This report investigates how the construction and query time of multiple spatial partitioning data structures is impacted by spatial distribution of and number of agents in a crowd simulation. In addition a method is investigated for updating the data structures less frequently at the cost of increasing the radius queried, without affecting the correctness of the queries. The data structures are tested in a simulation using a Boids model and update and query times are measured. It is found that the performance of the grid is better than the quad tree and the kd- tree for low number of agents, but deteriorates more quickly when the number of agents increase. It is also found that this approach can decrease the sum of time spent updating and the time spent querying in the simulation. The effectiveness of this method is highly dependent on the update of the data structure. / Denna rapport undersöker hur konstruktion och grannsökning av flera datastrukturer för spatial partitionering påverkas av spatial fördelning av simuleringens agenter och antal agenter i simuleringen. Dessutom undersöks en metod för att uppdatera datastrukturerna mindre ofta, på bekostnad av att utöka grannsökningens radie, utan att påverka grannsökningens korrekthet. Datastrukturerna testas i en simulering baserad på Boids och uppdaterings- och frågetider för datastrukturerna mäts. Det visar sig att prestandan av grid är bättre än prestandan av quad tree och kd- tree för ett litet antal agenter, men att prestandan för grid försämras snabbare när antalet agenter ökar. Dessutom visar sig denna metod kunna ge en minskning i den totala tiden som går åt till att göra grannsökningar och uppdateringar av datastrukturen. Hur effektiv denna metod är beror i hög grad på hur lång uppdateringstiden är för den använda datastrukturen.

Consent is a concept used frequently and with great significance in a wide array of legal fields. It serves to regulate relationships, legitimize authority, delimit normality, and entrench idealized ways of being in the world. Yet despite the consequence of these functions, there is very little precision within legal scholarship about just what consent is. Few investigations of its definitional content depart from presumptive statements about personal autonomy. These associations are often described as the ‘common sense’ of consent and serve to secure a foundationalist discourse about what consent is, rendering alternative conceptions of its meaning or functions unintelligible. This is perhaps best evidenced in more critical approaches to consent, where despite widespread acknowledgement of the concept as a legal and political fiction, its status as a signifier of autonomy is maintained. This creates an imperative to move beyond the notion of consent as merely an illusion, to an understanding of it as something more operative. Not only does the story of autonomy that is told about consent obscure the social realities of inequality, difference, and subordination that might threaten a notion of a homogenous citizenry (and thus, governmental action made in its name), but it also conceals the historically specific conditions of existence which have brought consent’s ‘common sense’ story of autonomy into being. This thesis explores how this dominant narrative of consent, while producing certain ‘ideal’ subjectivities, also necessarily produces subjectivities which don’t fall within the ambit of consent. Moreover, this project asks what is achieved when the meaning of consent is positioned as a matter of ‘common sense’? What does its apparent transparency keep obscure? In contrast to conventional approaches to consent, this project positions consent as an historical artefact rather than a concept with doctrinal, cognitive, or communicative certainty and seeks to investigate its operations across legal fields rather than strictly within them. This includes an examination of consent to sex, the doctrine of informed consent in medical jurisprudence, and the defence of consent to assault in professional sporting contexts. Further, the project engages in a ‘juridical genealogy’ of consent, studying its use in three vastly different historical periods in search of how it might perform different socio-political functions than understandings of its role within contemporary medical and criminal law suggest it should. How these counter-narratives of consent serve to challenge the dominant autonomy story are investigated for what they reveal about the frames of cultural and legal intelligibility at work in consent law today.

This large body of work is entirely centered around dual-tree algorithms, a class of algorithm based on spatial indexing structures that often provide large amounts of acceleration for various problems. This work focuses on understanding dual-tree algorithms using a new, tree-independent abstraction, and using this abstraction to develop new algorithms. Stated more clearly, the thesis of this entire work is that we may improve and expand the class of dual-tree algorithms by focusing on and providing improvements for each of the three independent components of a dual-tree algorithm: the type of space tree, the type of pruning dual-tree traversal, and the problem-specific BaseCase() and Score() functions. This is demonstrated by expressing many existing dual-tree algorithms in the tree-independent framework, and focusing on improving each of these three pieces. The result is a formidable set of generic components that can be used to assemble dual-tree algorithms, including faster traversals, improved tree theory, and new algorithms to solve the problems of max-kernel search and k-means clustering.

