This thesis explores the role of expert-led policy processes in addressing water quality. It does so by drawing on the ‘peri-urban' as a setting which exemplifies contemporary social and environmental challenges associated with river and groundwater pollution, as well as the health and livelihood implications for the poorest citizens in peri-urban areas. The peri-urban area of Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of New Delhi, provides a good reference point for understanding those challenges, while India's environmental regulatory agency (the Central Pollution Control Board) demonstrates how policy experts influence such a setting by enacting their institutional role and mandate. The thesis examines the ways in which problems associated with deteriorating water quality in peri-urban areas are often neglected in expert-led policy processes, and the consequent implications for peri-urban poor communities. It argues that expert-driven policy approaches to addressing water quality are formulated almost exclusively on scientific grounds, while underlying ‘non-scientific' decisions and choices, emerging from actors operating at levels from policy framing to policy implementation, are not awarded the same importance, thus ignoring issues that pertain to the social, environmental and political implications of the problems. By drawing on qualitative research, the thesis focuses on two case studies. One examines the Central Pollution Control Board's framing of policy initiatives while the other follows the implementation of such policies in peri-urban Ghaziabad. The thesis demonstrates how the scale of monitoring water quality is heavily biased towards national rather than local level priorities. This leads to an understatement of important water quality problems that affect peri-urban areas in favour of large-scale analyses of pollution in river basins. This has the effect of understating important water quality problems that affect peri-urban areas in poorer localities such as villages within the Ghaziabad district. The centrality of technical discourses in the articulation of and response to water quality problems makes it difficult for non-technical perspectives (derived directly from those people who are exposed to pollution) to feed into formal decision-making. This research also identified the key influence of a number of actors (municipal engineers, public health officials and district magistrates) in shaping and implementing policy outcomes on the ground in local contexts (i.e. peri-urban areas), even though their roles are often not recognised formally. The thesis is original in its attempt to merge insights from policy studies and science technology studies (STS) and apply them to the domain of water quality, a field that has not traditionally been subjected to critical social science inquiry. It also unpacks ethnographically the Board's dual role as both a policy advisor and regulator, and further illustrates how the enactment of these roles can lead to contradictory outcomes on the ground, particularly for the poorest periurban citizens.

Les modèles de régressions à inflation de zéros constituent un outil très puissant pour l’analyse de données de comptage avec excès de zéros, émanant de divers domaines tels que l’épidémiologie, l’économie de la santé ou encore l’écologie. Cependant, l’étude théorique dans ces modèles attire encore peu d’attention. Ce manuscrit s’intéresse au problème de l’inférence dans des modèles de comptage à inflation de zéro.Dans un premier temps, nous revenons sur la question de l’estimateur du maximum de vraisemblance dans le modèle binomial à inflation de zéro. D’abord nous montrons l’existence de l’estimateur du maximum de vraisemblance des paramètres dans ce modèle. Ensuite, nous démontrons la consistance de cet estimateur, et nous établissons sa normalité asymptotique. Puis, une étude de simulation exhaustive sur des tailles finies d’échantillons est menée pour évaluer la cohérence de nos résultats. Et pour finir, une application sur des données réelles d’économie de la santé a été conduite.Dans un deuxième temps, nous proposons un nouveau modèle statistique d’analyse de la consommation de soins médicaux. Ce modèle permet, entre autres, d’identifier les causes du non-recours aux soins médicaux. Nous avons étudié rigoureusement les propriétés mathématiques du modèle. Ensuite nous avons mené une étude numérique approfondie à l’aide de simulations informatiques et enfin, nous l’avons appliqué à l’analyse d’une base de données recensant la consommation de soins de plusieurs milliers de patients aux USA.Un dernier aspect de ces travaux de thèse a été de s’intéresser au problème de l’inférence dans le modèle binomial à inflation de zéro dans un contexte de données manquantes sur les covariables. Dans ce cas nous proposons la méthode de pondération par l’inverse des probabilités de sélection pour estimer les paramètres du modèle. Ensuite, nous établissons la consistance et la normalité asymptotique de l’estimateur proposé. Enfin, une étude de simulation sur plusieurs échantillons de tailles finies est conduite pour évaluer le comportement de l’estimateur. / The zero-inflated regression models are a very powerful tool for the analysis of counting data with excess zeros from various areas such as epidemiology, health economics or ecology. However, the theoretical study in these models attracts little attention. This manuscript is interested in the problem of inference in zero-inflated count models.At first, we return to the question of the maximum likelihood estimator in the zero-inflated binomial model. First we show the existence of the maximum likelihood estimator of the parameters in this model. Then, we demonstrate the consistency of this estimator, and let us establish its asymptotic normality. Then, a comprehensive simulation study finite sample sizes are conducted to evaluate the consistency of our results. Finally, an application on real health economics data has been conduct.In a second time, we propose a new statistical analysis model of the consumption of medical care. This model allows, among other things, to identify the causes of the non-use of medical care. We have studied rigorously the mathematical properties of the model. Then, we carried out an exhaustive numerical study using computer simulations and finally applied to the analysis of a database on health care several thousand patients in the USA.A final aspect of this work was to focus on the problem of inference in the zero inflation binomial model in the context of missing covariate data. In this case we propose the weighting method by the inverse of the selection probabilities to estimate the parameters of the model. Then, we establish the consistency and asymptotic normality of the estimator offers. Finally, a simulation study on several samples of finite sizes is conducted to evaluate the behavior of the estimator.

