This research is a study of the Female Metaphor in her three aspects of Virgin, Mother and Crone. It is an interpretation of these three faces as representing the Dynamic by which the Cosmos unfolds, that is, the extant Creativity that is in continual transformation and has always been so. Accordingly, as this thesis takes the Cosmos to be a seamless whole, the conscious alignment with the continual process of transformation innate to Being. Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme call the composition of these three, cosmic grammar. The ritual celebration of seasonal points are then developed as a method of embodying and sensualizing, and speaking this deep Dynamic of Creativity. These ritual celebrations are based in ancient Western spiritual practice that relates with Earth's cyclical transitions. Through methods of ritual, meditation, imagination, dance and storytelling, over the period of the annual seasonal cycle, I created a context, which sought to enable more harmonious relationship with self, other and Cosmos through identification of the self with an organic and primordial process innate to the unfolding Cosmos. I found it to be a process that catalyzed personal transformation of the participants over time - a transformation that has clear and inevitable cultural implications. While it is not the focus of this thesis to track these cultural changes, such change is implicit in the personal and relational changes experienced and noted, since the personal and the cultural are mutually embedded in a shamanic process like this is. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Hillsborough River flows southwesterly through Pasco and Hillsborough counties in west central Florida. From its source at the Green Swamp to its mouth in Hillsborough Bay, the river is joined by many tributaries and man-made inputs. Spatial and temporal variations in the river's major ion and CO2 system chemistry were examined in a two-year study between 1999 and 2001. At thirteen sampling stations along approximately 54 miles of the river, water samples were collected in surroundings that ranged from pristine to urban. Samples were collected monthly for the first year and periodically thereafter. Concentrations of major ions were lowest in the river's headwaters, showed only minor spatial variations in mid-river, and sharply increased in tidally influenced waters below a dam on the lower river. A major tributary, Blackwater Creek, exerts a strong influence on the river's phosphate concentrations, and Crystal Springs, upstream of Blackwater Creek, exerts a strong influence on nitrate concentrations in the river. Downstream of Crystal springs, NO3- concentrations decreased steadily to levels that are more than an order of magnitude lower than levels in the upper river. Temporal ion concentration variations can be quite large. Low major ion concentrations were observed in the rainy season (June-September), while phosphate concentrations increased dramatically during extremely wet conditions. Seasonal variations were also observed in the river's CO2 system. Riverwater pH decreased during periods of high precipitation along with CaCO3 saturation state. CaCO3 supersaturation was observed during the exceptionally dry periods of the study, and undersaturation was observed during periods of high rainfall.Overall, the chemistry of the Hillsborough River is greatly influenced by temporal and spatial variations in the river's tributaries, groundwater sources, and anthropogenic inputs.

Cette thèse étudie les cycles économiques provinciaux chinois durant la période 1989-2009. Dans un premier temps, Nous utilisons une variété de techniques afin d'examiner la nature et le degré de comouvement entre les cycles de croissance provinciaux chinois. Nous détectons différentes propriétés des cycles de croissance provinciaux. En utilisant une méthodologie de classification basée sur un modèle, nous constatons que les provinces peuvent être classées parmi cinq classes en fonction des mesures standards des caractéristiques cycliques. Bien que la majorité des provinces a connu la récession qui a eu lieu autour de la crise asiatique, la nation dans son ensemble a connu une phase d'expansion. En outre, toutes les provinces, ont connu la récession liée à la crise financière internationale qui a eu lieu en 2007/2008 à l'exception du Jiangsu et Tianjin. Toutes les provinces côtières, sauf Hainan, sont significativement synchronisées avec le cycle national. En outre, nous constatons que les quatre principales récessions nationales sont bien diffusées dans tout le pays. Ensuite, nous analysons la co-cyclicité entre les provinces dans chacune des six régions définies par Groenewold et al. (2008). Nous nous basons sur la décomposition tendance-cycle