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Tricyclic Steiner Triple Systems with 1-Rotational Subsystems.Tran, Quan Duc 14 August 2007 (has links) (PDF)
A Steiner triple system of order v, denoted STS(v), is said to be tricyclic if it admits an automorphism whose disjoint cyclic decomposition consists of three cycles. In this thesis we give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a tricyclic STS(v) when one of the cycles is of length one. In this case, the STS(v) will contain a subsystem which admits an automorphism consisting of a fixed point and a single cycle. The subsystem is said to be 1-rotational.
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Exploring the influence of size and geography on SMEs’ and large corporations’ CSR practices in Hungary and in Sweden when facing financial shortageGaál, Bence, Vágó, Georgina January 2022 (has links)
Background: CSR has become an integral part of most businesses during the years, however, it has not necessarily happened by choice for every company. Stakeholders have become aware of the negative impact ofcorporations’ operations and actions on the planet and on society, consequently, they started to pressure companies to be more responsible when conducting business. However, facing financial shortages might interfere with the accomplishment of these practices and corresponding activities. Furthermore, as differently sized and differently located companies might practice CSR in a different way, size and geographical location might also have an influence on these CSR practices and activities. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore the influence of size and geography on CSR practices and activities adopted by SMEs and large corporations in Sweden and in Hungary when facing shortage in their financial resources. Method: In order to achieve the purpose, a qualitative research method has been used. Multiple case studies were conducted with two Hungarian SMEs, a Hungarian large enterprise, a Swedish SME and a Swedish large firm. The empirical data was collected with the help of semi-structured interviews as well as data from corporate websites, annual reports, sustainability reports and social media. Conclusion: The results of this thesis show that the approach each company takes to practicing CSR seems to influence all of their activities. The size of the company appears to influence fewer practices, while geography comes across as having the least influence among these factors.
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COVERAGE IMPACTS OF WORK REQUIREMENTS FROM THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAMHuettner, Brett 01 September 2022 (has links)
No description available.
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Sustainability Analysis Of Intelligent Transportation SystemsErcan, Tolga 01 January 2013 (has links)
Commuters in urban areas suffer from traffic congestion on a daily basis. The increasing number of vehicles and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) are exacerbating this congested roadway problem for society. Although literature contains numerous studies that strive to propose solutions to this congestion problem, the problem is still prevalent today. Traffic congestion problem affects society’s quality of life socially, economically, and environmentally. In order to alleviate the unsustainable impacts of the congested roadway problem, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) has been utilized to improve sustainable transportation systems in the world. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the sustainable impacts and performance of the utilization of ITS in the United States. This thesis advances the body of knowledge of sustainability impacts of ITS related congestion relief through a triple bottom line (TBL) evaluation in the United States. TBL impacts analyze from a holistic perspective, rather than considering only the direct economic benefits. A critical approach to this research was to include both the direct and the indirect environmental and socio-economic impacts associated with the chain of supply paths of traffic congestion relief. To accomplish this aim, net benefits of ITS implementations are analyzed in 101 cities in the United States. In addition to the state level results, seven metropolitan cities in Florida are investigated in detail among these 101 cities. For instance, the results of this study indicated that Florida saved 1.38 E+05 tons of greenhouse gas emissions (tons of carbon dioxide equivalent), $420 million of annual delay reduction costs, and $17.2 million of net fuel-based costs. Furthermore, to quantify the relative impact and sustainability performance of different ITS technologies, several ITS solutions are analyzed in terms of total costs (initial and operation & maintenance costs) and benefits (value of time, emissions, and safety). To account for the uncertainty in benefit and cost ii analyses, a fuzzy-data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology is utilized instead of the traditional DEA approach for sustainability performance analysis. The results using the fuzzy-DEA approach indicate that some of the ITS investments are not efficient compared to other investments where as all of them are highly effective investments in terms of the cost/benefit ratios approach. The TBL results of this study provide more comprehensive picture of socio-economic benefits which include the negative and indirect indicators and environmental benefits for ITS related congestion relief. In addition, sustainability performance comparisons and TBL analysis of ITS investments contained encouraging results to support decision makers to pursue ITS projects in the future.
