The aim of this degree project is to provide a description of the social movements that struggle against mega projects in Europe and of the relations between them. A body of literature on neoliberalism sets the context in which these struggles take place. The concept of rhizome, encompassing characters of multiplicity, heterogeneity, horizontality, is presented as a theoretical framework. These theoretical foundations are confronted with investigation on two levels. At a general level, internet-based research is carried out to map, at least in part, the constellation of movements involved. At a more focused level, participant observation is conducted in specific sites in order to grasp the ideas, discourses and meanings that colour the struggles. By setting the struggles in a wider political context and by experimenting alternative social and spatial practices, the rhizome of movements gives deeper significance to the contestation of mega projects and opens societal prospects.

This study explores how self-imposed limitations affect anxieties about art-making and the art-making process. As a teacher, I was interested in how limitations affected student art-making. I used arts-based research methodology to explore spiritual and personal quandaries in my own life through the process of art-making. A consistent thread throughout this investigation was using the process of making art as a way to gain understanding about my own life and teaching. I was also able to create a culture of vulnerability and honesty in my classroom and help my students embrace themselves and their physical, emotional, and situational limitations through the art-making process.

No description available.

Depuis ses origines, la Colombie a souvent eu des gouvernants dont l’exercice du pouvoir n’a pas toujours visé le bien-être des citoyens sous toutes ses formes. Un clair exemple de cela, c’est la pratique concernant le choix de ceux qui assument des fonctions diplomatiques qui par règle générale n’accomplissent pas les demandes de capacités exigées pour une telle responsabilité ; il s’agit plutôt des personnes proches du haut pouvoir et qui reçoivent ces nominations comme faisant partie d’une rétribution de l’État. Le résultat de cette démarche se traduit dans la pratique d’une diplomatie encombrée d’entraves dont les projections pour l’avenir se limitent aux périodes présidentielles en cours. Les représentations stéréotypiques négatives ou l’absence de crédibilité dans la capacité de l’État colombien et de ses fonctionner pour diriger des actions internationales sont le résultat d’un « nanisme auto-imposé » (selon la formule de B. Bagley), résultat de toute une série de méfaits historiques. Par ailleurs, l’absence des capacités de direction des hommes colombiens d’état a contribué à renforcer cette mauvaise image et à créer un état de soumission dans le contexte mondialisé d’aujourd’hui. C’est ainsi que la construction des stratégies de la part des acteurs colombiens engagés dans les affaires internationales pourrait être un repère pour ouvrir des perspectives par rapport à la politique étrangère dans l’oscillation entre la soumission et l’auto-détermination. Le débat concernant le pouvoir discrétionnaire du président de la République dans la prise des décisions internationales et aussi l’existence d’une académie de formation de fonctionnaires diplomatiques, constituent la problématique générale de notre recherche. Dans la mesure où le système présidentiel exercé en Colombie octroie un caractère discrétionnaire au Président, en particulier dans la gestion de la politique extérieure et dans la nomination de ses fonctionnaires, les efforts visant à sélectionner le corps diplomatique possédant les études adéquates, à évaluer leurs services et à améliorer leurs compétences, seraient plus performatifs si l’on dépassait les particularités conjoncturelles pour déboucher sur une politique extérieure enrichissante au service des institutions et des Colombiens. / Colombia from its origins has been characterized to have rulers who do not manage the power looking for the benefit of the majority of citizens. A clear manifestation of this situation is evident in the designation of the diplomats, in general, those who represent the country are not the best and nor the best trained, but the closest to the power. They are the ones to whom, as a reward, and being close to the executive are send as part of the Foreign Service. This situation is translated in the execution of a failed diplomatic work, where there are not any long term planning, but it is limited to the presidential conjuncture. The Colombian bad image or the lack of credibility in the Colombian State capacity and of its functionaries to lead international processes, are the result of a “dwarfism auto-imposed” as an answer of a series of historical failures. The submission condition that the Colombians have reached thanks to the absence of a leadership along the way, and on time. It, has given Colombia a bad image in the global context and an important distance towards the international potential of the country. The construction of a joined strategy among many linked actors with the international topics, could be useful to the country like a reference point to address in the time the foreign policy management that have vacillated between the submission and the auto-determination. The debate between the margins of discretion of the President regarding the foreign taking of decisions and the existence of a diplomatic academy, are the central problem of this research. As far as the presidential system exercised in Colombia grants a discretionary character to the President, in particular in the management of the foreign policy and in the designation of the diplomatic functionaries, the efforts to select the diplomatic corps possessing the adequate studies, to estimate their services and to improve their skills, would be more performative if we exceeded the cyclical peculiarities to uncork in an enriching foreign policy in the service of institutions and Colombians.

