A construção de habitações populares exige processos construtivos de baixo custo, tanto em relação aos materiais quanto à mão-de-obra. Por essa razão, muitas vezes são adotados os sistemas de mutirão ou de autoconstrução onde o futuro morador, normalmente inexperiente, é treinado em alguns serviços necessários ao processo construtivo. A necessidade de rápida qualificação de mão-de-obra, e em grande quantidade, é uma das dificuldades enfrentadas neste processo. O ensino a distância tem características que permitem instruir grande número de pessoas a baixo custo, além de permitir atingir populações distantes dos grandes centros. Este trabalho investigou a efetividade de tal metodologia para este fim, propondo um sistema de treinamento a distância voltado à mão-de-obra para construção civil. Em particular, foi abordada a etapa de montagem do kit hidráulico usado em alguns processos construtivos de moradias de interesse social. Três grandes desafios foram enfrentados neste trabalho: i. o público alvo, normalmente de baixa instrução, freqüentemente analfabeto; ii. o tipo de conteúdo a ser ministrado, de caráter cognitivo, porém ligado às atividades psicomotoras de montagem, isto é, refere-se à compreensão do trabalhador sobre os conteúdos e também sua execução física, área tradicionalmente difícil de ser ministrada a distância e iii. a necessidade de obter-se baixo custo no oferecimento do treinamento, o que tem um impacto muito forte no tipo de recursos que poderão ser utilizados junto aos aprendizes. A solução proposta envolveu o desenvolvimento de uma moderna ferramenta didática, baseada em um ambiente virtual interativo e que contém recursos multimídia. Para isto foram abordadas todas as fases do planejamento instrucional para a preparação e execução do treinamento a distância. Depois foi escolhido onde e como realizar um estudo de caso e qual a metodologia de avaliação adotada para comparar a eficiência do treinamento a distância em relação a um treinamento presencial. Por último foi detalhado de forma estatística o resultado desta avaliação. / Low-income housing construction demands low cost construction processes, regarding both material and labor. Therefore, very often, methods such as "community cooperative work" or "do it yourself", have been adopted. Participants in these construction methods are usually inexperienced and must be trained in order to acquire the basic skills necessary to perform construction activities. Training a large work force in a short period of time is one of the most fundamental difficulties faced in this process. The adoption of distance learning allows instructing a large number of people at low cost. Furthermore, it is possible to reach people living in the countryside or in small cities. This work investigates the effectiveness of such approach considering the adoption of a distance learning system for training the work force of civil construction. The chosen training domain is the assembly of the hydraulic installation used in some building systems. There are three great challenges facing this work: i. the target users, mostly with a low instruction level, frequently illiterate; ii. the type of content that is taught, of cognitive nature although connected to psicomotor activities such as pipe assembly, i.e., comprises both the content understanding and the execution (activities involved), traditionally a very difficult task for the distance learning approach and iii. the need for achieving low cost on employee training that has a very strong impact in the type of resources that could be used. The proposed solution comprised the development of a modern learning tool, based on a virtual interactive environment enhanced with multimedia features. Instructional planning was necessary to complete all phases of the distance learning activities. After the instructional design task, we decided where the training was to be performed as well as the methodology that was applied to evaluate results against a traditional presential training with the same contents. Finally we detail these resultsand present conclusions.

