Critically examining the Lacanian and Althusserian theories of the subject, this thesis explored the theoretical problems and methodological premises of a converged version of both theories. The central argument the present thesis seeks to demonstrate is that the Lacanian-Althusserian dialectic provides a more comprehensive and effective account of the process of the subject formation than a purely psychoanalytical or structuralist Marxist analysis of the term. After a critical study of the way the subject is positioned between language and ideology in contemporary critical theory the thesis proceeds to investigate the subject-object relation in the Cartesian and Hegelian subjects. Conceived of as the convergence of lack and material, the Lacanian-Althusserian dialectic focuses on the close affinity between the Lacanian notion of linguistic alienation and the Althusserian concept of ideological interpellation. The subject’s alienation with what is called in the thesis ‘ideological signifier’ is considered as the result of direct and dramatic modes of interpellation in both language acquisition process and the mature phase. The major theoretical premises of this model include the following: first, identity functions through, and because of, the ‘inter-subjective dialectic’ and an ‘intra-subjective lack.’ Identity is never fully constituted because of this antagonism, and thus remains ‘incomplete.’ Secondly, the subject is ideologically constituted through language. The mechanism through which both language and ideology construct a subject never permits the subject enjoying a state of full identity with ideological signifiers. Thirdly, the subject’s identity is represented in the language exposed to and, later, reproduced by him/her. In order to demonstrate a practical reading of subjectivity formation in terms of this critical approach the present research applies it to James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916). The process of the subject formation has been analysed through the subject’s alienation/interpellation by the ISAs. Also, the inter-subjective dialectic between different subjectivities of the subject’s identity has been investigated. The thesis demonstrates that identity reconstruction represented in the novel is a complicated and ongoing process, which begins with disillusionment, goes through materialization of epiphany, and ends with inventiveness in language. This process has been represented as a move from ideological to non-ideological subjectivity through artistic creativity. The exploration of the aesthetics of language is crucial to the analysis of the reconstruction of Stephen Dedalus’ identity in that it happens in and through language.

For a more complete understanding of the significance of fascism in inter-war Britain, it is important to consider the extent to which fascist views were an expression or extension of existing mainstream views. This thesis uses original research to examine how far the promotion of fascist views converged with mainstream opinion and identifies the issues on which British fascists went beyond the acceptable boundaries of mainstream society. Examining attitudes to antisemitism, refugees, the left, continental dictatorship and appeasement, culture, and, finally, the response of the mainstream press to the British Union of Fascists (BUF) and their reaction to what they perceived as a conspiracy against them, the thesis explores the possibility that there is a sufficient area of discursive overlap to locate British fascists within the mainstream. Significantly, comparison of the British fascist press and mainstream newspapers reveals that, while there were considerable areas of overlapping discourse, nonetheless, the underlying motivations of the fascists and the mainstream clearly differed. With one notable yet brief exception, the majority of the mainstream press regarded British fascists as belonging to the political margins and, increasingly, British fascism and the BUF in particular, defined itself in counter-cultural opposition to the mainstream.

