Appreciation of how forest land can be managed in a sustainable way in arid and semi-arid zones (ASAZs) of centralized countries is limited. Accordingly, this thesis seeks to analyse the role of government and communities, including women, in the formulation and implementation of sustainable forest management (SFM) policy and practices in the semi-arid environment of Syria where such land is limited in extent (e.g. 3% forest and 57% rangeland) and yet where its high biodiversity value is of international significance. The thesis employs a variety of methods: a case study approach (Syria); a questionnaire (i.e. 142 respondents); face-to-face interviews (i.e. 26 interviewees); participant observation and secondary data. The SFM model was used to organise and analyse the influences of environmental, economic, social, cultural and political issues on the state of forest land in Syria. Three contrasting forest areas were selected for detailed analysis at local level: Al Foronloq had the Arab Institute of Forestry close by and the area had a high biodiversity value for landscape; Abo Kbeis contained key genetic resources and a number of women there had been trained in forest management and Abd Aziz Mountain was characterised by rangeland with traditional grazing plus a very arid environment. The main results obtained from census data confirmed that Syrian forest lands have diminished considerably since 1900 with regard to their geographical extent due to agricultural development, expansion of rural-urban settlements as well as of agricultural land onto Syrian forest land. On a more general level, the political issues in Syria (i.e. centralization and independency of the country) demand development of the internal resources of the country, such as agricultural production, in order to cover the needs of human maintenance. Scrutinising forest documentation and using results of face-to-face interviews, it was found that there were considerable changes in forest policies in terms of forest protection and plantation. In addition, there was a recent indication of adopting SFM principles in the case study area, largely as a result of action by agencies external to Syria at the national level, and the new role of NGOs in forest management at the local level. The increasing level of awareness of environmental problems; the capacity of institutions; community participation in natural resources management and achieving international agreements were also found to be paramount in any contracts between the Syrian government and other organisations. This thesis, at the local level, showed that respondents in the mountains (in the Abd Aziz Mountain (AAM) study area) seemed to be older, poorer, mostly with non-educated background, with more than three children, than in the Al Foronloq (AF) and Abo Kbeis (AK) study areas. Respondent groups in AAM were found to be more dependent upon forest resources than respondents in AF and AK; and they occupied land illegally because of their mission to develop agricultural activities, including grazing. The study confirmed that educated households in AF and AK use forest resources more than non-educated households. Conversely, non-educated households in AAM suffer from gaining a local income which may in turn affect their attitudes and behaviours in using forest resources; and as consequence, householders suffering from financial problems may be less aware of the importance of forest protection and try to solve their individual needs by increasing the pressures on the forest resources. The major constraints affecting the formulation and implementation of SFM policy are insufficient financial resources, inadequate management from national to regional and local levels; the limitations are also related to local communities’ attitudes and ignorance of the role of women in forest management. This thesis found that the contribution of women in the labour force at the local level was high in Lattakia (Al Foronloq study area) compared with other study areas (e.g. 32.9% in Lattakia against 13.4% in Hamah and 18.8% in Alhasake) (UNDP: Syrian Human development, 2005); although, there was a significant relationship between income level, family size and women’s contribution in forest management at the local level and no significant relationship with the educational level. On a more specific level, the role of religious faith in AK affects the contribution of women in the society and the workplace generally and in forest management in particular. Finally, the application of the SFM model in this study provided a flexible approach for analysis of complicated interactions between the government and communities. It also provided a comprehensive framework for different types of analytical purposes. Each of the three main components (issues, state and political decisionmakers) was divided into several sub-components which facilitate the explanation and identification of the complexities affecting the formulation of SFM policy and the implementation of such policy. It helped to provide a set of policy recommendations which may help to increase future community participation in forest management and reduce the influences of community pressures on forest resources in Syria.

No description available.

Digitalisation and the phenomenon of digital transformation is rapidly and fundamentally changing existing businesses and organisations alike (Collin, 2015). Although considered a prime challenge for leaders of complex and changing organisations, research in the combined field of digitalisation and leadership however still remain scarce. As executives are tasked with the leading of digital transformation, this study aims to understand how digitalisation effects top management leadership. To achieve this, the study takes a two-folded approach by (1) outlining six characteristics of digitalisation and (2) analysing how these characteristics effect three contemporary forms of leadership: values-based, transformative and authentic leadership. Through a broad literature survey and 13 in-depth interviews with executives and organisational leaders, the study found that the six identified characteristics of digitalisation all effected the three forms of contemporary leadership. The different characteristics did not only change how the leaders practiced each of their leadership styles, but also how their leadership manifested itself through the use of various digital tools, methods and processes in order to enhance and empower their leadership. Even the sub-features of each leadership form were subject to this fundamental digital change. What was also found were three complementary perspectives when leading complex and changing organisations: the perspective of holism, virtuality and networked-based hubs. Each of these perspectives were premiered aspects to be considered as a contemporary leader.

No description available.

Research has been conducted regarding what relationship demographic diversity have to organisational ambidexterity and team resilience; however never at the same time. This research adds a new context, to this field of research since research has never, to our knowledge, been conducted in a school context. The purpose with this thesis is to explain what relationships gender, age, cultural and tenure diversity have on organisational ambidexterity and team resilience. A cross-sectional research design was used, because of the positivist and deductive approach. The method consisted of a quantitative part in the form of a web based self-completion questionnaire mediated by email, to upper secondary schools, in five Counties, with a minimum of three managers. The qualitative part was in the form of three in-depth interviews, two with School Directors and one with a registrar. The findings shows that gender, culture have a negative relationship to organisational ambidexterity, and age have a positive relationship when moderated by shared vision. The limitations are that only schools with a minimum of three top managers were chosen; the results thereby lack generalisability in other contexts. The implications are that shared vision, when applied to an upper secondary school context seem to decrease in importance and suggestibility. The original value of the conducted study is new insights regarding the relationships demographic diversities have on organisational ambidexterity and team resilience; the choice to conduct the test in a school context.

Saccadic eye movements, produced by the oculomotor system, are used to bring salient information in line with the high resolution fovea. It has been suggested that visual working memory, the cognitive system that temporarily stores and manipulates visual information (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974), is utilised by the oculomotor system in order to maintain saccade programmes across temporal delays (Belopolsky & Theeuwes, 2011). Saccadic eye movements have been found to deviate away from information stored in visual working memory (Theeuwes and colleagues, 2005, 2006). Saccadic deviation away from presented visual stimuli has been associated with top-down suppression (McSorley, Haggard, & Walker, 2006). This thesis examines the extent to which saccade trajectories are influenced by information held in visual working memory. Through a series of experiments behavioural memory data and saccade trajectory data were explored and evidence for visual working memory-oculomotor interaction was found. Other findings included specific interactions with the oculomotor system for the dorsal and ventral pathways as well as evidence for both bottom-up and top-down processing. Evidence of further oculomotor interaction with manual cognitive mechanisms was also illustrated, suggesting that visual working memory does not uniquely interact with the oculomotor system to preserve saccade programmes. The clinical and theoretical implications of this thesis are explored. It is proposed that the oculomotor system may interact with a variety of sensory systems to inform accurate and efficient visual processing.

The problem of the quadrupole interaction occurring in a vibrating-rotating C₃v symmetric top molecule has been studied in detail. The quadrupole interaction has been treated as another perturbation term to a general frequency expression accounting for the vibrating-rotating interaction of the molecule so that a complete frequency formula is obtained for both interactions, and from which hyperfine spectral components are predicted and measured. The hyperfine transitions in the ground, and v₈=1 and v₈=2 excited vibrational states of the ¹³C isotopes of methyl cyanide have been investigated in the frequency range 17-72 GHz, primarily in the low J transitions (0≤J≤3). The study of the ground state of isotope i3CH3i3CN, and the v₈=1, v₈=2 excited vibrational states for all the isotopes have been conducted here for the first time. A substantial perturbation has been discovered and discussed at the ΔJ=3→4 transitions within the Kl=1 sets in the v₈=1 mode for isotopes ¹³CH₃CN and CH₃¹³CN. A total of 716 hyperfine transitions have been assigned from measurements, only 7 of which have been measured previously. A total of 84 molecular constants have been reported; 70 of these constants are derived for the first time from microwave data.