It has long been theorized that, after the so-called critical period has passed, acquiring language becomes a more difficult enterprise. While general differences between adult second language (L2) learners and normally developed child (L1) acquirers have been more or less empirically established, a strand of recent L2 accounts have focused on the specific locus of these differences. The main goal of this dissertation project is to test the predictions of one such account: Clahsen and Felser's Shallow Structure Hypothesis (SSH; Clahsen & Felser 2006a, 2006b). The SSH places emphasis on the empirical testing of native/non-native language processing asymmetries, which are argued to be due to less detailed L2 grammatical representations. This dissertation tests the predictions of the SSH using a long-distance dependency: Clitic Left Dislocation (CLLD) in L2 Spanish. The study includes on-line and an off-line tasks, which were completed by a control group of native speakers of Spanish and an experimental group constituted by L2 learners of Spanish whose first language was English. In view of the well-known fact that L2 learning outcomes vary widely across individuals, a secondary goal of this dissertation project is to determine whether variability in individual learning abilities, such as inhibitory control and statistical learning predicts variability in L2 learning. Part of L2 learning involves detecting the probabilistic patterns of a language (Saffran, Aslin, & Newport, 1996), such that individuals who are better pattern learners may be better able to learn the structural regularities of the L2 input. Results were analyzed in order to determine whether the predictions of the SSH could account for the patterns present in the data. These results suggest that although the acquisition of long-distance dependencies is a protracted process, both intermediate and advanced L2 learners of Spanish could anticipate (predict) a syntactic element based in previously occurring cues. Thus, these results fail to support the predictions of the SSH. In terms of individual differences, overall, neither statistical learning nor inhibitory control appear to modulate the on-line processing of this particular long-distance dependency in Spanish.

<p>Criminological studies have shown that economical and/or occupational crimes are committed within all examined trades and occupations. This is also a fact in the gendered occupational context the Norwegian and Swedish long-distance trucking trade constitutes. This dissertation sets out to determine, by qualitative in-depth interviews with 24 interviewees and field observations, what certain gaining occupational and economical crimes mean to trade actors and how to interpret the meaning criminologically. A hermeneutical orientation constitutes the methodological and epistemological basis of the interpretation.</p><p>Analysis of the material shows two central consistent patterns in the interpretations made by interviewees and other trade actors:</p><p>1) T<u>he actors´ explanations of why law violations are committed</u>. These are influenced by the actors´ view of how wide the specific violations are spread and influence the violation’s acceptability.</p><p>2) <u>The actors´ normative evaluation of the law violations</u>. The actors construct normative distinctions between normal, acceptable and unacceptable actions. The distinction is influenced by how the law violations are explained and how widespread they are considered to be.</p><p>The first pattern; actors interpretation of why law violations are committed, corresponds with explanations in established criminological theories. The actors’ explanations are discussed as techniques of neutralisation. However, explanations of cause of actions are established also in the discourse of trade-actors who do not violate laws, and a deeper interpretation is called for. A discussion about law violations, based on interviewees discourse, as caused by criminogenic structures are developed. The actors identify the structures as criminogenic and this discourse of coersive structures implies conservation of law violations as part of normality. An interpretation of why several but not all individuals violate laws even if the law violations considers to be normal and acceptable, is developed in terms of differential association.</p><p>However, solely use of established theoretical perspectives is not a sufficient interpretation of the law violations; the perspective of interpretation indicated by the second pattern will then be lost. Why is law violations considered both normal and deviant? This dissertation applies a gender-theoretical perspective and argues that actors constitute masculinity through acceptable law violations and that masculinity and normality are correlated. A cultural discourse of borders between normality and deviance is conserved and processed, and the actors discourses of law violations as without victims and as a necessity to continue as truckers, are central in the normalization of normative borders.</p>

Hemiepiphytes are important components of tropical forests and are attractive to scientists due to their unique epiphytic growth habit during some period of their life cycle. Unique characteristics in plant water relations and carbon economy have been found in hemiepiphytic plants; however, to further understand this group of species on an evolutionary basis it is necessary to carry out comparative studies between hemiepiphytes and their close relatives. In this dissertation I conduced a comparative study in a suite of functional traits related to plant water relations and photosynthesis between hemiepiphytic and non-hemiepiphytic tree species from a single genus-Ficus. Great differentiation in functional traits has been found between species of the two growth forms both during juvenile and adult stages. Seedlings of hemiepiphytic Ficus species (H) had significantly lower xylem hydraulic conductivity, stomatal conductance, net light saturated CO2 assimilation, and higher water use efficiency than congeneric non-hemiepiphytic species (NH), which are adaptive to a drought-prone epiphytic growth conditions under natural conditions. The conservative water use adaptation in H species is likely crucial to the drought tolerance and survival in the forest canopy but is related to much lower growth rates than NH species. Species of the two growth forms both showed relatively large plasticity in responding to variation in light level as in typical light-demanding species. Surprisingly, the NH species showed characteristics related to higher light demand than H species, which is opposite from the prediction that H species are more light-demanding than NH species. Thus, although commonly accepted, it is likely that light was not the selective pressure for the evolution of hemiepiphytism in Ficus. Using adult trees grown in a common garden, I found that H species showed characteristics of more conservative water use even after they established connections to the soil. Moreover, H species showed significantly different traits in photochemistry compared to NH species due to hydraulic-photosynthetic coordination. The evolution of an epiphytic growth habit during the juvenile stage of a life cycle in the hemiepiphytic Ficus species thus involved changes in a suite of functional traits that persist during their terrestrial growth stages.