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Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment Framework For The U.S. Built EnvironmentKucukvar, Murat 01 January 2013 (has links)
The overall goals of this dissertation are to investigate the sustainability of the built environment, holistically, by assessing its Triple Bottom Line (TBL): environmental, economic, and social impacts, as well as propose cost-effective, socially acceptable, and environmentally benign policies using several decision support models. This research is anticipated to transform life cycle assessment (LCA) of the built environment by using a TBL framework, integrated with economic input-output analysis, simulation, and multicriteria optimization tools. The major objectives of the outlined research are to (1) build a system-based TBL sustainability assessment framework for the sustainable built environment, by (a) advancing a national TBL-LCA model which is not available for the United States of America; (b) extending the integrated sustainability framework through environmental, economic, and social sustainability indicators; and (2) develop a systembased analysis toolbox for sustainable decisions including Monte Carlo simulation and multi-criteria compromise programming. When analyzing the total sustainability impacts by each U.S. construction sector, “Residential Permanent Single and Multi-Family Structures" and "Other Non-residential Structures" are found to have the highest environmental, economic, and social impacts compared to other construction sectors. The analysis results also show that indirect suppliers of construction sectors have the largest sustainability impacts compared to onsite activities. For example, for all U.S. construction sectors, on-site construction processes are found to be responsible for less than 5 % of total water consumption, whereas about 95 iv % of total water use can be attributed to indirect suppliers. In addition, Scope 3 emissions are responsible for the highest carbon emissions compared to Scope 1 and 2. Therefore, using narrowly defined system boundaries by ignoring supply chain-related impacts can result in underestimation of TBL sustainability impacts of the U.S. construction industry. Residential buildings have higher shares in the most of the sustainability impact categories compared to other construction sectors. Analysis results revealed that construction phase, electricity use, and commuting played important role in much of the sustainability impact categories. Natural gas and electricity consumption accounted for 72% and 78% of the total energy consumed in the U.S. residential buildings. Also, the electricity use was the most dominant component of the environmental impacts with more than 50% of greenhouse gases emitted and energy used through all life stages. Furthermore, electricity generation was responsible for 60% of the total water withdrawal of residential buildings, which was even greater than the direct water consumption in residential buildings. In addition, construction phase had the largest share in income category with 60% of the total income generated through residential building’s life cycle. Residential construction sector and its supply chain were responsible for 36% of the import, 40% of the gross operating surplus, and 50% of the gross domestic product. The most sensitive parameters were construction activities and its multiplier in most the sustainability impact categories. v In addition, several emerging pavement types are analyzed using a hybrid TBL-LCA framework. Warm-mix Asphalts (WMAs) did not perform better in terms of environmental impacts compared to Hot-mix Asphalt (HMA). Asphamin® WMA was found to have the highest environmental and socio-economic impacts compared to other pavement types. Material extractions and processing phase had the highest contribution to all environmental impact indicators that shows the importance of cleaner production strategies for pavement materials. Based on stochastic compromise programming results, in a balanced weighting situation, Sasobit® WMA had the highest percentage of allocation (61%), while only socio-economic aspects matter, Asphamin® WMA had the largest share (57%) among the WMA and HMA mixtures. The optimization results also supported the significance of an increased WMA use in the United States for sustainable pavement construction. Consequently, the outcomes of this dissertation will advance the state of the art in built environment sustainability research by investigating novel efficient methodologies capable of offering optimized policy recommendations by taking the TBL impacts of supply chain into account. It is expected that the results of this research would facilitate better sustainability decisions in the adoption of system-based TBL thinking in the construction field.
