This thesis examines the Europeanization process with a focus on the structure of influence and the role of agency in influencing the domestic change of the EU candidate states. In order to understand these qualities of the Europeanization process I discuss the current literature on Europeanization and critically evaluate contemporary conceptualization of the structure of influence. An assessment of the five mechanisms of Europeanization first advanced by Heather Grabbe—models, financial and technical aid, benchmarking and monitoring, advice and twinning, and gate-keeping—is then conducted in order to show that Europeanization can be discussed both conceptually and empirically. The categories reveal the important role that the structure of influence and windows of opportunity play in influencing the outcome of Europeanization. Throughout this thesis I argue that the Europeanization process is governed by a multi-leveled structure of influence that is affected by the actors’ ability to capitalize on windows of opportunity. Moreover, I conclude that the outcomes of the Europeanization process are shaped by the structure of influence and windows of opportunity available to each level of actors. / Graduate

Climate change is one of the factors that pose new challenges to the sustainability of the capture fishery and aquaculture sector around the world. As concerns over the impacts of climate change on ecosystems have been increasing over the last few decades, this study investigated how anticipated changes in climatic conditions would affect Manila Clams and Pacific Oysters bottom culture in British Columbia (BC) and assessed the extent to which the environmental databases that have been assembled by various agencies and institutions in BC could support this type of analysis. This study examined changes in sea surface salinity (SSS) and sea surface temperature (SST) developed scenarios of these changes and analyzed the trends based on projections of SST and SSS of open ocean adjacent waters of BC’s coast. In addition, this study quantified beach exposure/inundation as result of sea level rise (SLR). Moreover, this study identified areas along the Strait of Georgia (SoG) that have capability for shellfish culture and defined capability indices for Manila Clams and Pacific Oysters bottom culture based on the physical conditions that characterize existing commercial aquaculture operations. Finally, this study assessed how bottom shellfish culture sites’ capability in the SoG will be affected by changes in SST, SSS and beach exposure/inundation associated with SLR. Results of the analysis indicate that the annual average projections of SST of open ocean adjacent waters of BC’s coast will increase approximately 10C between 2012 and 2050 at a rate of 0.1110C/year, and between 2051 and 2100 the SST will increase approximately 20C at a rate of 0.0330C/year. The annual average projections of SSS of open ocean adjacent waters of BC’s coast will decrease approximately 0.2 ppt between 2012 and 2050 at a rate of 0.0055 ppt/year. Furthermore, projections from 2051 to 2100 indicate that SST will decrease approximately 0.5 ppt at a rate of 0.0088 ppt/year. In addition to the performed analysis, this study selected and simulated SLR on three sites (Buckley Bay and Fanny Bay in Baynes Sound, and Henry Bay on Texada Island). The results indicate that an increase of 1.2 m in sea level will inundate 121 ha of Buckley Bay and Fanny Bay combined and 37 ha of Henry Bay. An increase of 2 m in sea level will inundate 195.2 ha of Buckley Bay and Fanny Bay, and, 51.4 ha of Henry Bay. Capability indices’ classes defined and mapped in this study for Manila Clams bottom culture are: Not advisable, Poor, Medium and Good; and Not Advisable, Medium and Good for Pacific Oysters. This study concluded that the existing datasets provided by various agencies and institutions are accessible, and can be used to investigate the impacts of climate change on coastal aquaculture in BC, although there is lack of some datasets as well as there is a need to improve some available datasets. This study also demonstrated and concluded that site capabilities to support Manila Clams and Pacific Oysters culture in the SoG will not be affected by the expected changes of SST, SSS. Changes in SST and SSS associated with SLR will not adversely affect shellfish bottom culture in the SoG. In contrary, SLR will have a negative impact on shellfish bottom culture. / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

