<p>Internet Telephony defined as real time voice or multimediacommunications over packet switched networks dates back to theearly days of the Internet. ARPA's Network SecureCommunications project had implemented, as early as December1973, an infrastructure for local and transnet real time voicecommunication. Two main sets of standards have emerged: H. 323from the ITU-T and the session initiation protocol (SIP) fromthe Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Both includespecifications for value added services. Value added services,or more simply services, are critical to service providers'survival and success. Unfortunately, the service architecturesthat come with the ITU-T and the IETF sets of standards arerather weak. Although they are constantly evolving,alternatives and complements need to be researched. This thesiswhich is made up of a formal dissertation and 6 appendices,proposes a novel mobile agent based service architecture forInternet Telephony. The architecture addresses the issues noneof the existing architectures solves in a satisfactory manner.Furthermore it adds mobile agents to the panoply of servicecreation tools. The appendices are reprints of articlespublished in refereed magazines/journals or under considerationfor publication. The formal dissertation is a summary of thepublications. A consistent and comprehensive set ofrequirements are derived. They are TINA-C flavored, but adaptedto Internet Telephony. They are used to critically reviewrelated work and also used to motivate the use of mobile agentsas the pillars of a novel architecture. The components of thisnovel architecture are identified. The key component is themobile service agent. It acts as a folder and carriesservice(s) to which the end-user has subscribed. Mobile serviceagents need to be upgraded when new versions of service logicare available and when end-users make changes to service data.This thesis proposes a novel upgrading framework. The currentInternet infrastructure comprises a wide range of hosts. Mobileagent platforms are now available for most of thesehosts/clients including memory/processing power constrainedPDAs. Our mobile service agents need to adapt to hostvariability when roaming. A novel adaptivity framework is alsoproposed. These two frameworks are general and can be appliedto any other mobile agent which meets a basic set ofassumptions. A key advantage of a mobile agent based servicearchitecture is that it enables the developement of mobileagent based services. The thesis proposes a novel mobile agentbased multi-party session scheduler. The feasibility and theadvantages of the architecture proposed by this thesis havebeen demonstrated by a prototype on which measurements havebeen made. Future work includes the addition of a securityframework to the architecture, and refinenements to theupgrading and adaptivity frameworks. More mobile agent basedservices, especially mobile multi agent based services willalso be developed.</p>

A range of porous solid adsorbents were synthesised and their ability to separate and capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from gas mixtures was examined. CO2 separation from flue gas – a type of exhaust gas from fossil fuel combustion that consists of CO2 mixed with mainly nitrogen and biogas (consists of CO2 mixed with mainly methane) were explicitly considered. The selected adsorbents were chosen partly due to their narrow pore sizes. Narrow pores can differentiate gas molecules of different sizes via a kinetic separation mechanism: a large gas molecule should find it more difficult to enter a narrow pore. CO2 has the smallest kinetic diameter in zeolites when compared with the other two gases in this study. Narrow pore adsorbents can therefore, show enhanced kinetic selectivity to adsorb CO2 from a gas mixture. The adsorbents tested in this study included mixed cation zeolite A, zeolite ZK-4, a range of aluminophosphates and silicoaluminophosphates, as well as two types of titanium silicates (ETS-4, CTS-1). These adsorbents were compared with one another from different aspects such as CO2 capacity, CO2 selectivity, cyclic performance, working capacity, cost of synthesis, etc. Each of the tested adsorbents has its advantages and disadvantages. Serval phosphates were identified as potentially good CO2 adsorbents, but the high cost of their synthesis must be addressed in order to develop these adsorbents for applications. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defence the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Papers 4-8: Manuscripts.</p>

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China, as a leading apparel manufacturer and exporter in the world possesses significant market potential for growth because of its growing demand power. Given that low labor costs are increasingly no longer one of the competitive advantages held by Chinese apparel manufacturers, developing powerful and profitable globally recognized apparel brands may be the way to obtain sustainable success for firms in the Chinese apparel industry. Accordingly, Michael Porter’s The Competitive Advantage of Nations (1990) will be applied as a theoretical framework to discuss the competitiveness of a nation’s apparel industry. Brand management, satisfying exacting domestic demands, and stimulating marketing competition will be integrated. Using Porter’s theoretical foundation for demand conditions, a proposed model of fashion sophistication is introduced and a measurement survey utilizing Gen-Y Chinese fashion consumers is assessed. Furthermore, the research on Gen-Y consumers’ fashion sophistication discovered their specialized characteristics which represent exacting domestic demand for apparel products.

Membrane technology can help alleviate problems of matching supply and demand associated with upgrading on a small-scale level through its flexibility in operation. This paper provides a techno-economic assessment of the use of membrane technology via a quantitative and partial qualitative analysis at farm-based level. The purpose of the analysis is to investigate how the economic and environmental utility of the membranes can be maximised, along with outlining the possible reasons to its lack of diffusion. It combines an applied system research method by way of linear programming with interviews and the use of the innovation-decision process theory. A framework was set out to deliver hard and soft data that could also provide contextual in-depth analysis and discussion. It was found that membranes could provide good compatibility with farm based upgrading systems with desirable outcomes for both an economic and environmental viewpoint. More specifically, upgrading to 80 percent (which is below natural gas standards of 96 percent), was found to be more favourable than to upgrade to 96 percent. However, in addition to much further research and deliberation needed before 80 percent biogas can be used commercially in tractors, the study also outlined priority that needs to be given to the local market demand as well as for the need to introduce closer, more personal engagement with the farmers and make trialing and observing membrane technology better facilitated and funded so as to increase its adoption.

China, as a leading apparel manufacturer and exporter in the world possesses significant market potential for growth because of its growing demand power. Given that low labor costs are increasingly no longer one of the competitive advantages held by Chinese apparel manufacturers, developing powerful and profitable globally recognized apparel brands may be the way to obtain sustainable success for firms in the Chinese apparel industry. Accordingly, Michael Porter’s The Competitive Advantage of Nations (1990) will be applied as a theoretical framework to discuss the competitiveness of a nation’s apparel industry. Brand management, satisfying exacting domestic demands, and stimulating marketing competition will be integrated. Using Porter’s theoretical foundation for demand conditions, a proposed model of fashion sophistication is introduced and a measurement survey utilizing Gen-Y Chinese fashion consumers is assessed. Furthermore, the research on Gen-Y consumers’ fashion sophistication discovered their specialized characteristics which represent exacting domestic demand for apparel products.

This dissertation provides a capability creation perspective on the story of China’s technological catching up, or resurgence, if viewed from a broader historical perspective. Since the first Asian tigers caught up to modern technological standards (e.g., South Korea, Singapore), two schools of thought have dominated causal explanations (Nelson and Pack, 1999). The first perspective is the conventional accumulation approach, which attributes the major share of growth to the accumulation of physical and human capital, and views learning as a more-or-less automatic byproduct of those investments. The second perspective is the assimilation approach, which emphasizes the arduous learning, risk-taking entrepreneurship, and innovation that is involved in the process and argues that the former proposition neglects this aspect of the endeavour and may therefore lead to erroneous estimates. This dissertation focuses on the second school of thought. Compared to the first-tier Asian tigers, the second-tier tigers, of which China is representative, pose many challenges to the assimilation approach. First, the sheer size of the country results in an unusual scale and scope of activities and interactions in any field. Second, the long history of civilization in China suggests that many modern phenomena have historical roots that are unknown to outsiders and invisible and complex to insiders. The present study aims to contribute a small piece of the puzzle to our understanding of the big picture. By providing an in-depth study of the Chinese information and communication technologies (ICT) sector, this study explores changes that have occurred in the three key building blocks of capability creation; specifically, the sourcing, generation, and appropriation of technological knowledge. A qualitative case study approach was employed for the main, empirical part of the study, which consists of extensive firm-level interviews. Complementary statistical data, including patent data and historical archives, were used to provide context and a deeper look into the study topic. The results are described in five articles. The first article presents establishing overseas research and development (R&amp;D) laboratories as one of the major learning methods for overcoming disadvantages related to dislocation from technology sources and advanced markets. This approach allows China to search for industry-relevant scientific knowledge rather than adopting ready-made technologies introduced by western multinational enterprises in China. The second article describes the modularity-in-design approach, which opens new windows of opportunity for technological advancement. The lack of essential intellectual property rights (IPRs) acts as a key inducement and a factor-saving bias that influences the direction of innovation. When both (international) competitiveness and learning are involved in the catching-up process, the development of industry-wide capability becomes a particularly vital aspect of indigenous innovation. The third article describes the geographic consequences of historically planted industrial capabilities in China’s inland regions, which impact the absorption of different types of industrial knowledge. Fields of industry that are densely populated with patents- IPR thickets- represent a novel situation that was not experienced to the same extent by nations whose technological development occurred earlier. This thesis dedicates two articles to this dimension of knowledge appropriation. The fourth article describes the duality of Chinese ICT patenting, and the fifth article identifies an ambidextrous strategy that depends on where the major competition emerges. In general, the decision to patent and the extent of patenting are determined by four factors: a) the distance to the frontier (Aghion et al., 1997) particularly for technology; b) the nature of the technology (Teece, 1986), but with a rural extension in the case of China; c) the specificities of information (Arrow, 1962) that are embodied in a firm’s origins in China; and d) the supporting institutions that co-evolve in that process. Learning proceeds at different levels: that of individuals, firms, industries, and nations.   This dissertation provides an industry-level perspective on learning and innovation-based technological advancement. / from developing economy to global high-tech competitiveness - the case of Chinese ICT expansion

After immigrating to Canada, some foreign-trained professional women (FTPWs) enrol in adult high schoollevel upgrading to begin to reestablish their careers if their international credentials are unrecognized. To explore this phenomenon, the theoretical framework of possible selves was used as a mechanism to examine the effect of context (i.e., upgrading) on their personally relevant goals. Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with four FTPWs who attended two postsecondary institutes in central Alberta. The participants salient possible selves were related to familial duties and employment; they viewed upgrading as a mechanism to work toward these hoped-for selves. Upgrading was also found to increase the number of and clarify their hoped-for selves. Because of the significant impact of immigration on the participants possible selves, upgrading should also include referrals to immigration services and support for the credential assessment process, help to build confidence, and encourage the development of social networks for immigrants.