Social capital is an important predictor of socioeconomic attainment, defined here as household income, but it is less clear how this relationship may vary by socioeconomic status (SES). Coleman's (1988) theory of social capital suggests that context is likely to influence exchanges of capital. Indeed, theory and research suggest that SES may either intensify or compensate for social capital in its relation to socioeconomic attainment. I seek to identify and understand these potential interactions using data from 101,163 participants of the European Social Survey (ESS). Results indicate that while social trust and both absolute and relative social involvement--two common measurements of social capital--predict socioeconomic attainment, the link with relative social involvement was stronger for individuals with lower SES, suggesting a compensation effect. Meanwhile, the link between absolute social involvement and socioeconomic attainment was stronger for those with higher SES, suggesting an intensification effect and highlighting that effects may vary across different measures of social capital. More generally, however, it is clear that SES is a meaningful factor in the value or use of at least some features of social capital.

The aim of this study is to perform a baseline energy survey to understand the existing energy demand and usepattern and to verify the feasibility of a small scale poly-generation project supported by renewable sources ofenergy (biogas based) in a rural area of Bangladesh. A poly-generation solution shall provide multiple outputservices of clean gas, electricity and arsenic free water supply. The project requires using animal dung oragricultural waste to produce biogas and electric energy. The study has analyzed the demand of domesticenergy and water of the village named ‘Matipukur’ in the Jessore district in Bangladesh. The study alsoconsidered available biomass feedstock and energy potential surrounding the village area, as well as the socioeconomicstatus of villagers. The case study included a door to door survey to collect relevant information.Three different economic groups in terms of income scale were investigated throughout the study to obtainbetter insight of the energy-water access situation, requirements and related problems in the village. Almost 98% household of this village relies on biomass for energy due to limited access of modern fuel. Thevillage has various biomass potential in the form of animal dung, fuel wood and agricultural waste which can beused for cooking or serve as the basis for other energy carriers. Kerosene is used for lighting. Among thedifferent fuels, dung meets about 44% of the total demand. The contribution of other fuels for domestic use is24% firewood, 22% agricultural waste, and 2% kerosene. The analytical observation found that the annualaverage energy demand of the village is 8.45 GJ per capita. The share of average demand for cooking and3lighting energy is 8.24 GJ per person/year and 0.21 GJ per person/year respectively. The energy consumptionvaries within different income groups. This study has examined the income per capita, family size, education,agricultural land holding per capita, priorities of their annual expenditure etc. which have direct influence onthe fuel consumption pattern of the household. It could be observed that expenses on energy changes as theincome level increases. About awareness of biogas opportunities and willingness to provide feedstock for apoly generation project, the majority of households answered positively, that is, indicating that they wouldcontribute. Educated respondents showed more positive attitude. Regarding changing of traditional cooking,about 95% of the respondents want to change to a more efficient and reliable cooking system to avoid healthand environmental problems associated with indoor biomass cooking. The study has revealed that only cow dung is not enough to produce clean energy according to demand so theco-digestion method is considered to producing biogas from various energy potentials (animal manure &agricultural waste). The poly-generation system could work with the scenario providing electricity and watersupply for the entire household and cooking gas is limited only for 2/3rd household. Rest 1/3rd household fromlow income group then could be supplied with improve cook stove to meet their daily cooking demand and tominimize indoor pollutions. It is observed that, majority of household has expressed their willingness toprovide raw materials for poly-generation plant though they are using. / SIDA funded research project "Biogas based poly generation in Bangladesh"

Individuals who use wheelchairs or who have other mobility challenges often are unable to access modern mobility systems "“ including application-based ride hailing and on-demand microtransit. Even designing a system targeted at these users is challenging, given the limited prior analysis of their travel behavior and activity patterns. Simulation tools are used by cities around the world to understand novel and complex transportation systems, yet few are including the needs of users with disabilities in these simulation studies. This thesis examines the travel patterns of wheelchair users from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey and presents a model of daily activity pattern choice of respondents who self-identify as using a wheelchair. This thesis discusses the application of a wheelchair status variable in the activity-based travel demand model ActivitySim and measures its effect on individual and household daily activity pattern choice. Wheelchair use is estimated to reduce the utility of a work daily activity pattern by 1.9 points relative to a home pattern for full time workers and 3.4 for part time workers. Including the effect of wheelchair use in a regional daily activity pattern model resulted in 21.9 percent of wheelchair users changing to a home activity pattern relative to a base scenario not including wheelchair use. Lastly, the thesis evaluates the performance of an on-demand, accessible mode for users with wheelchairs in the agent-based microsimulation BEAM. This simulation showed that demand for such a service increases linearly with fleet size and wait time remains constant, though further scenario refinement and research is necessary.