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Hybridorganisationers multivokalitet: Hanteringav multipla logiker och organisationsidentiteter : - En komparativ studie om universitetens holdingbolag inom modellen för Triple Helix / The Multivocality of Hybrid Organizations: Managing Multiple Logics and Organizational Identities : A Comparative Study on University Holding Companies within the Triple Helix ModelAlolabi, Nawar, Berglund, Laura, Jakobsson, Elliot January 2020 (has links)
Denna studie undersöker hur hybridorganisationer hanterar sin organisationsidentitet och dekonflikterande institutionella kraven från kontexten Triple Helix. Detta genomförs genom endeduktiv komparativ fallstudie av tre statligt ägda holdingbolag och ett privatägt holdingbolagvid svenska universitet. Vår studie visar hur organisationsidentiteten inom dessa hybrider tar enmer eller mindre hybrid karaktär bland grupper i olika organisationsnivåer. Detta stärker deutvalda hybridernas multivokalitet, definierat som dess förmåga att skaffa sig legitimitet blandintressentgrupper från olika institutionella ordningar. Hybridorganisationens multivokalitet kandärav ses som en nödvändighet eller krav för dess överlevnad. Våra resultat bekräftar tidigarelitteraturs resultat om att hybriditeten går att hantera aktivt, genom separering av logiker ochsamordning kring ett gemensamt mål. Uppsatsen påvisar hur i kontexten Triple Helix,hybridorganisationen har möjlighet att separera aktiviteterna mellan sin och universitetetsdominerande logik. Fördelningen och samarbetet med universitet etableras i en process för attskaffa sig legitimitet gentemot vissa huvudintressenter. Processen är tänkt för en gradvistransformering från en logik till en annan av intressentgrupper som stödjer universitetsdominerande logik. Detta kompletterar tidigare litteratur om hantering av hybriditet. Vår studiebidrar med empiriskt stöd att teorier om organisationsidentitet och den institutionella teorin kankomplettera varandra i analysen av hybrider. / This study explores how hybrid organizations manage their organizational identity and theconflicting institutional demands from the context of Triple Helix. We conducted a deductivecomparative case study of three state owned holding companies and one private holdingcompany managed by Swedish universities. Our study suggests that inside hybrids,organizational identity takes more or less hybrid form among groups of different organizationallevels. This strengthens these hybrids' multivocality, defined by its ability to gain legitimacyamong stakeholders from different institutional orders. For the survival of the hybridorganization multivocality may be viewed upon as a requirement. The results of the studyconfirm previous research that hybridity is manageable through separation of the logics and bycoordination of common goals. The study demonstrates that in the context of Triple Helix, thehybrid organization has the opportunity to collaborate with the university to divide and allocateactivities characterized by their dominating logics. The allocation and collaboration with theuniversity is established in a process in order for the hybrid to gain legitimacy towards groups ofmain stakeholders. The process is thought of as a gradual transformation from one logic to theother of stakeholders belonging to the dominating logic of the university. These findingscomplete previous findings about the management of organizational hybridity. Our study ingeneral contributes with empirical data that the organizational identity- and institutional theoryperspectives may complete each other in the analysis of hybrid organizations.