This paper reviews numerous theoretical results on control structures and demonstrates their practical examples. This study deals with the design of run-time support routines by using top-down structured programming technique. A number of examples are given as illustration of this method. In conclusion, structured programming has proved to be an important methodology for systematic program design and development.

In this thesis, the first chapter provides the general description of this interpreter. The second chapter contains a formal definition of the syntax of BASIC along with an introduction to the semantics. The third chapter contains the design of data structure. The fourth chapter contains the description of algorithms along with stages for testing the interpreter and the design of debug output. The stages and actions-are represented internally to the computer in tabular forms. For statement parsing working syntax equations are established. They serve as standards for the conversion of source statements into object pseudocodes. As the statement is parsed for legal form, pseudocodes for this statement are created. For pseudocode execution, pseudocodes are represented internally to the computer in tabular forms.

Despite substantial consumer demand and willingness to pay premium prices for organically grown fruit, apple growers in Vermont and other New England states have been slow to adopt certified organic practices. Barriers cited in the past to increased adoption of organic apple production in the region include susceptibility of traditionally grown cultivars to apple scab, lack of effective insect pest management materials, and few available effective options for fruit thinning. Recent changes in apple cultivar plantings in the region, introduction of new insect pest management materials, and advances in crop thinning justified an evaluation of organic apple production systems containing cultivars identified as important to the future of the apple industry. In 2006, two apple orchards were established at the University of Vermont Horticulture Research and Education Center in South Burlington, VT to comprehensively evaluate the five commercially-important apple cultivars of `Ginger Gold', `Honeycrisp', `Liberty', `Macoun', and `Zestar!' over eight growing seasons in two organically-managed orchard production systems, including a newly-planted high-density orchard (Orchard 1) and in an existing, medium-density orchard which was top-grafted to the new cultivars (Orchard 2). Parameters for tree growth and survival, crop yield, disease and arthropod pest incidence on foliage and fruit, and long-term economic return, including a twenty-year projection of net present value (NPV) of each cultivar in the two systems were evaluated in this study. `Ginger Gold', despite high incidence of some diseases on foliage and fruit, performed the best in both orchard systems overall. The cultivar was among the cultivars with the highest measurements of tree growth. `Ginger Gold', along with `Honeycrisp', had the highest cumulative net crop yield per tree in Orchard 1 and the highest in Orchard 2. Notably, apple scab on `Honeycrisp' foliage and fruit and `Zestar!' fruit in both orchards was at a level that was not significantly different from `Liberty', a scab-resistant cultivar on which no scab was observed. However, `Honeycrisp' had the highest incidence of fruit rots in both orchards, but it was not significantly different than `Zestar!' in Orchard 1. Management of lepidopteran pests of fruit was a major challenge on all cultivars over the years of the study. For most of the tree growth parameters and cumulative net crop yield, `Liberty' was among the lowest group of cultivars in both orchards. Cumulative net crop yield of both `Macoun' and `Zestar!' were also among the lowest in both orchards with the top-grafted `Macoun' and `Zestar!' trees having significant tree death compared to the other cultivars in Orchard 2. Harvested fruit were graded to commercial standards and cumulative gross and net income calculated from grade distribution, crop yield, and fruit price data. In Orchard 1, `Ginger Gold' and `Liberty' had greater cumulative gross income per hectare from 2006-2013, in excess of US$40,000, compared to `Liberty'. However, after management costs were deducted, all cultivars in Orchard 1 had negative cumulative net income of $-77,892 or less. In Orchard 2, all cultivars had positive cumulative net income for 2006-2013, and `Ginger Gold' had the highest at $109,717/ha. The twenty-year projected NPV was negative for all cultivars in Orchard 1, but in Orchard 2, all cultivars had positive NPV with `Ginger Gold' having the highest among the cultivars.