Afin de favoriser l’utilisation des connaissances issues de la recherche en éducation, le Centre de transfert pour la réussite éducative du Québec et l’Équipe RENARD de recherche en transfert de connaissances ont souhaité habiliter certains acteurs du milieu de l’éducation à jouer le rôle d’agents facilitateurs dans leur milieu. Pour ce faire, ils ont développé et implanté, dans le cadre d’un projet-pilote le Référentiel d’agir compétent à l’intégration de connaissances favorables à la réussite éducative des jeunes du Québec. La présente thèse répond à trois objectifs : 1) présenter et analyser la démarche d’élaboration de cet outil; 2) présenter et analyser la théorie de programme du projet-pilote de mise en oeuvre de l’outil et finalement 3) présenter les résultats de l’évaluation des processus et des mécanismes de changement de ce projet-pilote. Pour ce faire, une méthodologie qualitative est utilisée, s’inspirant de l’approche intégrative d’évaluation des processus et des effets fondée sur la théorie de programme (Chen, 2015). Le premier article de la thèse permet de présenter la démarche d’élaboration de l’outil et de constater que celle-ci est conforme à la plupart des bonnes pratiques en la matière. Le deuxième article de la thèse présente les composantes du modèle d’action et celles de modèle de changement du projet-pilote. Cet article permet, en analysant les composantes de ces modèles en regard des écrits scientifiques pertinents, d’établir que la théorie de programme du projet-pilote est plausible, c’est-à-dire qu’il est possible de croire que la mise en oeuvre de ce projet peut mener aux déclenchements des mécanismes de changement et à l’obtention des effets prévus. Finalement, le troisième article démontre que le projet a eu une influence sur les perceptions des participants quant à leurs rôles dans le processus menant à l’utilisation des connaissances issues de la recherche et que ceux-ci ont réussi, dans une certaine mesure, à mettre en pratique dans leur milieu les ressources acquises dans le cadre du projet. Ce dernier article présente aussi une analyse des composantes du projet qui ont favorisé ou entravé l’obtention de ces résultats. / To foster research knowledge utilization, the Centre de transfert pour la réussite éducative du Québec and the Équipe RENARD de recherche sur le transfert des connaissances wished to empower school practitionners to play the role of intermediate agents. To do so, they developped and implemented a competency model : the Référentiel d’agir compétent à l’intégration de connaissances favorables à la réussite éducative des jeunes du Québec. This thesis has three objectives : 1) present and analyze the program theory of this competency model’s elaboration process; 2) present and analyze the program theory of the implementation of this competency model and 3) present the results of the evaluation of the process and mecanism of the project. In order to achieve these objectives, a qualitative methodology has been used, based on the Integrative process/outcome evaluation approach described by Chen (2015). The first article of the thesis present the competency model’s elaboration process and analyze this process comparing it with the best practices in the field. The second article present the components of the action model and those of the change model. In comparing the action and change model’s components with the litterature, the second article demonstrate that the program theory of the project is plausible. The third and last article of the thesis shows that the project has had an influence on the way the participants perceive there role in fostering knowledge utilization. This article also reveals that the participants have been able, to some extent, to utilize in their practice the ressources they acquired in the project. Finally, this article also present an analyze of the components that have helped or hindered the achievements of the project.

