This essay is written in order to better understand the relationship between the air around body (bubbles) and the external environment. Bubbles are explored as a mixture of feelings, emotions, imagination and thoughts, which we carry with us and which are formed by our perception of our environments. I will suggest that the formation of our bubbles is different at every moment, depending on how we feel about our external situation. Bubbles are used in the protection of ourselves, as the invisible wall that forms our territory. Within this essay I attempt to put forward the notion that we live in our own interpretations of our environments. Through a close analysis of my previous work, as well as through an analysis of two workshops that I was involved in, and through a close look at the work of the artist Cocky Eek, I aim to lay the ground for the way I will work with bubbles in my master project.

Periodic monitoring of contaminant levels in fish from the Yukon Territory indicated that organochlorine (OC) contaminants had rapidly declined since the early 1990s. This study examined OC concentrations, including chlordane (sigma-CHL), sigma-DDT, hexachlorocyclohexane (sigma-HCH), toxaphene (sigma-CHB), sigma-PCB and chlorinated benzenes (sigma-CBz) in sentinel fish (species of consistent annual observation and collection) from two Yukon lakes (Kusawa, Quiet), and from the aquatic food web of a focus lake (Lake Laberge) across several temporal points between 1993 and 2003. OC analysis and phytoplankton counts from dated sediment cores as well as climate data were also collected. Population, morphological (length, weight, age), biochemical (lipid content, delta-13C, delta-15N) and OC contaminant data for fish and invertebrates (zooplankton, snails, clams) were reviewed to elucidate the primary causes for these OC declines. Although some spatial differences in contaminant levels exist between the Yukon lakes, OC concentrations were declining for lake trout in all three lakes, with declines also noted for burbot from Lake Laberge. Several other fish species as well as zooplankton from Lake Laberge exhibited decreases in contaminant levels except northern pike, which registered consistently higher levels from 1993 to 2001. There was no evidence to support the hypotheses of changes in fish trophic levels or food sources with the exception of burbot, which marginally decreased, and northern pike, which climbed a half trophic level. Through OC flux analysis in dated sediments, the hypothesis that declines in abiotic deposition affected the contaminant levels in the food web was also negated. The closure of the Lake Laberge commercial fishery resulted in faster fish growth and larger fish populations, which are contributing to biomass dilution of OC concentrations, higher OC biomagnification factors for some species and likely changes in predator-prey interactions as resource competition increases. The large ratio of OC decreases in the lower vs. higher trophic levels of Lake Laberge have increased food web magnification factors (FWMF) for all six OC groups. It is also suspected that above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation in the lower Yukon region over the 1990s may have contributed towards an increase in lake primary production resulting in biomass dilution of contaminants in zooplankton for all three study lakes. Concurrently, shifts in the Lake Laberge zooplankton community, from climate fluctuations or increased fish predation, have gone from an abundance of Cyclops scutifer in 1993 to dominance by Diaptomus pribilofensis in 2001, although sample sites were limited. Characteristics specific to each species (e.g. body size, composition and metabolism) likely play a role in the significant OC declines measured in zooplankton. Fluctuations in population dynamics, species characteristics and OC contaminant concentrations in the Lake Laberge ecosystem may continue for several years to come. Sentinel species such as lake trout, burbot, whitefish, cisco and plankton should continue to be monitored in all three Yukon lakes for future temporal correlations with contaminants or climate change. / May 2006

An acid rock drainage (ARD) stream emanating from the Zn-Pb XY-deposit in the Yukon Territory was examined in order to evaluate the physico-chemical and geochemical processes governing the distribution of dissolved elements from the creek. The creek showed very high concentrations of metals (300 mg/L Fe, 500 mg/L Zn, 15 000 µg/L Ni, 1300 µg/L Cu and 4500 µg/L Cd), low water temperatures (1 – 12°C) and was acidic to moderately acidic (pH 3.1 – 5.0). It was found that this stream experienced a strong seasonal evolution, with increased sulphate and metal concentrations and decreased pH over the course of the summer. The mineral precipitates that formed under low pH conditions were a mixture of schwertmannite, goethite, jarosite and barite, while those that formed under moderately acidic conditions were a mixture of jurbanite, hydrobasaluminite, gibbsite and an X-ray amorphous Al-sulphate phase. Most of the mineral precipitates were of inorganic origin, although microbes may have played a role in mineral formation and trace metal sequestration in some of the precipitates. All of the mineral precipitates contained anomalous concentrations of trace elements (up to 1.5 % wt Zn) and showed a seasonal evolution in their mineralogy, both of which were determined to be a function of the pH and prevailing geochemical conditions. The geochemistry of the ARD creek draining the XY-deposit was compared to another ARD creek in the area that was likely draining shales. The two creeks were compared in order to determine if ARD geochemical characteristics can be used as a tool for the mineral exploration industry.

La tesi és una nova aportació a l'estudi del territori rural, paisatge que ha rebut menys atencions per part de l'Urbanisme, i que actualment esta experimentant una forta transformació, deguda entre altres coses a una forta activitat edificatòria. Objecte d'aquest treball és l'estudi del territori de l'illa d'Eivissa, un territori "no urbà", construït principalment per !'agricultura. Més que la imatge visible d'un paisatge, el territori rural es considera a partir d'una sèrie d'elements construïts sobre el relleu natural, com a relació entre construcció i naturalesa, com una estructura física composta per lògiques "urbanes" (més geomètriques) i lògiques de construcció de l'espai agrícola, (mes vinculades a la geografia, a la topografia), com una arquitectura construïda al llarg del temps, que ha general uns sistemes continus que han mticulat i donat forma a territoris sencers. Mitjançant l'estudi d'un àrea concreta, la tesi proposa una anàlisi, basada en el dibuix, dels criteris, les formes, les estructures, els traçats i els models d'ordre que han guiat la construcció del territori rural de l'illa d'Eivissa. L'estudi es basa en un treball de camp i en una anàlisi del paisatge rural que comença amb els aixecaments a escala 1:100, 1:500, 1:1.500 de les cases rurals més significatives de les vendes de Morna, Atzaró i Balafi, i arriba per zooms progressius fins a una lectura general del territori de l'illa. Aquest mètode de lectura del territori per ampliacions successives a partir de la casa rural, desplaça l'atenció de la casa com a edifici a la casa com a element de construcció d'un lloc, element que per agregació dóna forma a un territori sencer, demostra el paper de la casa com cèl•lula de construcció del territori i al mateix temps permet una lectura de l'espai rural en la qual desapareix la separació entre les escales de !'arquitectura, del paisatge i del territori. El concepte de territori com a construcció física global desenvolupada al llarg del temps, i la definició d'una manera de llegir i representar l'espai rural, adequada a la descripció i comprensió de les seves característiques formals i de les seves regles constructives, es proposa com a tema central de la tesi. L'anàlisi del teixit rural de l'illa d'Eivissa, l'estudi dels elements que ho composen (habitatges, camins, murs de pedra, cultius, parcel•lari...) i de les relacions que han establert amb els elements geogràfics (relleu, drenatges, vegetació...) no s'ha realitzat tant amb una visió arqueològica, patrimonial, de protegir enfront de destruir; el descobriment, mitjançant el dibuix, de les línies de força del teixit, de les persistències que han construït i articulat el territori rural d'Eivissa i en particular la vall de Labritja al llarg dels anys, ha evidenciat la trama estructural del territori, que estructura i articula el paisatge rural, el caràcter abstracte del qual ho converteix en un element de control formal i de projecte que permet una actitud projectual cap al territori, la seva arquitectura i la seva transformació. Com tots els territoris rurals, el d'Eivissa és un paisatge construït, estructural mitjançant un sistema continu i complex, un model d'escala i d'ordre basat en les tècniques agrícoles, que amb sorprenent naturalitat articula tot el territori insular, l'estudi del qual, acompanyat de la lectura de les transformacions actuals, es proposa com a camp de reflexió sobre l'arquitectura, l'urbanisme i el paisatgisme contemporanis. / La tesis es una nueva aportación al estudio del territorio rural, paisaje que ha recibido menos atenciones por parte del Urbanismo, y que actualmente está experimentando una fuerte transformación, debida entre otras cosas a una fuerte actividad edificatoria. Objeto de este trabajo es el estudio del territorio de la isla de Ibiza, un territorio "no urbano", construido principalmente por la agricultura. Mas que la imagen visible de un paisaje, el territorio rural se considera a partir de una serie de elementos construidos sobre el relieve natural, como relación entre construcción y naturaleza, como una estructura física compuesta por lógicas "urbanas" (más geométricas) y lógicas de construcción del espacio agrícola, (mas vinculadas a la geografía, a la topografía), como una arquitectura construida a lo largo del tiempo, que ha generado unos sistemas continuos que han articulado y dado forma a enteros territorios. Mediante el estudio de un área concreta, la tesis propone un análisis, basado en el dibujo, de los criterios, las formas, las estructuras, los trazados y los modelos de orden que han guiado la construcción del territorio rural de la isla de Ibiza. El estudio se basa en un trabajo de campo y en un análisis del paisaje rural que empieza con los levantamientos a escala 1 :100, 1 :500, 1:1.500 de las casas rurales más significativas de las vendas de Morna, Atzaró y Balafi, y llega por zooms progresivos hasta una lectura general del territorio de la isla. Este método de lectura del territorio por ampliaciones sucesivas a partir de la casa rural, desplaza la atención de la casa como edificio a la casa como elemento de construcción de un lugar, elemento que