The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to understanding of the effect of organizational context on supply chain integration. One result is a context- based model that can provide support for practitioners regarding what level of integration to establish with suppliers and customers. Given the notion that most organizations are dependent on other organizations, it leads to a need for not only cross-functional integration but also for integration across organizational boundaries. However, in many organizations the level of integration with suppliers and customers is often inappropriate, inefficient and limited mainly to dyadic integration of order processing and operational scheduling. The existing literature provides only a limited insight concerning the essential circumstances for the integration and the slow growth of the implementation of inter-organizational integration has been attributed primarily to lack of guidelines for creating business relationships with supply chain partners. In the literature, “the more integration the better performance” solutions have often been presented without consideration of very complex internal and external organizational environments of involved companies. During recent years, questions have been raised regarding the nature of integration with suppliers and customers and the extent to which it can be accomplished. Instead of all-encompassing integration, selectivity has been suggested in terms of what level of integration should be applied to each link of the supply chain. The problem for an organization is not to find “one best way”; rather it is to search for solutions that advance integration and differentiation simultaneously. Preferable level of integration depends on many contextual factors associated with e.g. focal company, industry, competitive environment, and nature and type of products. However, in the previous research the focus has primarily been on studying single or limited sets of contextual factors and their impact on integration. These results are often fragmented, leading to multiple frameworks and models. A unifying model providing recommendations in terms of what level of integration to establish with suppliers and customers considering organization’s specific circumstances is desirable. In this study, a large number of contextual factors of integration with suppliers and customers were identified and structured. Additionally, the relationship between these factors and level of the integration was clarified. The study is based on the Grounded Theory methodology. To understand the effect of context on level of integration, two supply chains (triads) from two different industries - medical devices and fast moving consumer goods - have been selected as core samples. Findings are based on in-depth analysis of qualitative data obtained from fourteen interviews with practitioners such as CEOs, SC managers, sales managers, purchasing managers, and logisticians. Following the Grounded Theory methodology, the analysis of the collected data was conducted in three major rounds divided into six steps. The results were compared with a theoretical frame of reference. The main result of this study is a model that describes the relationship between contextual factors and integration activities with suppliers and customers. The findings suggest that the assumption of a fit between context and integration of the Structural Contingency Theory is applicable also from an inter-organizational perspective. The model can be applied to contextual factors both external and internal to an organization. It is supplemented by structured lists of identified contextual factors and integration activities. Recalling the notion of fit between value of contextual factors and level of integration with suppliers and customers, it can be stated that even low levels of integration can be appropriate as long as they are consistent with the values of certain factors representing organizational context. Furthermore, the model adds to existing models and frameworks as it can be used as a diagnostic tool. Applying this model, an organization can evaluate if current levels of integration fit with the corresponding values of contextual factors. Furthermore, the model support identification of misfits between values of contextual factors and present level of integration and it provides an opportunity to adjust or reevaluate the current levels of integration. The model, in combination with the lists of contextual factors and integration activities, can then be used to develop corrective actions in order to regain the desired fit. Intention of this study was to identify and analyze integration of triads in the studied supply chains, commonly known as Supply chain integration. However, this scope of integration has not been found, which is in line with previous research indicating that triadic integration is rare. To reflect the actual situation in more accurate way it is suggested to use the term Inter-organizational integration, implying dyadic scope of integration, rather than Supply chain integration.

The process of mixing tracks for a live stage performance or studio session is both time consuming and expensive with assistance of professionals. It is also difficult for individuals to remain competitive against established companies, since multiple tracks must be properly mixed in order to achieve well-enhanced elements -- generally, a poor mix makes it difficult for the listener to distinguish the different elements of the mix. The developed method during this thesis work aims at facilitating the mixing work for live performances and studio sessions. The implemented system analyzes the energy spectrum of the tracks included in the mix. By unmasking spectral components, the spectral overlap of the tracks is minimized. The system filters non-characteristic frequencies, leaving significant frequencies undisturbed. Five tracks have been used from the final mix of a successful radio song. These tracks have been analyzed and used to illustrate and validate the developed method. The system was successfully implemented in MATLAB with promising results and conclusions. The processed mix unmasks frequency content and is perceived to sound clearer compared to the unprocessed mix by a number of test individuals. The method reminds of a multi-band compressor that analyzes the spectral information between tracks. Thus, by use of inter-spectral dependencies, the thesis investigates the possibility to control the amplitudes in time by filtration in frequency domain. The compression rate in time domain is reflected in regard to a trade-off between conservation of characteristic frequencies and reduction of spectral overlaps.

