Despite research focused on the control of E. saccharina Walker (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), it remains the most destructive pest of sugarcane in South Africa and therefore a shift in the approach to the control of this insect was required. Habitat management techniques were employed through trials to understand the mechanisms used by insect pests in their host plant oviposition behaviour. Indigenous and beneficial non-crop plants, which could be used to attract insect pests away from sugarcane were identified and tested. An African grass, Melinis minutiflora, shown to be repellent to lepidopteran stemboring pests, was used in field trials in sugarcane. Eldana saccharina was shown to be fairly indiscrimate in choosing host plant species. Oviposition trials showed that females made no choice for host plants oviposition based on the volatiles released by those plants. Females showed no preference for males over test plants. But did consistently move and make a plant choice more often than male moths. Moths were not attracted by the volatile stimuli of a host plant and the availability of cryptic sites might be a factor that influenced ovipositing females to choose a host plant. Field trials tested the repellent action of Melinis minutiflora against E. saccharina and were shown to be more effective over a big field with space for M. minutiflora to establish thick undergrowth alongside a field plot. The other field sites showed no significant effect from M. minutiflora intercropped into treatment plots, or a slight negative effect. Later sugarcane planting times in relation to the grass planting time was a possible reason for the positive result in only two field sites allowing the grass to grow and establish before the sugarcane competed with the grass for sunlight. A cost benefit analysis of planting a hectare of sugarcane with M. minutiflora showed an economic benefit linked to reduction in E. saccharina infestation. Field sites with low population pressure from E. saccharina would not yield the economic benefit of planting this grass. There was no significant loss in the height, density or sucrose yield (ERC% cane) between control and treatment plots in the field plots due to the presence of M. minutiflora. Comparison of weed biomass between treatment and control plots showed a significant reduction in the treatment plot where M. minutiflora out-competed the weeds already present. This grass was advantageous in the sugarcane field as it sometimes reduced moth infestation but did not significantly compete with sugarcane and showed weed suppressing potential.

Atualmente, a alvenaria estrutural é utilizada em empreendimentos habitacionais de larga escala, nos quais as exigências de racionalização, controle, rapidez e custo são mais bem contemplados pelo sistema. No Brasil, existem empreendimentos de até 16 pavimentos construídos com blocos de alta resistência e alto controle tecnológico. A construção de edificações com maiores alturas exige o aumento da capacidade de absorção de esforços de compressão e tração. Para isso, são inseridas barras de aço nos vazados dos blocos e consolidadas com graute, a fim de aumentar a capacidade portante do conjunto. Entretanto, a influência da aderência graute/ bloco cerâmico no comportamento mecânico da alvenaria estrutural ainda é uma dúvida, visto que a NBR 15812 - 1 (ABNT, 2010) não especifica um valor de resistência para aderência graute/ bloco cerâmico, somente para graute/ aço. Frente a essa constatação, a presente pesquisa tem o objetivo de avaliar a influência da aderência graute/ bloco cerâmico estrutural no comportamento mecânico do conjunto, para determinar um valor de tensão de aderência que possa contribuir com a NBR 15812-1 (ABNT, 2010) Para isso, foram utilizados quatro tipos de blocos cerâmicos, com variação da geometria interna dos vazados e resistência mecânica à compressão. O graute foi padronizado em somente uma resistência, sendo essa de 30 MPa. Para desenvolvimento da pesquisa, inicialmente foi realizada a caracterização dos materiais e, posteriormente, realizados ensaios de push-out, resistência à compressão de blocos preenchidos com graute e microscopia óptica. Os resultados revelaram que a aderência graute/ bloco cerâmico estrutural é superior à resistência mecânica à tração do bloco cerâmico, e que a ruptura do conjunto ocorre primeiramente no bloco. Os resultados também constataram aumento da resistência mecânica à compressão axial nos blocos preenchidos com graute. / Currently, structural masonry is used in large-scale housing projects, in which the requirements of rationalization, control, speed and cost are better covered by the system. In Brazil there are projects of up to 16 floors built with high resistance and high technological control blocks. The construction of buildings with higher heights requires the increase of the capacity of absorption of compression and traction forces. For this, steel bars are inserted into hollow blocks which are then consolidated with grout in order to increase the load-bearing capacity of the assembly. However, the influence of ceramic block/grout adhesion in the mechanical behavior of structural masonry is still unknown since the NBR 15812-1 (ABNT, 2010) standard does not specify a resistance value for grout/ceramic block adhesion, only for grout/steel adhesion. In view of this finding, the present research has the objective of evaluating the influence of the structural ceramic block/grout adhesion on the mechanical behavior of the assembly in order to determine a value of adhesion tension that can contribute to the NBR 15812-1 (ABNT, 2010) standard For this purpose four types of ceramic blocks with a variation in the internal geometry of the hollow spaces and mechanical strength to compression were used. Grout was standardized in only one strength of 30 MPa. For development of the research, initially the characterization of the materials was performed and, subsequently, the tests of push-out and compressive strength of grout-filled blocks and light microscopy. The results showed that the grout/ceramic block adhesion is superior to the mechanical tensile strength of the ceramic block and, therefore, the rupture of the assembly will occur first in the block. The results also showed a significant increase of the mechanical resistance to axial compression in blocks filled with grout.