La conduite automobile est l’une des rares tâches nécessitant un apprentissage et le passage d’un examen initial, qui ne prévoit pas de mise en situation critique ni l’obligation de recyclages réguliers. En conséquence, les conducteurs ne connaissent pas les nouveaux systèmes d’aide et de sécurité proposés par les constructeurs automobiles et risquent de ne pas ou de mal s’en servir en conduite nominale. L’objectif de ce travail a été de vérifier, auprès de conducteurs novices et expérimentés, leur réelle capacité à utiliser les systèmes d’aide et de sécurité impliqués dans la régulation longitudinale du véhicule, en situation nominale et en situation d’urgence. Des essais ont été menés sur route, piste et simulateur de conduite. L’originalité de l’étude a porté sur la mesure du comportement du conducteur et de ses performances, pour approcher au mieux leur état fonctionnel (éveil physiologique, attention) induit par la charge mentale lorsqu’ils étaient confrontés à ces situations. On a privilégié l’utilisation de mesures physiologiques en continu et, en particulier, celles de l’activité électrodermale. Les résultats obtenus ont permis de conclure que les conducteurs -soumis à une situation critique, et en conséquence à une charge mentale élevée - utilisaient ces systèmes d’aide de manière inappropriée. Découlent de ces conclusions, deux offres de formations pour pallier la méconnaissance et la mauvaise utilisation des systèmes d’aide et de sécurité / Driving is one of the few activities which require both training and initial examination, but for which there are neither critical situation testing nor regular refresher courses. This creates two key problems: Through a lack of knowledge of the driving aids and safety systems offered by car manufacturers, drivers may fail to use or may misuse them in normal driving situations; secondly, an emergency situation may become critical if the driver has not previously experienced it in controlled conditions. The aim of this study was to check novice and experienced drivers’ ability to use the driving aids and safety systems proposed for vehicle longitudinal control in both nominal and critical situations. Trials were carried out in the field, on tracks and on driving simulators. The uniqueness of the study comes from combining driver behaviour and performance measurements to best correspond to the attention and workload observed when drivers were subjected to these situations. We therefore favoured the use of continuous physiological measures, and in particular electrodermal activity. The results enabled us to conclude that the use of these systems in critical situations was often inappropriate and necessitated a high workload. These conclusions led to the development and deployment of two training programmes in order to compensate for the lack of knowledge and misuse of the driving aids and safety systems

Submitted by PPG Engenharia e Tecnologia de Materiais (engenharia.pg.materiais@pucrs.br) on 2018-12-03T15:52:09Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao DANIELA MAFFI RODRIGUES.pdf: 1641622 bytes, checksum: 7201a3a551a602c84d3776d0f02f7399 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Sheila Dias (sheila.dias@pucrs.br) on 2018-12-05T13:35:48Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao DANIELA MAFFI RODRIGUES.pdf: 1641622 bytes, checksum: 7201a3a551a602c84d3776d0f02f7399 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-05T13:50:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao DANIELA MAFFI RODRIGUES.pdf: 1641622 bytes, checksum: 7201a3a551a602c84d3776d0f02f7399 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-07-27 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / Carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture and utilisation(CCU) technologies has been pointed out as possibilities to mitigate the effects caused by the massiverelease of CO2 into the atmosphere. The use of CO2 in cycloaddition reactions toepoxides obtaining