We have seen through our own experience that it is of most value to embrace other cultures in preschool to create respect and understanding for one another. We think it ́s important for children to take part of other cultures as young because we live in a multicultural country.The purpose of this essay is to analyze how educators reasons and work with multiculture in preschool. Our main questions in our study are:-How do teachers relate in the preschool Regnbågen to children’s different cultures in food situations and song gatherings? -How do teachers use language as a tool in preschool Regnbågen in meetings of children different cultures? This is a qualitative study where we interviewed three preschool teachers and observed teachers in three different observations. In order to obtain a result to analyze, we linked the interviews and observations to our theoretical concept and previous research. Our theoretical inspiration is the socio-cultural perspective where the language is in focus of understanding and learning. The reason for this interest lies in the fact we have come to face in our practice at the different preschools we have been to under our education. We have seen that preschool teachers stand infront of a difficult task, to exlude and include childrens different cultures in preschool. It is a struggle for teachers between the everyday musts and the work with the teaching plan for preschool. At the same time, the teachers have to try to detain preschool standards and values. This is something we have come to realize under our interviews and observations.

Gene set enrichment analysis aims to discover sets of genes, such as biological pathways or protein complexes, which may show moderate but coordinated differentiation across experimental conditions. The existing gene set enrichment approaches utilize single gene statistic as a measure of differentiation for individual genes. These approaches do not utilize any inter-gene correlations, but it has been known that genes in a pathway often interact with each other. Motivated by the need for taking gene dependence into account, we propose a novel gene set enrichment algorithm, where the gene-gene correlation is addressed via a gene-pair representation strategy. Relying on an appropriately defined gene pair statistic, the gene set statistic is formulated using a competitive null hypothesis. Extensive simulation studies show that our proposed approach can correctly control the type I error (false positive rate), and retain good statistical power for detecting true differential expression. The new method is also applied to analyze several gene expression datasets. / October 2016