Recentes descobertas de campos de petróleo e gás, a centenas de quilômetros da costa Sudeste do Brasil, em lâmina d\'água acima de 2.000m, demandam avanços científicos e tecnológicos para sua exploração segura. Entre os desafios para os engenheiros, a análise dinâmica de risers offshore é de extrema relevância devido à propensão à fadiga do material estrutural. Os movimentos de unidades flutuantes, que ocorrem devido às ondas de gravidade, impõem um tipo particular de carregamento dinâmico para os risers. Por uma questão de simplicidade, apenas o movimento de heave é considerado, embora pitch and roll também possam desempenhar um papel relevante na análise. De fato, o efeito de heave provoca a modulação de tensãoamplitude ao longo da estrutura tubular e flexível, o que pode conduzir à ressonância paramétrica como consequência da conhecida instabilidade de Mathieu. O riser vertical será o foco desse trabalho. A teoria bidimensional de vigas de Bernoulli-Euler é utilizada para se obter uma equação diferencial não linear de movimento para o riser submetido a uma carga axial e peso submerso. Modelos matemáticos - conhecidos como modelos de ordem reduzida (MORs) - com poucos graus de liberdade são adotados, mas com capacidade adequada para representar a resposta estrutural tanto qualitativa como quantitativamente. Utilizando os modos não lineares como funções de projeção no procedimento de Galerkin não linear, a interpretação física vem da igualdade dos trabalhos virtuais tanto no modelo de alta hierarquia quanto do MOR, com a consequente introdução de vínculos rígidos nos modos excluídos da análise. Aqui, a relação não linear entre as amplitudes modais e modos de vibração/frequências são levados em conta. Os resultados obtidos estão de acordo com os resultados dos testes experimentais de um modelo em escala reduzida realizado sob coordenação do LIFE&MO (Laboratório de Interação Fluido-Estrutura e Mecânica Offshore), fornecendo uma calibração do coeficiente de arrasto equivalente, para se levar em conta o sistema dissipativo que inclui tanto o amortecimento hidrodinâmico e estrutural. As respostas também são comparadas com as obtidas através do estudo de um modelo de elementos finitos, elaborado com o auxílio de um software comercial, o OrcaFlex®, e com funções clássicas de projecção, em particular, a função trigonométrica. Em seguida, variando-se os parâmetros de controle, as respostas do estado estacionário pós-crítica são mapeadas e plotadas em um diagrama policromático. / Recent discoveries of oil and gas fields, hundreds of kilometers off the Southeast coast of Brazil, in water depths above 2,000m, demand scientific and technological advances to support their safe exploitation. Among the challenges posed to engineers, the dynamic analysis of offshore risers is of utmost relevance, due to fatigue of the structural material. The motions of floating units, which occur due to gravity waves, impose a particular type of dynamic loading to the risers. As a matter of simplicity, only heave is considered herewith, although pitch and roll can also play a relevant role in the analysis. In fact, the effect of heave causes tension-amplitude modulation to the long and flexible tubular structure, which may drive parametric resonance as a consequence of the well-known Mathieus instability. The vertical riser will be the focus of this work. Bernoulli-Euler two-dimensional beam theory is used to obtain a nonlinear differential equation of motion for the riser subjected to an axial thrust and submerged weight. Mathematical models known as reduced-order models (ROMs) with few degrees of freedom are used, but with adequate capacity to represent the structural response both qualitatively and quantitatively. Using non-linear modes as projection functions within the non-linear Galerkins procedure, the physical interpretation of which being the identification of virtual works in both the high-hierarchy model and the ROM, with consequent introduction of rigid constraints in the modes excluded from the analysis. Here the non-linear relationship between modal amplitudes and mode shapes/frequencies are taken into account. The results obtained here agree well with those of experimental tests with a small-scale model carried out under coordination LIFE&MO (Laboratory of Fluid-Structure Interaction & Offshore Mechanics), provided calibration of the equivalent drag coefficient is carried out, to account for the overall system dissipation including both hydrodynamic and structural damping. The responses are also compared with those given by finite element models studied with the help of commercial software, the OrcaFlex® and with classical projection functions, in particular the trigonometric function. Then varying the control parameters, the responses of post-critical steady state are mapped and plotted in diagram polychromatic.