cyclic carbonates is an interesting possibility to reduce CO2emission. Cyclic carbonates are products of great applicability as solvents in the chemical industry and are used as raw material for a wide range of products. Meanwhile, the use of CO2 for a cycloaddition reaction requires a large amount of energy being necessary the use of catalysts in order to optimize such reactions. Poly (ionic liquids) (PIL) are alternative catalysts due its selective, recyclability and conversion. In this work, cellulosic poly(ionic liquids) (CPIL) obtained from rice husk were testedas heterogeneous catalyst. Cellulose extraction was carried out by chemical method. A chemical modification of the cellulose fibers was carried out by the treatment with citric acid and functionalization with 3 mmol of the ionic liquids BMIM Cl, TBAB, TBPB and BMPYRR to form CPIL-BMIM, CPIL-TBA, CPIL-TBP and CPIL-BMPYRR), without addition of solvents. Cyclo addition reactions were carried out with propylene and styrene oxides with different CO2 pressures(25, 30 and 40 bar) and temperatures (90, 110 and 120 ?C) for 6 h. The obtained product was characterized by gas chromatography (GC), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy(FTIR)and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H NMR). The results showed better yields for CPIL-TBP and CPIL-TBA, whose values were 53.2% and 39% respectively for propylene carbonate and 67.3% for styrene carbonate using CPIL-TBP. When the ZnBr2 cocatalyst was used, there was an increase in the catalytic activity of these catalysts. For CPIL-TBP the yields were 71.4% for propylene carbonate and 78.7% for styrene carbonate. For CPIL-TBA the increase in propylene carbonate yield was 67.7%. / O uso das tecnologias de captura e armazenamento de carbono (CCS) e de captura utiliza??o do carbono (CCU) v?m sendo apontadas como possibilidades para mitigar os efeitos causados pela libera??o deliberada de elevadas concentra??es de CO2 na atmosfera. A utiliza??o do CO2 em rea??es de cicloadi??o em ep?xidos para obter carbonatos c?clicos vem se mostrando uma possibilidade interessante para reduzir a emiss?o de CO2 na atmosfera. Os carbonatos c?clicos s?o produtos de grande aplicabilidade como solventes na ind?stria qu?mica e s?o utilizados como mat?ria prima para uma vasta gama de produtos. Entretanto, o CO2 apresenta baixa reatividade tornando-se necess?rio o uso de catalisadores para otimizar tais rea??es. Os poli(l?quidos i?nicos) (PILs) v?m se mostrando como poss?veis catalisadores alternativos, demonstrando-se seletivos, recicl?veis e gerando consider?vel convers?o. Neste trabalho foram testados poli(l?quidos i?nicos) celul?sicos (CPIL), obtidos a partir da casca do arroz, como catalisador heterog?neo. A extra??o da celulose foi realizada por um m?todo qu?mico. A modifica??o qu?mica das fibras de celulose foi realizada a partir do tratamento com ?cido c?trico e a funcionaliza??o desta com 3 mmol dos l?quidos i?nicos BMIM Cl, TBAB, TBPB e BMPYRR formando CPIL-BMIM, CPIL-TBA, CPIL-TBP e CPIL-BMPYRR. As rea??es de cicloadi??o foram realizadas com os ?xidos de propileno e estireno com diferentes press?es de CO2 (15, 25, 30 e 40 bar) e temperaturas (90, 110, 120 e 130?C) durante (3, 6 e 9h), todas as rea??es foram realizadas sem a utiliza??o de solventes. O produto obtido foi caracterizado por cromatografia gasosa (CG) , espectroscopia de infravermelho com transformada de Fourier (FTIR) e Resson?ncia Magn?tica Nuclear (1H RMN). Os resultados demonstraram melhores rendimentos para CPIL-TBP e CPIL-TBA, cujos valores foram de 53,2% e 39% respectivamente para o carbonato de propileno e de 67,3% para o carbonato de estireno utilizando o CPIL-TBP. Quando o cocatalisador ZnBr2 foi utilizado, houve um aumento na a atividade catal?tica destes catalisadores, para o CPIL-TBP os rendimentos foram de 71,4 % para o carbonato de propileno e 78,7% para o carbonato de estireno. Para o CPIL-TBA o aumento no rendimento de carbonato de propileno foi de 67,7%.

