Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) are attractive reinforcements for lightweight and high strength metal matrix composites due to their excellent mechanical and physical properties. The present work is an attempt towards investigating the effect of CNT and GNP reinforcements on the mechanical properties of nickel matrix composites. The CNT/Ni (dry milled) nanocomposites exhibiting a tensile yield strength of 350 MPa (about two times that of SPS processed monolithic nickel ~ 160 MPa) and an elongation to failure ~ 30%. In contrast, CNT/Ni (molecular level mixed) exhibited substantially higher tensile yield strength (~ 690 MPa) but limited ductility with an elongation to failure ~ 8%. The Ni-1vol%GNP (dry milled) nanocomposite exhibited the best balance of properties in terms of strength and ductility. The enhancement in the tensile strength (i.e. 370 MPa) and substantial ductility (~40%) of Ni-1vol%GNP nanocomposites was achieved due to the combined effects of grain refinement, homogeneous dispersion of GNPs in the nickel matrix, and well-bonded Ni-GNP interface, which effectively transfers stress across metal-GNP interface during tensile deformation. A second emphasis of this work was on the detailed 3D microstructural characterization of a new class of Ni-Ti-C based metal matrix composites, developed using the laser engineered net shaping (LENSTM) process. These composites consist of an in situ formed and homogeneously distributed titanium carbide (TiC) as well as graphite phase reinforcing the nickel matrix. 3D microstructure helps in determining true morphology and spatial distribution of TiC and graphite phase as well as the phase evolution sequence. These Ni-TiC-C composites exhibit excellent tribological properties (low COF), while maintaining a relatively high hardness.

The effect of Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) on agri-food trade has drawn broad research interest and gained a substantial attention by scientific community as well as by policy makers. Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) standards among others represent a major challenge for trade policy and food safety. The identification and measurement of the economic implications of NTMs require the use of an adequate both methodological and empirical framework to derive sound estimates. By targeting economic sectors and issues not previously investigated, this Thesis contributes to previous literature on determining the factors that affect the implementation of SPS and their effects on trade flows. Four specific objectives have been pursued in four papers that constitute the main body of the present Thesis. The main purpose of the first paper is to investigate the scope of the reputation effect over time. To do so, we use The European Union (EU)'s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) data on sanitary and phytosanitary notifications from 1998 to 2013. Two count data models have been implemented to estimate the distribution of current notifications. In line with previous literature, our findings indicate that reputation does affect current EU notifications. Furthermore, we identify some relevant exporter countries for which reputation is long-lasting. The second paper aims at analyzing the behavior of the EU in controlling Aflatoxin (AF) contamination with respect to tree nuts and groundnuts for the period (1998-2015). To conduct this analysis, we have used a count data model, based on political economy considerations, past alerts and path dependence effects. Policy changes, including harmonization of AF standards and their further relaxing are estimated to have significant impact on the frequency of border controls. In the third paper, we seek to assess the influencing factors on food standard enforcement in the EU with a special attention to agri-food imports from Mediterranean countries. We explore if there is any special treatment toward Mediterranean countries in controlling agri-food imports, testing if past border notifications affect current decisions on the implementation of food standards by the EU. RASFF notifications data over the period 2000-2012, and count data models are used for this purpose. Our empirical results support the hypothesis that previous food notifications may slightly affect current notifications; nevertheless, this effect seems to be less relevant for products of interest for Mediterranean Partner Countries. Hence, we cannot identify a pro or anti Mediterranean bias in the way that food safety controls are implemented at the EU borders. The last paper focuses on the assessment of the competitiveness of the Tunisian agri-food sector before signing the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with the EU. Specifically, competitive advantage measurement, based on the Tunisian National Institute of Statistics (INS) data over 