This study is concerned with the development of a method for creating shapes and form in clothing with minimum exertion on the cloth, using simple construction techniques. It is an exploration of an approach to producing clothing in a less familiar manner to the usual way of working which involves, almost always, drafting or flat-pattern making. With the expression of the movement of the textile around the body as the main aim, the ‘push/pull’ principle is employed to direct its flow in both a symmetric and asymmetric fashion. It is a principle inspired by Madame Gres, the French designer of the 1930s to 1980s, famous for her neo-classic inspired gowns. The textile, usually a rectangle, is manipulated without cutting into it but by pushing and pulling first, through the upper limbs of the body, and then ‘worked’ around the rest of the body, using draping and pleating to create shapes which are spontaneous, elaborate and not pre-determined. Furthermore, the approach explores the aesthetic potential of draping and combining the Filter 80 PPI, an industrial textile used for filtering, with conventional clothing materials, linen and/or cotton in this case. The parallels and constasts of this mix are noted, together with the distinct expressions, which nonetheless both display a simple approach in construction, minimal manipulation of the textile, the use of the upper limbs as natural obstacles, and the ‘no-cut’ principle of the rectangular piece of cloth. With free form construction and reflection, one discovers expressions possible only through the use of an experimental approach in working. / Program: Master Programme in Fashion and Textile Design

Magister Commercii - MCom / A possible effect of quantitative easing (QE) undertaken by the United States of America (USA) Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) may have been an increase in capital flowing into emerging market economies (EMEs). The 2008 global financial crisis created an environment in which traditional monetary policies – cutting policy rates – became ineffective in stimulating growth. Faced with this policy environment, several high-income countries including the USA resorted to unconventional monetary policies notably QE, to grow their economies. While QE was effective in lowering interest rates in high-income countries, some argued that investors switched to higher yielding assets, mostly EME assets. Therefore, QE is perceived to have increased capital flows into EMEs. Using a dynamic panel data model with fixed effects this mini-thesis investigates empirically whether QE worked through unobservable channels to increase gross private capital inflows to Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) in the period 2000-2015. The study finds evidence in support of the view that QE increased capital inflows to EMEs. The results reveal that gross private capital inflows to the BRICS increased during the QE intervention period and that the increase was higher in the first period of QE than in subsequent QE periods. The empirical results also reveal differences in the way types of capital flows responded to QE; portfolio flows, and in particular equity flows were the most responsive to QE.