A credit card as a banking product has a dual nature both as a convenient loan and a payment tool. Credit card profitability prediction is a complex problem because of the variety of the card holders' behaviour patterns, a fluctuating balance, and different sources of interest and transactional income. The state of a credit card account depends on the type of card usage and payments delinquency, and can be defined as inactive, transactor, revolver, delinquent, and default. The proposed credit cards profit prediction model consists of four stages: i) utilisation rate and interest rate income prediction, ii) non-interest rate income prediction, iii) account state prediction with conditional transition probabilities, and iv) the aggregation of the partial models into total income estimation. This thesis describes an approach to credit card account-level profitability prediction based on multistate and multistage conditional probabilities models with different types of income and compares methods for the most accurate predictions. We use application, behavioural, card state, and macroeconomic characteristics as predictors. This thesis contains nine chapters: Introduction, Literature Review, six chapters giving descriptions of the data, methodologies and discussions of the results of the empirical investigation, and Conclusion. Introduction gives the key points and main aims of the current research and describes the general schema of the total income prediction model. Literature Review proposes a systematic analysis of academic work on loan profit modelling and highlights the gaps in the application of profit scoring to credit cards income prediction. Chapter 3 describes the data sample and gives the overview of characteristics. Chapter 4 is dedicated to the prediction of the credit limit utilisation and contains the comparative analysis of the predictive accuracy of different regression models. We apply five methods such as i) linear regression, ii) fractional regression, iii) beta-regression, iv) beta-transformation, and v) weighted logistic regression with data binary transformation for utilisation rate prediction for one- and two-stage models. Chapters 5 and 6 are dedicated to modelling the transition probabilities between credit card states. Chapter 5 describes the general model setups, model building methodology such as transition probability prediction with conditional binary logistic, ordinal, and multinomial regressions, the data sample description, the univariate analysis of predictors. Chapter 6 discusses regression estimation results for all types of regression and a comparative analysis of the models. Chapter 7 describes an approach to the non-interest rate income prediction and contains a comparative analysis of panel data regression techniques such as pooled and four random effect methods. We consider two sources of non-interest income generation: i) interchange fees and foreign exchange fees from transactions via pointof- sales (POS) and ii) ATM fees from cash withdrawals. We compare the predictive accuracy of a one-stage approach, which means the usage of a single linear model for the income amount estimation, and a two-stage approach, which means that the income amount conditional on the probability of POS and ATM transaction. Chapter 8 aggregates the results from the partial models into a single model for total income estimation. We assume that a credit card account does not have a single particular state and a single behavioural type in the future, but has a chance to move to any of possible states. The income prediction model is selected according to these states, and the transition probabilities are used as weights for the particular interest rate and non-interest rate income prediction models. Conclusion highlights the contributions of this research. We propose an innovative methodological approach for credit card income prediction as a system of models, which considers the estimation of the income from different sources and then aggregates the income estimations weighted by the states transition probabilities. The results of comparative analysis of regression methods for: i) utilization rate of credit limit and ii) non-interest income prediction, iii) the use of panel data with pooled and random effect for profit scoring, and iv) account level non-binary target transition probabilities estimation for credit cards can be used as benchmarks for further research and fill the gaps of empirical investigations in the literature. The estimation of the transition probability between states at the account level helps to avoid the memorylessness property of the Markov Chains approach. We have investigated the significance of predictors for models of this type. The proposed modelling approach can be applied for the development of business strategies such as credit limit management, customer segmentation by the profitability and behavioural type.

Resource scarcity and increasing environmental pressure have raised the stakes for rethinking material efficiency and textile recycling potential. As current practices fail to feed a closed loop recycling system, this research aims to contribute to the improvement of prevailing practices regarding denim as one of the most popular apparel materials worldwide while focusing on the issue of increasing amounts of discarded post-consumer textiles. The superordinate objective to define the optimum point for denim recycling to retain the value of the cotton fibre as long as possible in a closed loop system, thereby elevating the recycling efficiency, can be considered a key driver for the present research. The following data acquisition is constructed and executed along a mixed method research, in which a qualitative approach based on expert interviews informs and builds up on the quantitative counter part of laboratory use simulation testing on two different denim fabrics and vice versa, leading to an embedded research design. A subjective assessment of potential alterations of the denim fabrics’ visual and tactile characteristics, caused by the use simulation, provides quantitative data through an employed expert panel, which is enhanced by objectively recorded results from the conducted tear strength test and comparative weight investigation to inform changes regarding the physical properties. The applied research methods provide parameters to monitor the decomposition and weakening of the overall fabric structure throughout the experiment. The analysis of the data allowed to assign the number of washing and drying cycles, that a denim garment has undergone, to a corresponding degree of degradation. The presented findings are a valuable resource for developing and innovating current open-end recycling options. The maintenance of the raw material value throughout various reprocessing cycles can counteract the elevated natural fibre scarcity. The insights on the material and process level build a fundament for the successful operationalisation and management of sustainable recycling practices. Further research in this field can pave the way towards value retaining circularity.

