Thesis advisor: Ali Banuazizi / Thesis advisor: Jennifer L. Erickson / This study will take an economic historical approach to the Arab Spring in an attempt to discover why citizens across the Middle East and North Africa rose up against their respective governments and demand change. The study will focus, more specifically, on Egypt and Tunisia where the revolutions were successful in overthrowing Ben Ali and Mubarak. It will be shown that the Arab Spring in Egypt and Tunisia as well as regionally was primarily the result of decades of economic stagnation and regression for the vast majority of citizens as well a notable increase in the levels of education across the populations. A plethora of concrete statistics, including but not limited to the Gini coefficient, unemployment rates, and GDP per capita, all combine to show that the Middle East and North Africa was not only a highly unequal place but also one where citizens found ample reason to demand meaningful change. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

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The aims of the present study were to evaluate: i.) mixtures of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) by combining cultivars differing in plant height or time of maturity, and ii) mixtures of cultivars of cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) and timothy (Phleum pratense L.) based on differences in maturity group. Experiments were conducted on mixtures of cultivars of spring barley and on mixtures of cocksfoot and timothy. The grain yields of all the mixtures tested in 1985 were similar. Of 4 mixtures tested, Midas/Triumph and Kym/Klaxon outyielded (though not significantly) their respective highest yielding pure stand component. Within mixtures, the taller or the earlier maturing component was more aggressive than the other component. All four mixtures produced relative yield totals (RYT) greater than 1.0. The highest RYT's came from mixing cultivars of different maturities. In the second experiment, in 1986, Triumph outproduced both Doublet and Klaxon, having more ears and grains per M2. The mixtures did not vary in grain yield from the mean of their pure stand components. In mixtures, the taller component was generally more dominant. In contrast to the previous year, all three mixtures tested in 1986 had yields approximately double those of the previous year, and RYT's less than 1.00. In the third experiment, application of fertiliser had a significant effect on the grain yield of pure stands and mixtures. At low fertilty, Triumph outproduced Doublet in both number of grains per area and grain yield, though at moderate fertility the opposite was true. In mixture, Triumph outcompeted Doublet at both low and moderate fertility levels. It produced more ears and grains per m2 and thus higher grain yields. The relative yields of Triumph were higher than those of Doublet. Similar results were found in glasshouse experiments. An experiment was set up in 1985, and ran over for 3 years, to investigate the performance of mixtures of early and late cultivars of cocksfoot and timothy. In the establishment year, there was no difference between total dry matter yield of full density pure stands of cocksfoot and timothy, though cocksfoot produced more tillers but less total harvestable leaf area than timothy. In the second year, full density pure stands of timothy produced higher total dry matter, mean number of tillers and total harvestable leaf area than full density pure stands of cocksfoot. In the third year (the only year when fertiliser was applied), full density pure stands of cocksfoot produced higher total dry matter, mean number of tillers and total harvestable leaf area than full density pure stands of timothy. Arguably, the best overall yield came from early cocksfoot/late timothy because it had one very high yielding year and in no year was RYT less than 1.0. The results from all the experiments suggest that mixtures can in some circumstances outyield the midmonoculture yields of their components. This occurs when (i) the components are of contrasting types ( e.g. in morphology and growth pattern) and (ii) when pure stand yields are inherently low. This reinforces the opinion that mixtures may be of greatest benefit in low input agricultural systems.

The purpose of this investigation was to characterize the population dynamics of the benthos of selected pristine thermal springs.

M.A. (Politics) / The study undertakes to establish whether the Arab uprisings of 2011 can be understood as the product of a process of contagion or diffusion, and to analyse how protests spread between Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. A framework of diffusion is developed from the literature in light of which the protests in these countries are analysed. Furthermore, the aim is to determine whether the outcomes of the uprisings have resulted in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya being any more democratic than they were before. For this purpose, political conditions in these countries are analysed against a framework of democratic transition. The study finds that the protests in late 2010 and 2011 did in fact originate in Tunisia and spread to Egypt and then Libya through a process of diffusion, by which adopters in Egypt and Libya emulated the behaviour of protesters in Tunisia who had demonstrated a successful innovation. Evidence for this is found in the analysis of the elements and mechanisms of the diffusion process, specifically in the master frames of protesters, particular features of protests common to all three countries, and similarities and channels of communication between transmitters and adopters. Only in Tunisia is the outcome of the uprising found to have produced democratic results. The country has met most of the procedural requirements of democracy in addition to developing many key democratic values in the transition process. In Egypt, the state has reverted back to the control of the old regime’s security apparatus, and Egyptians enjoy even less protection of human and civil rights than before. The failure of Libya’s transitional authorities to harness the rogue militias that emerged after the civil war has resulted in the virtual absence of the rule of law and the almost complete delegitimisation of the country’s young democratic institutions. With the emergence of two rival parliaments Libya risks further descent into chaos.

Thesis advisor: Kathleen Bailey / The recent wave of unrest across the Middle East has raised crucial questions about the stability of the remaining regimes in the region. Monarchies have appeared to have weathered the Arab Spring well and have emerged relatively intact while republics such as Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria have experienced revolutions that have completely overturned existing political and economic systems. Jordan has consistently been praised as a beacon of gradual liberalization in a region where so many dictators have ruthlessly clung to power. Upon closer inspection, however, the Jordanian system is not as well adjusted to democracy and economic capitalism as it may seem. The rentier system, most commonly found in resource rich countries, allows authoritarian regimes to co-opt their populations by using economic rent to supply goods and services usually provided by representative governments. Jordan fulfills a unique role as a rentier state because it does not possess natural resources but is instead able to co-opt its citizens as a result of the influx of external rent that the government receives through foreign aid and remittances. Drawing analysis primarily from scholarly articles and making use of media analysis and first person interviews, I examine the current problems facing the Jordanian system and the changes that have taken place as a result of the popular uprisings during the Arab Spring. The larger implications of this research present a roadmap for other entrenched regimes to follow in order to avoid falling into the self reinforcing and destructive system of favors and economic rent. While it may be too late for Jordan to reform its political system without a revolutionary overhaul, other regimes have the potential to work their way out of the rentier system before the network of rentseeking groups in itself becomes a force that not even the regime can stop. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Political Science .

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Montana, 2006. / Mode of access: Internet. Title from title screen. Description based on contents viewed Feb. 13, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 118-121).

Realistic predictions of service life of steel catenary risers (SCR) require an accurate characterization of seafloor stiffness in the region where the riser contacts the seafloor, the so-called touchdown zone. This thesis presents the initial stage of development of a simplified seafloor support model. This model simulates the seafloor-pipe interaction as a flexible pipe supported on a bed of springs. Constants for the soil springs were derived from finite element studies performed in a separate, parallel investigation. These supports are comprised of elasto-plastic springs with spring constants being a function of soil stiffness and strength, and the geometry of the trench within the touchdown zone. Deflections and bending stresses in the pipe are computed based on a finite element method and a finite difference formulation developed in this research project. The finite difference algorithm has capabilities for analyzing linear springs, non-linear springs, and springs having a tension cut-off. The latter feature simulates the effect of a pipe pulling out of contact with the soil. The model is used to perform parametric studies to assess the effects of soil stiffness, soil strength, trench geometry, amplitude of pipe displacements, pipe stiffness, and length of touchdown zone on pipe deflections and bending stresses. In conclusions, the seafloor stiffness (as characterized by the three spring parameters), the magnitude of pipe displacement, and the length of the touchdown zone all influence bending stresses in the pipe. Also, the tension cutoff effect, i.e., the pipe pulling away from the soil, can have a very large effect on bending stresses in the pipe. Neglecting this effect can lead to serious over-estimate of stress levels and excessive conservatism in design.