por agregación da forma a un territorio entero, demuestra el papel de la casa cómo célula de construcción del territorio y al mismo tiempo permite una lectura del espacio rural en la que desaparece la separación entre las escalas de la arquitectura, del paisaje y del territorio. El concepto de territorio como construcción física global desarrollada a lo largo del tiempo, y la definición de una manera de leer y representar el espacio rural, adecuada a la descripción y comprensión de sus características formales y de sus reglas constructivas, se propone como tema central de la tesis. El análisis del tejido rural de la isla de Ibiza, el estudio de los elementos que lo componen (viviendas, caminos, muros de piedra, cultivos, parcelario...) y de las relaciones que han establecido con los elementos geográficos (relieve, drenajes, vegetación...) no se ha realizado tanto con una visión arqueológica, patrimonial, de proteger frente a destruir; el descubrimiento, mediante el dibujo, de las líneas de fuerza del tejido, de las persistencias que han construido y articulado el territorio rural de Ibiza y en particular el valle de Labritja a lo largo de los años, ha evidenciado la trama estructural del territorio, que estructura y articula el paisaje rural, cuyo carácter abstracto lo convierte en un elemento de control formal y de proyecto que permite una actitud proyectual hacia el territorio, su arquitectura y su transformación. Como todos los territorios rurales, el de Ibiza es un paisaje construido, estructurado mediante un sistema continuo y complejo, un modelo de escala y de orden basado en las técnicas agrícolas, que con sorprendente naturalidad articula todo el territorio insular, cuyo estudio, acompañado de la lectura de las transformaciones actuales, se propone como campo de reflexión sobre la arquitectura, el urbanismo y el paisajismo contemporáneos. / This thesis is a new contribution to the study of rural territory, a landscape that has received less attention by Urbanism and is currently undergoing an important transformation, partly due to a strong building activity. Subject of this work is the study of the territory of the island of Ibiza, a "non urban" territory, mainly embossed by agriculture. More than the visible image of a landscape, the rural territory is considered as a number of elements built upon the natural relief, as a relationship between building and nature, as a physical structure composed of "urban" (more geometric) logics, and of agricultural construction logics (more related to geography, topography), as an architecture built over time, which generated continuous systems that have articulated and shaped whole territories. By studying a particular area, the thesis proposes an analysis, based on drawing, of the criteria, forms, structures, tracings and models of order that have guided the construction of rural territory of the island of lbiza. The study is based on a fieldwork and a rural landscape analysis that begins with surveys at l:1 00, 1:500, 1:1500 scales of the most significant rural houses of the area of Moma, Balafi and Atzaró, and arrives by progressive zooms to a general reading of the territory of the island. This method of reading of the territory by successive enlargements from the rural house scale shifts the focus of the house as a building to the house as an element that constructs a place, element that through aggregation shapes an entire territory, demonstrating the role of the rural house as a cell of construction of the territory, and at the same time allows a reading of rural space in which the separation between the scales of architecture, landscape and territory, disappears. The concept of territory as a physical construction developed overtime, and the definition of a way to read and represent rural areas, appropriate to the description and understanding of their formal characteristics and their construction rules, is proposed as a central theme of the thesis. The analysis of the rural structure of the island of Ibiza, the study of the component parts (houses, roads, stone walls, crops, plot ...) and of relationships that they have established with geographic features (relief, drainage, vegetation ...) has not been undertaken so much with an archaeological aim or the wish to protect it against destruction; the discovery, by the drawing, of the lines of force of the tissue, the persistences that have constructed and articulated the rural territory of lbiza and in particular the valley of Labritja over the years, has shown the structure of the territory, which articulates rural landscape, whose abstract nature makes it an element of formal control and project, that allows a projectual attitude towards territory, its architecture and its transformation. Like all rural areas, Ibiza is a man built landscape, structured by a continuous and complex system, a model of scale and order based on agricultural techniques, which articulates with surprising ease all the island landscape, whose study, accompanied by the reading of current transformations, is proposed as a field of reflection on contemporary architecture, urbanism and landscape.

The aim of the study is to investigate the current state of awareness of urban shrinkage inLiepājaby the key actors involved in the planning process. Last couple of hundred years have brought many transformations in urbanity that was always accompanied by the growth of the population and expansion of the city. However, the new patterns of urban development emerged in the last decades all over the globe, causing cities to lose the inhabitants resulting in urban shrinkage.Liepāja, the third largest city inLatvia, has lost a quarter of its population in last two decades and the trend continues. The long-term municipal planning document is being presented during this research in a light of which the research question is asked: “What is the current state of awareness of urban shrinkage inLiepājaby the key actors?” Utilising Flyvbjerg’s phronetic form of inquiry in combination with case study and repeated semi-structured interviews, the dominant planning views related to urban shrinkage are sought and analysed. The research identifies three underlying causalities that shape the decisions in planning and leave formidable consequences for the future of the city. The causalities identified and discussed in this paper are (1) the planning legacy; (2) the misconception; and (3) the political sensitivity of the urban shrinkage.

The aim of this study is to increase the understanding of the causes of the first war between Russia and Chechnya. Empirical data consists of four half-structured interviews with former Russian and Chechen war participants that tell about their perspective of the causes of the war between Russia and Chechnya. The study used narrative method and the theoretical framework consists of International Relations theories such as Realism, Geopolitics, Liberalism and Marxism. Geopolitics sees the geostrategic interest, territory as a cause of war. According to realism warfare occurs because of the state’s endeavor after power and influence in term of territory. Liberalism sees political actors and misconceptions between the actors as a main reason behind war. According to Marxism war occurs because of differences between the classes. The capitalists’ volition to control means of production leads to war.   The result of the analysis concludes that theories explanations of war are found in war participants’ narrative about the war.  Chechen participants are more or less agree that geopolitical interests are largely the basis for war. The Russian participants, however, agree that the economic interests and political actors are the basis for war. Thus there is clear difference between the Russian and the Chechen war participants’ ways of looking at the causes of war.

The Savi’s Warbler (Locustella luscinioides) is a recently established bird species in a few reedy shallow lakes of southern Sweden and has only been found nesting for the last twenty years. Little is known about the species' habitat preferences, breeding biology and demands for specific territory structures at breeding sites in Sweden. Knowledge of a newly established species’ habitat requirements is essential to maintain a viable population and design action plans. This study, the first of its kind in Sweden, examined the vegetation structures in occupied territories of Savi’s Warblers at Lake Tåkern, the country's stronghold for the species. The species was found to be associated with the outer edge zones and fragmented areas of reed (Phragmites australis). Occupied territories differed from randomly chosen unoccupied (control) territories by having a thicker layer of reed litter, and on average more bushes of Willow (Salix spp.) present. Reed density and reed height did not differ from areas that lacked Savi’s Warblers. Territorial and displaying males were concentrated in two edge areas with a mosaic of reed islets where the territories remained relatively close together.

