The focus of this study is on potential damages to buildings resulting from expansive soils in Tanzania, particularly clay soils in Kibaha. For the fact that most of the affected structures are founded on expansive soils, a clear understanding of the behaviour of soils and their interaction with structures has been of interest to the study in order to evaluate properly the source of the problem.The geotechnical behaviour of expansive clay soils is investigated by looking into the geomorphologic, geological and climatic conditions and mineralogical composition of the soils in the study area.Two sites, representative of known problem-areas in Kibaha were selected for geotechnical tests. Geotechnical site investigation consisted of open trial pits, profile description and the collection of both disturbed and undisturbed samples. To extend and amplify the findings, supplementary samples were collected from the environs of the two sites.The collected samples were submitted to soil laboratories at KTH, ARU, SEAMIC and DIT for mineralogical composition tests, natural water content, density, Atterberg limits and swell tests. The results of this investigation indicate that soils in Kibaha contains clay (31%), have high liquid limit (59%) and plastic limit (37%) which indicate high potential swell.Since swell pressure, free swell and swell percent are key properties of expansive soils, the swell properties were measured by free swell tests and one-dimensional oedometer swell tests. The free swell ranged from 100% to 150% and the swell pressure was in the region of 45 kPa. The coefficient of linear extensibility (COLE) was determined for characterizing expansive clays. For all tested samples, COLE ranged from 0.09 to 0.14 indicating that soils fall in the region of high to very high expansion potential rating. The properties of expansive soils were confirmed by the x-ray diffraction test which showed the presence of smectite in the soil. Furthermore, total suction measurement technique using filter paper method indicated that the soils have high suction values, signifying that they have a tendency to swell upon wetting depending on plasticity of particular soil.The depth of the active zone was measured as a function of moisture variations in the profiles during two extreme weather conditions. The active zone depth was found to be between 1.0 and 2.0 m deep. Procedures to assess models to predict swell in the case study were outlined together with their validity.Vertical and horizontal spatial variability in selected soil properties was defined using geostatistical techniques through the fitting of variogram. The indicator semivariograms of both clay contents and free swell gave a range of 20 m horizontally and 1.0 m vertically, with the horizontal variograms exhibiting greater ranges than the dipping variograms.Physical conditions of the surveyed properties in the area confirmed that building damages are associated with poor building materials triggered by expansive soils. In support of the obtained data, the actual behaviour of the foundations was supplemented with prototypes of strip foundations whose performances were monitored over a period of four months. Finally, suggested are the ways forward to solve the problem of foundation on expansive soil / QC 20100824

This paper presents an approach in contemporary, abstract art for a new way of experiencing modernist abstraction. This has not been possible until now, about 40 years after the postmodern turn against modernism in art, and the closely connected formalism. This new approach is represented in this paper by the Swedish contemporary artists Ann Edholm and Jacob Dahlgren. Modernist artists such as Kasimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian receives a new relevance to contemporary abstract art. This opens up for a new, more complex and more dialectical understanding and re-evaluation of modernism and its abstract art.This is shown by a historical and chronological investigation which highlights modernist abstract art, formalism, and the critical and post-modern Neo-geometric ‘abstraction’ of the eighties. This background has been a way of proving how modernist abstraction still can possess a validity for contemporary art today, and even vitalize a continuation for abstract art as a contemporary practice.

The procedures and results of experimental and/or theoretical studies of four transient molecules, GeO, WO, BeH, and MgH are reported in the thesis. Two of them, GeO and WO, are diatomic molecules composed of relatively heavy atoms, and the other two are diatomic molecules with hydrogen as one of their component atoms. The GeO species was generated using a high temperature furnace. The rovibrational spectrum of five isotopomers were detected in emission using a Bruker IFS 120 HR Fourier transform spectrometer. Combined-isotopomer Dunham-type molecular constants have been derived for GeO using the DSParFit computer program. Analysis shows that the Born-Oppenheimer approximation is valid, as expected, for a molecule containing heavy atoms. The WO molecule was generated using a microwave discharge cell, and the spectra of electronic transitions of various systems were detected in emission using both the Bruker IFS 120 HR Fourier transform spectrometer at Waterloo and the McMath Pierce One-Meter Fourier transform spectrometer at the National Solar Observatory in Arizona. The ground electronic state has been confirmed to be X³Σ^- based on the analysis of seven 0-0 bands. BeH and MgH are typical molecules with hydrogen as one of their component atoms, and the effects of Born-Oppenheimer breakdown were expected. Both of these molecules have rotational perturbations in their excited electronic states. A 'new' method of data processing was used, i. e. , treating the electronic data as if they were from fluorescence series. Thus the harmful influence of the perturbed upper electronic states on the ground electronic state molecular constants is eliminated. By using the DSParFit computer program, accurate sets of combined-isotopomer Dunham-type molecular constants have been derived for the ground electronic states of the two molecules, and Born-Oppenheimer breakdown correction terms have been obtained.

