Liquefaction is a major challenge in geotechnical engineering in which soil strength and stiffness are compromised due to earthquake activity. Understanding and predicting the behaviour and liquefaction susceptibility of soils under cyclic loading is a critical issue in civil engineering, mining and protective engineering. Numerous earthquake-induced ground failure events (e.g., substantial ground deformation, reduced bearing capacity) or liquefaction in natural fine-grained soils or manmade fine-grained soils (i.e., fine tailings) produced by mining activities have been observed and reported in the literature. Tailings are manmade soils that remain following the extraction of metals and minerals from mined ore in a mine processing plant. Traditionally, such tailings are stored in surface tailings impoundments at the mine’s surface. However, geotechnical and environmental risks and consequences related to conventional tailings impoundments have attracted the attention of the engineering community to develop novel methods of tailings disposal and management to minimize geotechnical and environmental risks. Thus, engineers have introduced and implemented innovative tailings technologies—thickened tailings and paste tailings—as cost-effective means for tailings management in mining operations. As both thickened tailings and paste tailings have lower water content and higher solid content than tailings in conventional impoundments, these tailings may be more resistant to liquefaction. However, it should be noted that the seismic or cyclic behaviour of these thickened and paste tailings, with and without heavy rainfall effects, are not fully understood. There is little technical information or data about the behaviour and liquefaction of thickened and paste tailings under seismic or cyclic loading conditions. The objective of the present PhD research is to investigate the response of layered thickened and paste tailings deposits, with and without heavy rainfall effects, to cyclic loads by conducting shaking table tests. To simulate the field deposition of thickened and paste tailings, tailings were deposited in three thin layers in a flexible laminar shear box (FLSB) attached to the shaking table equipment. A sinusoidal seismic loading at a frequency of 1 Hz and peak horizontal acceleration of 0.13g was applied at the bottom of the layered tailings deposits. Acceleration, displacement and pore water pressure responses to the cyclic loading were monitored at the middle depth of each layer of the tailings deposits. Regarding the acceleration response of these thickened and paste tailings deposits (without the effect of heavy rainfall), there was no difference between the middle of the bottom and middle layers or at the base of the shaking table. However, the acceleration at the middle of the top layer differed from the acceleration at the base of the shaking table. Throughout shaking, the layered tailings deposits (with and without the effect of heavy rainfall) exhibited contraction and dilation responses. The excess pore water pressure ratios of the layered thickened tailings deposit that was not exposed to heavy rainfall prior to shaking were found to exceed 1.0 during shaking. However, for the layered paste tailings deposit that was not exposed to the effect of heavy rainfall prior to shaking, the excess pore water pressure ratios were found to be lower than 0.85 during shaking. This reveals that without the effect of heavy rainfall, the layered thickened tailings deposit was susceptible to liquefaction, whereas the layered paste tailings deposit was resistant to liquefaction during shaking. The excess pore water ratios of the layered thickened and the paste tailings deposits that were exposed to heavy rainfall prior to shaking were found to be lower than 0.8 during shaking. This reveals that with the effect of heavy rainfall, the layered thickened and paste tailings deposits were resistant to liquefaction during shaking. The results and findings of this PhD research thus provide valuable information for the implementation of tailings in earthquake-prone areas.

