This master’s thesis deals with creating marketing strategy of Real Spektrum s.r.o. company which offers service in real estate area mainly dealing with salles and rents of properities. This thesis analyzes the current marketing strategy of the company and provides changes leading to raise it´s efficiency.

In today’s industry, the sustainable use of raw materials and the development of new green technology in mass production, with the aim of saving resources, energy and production costs, is a significant challenge. Deep drawing as a widely used industrial sheet metal forming process for the production of automotive parts belongs to one of the most energy-efficient production techniques. However, one disadvantage of deep drawing regarding the realisation of green technology is the use of lubricants in this process. Therefore, a novel approach for modifying the conventional deep drawing process to achieve a lubricant-free deep drawing process is introduced within this thesis. In order to decrease the amount of frictional force for a given friction coefficient, the integral of the contact pressure over the contact area has to be reduced. To achieve that, the flange area of the tool is macro-structured, which has only line contacts. To avoid the wrinkling, the geometrical moment of inertia of the sheet should be increased by the alternating bending mechanism of the material in the flange area through immersing the blankholder slightly into the drawing die.

Thesis advisor: Thomas M. Crea / In 2019, 851,508 persons were apprehended at the Southwestern US border without lawful immigration status in the US; of whom 473,682 were part of a family unit, and 76,020 were classified as unaccompanied children (UC). UC are those entering the US under the age of 18 without a parent/legal guardian available to care for them. Recent research on unaccompanied children in the US has focused on educational outcomes, trauma, family separation at the border, and resiliency. However, more research is needed around this population given their unique vulnerabilities, the current unreceptive political climate in the US, and the fact that 2019 has had the highest arrival numbers yet. This dissertation draws on administrative data to provide information that can improve the services that social service agencies are delivering, to highlight areas of future research, and to recommend specific tools for data collection. I aim to advance three areas of research related to the human rights violations and social exclusions experienced by unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children in the US, as well as best practices used by service providers. The three areas are: (1) to understand the systems level facilitators and barriers to adjustment for UC, (2) to understand the challenges to formal education for UC, and the strategies that service providers are using to overcome these challenges, and (3) to examine the predictors of self-sufficiency for unaccompanied immigrants leaving foster care. The findings presented in this dissertation have multiple implications for policy, practice, research, and social work education. The qualitative studies provide a groundwork from which we can conduct more research in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the promising practices described, and advocate to increase funding and service availability. Through a greater understanding of the benefits and challenges to education for UC in foster care, we can build more inclusive and welcoming school environments, ultimately leading to higher educational attainment. Understanding the predictors of self-sufficiency can help caseworkers to better create service plans, and help agencies to advocate for funding of supplementary programming. Altogether, it is my hope that this knowledge can contribute to supports that help UC to be happier, thrive in school, and become productive members of our community. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

If these macro inclusions are not detected before the material is put in used, its mechanical properties are greatly affected and this can lead to outrageous consequences in the engineering application.

Deterioration of concrete structures due to the corrosion of embedded steel is a well-known universal problem. Norway with its numerous bridges, ports, offshore and floating structures along its coastline, is also encountered with corrosion degradation. The harsh environment of the Norwegian Sea regarding its low temperature, wind, and waves, makes the design and construction of marine structures more demanding. In recent years, usage of sustainable composite materials in the field of structural engineering has been rising. The usage of natural fibre reinforced polymer materials in the form of reinforcement bars or macro fibres with a low density, high strength, and excellent corrosion resistance, gives us better choices for the design and construction of marine structures. Our knowledge about the fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete has increased as a result of introducing it as a building material some decades ago. However, more research is still needed when it comes to the application of new types of fibres. This thesis is a result of this need, whereby the author has done two series of experimental programmes regarding the subject. In the first series, the flow characteristics of fresh state, conventional and self-compacting macro basalt fibre concrete were studied. In the second series, mechanical properties of high performance and medium strength macro basalt fibre concrete including the post-cracking behaviour, compressive strength and electrical resistivity were in focus. The findings were presented in three appended papers and the extended summary composing this thesis. Additionally, the thesis presents an overview of the design procedure of floating concrete structures and the possibility of using macro basalt fibre concrete via a case study. The author’s literature review shows that basalt fibres have an adequate resistance against alkali environment of the concrete matrix and corrosive environment of seawater. / <p>QC 20160607</p>

