This thesis examines Ghana's decentralised educational planning policy by exploring meanings of decentralisation and decentralised educational planning, the legal framework and how it has been implemented in practice at district level from the perspectives of key stakeholders. In Ghana public policy measures have been directed towards the decentralisation of educational planning and management of pre-tertiary education to address education inefficiencies. To this end, various decentralised educational structures such as School Management Committees (SMCs) and Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) have been institutionalized to encourage community participation in educational planning and decision-making. Attempts to enhance community involvement in Ghana resonate with global efforts. Several developing countries have chosen to decentralize educational planning in the hope of obtaining increased participation of stakeholders in educational planning and decision making. Despite the strong policy commitment to decentralisation and decentralised educational planning, this has not translated into practice. The understanding and involvement of key educational stakeholders in decentralised educational planning fall short of expectation. It is against this background that this study examines the experiences of stakeholders in decentralised educational planning in Ghana. The study employed a qualitative research approach focused on purposively sampled districts (Accra Metropolitan Directorate of Education and Komenda- Edina- Eguafo- Abrem). The key participants in the study were 2 Senior Education Officers, 2 Planning Officers, 2 Headteachers, 2 SMC representatives and 2 PTA representatives. Both primary and secondary data were collected. Interview guides were used in the collection of qualitative data while statistical data were collected from Education Management Information System (EMIS). In order to achieve the specific objectives set within the main purpose of this study, the main question which guides this study is: What is the understanding and participation of District Officers, Heads of Schools and other stakeholders of Decentralisation and Decentralised Educational Planning? The study found that stakeholders have diverse understandings about the meaning of decentralisation, and decentralised educational planning. In general it was found that decentralisation entails empowering the districts/locals to make decision and being accountable for the decisions made. Educational decentralisation refers to devolution of educational delivery from Ghana Education Headquarters to the districts with the regional directorate gradually taking the role of the GES headquarters and the district directorates where final authority will reside at the District Assembly. Decentralised educational planning means empowerment to plan and take decision at the local or district level of educational delivery. The study also found that SMC/PTA members participate in the decentralised educational planning process but that their level of involvement is very low. The study also notes that there is weak capacity development for planners and other stakeholders in a system of decentralised education planning. The study suggests that a number of challenges should be addressed to ensure effective decentralised education planning. This thesis provides new insights into decentralised educational planning in Ghana contributing to the extant literature on the topics.

A study was undertaken to describe the patterns of hardwood lumber production, distribution, and consumption in the Southeast. Current distribution patterns were compared with theoretically optimal patterns in an attempt to estimate the efficiency of the current distribution system. A combination mail questionnaire and telephone survey was used to gather data for the study. The linear programming transportation model was employed to develop the optimal lumber distribution patterns. It was concluded that some inefficiencies exist in the current hardwood lumber distribution patterns. Possible explanations for some of the differences between current and optimal distribution patterns were discussed. Suggestions were made to reduce some of the differences attributable to system inefficiencies. Although the study results indicated that total transportation costs could be reduced by restructuring the current distribution patterns, no conclusions regarding benefits from the cost reductions could be drawn. It was concluded that beneficiaries depend upon existing pricing policy and market structure. / M.S.

The Reform of the United Nations Security Council through the Enlargement of its Members Abstract This master thesis focuses on the topic which has been discussed in the international community for several decades. Security Council is responsible for maintaining peace and security in the world since the organization was founded. In order to carry out this task, it has been endowed with several prominent powers, from which the most important and controversial at the same time is the right to veto, with the ability to block any resolution. The structure of the Security Council was established after the end of the Second World War and it has not been changed since then, besides the reform in 1963. This fact negatively affects proper functioning of the Security Council in today's world, which has changed rapidly since 1945, and reduces its legitimacy because of the insufficient representation of the UN members. The organization was founded by 51 states, but since then the membership has increased almost four times and today there are already 193 countries in the UN. Nowadays, there are several reform groups that want to achieve different progresses in different ways. But in most of these cases there have been attempts to increase the number of members of the Security Council - both permanent and elected. The...