Various challenges can threaten the security of personal relationships, but one of the most difficult problems to manage is geographic distance. As more people live apart from someone about whom they care, the prevalence of long-distance relationships will increase. However, research on how long-distance friendships are characterized and accomplished lags behind. Therefore, the present study was designed to uncover how women define and maintain their long-distance friendships. A total of 34 interviews were conducted with first-year undergraduate students, first-year graduate students, and recently-hired faculty members at a large university. The interview transcripts were analyzed inductively, which resulted in the creation of nine categories. These were eventually reduced to six maintenance behaviors: openness, assurances, positivity, joint activities, personal networks, and mediated communication. Participants also challenged definitions of long-distance friendship based upon geography and replaced them with definitions based upon communication (access to interaction, use of mediated communication, level of closeness, and a commitment to expend the necessary time and energy to make it work). Although long-distance friendships may require more effort and involve more mediated communication, this study demonstrates that long-distance friends rely on similar maintenance behaviors as geographically-close friends. This indicates that long-distance friendships may not be as dramatically different or as perplexing as commonly thought. Overall, the present study reveals that long-distance friendships can be satisfying and maintained successfully, which challenges both cultural assumptions and traditional social science research. Many long-distance friendships are well-equipped to weather both changes and challenges, making them flexible, not fragile.

