32 pp. / Bugs @ Home series; Revised / How to keep bugs out and reduce your utility costs!

Military mutinies are occurring more frequently in the last two decades than ever before. Mutinies impact every region of the world. Given that they are occurring more frequently, impact every region, and often have disastrous implications, scholars must answer the foundational question: why do mutinies occur? What are the proximate domestic conditions that give rise to military mutinies? This project makes three contributions. First, I set out to formally define mutinies and collect a new dataset that will allow scholars to examine mutinies empirically. Second, I present a theoretical framework that explains when and why mutinies will occur. Finally, I present three novel empirical tests of the theory. The first portion of this dissertation defines mutinies and describes the data collection process. I present the Military Mutinies and Defections Databases (MMDD). Using news articles from various sources, I code 460 mutiny events from 1945 – present day. I code a number of other variables that give users details about the event, such as: whether or not violence was used, whether or not civilians were killed, and whether or not soldiers defected from the military apparatus. Next, I utilize a nested principal agent model to describe when mutinies are likely to occur. Agent models describe hierarchical relationships of delegation. A nested structure allows for multiple agents and multiple principals in a given model. I apply this nested structure to the military to generate three various nests. The first examines foot soldiers as an agent of the military leadership. In this nest, policy failures (e.g., bad strategy) secured by the military leadership will drive foot soldier mutinies. The second nest explores foot soldiers as agents of the executive, a civilian principal. In this nest, I expect that situations that place soldiers in conflict with the executive will generate shirking. The final nest considers foot soldiers and military leadership as collective agents of the executive. I theorize that risk aversion and divergent preferences will drive shirking, or mutinies, in this nested structure. The final nest presents an interesting trade-off for a coup-worried leader. I argue that while executives can utilize regime securing strategies, such strategies might actually agitate the military and drive low level military rebellions. Coup proofing, a common practice among executives that are worried they will be ousted by the military, effectively wards of coups but can generate unintended consequences. Specifically, I expect that counterbalancing measures and other coup proofing tactics should spur mutinies because the intended purpose of these measures is to create coordination challenges which likely spur military splintering. The first empirical chapter sets out to explore the relationship between civil conflict and the likelihood of mutinies. I expect that when civil wars are extremely bloody or long lasting, mutinies will be more likely as war-weary soldiers no longer want to invest in the war effort. I find evidence that indeed civil war intensity and duration contribute to the probability of a state experiencing a mutiny. The second empirical chapter explores scenarios that pit foot soldiers preferences against the executive’s. I expect that scenarios that impose steep costs on foot soldiers, yet provide some benefit to the executive are likely to spur mutinies. I find evidence that protest events and divisionary conflict spur mutinies. The final empirical chapter explores the military apparatus as a whole. I find that coup proofing measures increase the likelihood of mutinies. Additionally, I find that scenarios that are likely to spur widespread dissent among military actors will increase the likelihood of a mutiny in the context of steep coordination challenges that stifle coup activity. The final chapter concludes by providing policy recommendations. I offer recommendations for leader states (e.g., major powers and democratic leaders in the international system) and for states experiencing mutinies. I conclude by discussing the many possible extensions for this project. This section seeks to emphasis the fact that this is a young, novel research program with many promising avenues for future research.

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31 pp. / Many pests encountered in homes and structures can be prevented by using simple techniques collectively known as “pest-proofing”. If done correctly, pest-proofing your home saves you money by reducing pest management costs, and more importantly, reduces potential pesticide exposure. This publication describes general indoor and outdoor pest-proofing measures and some of the major pests encountered in and around homes and structures.

Ce travail consiste en l’étude de la faisabilité de l’application du chauffage ohmique aux opérations de fermentation et de cuisson de la pâte à pain, dans l’objectif d’une production de pain de mie sans croûte. Les caractéristiques de la pâte ont été étudiées, et principalement l’évolution de sa conductivité électrique – moteur de la génération de chaleur en chauffage ohmique. La conductivité électrique est très fortement dépendante des teneurs en sel et en eau de la pâte. Elle augmente également avec la température, mais diminue avec la porosité de la pâte et lors de la gélatinisation de l’amidon. Des équations simples ont pu être déterminées pour son calcul. Un premier modèle thermique a été développé afin de mieux comprendre la formation de gradients de température au sein du produit.Un prototype de four ohmique a été construit, permettant de réaliser à la fois la fermentation et la cuisson de pain de mie sans croûte. L’utilisation du chauffage ohmique permet une réduction significative de la phase de latence et donc du temps de fermentation. Une analyse d’images par tomographie rayons X a montré une porosité plusdéveloppée dans le produit fini, de même qu’une croissance des pores plus importante dans la partie supérieure du pain, contrairement à une cuisson conventionnelle.L’utilisation du chauffage ohmique en panification peut mener à des gains énergétiques potentiels d’un facteur 10. Les rendements énergétiques du procédé ont été évaluéssur gel de tylose, et sont comparables aux valeurs observées par de précédents auteurs. Enfin, un modèle numérique simplifié de transfert de chaleur et de matière a été développé, dans le but d’être employé comme outil prédictif lors d’une cuisson de pain par chauffage ohmique. / This work aims at studying the feasibility of applying ohmic heating to the proofing and baking steps of bread dough, for an objective of crustless bread production. The characteristics of the dough were studied, and mainly the evolution of its electrical conductivity – keyvariable of the heat generation in ohmic heating. The electrical conductivity is highly dependent on the salt and water contents of the dough. It also increases with the temperature, but decreases with the porosity of the dough and during the starch gelatinization step. Simple equations were used to calculate its evolution. A first thermal model was developed to understand better the formation of temperature gradients in the product.An ohmic oven prototype was built in order to realize proofing and baking of crustless bread in the same apparatus. The use of ohmic heating leads to a significant decrease of the lag time and therefore of the proofing time. An X-ray tomography image analysis showed a higher development of the porosity in the final product when using ohmic heating, as well as a more developed network in the upper part of the bread, contrary to a conventional baking.The use of ohmic heating may lead to potential energy savings of a factor of 10. The energy rates of the process were calculated using a gel of tylose, and were in the range of what could be observed by previous authors. Finally, a simplified numerical model of heat and mass transfer was developed, to be used as a predictive tool during the baking of bread by ohmic heating

Yes / Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs) have become a critical vehicle for delivering infrastructure worldwide. Yet, the use of such a procurement strategy has received considerable criticism, as they have been prone to experiencing time/cost overruns and during their operation poorly managed. A key issue contributing to the poor performance of PPPs is the paucity of an effective and comprehensive performance measurement system. There has been a tendency for the performance of PPPs to be measured based on their ex-post criteria of time, cost and quality. Such criteria do not accommodate the complexities and lifecycle of an asset. In addressing this problem, the methodology of sequential triangulation is used to develop and examine the effectiveness of a ‘Process Management Life Cycle Performance Measurement System’. The research provides public authorities and private-sector entities embarking on PPPs with a robust mechanism to effectively measure, control and manage their projects’ life cycle performances, ensuring the assets are ‘future proofed’.

Yes / Population ageing and fiscal austerity are set to increase the reliance on family carers, who already provide much of the support for people with long term health conditions. Although most carers are willing, providing care can be hugely stressful, affecting mental and physical health1 and resulting in social isolation and financial hardship.2 When under strain, carers are less likely to be effective, increasing the risk that the care recipient is admitted to hospital or a care home.3 Health systems could reduce strain on family carers by routinely considering carers’ needs alongside patients’ needs in everyday healthcare decisions—a concept we term “carer proofing”. / none

Il crime-proofing è uno strumento di prevenzione criminale promosso dalla Commissione Europea fin dal 2000. Il concetto di crime-proofing parte dall'idea che la regolamentazione dei mercati legittimi possa essere criminogenica, ossia produrre involontariamente opportunità criminali (nuove tecniche, maggiori profitti e/o minori rischi a favore dei criminali). Lo scopo è identificare queste opportunità, se presenti, ed individuare possibili strategie di contrasto. Questa tesi indaga il crime-proofing partendo da un modello di Crime Risk Assessment (CRAM) elaborato a questo scopo per la Commissione Europea. Il CRAM è stato adattato e applicato ad un fenomeno criminale di estrema attualità: la contraffazione dei marchi, con particolare riferimento al settore moda in Italia. La contraffazione è oggi una forma di economia sotterranea che ha alti impatti economici e sociali. Il settore moda è uno dei più colpiti, a causa dell'alta domanda di beni contraffatti e di basse barriere di ingresso al mercato. L'Italia è un paese leader nel mercato mondiale ed è fortemente vulnerabile alla contraffazione. Il crime risk assessment presentato in questo studio evidenzia come il quadro normativo italiano agevoli inavvertitamente l'industria della contraffazione, attraverso opportunità non previste e scappatoie nella regolazione. Obiettivo finale è quello di verificare se il crime-proofing funziona, se la metodologia attuale può essere migliorata e come questa possa essere inserita nei processi di produzione legislativa, per minimizzare il rischio di conseguenze inattese. / Crime-proofing is a crime prevention method promoted by the EU Commission since 2000. It starts from the assumption that the regulation governing legitimate sectors/markets might be criminogenic, i.e. producing unexpected opportunities for crime, in terms of new techniques, higher rewards and/or lower risk to criminals. It therefore aims at identifying such opportunities, if any, and finding out possible remedies. This thesis explores the crime-proofing approach, starting from a Crime Risk Assessment Mechanism (CRAM) that was developed to this purpose for the EU Commission. This is adapted and applied to a topical criminal phenomenon: the counterfeiting of trademarks, with special reference to the Italian fashion sector. Counterfeiting is nowadays a form of underground economy, which produces negative economic and social impacts. Fashion is one of the most affected industries, because of high consumer demand of counterfeit goods and low barriers for market entry. Italy is a leader country in the global fashion industry and is highly vulnerable to counterfeiting. The crime risk assessment undertaken in this study highlights how the Italian regulatory framework may inadvertently facilitate the counterfeiting industry, through unintended opportunities and regulatory loopholes. The ultimate goal is to check the crime-proofing functioning, whether the methodology can be improved and how it can be implemented at law-making level to minimize the risk of unexpected effects.

This study develops a leader-centric theory of civil-military relations that expands upon three broad areas of research. Specifically, the study suggests that leaders will evaluate multiple threats to their political survival and will ultimately implement strategy that is most likely to keep them in power. While Downs (1957) has noted such a tendency in democracies, this study expands this rationale to authoritarian regimes by focusing on the primary means of authoritarian removal: the military coup. In contrast to the state-centric nature of traditional international relations theory, this dissertation finds that leaders frequently undermine the power of the state in order to accomplish the self-interested goal of political survival. First, the study carefully describes a number of coup-proofing strategies that leaders can implement. These are broadly defined in terms of influencing either the military’s willingness or its ability to attempt a coup. In addition to testing the effectiveness of these strategies, this study also theoretically explores the implications of coup-proofing for other political development of the state: interstate and intrastate conflict. Second, the study considers the influence of coup-proofing on interstate conflict. This study builds on the diversionary literature by investing coup risk as an incentive to use diversionary tactics as well as coup-proofing as a potential disincentive. The latter can both undermine the necessity of diversion as well as military capabilities, making leaders less capable of utilizing international conflict as a political tool. Third, the dissertation considers the influence of coup-proofing on intrastate conflict. The theory argues that the capability-reducing practice of coup-proofing can have important domestic consequences. Specifically, the practice can increase the mobilizational potential of would-be insurgents, can reduce the mobilizational capacity of the state, and leaders that are particularly fearful of a coup will likely tolerate the rise of an insurgency.

This PhD project aims to develop a cost modelling system to support lean product and process development. The system enables the designers to assess the design along with associated manufacturing processes and provides decision support at an early development stage. Design assessment at early development stage can help designers to take proactive decisions, eliminate mistakes and enhance product value. The developed cost modelling system to support lean product and process development incorporates three lean product and process development enablers, namely set-based concurrent engineering, knowledge-based engineering, and mistake-proofing (poka-yoke). To facilitate above explained lean enablers, the system architecture contains six modules, six separate groups of database, a CAD modelling system, and a user interface. The system modules are: (i) value identification; (ii) manufacturing process/machines selection; (iii) material selection; (iv) geometric features specification; (v) geometric features and manufacturability assessment; and (vi) manufacturing time and cost estimation. The group of database includes: (i) geometric features database, (ii) material database, (iii) machine database, (iv) geometric features assessment database, (v) manufacturability assessment database, and (vi) previous projects cost database. A number of activities have been accomplished to develop the cost modelling system. Firstly, an extensive literature review related to cost estimation, and lean product and process development was performed. Secondly, a field study in European industry and a case study analysis were carried out to identify current industrial practices and challenges. Thirdly, a cost modelling system to support lean product and process development was developed. Finally, validation of the system was carried out using real life industrial case studies. The system provides a number of benefits, as it enables designers to incorporate lean thinking in cost estimation. It takes into consideration downstream manufacturable process information at an early upstream stage of the design and as a result the designer performs the process concurrently and makes decisions quickly. Moreover, the system helps to avoid mistakes during product features design, material and manufacturing process selection, and process parameters generation; hence it guides toward a mistake-proof product development. The main feature of the system, in addition to manufacturing cost estimation, is set-based concurrent engineering support; because the system provides a number of design values for alternative design concepts to identify the feasible design region. The major contribution of the developed system is the identification and incorporation of three major lean product and process development enablers, namely set-based concurrent engineering, knowledge-based engineering and poka-yoke (mistake-proofing) in the cost modelling system. A quantification method has been proposed to eliminate the weaker solution among several alternatives; therefore only the feasible or strong solution is selected. In addition, a new cost estimation process to support lean product and process development has been developed which assists above explained three lean product and process development enablers.