The circular wave basin provides a means of physically modeling the nearshore without the typical problems associated with end walls. Three different coastal processes were examined to demonstrate the use of a spiral wavemaker in a circular wave basin. These were longshore currents, shear waves, and groin circulation. A beach was designed and constructed to concentrate breaking in a narrow region and minimize wave reflection. Currents in the longshore direction were generated by both the motion of the wavemaker and oblique wave approach. Two methods for measuring nearshore currents were employed. First, a 3-D acoustic current meter was positioned at various locations in the cross shore and the local radial and tangential velocities were recorded. Second, a video camera was placed approximately 8 meters above the wave basin to record the motion of a ball in the nearshore. The video tape was digitized by an image processor and the motion of the ball was determined. Measurements of nearshore circulation in the circular wave basin were used to investigate longshore currents, shear waves, and groin circulation. Average measured longshore current profiles in the cross shore were compared with numerical model predictions. An analysis of the existence of shear waves in the circular wave basin was performed by calculating longshore and cross shore current spectra. Particular attention was focused on the low frequency end of the spectra where shear waves are most energetic. Model groins were placed in the circular wave basin and measured currents were compared to predicted circulation patterns. All three applications indicated that the circular wave basin is a useful device for simulating coastal processes in a laboratory environment. / Graduation date: 1992

The emergence of desktop ‘3D printing’ is not only a technological development, but equally a social and economic phenomenon that actively (and often contentiously) co-produces the material and ideological infrastructures it occupies. Reflecting wider momentum toward digital-material convergence, the current “revolution” in desktop digital fabrication is fundamentally attributable to the efforts of decentralized Maker and DIY communities who, connected through digital networks, practice citizen-led technological experimentation and occupy novel spaces for innovation and entrepreneurship. Employing hybrid qualitative methods that include Critical Making, this research explores the following themes: rhetoric versus reality, the divisive notion of ‘digital craft’, perceptions of authenticity, as well as cultural momentum manifested in decentralization, convergence, stratification, and iteration. An overarching theme emerges: 3D printing is a fluid phenomenon – in literal, metaphorical, technological and cultural ways.

The emergence of desktop ‘3D printing’ is not only a technological development, but equally a social and economic phenomenon that actively (and often contentiously) co-produces the material and ideological infrastructures it occupies. Reflecting wider momentum toward digital-material convergence, the current “revolution” in desktop digital fabrication is fundamentally attributable to the efforts of decentralized Maker and DIY communities who, connected through digital networks, practice citizen-led technological experimentation and occupy novel spaces for innovation and entrepreneurship. Employing hybrid qualitative methods that include Critical Making, this research explores the following themes: rhetoric versus reality, the divisive notion of ‘digital craft’, perceptions of authenticity, as well as cultural momentum manifested in decentralization, convergence, stratification, and iteration. An overarching theme emerges: 3D printing is a fluid phenomenon – in literal, metaphorical, technological and cultural ways.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985.

I compared the strength of bottom- up and top-down effects on insect herbivores along a natural salinity gradient in salt marsh communities in West - Central, Florida. I used a 2x2 factorial design with plots divided into four different treatments: 1) fertilizer applied to increase plant quality 2) sticky traps added to remove natural enemies (parasitoids) 3) fertilizer applied and sticky traps added and 4) control plots. These plots were placed on 7 different sites containing the salt marsh plant Borrichia frutescens along a natural stress salinity gradient. In each plot I determined the abundance of the sap sucker Pissonotus quadripustulatus, the gall maker Asphondylia borrichiae, spiders and the number of chewed leaves and bored stems. I also recorded leaf area, plant density, plant height and foliar nitrogen. Plants in fertilized plots exhibited increased height, density and leaf area.