Title: Physical properties of ultrafine-grained magnesium based alloys prepared by various severe plastic deformation techniques Author: Jitka Stráská Department / Institute: Department of Physics of Materials Supervisor of the doctoral thesis: Doc. RNDr. Miloš Janeček, CSc. Abstract: The objective of the doctoral thesis is the complex investigation of ultrafine-grained magnesium alloy AZ31 prepared by two different severe plastic deformation techniques, in particular the hot extrusion followed by equal-channel angular pressing (EX-ECAP) and high pressure torsion (HPT). These severe plastic deformation methods, and as well as many others, are described in detail in the introductory theoretical section. Experimental results are summarized in the following experimental part of the thesis. Mechanical properties, lattice defect structure and especially microstructure were investigated using various experimental techniques. Thermal stability of ultrafine-grained microstructure of AZ31 after EX-ECAP was investigated and the activation energies for grain growth in different temperature ranges were calculated using kinetic equation for grain growth and Arrhenius equation. Results from the dislocation density measurements proved temperature ranges of the recovery and the following grain growth. Results from the...

The primary aim of this research was to investigate the bending behaviour of helically wound steel cables of various types (i.e. normal spiral strands, sheathed spiral strands and locked coil cables) in the presence of friction and to propose more efficient computational models for their analysis under combined tension and bending. The proposed model fully takes into account interwire contact forces both in the radial direction (point contact between wires in different layers) and hoop direction (line contact within the wires in the same layer). Extensive theoretical parametric studies have been undertaken on a variety of cable constructions covering a wide range of geometrical and material parameters. Explicit formulations have been developed for the smooth transition of the bending stiffness from no-slip to full slip regimes, as a function of cable curvature. Based on these formulations, it is now possible to calculate the relative displacements of the wires, as well as the tensile, bending and hoop stresses in the individual wires of the cable. Furthermore, bending stiffness of the cable is shown to decrease by a factor of 2 to 16, depending upon the friction coefficient between wires and the type of cable construction. Wherever possible, the theoretical results have been compared with experimental results from the available literature and are found in very good agreement with them. A simple method for the determination of the bending stiffness of large diameter multi-layered cable has been developed. The simplified method is further shown to provide estimates of the bending stiffness which are very close to those calculated by the original theory, allowing hand calculations for an easier use in industry. The proposed formulations have been extended to cater for the effects of external hydrostatic pressure on sheathed spiral strands in deep water applications. These forces are shown to have a great influence on the pattern of interwire contact forces and hence the interlayer slippage between the wires in the strand. Numerical results have been obtained and analysed for three different 127 mm diameter strands with lay angles of 12°, 18° and 24° respectively, experiencing a wide range of external hydrostatic pressures of 0 to 2,000 metres. The significant increase in normal contact force between wires is shown to suppress the slippage of wires in the cable. However, the no-slip and full slip values of the effective bending stiffness of the cable is shown to be independent of the level of hydrostatic pressure. A theoretical model is also proposed for estimating wire kinematics, pattern of interwire slippage, contact forces as well as the flexural rigidity of locked coil cables with outer layers made of shaped wires. In order to validate this model, numerical results are reported for two different locked coil cables. It is shown that the shaped wires in the outer layers of locked coil cables play an important role in the distribution of contact forces, slip initiation and cable unwinding.