Dans les trente prochaines années la génération du baby boom va atteindre le troisième âge et participer au vieillissement de la société. Cette population aura un besoin massif d’aide et de soins dont il n’est pas garanti que l’on puisse les assurer. Les nouvelles technologies adressées aux personnes âgées peuvent aider à résoudre ce problème mais pour cela il est indispensable que les aînés les acceptent. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’offrir un moyen de mesurer l’acceptation de ces technologies et de prédire leur utilisation. L’analyse de la documentation scientifique a permis d’identifier un modèle ayant les qualités requises pour cela, le modèle d’acceptation technologique proposé par Davis en 1989 (Technology Acceptance Model, TAM). Ce modèle se révèle parcimonieux et bien documenté mais il n’existait qu’en langue anglaise. D’autre part, la documentation scientifique montrait que la technologie la plus répandue parmi la population âgée et dépendante était la téléalarme. Ainsi, il a été décidé de traduire en français, adapter et valider un questionnaire issu du TAM pour prédire l’utilisation de la téléalarme par les personnes âgées dépendantes. Quatre études ont donc été menées, la première a consisté en une série d’entretiens, la deuxième en un questionnaire papier, et les deux dernières en un questionnaire par téléphone. Ce travail a abouti à l’obtention d’un instrument à dix items dont les qualités psychométriques se sont révélées acceptables. Le TAM fonctionne de la manière attendue il est donc possible de prédire l’utilisation de la téléalarme. Cependant deux limites doivent nuancer ces résultats, la première est que les études réalisées sont transversales ce qui empêche de parler de validité prédictive, la seconde et la modeste variance expliquée du questionnaire en français comparativement aux résultats publiés. En conclusion, le modèle doit s’enrichir de concepts spécifique à la population âgée afin d’affiner ses prédictions. / In the next thirty years the baby boomers are going to reach the third age and participate in the ageing of the whole French society. But no one can guarantee that their massive need of assistance and care will be provided. Information and communication technologies have the potential to help the elderly but only if they accept it. The aim of this thesis is to build a tool to assess the acceptance of these technologies and to predict their use. The scientific literature analysis revealed that the technology acceptance model proposed by Davis in 1989 had all the required qualities to build this tool. This model shows itself parsimonius and well documented but only existed in English. According to the literature the most widespread technology among the dependent elderly was the warning alarm. Thus, it was decided to translate into French, to adapt and to validate a questionnaire stemming from the technology acceptance model to predict the use of the warning alarm by dependent elderly. Four studies were thus led, the first consisted in a series of qualitative interviews, the second used a paper a pencil questionnaire, and both last ones in a phone questionnaire. This work ended in a ten items instrument with acceptable psychometric properties. The technology acceptance model works as expected and thus it is possible to predict the use of the remote alarm by dependent elderly. However, two shortcomings have to qualify these results, first the studies presented are cross-sectional which prevents from testing predictive validity, second the amount of explained variance by the questionnaire in French is limited compared with the published results. Finally, the model need to incorporate elderly specific constructs in order to make more accurate predictions.

Tourism has come to be recognised as a major contributor to national economies. In a knowledge-based economy (that emphasises the benefits of industry/government and academic research), a strong research base must underpin management of a tourist destination if it is to realise its full potential. The establishment of collaborative networks between industry, academia, and government in the strategic planning and management of cities and towns is becoming increasingly popular. However, the way in which the processes underlying these settings facilitate or inhibit eventual outcomes is poorly understood. If knowledge is to drive innovation and economic growth optimally, it is important not just to develop an understanding of the processes underlying the creation, diffusion and utilisation of knowledge in cooperative research settings, but also the relationships among them. Accordingly, the aim of this investigation is to examine the relationships among knowledge creation, diffusion and utilisation occurring in the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program, specifically, the Gold Coast Visioning Project, with a view to identifying the most efficient means for formulating and disseminating research designed for industry and/or government application. Knowledge is defined as information that is imbued with meaning or relevance. However, this definition says little of the ways that individuals, groups and organisations acquire knowledge. While cognitive psychologists have produced several theories suggesting the structure and mechanisms of individual cognitive processes underlying the acquisition and use of knowledge, social scientists have sought to describe and explain the process by investigating the influence of social