2007-2012 period, has been used for this purpose. The analysis of the Tunisian agri-food sector reveals an important potential for exporting some agri-food staples. Recently, Tunisia is facing new challenges in exporting strategic products underlying the importance of adopting new business and marketing strategies or prospecting new markets. However, some agri-food subsectors, mainly animal products, milk and dairy products and cereals, remain unprepared to overcome the costs of the DCFTA due to their low competitiveness. Hence, Tunisian authorities could propose a progressive trade liberalization strategy with the EU. / El efecto de las medidas no arancelarias sobre el comercio agroalimentario ha generado un amplio interés en la investigación y ha recibido una atención considerable por parte de la comunidad científica y de los políticos de comercio. Las Medidas Sanitarias y Fitosanitarias (MSP), entre otras, representan un reto importante para la política comercial y la inocuidad de los alimentos. La identificación y medición de las implicaciones económicas de las MNT requieren el uso de un marco metodológico o empírico adecuado para derivar estimaciones sólidas. Al enfocarse en sectores económicos y temas no investigados previamente, esta tesis contribuye a la literatura previa sobre la determinación de los factores que afectan la implementación del MSP. La tesis estudia cuatro cuestiones principales que se reflejan en cuatro artículos científicos independientes, que constituyen el elemento central de la misma. El principal objetivo del primer artículo es el de investigar el efecto reputación a lo largo del tiempo. Para ello, utilizamos los datos RASFF para el periodo 1998-2013. Se han implementado dos modelos de datos de recuento para estimar la distribución de las notificaciones actuales. De acuerdo con la literatura anterior, nuestras conclusiones indican que la reputación afecta a las notificaciones actuales de la UE. Además, identificamos algunos países exportadores relevantes cuya reputación es duradera. El segundo artículo analiza el comportamiento de la UE en el control de la contaminación por Aflatoxina (AF) con respecto a los frutos secos entre el periodo 1998 y 2015. Para llevar a cabo este análisis, hemos utilizado un modelo de datos de recuento, basado en consideraciones de economía política, alertas pasadas y efectos de dependencia de trayectoria. Se estima que los cambios en las políticas, incluida la armonización de las normas AF y su posterior relajación, tienen un impacto significativo en la frecuencia de los controles en las fronteras. En el tercer artículo, tratamos de evaluar los factores que influyen en la aplicación de normas alimentarias en la UE prestando especial atención a las importaciones agroalimentarias procedentes de países mediterráneos. Así, estudiamos si hay algún tratamiento especial hacia los países mediterráneos en el control de las importaciones agroalimentarias, contrastando si las notificaciones pasadas afectan las decisiones actuales sobre la aplicación de las normas alimentarias por parte de la UE. Los datos de las notificaciones RASFF durante el período 2000-2012 y los modelos de datos de recuento se utilizan para este fin. Nuestros resultados empíricos apoyan la hipótesis de que las notificaciones anteriores pueden afectar ligeramente a las notificaciones actuales. Sin embargo, este efecto parece ser menos relevante para los productos procedentes de los países mediterráneos. Por lo tanto, no podemos identificar un comportamiento pro o anti mediterráneo en la forma en que se implementan controles de seguridad alimentaria en las fronteras de la UE.El último documento se centra en la evaluación de la competitividad del sector agroalimentario tunecino antes de firmar el Acuerdo de Libre Comercio Profundo y Amplio con la UE. Concretamente, se han utilizado indicadores de las ventajas competitivas, basándose en los datos del INS para el período 2007-2012. El análisis del sector agroalimentario tunecino revela un importante potencial de exportación de algunos productos básicos agroalimentarios. Recientemente, Túnez se enfrenta a nuevos retos en la exportación de productos estratégicos subrayando la importancia de adoptar nuevas estrategias comerciales y de comercialización o prospección de nuevos mercados. Sin embargo, algunos subsectores agroalimentarios, principalmente productos de origen animal, leche y productos lácteos y cereales, siguen sin estar preparados para soportar los costos del acuerdo de libre comercio profundo y completo debido / L'efecte de les mesures no aranzelàries (MNT) sobre el comerç agroalimentari ha generat un ampli interés en la investigació i ha rebut una atenció considerable per part de la comunitat científica i dels polítics de comerç. Les Mesures Sanitàries i Fitosanitàries (MSP) , entre altres, representen un repte important per a la