Tens of thousands of contractors work for private military and security companies (PMSCs) in armed conflicts around the world, often hired by states to fulfil functions that were once the exclusive domain of the armed forces. In this context, PMSCs have performed a wide range of activities including offensive combat, prisoner interrogation, military advice and training, armed security, intelligence and logistics. The proliferation of PMSCs during the past two decades has challenged conventional conceptions of the state as the primary holder of coercive power in the international arena. Nonetheless, this Thesis argues that the traditional state-centred frameworks of international law remain vitally relevant to the regulation of private security activity in contemporary armed conflict. Three states are in a strong position to influence PMSCs in this context—the state that hires the PMSC, the state in which the company is based or incorporated, and the state in which the company operates—and this capacity for influence enables international law to regulate PMSC activities indirectly using these states as an intermediary. This Thesis critically analyses the pertinent international obligations on these three categories of states and identifies the circumstances in which PMSC misconduct may give rise to state responsibility in each case. It also examines the recent practice of certain key states in order to evaluate their compliance with these obligations. By providing a clear and in-depth analysis of states' international obligations to control PMSCs in armed conflict, this Thesis may not only facilitate the assessment of state responsibility in cases of PMSC misconduct; it may also play an important prospective role in setting standards of conduct for states in relation to the private security industry. This in turn may encourage and assist states to develop their domestic laws and policies in order to improve overall PMSC compliance with international law.

The present study investigates whether advanced adult L2 speakers comprehend the subtle linguistic cues that modal particles entail and seek to find if modal particles affect them in their responsibility attribution. Two groups of advanced L2 speakers of Swedish were tested; one group of L1 German speakers and one group of L1 English speakers. In an experiment that investigated responsibility attribution, participants read short stories that were manipulated with the modal particles nog and ju, to see if the use of these modal particles affected how they attributed  responsibility to a character in the short story. The L2 learners were tested to see if L1 background affects the L2 acquisition of modal particles. A control group of native Swedish speakers were also tested. As an exploratory and complementary measure, reading times were recorded for the critical sentences modified with ju and nog. The results show a main effect of group and a main effect of condition, but no interaction between the two. However, upon closer inspections of the numerical values in the groups, possible trends and curious directions are seen. The results yielded no significant differences between groups and conditions, and are presented as possible trends, and discussed. Contrary to the hypotheses, these trends are indicative of the English speakers being affected by the modal particles in the way that natives were expected to, while Germans showed a pattern that was different from native speakers. The results show no significant differences for the different conditions in the native control group. The results show no support for L1 transfer facilitation in the acquisition of modal particles.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The quality of the electric energy emerges as an area of great interest to both consumers and supply authorities. Searching half the subject prescribed, it is recognized, in the present time, the national and international existence of recommendations, norms and criteria directed toward the orientation of the boundary-values or reference for the diverse pointers that characterize the desired standard of quality. Inside of this context, if a measured harmonic voltage distortion exceeds that which is permitted, mitigation procedures must be promptly considered. These procedures can cause great conflict between the supplier and the consumer due to a lack of consensus on who is the mainly responsible for the harmonic distortions. The objective of this study is to establish a just procedure for sharing the responsibility for actual harmonic voltage distortion at a given point of common coupling between the supplier and the consumer. The methodology is based on the analysis of measured voltage and current signals at the PCC and on information related to the harmonic impedances involved in the process. Both the supply and the load impedances are considered and an approach for coupling with consumer representation is presented. The method is applied to a laboratory arrangement which uses a programmable voltage source in combination with a load comprising linear and nonlinear components. The results highlight the consistence of the proposal when identifying the individual contribution of the supplier and the consumer. By finding the supply and load harmonic contributions it is possible to achieve fairer cost sharing when mitigation procedures are needed to reduce voltage distortion to admissible legislation limits. / A qualidade da energia elétrica se apresenta como uma área de grande interesse para os consumidores e concessionárias de energia. Buscando meios para regulamentar o assunto, reconhece-se, na atualidade, a existência de recomendações, normas e critérios nacionais e internacionais voltados para a orientação dos valores limites ou de referência para os diversos indicadores que caracterizam o padrão de qualidade desejado. Dentro deste contexto, as distorções harmônicas nos sinais de tensão e corrente surgem como uma das questões mais preocupantes. Almejando, pois a preservação da qualidade do suprimento no que tange às distorções harmônicas, assim como para os demais itens de definição da qualidade, faz-se, muitas vezes necessário, a utilização de técnicas para a identificação da responsabilidade entre supridores e consumidores quanto à presença de distorções harmônicas de tensão junto aos pontos de acoplamento comum das redes de suprimento. Focando este tema, esta tese encontra-se direcionada ao estabelecimento e avaliação de desempenho de um procedimento sistematizado para o compartilhamento das responsabilidades entre supridores e consumidores, quanto à presença de distorções harmônicas de tensão junto aos pontos de acoplamento comum entre as partes. A metodologia é fundamentada na análise de sinais de tensão e corrente, obtidos dos sistemas, e em informações associadas com as impedâncias harmônicas próprias aos sistemas elétricos envolvidos no processo. A questão da modelagem da carga é ressaltada de modo especial. O método almeja contribuir na direção do estabelecimento de medidas de compensação quando os valores limites das distorções são superiores àqueles previstos pela legislação. Finalmente, objetivando ilustrar a aplicabilidade da proposta, ensaios laboratoriais são realizados a fim de evidenciar sua potencialidade. / Doutor em Ciências

More sustainable private consumption is necessary to achieve the common goal of sustainable development. This dissertation deals with the underlying socio-psychological determinants of sustainable consumer behavior in different domains, based on which promotion measures are recommended to companies and policymakers. Among others, I discuss consumers’ perceptions of their responsibilities for sustainability in contrast to their expectations on governments’ and companies’ contributions. Furthermore, I shed light on a main barrier of sustainable consumption that most consumers support sustainability but their behaviors are, to a decisive extent, driven by other motives such as customer-oriented services or offered incentives, which primarily benefit consumers themselves instead of the sustainability agenda. To tackle this barrier, I develop several promotion measures based on activating psychological concepts such as empowerment and self-determination in a single or multi-country setting. Results of this dissertation serve to more effectively understand consumers’ concerns with sustainable consumption and to add new perspectives to improve tactics to promote sustainable behaviors.