Current knowledge about processes that generate long-distance dispersal of plants is still limited despite its importance for persistence of populations and colonization of new potential habitats. Today wild large mammals are presumed to be important vectors for long-distance transport of diaspores within and between European temperate forest patches, and in particular wild boars recently came into focus. Here we use a specific habit of wild boar, i.e. wallowing in mud and subsequent rubbing against trees, to evaluate epizoic dispersal of vascular plant diaspores. We present soil seed bank data from 27 rubbing trees versus 27 control trees from seven forest areas in Germany. The mean number of viable seeds and the plant species number were higher in soil samples near rubbing trees compared with control trees. Ten of the 20 most frequent species were more frequent, and many species exclusively appeared in the soil samples near rubbing trees. The large number of plant species and seeds – approximated > 1000 per tree – in the soils near rubbing trees is difficult to explain unless the majority were dispersed by wild boar. Hooked and bristly diaspores, i.e. those adapted to epizoochory, were more frequent, above that many species with unspecialised diaspores occurred exclusively near rubbing trees. Different to plant species closely tied to forest species which occur both in forest and open vegetation, and non-forest species were more frequent near rubbing trees compared with controls. These findings are consistent with previous studies on diaspore loads in the coats and hooves of shot wild boars. However, our method allows to identify the transport of diaspores from the open landscape into forest stands where they might especially emerge after disturbance, and a clustered distribution of epizoochorically dispersed seeds. Moreover, accumulation of seeds of wetness indicators near rubbing trees demonstrates directed dispersal of plant species inhabiting wet places between remote wallows. / Das aktuelle Wissen über Prozesse, die zur Fernausbreitung von Pflanzen führen, ist trotz ihrer Bedeutung für das Überleben von Populationen und die Besiedlung neuer potenzieller Habitate noch immer sehr begrenzt. Wildlebende Großsäuger sind heutzutage vermutlich wichtige Vektoren für den Ferntransport von Diasporen innerhalb und zwischen den einzelnen Waldflächen in Mitteleuropa, und speziell das Wildschwein (Sus scrofa L.) spielt dabei offenbar eine herausragende Rolle. Wir nutzen hier ein spezifisches Verhalten des Wildschweins – Suhlen im Schlamm und nachfolgendes Scheuern an sogenannten Malbäumen – um die epizoochore Ausbreitung von Gefäßpflanzen-Diasporen einzuschätzen. Dargestellt werden die Ergebnisse von Samenbank-Untersuchungen von 27 Malbäumen im Vergleich zu 27 Kontrollbäumen aus sieben Waldgebieten in Deutschland. Sowohl die mittlere Zahl lebensfähiger Samen als auch die Artenzahl waren höher in Bodenproben neben Malbäumen. Zehn der 20 in der Samenbank verbreitetsten Pflanzenarten hatten hier ihren Schwerpunkt, und viele Arten kamen ausschließlich in den neben Malbäumen gewonnenen Proben vor. Die große Zahl von Pflanzenarten und Samen – zumindest > 1000 pro Baum – im Boden an Malbäumen lässt sich nur durch die Aktivität der Wildschweine erklären. Mit Haken oder Borsten ausgestattete, d.h. an Epizoochorie angepasste Diasporen waren häufiger, aber auch viele Arten mit unspezialisierten Diasporen kamen ausschließlich in der Samenbank bei Malbäumen vor. Anders als weitgehend an Wald gebundene Pflanzenarten waren solche, die sowohl im Wald und im Offenland vorkommen, sowie nicht im Wald vorkommende Arten häufiger neben Malbäumen als neben Kontrollbäumen. Diese Befunde stimmen mit denen früherer Untersuchungen von Diasporenladungen im Fell und in den Hufen geschossener Wildschweine überein. Unsere Methode erlaubt darüber hinaus aber die Identifizierung des Diasporentransports aus dem Offenland in die Waldbestände, wo sie insbesondere nach Störungen keimen dürften, sowie einer ungleichmäßigen Verteilung epizoochor ausgebreiteter Diasporen. Außerdem zeigt die Akkumulation von Samen von Nässezeigern neben den Malbäumen eine gezielte Ausbreitung nasse Standorte bewohnender Pflanzenarten zwischen entfernt gelegenen Suhlen.

Criminological studies have shown that economical and/or occupational crimes are committed within all examined trades and occupations. This is also a fact in the gendered occupational context the Norwegian and Swedish long-distance trucking trade constitutes. This dissertation sets out to determine, by qualitative in-depth interviews with 24 interviewees and field observations, what certain gaining occupational and economical crimes mean to trade actors and how to interpret the meaning criminologically. A hermeneutical orientation constitutes the methodological and epistemological basis of the interpretation. Analysis of the material shows two central consistent patterns in the interpretations made by interviewees and other trade actors: 1) T<u>he actors´ explanations of why law violations are committed</u>. These are influenced by the actors´ view of how wide the specific violations are spread and influence the violation’s acceptability. 2) <u>The actors´ normative evaluation of the law violations</u>. The actors construct normative distinctions between normal, acceptable and unacceptable actions. The distinction is influenced by how the law violations are explained and how widespread they are considered to be. The first pattern; actors interpretation of why law violations are committed, corresponds with explanations in established criminological theories. The actors’ explanations are discussed as techniques of neutralisation. However, explanations of cause of actions are established also in the discourse of trade-actors who do not violate laws, and a deeper interpretation is called for. A discussion about law violations, based on interviewees discourse, as caused by criminogenic structures are developed. The actors identify the structures as criminogenic and this discourse of coersive structures implies conservation of law violations as part of normality. An interpretation of why several but not all individuals violate laws even if the law violations considers to be normal and acceptable, is developed in terms of differential association. However, solely use of established theoretical perspectives is not a sufficient interpretation of the law violations; the perspective of interpretation indicated by the second pattern will then be lost. Why is law violations considered both normal and deviant? This dissertation applies a gender-theoretical perspective and argues that actors constitute masculinity through acceptable law violations and that masculinity and normality are correlated. A cultural discourse of borders between normality and deviance is conserved and processed, and the actors discourses of law violations as without victims and as a necessity to continue as truckers, are central in the normalization of normative borders.