política comercial i la innocuïtat dels aliments. La identificació i mesurament de les implicacions econòmiques de les MNT requerixen l'ús d'un marc metodològic o empíric adequat per a derivar estimacions sòlides. A l'enfocar-se en sectors econòmics i temes no investigats prèviament, esta tesi contribuïx a la literatura prèvia sobre la determinació dels factors que afecten la implementació del MSF. La tesi estudia quatre qüestions principals que es reflectixen en quatre articles científics independents, que constituïxen l'element central de la mateixa. El principal objectiu del primer article és el d'investigar l'efecte reputació al llarg del temps. Per a això, utilitzem les dades RASFF per al període 1998-2013. S'han implementat dos models de dades de recompte per a estimar la distribució de les notificacions actuals. D'acord amb la literatura anterior, les nostres conclusions indiquen que la reputació afecta les notificacions actuals de la UE. A més, identifiquem alguns països exportadors rellevants la reputació de les quals és duradora. El segon article analitza el comportament de la UE en el control de la contaminació per Aflatoxina (AF) respecte a les fruites seques entre el període 1998 i 2015. Per a dur a terme esta anàlisi, hem utilitzat un model de dades de recompte, basat en consideracions d'economia política, alertes passades i efectes de dependència de trajectòria. S'estima que els canvis en les polítiques, inclosa l'harmonització de les normes AF i la seua posterior relaxació, tenen un impacte significatiu en la freqüència dels controls en les fronteres. En el tercer article, tractem d'avaluar els factors que influïxen en l'aplicació de normes alimentàries en la UE, prestant especial atenció a les importacions agroalimentàries procedents de països mediterranis. Així, estudiem si hi ha algun tractament especial cap als països mediterranis en el control de les importacions agroalimentàries, contrastant si les notificacions passades afecten les decisions actuals sobre l'aplicació de les normes alimentàries per part de la UE. Les dades de les notificacions RASFF durant el període 2000-2012 i els models de dades de recompte s'utilitzen per a este fi. Els nostres resultats empírics recolzen la hipòtesi que les notificacions anteriors poden afectar lleugerament les notificacions actuals. No obstant això, este efecte pareix menys rellevant per als productes procedents dels països mediterranis. Per tant, no podem identificar un comportament pro o anti mediterrani en la forma en què s'implementen controls de seguretat alimentària en les fronteres de la UE. L'últim document se centra en l'avaluació de la competitivitat del sector agroalimentari tunisenc abans de firmar l'Acord de Lliure Comerç Profund i Ampli amb la UE. Concretament, s'ha utilitzat indicadors dels avantatges competitius, basant-se en les dades de l'INS per al període 2007-2012. L'anàlisi del sector agroalimentari tunisenc revela un important potencial d'exportació d'alguns productes bàsics agroalimentaris. Recentment, Tunis s'enfronta a nous reptes en l'exportació de productes estratègics subratllant la importància d'adoptar noves estratègies comercials i de comercialització o prospecció de nous mercats. No obstant això, alguns subsectors agroalimentaris, principalment productes d'origen animal, llet i productes lactis i cereals, seguixen sense estar preparats per a suportar els costos de l'ALCD a causa de la seua baixa competitivitat. Per tant, les autoritats tunisenques podrien proposar una estratègia progres / Taghouti, I. (2017). A political economy approach to measuring EU food standard enforcement and their implications on agri-food trade [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/89095 / TESIS

This master´s thesis focuses on duplex microstructures preparation by powder metallurgy. A hybrid material can be created by combining two or more existing materials in different geometries, and thus the newly formed composite can provide a superposition of the properties of the starting materials (powders). This means that it will have an improved combination of the required properties. The theoretical part describes in detail the hybrid materials and the architectured materials that contain highly controlled structures. Structure control allows to change the variety of possible geometries and opens up a number of other useful properties. Therefore, this thesis also deals with the mechanical alloying and SPS. The experimental part describes procedures of preparation of four samples of composites with a duplex structure from a powder of a significantly tough alloy (austenitic steel 316L) in combination with a powder of a significantly strong alloy (titanium carbonitride). A crucial part of this thesis is characterization of these four samples by electron microscopy methods (SEM, TEM, EDS) and supported by hardness measuring.

