, and power influence coordination network structure to enhance post-conflict reconstruction efforts. This theory postulates that a small number of actors, as well as the presence of a legitimate leadership and a powerful actor in a coordination network tends to enhance post-conflict coordination. The dissertation tests this theory using quantitative method which combines 26 African countries that have experienced repeated state building after civil war from 1970 to 2009 and qualitative method, especially structured focused comparison and process tracing, of four post-conflict countries that include Kenya, Sudan, Namibia, and Rwanda. The findings support the theoretical argument.

This paper analyzes and assesses the success and failures of the implemented methods of two mailed survey research projects conducted in post-Katrina New Orleans. Mailed survey research is an essential part of the recovery process following a major disaster in which people have been displaced. A survey can provide insight into how many residents intend to return to the area as well as resident needs and concerns. Traditional methods alone are inadequate in a post-disaster setting and supplemental measures must be taken. The collected data from a survey in this setting will be unrepresentative of the pre-disaster population. Spatial analysis of the response combined with a comparison of the collected data to known census data identifies the ways in which the data is unrepresentative. Knowledge of the data shortcomings increases its utility in planning and recovery efforts in the affected region.

I examine the determinants of cross-sectional liquidity in the IPO aftermarket during the period of 1995 through 2005. I find that past price performance, the extent of stock visibility, the mass of informed agents, and certain IPO attributes play a role in explaining IPO trading activity. My empirical evidence shows that differences of opinion and estimation uncertainty about an IPO firm affect little IPO liquidity. My findings contribute to the understanding of determinants of IPO aftermarket trading. I also investigate whether contemporaneous overreaction tends to occur following persistent information in the options market. More specifically, I compare the reactions between growth and value investors, and small and large investors conditional on past price reactions. My empirical results suggest that value investors react more strongly than growth investors following a series of prior information shocks, as measured by the cumulative level of overreaction. Small investors tend to react more strongly than large investors conditional on prior information shock, as measured by the cumulative sign or level of overreaction. The results imply that overreaction is a function of investor types and previous information and contribute to the overreaction hypothesis in the options market.

<p>Post-transcriptional regulation of cytoplasmic mRNAs is an efficient mechanism of regulating the amounts of active protein within a eukaryotic cell. RNA sequence elements located in the untranslated regions of mRNAs can influence transcript degradation or translation through associations with RNA-binding proteins. Tristetraprolin (TTP) is the best known member of a family of CCCH zinc finger proteins that targets adenosine-uridine rich element (ARE) binding sites in the 3’ untranslated regions (UTRs) of mRNAs, promoting transcript deadenylation through the recruitment of deadenylases. More specifically, TTP has been shown to bind AREs located in the 3’-UTRs of transcripts with known roles in the inflammatory response. The mRNA-binding region of the protein is the highly conserved CCCH tandem zinc finger (TZF) domain. The synthetic TTP TZF domain has been shown to bind with high affinity to the 13-mer sequence of UUUUAUUUAUUUU. However, the binding affinities of full-length TTP family members to the same sequence and its variants are unknown. Furthermore, the distance needed between two overlapping or neighboring UUAUUUAUU 9-mers for tandem binding events of a full-length TTP family member to a target transcript has not been explored. To address these questions, we recombinantly expressed and purified the full-length C. albicans TTP family member Zfs1. Using full-length Zfs1, tagged at the N-terminus with maltose binding protein (MBP), we determined the binding affinities of the protein to the optimal TTP binding sequence, UUAUUUAUU. Fluorescence anisotropy experiments determined that the binding affinities of MBP-Zfs1 to non-canonical AREs were influenced by ionic buffer strength, suggesting that transcript selectivity may be affected by intracellular conditions. Furthermore, electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) revealed that separation of two core AUUUA sequences by two uridines is sufficient for tandem binding of MBP-Zfs1. Finally, we found evidence for tandem binding of MBP-Zfs1 to a 27-base RNA oligonucleotide containing only a single ARE-binding site, and showed that this was concentration and RNA length dependent; this phenomenon had not been seen previously. These data suggest that the association of the TTP TZF domain and the TZF domains of other species, to ARE-binding sites is highly conserved. Domains outside of the TZF domain may mediate transcript selectivity in changing cellular conditions, and promote protein-RNA interactions not associated with the ARE-binding TZF domain. </p><p>In summary, the evidence presented here suggests that Zfs1-mediated decay of mRNA targets may require additional interactions, in addition to ARE-TZF domain associations, to promote transcript destabilization and degradation. These studies further our understanding of post-transcriptional steps in gene regulation.</p> / Dissertation