In dieser Bachelorarbeit wird eine Beispiel-E-Learning-Lektion zum Import von GPS Daten in die Kartenherstellungssoftware OCAD erstellt. Dabei liegt im theoretischen Teil der Hauptschwerpunkt auf nutzergenerierten Daten (Volunteered Geographic Infor-mation; kurz: VGI). Nach einer kurzen, allgemeinen Einführung wird auf die Bedeutung der Kartographie im Zusammenhang mit VGI eingegangen. Der zweite Teil beinhaltet Didaktik mit Schwerpunkt E-Learning. Dazu werden das Goal Based Scenario Modell und das Cognitive Apprenticeship Modell kurz vorgestellt und anschließend das Projekt GITTA mit der enthaltenen ECLASS-Struktur näher erklärt. Den immer wichtiger werdenden Content Management Systemen (CMS) widmet sich der dritte Theorieteil. Für die Realisierung der zu erstellenden Lektion wird das Open-Source CMS Joomla! ausführlicher erläutert. Die Implementierung beschreibt die Umsetzung der E-Leraning-Lektion mittels Joomla! und die Nutzung des ECLASS-Modells. Bevor auf die Vorgehensweise eingegangen wird, enthält der Implementierungsteil die Erstellung eines groben Gesamtkonzeptes für eine komplette E-Leraning-Anwendung zu OCAD mit entsprechenden Erläuterungen. Anschließend folgen eine Zusammenfassung und ein Ausblick über die Weiterführung der E-Learning-Anwendung.

從1986年起，因為經濟大幅成長，中國的石油需求也隨之增加，但是中國國內的石油生產卻開始下降。進入後冷戰時期，中國的石油供給更已無法自給自足，成為仰賴石油進口的國家。透過傳統現實主義理論對石油安全進行討論，我們可以得知，石油不僅僅牽涉到經濟的發展，也牽涉到國力的強弱與否。因此，石油對於一個國家在國際政治的地位或是經濟發展上都扮演了十分重要的角色，中國也因而必須考量石油對於國家安全的影響。本研究即自地緣政治觀點，分析中國石油能源與國家安全。 中國目前建構的石油安全體系，是以國內的石油化學產業的改革為基礎，以石油化學產業為工具，建構取得油源的石油外交體系，同時積極分散油源。由中國所規劃的中南半島輸油路線，中巴、中孟輸油路線，以及已經開始建設的中俄、中哈輸油路線都是以分散石油運輸路線為目標。運輸路線的規劃就是以地緣政治為出發點考量，透過與周邊國的關係建構石油運輸。 然而，儘管中國積極推動分散油源、油路的石油安全戰略，卻也牽涉到各強國在各地區的利益問題，以及各地區內部的政治、經濟、族群、宗教等問題。例如中東內部有以阿衝突、反美等問題，非洲的新興油源國、中亞各國內部都有因為宗教、政治導致的問題，而美、俄、日、印等大國與中國也在各地有所利益衝突，即使中國與俄羅斯有合作關係，卻也在中亞地區有利益競爭的關係。所以不僅中國與各強國之間有合作也有競爭外，也必須面對各個地區內部的各種問題。 / Since 1986, China’s demands for petroleum had increased extensively with the significant growth of economy, but the domestic production of petroleum decreased relatively. In the post-Cold War period, China was non-self-sufficient on supplying petroleum, and became a state which depending on importing petroleum thereout. By the discussion on the security of petroleum with the theory of traditional realism, we can conclude that the petroleum doesn’t only concern the development of economy but also concern the strength of nations. Therefore, we can see that petroleum plays an important role both on the status of international politics and the development of economy, and China must concern the influence of petroleum to national security thereof. Then, the proposal of this thesis is to analyse the relationship between supplies and demands of petroleum and the national security of China with the view of geo-politics. The petroleum security system of China was framed on the basis of the revolution of domestic petroleum chemical industry, so as to frame her petroleum diplomacy system to acquire the petroleum, and decentralize the sources of petroleum meanwhile. The oil pipeline ways set up by China was formulated according to the goal of decentralizing the pipeline of petroleum, such as Medium South Peninsula pipeline, China-Pakistan pipeline, China-Bengal pipeline, China-Russia pipeline, and the China- Kazakhstan pipeline. Therefore, we can conclude that China set up its oil pipeline by establishimg the relations with surrounding nations which concerning geo-politics. However, the strategies of petroleum security that decentralizing oil pipelines and petroleum sources was involved with the conflicts of interests among powerful nations in all areas, including the conflicts of politics, economy, race, and religion. For examples, there are conflicts between Israel and Palestine, and anti-American issue in Middle-East area. There are conflicts among the nations in middle Asia which caused by religion and politics. And there are conflicts of interests among USA, Russia, Japan, Indian and China all over the world. So does China conflict with Russia in middle Asia, even though there is a cooperative relation between them. In general, China does not only cooperate with other powerful nations but also contend against them. Furthermore, China has to face the conflicts and issues caused in every area when she promotes the strategy of petroleum security.