It is well-recognised that companies are under pressure to take responsibility for the environmental impact of their operations. Logistics service providers (LSPs), who through their transport and logistics operations have a large negative impact on the environment, are one type of supply chain actor that is under such pressure. However, in order for LSPs to be able to lower their environmental impact sufficiently, their customers, the shippers, also need to take responsibility. This thesis takes its starting point in the relationships between LSPs and shippers and argues that in order for LSPs’ environmental activities to reach their full potential, the shippers must be included in the activities. The purpose of this thesis is to describe and explain how supply chain actors, with a specific focus on logistics service providers and shippers, can include environmental activities in their relationships with each other. This comprises identifying those environmental activities that are relevant for relationships between LSPs and shippers, as well as describing the extent to which environmental activities are included in such relationships. By means of the theoretical perspective of power between supply chain actors, the thesis also sets out to further understand how power balances between LSPs and shippers can influence the extent to which they include environmental activities in their relationships with each other. Finally, the use of the theoretical perspective of coordination aims, through the analysis of coordination mechanisms, to shed light on how environmental activities are included in LSP-shipper relationships. The research in this thesis has mainly descriptive and explanatory aims, although due to the novelty of research into LSPshipper relationships in an environmental context, the research process as such is mainly exploratory. Following an abductive approach, the insights from literature are combined with empirical data from two cases studies, a homepage scan, a survey and a study of city logistics projects. Most of the applied research methods take a dual perspective of relationships between supply chain actors and thus include both LSPs and shippers. One conclusion from the research conducted for this thesis comprises the identification of environmental activities as well as a suggestion for a classification based on the activities’ role in the business between LSPs and shippers. With a starting point in the identified activities, a comparison of a market perspective and a relationship perspective of environmental activities in LSP-shipper relationships indicates that LSPs are able to fulfil the requirements set by shippers and that shippers’ requirement thus are met. The research does, however, point to a passiveness among LSPs in their relationships with shippers, who in turn would like the LSPs to be more proactive. Further, based on an analysis of power balances in LSP-shipper relationships, it is suggested that in an LSP-shipper relationship in which the shipper has a power advantage, the shipper’s environmental ambitions for logistics sets the agenda for the environmental activities in that relationship. An analysis of coordination of environmental activities in LSP-shipper relationships indicates that the mechanisms of direct supervision, which is when one actor tells the other actor in the relationship what to do, and mutual adjustment can be chosen to be used in order to include environmental activities in LSP-shipper relationships. While direct supervision is suggested to be a coordination mechanism that is easy for shippers to apply, mutual adjustment appears to hold greater potential for the development of environmental activities. Finally, these findings in combination are suggested to have implications for the coordination of environmental activities in LSP-shipper relationships. More specifically, this thesis offers a categorisation of different types of LSP-shipper relationships and the involved actors’ environmental ambition. Depending on whether the environmental ambition of the LSP and shipper in a specific relationship is high or low appears to have implications for the possibility to work towards greener supply chains for each type of relationship. / Många företag känner av pressen av agera för att minska sin miljöpåverkan. Flera företag har också insett att ett sådant agerande även har affärsmässiga fördelar. När det gäller miljöpåverkan så tillhör logistikföretagen, till stor del på grund av sina transporter, de företag som insett att något måste göras. Möjligheten för dessa företag att göra olika miljöåtgärder påverkas av varuägarna som köper logistikföretagens tjänster. Som en följd av detta blir länken mellan dessa företag – relationen – viktig för att möjliggöra förbättringar när det gäller påverkan från logistiken. Denna avhandling har som syfte att beskriva och förklara hur aktörer i försörjningskedjan, med ett speciellt fokus på relationer mellan logistikföretag och varuägare, kan inkludera miljöåtgärder i sina relationer med varandra. För att över huvud taget kunna diskutera miljöåtgärder i relationer mellan logistikföretag och varuägare så är det viktigt att veta vad för typer av miljöåtgärder detta kan röra sig om. Första forskningsfrågan i avhandlingen behandlar detta och i avhandlingen identifieras ett antal sådana åtgärder. Det kan röra sig om relativt tekniska åtgärder så som alternativa bränslen, olika typer av fordon och energieffektiv körning, till åtgärder som handlar om styrning av logistiken, så som design av logistiksystemen, till åtgärder som är väldigt relationsspecifika som exempelvis specifika projekt eller miljögrupper. Med avstamp i de identifierade åtgärderna analyseras sedan relationerna mellan logistikföretag och varuägare i några olika steg. En jämförelse mellan logistikföretagens och varuägarnas perspektiv på de miljöåtgärder som erbjuds, efterfrågas samt ingår i relationerna dem emellan visar att logistikföretagen ofta kan tillgodose sina kunders önskemål. Samtidigt som detta visar att varuägarnas önskemål verkar vara uppfyllda, så finns det en frustration från varuägarnas sida över att logistikföretagen inte är mer proaktiva. En av anledningarna till detta kan vara maktbalansen mellan logistikföretag och varuägare. Resultaten i avhandlingen pekar nämligen på att varuägarna oftast har makten över logistikföretagen, vilket verkar leda till att varuägarens ambitioner gällande miljö ofta är det som sätter agendan för vilka miljöåtgärder som inkluderas i relationen mellan dessa företag. Vidare så kan de miljöåtgärder som ingår i en relation mellan logistikföretag och varuägare koordineras på olika sätt och flera sådana tas upp i avhandlingen. Resultaten pekar även på att maktbalansen i relationerna påverkar i vilken grad miljöåtgärder inkluderas i relationer mellan logistikföretag och varuägare samt hur dessa koordineras. En matris, som bygger på logistikföretagets och varuägarens ambitioner gällande miljö för en specifik relation, sammanfattar resultaten i avhandlingen. Beroende på om denna ambition är hög eller låg för de båda aktörerna påverkar i sin tur möjligheten för varje typ av relation att arbeta mot gröna försörjningskedjor.