factors. Recent contributions to group learning have examined group composition, group size, familiarity among group members, and communication processes in an attempt to understand the ways in which groups acquire knowledge. Research shows that knowledge utilisation in organisations results from the interdependent influences of organisational processes and the control opportunities and control problems that arise through organisational structure. These frameworks provide accounts of how knowledge is utilised within an organisation, but not of how organisations learn. Recent research suggests that organisations learn through knowledge networks where organisational focus moves from the consideration and protection of boundaries to the management of (and care for) relationships. Therefore, organisations contain static (rules, norms and procedures) and dynamic (social relationships) elements that mutually influence the degree to which organisations learn. A synthesis of the available literature resulted in the development of a series of models that served not only to inform, but also be informed by the analysis of this investigation. A single case study, namely the Gold Coast Visioning Project, was used to examine the ways in which knowledge was created, disseminated and utilised in a CRC setting. This ethnographic investigation considered the process of knowledge creation through to utilisation at individual, group, organisational, and inter-organisational levels, while simultaneously examining the interrelated influences of social, cognitive, affective and communication factors. Throughout the project, data were collected through stakeholder interviews, various documents and participant observation of stakeholder meetings and workshops. Data were analysed using a grounded theory approach and methods of thick description. The results show that researchers and industry stakeholders bring different frames of reference, different expectations, and different knowledge bases to the exercise. This inhibited communication, and gave the appearance of dissension when, in fact, what was being sought was a common frame for understanding and communication. Additionally, the gap between industry and researcher worldviews generated the sense that industry was resisting or failing to understand what the research was seeking to achieve. Consequently, in order to manage the relationship, research plans and findings were communicated to industry in a teacher-to-student fashion, which fostered single-loop learning, and reduced industry stakeholders' sense of ownership in the process and findings. During the project, industry stakeholders frequently sought to have research come pre-packaged with "meaning", but researchers lacked the contextual knowledge necessary to specify the relevance of their research. The results also show that research findings need to be integrated and diffused to industry over time, and specific applications need to be formulated (and reformulated) in response to particular and changing needs of industry. As a result of this investigation, a model of 'best practice' has been developed with detailed recommendations for the design, implementation, and reporting of CRC-sponsored research to optimise its utility for end-users of such research. From a theoretical perspective, the findings of this study challenge the ways that current theories account for the ways in which knowledge is acquired and utilised since the results show that knowledge is constructed both socially and emotionally. Any investigation that seeks to understand how knowledge is acquired and utilised must consider social and affective influences. To ignore the role of emotion and values in the process of knowledge acquisition is to ignore a key component of an individual's reasoning capacity.

This thesis describes a series of three experiments designed to estimate the nutritional cost of the immune response to the gastrointestinal nematodes Trichostrongylus colubriformis and Teladorsagia circumcincta in sheep. For each experiment, animals were allocated hierarchically by liveweight into one of four groups that were either infected (group IF), similarly infected and concurrently immuno-suppressed with weekly intramuscular injections of 1.3mg kg liveweight (LW)⁻¹ of methylprednisolone acetate (group ISIF), immunosuppressed only (group IS) or remained as controls (group C). Body composition of all animals was estimated using x-ray computer tomography prior to infection and at the conclusion of each study with bodyweight and faecal nematode egg counts (FEC; eggs gram⁻¹ of fresh faeces (epg)) measured along with blood samples taken for the determination of levels of serum proteins, phosphate and antibodies. In the first trial (Chapter 3), the nutritional cost of both the acquisition and maintenance of immunity to gastro-intestinal nematodes was investigated using immunologically naive 5-month-old lambs and immunologically competent 17-month-old ewes during infection with 2,000 and 4,000 L3 infective T. colubriformis larvae d⁻¹, respectively (80 L3 T. colubriformis larvae kgLW⁻¹ d⁻¹). Profiles of FEC and comparative worm burdens at slaughter indicated an effective immune response was maintained in IF ewes and developed in IF lambs while successfully suppressed in both ISIF lambs and ISIF ewes and was confirmed by serum antibody titres. The typical reduction in voluntary feed intake as a consequence of infection was observed in IF lambs (0.30, p<0.001) but not in IF ewes, ISIF lambs or ISIF