Den 18 februari i år fick Sverige en negativ reporänta. Ett historiskt ögonblick i Sveriges ekonomiska historia. I detta arbete har vi valt att fokusera på hur den kommersiella fastighetsmarknaden kommer att påverkas av denna händelse. Den kommersiella fastighetsmarknadens rörelse är inte beroende av enbart en variabel utan av flera. Som i sin tur är mer eller mindre beroende av varandra. BNP och reporäntan är två av dessa variabler som påverkar den studerade marknaden. I arbetet valdes fyra scenarion ut där BNP och reporäntan befann sig i olika lägen under 2000-talet. Dessa fyra scenarion leder fram till en diskussion angående ett eventuellt samband mellan de olika faktorerna och makrofaktorernas rörelse. Vi studerar även om vi på grund av detta eventuella samband kan förutsäga framtiden. Den framtid som förväntas kantas av en sjunkande negativ reporänta och en växande ekonomisk tillväxt. Efter att ha genomfört studien kan vi utläsa ett samband mellan våra utvalda makrofaktorer och den kommersiella fastighetsmarknaden. Ett tydligt mönster, vid en sammanställning av resultaten från våra scenarion, har inte hittats och kan därför inte användas i en argumentation kring följden av reporäntans nu negativa värde. Resonemanget förs dock kring att den negativa reporäntan och dagens ekonomiska tillväxt kommer påverka den kommersiella fastighetsmarknaden positivt snarare än negativt. / On 18th of February this year, the Swedish central bank set a negative repo rate. This was a historic moment in Sweden's economic history. In this paper, we have chosen to focus on how the commercial property market will be affected by this event. The commercial property market movements is not dependent on only one variable, but a set of dependent and independent variables. GDP and the repo rate are two variables that affect the studied market. In this essay, four different scenarios were chosen where GDP and the repo rate were in different positions during the 2000s. These four scenarios lead to a discussion about a possible relationship between the commercial property market- and the macro factors movement. The paper also discusses if the future can be predicted, because of a possible relationship. The future that is expected to consist of a sinking negative repo rate and an economic growth. After conducting the study, the paper concludes that there is a strong connection between our selected macro factors and the commercial property market. Although, a clear pattern, after a summary of the results of our scenarios, has not been found and therefore cannot be used in an argument about the result of the negative repo rate. The conclusion is, however, that the negative repo rate and today's economic growth will affect the commercial property market positively rather than negatively

La presente tesis por compendio de publicaciones se apoya en dos artículos publicados en la revista Marine Pollution Bulletin. En el primer trabajo se da una visión general del estado de la basura marina depositada sobre el lecho marino en la costa mediterránea de la Península Ibérica. En él, la basura se clasifica en categorías de materiales, donde bajo una misma categoría hay agregados multitud de elementos de un mismo material. La evaluación de la distribución está hecha a gran escala y con una resolución que permite determinar grandes zonas de acumulación, comparar distintas áreas y estratos, así como observar la evolución de la basura marina durante 11 años. En el segundo trabajo se analiza la basura marina de un área más pequeña y con mayor detalle. La clasificación de la composición de la basura marina es más precisa, puesto que se clasifica en categorías según los materiales y, dentro de ellas, en subcategorías. En comparación con el trabajo anterior, la distribución de la basura marina se hace a menor escala, pero a mayor resolución. El método utilizado en la clasificación de la composición de la basura marina posibilita determinar correctamente buena parte de las fuentes de la basura marina. Además, en este documento se presenta una forma de analizar el tráfico marítimo que permite identificar cualitativamente la clase de las posibles embarcaciones que pueden causar la contaminación en cada zona.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Aquifer vulnerability assessment is increasingly becoming a very significant basis in order to fulfil the water demands in South Africa. Knowledge of soil hydraulic properties that consists of the soil water retention and hydraulic conductivity functions is a prerequisite for predicting solution transport in soils. The overall objective of the study is to develop a database of hydraulic properties for collected undisturbed samples and to test selected models by making use of this database. Studies of the vadose zone are generally restricted to the top 1.2 meters; therefore this study aims at essentially improving the lack of measurements and modelling in the vadose zone. There exist several methods to determine hydraulic properties of soil that make use of hydraulic conductivity (K) determination in the vadose zone. The most accurate estimates of hydraulic conductivity are possible through direct measurements or measurements of the water retention curve. For this study, the drilling and sampling of five boreholes (maximum depth 20 m) proceeded during March and April 2005 at two typical sites in the Western Cape, namely the Berg river site (Riebeek West) and Ithemba site (Cape Flats). In total, 76 undisturbed core samples were collected from which the detailed borehole log descriptions were made. The determination of the soil water retention curves of the collected samples was based on laboratory techniques using Eijkelkamp drying and suction equipment (sand box and clay box). When modelling groundwater vulnerability, it is essential to look at the soil water retention curves with increased importance, as they provide graphical and mathematical confirmation of porosity, preferential flows, volumetric water content and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. Therefore, a numerical model called RETC was used to determine soil hydraulic properties. The RETC model uses equations of Van Genuchten (Van Genuchten, 1980) and Brooks-Corey (Brooks and Corey, 1966) to determine parameters for soil water retention and the methods of Mualem (1976) and Burdine (1953) to determine unsaturated hydraulic conductivity functions. Saturated hydraulic conductivity values were estimated by using RETC soil database based on textural descriptions of collected samples. Using the soil hydraulic estimates obtained from RETC, sensitivity analyses were run with a one dimensional transport model, Macro 5.0 for two sites at iThemba and in the Berg river.