Les quadruplexes de guanines (G4) sont des structures polymorphiques adoptées in vitro par les séquences d’ADN et d’ARN riches en guanines. L’utilisation d’anticorps et de ligands spécifiques des structures G4 a permis leur détection au niveau cellulaire. Des études computationnelles ont prédit des séquences possédant une signature G4 au niveau de régions génomiques capitales comme les télomères ou les promoteurs de certains oncogènes. De plus, de nombreuses protéines impliquées dans des processus cellulaires comme la réplication, la transcription ou encore la réparation, peuvent interagir directement avec des G4, en facilitant leur formation ou au contraire leur dénaturation. C’est notamment le cas d’hélicases impliquées dans des pathologies humaines, comme BLM, WRN, FANC J ou PIF1. Ce sont des enzymes capables de dénaturer des G4 et dont l'inactivation induit une instabilité génomique, en particulier au niveau de régions susceptibles de former un G4. Dans ce travail, nous présentons la mise au point d’un test de criblage à moyen débit pour le suivi des interactions G4/hélicases en temps réel. Ce test nous a permis de définir les conditions favorisant ou inhibant l’interaction d’une hélicase vis-à-vis de son substrat G4. Nous avons démontré que ces conditions pouvaient différer d’une hélicase à une autre, notamment les conditions salines optimales nécessaires aux activités hélicases de ScPif1 et de RHAU. Nous avons également prouvé, à travers ce test, que l’utilisation de ligands capables de stabiliser les G4 n’induisait pas forcément d’inhibition de l’activité hélicase de ScPif1. Enfin, nous avons également pu définir la directionnalité de la protéine RPA, ce qui fait de notre test une technique prometteuse pour la caractérisation de nouvelles protéines pouvant dérouler des structures G4. / G-quadruplexes are highly polymorphic non-canonical nucleic acid structures adopted by both DNA and RNA guanine-rich sequences in vitro. They have been detected at the cellular level using structure specific antibodies and small molecule ligands. Computational studies demonstrated that G4-prone sequences are located in key genomic regions such as telomeres and oncogene promoters. Numerous studies showed that G4 sequences can interact with proteins involved in cellular processes, including replication, transcription or reparation. Those interactions include binding, G4 folding promotion or in contrary unwinding. Indeed, WRN, BLM, FANC J or Pif1 are helicases associated with human-diseases. They can unwind G4 forming sequences; mutation of these helicases lead to genomic instability of G4-prone motifs when mutated. Here, we present a medium-throughput technique to monitor G4-helicase interactions in real time. We were able to determine both favourable and deleterious conditions for G4 unwinding by a given helicase. We show that these conditions differ from one helicase to another as exemplified with the optimal salt conditions required for both ScPif1 and RHAU activities. We also reveal that the G4 ligands that stabilize G4 structures do not necessarily induce an inhibition of their unwinding by ScPif1 helicase. Finally, we also prove that our assay is adapted to clear up RPA directionality, making it an attractive technique to screen for new proteins able to unwind G4 structures.

Les origines de réplication sont les sites à travers le génome où est initiée la synthèse de l’ADN. Les multiples cartographies des origines de réplication dans des cellules de vertébrés ont identifié une association entre origines de réplication et motifs G4. Les motifs G4 sont des séquences ayant le potentiel de se replier en G-quadruplexe. Des travaux menés précédemment au laboratoire ont montré que la capacité d’un motif G4 à se replier en G-quadruplexe est essentielle pour l’activité de deux origines de réplication modèles dans la lignée cellulaire de poulet DT40. Cependant, le motif G4 n’est pas suffisant pour spécifier une origine de réplication. Dans l’origine modèle βA, un élément cis de 227 pben 3’ du motif G4 est également nécessaire pour l’initiation de la réplication. L’analyse de la séquence de cet élément indique qu’il comporte plusieurs motifs connus pour être des sites de fixation de facteurs de transcription. Nous avons testé le rôle potentiel de ces motifs en évaluant l’effet de leurs délétions individuelles sur l’activité de l’origine βA. Ces travaux ont identifié les boites TATA et CCAAT, pouvant être liées par le facteur TBP (TATA Binding Protein) et NFY (Nuclear Factor Y) respectivement, comme étant les éléments cruciaux avec le motif G4 pour l’initiation de la réplication. Nous avons cherché à éclaircir de quelle manière ces éléments permettent la spécification d’une origine de réplication. A cet effet, nous avons émis l’hypothèse selon laquelle les motifs G4 qui se trouvent au niveau des origines de réplication sont ceux qui in vivo sont capables de former un G-quadruplexe. La formation du G-quadruplex dans l’origine βA dépendrait alors de la présence des boites TATA et CCAAT qui peuvent recruter des facteurs de transcription favorisant l’ouverture de la double hélice de l’ADN et le repliement du G-quadruplex. Cette hypothèse prévoit que la stabilisation d’un G-quadruplexe in vivo est nécessaire et suffisante pour former une nouvelle origine de réplication. Nous avons donc testé cette hypothèse de deux manières. D’abord, nous avons entrepris de stabiliser un G-quadruplex à une position donnée du génome en induisant la transcription d’un motif G4. Ensuite, nous avons déterminé les effets d’une stabilisation globale des G-quadruplexes à travers le génome sur la position des origines de réplication. Pour cela, nous avons cartographié les origines de réplication dans des lignées de cellules DT40 dans lesquelles des facteurs impliqués dans la linéarisation des G-quadruplexes ont été inactivés. Selon notre hypothèse, en l’absence de tels facteurs, comme l’hélicase FancJ ou l’ADN polymérase translésionnelle Rev1, davantage de motifs G4 pourraient se replier et former une origine de réplication. Les résultats obtenus avec chacune des deux approches indiquent que la stabilisation de G-quadruplexes ne permet pas de produire de nouvelles origines de réplication. L’ensemble de nos données indique que l’activité de l’origine βA dépend d’un motif G4 et des boites TATA et CCAAT. La manière par laquelle l’ensemble de ces éléments permettent l’initiation de la réplication reste à éclaircir / Replication origins are the position where DNA synthesis is initiated. Mapping of replication origins across the genome showed a link between origins and G4 motifs. G4 motifs are sequences the potential for forming G-quadruplexes. Works carried out previously in the laboratory showed that the ability to fold into G-quadruplex is critical for the activity of two model origin in the DT40 cell line. However, the G4 motif is not enough to specify a replication origin. In the βA model origin, a 227 bp cis element is required for the initiation of replication. The analysis of this sequence indicates the presence of several motifs known to be binding sites for transcription factors. We tested the potential roles of these motifs by evaluating the effect of their individual deletion on the activity of the βA origin. This work identified the TATA and CCAAT boxes who bind TBP (TATA Binding Protein) and NFY (Nuclear Factor Y) respectively as the crucial elements, with the G4 motifs, pour the initiation of replication.We endeavored to shed light on the manner by which these elements enable the specification of a replication origin. We hypothesized that the G4 motifs associated with replication origins are those able to form a G-quadruplex in vivo. The formation of the G-quadruplex of the βA origin would require the presence of the TATA and CCAAT boxes who could recruit transcription factors facilitating the opening of the double helix and G-quadruplex folding. We tested this hypothesis by two different manners. First, we undertook to stabilize a G-quadruplex at a given position in the genome by inducing the transcription of a G4 motif. Then, we observed the effects of a genome wide stabilization of G-quadruplexes on the position of replication origins. For that, we mapped replication origins in DT40 cell lines in which factors implicated in G-quadruplex linearization are inactivated. According to our hypothesis, without such factors, like the FancJ helicase of the translesional DNA polymerase Rev1, more G4 motifs could fold into G-quaduplexes and specify replication origins