In this qualitative study, an experimental horror game was developed to test what and how different aspects of the level design would guide players. The aspects that were used were identified in a pilot study. Five volunteers played the game and then participated in a Stimulated Recall Interview where each person was asked about their thought-process during a “choice-of-path” and why they chose to follow the path they did. They were also asked if any of the paths seemed like where they were supposed to go and how scary they felt the gamewas in general. Afterwards, the data was analyzed using thematic analysis and 16 themes that affect the player choice were identified and analyzed. The studyfound that decisions appeared to vary greatly between players, but that the mostattractive aspects of a level were brighter illumination than in the surroundingarea, easy accessibility and distinction from the surroundings. The most unattractive aspects were lesser illumination, backtracking and subjective negative associations. / I den här kvalitativa studien utvecklades ett experimentellt skräckspel för att testa vilka aspekter av en 3D-miljös design påverkar spelarens val av väg ochhur. Aspekterna som användes i designen identifierades genom en pilotstudie.Fem frivilliga spelade igenom spelet och deltog i en Stimulated Recall Interview där varje person frågades om sin tankeprocess under varje vägval och varförde gjorde valet de gjorde. De frågades också om något av valen kändes som dit deborde gå och hur obehagligt de tyckte att spelet var generellt. Efteråtanalyserades datan genom tematisk analys och 16 teman som påverkarspelarens val kunde identifieras och analyseras. Studien fann att valen gjordavarierade mycket mellan deltagarna, men att de mest attraktiva aspekterna av en3D-miljö var högre belysning än omgivningen, lättåtkomlighet och distinktion från omgivningen. De minst attraktiva aspekterna var svagare belysningen än omgivningen, platser redan besökta och subjektiva negativa associationer.

The increasing interest in the use of palacoenvironmental indicators and in particular diatoms to reconstruct past changes in sea level has highlighted the need for a more precise methodology that (a) provides quantitative reconstructions, and (b) is applicable to a wide range of sedimentary environments. Despite the widespread and increasing recent interest in the use of diatoms as indicators of estuarinep alaeoenvironmentsa nd sea-levelc hange,e xisting interpretative models, basedo n simple classification of taxa into freshwater, brackish or marine forms, provide only _qualitative estimates of past conditions. Resulting palaeoenvironmental reconstructions are at best crude, offering some indication of past mean sea level height, and at worst erroneous, as they fail to consider the effect of post-mortem transport and other taphonomic processes. This study aims to address these problems for the coast of Britain by developing a more robust quantitative method for using diatoms as indicators of estuarine palaeoenvironments and sea-level change. More specifically, it aims to develop a quantitative predictive model (transfer function) that relatesd iatom assemblagec omposition to salinity, habitat, depositional environment and tidal level around the coast of Britain. This is done through the collection and analysis of a training data set of diatom assemblagesa nd environmental variables (salinity class, elevation, grain size, habitat type and sediment organic content) from 25 sites around the coast of Britain. Qualitative and quantitative relationships within the diatom assemblagesa nd between the diatom assemblagesa nd coastale nvironmentalv ariables are explored using TWINSPAN and canonical correspondencea nalysisr espectively. The key environmental variables driving diatom assemblagesin the intertidal environment are shown to be elevation, salinity and sediment particle size. Habitat type and site location also explain a significant amount of variation in the diatom data, suggestingr egional differences in diatom assemblagesn ot accounted for by geornorphological and sedimentological differences between sites. The final transfer function for inferring normalised tidal height has a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.26, and a squared correlation (1-2) between observed and diatom-inferred normalised tidal height of 0.61. Corresponding error estimates under cross-validation by leave-one-out are 0.34 and 0.35 for RMSEjack and rjack 2 respectively. The poor performance of the model in comparison to published regional transfer functions is concluded to be due to the mergt:i In g of data from a large number of sites over a large geographical area. Such merging - has apparently introduced a large amount of noise into the diatom / elevation relationship, and is probably related to the increased heterogeneity and interaction of sediment typeý and elevation, and to the observed regional overprint in the diatom assemblages. Analogue matching to infer Sample habitats from the diatom data performs with a success Z): rate of 59%. Further merging of the habitat types based on ecologically similarities increases the success rate to 82%. The correct scale of trade off between coverage of palaeoenvironments, fossil diatom species 4): and reduction of regionality in the modem training dataset is an issue that needs further research before this model may be applied to core material to assist in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions.