Die unzureichende Schulpraxis ist einer der Hauptkritikpunkte, den die Studierenden des polyvalenten Lehramtsbachelors an der Universität Leipzig vorbringen. Besonders hoch sind daher die Erwartungen an die im regulären Verlauf des Studiums verankerten Schulpraktika: die Schulpraktischen Studien (SPS). Die SPS I sind dabei eng mit einem wahlobligatorischen Begleitseminar verbunden, in welchem die Studierenden Methoden der Schul- und Unterrichtsforschung kennenlernen und befähigt werden sollen, diese bei systematischen Beobachtungen und zur Analyse der Schulwirklichkeit anzuwenden. Diese Ziele sowie die Rahmenbedingungen zur Erreichung derselben werden im Folgenden einer Einschätzung durch Studierende und Dozierende unterzogen. Ausgehend von diesen Einschätzungen, soll zunächst die Qualität der SPS I in Bezug auf ihre Stärken und Schwächen aus Perspektive der Befragten beschrieben werden, um darauf aufbauend Verbesserungsvorschläge zu unterbreiten und somit zur Weiterentwicklung der SPS I als wichtigem Baustein beitragen zu können. Im Hinblick auf die Veränderungen im Zuge der Einführung des modularisierten Staatsexamens, wurden die Rahmenbedingungen im betreffenden Modul angepasst. Die Rückmeldungen aus dieser Studie sehen wir dennoch als wichtigen Beitrag zur Sicherung und Weiterentwicklung der Qualität der Lehramtsstudiengänge an der Universität Leipzig.

Programming PLC systems is limited by the provided libraries. In contrary, hardware-near programming needs bigger efforts in e. g. initializing the hardware. This work others a foundation to combine advantages of both development sides. Therefore, Portable.NET from the DotGNU project has been used, which is an implementation of CLI, better known as “.NET”. The target system is the PLCcore-5484 microcontroller board, developed by SYS TEC electronic GmbH. Built upon the porting, two variants to use interrupt routines withing the Portabe.NET runtime environment have been analyzed. Finally, the reaction times to occuring interrupt events have been examined and compared.:Contents List of Tables iv List of Figures v Listings vi 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Objective 1 1.2 Structure 2 2 State of the Art 3 2.1 .NET Framework 3 2.1.1 Common Language Runtime 4 2.1.2 Common Type System 6 2.1.3 Common Language Specification 6 2.1.4 Common Intermediate Language 7 2.1.5 Metadata 8 2.1.6 .NET Class Library 8 2.2 DotGNU 9 2.2.1 Hans-Boehm Garbage Collector 10 2.2.2 Foreign Function Interface 11 2.2.3 Interpreter 11 2.2.4 Unrolled Assembler Code 12 2.2.5 JIT Support 13 2.2.6 Debugging 14 2.2.7 X11 Support 16 2.2.8 Embedded Engine 16 2.3 Mono 17 2.4 Rotor 27 2.5 Coldfire vs. m68k 17 2.5.1 Exclusive Instructions 18 2.5.2 Floating Point Size 18 2.5.3 Other Differences 19 2.5.4 ABI Changes 19 3 Implementation 20 3.1 Incompatible m68k Code 20 3.2 Incompatible Alignments 21 3.3 Broken Toolchain 24 3.4 Unrolling Assembler Code 24 3.4.1 Setup of the Unroller 25 3.4.2 Unroller Implementation 26 3.4.3 m68k Specifics 27 3.4.4 Macro Counting 28 3.4.5 Extended Testsuite 29 3.4.6 Floating Point Remainder 34 3.4.7 Big Endianess 34 3.4.8 NOP is not just no Operation 36 3.4.9 Caches 36 3.5 C# Debugging 37 3.6 Interrupt Access in C# 38 3.6.1 Kernel Module 39 3.6.2 C# Application 40 3.7 Results 42 4 Performance 43 4.1 Portable.NET Benchmark 43 4.2 Benchmark Results 44 4.3 Interrupt Response Time 46 5 Final Remarks and Further Work 53 5.1 Conclusion 53 5.2 Improvements 53 5.2.1 Increasing Engine Performance 53 5.2.2 Tweaking IRQ Handling 54 5.2.3 Porting JIT to MCF5484 55 5.2.4 Miscellaneous 55 6 Acronyms 56 Bibliography 58 A Contents of the enclosed CD 61 / Die Programmierung für SPS-Systeme ist durch die gegebenen Bibliotheken beschränkt, während hardwarenahe Programmierung einen größeren Aufwand durch z.B. Initialisierungen hat. Diese Arbeit bietet eine Grundlage, um die Vorteile beider Entwicklungsseiten zu kombinieren. Dafür wurde Portable.NET des DotGNU-Projekts, eine Implementierung des CLI, bekannter unter dem Namen “.NET”, benutzt. Das Zielsystem ist das PLCcore-5484 Mikrocontrollerboard der SYS TEC electronic GmbH. Aufbauend auf der Portierung wurden zwei Varianten zur Einbindung von Interrupt-Routinen in die Portable.NET Laufzeitumgebung untersucht. Abschließend wurden die Reaktionszeiten zu eintretenden Interrupts analysiert und verglichen.:Contents List of Tables iv List of Figures v Listings vi 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Objective 1 1.2 Structure 2 2 State of the Art 3 2.1 .NET Framework 3 2.1.1 Common Language Runtime 4 2.1.2 Common Type System 6 2.1.3 Common Language Specification 6 2.1.4 Common Intermediate Language 7 2.1.5 Metadata 8 2.1.6 .NET Class Library 8 2.2 DotGNU 9 2.2.1 Hans-Boehm Garbage Collector 10 2.2.2 Foreign Function Interface 11 2.2.3 Interpreter 11 2.2.4 Unrolled Assembler Code 12 2.2.5 JIT Support 13 2.2.6 Debugging 14 2.2.7 X11 Support 16 2.2.8 Embedded Engine 16 2.3 Mono 17 2.4 Rotor 27 2.5 Coldfire vs. m68k 17 2.5.1 Exclusive Instructions 18 2.5.2 Floating Point Size 18 2.5.3 Other Differences 19 2.5.4 ABI Changes 19 3 Implementation 20 3.1 Incompatible m68k Code 20 3.2 Incompatible Alignments 21 3.3 Broken Toolchain 24 3.4 Unrolling Assembler Code 24 3.4.1 Setup of the Unroller 25 3.4.2 Unroller Implementation 26 3.4.3 m68k Specifics 27 3.4.4 Macro Counting 28 3.4.5 Extended Testsuite 29 3.4.6 Floating Point Remainder 34 3.4.7 Big Endianess 34 3.4.8 NOP is not just no Operation 36 3.4.9 Caches 36 3.5 C# Debugging 37 3.6 Interrupt Access in C# 38 3.6.1 Kernel Module 39 3.6.2 C# Application 40 3.7 Results 42 4 Performance 43 4.1 Portable.NET Benchmark 43 4.2 Benchmark Results 44 4.3 Interrupt Response Time 46 5 Final Remarks and Further Work 53 5.1 Conclusion 53 5.2 Improvements 53 5.2.1 Increasing Engine Performance 53 5.2.2 Tweaking IRQ Handling 54 5.2.3 Porting JIT to MCF5484 55 5.2.4 Miscellaneous 55 6 Acronyms 56 Bibliography 58 A Contents of the enclosed CD 61

Uno degli aspetti più documentati del comportamento deviante è che una porzione considerevole di reati è commessa da più persone che collaborano tra loro, e non da criminali che agiscono in autonomia. Oltre ad analizzare le caratteristiche della compartecipazione nei reati, alcuni studi recenti si sono focalizzati sulla comprensione della sua evoluzione lungo la carriera criminale dell’individuo, e sul suo impatto sulla traiettoria criminale. Il concetto di collaborazione criminale è particolarmente rilevante nel contesto dei gruppi criminali organizzati, per i quali le interazioni tra i membri costituiscono l’essenza del loro funzionamento, e i reati commessi sono spesso logisticamente complessi. Ciononostante, il fenomeno della collaborazione criminale ha ricevuto scarsa attenzione nella ricerca sulla criminalità organizzata, e nessuno studio analizza il suo ruolo nel definire la traiettoria criminale del singolo individuo che entra a fare parte di un'organizzazione criminale. Il presente studio mira a colmare questa lacuna in letteratura analizzando i dati sui 178.427 reati commessi da tutti gli 11.138 individui condannati per associazione mafiosa in Italia tra il 1985 e il 2017. I dati includono informazioni sull’eventuale concorso in reato per ogni crimine commesso. L’analisi condotta si avvale di diverse metodologie quantitative con lo scopo di fornire un quadro descrittivo della collaborazione criminale nella criminalità organizzata; determinare se i membri delle organizzazioni criminali hanno diverse traiettorie longitudinali di collaborazione criminale; comprendere quale sia l’impatto di commettere crimini in collaborazione con altri individui sul comportamento criminale futuro; e studiare come la collaborazione criminale sia correlata con il reclutamento nella criminalità organizzata. I risultati dell’analisi dimostrano che il concorso in reato non è una caratteristica incidentale dei crimini commessi dagli individui che fanno parte dei gruppi criminali organizzati. Alcune delle caratteristiche della collaborazione criminale nel contesto della criminalità organizzata riflettono i risultati principali ottenuti negli studi condotti in altre popolazioni criminali, ma emergono alcune peculiarità. Inoltre, il trend aggregato di compartecipazione nei reati dei mafiosi italiani può essere approssimato da cinque traiettorie che raggruppano individui con caratteristiche specifiche. Infine, la collaborazione criminale appare correlata con dei cambiamenti nei successivi comportamenti criminali degli individui: in particolare, è connessa a una più alta probabilità di commettere reati violenti, e di entrare a far parte dell’organizzazione criminale nel breve periodo. Lo studio discute questi risultati alla luce della letteratura sullo sviluppo dei comportamenti criminali per i membri dei gruppi criminali organizzati, e in relazione alla ricerca esistente sulle cause e conseguenze di commettere reati in collaborazione con altri individui. / One of the most documented findings on delinquent behavior is that many crimes are committed in the company of others rather than by solo offenders. Besides studying the characteristics of co-offending, recent works have focused on understanding its evolution over the individual criminal career, and its impact on the offending trajectory. Co-offending is especially relevant within organized criminal groups, where interactions among participating offenders constitute the core functioning of the criminal organization, and crimes committed are often logistically complex. In spite of this, few studies on co-offending in organized crime exist, and none of them investigates the role that co-offending has on the offending pathway of the single individual. This study addresses this gap in research by analyzing data on all the 178,427 crimes committed by 11,138 offenders convicted for mafia association in Italy between 1985 and 2017. The data set includes information on whether each crime was committed with accomplices. The analysis exploits different quantitative methodologies with the aim to describe the characteristics of co-offenses and co-offenders in organized crime; determine whether organized crime offenders have different longitudinal co-offending trajectories; investigate whether committing crimes with others impacts future offending; and understand how co-offending is related to recruitment into organized crime. Results demonstrate that co-offending is not an incidental feature of crimes committed by organized crime offenders. Some of the characteristics of co-offending in organized crime reflect findings from other offending samples, but some peculiarities emerge. Furthermore, the longitudinal co-offending behavior of Italian organized crime offenders is best approximated by five trajectories that group offenders with distinct characteristics. Finally, co-offending is related to changes in the future offending behavior of organized crime offenders: in particular, it is related to higher chances of engaging in violent forms of delinquency and experiencing organized crime recruitment in the short term. These findings are discussed in relation to both research on the developmental course of offending for members of organized criminal groups, and existing knowledge on the causes and consequences of offending with others.