Zusammenfassung Die drei Essays dieser Dissertation leisten einen Beitrag zum Verständnis der politischen Ökonomie Indonesiens in Zeiten der Dezentralisierung. Vor dem Hintergrund des „Urban Poverty Project 2“ (UPP2), einem kommunalen Entwicklungsprojekt in Indonesien, untersucht der erste Essay empirisch die Rolle von „Elite Capture“. Auf Grundlage von Daten der Wirkungsuntersuchung von UPP2 sowie zusätzlichen administrativen Daten, wird der Zusammenhang zwischen einer ungleichen kommunalen Konsumverteilung und verstärktem „Elite Capture“ betrachtet. Dabei bestätigt sich der positive Zusammenhang zwischen kommunalen Ungleichheiten, welche sich in der Machtverteilung ausdrücken, und der Ressourcenallokation durch die gewählten Vertreter der lokalen Gemeinde. Insbesondere für die derzeit in Entwicklungsländern großflächig vorangetriebenen kommunengesteuerten Entwicklungsprogramme (CDD) ist dieses Ergebnis relevant. Es wird angeregt, dass politische Entscheidungsträger bestehende lokale Machtstrukturen verstärkt beachten sollten, um sicherzustellen, dass die durchgeführten Projekte tatsächlich die ärmere, benachteiligte Bevölkerung erreichen. Vor dem Hintergrund der Dezentralisierung in Indonesien untersucht der zweite Essay den Zusammenhang zwischen Bestechungsgeldern und der Wirksamkeit der Bereitstellung von öffentlichen Dienstleistungen. Die Studie prüft die Korruptionshypothese des „grease the wheels", nach der Bestechung als eine Methode der Beschleunigung von Verwaltung funktioniert. Anhand von Unternehmensdaten aus Indonesien wird gezeigt, dass Firmen, die höhere Bestechungsgelder zahlen, mehr Zeit mit Beamten verbringen. Letzteres wird als Proxy für Bürokratie verwendet. Diese Resultate widersprechen der obigen Hypothese und erweisen sich als robust auch nachdem für mögliche Kausalumkehrung kontrolliert sowie konkurrierende Bestechung unter asymmetrischer Information berücksichtigt wurde. Diese Resultate bestätigen damit die kontraproduktiven Effekte von Bestechung und unterstützen die Anti-Korruptionskampagnen, die von Regierungen und internationalen Organisationen durchgeführt werden. Der dritte Essay diskutiert die Rolle von Frauen als Entscheidungsträgerinnen im Kontext von UPP2. Erörtert wird, ob die Ressourcenallokation des Projektes stärker auf die Präferenzen von Frauen ausgerichtet sind, wenn mehr Frauen in lokalen Institutionen vertreten sind. Nach Prüfung des Medianwählermodells wird die Rolle von Genderzusammensetzungen in lokalen Vertretungen in Bezug auf die Veränderungen politischer Entscheidungen analysiert. Unter Verwendung von detaillierten Daten bezüglich ex-ante Präferenzen von Wählern sowie politischen Stellvertretern, kann geschlussfolgert werden, dass der weibliche Anteil in lokalen, politischen Institutionen keinen Einfluss auf politische Entscheidungen hat. Dennoch korreliert der Frauenanteil mit den Präferenzen der Medianwähler und denen von Wählerinnen, die mehr Aufmerksamkeit für öffentliche Hygiene fordern. Diese Ergebnisse lassen die Prognosen des Medianwählermodells anzweifeln.

This thesis seeks to explore how key decision-makers within the Portuguese civil service formulate decisions regarding policies orientated at children with disabilities. It breaks the issue down by focusing on three main perspectives - the decisionmaker, the policy framework and children with disabilities. The decision-maker was analysed in the context her/his professional identity. By combining social identity theory (self-categorisation) and identity theory (role-identification) and interview data, this thesis found that the basis for decision-making was the way in which the term "children with disabilities" was identified and conceptualised by the decisionmaker, as well as the associated approaches, rules and guidelines at both the national and international level. It found a variable balance of influences between the concepts of parenting and families, the norms of the Portuguese welfare system and the emergent international thinking regarding children with disabilities. Through the use of a multi-method approach which incorporated interviews, vignettes and documentary analysis this thesis captured the approaches of each decision-maker. This thesis found that children with disabilities were predominantly viewed as dependants. The familialist structure of the Portuguese welfare state introduces the notion of a "disabled family", whereby the family carries the responsibility of addressing the challenges associated with children's disability and state support is directed at the family. In addition, this thesis found that "normalisation" was the predominant approach to disability, regardless of intended approach of each decision-maker. This study concluded that a combination of rehabilitative and integrative policy impulses in a context of limited and incomplete information and guidelines from international organisations have influenced this approach.

This narrative inquiry began with queries into the identity-making experiences of two teachers, Anna and Penny, at the beginning of their careers. Through weekly research conversations over 2 years, they told stories of their experiences in school. Over time, it became clear that their personal experiences with their families outside school shaped who they were in their classrooms with children. Their professional identities—their stories to live by—began on personal knowledge landscapes and then were recomposed into professional knowledge landscapes. They experienced tension when their familial stories of what it meant to be a teacher were interrupted or challenged. From the midst of teachers’, children’s, and families’ lives together in schools, Anna and Penny worked to make sense of these tension-filled experiences. Travelling between each others’ worlds was complex. Their personal experiences helped them make sense of difficult situations in their classrooms and contributed to their teacher knowledge. Connelly and Clandinin refer to this form of teacher knowledge as “personal practical knowledge” (1988, p. 25). The research presented in this dissertation attends to the personal practical knowledge, the intellectual work, that Anna and Penny used as beginning teachers. This research contributes to the larger practical and social aspects of beginning teachers. Stories of attrition and retention, struggle and survival, have iii shaped previous research literature as well as the professional practical landscape where beginning teachers work. Attending to ways beginning teachers make sense of these stories around them, and the stories of tension in their first classrooms, opens possibilities for teacher educators, administrators, policy makers, colleagues, families, and students to create spaces for new stories to be told. In any new situation uncertainty will occur. This research acknowledges that tension is inherent in any new situation and emphasizes the possibility of sustaining beginning teachers in their stories of themselves as teachers in the midst of that tension. This inquiry makes openings for conversations about the importance of acknowledging familial and personal stories as part of what sustains a person at the beginning of a teaching career.