In the context of sustainable supply networks, this research analyzes the evolution of governance mechanisms and network structure, including the interplay between network conditions, context factors, positional power and managerial actions. The study reports on a longitudinal empirical research on a multi-stakeholder sustainable sourcing network established by Nespresso, Nestlé’s specialty coffee subsidiary. The research analyzes both dyadic and multi-actor network dynamics and proposes a framework to study network evolution. Social network analysis techniques are also used to measure evolution of the network’s structure and complexity as well as positional power opportunities. The research shows that in the initial start-up phase, in a context marked by uncertainty, pre-existing commercial and personal relationships were favoured in the choice of partners. These pre-existing relationships were also influential in defining the initial network structure and supporting an initial phase of exploration. Governance mechanisms initially relied mostly on informal mechanisms, while formal mechanisms were incorporated over time to enable the supply chain network to grow and to provide clarity to all actors. As the sustainability programme network expanded in size and complexity, Nespresso, the lead organization, also acted on the network’s structure by introducing regional offices, thus increasing network centralization and reducing complexity. Power derived by actors occupying central or brokerage positions in multiplex networks also influenced power relationships in the sustainability network by moderating or expanding the power opportunities available to central actors. The research has implications for both the Inter-organizational Relationship and the Social Network Theory literatures. In contrast with prior literature, the research proposes that in conditions of uncertainty, the use of informal governance mechanisms can facilitate a search and experimentation process. Formalization of governance mechanisms can be used, not as a repair mechanism, but rather as an enabler for further growth and efficiency. The research also extends the concept of network complexity and proposes that network managers can reduce this complexity by introducing or managing nodes that in turn contribute to the re-centralization of relationships towards specific nodes. Lastly, the research has implications for managers and proposes mapping of existing commercial and personal relationships as a potentially valuable tool in the creation and management of networks, adapting coordination mechanisms to the objectives of the relationship and actively managing the network’s structure as a mechanism to enable network growth and efficiency.

Scholars have long debated the causes of late third party state joining in ongoing inter-state wars. This research has generally concluding that peace-time conditions, measured in terms of: third party capabilities; proximity to warring states; and inter-state alliances, are determining factors in the decision to join. However, these studies utilize theories derived from static pre-war measures of capabilities and motivation to explain late joining; indeed, the same measures that fail to predict participation at war's outset. Further, extant research has no explanation for why weak and non-proximate states every participate. Existing theory thus fails to provide a comprehensive explanation of joining behavior. This project contends that a resolution lies the interaction between pre-war conditions and intra-war events. Intra-war events that are allowed to vary on a per battle basis, including change in combat location and alliance entry and exit from combat, reveal new information about the war and its progress, thereby forcing third party states to recalculate their initial decision to abstain in relation to their pre-existing situation. Incorporation of intra-war processes helps to better explain decisions by third party states to join ongoing inter-state wars late in their development, and why states that frequently choose to abstain (e.g., weak states) ever choose to participate. This project is executed using a combination of ex post facto historical case studies, a theory of joining based on pre and intra-war environments, and large-N empirical analysis on all inter-state wars 1823-1988, conducted utilizing a novel collection of event-level data based on inter-state war battles.

The purpose of this study was to determine the interrater reliability of the Texas Teacher Appraisal System instrument. The performance indicators, criteria, domains, and total instrument were analyzed for inter rater reliability. Five videotaped teaching episodes were viewed and scored by 557 to 881 school administrators trained to utilize the Texas Teacher Appraisal System. The fifty-five performance indicators were analyzed for simple percentage of agreement. The ten criteria, four performance domains, and) the whole instrument were analyzed utilizing Ruder-Richardson Formula 20. Indicators were judged reliable if there was 75 percent or greater agreement on four of the five videotaped exercises. Criteria, domains, and the whole instrument were judged reliable if they yielded a -Ruder-Richardson Formula 20 score of .75 or greater on four of the Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions v/ere drawn: 1. Forty-eight of the fifty-five performance indicators were reliable in evaluation teacher performance. 2. Seven of the performance indicators were unreliable in evaluating teacher performance. 3. None of the ten performance criteria appeared to be reliable in evaluating teacher performance. 4. None of the four performance domains appeared to be reliable in evaluating teacher performance. 5. The whole instrument was reliable in evaluating teacher performance. 6. Reliability problems with the criteria and domains appeared to be an underestimate of reliability of the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20.