The Eocene Nummulitique (Lutetian to Priabonian) has been studied in the external chains of the French Alps in Haute Savoie and Haute Provence. The Nummulitique unconformably overlies the Mesozoic passive margin succession and represents the onset of sedimentation in the Alpine Foreland Basin which formed due to lithospheric flexure caused by the advance of the Alpine orogeny. The base of the formation is marked by a regional erosional unconformity that developed during subaerial exposure of the Alpine foreland. The Nummulitique may be divided into two informal members: the lower Infranummulitique, a succession of terrigenous carbonates, and the overlying Nummulitic Limestone, a shallow marine carbonate ramp succession. The Infranummulitique is composed of terrigenous carbonates thought to have been derived from the uplifted and eroding foreland which were redeposited in local depocentres due to the topography on the erosion surface. The Infranummulitique can be divided into four facies associations: i) a lenticular conglomerate/nodular marl deposited from ephemeral streams, ii) a sheet conglomerate deposited in a marginal marine fan delta, iii) a Cerithium marl deposited in a brackish water coastal plain/lagoon and iv) a Microcodium wackestone deposited from coastal marine channels. The Nummulitic Limestone is marked by the appearance of the first fully marine foraminifera and a change from terrigenous to autochthonous carbonate sedimentation on a low-energy ramp dominated by larger benthonic foraminifera. The inner-ramp is represented by the deposition of bioclast shoals (packstones and grainstones) dominated by either calcareous red algae, Nummulites or peloids. The middle-ramp is dominated by mud-rich wackestones with a fauna of flat foraminifera, with local winnowed accumulations attributable to storm reworking. The outer ramp and basin are represented by mudstones and marls with a sparse benthos. The Nummulitique shows a marked cyclicity within an overall deepening upwards succession which is interpreted to be the combined effects of tectonic basin subsidence and high-frequency (4th order) eustatic sea-level variations. As the basin developed, the eustatic signature producing the small-scale cyclicity was successively overprinted by accelerating basin subsidence which controlled the stratigraphy of the underfilled foreland basin. Initially, the carbonate productivity is able to keep pace with the relative sea-level changes and the ramp prograded into the basin. The combination of accelerating subsidence rates and nutrient and detrital influx from the approaching orogenic wedge reduced the carbonate productivity and the ramp drowned, leading to pelagic marl deposition. The drowning surface and small-scale cyclicity have been used to correlate between measured sections within each field area, but problems occur in correlating between areas due to the migration of the foreland basin producing a diachronous sedimentary succession, which shows a similar development around the Alps, regardless of the age of the sediments. This diachroneity is evident in the two study areas with similar sediments, cycles and key surfaces developed at different stages of the basin development. The similarity in the successions demonstrates that the early sedimentation in the French Alpine Foreland Basin was controlled primarily by flexural subsidence.

This thesis proposes a automated test case generation technique for the aim of verifying/debugging High-level synthesis (HLS) tools. The work in this thesis builds a framework that automatically generates random programs with user specified features. These programs are used to verify the correctness of the compiled hardware by comparing the hardware simulation results with the software execution results. This way, users can have a large number of benchmarks to test their algorithms for HLS without having to manually develop test programs. The tool also provides additional ways of analyzing performance of HLS tools. Rather than being a replacement, this technique should serve as a useful complement to existing manually constructed test suites. Together, they can provide more comprehensive verification and analysis for HLS tools.

Graduation date: 1997

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-188). / Microfiche. / xvii, 188 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm