No description available.

The social web has emerged concurrent with a decline in Americans' community involvement and number of close friendships. Hundreds of millions of people connect online, but they appear to have fewer confidants and trust each other less. However, contrasting research finds that web users have better social integration and stronger relationships than their offline counterparts. This thesis resolves these contradictory views through a detailed examination of social network site (SNS) use and changes in relationships and individual well-being. The research is conducted at multiple levels looking at how different types of SNS use—direct interaction with others and more “passive consumption” of social news—influence the number and quality of individuals’ social ties and their aggregate social capital and well-being, including perceived social support, happiness, and physical health. The studies combine objective measures of SNS use (communication activity from the server logs of a popular social networking site) with self-reports of tie strength and well-being to accurately differentiate types of use with different partners. Longitudinal methods reveal how well-being changes over time with SNS use and are moderated by personal characteristics such as social communication skill and recent job loss.

Effective knowledge sharing within project teams is critical to knowledge-intensive professional service firms. Prior research studies indicate a positive association between trust, social-cognitive factors, and effective knowledge sharing among co-workers. The conceptual framework proposed here builds on these studies, and draws from theoretical foundations from the organizational behavior, psychology, information studies, sociology, and management literature on organizational trust and knowledge sharing, and identifies the most significant factors found to influence organizational knowledge sharing directly and indirectly through trust. The study makes methodological contributions in the form of conceptualizations for knowledge sharing behavior, trust, and tie strength. Also, it provides a more nuanced and focused analysis, by factoring for knowledge type and co-worker working relationship. Data were collected from 275 knowledge workers (‘legal professionals’ and paralegals) engaged in shared legal project work, at one of Canada’s largest multijurisdictional law firms. The nature of their work required a significant reliance on co-workers, for both explicit and tacit knowledge. Multiple regression analysis, among other statistical techniques, was used to test the hypotheses and determine significant relationships. Of the factors examined in the study, the three found to have the strongest effect on respondents’ trust in their co-workers were shared vision, shared language, and tie strength. Furthermore, the two factors found to have the strongest effect on organizational knowledge sharing behavior were trust and shared vision. Overall trust was also found to have a mediating effect between shared vision and knowledge sharing behavior, and between shared language and knowledge sharing behavior. A significant implication for practitioners is that effective knowledge sharing among co-workers requires a nurturing manager to work on developing co-worker trust and shared vision. Furthermore, a manager wanting to promote trust between co-workers must nurture shared language and shared vision.

The thesis consists of the novel, Stargate Atlantis: Exogenesis (Whitelaw and Christensen, 2006a) and an accompanying exegesis. The novel is a stand-alone tie-in novel based on the television series Stargate Atlantis (Wright and Glassner), a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1 (Wright and Cooper) derived from the movie Stargate (Devlin and Emmerich, 1994). Set towards the end of the second season, Stargate Atlantis: Exogenesis begins with the discovery of life pods containing the original builders of Atlantis, the Ancients. The mind of one of these Ancients, Ea, escapes the pod and possesses Dr. Carson Beckett. After learning what has transpired in the 10,000 years since her confinement, the traumatised Ea releases an exogenesis machine to destroy Atlantis. Ea dies, leaving Beckett with sufficient of her memories to reveal that a second machine, on the planet Polrusso, could counter the effects of the first device. When the Atlantis team travel to Polrusso, what they discover has staggering implications not only for the future of Atlantis but for all life in the Pegasus Galaxy. The exegesis argues that both science and science fiction narrate the dissolution of ontological structures, resulting in cognitive estrangement. Fallacy writers engage in the same process and use the same themes and tools as science fiction writers to resolve cognitive estrangement: they technologise mythology. Consequently, the distinction between fact and fiction, history and myth, is blurred. The exegesis discusses cognitive estrangement, mythology, the process of technologising mythology and its function as a novum that facilitates the resolution of cognitive estrangement in both fallacy and science fiction narratives. These concepts are then considered in three Stargate tie-in novels, with particular reference to the creative work, Stargate Atlantis: Exogenesis.

The thesis topic is "Possibilities of Textile Materials in Practical Activities Subject in Primary School". The theoretical part is focused on the historical origin and evolution of textiles, summary of textile techniques, sorting and its use mainly with pupils in the primary school. It also deals with project based learning and conceptions, objects and competences of a pupil in the primary school in technical education in czech system of Framework Educational Programme for Elementary Education. In the practical part there are designed textile techniques that are processed into the original teaching projects. The functionality of the project was detected by using questionnaires for teachers of primary school. Some of the projects were realized in teaching in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th year of the primary school.

No description available.

This diploma’s dissertation is on project of a new hotel building with three aboveground and one underground floors. This study starts at the building stage and focuses on the construction details and energy demands of the building. Also included is a fire safety solution for the new hotel building. The layout and architectural desing is according to the investor´s requirements, with respect to applicable laws, regulations, standards. Traditional materials are designed for the new building, taking into account the latest developments in the construction industry.

The aim of the diploma thesis was to design reinforced concrete construction of the indoor swimming pool and ensure impermeability of the construction, to ensure behavior as concrete tank construction. Static analysis was done by using program Dlubal RFEM 5.12, where interaction of subsoil with construction was taken into account. Slabs around the swimming pool area were divided into expansion section because of temperature changes from glass façade an after that the sealing of expansion gap was solved. Construction system under the swimming was designed and was tested the behavior of walls and slabs. Analysis was done also to considerate of hydration heat. The drawing was done by software CADKON RCD.

The subject of this diploma thesis is the design of a load–bearing structure, whitch is situated in the extravillain between the town of Chomutov and the village Křimov. Main purpose of this structure is to pass a roadway I/7 across the valley. There are three options of design and one of them – the prestressed box girder bridge with slanted walls is chosen for more detailed elaboration. The major load–bearing structure is five–span with lenghts 46.50 + 58.00 + 58.00 + 58.00 + 46.50 m, made of post–tensioned nad cast–in–place concrete. The total lenght of load–bearing structure is 269.00 m and the width of load–bearing structure is 13.50 m, the bridge is straight in plan. The structure is analyzed by several computational models, which are designed in Scia Engineer 20.0 software. The structure is analysed in longitudinal and cross directions. The assessments of load state limit and usability limit state are made according to valid standards. This thesis also included time dependent analysis (TDA), that takes construction stage analysis into account.

Design of a steel supporting structure for one-storeyed hall based on ground plan of 60 x 80 m, clear height 10 m and total height 13,3 m. In the front part there is along the whole widht designed two-storeyed skeleton structure penetrating into the hall. From the second floor rods supported frontal part which exceeds ground plan by 2 m and on the right side is closed by pre-set cylindric structure with radius 8,6 m which covers the right frontal corner of building. The cylindric structure is around its perimeter distanced max 3,6 m from hall grand plan and is supported by posts. Both spaces had saddle roof with 8% slant, gutter edge in height 11,6 m, top line in height 12,8 m. Walls are around perimeter closed by horizontal atic in height of 13,3 m. Shape and dimensional design, load specification – stady, utility, climacic load. Calculation of imide forces and further static dimensioning of the main supporting elements and selected details. Elaboration of design documentation (dosposition, production drawing of the anchorage plan, details definited by project supervizor).