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Greening the thread : A comparative study of design processes to reduce microplastic shedding in Swedish textile companiesVictorsson, Stina, Reynolds, Sonya January 2023 (has links)
Purpose – This study aims to gain an increased understanding of how textile companies perceive opportunities and challenges in reducing microplastic shedding in the design process. Specifically, the thesis compares and analyses two distinct textile companies with diverse business approaches. Methodology – A qualitative research method was chosen to gain in-depth knowledge through semi-structured interviews, while a deductive approach was used to connect existing theories to practical implications. A thematic analysis was employed to systematically analyse the empirical data, aligning with the developed analysis model in the thesis. Findings – Based on the results, it indicates that the design process in the textile industry plays a crucial role in reducing microplastic emissions by enabling sustainable product design through material selection and considering the product's life cycle. However, challenges arise in selecting sustainable materials and implementing sustainable practices due to limited awareness, availability, and standardised measurement methods. Through a comparative analysis of two distinct companies, the study generates valuable insights and knowledge on how organisations can re-evaluate their methods, processes, and material selections to foster more sustainable design practices. Originality/value – This study enhances originality by examining and analysing the perspectives of Swedish textile companies regarding the opportunities and challenges associated with reducing microplastic emissions in the design process. By emphasising a pre-consumer stage in the textile value chain, the study departs from the traditional focus on post-consumer phases, thus addressing the microplastic issue from a new perspective. The findings of this study hold significance for both theoretical and practical realms by advancing an increased understanding of sustainable policies and practices aimed at reducing microplastic emissions in the textile industry.
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Sustainability transition in the fashion industry : A multi-case study of manufacturers in the Prato textile Industrial District (Italy).Enegbuma, Sophie, Kreci, Mirlinda January 2023 (has links)
The fashion industry, the world's third-largest manufacturing sector, is a complex network involvingcreation, production, distribution, and consumption of fashion products. Despite extensive research onsustainable transitions in supply chains, little attention has been given to the role of supply chain actorsin sustainability, especially yarn mills and manufacturers. This thesis investigates the sustainabilitytransition within fashion supply chains with a specific focus on knitwear and textile production in thePrato textile Industrial District (Italy), characterized by its interconnected small and medium-sizedenterprises, which evolved from wool production to a diverse fashion hub. This research aims tounderstand the role of knitwear and woven producers in sustainability transition, exploring drivers,barriers, and sustainability identification. To address this gap, semi-structured interviews wereconducted with members of four different companies, and company sustainability reports andcertifications were also analyzed. The theoretical foundation integrates the Triple Bottom Line (TBL)concept, organizational change, and network theory to explore economic, social, and environmental aspects, fostering a holistic approach to sustainability. Organizational change models like Lewin's three-step model and Kotter's 8-step change model inform the investigation of sustainable organizational practices. Thematic analysis uncovers key themes surrounding sustainable transition, spanninghistorical context, sustainability definitions, sustainability practices, barriers, drivers, and sustainabilitypartners. These themes are linked to organizational change and Network theory in the axial codingprocess, illustrating connections between theory and empirical findings. A conceptual framework isdesigned to link fashion companies' strategies with triple bottom line (TBL), highlightingmanufacturing processes and strategic approaches towards sustainability. Key themes includegovernance, material sourcing, transparency, partnerships, diverse practices, and categorizing driversand barriers. This study contributes to understanding how economic, social, and environmental factorsintersect in fostering sustainable fashion practices. The findings also provide valuable insights intoorganizational change theory and network theory's applicability in sustainable fashion contexts.Recommendations for future research include broader industry scopes, technology impacts, governmentpolicies, and longitudinal studies to track evolving perceptions and practices. The analysis enriches thediscourse on sustainable fashion manufacturing and guides further research endeavors in the fashionindustry's sustainability domain.
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Assessing Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030: Economic Diversification, Social Inclusion, and Environmental Preservation through the Triple Bottom Line LensSalman, Zara January 2024 (has links)
This essay critically analyzes the implementation of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 initiative through a detailed descriptive case study as the methodological framework, employing the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) model as the theoretical basis. The essay delves into the alignment of Vision 2030 with TBL principles, particularly in its influence on economic diversification, social inclusivity, and environmental conservation. The study incorporated the three dimensions, concluding that Vision 2030 has successfully taken substantial steps in steering the Saudi economy away from its conventional reliance on oil. Socially, Vision 2030 places a significant emphasis on enhancing the quality of life for all Saudi citizens by investing in education, healthcare, and social welfare programs. On the environmental front, Vision 2030 demonstrates a steadfast commitment to sustainability through initiatives that promote renewable energy and environmentally friendly practices. The TBL framework serves as a valuable perspective for assessing the intricate impact of Vision 2030. Through an evaluation of the initiative's advancements in economic diversification, social inclusivity, and environmental preservation, it becomes evident that Vision 2030 is facilitating a more balanced and sustainable developmental trajectory for Saudi Arabia. / <p>My deepest gratitude extends to the individuals who have played a pivotal role in the success of this essay, particularly my unwavering family and cherished friends. Their unwavering support, encouragement, and constructive feedback have been instrumental in shaping my thoughts and refining the essay's content. I am particularly indebted to my esteemed advisor, Abdulelah Al Mutairi, whose guidance, expertise, and unwavering belief in my potential have been invaluable. His insightful suggestions and meticulous attention to detail have elevated the essay to a level I could not have achieved on my own. I am truly grateful for the collective support and encouragement that has made this endeavor possible.</p>
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Is the University Key to Digital Development? : A study of the role of KTH in the digital development of the Swedish news media industry between 1990 to 2005Walerud, Beatrice January 2021 (has links)
The digital development of the 1990s and early 2000s had a major effect on the Swedish media industry, including newspapers. Still, it is not clear what role academia had during this process. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to examine the role of the university in the digital development of the Swedish news media industry. To investigate this, a case study has been performed, focusing on the Swedish technical university KTH Royal Institute of Technology. A theoretical background was created, consisting of the three waves of digitalization by Yoo et al. (2010), the emerge of the entrepreneurial university, and the Triple Helix model. Data were collected through archival research consisting of the Swedish magazines Ny Teknik and Pressens Tidning, and semi-structured interviews with seven individuals. The results showed that the digital development of the Swedish news media industry was characterized by the rise of the Internet, which generated both new news channels and contributed to digitally develop the printing industry. The results indicate that KTH’s role in this development was to provide the industry with well-educated engineers as well as innovations through research projects, to help media companies handle the opportunities and the challenges the digital development offered. The results also indicate that KTH in some ways can be compared to an entrepreneurial university, since the university has contributed to economic activities in society. However, most of these activities would not have been possible without the participation of the media industry, demonstrating that the concept of the Triple Helix to some extent also can be applied to this case study. / Den digitala utvecklingen av 1990- och tidigt 2000-tal hade en stor effekt på den svenska medieindustrin, inklusive tidningsindustrin. Det är dock inte klart vad för roll universiteten hade under denna process. Syftet med denna uppsats är därför att undersöka universitetets roll i den digitala utvecklingen av den svenska nyhetsmedieindustrin. För att undersöka detta har en fallstudie genomförts, som fokuserar på det svenska tekniska universitetet KTH Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan. En teoretisk bakgrund togs fram, bestående av de tre vågorna av digitalisering av Yoo et al. (2010), framväxten av det entreprenöriella universitetet och modellen Triple Helix. Data samlades in genom arkivforsknings bestående av de svenska tidningarna Ny Teknik och Pressens Tidning, samt semistrukturerade intervjuer med sju personer. Resultaten visade att den digitala utvecklingen av den svenska nyhetsmedieindustrin karaktäriserades av uppkomsten av Internet, vilket genererade både nya nyhetskanaler och bidrog till en digital utveckling av tryckeribranschen. Resultaten indikerar att KTH:s roll i denna utveckling bestod av att bidra med välutbildade ingenjörer till industrin, likväl som innovation genom forskningsprojekt, vilket hjälpte industrin hantera möjligheterna och utmaningarna som den digitala utvecklingen medförde. Resultaten indikerar också att KTH i viss utsträckning kan jämföras med det entreprenöriella universitetet, eftersom universitetet har bidragit till ekonomiska aktiviteter i samhället. De flesta av dessa aktiviteter hade dock inte varit möjliga utan medieindustrins delaktighet, vilket demonstrerar att modellen Triple Helix i viss utsträckning kan appliceras på denna fallstudie.
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