Recentes descobertas de campos de petróleo e gás, a centenas de quilômetros da costa Sudeste do Brasil, em lâmina d\'água acima de 2.000m, demandam avanços científicos e tecnológicos para sua exploração segura. Entre os desafios para os engenheiros, a análise dinâmica de risers offshore é de extrema relevância devido à propensão à fadiga do material estrutural. Os movimentos de unidades flutuantes, que ocorrem devido às ondas de gravidade, impõem um tipo particular de carregamento dinâmico para os risers. Por uma questão de simplicidade, apenas o movimento de heave é considerado, embora pitch and roll também possam desempenhar um papel relevante na análise. De fato, o efeito de heave provoca a modulação de tensãoamplitude ao longo da estrutura tubular e flexível, o que pode conduzir à ressonância paramétrica como consequência da conhecida instabilidade de Mathieu. O riser vertical será o foco desse trabalho. A teoria bidimensional de vigas de Bernoulli-Euler é utilizada para se obter uma equação diferencial não linear de movimento para o riser submetido a uma carga axial e peso submerso. Modelos matemáticos - conhecidos como modelos de ordem reduzida (MORs) - com poucos graus de liberdade são adotados, mas com capacidade adequada para representar a resposta estrutural tanto qualitativa como quantitativamente. Utilizando os modos não lineares como funções de projeção no procedimento de Galerkin não linear, a interpretação física vem da igualdade dos trabalhos virtuais tanto no modelo de alta hierarquia quanto do MOR, com a consequente introdução de vínculos rígidos nos modos excluídos da análise. Aqui, a relação não linear entre as amplitudes modais e modos de vibração/frequências são levados em conta. Os resultados obtidos estão de acordo com os resultados dos testes experimentais de um modelo em escala reduzida realizado sob coordenação do LIFE&MO (Laboratório de Interação Fluido-Estrutura e Mecânica Offshore), fornecendo uma calibração do coeficiente de arrasto equivalente, para se levar em conta o sistema dissipativo que inclui tanto o amortecimento hidrodinâmico e estrutural. As respostas também são comparadas com as obtidas através do estudo de um modelo de elementos finitos, elaborado com o auxílio de um software comercial, o OrcaFlex®, e com funções clássicas de projecção, em particular, a função trigonométrica. Em seguida, variando-se os parâmetros de controle, as respostas do estado estacionário pós-crítica são mapeadas e plotadas em um diagrama policromático. / Recent discoveries of oil and gas fields, hundreds of kilometers off the Southeast coast of Brazil, in water depths above 2,000m, demand scientific and technological advances to support their safe exploitation. Among the challenges posed to engineers, the dynamic analysis of offshore risers is of utmost relevance, due to fatigue of the structural material. The motions of floating units, which occur due to gravity waves, impose a particular type of dynamic loading to the risers. As a matter of simplicity, only heave is considered herewith, although pitch and roll can also play a relevant role in the analysis. In fact, the effect of heave causes tension-amplitude modulation to the long and flexible tubular structure, which may drive parametric resonance as a consequence of the well-known Mathieus instability. The vertical riser will be the focus of this work. Bernoulli-Euler two-dimensional beam theory is used to obtain a nonlinear differential equation of motion for the riser subjected to an axial thrust and submerged weight. Mathematical models known as reduced-order models (ROMs) with few degrees of freedom are used, but with adequate capacity to represent the structural response both qualitatively and quantitatively. Using non-linear modes as projection functions within the non-linear Galerkins procedure, the physical interpretation of which being the identification of virtual works in both the high-hierarchy model and the ROM, with consequent introduction of rigid constraints in the modes excluded from the analysis. Here the non-linear relationship between modal amplitudes and mode shapes/frequencies are taken into account. The results obtained here agree well with those of experimental tests with a small-scale model carried out under coordination LIFE&MO (Laboratory of Fluid-Structure Interaction & Offshore Mechanics), provided calibration of the equivalent drag coefficient is carried out, to account for the overall system dissipation including both hydrodynamic and structural damping. The responses are also compared with those given by finite element models studied with the help of commercial software, the OrcaFlex® and with classical projection functions, in particular the trigonometric function. Then varying the control parameters, the responses of post-critical steady state are mapped and plotted in diagram polychromatic.