Submitted by Daniella Santos (daniella.santos@ufma.br) on 2017-12-05T15:04:08Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ErivamPintoJunior.pdf: 1116751 bytes, checksum: 2155e1eb5a800f430e8378c159cc5e29 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-05T15:04:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ErivamPintoJunior.pdf: 1116751 bytes, checksum: 2155e1eb5a800f430e8378c159cc5e29 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-06-22 / CAPES / The cause and effect relationships between the variations in aggregate demand and inflation are distinct and depend on the theoretical approach adopted for the examination of the inflationary process. Excess demand is not always the prime source of inflation. In some cases, the inflation dynamics can be analyzed from some variables that, when generating cost increases, cause an increase in the general level of prices. The conventional approach admits that equilibrium in the labor market is essentially automatic and that inflation is always a consequence of excess demand. From this diagnosis, he concludes that the role of the monetary authority is to control the demand to a level that corresponds to the non-accelerating unemployment inflation rate, through the manipulation of the interest rate. For the Post-Keynesian approach, this view can only be constructed from the idea that money is endogenous and not neutral, which allows one to see inflation not as a result of excess demand, but that the growth of the currency may have been growth of economic costs. On the other hand, the Distributive Conflict approach seeks to understand the inflationary process from the social and political environment of an economy, considering what are the actions and reactions of the various groups that comprise it and the way in which each group takes initiative in the intention to defend income. The formation of the general level of prices occurs in a different way from those that reflect the scarcity of factors of production and from this analysis, the orthodox elements that associate the inflationary process with anenvironment of excess demand is not present. This research presents a theoretical narrative of how the orthodox approach considers that excess or acceleration of demand is capable of causing inflation and, in the face of such a diagnosis, how it should be combated, followed by interventionist discussion, which adds the endogeneity of money in the analysis of the inflationary process and which considers that inflation can occur even before demand reaches the level of full employment. Subsequently, it seeks to delineate the emergence of Structuralist thought, which opposed dominant theories and sought to understand the inflationary dynamics in Latin American countries from their specificities. Such theorists have provided the basis for the approach that is subsequently analyzed, that of Distributive Conflict. For this, the research tries to expose the real cost variables that are used to analyze the inflationary dynamics of an economy in a given time period, then a comparison of how the approaches exposed diverge and converge in relation to the analysis of inflationary dynamics and the mechanisms which must be adopted in pursuit of the equilibrium of the general level of prices. / As relações de causa e efeito entre as variações da demanda agregada e da inflação são distintas e dependem da abordagem teórica adotada para o exame do processo inflacionário. Nem sempre o excesso de demanda é a fonte primeira de inflação. Em determinados casos, a dinâmica inflacionária pode ser analisada a partir de algumas variáveis que, ao gerar aumentos de custos, causam aumento do nível geral de preços. A abordagem convencional admite que o equilíbrio no mercado de trabalho é essencialmente automático e que a inflação é sempre consequência do excesso de demanda. A partir desse diagnóstico, conclui que o papel da autoridade monetária é controlar a demanda para um nível que corresponda à taxa de desemprego não aceleradora da inflação, através da manipulação da taxa de juros. Para a abordagem Pós-Keynesiana, essa visão só pode ser construída a partir da ideia de que a moeda é endógena e não neutra, o que permite enxergar a inflação não como resultante do excesso de demanda, mas que o crescimento da moeda pode ter sido antecedido pelo crescimento dos custos da economia. Por outro lado, a abordagem do Conflito Distributivo busca entender o processo inflacionário a partir do ambiente social e político de uma economia, considerando quais são as ações e reações dos diversos grupos que a compõem e a maneira como cada grupo toma iniciativa na intenção de defender sua participação na renda. A formação do nível geral de preços ocorre de forma distinta daqueles que refletem a escassez de fatores de produção e a partir dessa análise, os elementos ortodoxos que associam o processo inflacionário a um ambiente de excesso de demanda não se faz presente. Esta pesquisa apresenta uma narrativa teórica de como a abordagem ortodoxa considera que o excesso ou a aceleração da demanda é capaz de causar inflação e, diante de tal diagnostico, como ela deve ser combatida, seguida da discussão intervencionista, que adiciona a endogeneidade da moeda na análise do processo inflacionário e que considera que a inflação pode ocorrer mesmo antes da demanda alcançar o nível de pleno emprego. Posteriormente, procura delinear o surgimento do pensamento Estruturalista, que se opôs às teorias dominantes e que buscou entender a dinâmica inflacionária nos países LatinoAmericanos a partir de suas especificidades. Tais teóricos ofereceram as bases para a abordagem que é analisada subsequentemente, a do Conflito Distributivo. Para isso, a pesquisa trata de expor as variáveis reais de custo que são utilizadas para analisar a dinâmica inflacionária de uma economia em determinado período temporal, depois uma comparação de como as abordagens expostas divergem e convergem em relação à análise da dinâmica inflacionária e os mecanismos que devem ser adotados em busca do equilíbrio do nível geral de preços.