För att kunna vara konkurrenskraftig är en hög leveranssäkerhet viktigt för många företag. Leveranssäkerhet är extra viktigt för logistikföretag därför att leverera i rätt tid och till rätt kvalitet utgör deras kärnverksamhet. Kunder kräver även hög leveranssäkerhet när de väljer sina leverantörer, vilket innebär att leveranssäkerhet blir ett krav för att ett företag ska anses som ett alternativ för kunden. Martin & Servera Logistik är ett logistikföretag inom livsmedelsbranschen och hanterar cirka 6000 leveranser varje dag. De arbetar kontinuerligt med att förbättra sin leveranssäkerhet, vilket mäts i antal kundreklamationer. En del av dessa reklamationer uppstår på grund av avvikelser i transportprocessen, vilket leder till kvalitetsbristkostnader i form av returer och omarbeten.  Syftet med denna studie är att utreda problem och brister som kan uppstå i transportprocesser hos logistikföretag, specifikt inom livsmedelsbranschen. Studien syftar även till att ge exempel på förbättringar som kan implementeras för att höja leveranssäkerheten och minska kvalitetsbristkostnader. För att uppnå syftet har en fallstudie genomförts hos Martin & Servera Logistik. Studien har bedrivits som ett Sex-Sigma projekt där problemlösningsmetoden DMAIC har använts. Akronymen DMAIC står för Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve och Control.  Projektet har inneburit analys av både kvantitativa och kvalitativa data. En litteraturstudie har genomförts för att förklara sambandet mellan leveranssäkerhet och kvalitetsbristkostnader och hur dessa kan påverkas med hjälp av processutveckling. Insamling av data har gjorts genom intervjuer och en fokusgrupp. Analys har genomförts med hjälp av metoder inom statistisk processtyrning, processkartläggning, och tematisk analys av intervjuer.  Från studien framkom att de vanligaste kvalitetsbristerna som uppstår i en transportprocess är olika former av transportskador samt att varor saknas vid leverans. Bland de vanligaste orsakerna till kvalitetsbrister som identifierades fanns feltemperering, krosskador och felplacerat gods. Exempel på förbättringsåtgärder för att höja leveranssäkerheten är att koppla orsakklassificeringar till specifika processaktiviteter, till exempel i ett avvikelsehanteringssystem.  Utifrån studiens resultat kan det konstaterats att minskade kvalitetsbristkostnader kan utgöra ett mått på ökad leveranssäkerhet, vilket kan uppnås genom kontinuerligt arbete med processutveckling. Baserat på tidigare studier kan det även konstateras att leveranssäkerhet kan bidra till minskat slöseri i transportprocesser och på så vis bidra till hållbar utveckling. Kravet på leveranssäkerhet för att förbli konkurrenskraftig kan därigenom användas som incitament för att utveckla företagets processer. Detta kan göras i syfte att minska kostnader, öka kundtillfredsställelse och bidra till hållbar utveckling.

Magister Legum - LLM / It has been held that agricultural domestic support would not be such a contentious issue if its only effect was the benefit of local farmers, but this is not the case.1 It was found that several forms of domestic support have the effect of distorting the patterns of agricultural production and trade at an international level, leaving non-supported farmers elsewhere worse off.2 It was thus concluded that such support measures may indeed nullify the benefits which accrue from trade liberalisation and explains how the AoA3 regulates these measures in a way that reduces their trade distorting effects.4 It has been noted that the agricultural sector only accounted for a small percentage of the developed world's Gross Domestic Product {GDP}, yet the regulation of international agricultural trade was not an easy task.5 Smith explains that numerous attempts were made to implement some form of regulation, including a half-hearted effort in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the subsequent AoA upon the creation of the WTO in 1995.6 According to Smith, the successful regulation of international agricultural trade remained elusive, despite Desta MG and McMahon JA explain that the WTO is not very concerned with countries that provide domestic support to their agricultural sectors, as this only matters to the extent that it hopes for liberalising trade in the sector.7 affects trade in that sector.8 It is further observed that the AoA balances out the freedom to provide domestic support with the need to reduce or eliminate the trade distortive effects thereof and note that the AoA has essentially made all forms of domestic support more transparent and easier to deal with.9 A party is therefore unlikely to be challenged, successfully, if domestic support is given in accordance with the provisions of the AoA.10 The aforementioned views only seem to address the merits of the AoA and the way in which it regulates the use of agricultural subsidies. It should however be noted that the literature fails to address the fact that the WTO has not enforced the provisions of the AoA very effectively against the EU and the USA, in light of the continued misuse of subsidies within both parties. In this regard it must be ascertained whether the WTO should impose stricter penalties as a means to deter its member states, especially the EU and USA, from using subsidies in an abusive way. In addition to this, it must be determined which types of penalties can and should be imposed.