La communauté latino-américaine représente la troisième minorité visible en importance au Québec. Malgré tout, les recherches concernant les jeunes issus de l’immigration latino-américaine sont peu nombreuses. Ces personnes, qui sont nées au Québec, mais dont au moins un des parents est originaire de l’Amérique latine, gèrent de multiples identités culturelles. Elles négocient constamment des significations et des repères culturels, passant de ceux qui sont propres au Québec à ceux de la culture du pays d’origine de leurs parents. Étant donné que les frontières entre ces différentes identités culturelles ne sont pas toujours clairement définies, il était pertinent d’analyser les interactions des jeunes pour mieux saisir leurs expériences. Cette étude repose donc sur deux théories qui supposent que la communication est inhérente au processus de construction identitaire : le positioning de Davies et Harré ainsi que la mise en scène de la vie quotidienne d’Ervin Goffman. La présente recherche a privilégié les expériences personnelles de trois jeunes issus de l’immigration, celles de leurs parents et celles de leurs amis. La méthodologie utilisée reposait sur des entrevues individuelles avec les jeunes, sur l’analyse de photos ainsi que sur deux rencontres de groupe dirigées : la première réunissait les jeunes et un de leurs parents; la deuxième réunissait les jeunes et un(e) ami(e) de leur choix. Cette étude a constaté que les jeunes issus de l’immigration possédaient des identités culturelles hybrides. De plus, ils ne pouvaient contrôler la perception que les autres avaient de leurs identités culturelles, car certains éléments de celles-ci étaient négociés, voire imposés lors des interactions. Ainsi, ce mémoire contribue à la littérature sur le positioning en expliquant comment ces jeunes se positionnent devant les autres afin que plusieurs identités culturelles coexistent chez eux, tout spécialement dans une ville multiculturelle comme Montréal. / The Latin American community constitutes the third largest visible minority in Quebec. Despite its importance, research regarding youth of Latin American origin is limited. These young people, who were born in Quebec, but who have at least one parent from Latin America, must juggle multiple cultural identities. They are constantly negotiating cultural meanings and references from Quebec, as well as from their parents’ culture of origin. Given that the boundaries between these different cultural identities are not always clear, their interactions needed to be analyzed to better understand their experiences, hence I mobilized two theories that underscore the role of communication within identity construction: Davies and Harré’s theory of positioning, as well as Erving Goffman’s theory of the presentation of self in everyday life. This research focused on the personal experiences of three young people of Latin American immigrant background, those of their parents and those of their friends. To do so, methodology consisted of photo analysis and individual interviews with the young people, as well as two focus groups: first, with the young people and one of their parents, and second, with the young people and a friend of their choice. This study revealed that youth of immigrant background have hybrid cultural identities. Moreover, the young people were not able to forge their own unique cultural identities, because some aspects of their cultural identities were negotiated and even imposed during interaction with others. As this thesis offers a rich portrait of how these young people positioned themselves both front- and back-stage, this paper also contributes to the literature on positioning and empirically shows how several, sometimes contradictory cultural identities can co-exist in youth of immigrant background in a multicultural city like Montreal. / La comunidad latinoamericana representa la tercera minoría visible más importante en Quebec. Pese a su importancia, las investigaciones con relación a los jóvenes de descendencia latinoamericana son limitadas. Estos jóvenes, nacidos en Quebec pero que poseen al menos un padre o madre nacido(a) en Latinoamérica, deben manejar múltiples identidades culturales. Por ello, deben acomodar diferentes significados y referencias culturales de Quebec, así como de la cultura de origen de sus padres. Debido a que las fronteras entre dichas identidades culturales no son siempre evidentes, las interacciones de estos jóvenes fueron analizadas a fin de comprender mejor sus experiencias. Por ello, abordé dos teorías que ven la comunicación como una parte esencial del proceso de construcción de las identidades: la teoría del positioning de Davies y Harré, así como la teoría de la presentación de la persona en la vida cotidiana, de Erving Goffman. Esta investigación se enfocó en las experiencias personales de tres jóvenes de descendencia latinoamericana, sus padres y sus amigos. En este sentido, la metodología estuvo compuesta por entrevistas individuales con los jóvenes, análisis de fotografías y dos grupos focales: el primero, con los jóvenes y uno de sus padres; el segundo, con los jóvenes y un(a) amigo(a) de su elección. La investigación reveló que los jóvenes de descendencia latinoamericana poseían identidades culturales híbridas. Asimismo, que no podían forjar sus propias identidades culturales, debido a que algunos de los elementos que las conforman eran negociados y hasta impuestos por los demás mediante las interacciones. Por tanto, esta tesis contribuye a la literatura sobre la teoría del positioning, ya que explica cómo estos jóvenes se posicionan delante de los demás a fin de permitir que múltiples identidades culturales puedan coexistir en su interior, especialmente en una ciudad tan multicultural como Montreal.

This is a study about digital maturity within the financial sector. Specifically, this paper delves into what factors are perceived to have an effect on the digital maturity of the organizations within the sector. Furthermore, the study also examines whether the covid-19 pandemic is perceived to have changed any of these factors or any of the aspects of digital maturity. This will be evaluated through a thematic analysis of the data collected via a series of semi-structured interviews. The respondents who have been interviewed are all employed within the financial sector and have been employed throughout the pandemic. To analyze the collected data, two digital maturity models have been deployed to assess which factors have an effect on the digital maturity levels of the organizations in question. The results indicate that there are several factors influencing the digital maturity of the financial sector. Digital competence is perceived to have a positive effect in terms of how it affects the digital maturity levels, while dated systems and old ways of working appear to have a substantial negative effect on the digital maturity levels. The leadership and vision of the organizations appear to have a negative as well as a positive effect. The study also concludes that the perceived pressure from outside of the organization to digitize their operations might be a bigger factor than what previous research has indicated. While the covid-19 pandemic is perceived by the respondents to have had some effect on the digital ventures of the organization, none of the respondents perceived that the pandemic had been a major factor in regard to their digital transformation. Rather the digitalization of the organization’s ventures had been on-going before the pandemic, and the pandemic was therefore seen as an indicator that the organization needed to continue their work to digitize their processes.