<p>The 1994 Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, Mexico, created a rupture with a series of neoliberal policies implemented in Mexico and on a global scale over the last few decades of the 20th century. In a moment when alternatives to neoliberal global capitalism appeared to have disappeared from the world stage, the Zapatista Army for National Liberation (EZLN) initiated a movement and process that would have significance not only in Chiapas and for Mexico, but for many struggles and movements around the world that would come to identify with a kind of "alter-globalization" project. This dissertation examines the historical moment of neoliberal globalization, what the EZLN calls the "Fourth World War," the Zapatista initiative to construct an alternative political project, and the importance of this process of rupture and construction for our understanding of social organization, political participation, struggle and subjectivity.</p><p>Taking up theories of new forms of domination as dispersed forms of power operating through non- state institutions and a kind of participative subject in the public realm (following Raúl Zibechi and Stefano Harney), I argue that lines of antagonism can no longer be drawn between public and private, or state and non-state realms, but must be viewed as different strategies of subjectification, one as the subject-making of a form of governance, still but more subtly a form of domination, and one as a form of struggle for collective self-making. While both forms employ mechanisms and imaginaries of cooperation, the former cultivates subjective compatibility with an existing system while the latter I associate with the Zapatista concept and practice of autonomy. </p><p>Drawing on several years of fieldwork in Chiapas as well as the extensive theoretical work of the Zapatistas themselves, I trace the development of Zapatista autonomy as a concept and exercise of power and in its implementation as a system of self-government and provision of services through the construction of autonomous territory. This use and understanding of power has been both encouraged by and enabling of the autonomous judicial, health, education, communication and production systems in Zapatista territory. My argument here is that, beyond control over land, services, and the mode of production, territorial and political autonomy has permitted the Zapatistas to create an entire system of "new" social relations, an ecology of practices that create a mutually constructive relationship between (autonomous) system and (self-determined) subject in a cycle that continually widens and deepens the scope of what is possible for both. I then turn to an investigation of the Zapatista initiative to create a larger political project, and a more extensive and diverse collective subject of struggle, through the launching of the "Other Campaign" as a non-electoral anti-capitalist movement. If governance as a new form of domination performs the function of interpellating individuals into, using Stefano Harney's terms, a "class with interest" identifiable by its stakes in the system, I understand the Other Campaign to be a project to gather those "without interest," often considered expendable or dangerous to the system or "society" in general, into a "class beyond interest," a self-determined community engaged in a struggle not for a moment of liberation to be won but as the construction of emancipation as a way of life.</p> / Dissertation

This project describes a portion of a long-term study of the behavioral ecology of sea otters. Sub-studies of this project include the development of an individual recognition program for sea otters, the construction of male sea otter activity and energy budgets, and the assessment of male sea otter territory quality. The Sea Otter Nose Matching Program, or "SONMaP", was developed to identify individual sea otters in Simpson Bay, Prince William Sound, Alaska, using a blotch-pattern recognition algorithm based on the shape and location of nose scars. The performance of the SONMaP program was tested using images of otters collected during the 2002-03 field seasons, and previously matched by visually comparing every image in a catalog of 1,638 animals. In 48.9% of the visually matched images, the program accurately selected the correct image in the first 10% of the catalog. Individual follows and instantaneous sampling were used during the summers of 2004-06, to observe male sea otter behavior. Six behaviors (foraging, grooming, interacting with other otters, patrolling, resting, and surface swimming) were observed during four time periods (dawn, day, dusk, night) to create 24-hr activity budgets. Male sea otters spent 27% of their time resting, 26% swimming, 19% grooming, 14% foraging, 9% patrolling and 5% interacting with other otters. Field Metabolic Rate (FMR) was estimated by combining the energetic costs for foraging, grooming, resting, and swimming behaviors of captive otters from Yeates et al. (2007) with these activity budgets. "Swimming" accounted for the greatest percentage (43%) of energy expended each day followed by grooming (23%), resting (15%), feeding (13%) and other (5%). With a peak summer sea otter density of 5.6 otters km-2, the low percentage of time spent foraging indicates that Simpson Bay is below equilibrium density. Territory quality was assessed for male sea otters using four attributes: territory size, shoreline enclosure, accessibility, and number of females observed feeding in each territory. Each attribute was coded with a score of 0-2, and total quality scores ranged from 0.14-1.96 (0.9 + 0.61 SD). High quality territories had large areas, moderate shoreline enclosure, high accessibility, and many foraging females.

This thesis focuses on the Ottoman buildings with a T-shaped plan and their meanings with respect to the central and centrifugal tendencies in the Ottoman context in the fourteenth, fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The emergence of the multi-functional buildings of the T-type in the Ottoman realm is simultaneous with the burgeoning of a state in the early Ottoman frontier milieu, which is profoundly intermingled with the notion of gaza / whereas the demise of the use of the T-plan is coincident with the transformation of the Ottoman State into an empire. The tension between the centralization of the Ottoman State and the peripheral forces counteracting it is operative in the social as well as territorial repercussions inherent in the network of T-type patronage. In this respect, the thesis concentrates on the network engendered by the variations in the layouts of these buildings vis-&agrave / vis their geographical distribution and the identity of their patrons. Doing so, it is aimed not only to trace the claims to power expressed in diverse modes, but also to unveil the motive of the changes in the plan scheme and its halt in the sixteenth century.