The fashion industry is one of the most heavily polluting industries in the world. The industry has traditionally operated through the linear economy utilizing a take-make-waste supply chain. The appearance of the circular economy has provided the fashion industry with the opportunity to change its business models to more circular alternatives. However, focusing mainly on improving operations and forecasting models in ways for prevention, previous research has not considered the role of unsold goods (or deadstock) in a circular economy. This study contributes to the literature on the circular economy through insight into how deadstock can be reduced using circular strategies. Using an abductive approach, a case study was made on a fashion company that is investigating the possibilities to reduce deadstock using circular strategies. The study combines findings from previous research with a thematic analysis based on data collected from interviews with managers and experts working at the case company to answer the proposed research questions and fulfill its purpose. The findings of the study show that the drivers of and barriers to circular strategies at the case company seem to correspond with previous research. The drivers seem to mainly be softer powers that encourage change, such as organization and culture, while the barriers tend to be harder powers that hinder the change, such as heavy investments and the need for technological advancement. Moreover, the company lacks drivers being hard powers, such as technology and financial incentives. The authors, therefore, argue that the lack of drivers forcing change is one of the reasons why the industry has not changed more yet. Additionally, deadstock reducing initiatives seem to share many similarities in drivers and barriers with circular strategies, the main difference being an attitudinal difference towards them. This spurs a discussion of the duality of Doing Good and Doing Right in sustainability efforts where it is argued that to truly become sustainable, an organization must be able to do both. This study implies that deadstock reduction should be incorporated into the circular economy utilizing the circular strategies. More collaboration needs to happen between the individual circular strategies, for example through shared data systems, coordinated management for all circular strategies, and shared collecting and sorting systems. Furthermore, although soft powers encouraging change are in place, no significant transition towards circularity is to be expected in the fashion industry until hard powers, such as enabling technological innovations, are in place to force the change. / Modeindustrin är en av världens mest förorenande industrier. Industrin har traditionellt sett drivits av den linjära ekonomin och använt en ta-producera-släng värdekedja. Den cirkulära ekonomins uppkomst har gett modeindustrin möjligheten att ändra dess affärsmodeller till mer cirkulära alternativ. Dock, genom att fokusera mer på förbättringar av tekniker och prognosmodeller, så har tidigare forskning inte undersökt osålda varors (eller deadstock) roll i en cirkulär ekonomi. Den här studien bidrar till litteraturen inom cirkulär ekonomi genom att tillföra insikter om hur deadstock kan reduceras genom cirkulära strategier. Med en abduktivansats utfördes en fallstudie på ett företag som undersöker möjligheterna att reducera överlager genom cirkulära strategier. Studien kombinerar insikter från tidigare forskning med insikter från en tematisk analys gjort på data från intervjuer med chefer och experter på fallföretaget för att svara på de föreslagna forskningsfrågorna och uppfylla sitt syfte. Resultatet av studien visar att drivkrafterna och barriärerna för cirkulära strategier på fallföretaget överensstämmer med tidigare forskning. Drivkrafterna är huvudsakligen mjukare i karaktär och uppmuntrar till förändring, såsom organisation och kultur, medan barriärerna tenderar att vara av hårdare karaktär och stoppar förändring, så som stora investeringar och ett behov av teknologiskutveckling. Därtill saknar fallföretaget drivkrafter av hårdare karaktär, såsom teknologiska och finansiella incitament, med förmågan att kunna tvinga fram förändring. Författarna till denna studie argumenterar därför för att avsaknaden av tvingande drivkrafter är en av de starkaste anledningarna till att modeindustrin ännu inte förändrats med signifikant och blivit mer cirkulär. Vidare tycks deadstock-reducerande initiativ dela många likheter i drivkrafter och barriärer med de cirkulära strategierna medan den huvudsakliga skillnaden tycks ligga i attityden gentemot de olika strategierna. Detta sporrade en diskussion om dualiteten i att Göra Bra och att Göra Rätt i hållbarhetsarbeten där det, för att bli helt hållbar, argumenteras för att organisationer måste kunna göra både och. Implikationerna av studier är att deadstock reducering borde tas med i den cirkulära ekonomin genom cirkulära strategier. Fler samarbeten måste dessutom ske mellan de olika cirkulära strategierna genom, till exempel, delade datasystem, ett koordinerat styrorgan församtliga cirkulära strategier och delade insamling- och sorteringssystem. Slutligen konstateras det att trots att mjukare krafter som uppmuntrar till förändring redan är verksamma så förväntas ingen signifikant omställning mot cirkularitet inom industrin ske om inte hårdare krafter, som möjliggörande teknologiska innovationer, kommer på plats för att tvinga till förändring.

Bakgrund Coronapandemin har haft en global påverkan på den finansiella marknaden, inte minst på Stockholmsbörsen, som rasade 11,1 procent under en dag. När det råder en osäkerhet på marknaden ökar informationsasymmetrin mellan marknadsaktörer. Tidigare studier har visat att insiders kunde uppnå överavkastning utifrån insiderinformation under kriser. Insiderhandel kan vanligen tolkas som något olagligt och trots regleringar existerar det fortfarande på marknaden. Antalet misstänkta insiderbrott ökade från 199 till 368 under tidsperioden 2015-2017. Syfte Syftet med denna studie är att analysera om det uppstår överavkastning på Stockholmsbörsen när en vd förvärvar aktier i det egna bolaget genom att studera ett urval av bolag under coronapandemin. Vidare kommer studien även att analysera huruvida det förekommer skillnader i överavkastningen beroende på transaktionsstorlek och storleken på företaget. Metod Studien tillämpar en kvantitativ forskning genom en eventstudie. Vidare tillämpas en deduktiv ansats med sekundärdata från Finansinspektionen och Nasdaq. För att beräkna eventuell överavkastning har den justerade marknadsmodellen använts. Statistiska tester har genomförts i SPSS för att tolka och analysera studiens resultat samt huruvida transaktionsstorlek och företagsstorlek påverkar eventuell överavkastning.Slutsats Utifrån studiens resultat återfinns inga signifikanta resultat under tidsperioden 2019-2021 som visar att det uppstått överavkastning i samband med att företagets vd köpt aktier i bolaget. Studien stödjer inte heller att det återfinns ett samband mellan insiderns avkastning och transaktionsstorlek eller företagsstorlek. Resultatet indikerar på att Stockholmsbörsen kan antas vara effektiv under den studerade perioden / Background: The corona pandemic has had a global impact on the financial market, not least on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, which fell 11.1 percent in one day. When there is uncertainty in the market, the information asymmetry increases. Previous studies have proven that insiders could achieve excess returns based on insider information during crises. Insider trading can usually be interpreted as something illegal and despite regulations, it still exists. The amount of suspected insider crimes increased from 199 to 368 during the period 2015-2017.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze whether there is an excess return on the Stockholm Stock Exchange when a CEO acquires shares in his own company by studying a selection of companies during the corona pandemic. Furthermore, the study will also analyze whether there are differences in the excess return depending on the transaction size and the size of the company.Methodology: The study applies a quantitative research strategy through an event study. A deductive approach is applied with secondary data from Finansinspektionen and Nasdaq OMX Nordic. To calculate excess return, the adjusted market model has been used. Statistical tests have been performed in SPSS to analyze and interpret the results of the study and whether transaction size and company size affect any excess return. Conclusions. Based on the results of the study, there are no significant results during the period 2019-2021 which show that there has been an excess return in connection with the company's CEO buying shares in the company. The study also does not support that there is a connection between the insider's return and transaction size or company size. The result takes us further to the fact that the Stockholm Stock Exchange can be assumed to be efficient during the period studied

With development and impact of ICT, the method of work in many organizations has been becoming more collaborative and communicative, under which a number of organizations start to take corresponding strategies to achieve business goals and create more values. Managing Business Process is an effective and efficient way to improve productivity and performance of business activities from an organizational level. Business Process model, as a representation of Business Process, provides a big picture of Business Process, allowing organizations to acquire understanding on logical relationships among different business activities and to improve Business Process by various approaches. This study discusses the application of Business Process models on weakness identification which is related to the problem of excess inventory in supply chain with a qualitative method. It adopts three Business Process Modelling techniques to build Business Process models for a planning team involved with demand and supply planning, where four experts from the team participate in interview. The models are analyzed according to selected weakness patterns in order to identify the process weaknesses and link them with the causes of excess inventory. The result of this study gives a positive answer, which means the Business Process Models are capable to identify causes for the concrete problem of excess inventory by identifying process weaknesses.

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Prior to the passage of the 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 1.6 million bare steel Underground Storage Tanks (UST) were in use in the United States. Many of them were leaking. In Indiana approximately 13,000 UST remain but have been upgraded to meet current industry and regulatory standards. Cleaning up the petroleum releases from leaking UST has continued since it became evident that bare steel underground tanks leaked. In Northwest Indiana glacial moraine and outwash deposits from the Wisconsin Ice Age that retreated 10,000 years ago left 200 feet of glacial till above the underlying bedrock. Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE) and Air Sparging (AS) have proven to be effective and provide significant cost savings for remediation in the glacial deposits in Northwest Indiana. Indiana also has the Excess Liability Trust Fund (ELTF) to help pay for and to expedite clean-up of releases from registered UST. Cleaning up petroleum releases requires the appropriate technology for the localized geology, adequate funding, and appropriate guidance from state and federal regulations. This study discusses these issues at three sites in Northwest Indiana to demonstrate how technology, funding, and regulatory compliance must collaborate to work in the field.

The Member States of EU27 need to accelerate the integration of energy efficient technology solutions to reach the 20% energy efficiency target set for 2020. At current pace, projections indicate that only half of expected primary energy reductions will be reached. To meet the energy demands of growing populations and a vibrant economy, while simultaneously reducing primary energy supplies, the European continent faces a new kind of challenge never previously encountered. The identification and application of feasible, competitive, and comprehensive solutions to this problem are of highest priority if the remaining gap is to be closed in time. How is this multi-dimensional and complex dilemma to be dissolved? In this work, expanded use of district heating technology is conceived as a possible solution to substantially reduce future primary energy demands in Europe. By extended recovery and utilisation of vast volumes of currently disregarded excess heat from energy and industry sector fuel transformation processes, district heating systems and combined generation of heat and power can improve the general efficiency of the European energy balance. To investigate the possible range of this solution, this thesis introduces a set of methodologies, theoretical concepts, and model tools, by which a plausible future excess heat utilisation potential, by means of district heat deliveries to residential and service sectors, is estimated. At current conditions and compared to current levels, this potential correspond to a threefold expansion possibility for directly feasible district heating systems in European urban areas and a fourfold increase of European excess heat utilisation.

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[pt] O objetivo desta tese é, em primeiro lugar, analisar a reprodução do discurso da soberania nas Relações Internacionais enquanto mecanismo de fixação identitária e, em segundo lugar, deslocar o foco da soberania por meio de uma análise de mecanismos de morte, esta sendo objeto e local da soberania em si. Considerando o debate na teoria queer sobre os limites da política, a tese faz uma análise crítica do desenvolvimento dessa perspectiva teórica na disciplina, apresentando uma leitura que fomenta o desmantelamento da noção de uniformidade do Estado e da prevalência do internacional como condição das Relações Internacionais, a fim de entender o internacional como universalidade. Depois disso, em diálogo com Foucault e Butler, a tese se aprofunda no detalhamento das relações de poder a nível do corpo por meio do debate sobre a sujeição implicada pela fixação identitária do gênero, e assim a demonstra como fundamental para as premissas da racionalidade e da agência como fundadoras da soberania. Para tal, o contexto brasileiro de marginalização e violência contra minorias de gênero e raça é considerado. Analisa-se a degeneração como forma de produção da diferença em uma gama de variações na intersecção de raça e gênero, em um engajamento crítico com o conceito de racismo de Estado. Nessa linha, a tese aprofunda, então, uma discussão teórica acerca dos diferentes exercícios de morte sobre o outro para entender as contrapartidas da expansão da vida, colocando em evidência a violência constitutiva da formação de uma identidade soberana. A tese então propõe uma análise da morte como chave da agência do ser e da soberania, a partir de uma leitura do excesso batailleano. A soberania é analisada no flerte com a morte, tanto na morte lenta quanto na morte violenta, ambas no entremeio entre a consciência e sua interrupção, e entre a utilidade e o dispêndio. Sendo assim, o identitarismo é posto em xeque por meio do questionamento da capacidade agencial resumida à razão, em uma contribuição que parte da perda de si como contestação da figura do indivíduo e do Estado soberano. Por fim, a proposta de conceituação alternativa da soberania é examinada retomando as potenciais problemáticas identitárias presentes no debate queer. O objetivo é retomar a discussão sobre radicalidade queer e sobre as consequências do movimento de desnaturalização tanto do gênero como da soberania, sejam elas significativas em termos de resistência ou não. / [en] The objective of this thesis is, firstly, to analyze the reproduction of the discourse on sovereignty in International Relations, understanding it as a mechanism of fixation of identity and, secondly, to dislocate the focus of sovereignty through an analysis of mechanisms of death, considering death as object and locus of sovereignty itself. Considering queer theory’s debate on the limits of politics, the thesis engages critically with the development of this theoretical perspective in the discipline, presenting a reading that foments the dismantling of the notion of State’s uniformity and the prevalence of the international as a condition of International Relations, with the aim of understanding the international as universality. After that, in dialogue with Foucault and Butler, the thesis deepens itself in detailing the relations of power at the level of the body through the debate on subjection implied by gender identity’s fixation, demonstrating it as fundamental to the premise of rationality and agency as both founding of sovereignty. To do so, the Brazilian context of marginalization and violence against gender and race minorities is considered. Degeneration is pondered as a form of production of difference in a range of variations at the intersection of gender and race, in a critical engagement with the concept of State racism. Following that, the thesis deepens, then, a theoretical discussion around the different exercises of death over the other in order to understand the costs of the expansion of life, evidencing the constitutive violence of the formation of a sovereign identity. The thesis then proposes an analysis of death as key to the agency of the being and to sovereignty, departing from a reading of bataillean excess. Sovereignty is analyzed in flirting with death, both in slow death as in violent death, both in between consciousness and its interruption, and in between utility and expenditure. Thus, identitarianism is put in check through the questioning of agential capacity reduced to reason, in a contribution that departs from the loss of the self as a contestation of the image of the individual and the sovereign State. Finally, the proposal of an alternative conception of sovereignty is examined by recovering the discussion about queer radicality and about the consequences of the movement of denaturalization both of gender as well as sovereignty, be them significative in terms of resistance or not.