H.D.'s autobiographical novel HERmione is phenomenological in texture. It portrays both sides of a dynamic process: the individual "creates" the world by adjusting a "psychic lens," projecting a mental space in which objects can appear; yet at the same time, the world imposes itself on the sensing subject. The framework within which this dynamic process occurs is the body; as the novel portrays, the body is the site of juxtapositions and transformations as it comes into contact with the world. In this article, I discuss the ways in which H.D. explores the boundaries and intersections between the human body and the world around it. I will draw on several influential feminist critiques of the novel, exploring how these critiques illuminate the social and sexual forces at work behind Hermione's experiences, and I will in turn introduce phenomenological theory to expand upon the prevailing critical view of the novel. I assert that Hermione's body is both the setting and the subject of HERmione. Even as she is objectified by both specific individuals and by the social forces at work in her world, her body reacts in unique ways to counteract this tendency. Her body transforms, and her perceptions blur the lines between subject and object, person and thing. As Hermione begins to develop an understanding of the way she encounters the world, she also develops the ability to act within it. Her body becomes prosthetic, encompassing otherness and ultimately allowing her to move beyond the relationships and expectations which threaten to confine her in a solely "decorative" life.

Thing theorist Bill Brown writes that “the thing names less an object than a particular subject-object relation.” This article examines the subject-object relation between African things and African bodies in Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's first novel, Purple Hibiscus. While the main character, Kambili, eventually learns to assimilate Western Catholicism into her Nigerian reality, her Christian fundamentalist father, Eugene, uses Catholicism to justify his self-hating destruction of African things and bodies. This article argues that both reactions are rooted in the characters' ability or inability to see African material things, including both objects and bodies, as autonomous subjects. Adichie's novel demonstrates that religious syncretism centered in an ethics of things is a viable, fruitful reaction to the colonizers' religion, and that religious practice can be healthily enacted through the medium of things and bodies.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has deeply changed how we interact with our world. Today, smart homes, self-driving cars, connected industries, and wearables are just a few mainstream applications where IoT plays the role of enabling technology. When IoT became popular, Cloud Computing was already a mature technology able to deliver the computing resources necessary to execute heavy tasks (e.g., data analytic, storage, AI tasks, etc.) on data coming from IoT devices, thus practitioners started to design and implement their applications exploiting this approach. However, after a hype that lasted for a few years, cloud-centric approaches have started showing some of their main limitations when dealing with the connectivity of many devices with remote endpoints, like high latency, bandwidth usage, big data volumes, reliability, privacy, and so on. At the same time, a few new distributed computing paradigms emerged and gained attention. Among all, Edge Computing allows to shift the execution of applications at the edge of the network (a partition of the network physically close to data-sources) and provides improvement over the Cloud Computing paradigm. Its success has been fostered by new powerful embedded computing devices able to satisfy the everyday-increasing computing requirements of many IoT applications. Given this context, how can next-generation IoT applications take advantage of the opportunity offered by Edge Computing to shift the processing from the cloud toward the data sources and exploit everyday-more-powerful devices? This thesis provides the ingredients and the guidelines for practitioners to foster the migration from cloud-centric to novel distributed design approaches for IoT applications at the edge of the network, addressing the issues of the original approach. This requires the design of the processing pipeline of applications by considering the system requirements and constraints imposed by embedded devices. To make this process smoother, the transition is split into different steps starting with the off-loading of the processing (including the Artificial Intelligence algorithms) at the edge of the network, then the distribution of computation across multiple edge devices and even closer to data-sources based on system constraints, and, finally, the optimization of the processing pipeline and AI models to efficiently run on target IoT edge devices. Each step has been validated by delivering a real-world IoT application that fully exploits the novel approach. This paradigm shift leads the way toward the design of Edge Intelligence IoT applications that efficiently and reliably execute Artificial Intelligence models at the edge of the network.

This thesis contributes to the development of distributed networks proposing: • a technique to enhance the reliability of DV routing protocols; • a critical analysis of the integration of blockchains in distributed networks. First, a novel algorithm for the distributed computation of the Load Centrality (LC), a graph centrality metric, is proposed and then applied for steering the optimization of the route recovery process of Distance-Vector (DV) routing protocols: this way the algorithm contributes to the enhancement of the network reliability. The algorithm convergence is proved also identifying time complexity bounds that are later confirmed by computer simulations. The proposed algorithm is designed as an extension to the Bellman-Ford one and can thus be integrated with any DV routing protocol. An implementation of the algorithm in Babel, a real world DV protocol, is provided in support of this claim. Then an application of the algorithm is presented: the LC is used to find an optimal tuning for the generation frequency of the Babel control messages. This tuning technique effectively reduces the impact of losses consequent to random node failures in the emulations of several real world wireless mesh networks, without increasing the control overhead. A second version of the algorithm is designed to be incrementally deployable. This version can be deployed gradually in production networks also by uncoordinated administrators. When only a fraction of nodes is upgraded so to participate in the protocol, these upgraded nodes estimate their LC indexes approximating the theoretical ones. The approximation error is studied analytically and it is also shown that, even for low penetration ratios of upgraded nodes in the network, the algorithm accurately ranks nodes according to their theoretical centrality. The second contribution of the thesis is the critical discussion of the integration of blockchain technologies in distributed networks. An initial analysis of the literature concerning blockchain based applications reveals an ambiguity around the term "blockchain" itself. The term is used, apparently, to identify a number of similar but different technologies proposed to empower a surprisingly broad range of applications. This thesis prompts therefore the need of formulating a restrictive definition for the term blockchain, necessary for clarifying the role of the same blockchain in distributed networks. The proposed definition is grounded in the critical analysis of the blockchain from a distributed systems perspective: Blockchains are only those platforms that implement an open, verifiable and immutable Shared Ledger, independent of any trusted authority. Observing that the blockchain security grows with the amount of resources consumed to generate blocks, this thesis concludes that a secure blockchain is necessarily resource hungry, therefore, its integration in the constrained domain of distributed networks is not advised. The thesis draws recommendations for a use of the blockchain not in contrast with the definition. For example, it warns about applications that require data to be kept confidential or users to be registered, because the blockchain naturally supports the openness and transparency of data together with the anonymity of users. Finally a feasible role for the blockchain in the Internet of Things (IoT) is outlined: while most of the IoT transactions will be local and Off-Chain, a blockchain can still act as an external and decentralized platform supporting global transactions, offering an alternative to traditional banking services. The enhanced reliability of DV routing protocols encourages a wider adoption of distributed networks, moreover, the distributed algorithm for the computation of centrality enables applications previously restricted to centralized networks also in distributed ones. The discussion about the blockchain increases instead the awareness about the limits and the scope of this technology, inspiring engineers and practitioners in the development of more secure applications for distributed networks. This discussion highlights, for instance, the important role of the networking protocols and communication infrastructure on the blockchain security, pointing out that large delays in the dissemination of blocks of transactions make the blockchain more vulnerable to attacks. Furthermore, it is observed that a high ability to take control over the communications in the network favors eclipse attacks and makes more profitable the so called selfish mining strategy, which is detrimental to the decentralization and the security of blockchains. The two main contributions of this thesis blended together inspire the exploitation of centrality to optimize gossip protocols, minimizing block propagation delays and thus the exposure of the blockchain to attacks. Furthermore, the notion of centrality may be used by the community of miners to measure the nodes influence over the communication of blocks, so it might be used as a security index to warn against selfish mining and eclipse attack.

Text in Afrikaans / Theft in South African law is one of the most well-known common law crimes. It is also one of the crimes in respect of which opinions vary considerably. Furtum possessionis is one of the manifestations of the crime of theft at common law. The general requirements of furtum possessionis were already established in Roman law. Emphasis was not placed on the taker of the thing but on the particular position of the person who was deprived of the property. This approach was also followed in Roman-Dutch law. Fur tum possessionis in South African law can be defined as follows: It is the unlawful and intentional appropriation by the owner or someone else of a movable corporeal thing in commercio, in circumstances in which the possessor of the thing has a valid right of retention of the thing, with the intention of depriving the possessor permanently of control of the thing. Theft in the form of furtum possessionis differs in an important respect from theft in the form of the removal of a thing. In the case of removal the complainant can also be a person acting as a holder, that is someone exercising control of the thing on behalf of the owner. In the case of furtum possessionis the complainant is the person with the right of retention and from whose possession the thing is taken away. The accused either possesses the thing as an owner or as a holder before possession of the thing was transferred to the complainant. Mere possession is not enough. The possession of the complainant has to be accompanied by a right to retention. Furthermore the possession of the thing has to be lawful / Criminal & Procedural Law / LL.M. (Criminal & Procedural Law)

In this essay, I employ Judith Butlers theories of gender performativity to examine the construction of the monstrosity in Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s two works The Outsider and The Thing on the Doorstep. Focusing on the character’s monstrous attributes, how they are seen by themselves, by others and not least by the reader, I examine how their monstrosity is created and strengthened by dehumanizing processes. I argue that Lovecraft through his narrative technique complicates the relation between monstrosity and humanity in his characters, the result of which is a reader left to determine how monstrous, or human, the creature really is. I claim that the beings, themselves remaining uncertain about their own human and monstrous sides throughout Lovecraft’s stories, are not in fact monsters for the reader until the very moment that they themselves acquiescein their own exclusion.

Text in Afrikaans / Theft in South African law is one of the most well-known common law crimes. It is also one of the crimes in respect of which opinions vary considerably. Furtum possessionis is one of the manifestations of the crime of theft at common law. The general requirements of furtum possessionis were already established in Roman law. Emphasis was not placed on the taker of the thing but on the particular position of the person who was deprived of the property. This approach was also followed in Roman-Dutch law. Fur tum possessionis in South African law can be defined as follows: It is the unlawful and intentional appropriation by the owner or someone else of a movable corporeal thing in commercio, in circumstances in which the possessor of the thing has a valid right of retention of the thing, with the intention of depriving the possessor permanently of control of the thing. Theft in the form of furtum possessionis differs in an important respect from theft in the form of the removal of a thing. In the case of removal the complainant can also be a person acting as a holder, that is someone exercising control of the thing on behalf of the owner. In the case of furtum possessionis the complainant is the person with the right of retention and from whose possession the thing is taken away. The accused either possesses the thing as an owner or as a holder before possession of the thing was transferred to the complainant. Mere possession is not enough. The possession of the complainant has to be accompanied by a right to retention. Furthermore the possession of the thing has to be lawful / Criminal and Procedural Law / LL.M. (Criminal & Procedural Law)

I Dune: Messiah (1969) sker en förändring av klimatet, en terraformning som människan initierar. Vatten introduceras i rikliga mängder på planeten Arrakis och detta påverkar planetens ekologi såväl som människans kultur. Uppsatsen granskar Frank Herberts roman genom att teoretiskt utgå ifrån ett ekokritiskt perspektiv och tematiskt ifrån vatten, dess varande och relation till människan samt planeten. Människans medvetenhet av sig själv som en art på planeten och sin kulturella koppling till både planeten och vatten är centralt i analysen. Klimatförändringen som sker när människan terraformar planeten och hur detta påverkar människan behandlas också. Även postkolonialism väger in i analysen.  I Dune: Messiah är vattnet, människan och planeten starkt kopplade till varandra. Människan utgår från sin antropocentriska världssyn och betraktar planeten som en plats vilken kan förbättras till människans fördel. Eftersom fremenfolkets kultur är djupt grundad i naturen skapar terraformningen av planeten en identitetskris. Kulturen blir kopplingen som får människan att vilja bevara planeten som den är. Vattnets värde kulturellt men även som valuta gör den till en maktskapande vara. För människan är terraformningen en strävan mot förbättring, vilket speglar de teman av stora strukturer som finns genomgående i Dune-serien. Den här långsiktiga visionen som Frank Herbert målar upp, avbildar människan med en större medvetenhet, en möjlighet att tänka stort. Jag menar (likt andra inom ekokritiken) att detta större tänkande är en väg framåt som ger mänskligheten ett större perspektiv – därmed förståelse av – ekologiska förhållanden. / In Dune: Messiah (1969) the climate changes due to terraforming caused by humans. Water is introduced on the planet Arrakis, and this affects the planet’s ecology as well as the people’s culture. This paper is an exploration of Frank Herbert’s novel, theoretically anchored in ecocriticism and thematically in water, its nature of existence, relationship to humankind and the planet. Humanity’s awareness of themselves as a species on the planet, and their cultural connection to both the planet and water is central to the analysis. The climate-change which occurs when humanity terraforms the planet and how this affects humankind is also touched upon. Post-colonialism also plays a role in the analysis. Water, people, and the planet are strongly connected to each other in Dune: Messiah. Humans see the planet as a place which can be improved to their own benefit due to their anthropocentric worldview. Because the Fremen culture is deeply rooted in nature, an identity-crisis occurs when the planet is terraformed. It is culture that enables humans to want to preserve the planet as it is. Water is a resource that creates power due to its cultural and economical value. The terraforming is humanity aiming for improvement, which mirrors the themes  of larger structures that can be found continuously in the Dune-series. This long-term vision which Herbert paints, pictures humans with a broader consciousness, a capability to think in a larger magnitude. This I (as others within ecocriticism), consider to be a path forwards which offers a broader perspective – therefore an understanding of – ecological conditions.

The intent of this thesis is to clarify my artistic working process as well as the resulting thesis exhibition, Only the lull I like, the hum of your valved voice. I will provide explanations and descriptions of my exhibition (comprising a select placement of objects) as well as offer antecedents, informants, and the evolution of my art practice as a whole during my graduate studies. Specifically the work is discussed through the lenses of situational aesthetics, conceptual relationships, and perceptual absence to argue for the complicated semantics of the viewer within an ontology of object-hood and pre-established conditions.

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