In the contemporary political world order that continues to be structured by the principle of national sovereignty, states remain the most important instrument for the delivery of rights. If we want to understand how human rights can be realized in practice, we therefore have to study the conditions and processes of their institutionalization on the state level. While the United Kingdom was relatively slow, compared to other western European democracies, in the domestic institutionalization of international human rights norms and standards, governments in Britain have between 1998 and 2008 created a complex human rights regime that still awaits a comprehensive analysis and assessment. This thesis fills that gap. Focusing on the Human Rights Act as the legal centerpiece, the Joint Committee on Human Rights as the parliamentary scrutiny body, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission for Great Britain as the largest human rights commission, this thesis examines the extent to which the British Human Rights Regime has contributed to the institutionalization of human rights in the UK. To that end, it develops and deploys the sociological ideal type of the human rights state as a qualitative analytical framework and as an external benchmark that is able to integrate the legal, political, and wider societal dimensions of effective human rights institutionalization. Based on the thematic analysis of case law, official documents and elite interviews with public officials, this thesis argues that the Human Rights Act, the Joint Committee on Human Rights and the Equality and Human Rights Commission have contributed to a significant institutional change in the domestic recognition and protection of human rights. They have introduced new rights norms and safeguards into British law, established new mechanisms for judicial and political rights review, and brought about important legislative and policy changes. Yet, their efficacy suffers from structural limitations that have been imposed so as not to fundamentally disturb the concentration of political power in the executive which is preserved by the constitutional doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. In the Westminster system of parliamentary government, this doctrine continues to allow the executive to dominate the legislative process without strong constitutional human rights safeguards that would be domestically enforceable against primary legislation. While the preservation of parliamentary sovereignty was a key political requirement that enabled progress to the present state of domestic human rights institutionalization, it also prevents the sustainable entrenchment of human rights as fundamental and universally binding norms for the legitimate exercise of all juridical, legislative and executive state power, thereby leaving the British Human Rights Regime at permanent risk of abolishment or degradation.

L'isotope 79Se du sélénium, produit de fission de l'uranium 235, est un radionucléide à vie longue présent notamment dans les déchets nucléaires. Dans le cadre de l'estimation du risque sanitaire et environnemental, les écosystèmes terrestres sont considérés comme des récepteurs possibles de cet élément. Le but de notre étude est de déterminer dans quelle mesure les interactions avec le sélénium et la matière organique du sol et/ou les microorganismes peuvent influer sur les variables qui contrôlent la mobilité et la distribution (solide, liquide, gazeuse) du sélénium dans les sols. Une attention particulière est portée à la dimension temporelle qui demeure un des points faibles des modèles d'évaluation pour les simulations à long terme (plusieurs dizaines-centaines de milliers d'années). <br />La méthodologie développée repose sur le suivi régulier de 3 lots de terre pré-contaminés à de très faibles concentrations de sélénium (2,2.10-9 gSe.g-1sol) et incubés en conditions contrôlées pendant 1,5 an. Une approche multi-paramétrique permet de confronter au cours du temps la mobilité (sorption, désorption, volatilisation) et la distribution sur la phase solide (fractionnement granulo-densimétrique, extractions séquentielles, observations MEB / MET) du sélénium aux propriétés bio-physico-chimiques des lots de terre. L'évolution de l'état organique des lots de terre est clairement observée expérimentalement et modélisée (Roth C). En revanche, cette évolution n'affecte pas significativement la mobilité du sélénium dont la sorption sur la phase solide reste quasi-irréversible (Kd sorption : 20-50 L.kg-1 / Kd désorption : 100-500 L.kg-1). A ce comportement s'ajoutent de nombreux phénomènes transitoires qui peuvent entraîner une remobilisation (i.e. solubilisation et volatilisation) importante de sélénium. Nous mettons ainsi en évidence que (i) l'utilisation d'engrais phosphatés peut conduire à la solubilisation de 30 à 40 % du sélénium sorbé, (ii) la faible volatilisation du sélénium par les microorganismes (~ 0,2 % sur 1,5 an d'incubation) peut être une voie de dispersion non négligeable lorsqu'on considère ce processus sur de très longues échelles de temps et (iii) le transport colloïdal bactérien peut être une source de remobilisation du sélénium qu'il serait nécessaire de mieux caractériser.

This thesis examines the relationship between the private enforcement of EU competition law and forum shopping with a particular focus on cross-border collective end-consumer redress. There is no coherent framework across the EU for these types of cases. This lack of uniformity has the potential to create recourse to different national courts. Lawyers may engage in forum shopping when filing lawsuits on behalf of the victims of mass torts. Such practices can provide Member States with incentives to amend their laws to attract collective proceedings and create competition between national judicial systems. However, forum shopping is not the only concern. There appears to be a paucity of cross-border collective claims. This is coupled with an apparent lack of motivation for end-consumers to seek a remedy, particularly if the only choice is to litigate outside their own legal regime. Addressing this situation is vital given that end-consumers regularly suffer harm in the form of higher prices, lower output, reduced quality and limited innovation as a result of antitrust infringements but they are rarely compensated due to legal and practical obstacles. To each end-consumer the harm may indeed be de minimis. However, the aggregate harm can amount to a considerable sum. In the absence of effective redress procedures, infringing undertakings retain the spoils of their unlawful conduct. Against this background, this thesis examines the extent to which the conflicts-of-laws rules encourage forum shopping and considers the appropriate forum and the appropriate procedural measures that need to be adopted in order to facilitate effective and equal access to justice for end-consumer victims of EU competition law violations.