This thesis investigates the representation of Nigeria in the British news media. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, it examines the interplay of culture, race, ideology and geo-political power relations in the production of news. It interrogates the influence of sources, the impact of sources-media relations and their direct consequences on the construction as news of Nigeria’s socio-economic and human development indices, which further signpost the direction of representation of the world’s most populous black nation. By considering the coverage of Nigeria in the UK news media between 1997 and 2007, a period which marked a watershed in the democratic evolution of Nigeria, this thesis contributes to the on-going debates regarding cultural understanding in a globalized community. First, the research is based on a content analysis of the coverage of Nigeria in five UK quality newspapers at a period marking the end of the political logjam that engulfed the country following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 elections; the return to democratic rule and the early years of democracy, which witnessed the successful transfer of power from one civilian administration to another for the first time in Nigeria’s history. Second, a critical discourse analysis of a sample of the coverage of the most mentioned issues in the reportage, and third, on a small set of interviews with some of the journalists involved in the coverage. As a framework for its analysis, this thesis focuses on the theories of cultural politics, representation and news discourse. It finds that the coverage of Nigeria does not just follow the pattern of a distant and differentiated ‘Other,’ but is also significantly influenced by pre-colonial cum colonial history and geo-political power relations. Though news media outlets and individual journalists do try, within their own powers, to make a difference but the fact that the myths supporting these assumptions have been institutionalised over time presents a huge challenge. The issues in the coverage are discursively constructed from western point of view with greater access to shape the news clearly domiciled in the pouch of European or western sources rather than the Nigerians who should have a better appreciation of their local circumstance. This kind of coverage informs the idea of applying western solution to Africa’s problem, which further compounds the crisis. The fact that this manifest pattern of representation obfuscates the real issue behind Africa’s situation and presents imminent dangers to our common humanity are the core concerns contextualized within the thesis. It is negotiated with references to relevant dimensions of culture, politics, news discourse and interpreted in the light of geo-political power relations.

Cobia fish cage is the most popular marine culture species raised in Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam. For its sustainable development, there is a need to determine the carrying capacity to avoid nega-tive marine environmental impact in the future. This study was carried out to collect water samples each two months at the lowest and highest tides at four points around the farming area in Rach Vem, Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang Province from February to October 2011. Water quality in cobia cage culture was surveyed to assess the environmental status of coastal aquaculture areas including seven parameters such as DO, COD, BOD, TSS, TN, TP and Chlorophyll-a. These parameters are suitable to rear cobia fish cage in this area. Nitrogen and phosphorus are considered as the principal nutrients produced by the cobia fish farm and affecting water environment. This study found that the carrying capacity for fish cage farming in the area is 290.96 to 727.81 tons (based on total nitrogen) and 428.64 to 1,383.88 tons (based on total phosphorus) from February to Au-gust 2011. The maximum number of cobia cages should be, based on total nitrogen, from 64 to 266 and, based on total phosphorus, from 94 to 253. Moreover, this study examined the possibility of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technique based on Object-based Image Analysis (OBIA) method by THEOS imagery for mapping of cage culture facilities and detect the location for cobia cage culture in study area. / Cá bớp nuôi lồng bè là một trong những loài cá nuôi phổ biến khu vực ven biển Phú Quốc, Việt nam. Nhằm phát triển bền vững vùng ven biển, đề tài thực hiện đã xác định và đánh giá hiện trạng môi trường nước và sức tải môi trường của nghề nuôi cá bớp lồng bè ở đảo Phú Quốc. Nghiên cứu này được thực hiện thông qua việc thu mẫu môi trường nước mỗi 2 tháng theo mức nước triều cao nhất và thấp nhất tại 4 điểm quanh khu vực nuôi tại ấp Rạch Vẹm, huyện Phú Quốc, tỉnh Kiên Giang từ tháng 02-10/2011. Chất lượng nước khu vực nuôi thủy sản cũng được khảo sát với 7 chỉ tiêu gồm DO, COD, BOD, TSS, TN, TP, Chlorophyll-a. Các thông số chất lượng môi trường này phù hợp nuôi cá bớp tại khu vực nghiên cứu dựa trên tiêu chuẩn chất lượng môi trường. Trong nghiên cứu này, đạm và lân là 2 thông số được sử dụng để tính toán sức tải môi trường. Sức tải môi trường được tính toán cho khu vực nuôi cá bớp dao động khoảng từ 290.96 tấn đến 727.81 tấn (tính trên hàm lượng đạm tổng số) và từ 428,64 tấn đến 1.383,88 tấn (tính trên hàm lượng lân tổng số) trong thời gian từ tháng 2 đến tháng 10 năm 2011. Số lượng tối đa lồng bè nuôi cá bớp khoảng từ 64 đến 266 (đạm tổng số) và từ 94 đến 253 (lân tổng số) dựa vào phân tích hồi quy tương quan. Bên cạnh đó, công nghệ viễn thám và hệ thống thông tin địa lý (GIS) đã được ứng dụng bằng cách sử dụng ảnh THEOS để xác định vị trí và phân bố không gian khu vực nuôi cá lồng bè dựa trên phương pháp phân tích đối tượng theo hướng (OBIA).