Företag vill uppfattas som legitima och redovisar därför information om sitt sociala arbete, men beroende på vilken typ av information som presenteras kan företagen uppfattas på olika sätt av en intressent. Upprättandet av hållbarhetsrapporter enligt GRI:s ramverk skapar en grad av legitimitet, men inom den sociala aspekten finns utrymme för tolkning och informationen blir ofta subjektiv. Syftet med uppsatsen är att granska hur företag redovisar den sociala aspekten i hållbarhetsrapporter och ur ett intressentperspektiv identifiera möjliga problem som kan uppstå vid tolkning av informationen, som företagen väljer att offentliggöra. I den teoretiska referensramen beskrivs CSR-konceptet, organisationen Global Reporting Initiative och dess ramverk G4 samt ett antala redovisningsteorier. För studien har en kvalitativ metod används och insamlingen av data har genomförts med dokumentundersökningar. Fyra hållbarhetsrapporter från företag inom kläd- och textilbrnschen har granskats med utgångspunkt i den sociala aspekten. I det empiriska materialet presenteras hurvida företagen uppfyller ramverkets rekomendationer om vilken information som ska redovisas enligt de valda indikatorerna i rapporterna. Vidare analyseras rapporternas innehåll med hjälp av tidigare forskning. Studien visar att företag tenderar att endast delvis redovisa den information som de utger sig ha med enligt ramverket. Vid granskning av rapporterna ansågs heller inte mängden information ha ett direkt samband med rapportens trovärdighet. Den största anledningen till att företagen inte uppfyller det som GRI avser med sitt ramverk G4 är att kvantitativ data i form av siffror saknas. Studiens slutsats är således att en intressent inte har möjlighet att validera företagens arbete inom den sociala aspekten genom att endast läsa deras hållbarhetsrapport och bör granska dessa kritiskt.