ewes, and appeared to be associated with L3 IgA. Gross efficiency of use of metabolizable energy (ME) for net energy (NE) deposition was reduced by 0.20 in lambs during acquisition of immunity and by 0.16 in ewes maintaining an established immunity. Infection in immuno-suppressed animals reduced efficiency by 0.05 and 0.15 for lambs and ewes. These findings allowed the hypothesis that the reduction in feed intake and nutrient utilization in young parasitized sheep is caused by physiological signalling associated with the acquisition phase of the host immune response to infection, rather than simply the damage caused by the parasite per se. The second trial (Chapter 4) investigated the influence of metabolizable protein (MP) supply on the metabolic disturbances associated with the acquisition phase of the immune response during infection with 2,000 L3 T. colubriformis d⁻¹. Groups of lambs were offered either a low protein (L; 62g MP kgDM⁻¹) or high protein diet (H; 95g MP kgDM⁻¹). Patterns of total daily egg excretion indicated that an effective immune response was developed in HIF, but not LIF, HISIF nor LISF and was confirmed by comparative worm burdens. The proportionate reduction in feed intake in immunologically normal animals was reduced through the provision of additional protein, being 0.12 in HIF and 0.23 in LIF. Regardless of diet, infection did not cause a reduction in feed intake in immuno-suppressed animals (p>0.05). Infection proportionately reduced the gross efficiency of ME utilization in immunologically normal animals by 0.23 in HIF (p=0.09) and by 0.51 in LIF (p=0.01), but not in immuno-suppressed animals. Immuno-suppression did not suppress serum L3 IgA levels in seven of the eight HISIF and four of the eight LISIF animals. Furthermore, only four out of the eight immunologically normal animals from both the HIF and LIF groups displayed an L3 IgA response. Consequently, regardless of immunosuppression treatment, animals were termed as IgA responders (HR or LR) or non-responders (HN or LN). Feed intake was proportionately reduced from day 22 by 0.15 in HR (p=0.03) and by 0.32 in LR (p=0.01), but was not significantly reduced in HN or LN. Gross efficiency of ME utilization was significantly reduced for LN animals only, being proportionately 0.59 (p<0.01). These findings allowed the conclusion that additional MP reduced the consequence of immunological signalling that was displayed in reduced feed intake and in nutrient utilization, both of which appeared to be associated with an IgA response. It is hypothesized that the lessening of nutritional disturbance observed in high protein and immuno-suppressed animals could be a consequence of altered physiological signalling during the immunological cascade. The third trial (Chapter 5) utilized lambs infected with the abomasal parasite T. circumcincta to explore the possibility that the reduction in feed intake and nutrient utilization is a universal phenomenon of the acquisition phase of the immune response to nematode parasites inhabiting different organs along the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, immunological changes at the site of parasite infestation in the abomasal mucosa were measured from serial biopsy tissue samples taken from a further twelve animals that were surgically fitted with an abomasal cannula and either infected (CIF) or concurrently infected and immuno-suppressed as described previously (CISIF). The development of immunity in IF animals was accompanied by a 0.17 proportional decrease in feed intake between days 15 to 28 of infection (p<0.05) and a 0.20 proportional reduction in nutrient utilization (p=0.07), none of which were observed in ISIF animals. While FEC and worm burdens indicated successful immunosuppression in ISIF animals, both serum IgA and total antibody production were not reduced. The development of immunity in CIF was reflected in an increase in both mast cells and globule leukocytes in serial abomasal tissue biopsies, both of which were reduced in CISIF (p<0.01 for both). In serial biopsy tissue, immuno-suppression did prevent a rise in tissue IgA that was apparent in CIF animals (p<0.01) although these changes were not reflected in serum IgA levels. It appears that the alleviation of the reduction in feed intake and nutrient utilization in young lambs through the use of corticosteroid induced immuno-suppression may be a universal phenomenon for both intestinal and abomasal parasites, but the association with and/or role of IgA during infection with T. circumcincta is unclear. In summary, the reduction in feed intake and nutrient utilization in sheep during infection with both the abomasal nematode T. circumcincta and the small intestine nematode T. colubriformis appears to be associated with a component(s) of the acquisition phase of the host immune response, rather than, as conventionally assumed, the direct mechanical damage of the parasite per se. It is hypothesised that the nutritional disturbance as a consequence of infection in young lambs may be the result of pro-inflammatory cytokines involved in immunological signalling that may also be associated with the production of IgA, the effects of which can be reduced through the provision of adequate MP. These studies provide evidence that the immune response to gastrointestinal parasites is nutritionally costly to the animal and have implications for application of manipulations that are intended to promote the development of a strong immune reaction in high producing animals.