The aim of this thesis is to analyze how technological, economic, political and social factors can be integrated into Business Model for Geo-location database as a controlling entity for operation of Cognitive Radio devices in the TV White Space spectrum range. Tasks of thesis: to perform an analysis of scientific literature in the context of TVWS and to identify technologies of TVWS management, to find factors influencing Geo-location Database Business Model, to put forward Geo-location Database scenarios, to construct classification of Business Model for the Geo-location Database, to provide experimental study of feasibility to deploy distinct classification of Business Model for the distinct scenarios of Geo-location Database. Qualitative methods chosen for the research: exploratory literature analysis, consultations with experts/specialists and conceptual modelling based on scenarios. The exploratory part of the thesis describes existing spectrum shortage problem and presents potential technologies that can solve this problem. The theoretical part of this work introduces research methodology and the concept and principles of Business Model for technology innovation. Analytical part of the thesis seeks to identify potential Business Model configurations for the operations of Geo-location database in the TV White Space spectrum range. This part ends with presenting experimental study of the feasibility of Geo-location Business Model. The final part of the thesis concludes... [to full text] / Šio darbo tikslas – išanalizuoti, kaip technologiniai, ekonominiai, politiniai ir socialiniai faktoriai gali būti integruoti į verslo modelį, skirtą TV spektro tuštumų geografinei duomenų bazei, naudojančiai sumaniojo radijo ryšio sistemas. Tikslui pasiekti išsikelti uždaviniai: atlikti mokslinės literatūros analizę TV spektro tuštumų tema ir identifikuoti spektro tuštumų valdymo technologijas, nustatyti veiksnius, įtakojančius geografinės duomenų bazės verslo modelį, sudaryti geografinės duomenų bazės verslo scenarijus, sudaryti geografinės duomenų bazės verslo modelių klasifikaciją, nustatyti sudarytos verslo modelių klasifikacijos tinkamumą kiekvienam scenarijui bei nustatyti optimalią verslo modelio konfigūraciją. Uždaviniams įgyvendinti taikyti kokybiniai metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizė, konsultacijos su ekspertais bei specialistais, konceptualus modeliavimas, paremtas scenarijų metodu. Pirmoje darbo dalyje aprašomos egzistuojančios spektro trūkumo problemos ir apžvelgiamos potencialios technologijos, kurios gali išspręsti išanalizuotą problemą. Antroji darbo dalis pristato tyrimo metodus ir nagrinėja verslo modelį bei jo principus, galinčius įtakoti technologijos inovaciją. Trečioji darbo dalis siekia identifikuoti ir įvertinti potencialius TV spektro tuštumų geografinės duomenų bazės verslo modelius. Pateikiamos darbo išvados atsižvelgiant į darbo naudingumą, praktiškumą ir esamus apribojimus. Pagrindiniai darbo rezultatai: nustatyta optimali verslo modelių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

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Dieser Beitrag fokussiert auf Ansätze, die der Abschätzung des deutschen Bestandes von Wohn- und Nichtwohngebäuden dienen. Insbesondere werden rasterbasierte Gebäudedaten sowie gemeindescharfe Schätzergebnisse eines bereits etablierten Ansatzes vorgestellt, analysiert und bewertet. In Verbindung mit modernen Daten der amtlichen Geoinformation (Geobasisdaten) zeichnen sich neue, innovative Möglichkeiten ab, um künftig auf kleinräumiger Ebene den Gebäudebestand zu bestimmen. Das Leibniz-Institut für ökologische Raumentwicklung (IÖR) verfolgt vor diesem Hintergrund mit dem Projekt „Raumbezogenes Data Mining“ das Ziel, analytische Potenziale und Visualisierungsmöglichkeiten von zeitgemäßen Methoden des Data Mining und der Knowledge Discovery für die Raumforschung zu erschließen und in der Perspektive verborgene planungsrelevante Raummuster und Zusammenhänge im hochdimensionalen Geodatenbestand zu extrahieren.