In recent years, the traditional nuclear family, as defined by social role theory with mother at home and father in the workplace, is no longer the norm. Nearly three out of every four women with children under the age of 18 are part of the workforce. Mothers are frequently juggling multiple roles as well as most of the responsibilities that are inherent in these roles. The current project examined diurnal ambulatory blood pressure influences associated with the responsibility of having a greater number of roles. We investigate differences between a self-reported healthy population of 112 married stay-at-home and 112 married employed mothers, all of whom have children under the age of 18 currently living in the home. Using a mixed multilevel model analysis, we found that the perception of equity in the division of childcare responsibilities between mothers and their husbands significantly contributed to lower systolic ambulatory blood pressure. We also found that married couples in relationships containing high positivity and low negativity had lower systolic ambulatory blood pressure than those which contained simultaneously high positivity and negativity. Additionally, there was a crossover interaction between these variables such that effect of relationship quality on both systolic and diastolic ambulatory blood pressure was moderated by the perception of equity in the division of childcare responsibilities between spouses. Lastly, we found that there were no ambulatory blood pressure differences between the employed and SAH mother conditions. These findings have applicable implications regarding dynamics and processes within marital relationships. These results demonstrate important social and relational influences on mothers' cardiovascular health.

Energy is a basic need for the overall growth and improvements of people’s living standard.But around 2 to 3 billion people in the world have no access to electric lighting. Like otherdeveloping countries the rural electrification in Ethiopia is very low and government takessome actions to promote the investment in these areas but due to economic constraints andlow level of technological advancement the growth is very low.This study focuses on solar PV based rural electrification, its impact on environment andsocio-economic development in Rema village. Three cases studies: typical households,small scale business center and public services are considered for systematic study.Interviews from villagers, existing energy system, literature data and HOMER software areused to calculate energy demand and cost of electrification. A comparison between theresults is carried out.According to the village survey the existing PV home system has a positive impact on a socioeconomic development of the village of Rema. Solar PV electricity can be used in generatingincomes. It is also used for climate mitigation by curbing CO2 emission and can be used forclimate adaptation by reducing the deforestation and facilitate carbon sequestration. PVbased electrification of health center and schools have played a vital role in improving thequality of services. The presence of refrigerator helped to have vaccines and medicines4preserved for different types of killer diseases. The teaching-learning process of schoolsimproved due the presence of electricity. The solar powered water supply in near areasreduced the time required for fetching water and made girls to focus on their education.Most villagers has positive attitude towards the technology but unsatisfied with the currentsystem size. The high level of technical skills required for maintenance and the small numberof solar technicians’ available in the village is also a problem reported in the village. HOMERsoftware is used to model the existing energy system and the required energy demandbefore PV based rural electrification and after PV based rural electrification. A new model isdeveloped depending on the villagers demand. . Modeling result shows that 3 kWP and 12kWP were found to be enough to fulfill the demand in clinics and schools with an initialinvestment of 18576 and 80704US$, respectively and a PV size of 165 Wp, 250 Wp and 350Wp is required for households with agriculture only, mixed and small scale business income,respectively. This led a requirement of initial capital of US$ 654, 1848 and 2339,respectively. However, these initial investments are unaffordable for most of the villagers.PV systems required for households with agriculture only, has lower investment per Wattthan others, while investment per Watt for small scale business has lower than householdswith mixed type. Therefore, the battery size plays an important role in the investment,operation and maintenance costs.The two main problems associated with solar PV in rural electrification are financial capabilityand technical problems. These problems can be curbed by loan arrangement and trainingthe villagers. But to make sustainable it must be used for income generating activities.