This research explores a range of academic and socio-cultural challenges faced by seven Chinese post-graduate students at the University of the Witwatersrand. The main aims of this study are to identify and understand any academic discourse challenges these students have been experiencing, together with any challenges in their new socio-cultural environment, such as financial or social challenges, and then to investigate the impact of these challenges on their studies and their identities as students. The study is based on data gathered from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with seven Chinese post-graduate students, from location ‘maps’ completed by each student and from some examples of the writing of three of the students. The findings suggest that these Chinese students are encountering great challenges in relation to English language proficiency and adjustments to new Discourses (Gee, 1996) – both academic and social. The data provide evidence that although these students feel socially disempowered in many respects, their attitudes toward academic study remain positive and each is making steady progress in his or her progamme of study and research. This finding indicates that there seems to be no explicit connection between positive social experiences and academic achievement and contrasts with findings from other research studies in which there is a correlation iii between positive or negative socio-cultural experiences and success or failure in the academy.

Student Number : 0419845J - MA research report - School of Arts - Faculty of Humanities / The aim of this research report is to explore the extent to which public art in postapartheid, democratic South Africa may contribute both to urban regeneration and nation building as well as the extent to which contemporary African monumental public art could reflect African heritage and traditions (Nettleton 2003:3). Another issue that is explored is the role of patronage in determining the function of public art in post-apartheid South Africa. Case studies in the form of two examples of post-apartheid public, namely the Freedom Park and the Constitution Hill projects art are used to explore the functions of public art in South Africa. In summary this research report therefore analyses: • The nature and function of public art-historical issues; • The practical issues affecting the production of public art in post-apartheid South Africa; • The socio-political factors that mitigate for or against the ability of public art to function effectively in the post-apartheid South African context; and • How these functions feed into the broader issues of making a contribution in a demographically complex, post-apartheid South Africa.

There is general consensus that the reorganisation of production and labour processes and shift in union ideological focus and growth of bureaucratic structures have resulted in the diminishing of a collective voice at most workplaces. This study explores the challenges facing shop stewards at the shop floor in their day to day activities in the aftermath of these changes and examines ways through which they get around them. The day to day activities of shop stewards is not a new phenomenon. However shop stewards have not been targeted as subject for study since democratisation. Where they were mentioned, it was mostly due to their involvement at the shop floor where they are required to carry the workers grievances to the management as well as explaining union standpoint to constituent. The study affirms arguments by previous researchers that shop stewards play a contradictory role, trying to satisfy the aspirations of the constituents who elected the stewards as well as management, the stewards’ pay master who expect the steward to be a social partner, though the relationship is highly unequal. The study noted that though they are social partners, management is insincere when it comes to work environment where it’s not meeting the minimum safety requirements. Moreover, union bureaucratic structures though they are meant to increase efficiency have wiped shop floor democracy since decisions are mostly handed down from the top, confirming the argument that as organisations grows bigger, they tend towards oligarchy. In-depth interviews were conducted at one plant in Wadeville and another on in Nigel local of NUMSA’s Ekurhuleni region. The interviews were complemented with documentary analysis as well as observation during shop steward council meetings.

Thesis advisor: Deborah Piatelli / This study serves to contribute to the growing literature on the effectiveness of diversity trainings. Previous studies on diversity training have produced inconclusive results for diversity training goals, evaluation techniques, and success. These studies rely largely on quantitative methods and large data sets looking at representation, biases, and economics. This study examines the impact of diversity trainings from a different lens. Specifically, in a society that increasingly adheres to a post-racial ideology, diversity trainings can serve as a tool to deconstruct the basis for racial power and privilege and expose the persistence of racism in the workplace. This qualitative, inductive study allows diversity trainers and managers to discuss in-depth their views on diversity and diversity training. Diversity trainers delineated five diversity training models, all of which discuss power and privilege in different ways or not at all. The presence and nature of this discussion becomes a product of a diversity trainer’s personal beliefs and the culture of the organization where training will occur. Manager interviews showed that individual differences in racial awareness entering the training can mediate how managers respond and react to diversity training material. The combination of the training model, organizational culture, and individual racial awareness combine to determine whether or not individual and institutional change around racial power and privilege will occur. Overall, power and privilege is not a common feature of diversity trainings, however diversity training can be used to further this discussion and fight against racism. A model is proposed that presents a way for diversity trainers to combine diversity training models to promote organizational goals, as well as counter post-racial ideology to create critically inclusive and egalitarian workplaces. Moreover, suggestions are made for researchers to better evaluate diversity trainings in the future, so as to truly determine the extent to which diversity training can be used to further organizational goals. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology.