<p>This research paper focuses on the legal protection of humanitarian workers. It refers to the experience of governmental organizations with a humanitarian vocation, and international humanitarian organizations, such as, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), active in more than 80 countries. The ICRC was created in order provide assistance and protection to wounded combatants,11 but its activity has gradually extended to include prisoners of war and civilians, territories. Also Medecin Sans Frontiere (MSF), functioning in more than 70 countries, was established to provide medical assistance to victims of conflicts or natural and other disasters.</p>

The integration of an instructional good idea in undergraduate classes through the natural and evolutionary process of instruction renovation was the focus of this study. More specifically, the question What personal, contextual, and innovation-related forces act on the integration of active learning into the traditional signature pedagogies of university tenured faculty? was addressed in an extensive research agenda spanning seven years. In the mixed methods study central to this research portfolio, self-nominating faculty who were proponents of active learning at the University of Saskatchewan shared their stories and perceptions about integrating active learning in their undergraduate classes through written data, surveys, questionnaires, focus group meetings, and individual interviews. The study revealed that the integration of active learning, and the development of unique personal signature pedagogies, took place naturally in a benignly neutral environment, when desire met with combinations of perceived needs and timely, resonating active learning solutions. Rather than change, instructional methods were gently renovated as participants experimented with solutions to address student learning needs. Active learning was fit together with personal and professional beliefs about student capabilities and effective instruction, and college signature pedagogies.<p> Participants indicated that supportive faculty development, student enthusiasm and engagement, policy that neither encouraged nor discouraged active learning, and the benefits of active learning were driving forces. Restraining forces included unsupportive or negative students and peers, a lack of alignment between stated organizational values and enacted values regarding rewards, and time. Active learning was thought to be effective, but was also perceived to be complex, difficult to try and assess, and too dissimilar from other instructional methods to integrate easily.<p> Findings from the central study and experiences associated larger doctoral research agenda activities suggest that faculty development could be expanded to provide coaching and suggest instructional methods which are clearly linked with signature pedagogies and instructional problems, and that small manageable ways in which active learning can be easily and comfortably integrated in undergraduate classes are showcased. In addition, students could be encouraged to interact with faculty as often as possible, that student stories of engaging instructional activities be prominently profiled, and that stated organizational values be clearly aligned with enacted values and the formal reward structure.<p> Future studies might focus on the effects of planting highly-regarded teaching enthusiasts, the relationship between student and faculty enthusiasm and engagement, the effects of external rewards on the inclusion of active learning, the role of collegial support in the integration of active learning, and the process of integrating other good ideas. Research might also be conducted on removing identified barriers and increasing driving forces identified in this study. An extension and elaboration of this study might create communities of practice on campus and encourage positive conversations about teaching as well as reveal additional driving and restraining forces that act on the integration of good ideas in undergraduate classes.

This thesis explores the work experiences and life histories of a group of Latina migrant women who work in specific sectors of the service industry in Atlanta, Georgia. I focus on janitorial/custodial as well as domestic labor in order to confront the social issue of the continued devaluation and exploitation of feminized wage work. This ethnography reveals how education and English proficiency tie into how migrant labor is viewed in the United States specifically, and asks how Latina migrant women might be able to achieve labor legitimacy in the future. My findings are based on in-depth interviews that I collected from ten Latina migrant women who live and work in the Atlanta metro-area.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been widely talked about over decades. CSR is a concept proposed in Western Countries firstly and it asks for business to contribute sustainable economic development and to improve the quality of life by involving other stakeholders at the same time. The CSR among countries in Asia has beenspreadingin recent years. This thesis takes a closer comparison on the CSR between China and Sweden. As a case study with qualitative strategy, its main aims are to compare the driving forces, barriers, activities and deliverables in implementation of CSR in a Sweden-China context. Two Swedish enterprises and one Chinese enterprise are used as examples here in this study and both of their primary data by interview and secondary data by CSR or Sustainability Report are utilized. Theories refer to the implementation of CSR, the CSR in China and Sweden are used to establish the conceptual framework of this study. Empirical findings show that Chinese and Swedish enterprises both implement CSR in a similar way while the differences still exist. For instance, the Swedish enterprises stress the work on philanthropic responsibility to participate in local activities, while the Chinese enterprises contribute to the society by donation in natural disaster. Their activities, driving forces, barriers and deliverables are summarized in a model, respectively. Base on this fact, this thesis argues that the difference is due to the influence of cultural and political factors. Consequently, it leads to a situation that the Swedish enterprises have an advantage in implementation on caring of employees while the Chinese enterprises are good at making contributions to the larger society. This thesis can hopefully provide insightful comparison between the implementation of CSR in both Swedish and Chinese enterprises. As a conclusion, the study recommends that the future research should focus on CSR implementation of political influence.

When designing work tasks, one goal should be to enable postures that maximize the force capabilities of the workers while minimizing the overall muscular demands; however, little is known regarding specific shoulder tissue loads during pushing and pulling. This study quantitatively evaluated the effects of direction (anterior-posterior pushing and pulling), handle height (100 cm and 150 cm), handle orientation (vertical and horizontal), included elbow angle (extended and flexed) as well as personal factors (gender, mass and stature) on hand force magnitudes, shoulder and L5/S1 joint moments, normalized mean muscle activation and electromyography (EMG)/force ratios during two-handed maximal push and pull exertions. Twelve female and twelve male volunteers performed maximal voluntary isometric contractions under 10 push and pull experimental conditions that emulated industrial tasks. Hand force magnitudes, kinematic data and bilateral EMG of seven superficial shoulder and trunk muscles were collected. Results showed that direction had the greatest influence on dependent measures. Push exertions produced the greatest forces while also reducing L5/S1 extensor moments, shoulder moments with the 150 cm height and overall muscular demands (p < 0.0001). The 100 cm handle height generated the greatest forces (p < 0.0001) and reduced muscular demands (p < 0.05), but were associated with greater sagittal plane moments (p < 0.05). Females generated, on average, 67% of male forces in addition to incurring greater muscular demands (p < 0.05). The flexed elbows condition in conjunction with pushing produced greater forces with reduced overall muscular demands (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, horizontal handle orientation caused greater resultant moments at all joints (p <. 0.05) The results have important ergonomics implications for evaluating, designing or modifying workstations, tasks or equipment towards improved task performance and the prevention of musculoskeletal injuries and associated health care costs.

Accurate assessment of the electromagnetic excitation forces and the vibration behaviour of stators is essential to arrive at a suitable design for quiet operation of an electrical machine. These electromagnetic forces are produced on the surfaces of the stator and rotor along the air-gap periphery. The physical mechanisms underlying the production of the electromagnetic forces, and the characteristics of the ensuing vibrations are described in this thesis. <p>In this thesis, comprehensive analytical methods are developed for the determination of the radial electromagnetic forces in squirrel-cage and wound-rotor induction machines. Various magnetic fields are generated due to the distribution of the windings in slots, the slotting of the stator and rotor surfaces, and the magnetic saturation of the iron. The air-gap fields are determined using the permeance method by expressing the MMF and the air-gap permeance as waves. <p>In the analyses, the mutual interactions between the stator and rotor are incorporated. Asthe load increases, these interactions become prominent and influence significantly the nature of the air-gap field. Their effects on the electromagnetic forces are discussed from the perspective of the production of vibrations. Extensive investigations were conducted on a 7.5 kW squirrel-cage induction motor and a 70 kW wound-rotor induction motor to verify the validity of the analyses. The comparisons made between the experimental and the analytical results prove the general validity of the analytical methods. <p>Conclusions are drawn with a view to determine the actual role played by the harmonic air-gap fields on the production of the electromagnetic forces and the ensuing vibrations. In the course of these investigations, an experimental set-up which is particularly suited for the measurement of magnetic fields, magnetic forces, resonant frequencies, vibrations and noise was developed. A fundamental study on the vibration behaviour of electrical machine stators using an experimental modal-analysis is presented in the thesis. Modal-analysis is a process of forcing a structure to vibrate predominantly at a selected resonance. In order to achieve this, distributed electromagnetic forces are used.<p>Detailed investigations were conducted on the stator models of a 120 hp induction motor to study their vibration behaviour, and to critically examine the damping present in them. The physical interpretations of the results given in the thesis would help in acquiring a better understanding of the vibration behaviour of stators in relation to the problem of electromagnetic acoustic noise in electrical machines. This work was supported by the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada through grant no. OGP0004324.