Bakgrund: Rapporter om epidemier, fattigdom, artutrotning är rapporter som vi bemöter dagligen. Som en respons till dessa typer av rapporter har strävan efter hållbar utveckling ökat och påtryckningarna från omvärlden har givit företagen incitament att frivilligt upprätta hållbarhetsredovisningar. Ramverket Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) publicerar riktlinjer och standarder för att förbättra hållbarhetsrapporteringen. GRI har nyligen publicerat G4, deras senaste utgåva av standarder. G4 eftersträvar ytterligare väsentlighet vid upprättning av hållbarhetsredovisningar, företag skall välja att endast redovisa de resultatindikatorer som är väsentliga för dem. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur svenska företag inom dagligvaruhandeln och klädbranschen har implementerat GRI:s senaste riktlinje (G4). Syftet är att få en bättre förståelse av vad företagen anser är väsentligt att hållbarhetsredovisa och om denna väsentlighet har förändrats i takt med GRI:s nya riktlinjer. Vidare vill vi undersöka om det förekommer några branschskillnader om vad som är väsentligt att hållbarhetsredovisa. Metod: Forskningsmetoden i studien grundar sig på en innehållsanalys. Utifrån hållbarhetsredovisningar från utvalda företag verksamma inom dagligvaruhandeln och klädbranschen, har relevant data för att besvara studiens syfte samlats in. För att bearbeta materialet har en kodningsmanual och kodningsschema utformats. För att besvara syftet i studien har empirin tillslut analyserats och återkopplats till valda teorier. Resultat: Empirin visar att implementeringen av GRI:s senaste riktlinje G4 har haft en påverkan på hur företagen hållbarhetsredovisar. Väsentlighetskravet har resulterat i att företagen utökat sin process för att identifiera vilka resultatindikatorer som är väsentliga att redovisa.

The main aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that the female revolutionary is no different from her male compatriot. She enters the organisation in the same manner; she shares the same ideology; she participates equally within the revolutionary organisation; and, if she leaves the struggle, she does so in much the same way as her peers. The thesis uses a framework based upon New Social Movement theory to establish the social and historical context of the women by comparing the following five aspects of a new social movement: historical context, leadership, membership, collective action and group ideology and the revolutionary dimension. Before the three historical narratives on the American Movement, the West German student movement and the Palestinian Resistance Movement are undertaken, a literature review covers Social Movement theory, New Social Movement theory, theories on Violence and Terrorism Studies. The thesis also looks at how women have been gendered in criminology and war and how this gendering has influenced some of the leading research on the female terrorist. In order to show that the female revolutionary is very similar to the male, this thesis examines the three historical narratives mentioned above. After reviewing the social and historical context, the respective new social movement, the role of women in the revolutionary organisations (the Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction and Fateh and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) are reviewed in depth by studying their entry, ideology, group dynamics and exit.

This project was carried out as thesis work during the last semester of my Master studies Electronics Design at the Mid Sweden University. Firstly, it considers a robust and exible implementation of ITU-G4 in hardware based on earlier work, and secondly, it covers review of related work and investigation in the weaknesses of two published designs. More specically, it is an investigation on the robustness of the previously developed VHDL implementation ofthe ITU-G4 algorithm. This includes designing of a debug interface to track the compression process inside the FPGA. The nal result, when comparing to earlier work and other published designs, the ITU-G4 compression performs without any glitches or crashes at certain patterns. The maximum frame rate the design can run at is 60fps at a frame size of 752x480 and clockrate of 33.3MHz. The design is tested with three sets of images: easy, medium and complexwhich are all successfully compressed. This includes imperfect images of bar-codes and Q-codes without the need of morphological preprocessing when comparing to the published design that needs preprocessing for medium and complex images to remove unexpected transitions.

For one-dimensional uninmodal maps hλ(x) a binary tree which includes all the periodic windows in the chaotic regime is constructed. By associating each element in the tree with the superstable parameter value of the corresponding periodic interval we define a different unimodal map. After applying a certain renormalization procedure to this new unimodal map, we find the period doubling fixed point g(x) which depends on the details of the map hλ(x) and the scaling constant α. The thermodynamics and the scaling function of the resulting dynamical system are also discussed. In addition, the total measure of the periodic windows is calculated with results in basic agreement with those obtained previously by Farmer. Up to 13 levels of the tree have been included, and the convergence of the partial sums of the measure is shown explicitly. It is conjectured that the asymptotic behavior of the partial sum of the measure as the number of levels goes to 00 is universal for the class of maps that have the same order of maximum. A new scaling law has been observed, i.e., the product of the length of a periodic interval characterized by sequence Q and the scaling constant of Q is found to be approximately 1. We also study two three-dimensional volume-preserving quadratic maps. There is no period doubling bifurcation in either case. We have also developed an algorithm to construct the symbolic alphabet for some given superstable symbolic sequences for one-dimensional unimodal maps. Using this symbolic alphabet and the approach of cycle expansion the topological entropy can be easily computed. Furthermore, the scaling properties of the measure of constant topological entropy are studied. Our results support the conjectures that for the maps with the same order of maximum, the asymptotic behavior of the partial sum of the measure as the level of the binary goes to infinity is universal and the corresponding 'fatness' exponent is universal. Numerical computations and analysis are also carried out for the clipped Bernoulli shift. / Ph. D.