The thesis explores the ways in which Serbian ethnic media in Canada represent their own group and “Others”, specifically Croats, Slovenians and Catholics, Bosniaks, Albanians and Muslims, Montenegrins and the West. The research investigates the convergence of these representations with Canadian multiculturalism. The thesis epistemologically feeds from Jean Jacques Rousseau’s 18th century theories of recognition and patriotism, Stuart Hall’s (1997) theory of representation and identity and Edward Said’s (1978) theory of Orientalism, and is further guided by the theoretical frameworks of Charles Taylor’s (1994) politics of recognition, Benedict Anderson’s (1992) long-distance nationalism and Maria Todorova’s (1994) Balkanism. Qualitative content analysis through purposive and sequential sampling of Serbian ethnic broadcasting is conducted to gauge the programs’ representations of the “Self” and “Others”. Ethnic media provide a method to promote a minority group’s heritage, but also to facilitate communication between various cultural, ethnic, religious and racial groups. In the age of an increased critique of multiculturalism, the role of ethnic media rises in importance. The findings of the thesis show that Serbian ethnic media employ Canadian multiculturalism to promote Serbian heritage, but also to stereotype other groups. Applying the theoretical juxtaposition of multiculturalism, nationalism and “Othering”, this research argues that through negative identification of “Others”, Serbian ethnic media deviate from Canadian multiculturalism that calls for a positive recognition of all Canadian groups.

Based on uses and gratification theory, media richness theory, and social presence theory, the present study explores the role of different communication channels and social support in relationship maintenance among long distance dating partners. Specifically, how social support is related to relational uncertainty, how the use of different communication channels is related to social support variables, and what are main factors of relationship satisfaction are examined in this study. A total of 311 respondents participated in the study. All of four social support variables,emotional support, socializing, advice/guidance and support appraisals were found to be negatively related to relational uncertainty. In addition, both phone call and webcam use were positively related to all support behaviors and support appraisals, while email use was positively related to advice/guidance and support appraisals. Finally, the regression results suggested that emotional support, socializing, support appraisals, phone call, and webcam use were positive predictors of relationship satisfaction, whereas text messaging negatively predicted relationship satisfaction.

The thesis explores the ways in which Serbian ethnic media in Canada represent their own group and “Others”, specifically Croats, Slovenians and Catholics, Bosniaks, Albanians and Muslims, Montenegrins and the West. The research investigates the convergence of these representations with Canadian multiculturalism. The thesis epistemologically feeds from Jean Jacques Rousseau’s 18th century theories of recognition and patriotism, Stuart Hall’s (1997) theory of representation and identity and Edward Said’s (1978) theory of Orientalism, and is further guided by the theoretical frameworks of Charles Taylor’s (1994) politics of recognition, Benedict Anderson’s (1992) long-distance nationalism and Maria Todorova’s (1994) Balkanism. Qualitative content analysis through purposive and sequential sampling of Serbian ethnic broadcasting is conducted to gauge the programs’ representations of the “Self” and “Others”. Ethnic media provide a method to promote a minority group’s heritage, but also to facilitate communication between various cultural, ethnic, religious and racial groups. In the age of an increased critique of multiculturalism, the role of ethnic media rises in importance. The findings of the thesis show that Serbian ethnic media employ Canadian multiculturalism to promote Serbian heritage, but also to stereotype other groups. Applying the theoretical juxtaposition of multiculturalism, nationalism and “Othering”, this research argues that through negative identification of “Others”, Serbian ethnic media deviate from Canadian multiculturalism that calls for a positive recognition of all Canadian groups.