The purpose of this dissertation was to describe the basic characteristics of performing resisted sprint training using a push sled for the enhancement of sport performance. Specifically, this dissertation served to: 1.) quantify the frictional forces involved between a push sled and an AstroTurf® surface at 6 loads, 2.) derive an estimation of mechanical work performed during sled push training, 3.) outline the velocity characteristics of 3 sled pushing loads scaled to the athletes body mass for comparison against their sprinting ability and 4.) determine the interrelations of fitness characteristics to the ability to sprint under heavy resistance. The following are major findings of this dissertation. 1.) Coefficients of static friction (0.53 – 0.37) and dynamic friction (0.35 – 0.28) were calculated at multiple loads for the AstroTurf® surface. 2.) A direct near perfect relationship exists between total system load of the sled and the forces required to initiate and maintain movement of the sled. Although a direct measurement of force would be more precise and account for changes in velocity, the total system load may be a more practical alternative for daily use. 3.) Statistically significant changes in velocity characteristics were observed within each sled pushing load as well as when comparing each load to sprinting. Decrements in peak velocity ranged from about 40%-51% when comparing resisted to unresisted sprinting. Load increments of 25% body mass were heavy enough to cause statistically significant differences in velocity characteristics. 4.) Statistically significant correlations were observed in anthropometry, sprinting ability, jumping ability, and strength to sled pushing. The results indicate that larger athletes, who can not only produce greater force but produce those forces rapidly, in addition to excelling at jumping and sprinting compared to their peers demonstrate the ability to move faster against heavy loads and slow down less from unresisted conditions. The strongest athletes demonstrated statistically nonsignificant differences in peak velocity drop off when compared to their weaker counterparts; however, small to moderate effect sizes (d = 0.27 – 1.02) were observed indicating a practical difference between strength levels in peak velocity and peak velocity drop off.

The purpose of Understanding Why International Student Applicants Choose a Public Four-Year Institution was to apply a mixed-methods research approach to California State University, San Bernardino’s (CSUSB) international student population to better understand the factors associated with an international student’s decision-making processing to study abroad. Internationalization by institutions reflects the current two million international students studying around the world. In recent years internationalization has become more of an economic driving force, whereas in the past it was an opportunity for diversifying knowledge and research. Studies on push and pull factors reflect reasons why international students have decided to go abroad. Factors range from lack of access at home institutions for various programs to the desire to learn about Western culture. Seeing as the population of these studies is so diverse ethnically and culturally, it is important to be mindful of the various forms of capital students possess as an international student and the uniqueness this brings to each students experience. A questionnaire was utilized to gather quantitative data to provide descriptive statistics of the population, and interviews were conducted with participants to acquire the rich stories. The questionnaire submissions resulted in 52 returned surveys for a response rate of five percent. Six interviews were conducted, which provided a diverse group of international student representation for the analysis of the rich text allowing for a strong understanding of this specific case study. Based on the interviews conducted, responses reflected many of those that previous studies found. All but one interviewee mentioned the costs of attending as a deciding factor. Reputation of the institution and prestige of a US degree were also factors mentioned by the majority of participants. Both participants from African countries mentioned a lack of program availability as a reason to go abroad, while both Indian participants mentioned the desire to work after graduating for experience before returning home. Interestingly, most participants mentioned a connected family member to either the institution itself or the state of California as a reason for choosing CSUSB. The data that were collected for the purposes of this study did show some correlation to previous studies findings. The qualitative data proved useful in better understanding the needs of specific students, while also alluding to potential geographic considerations that need to be had when recruiting abroad and meeting the needs of international students around the world.