abstract: Protein affinity reagents have aptly gained profound importance as capture reagents and drugs in basic research, biotechnology, diagnostics and therapeutics. However, due to the cost, labor and time associated with production of antibodies focus has recently changed towards potential of peptides to act as protein affinity reagents. Affinity peptides are easy to work with, non-immunogenic, cost effective and amenable to scale up. Even though researchers have developed several affinity peptides, we are far from compiling library of peptides that encompasses entire human proteome. My thesis describes high throughput pipeline that can be used to develop and characterize affinity peptides that bind several discrete sites on target proteins. Chapter 2 describes optimization of cell-free protein expression using commercially available translation systems and well-known leader sequences. Presence of internal ribosome entry site upstream of coding region allows maximal expression in HeLa cell lysate whereas translation enhancing elements are best suited for expression in rabbit reticulocyte lysate and wheat germ extract. Use of optimal vector and cell lysate combination ensures maximum protein expression of DNA libraries. Chapter 3 describes mRNA display selection methodology for developing affinity peptides for target proteins using large diversity DNA libraries. I demonstrate that mild denaturant is not sufficient to increase selection pressure for up to three rounds of selection and increasing number of selection rounds increases probability of finding affinity peptide s. These studies enhance fundamental understanding of mRNA display and pave the way for future optimizations to accelerate convergence of in vitro selections. Chapter 4 describes a high throughput double membrane dot blot system to rapidly screen, identify and characterize affinity peptides obtained from selection output. I used dot blot to screen potential affinity peptides from large diversity of previously ii uncharacterized mRNA display selection output. Further characterization of potential peptides allowed determination of several high affinity peptides from having Kd range 150- 450 nM. Double membrane dot blot is automation amenable, easy and affordable solution for analyzing selection output and characterizing peptides without ne ed for much instrumentation. Together these projects serve as guideline for evolution of cost effective high throughput pipeline for identification and characterization of affinity peptides. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Biochemistry 2014

The objective of this research is to contribute to knowledge and understanding by exploring: first, the professional identities of English General Practitioners (GPs) and other clinicians in the newly-formed Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and second, their level of involvement in CCG ‘calculative practices’ (Miller, 1990, 2001). The institutional field studied is acute care, i.e. hospital, commissioning in contemporary England. To achieve its objective, this thesis asks four research questions: 1) ‘How appropriate is it for clinicians to be involved in CCG acute care commissioning?’ 2) What motivates clinicians to assume leadership roles in CCGs?’ 3) How involved are clinicians in CCG calculative practices?’ and 4) To what extent do hybridity and calculative practices affect clinicians’ professional identities in CCGs?’ The theoretical framework used is based on the concept of ‘calculative practices’ and elements of the Institutional Logics Theory (ILT). This research employs three research methods – documents’ content analysis, semi-structured, in-person interviews, and non-participant observation of CCG meetings with the public and NHS conferences. The interview subjects are NHS managers and accountants, as well as clinicians. This thesis answers the four research questions and then proposes some additional, incidental to this research findings and contributions to policy/legislation and practice. In conclusion, this study deliberates on the viability of the purchaser-provider split of the early 1990s that established the foundations and raison d’être of CCG commissioning and dwells on the possibility that one day the general taxation-funded and free at the point of service National Health Service (NHS) in England may cede its way to a US-inspired model of full blown privatisation.

The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of how the Swedish fast fashion company NA-KD expressed its profile and how it could be linked to sustainability. The fashion industry is known for having big sustainability problems, and that is why the main focus of this study was the paradox between fast fashion and sustainability due to its conflict nature. To concretise the aim of the study, we formulated two questions: “What discourses can be found in NA-KD’s external communication?” and “What profile does the company express through their website?”. To analyse the company’s website we included relevant theories about the individualised consumer society, sustainable consumption and marketing communication. The used method for this study was Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis, which was a useful method to enable a critical perspective. Fairclough’s approach made it possible to examine how, and in what way, NA-KD expressed their external communication. The material consisted of ten texts found on the company’s website that were analysed closely and resulted in a number of findings. We found three discourses: the business discourse, the consumer discourse and the sustainability discourse. Those helped us to increase the understanding of the company’s profile, since we discovered a range of different tendencies. The main ones were that NA-KD constructed truth, encouraged more consumption, built relations with the consumer and expressed values and responsibility about sustainability. With those in mind, we concluded that it is doubtful that NA-KD’s sustainability communication is completely honest. They encouraged the consumer to buy more fast fashion clothing, which affects the environment negatively, at the same time as they communicated consciousness about the fashion industry’s impact on the environment. We also found that the communication was contradictory and misleading, hence that some information about their sustainability work does not comply with what is presented. Our main conclusion is therefore that NA-KD’s profile is ambiguous and difficult to establish.

No description available.