The integration of an instructional good idea in undergraduate classes through the natural and evolutionary process of instruction renovation was the focus of this study. More specifically, the question What personal, contextual, and innovation-related forces act on the integration of active learning into the traditional signature pedagogies of university tenured faculty? was addressed in an extensive research agenda spanning seven years. In the mixed methods study central to this research portfolio, self-nominating faculty who were proponents of active learning at the University of Saskatchewan shared their stories and perceptions about integrating active learning in their undergraduate classes through written data, surveys, questionnaires, focus group meetings, and individual interviews. The study revealed that the integration of active learning, and the development of unique personal signature pedagogies, took place naturally in a benignly neutral environment, when desire met with combinations of perceived needs and timely, resonating active learning solutions. Rather than change, instructional methods were gently renovated as participants experimented with solutions to address student learning needs. Active learning was fit together with personal and professional beliefs about student capabilities and effective instruction, and college signature pedagogies.<p> Participants indicated that supportive faculty development, student enthusiasm and engagement, policy that neither encouraged nor discouraged active learning, and the benefits of active learning were driving forces. Restraining forces included unsupportive or negative students and peers, a lack of alignment between stated organizational values and enacted values regarding rewards, and time. Active learning was thought to be effective, but was also perceived to be complex, difficult to try and assess, and too dissimilar from other instructional methods to integrate easily.<p> Findings from the central study and experiences associated larger doctoral research agenda activities suggest that faculty development could be expanded to provide coaching and suggest instructional methods which are clearly linked with signature pedagogies and instructional problems, and that small manageable ways in which active learning can be easily and comfortably integrated in undergraduate classes are showcased. In addition, students could be encouraged to interact with faculty as often as possible, that student stories of engaging instructional activities be prominently profiled, and that stated organizational values be clearly aligned with enacted values and the formal reward structure.<p> Future studies might focus on the effects of planting highly-regarded teaching enthusiasts, the relationship between student and faculty enthusiasm and engagement, the effects of external rewards on the inclusion of active learning, the role of collegial support in the integration of active learning, and the process of integrating other good ideas. Research might also be conducted on removing identified barriers and increasing driving forces identified in this study. An extension and elaboration of this study might create communities of practice on campus and encourage positive conversations about teaching as well as reveal additional driving and restraining forces that act on the integration of good ideas in undergraduate classes.

Background: Development of technologies and high pace of changes made a modern organization highly dependent on the expertise and assistance of technology specialists. To be able to compete and be cost efficient, but at the same time be on the cutting-edge of technology development, is an essential requirement for doing business in the contemporary world. Moreover, this requirement became a solid ground for the emergence of a technical consulting industry and a new type of human resources - technical consultants. On the one hand, technical consultants are the main resources of technical consulting organizations, but on the other hand, technical consultants can cause harm to technical consulting organization, particularly, in the case of voluntary turnover. Aim: Through the qualitative analysis of the four technical consultants’ voluntary turnover stories in Sweden and based on the literature review, this master thesis opens up the door to the world of technical consultants. The aim of this work is to seek new insights into the problem of voluntary turnover in a new context of technical consultants and discover what role multiple identities and perceived promises play in voluntary turnover decision. Results: Technical consultants are a type of knowledge workers with non-traditional work arrangements. Empirical evidence demonstrates that technical consultants’ decision to quit can be described using "Eight motivational forces", but the framework should be extended, due to developing multiple identities and receiving perceived promises from multiple sources.

Self-organization is a common occurrence among molecules in nature and questions of how and why these molecules interact and come together by intermolecular forces has been under investigation by those interested in molecular recognition. Synthetic molecules able to mimic nature have become important in the area of supramolecular chemistry. Calixarenes are a group of molecules that is being investigated for their ability to self-assemble into dimeric capsules. Such capsules can be very useful for catalysis, molecular recognition and for encapsulation. The synthetic stratergies involved in the synthesis of a diureidocalix[4]arene is presented. In this case the taget molecule is a tetrapropylcalix[4]arene substituted on the upper rim with two urea groups separated by a hydrocarbon chain will be synthesized. This molecule can then be used to investigate its dimerization properties.

This study identifies mechanisms controlling interface shearing between pipes and granular materials and develops a predictive jacking force calculation model. The surface roughness of six pipe materials, including Hobas (Centrifugally Cast Fiber Reinforced Polymer Mortar), Polycrete (Polymer Concrete), Permalok Steel (Rolled Steel with a Painted Surface), Wet Cast Concrete, Packerhead Concrete, and Vitrified Clay pipe, have been characterized to determine the role of surface roughness on the soil-pipe interface shearing mechanism. Interface shear tests were performed between pipe materials and two characteristically different granular soils: Ottawa 20/30 sand and Atlanta Blasting sand. Shearing behavior between the sands and the pipe materials was evaluated to determine the mechanisms of shearing on materials with varied roughness values. Interface friction values were established for the pipe materials and soils. A model was developed to jacking forces based on modifications to Terzaghi's Arching Theory for predicting normal stresses and interface friction coefficients developed in the laboratory. Field research on fourteen case histories of microtunneling and pipe jacking projects was presented. Pertinent project details were provided including pipe materials, site geometry, geotechnical information, construction sequencing, lubrication injection, and jacking force records. Jacking force records for each project were separated into isolated segments along the alignment to analyze jacking stresses. Unlubricated segments of the microtunneling drive records were analyzed to compare actual and predicted jacking forces using the proposed model. The predictive model was compared to other models currently available for predicting the frictional component of jacking forces. Lubrication effects on jacking forces were analyzed to determine how the interface friction coefficient changed once lubrication was applied to the pipeline. Two types of lubrication strategies were identified and predicted lubricated jacking forces were shown. A step-by-step guide for using the jacking force predictive model was presented for design applications and estimating lubricated interface friction values.