La tesi analizza le presidenze di Mahmūd Ahmadīnezhād (2005-2013) all’interno del fazionalismo iraniano postrivoluzionario, mettendo in luce gli aspetti caratteristici e peculiari dei cosiddetti ultraradicali. La prospettiva storica che introduce all’Iran contemporaneo attraverso l’analisi dei principali avvenimenti del Novecento, dalla Rivoluzione Costituzionale (1906) alla nascita della Repubblica islamica (1979), affianca un’analisi politica sull’ascesa al potere degli ultraradicali. La tesi esamina le reazioni e le relazioni politiche interne, la rinnovata postura internazionale, le politiche socioeconomiche e l’eredità lasciata dalle presidenze Ahmadīnezhād. È tracciata una panoramica storico-politica sull’esperienza degli ultraradicali per comprendere le cause socioeconomiche e politiche che hanno determinato la loro ascesa, i cambiamenti introdotti all’interno dell’élite postrivoluzionaria e, in ultimo, gli effetti interni e internazionali della loro parabola politica. L’approccio storico si è altresì servito di uno studio dei vocaboli in uso nella letteratura occidentale e dei termini persiani utilizzati per riferirsi al gruppo, al fine di individuare le etichette politiche impiegate e il loro rispettivo valore. Vi è quindi, in definitiva, un’analisi della categoria politica del radicalismo per decretare se, per quali aspetti e secondo quali schemi interpretativi, Ahmadinejad e il suo gruppo di alleati possano essere considerati e interpretati come radicali. / The thesis analyses the presidencies of Mahmūd Ahmadīnezhād (2005-2013) within the post-revolutionary Iranian factionalism, highlighting the characteristics and the peculiar features of the so-called hardliners. The historical perspective introduces the main turning points in contemporary Iran, from the Constitutional Revolution (1906) to the foundation of the Islamic Republic (1979). The political analysis looks therefore at the political ascendancy of the hardliners, the following internal reactions, the renewed international posture, the socio-economic policies and, ultimately, the legacy left by the Ahmadīnezhād presidencies. The aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of the hardlines’ political experience to disclose their domestic and foreign postures and their effect within the post-revolutionary political debate. The thesis also examines the category of radicalism by looking at labels used by both the Western literature and Persian language to refer to the hardliners. This thesis aims to address whether, for which aspects and according to which perspective, Ahmadinejad and his close circle of allies could be considered and interpreted as radicals.

La Ciudad Compacta es un modelo urbano que busca mejorar la vida de sus ciudadanos, una estructura urbana que hace un uso eficiente de los recursos naturales, del espacio y permite implantar sistemas de transporte respetuosos con el medio ambiente e integrados en un esquema policéntrico. En este trabajo se propone la aplicación del Sistema de Polinúcleos Sostenibles (SPS) como método para articular territorios y alcanzar los objetivos que la ciudad compacta requiere. El análisis de Indicadores de Sostenibilidad nos permite testar de una manera parametrizada los índices de sostenibilidad de un entorno urbano bajo un enfoque integral, conformando una Matriz Compleja de Indicadores, al objeto de definir Estrategias de Revitalización Urbana que posibiliten su evolución hacia la Ciudad Compacta, pudiendo ser aplicados en un barrio de nueva creación o en uno ya existente. A lo largo de la costa mediterránea española encontramos múltiples núcleos turísticos maduros, siendo La Manga del Mar Menor (Murcia), un prototipo característico. Se trata de un ámbito masificado, con graves problemas de movilidad e infraestructuras durante la época estival y poco más que una ciudad abandonada durante el resto del año, cuyas características urbanas ponen en riesgo la riqueza de su entorno natural. Un paraíso natural en 1960, un mar de edificios en la actualidad. Es nuestra responsabilidad invertir este proceso, recuperando los principios del Plan original de Bonet y Puig Torné, buscando nuevos modos de relación con la naturaleza, el territorio, el lugar y nuevas formas de asentarnos en ella, complementándolos con el Sistema de Polinúcleos Sostenibles (SPS), para garantizar la supervivencia del ecosistema transformando La Manga en un ejemplo de Ciudad Compacta y Sostenible. “Ante todo, la sostenibilidad significa una vida mejor para las generaciones futuras” (Rogers, 2000). Con esta investigación, se pretende no solo establecer conclusiones concretas para el ámbito de La Manga del Mar Menor, sino configurar una Metodología precisa que posibilita aplicar las medidas de reequilibrio del Sistema de Polinúcleos Sostenibles (SPS) en distintos entornos, independientemente de su escala o características, siendo La Manga del Mar Menor un ejemplo más de esta sistemática.