La digitalización está transformando la forma en que las empresas piensan y crean un entorno competitivo. Abre mayores oportunidades para la elaboración de modelos de negocio innovadores. Por tanto, realza la importancia del análisis de macrodatos para mejorar la capacidad de una empresa de conectar tecnología y clientes. En general, se sabe poco sobre cómo las empresas desarrollan e implementan innovaciones digitales. Muchas se han quedado sin saber cómo invertir eficazmente en adquirir la capacidad de analizar datos y utilizar sus conclusiones para impulsar su agenda de innovación. El flagelo de la pandemia causada por la Covid19 desnudó esta falencia, la que afectó duramente al sector empresarial. Fueron años en los que un alto porcentaje de dueños de negocios se vieron obligados a implementar tecnología digital en sus procesos para desarrollar nuevas áreas, o mejorar las existentes dentro de sus organizaciones con el objetivo de poder subsistir. Es por ello que el presente trabajo ha investigado la bibliografía del último lustro relacionada a la gestión de la digitalización de las empresas modernas versus las empresas tradicionales, a fin de poder hallar las controversias en las posturas de los diferentes autores consultados, contrastando sus posturas referentes a los temas sobre gestión comercial, logística y tecnológica con mayor claridad. / Digitalization is transforming the way in which companies think and create a competitive environment. It opens more opportunities to create innovative business models in bilateral markets, and, therefore, it heightens the importance of analyzing macrodata to improve a business’ capacity to connect technology and clients. If we add to this a correct management of both abilities and knowledge, the adoption of Big Data analysis will ease executives’ decision-making processes. On the whole, there is little knowledge about how businesses develop and implement digital innovations. Many companies were left behind, without knowing how to effectively invest in acquiring the capacity to analyze data and to utilize the conclusions of those analyses to impulse an innovation agenda. Covid19 pandemic revealed this insufficiency, affecting the business sector hardly. Those were years in which a high percentage of business owners felt forced to implement digital technology in their processes to either develop new areas or improve the existing ones with the sole goal to surviving the crisis. This motivated the authors of this document to research five years time of publications on the management of digitalization processes in modern companies and in contrast with traditional companies, to find controversies in the positions of the different authors, to contrast their ideas and, ultimately, to allow us to understand their conclusions about commercial, logistic and technological management more clearly. / Trabajo de Suficiencia Profesional

The social work profession has long touted a dual focus on service within micro and macro realms of practice, preparing social workers to serve marginalized populations at the boundary between the powerful and the powerless. Research, however, has shown that macro social work, or policy practice, has diminished. Current research has been inconsistent in identifying predictive factors of increased policy practice. With recent efforts by the profession to bolster waning policy practice among social workers, it is vital to identify factors that predict higher engagement. Theoretical frameworks suggest that professional socialization in policy practice as a group norm, having resources to participate in policy practice, being psychologically engaged in politics, and engaging in recruitment networks tends to increase policy practice. Based on these frameworks, professional socialization, policy practice preparedness, type of employment, and social media use were considered as potential predictive factors of engagement. The purpose of this study was to analyze these factors that may predict policy practice among social workers. Survey research was used to gather data from practicing social workers in Illinois (N = 93). A hierarchical multiple regression analysis empirically validated that higher levels of perceived professional socialization and policy practice preparedness both predicted higher levels of policy practice. Additionally, social workers who reported primary roles as administrative were more likely to engage in policy practice than direct practitioners. The results point to a need for the social work profession to bolster knowledge and skills in policy practice, reinforce professional identification in policy practice, and mobilize leaders to recruit and mentor direct practitioners.