There has been increasing interest in the development of organic materials due to their unique structural and electronic properties. Organic compounds have the advantage of being able to be deposited from solution, leading to low-cost, high-area electronics production. Contorted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have been shown to have potential for use in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) and organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) due to their supramolecular properties and charge carrier mobilities. Thiophene-based materials have also shown great promise in OFETs due to their high charge carrier mobilities, stability during device operation, solubility in organic solvents, and structural versatility. [n]Circulenes are a class of polycyclic aromatic compounds whose shape depends on the central n-membered ring. These range from bowl-shaped when n < 6, planar when n = 6, and saddle-shaped when n > 6. The shapes of these molecules, especially for the contorted circulenes, imparts interesting and useful properties such as a polarizable π-system and coordination to fullerenes. Using methods developed in our group, synthesis of [12]circulene derivatives was attempted. Synthetic difficulties, results, and a synthetic plan to overcome these problems are presented herein. 2,7-Dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (C8-BTBT) is a thiophene-based p-type semiconducting material with one of the highest reported OFET mobility to date. Alterations to BTBT have been made to improve device processing and tune the electronic structure. However, structural alterations have generally been limited to functionalization with electron-donating groups and extension of the π-system. The lack of electron deficient derivatives has prevented further tuning of the electronic structure. Additionally, installation of strongly electron-withdrawing substituents could give BTBT n-type character as seen with perylene diimides. Several synthetic strategies to develop BTBTs with electron-withdrawing groups were explored. Limitations to developing electron deficient BTBTs as well as synthesis and characterization of novel imide-functionalized derivatives are described.

The turbulent events of the world have resulted in a decline in the number of travelers since 2011. Nevertheless, approximately one billion international tourists still travel annually.Tourist activity plays an important role in the global economic activity. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine if a relationship exists between destination images, push and pull motives to travel, and tourists' satisfaction. The target population consisted of noncitizen and nonresident tourists of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) between March 2017 and April 2017. Oliver's expectancy-disconfirmation theory that the individual will act in a particular way because the expectation that a certain outcome follows the act formed the theoretical framework for this study. Data were collected through a self-developed paper survey using existing Likert-scale questions based on prior research to measure the study variables. A convenience sample of 257 noncitizen and nonresident tourists of the BVI resulted in 247 participants with useable responses. Standard multiple regression analysis determined whether there was a relationship between destination image, push and pull motives to travel, and BVI tourists' satisfaction. The results indicated the 2 predictors, destination image and push and pull motives to travel, accounted for approximately 17% of the variation in tourist satisfaction (R2= .166, F(2,244)= 24.233, p<.001). Either destination image and push and pull motives to travelor both predictors had a significant relationship with tourist satisfaction. The implications for positive social change include employment opportunities through various tourism sectors and for the future development of tourism profitability and sustainability benefiting the local community.

<p>An ever-increasing number of Internet applications, such as content and software distribution, distance learning, multimedia streaming, teleconferencing, and collaborative workspaces, need efficient and secure multicast communication. However, efficiency and security are competing requirements and balancing them to meet the application needs is still an open issue.</p><p>In this thesis we study the efficiency versus security requirements tradeoffs in group key management for multicast communication. The efficiency is in terms of minimizing the group rekeying cost and the key storage cost, while security is in terms of achieving backward secrecy, forward secrecy, and resistance to collusion.</p><p>We propose two new group key management schemes that balance the efficiency versus resistance to collusion. The first scheme is a flexible category-based scheme, and addresses applications where a user categorization can be done based on the user accessibility to the multicast channel. As shown by the evaluation, this scheme has a low rekeying cost and a low key storage cost for the controller, but, in certain cases, it requires a high key storage cost for the users. In an extension to the basic scheme we alleviate this latter problem.</p><p>For applications where the user categorization is not feasible, we devise a cluster-based group key management. In this scheme the resistance to collusion is measured by an integer parameter. The communication and the storage requirements for the controller depend on this parameter too, and they decrease as the resistance to collusion is relaxed. The results of the analytical evaluation show that our scheme allows a fine-tuning of security versus efficiency requirements at runtime, which is not possible with the previous group key management schemes.</p> / Report code: LiU-TEK-LIC-2003:53.