Syfte: Ingen kan hävda att de har missat den pågående klimatdebatten med ett fokus på den globala uppvärmningen. En ökad medvetenhet om miljömässig hållbarhet har bidragit till en integration av etisk beslutsfattning in i organisationer. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hypotesen att CSR leder till ett ökat fastighetsvärde. Vi ämnar även få en ökad förståelse för hur motivation påverkar etisk beslutsfattning och CSR. Metod: Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ ansats inom ramen för en fallstudie. Empiriskt material har samlats in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer med beslutsfattare inom den svenska fastighetsbranschen. En analys av aktuell forskning och litteratur samt en modell av Sekerka & Stimel (2012) har bidragit till den teoretiska referensramen. Slutsats & Resultat: Vi anser att miljömässig hållbarhet och det ekonomiska incitamentet går hand i hand och krävs idag för ekonomisk framgång. Då CSR tillämpas inom en organisation så har vi märkt att det inte är organisationstyperna som sedan påverkar om CSR ger ett ökat fastighetsvärde. Det är snarare organisationens mål med fastigheten. Svaret blir att långsiktiga intressenter anser att kostnaden för miljöinsatser leder till ett motsvarande eller en större värdeökning av fastigheterna. För att detta ska vara sant krävs dock en långsiktighet och långsiktiga mål med fastigheten. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Ett intressant synsätt skulle vara att modifiera och tillämpa Sekerka & Stimels (2012) modell vid jämförandet mellan olika branscher. Ett intressant ämne är hur miljömässig hållbarhet påverkar organisationers lönsamhet ur det ekonomiska perspektivet. Hur står svenska organisationers miljömässiga hållbarhetsarbete jämfört med utländska? Ett annat intressant område är hur miljömässig hållbarhet påverkas av externa bestämmelser så som lagstiftning och ökad myndighetskontroll. Under studiens gång har vi kommit fram till att Sekerka & Stimels (2012) modell har brister när den appliceras på den svenska fastighetsbranschen. Ett alternativ kan vara en utveckling och anpassning av Sekerka & Stimels (2012) modell för att lättare kunna appliceras mot en svensk bransch. Under de genomförda intervjuerna har flera organisationer talat om den sociala hållbarheten. Vi anser att det skulle vara intressant att genomföra en liknande studie inom CSR men med inriktning mot social hållbarhet Studiens bidrag: Studien bidrar till en ökad förståelse hur etisk beslutsfattning påverkar motivation av CSR. Studien bidrar även till ett tydliggörande av hur etisk beslutsfattning och miljömässig hållbarhet tillämpas inom den svenska fastighetsbranschen. Studien ger även svar på den praktiska frågan om CSR kan ge ett ökat fastighetsvärde. / Purpose: No one can argue and say that they have missed the ongoing climate debate which, focuses on global warming. An increased awareness of environmental sustainability has contributed to the integration of ethical decision-making in organizations. The study's purpose is to examine the hypothesis that CSR leads to increased property value we will also try to get a better understanding on how motivation effects ethical decision-making and CSR. Method: The study has been completed with a qualitative approach in the framework of a case study. Empirical material was gathered by semi-structured interviews preformed with decision-makers in the Swedish property industry. An analysis of the current research and literature, as well as a model by Sekerka & Stimels (2012) has contributed to the theoretical framework. Conclusion & Results: We believe that environmental sustainability and an economic incentive goes hand-in-hand and are required for financial success today. When CSR is applied within an organization, we have noticed that there is not the organizational type which affects whether CSR brings an increase in property value. Rather it is the organization's goals with the property. The answer is that long-term stakeholders believe that the cost of environmental measures leading to an equivalent or greater increase in the value of the properties. For this to be true it requires a long-term approach and long-term goal with the property. Further research: An interesting approach would be to modify and apply Sekerka & Stimels (2012) model in the comparison between different industries. An interesting topic is how environmental sustainability will affect an organization’s profitability within an economic perspective. How are Swedish organization’s environmental sustainability efforts compared with overseas? Another interesting area is how environmental sustainability are affected by external conditions such as legislation and increased government control. During the study we have come to the conclusion that Sekerka & Stimels (2012) model has shortcomings when applied to the Swedish property industry. An alternative can be an advancement and adaptation of Sekerka & Stimels (2012) model in order for it to be applied on a Swedish industry. During the interviews, several organizations talked about social. We believe that it would be interesting to conduct a similar study in CSR, but with focus on social sustainability Contribution: The study contributes to a better understanding of how ethical decision-making affects the motivation towards CSR. The study also contribute to a clarification of how ethical decision-making and environmental sustainability are applied in the Swedish property industry. The study will also provide answers to the practical matter: could CSR contribute to an increased property value.

In this master project I investigate materiality, transhumanism and alternative ways of producing knowledge and new discussions in the fields of glass craft, electronics and biotechnology. I make do-it-yourself glass computers and explore the relation between body/human-machine/computer with a hacker approach.