Due to the unique experiences and needs of parents with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), (i.e., child’s limited functional ability; increased duration and extent of caretaking), parents of children with ASD often experience affiliate stigma. Affiliate stigma is the internalized cognitive, affective, and behavioral impact of association with marginalized populations, in this case individuals diagnosed with a mental illness or a developmental disability such as ASD (Mak & Cheung, 2008). Outside of differences in provider-caregiver interactions (Mandell & Novak, 2005; Palmer et al., 2010), little research has explored the impact of racial and ethnic identity on ASD caregiving experiences. Research exploring differentiation of self in parental caregivers is also sparse. Differentiation is conceptualized as the way individuals think about themselves in relation to others. Optimal differentiation is characterized by emotional interdependence with others -- that is maintaining a state of connectedness without emotional over-involvement (Kerr & Bowen, 1988). To address these gaps in the literature, a self-report survey measuring affiliate stigma, differentiation of self and racial/ethnic identity was completed by 147 parents of children diagnosed with ASD. Participants identifying as a racial/ethnic minority made up 36.7% of this study’s sample. Results from a hierarchical regression analysis suggests that higher differentiation of self predicts greater affiliate stigma. Identity as a racial or ethnic minority had no significant impact on experiencing affiliate stigma.

The study aimed to explore the determinant factors that influence consumers’ sustainable consumption, or more specifically consumers living in Scandinavia. The study seeked to understand what influences Scandinavian people to purchase a sustainable product based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) including the attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. To conduct a better approach, a case company was involved in the working process, with the help of which, the focus became more specific into fabric and clean care appliances such as dish machines, washing machines and dryers. To provide an exhaustive answer to the research questions, three hypotheses were conducted which were built based on the TPB model.  The study used a quantitative approach where an online survey was made. The survey was shared with people living in the Scandinavian countries Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark, where 291 answers were collected. To analyze all the answers, SPSS statistics was used where each country was individually analyzed.  The results showed that an individual’s attitude and perceived behavioral control have a significant influence on the behavioural intention to perform sustainable consumption in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark while the subjective norm does not affect the sustainable consumption in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Finland was the only country that had an accepted hypothesis on the subjective norm which means that finish people get influenced by the subjective norms.

The aim of this study is to examine the main reasons for and obstacles to single family households sorting household waste. Focusing on a population between ages 35 and 45 and 65+, it also examines motivating factors, reasons, and obstacles to reduce total household waste. Worldwide, the problem of greenhouse gases and dioxins because of waste is still unresolved. The national environmental legislation state that everyone is responsible to handle their waste in a way that does not harm people or the environment. Previous investigations regarding waste, conducted by waste company Miva, situated in municipality of Örnsköldsvik, show that improvements can be done by the citizens. The current project involves a survey sent to 789 households and answered by 302. Results from the survey combined with eight telephone interviews showed the following: people sort their waste mainly for environmental reasons but sometimes they find it easier not to sort at all, often because of very dirty packaging or simply convenience. Both age groups have the will but do not experience the possibility to reduce their overall waste. Higher waste management cost does not motivate people to improve their recycling habits, but personal feedback seems to be an effective way to reach higher motivation. To reach further improvements and reduce waste the citizens of Örnsköldsvik might need to change their consumption habits and producers take their responsibility regarding packaging. Further research to what impacts consumer behaviour is needed.

The Abstract In her work the author deals with Christian marriage whose source and ideal is Christ in his relation to the Church, as it is presented in the paraenetical text of Eph 5:21-33. After the circumstances of the origin of the Letter has been presented, the author analyzes the paraenesis on the marriage itself applying the Historical and Literary Criticism, further she emphasizes its message and in this way points to the permanent relevance of the studied biblical text. This basic source is thereafter used as the point of departure for reflections on different fields as the theological anthropology, the sacramental theology and moral theology, and finds in them the affirmation of dignity and uniqueness of the marital bond and the inspiration for the fruitful life in marriage. Finally the consequences of the text for the spiritual theology are studied, for in the life of Christian spouses the spiritual life plays important role. The author emphasizes also the contribution of the biblical exegesis for development of theological research and points to the importance of interconnection of singular theological disciplines for the integrated vision of the studied reality.

The thesis "Who saves or does not save the energy: Uncovering the reasons for practicing energy-saving activities in households" identifies the segments which tend to (not) perform selected household energy saving activities and discover the reasons behind the (non) practicing these activities. The author uses both quantitative and qualitative approach. By quantitative approach, the author analyzes data from pilot project PURGE in order to identify segments which are more likely to do selected activities. Emphasis is placed on class position. The author's own qualitative survey by semi-structured interviews identifies the reasons behind this activities. Generally, the author discovered that the upper classes practice energy- saving activities more often than the lower classes which is consistent with findings that lower classes tend to perform habitual behavior and rely on technology and upper classes tend to calculate and study the effect of these activities. Among lowest educational category are (compared with other educational groups) more people who leave always or often turned on the television or radio, even when no one is watching. Women state more likely than men that they never turn down heating when leaving home for more than four hours, what corresponds to findings that arise from...