en utilisant le modèle à composantes inobservables univarié et multivarié. Nous trouvons que La majorité des cycles provinciaux reflètent des chocs de la demande plutôt que des chocs de l'offre. En examinant si des cycles communs existent au sein de chaque région, nous pouvons formuler des conclusions sur la pertinence de la définition de ces régions. / This thesis deals with the Chinese provincial growth cycles over the period 1989-2009. First, we use a variety of techniques to examine the nature and degree of comovement among Chinese provincial growth cycles. We detect different properties of the provincial growth cycles. Using a model-based clustering methodology, we find that provinces can be classified among five major clusters as a function of standard measures of cyclical characteristics. Although the majority of provinces experienced the recession that occurred around the Asian crisis, the nation as whole experienced an expansionary phase. Moreover, all the provinces experienced the recession related to the subprime crisis that occurred in 2007/2008 except Jiangsu and Tianjing. However, All coastal provinces except Hainan are significantly synchronized with the national cycle. Furthermore, we find that the main four national recessions are well diffused across the country. Then, we analyse the co-cyclicality between provinces in each of the six regions defined by Groenewold et al. (2008). We rely on trend-cycle decomposition by using both univariate and multivariate unobserved component model. The majority of provincial cycles reflect demand rather than supply-side shocks. By examining the commonality of provincial growth cycles within each region, we ask whether the definition of these regions is supported by statistical analysis. We find mixed results. Finally, we use a Markov switching model that allow for the identification of business/seasonal cycle interaction.

La Méditerranée est caractérisée par une grande variété de régimes trophiques qui s'explique par les apports fluviaux, les ratios azote/phosphore particulièrement élevés dans le bassin oriental, et par les processus hydrodynamiques en particulier le mélange vertical dans les régions situées au nord. Cette thèse qui s'inscrit dans le cadre du projet MerMEX, composante du chantier MISTRALS, a pour objectif l'étude des cycles biogéochimiques en Méditerranée. Elle s'appuie en particulier sur les observations acquises dans le cadre du projet DeWEx et sur la modélisation couplée physique biogéochimie 3D. À l'échelle du bassin et à l'échelle régionale du sous-bassin occidental. La première étude à l'échelle du bassin sur une période de 10 ans a permis d'effectuer une classification de régimes biogéochimiques, en fonction de leurs caractéristiques physiques et biogéochimiques. Les zones oligotrophes présentes au sud du bassin oriental et occidental sont caractérisées par une faible efflorescence et par de grandes profondeurs de nutriclines. Tandis qu'au nord du bassin, au large de Rhodes, en mer Adriatique et dans le bassin Liguro-provençal, le régime oligotrophe estival est suivi en hiver par une dynamique verticale intense, la convection profonde. Cette dernière est considérée comme le moteur de la circulation thermohaline. Elle entraine un enrichissement des eaux de surface en sels nutritifs qui permet une efflorescence rapide et intense au printemps. L'océan Atlantique représente une source de matière organique pour la Méditerranée. Cette mer représente en revanche une source de sels nutritifs pour l'Atlantique. Ensuite, un modèle à très haute résolution a été imbriqué dans le modèle de bassin pour quantifier les processus physiques et biologiques qui déterminent la variabilité temporelle de la disponibilité et de la stœchiométrie des sels nutritifs en Méditerranée nord-occidentale. La convection profonde hivernale entraîne une homogénéisation des propriétés biogéochimiques sur la colonne d'eau, et une stœchiométrie vers des valeurs estivales. Cette région bascule d'un régime d'eutrophie lors de la convection profonde vers un régime oligotrophe après le bloom de printemps. Lors du premier régime la production primaire est dominée par une production nouvelle en surface, alors que lors du deuxième régime la production phytoplanctonique de subsurface est essentiellement régénérée. Les masses d'eau adjacentes à la zone de convection et celles situées au sud sont caractérisées par une dominance de production régénérée toute l'année. Une partie de la matière organique particulaire est exportée en dessous de la couche épipélagique. Cet export de matière organique est variable et est fortement lié à la dynamique verticale des masses d'eau. / The Mediterranean Sea is characterized by various trophic regimes due to river inputs, as well as heterogeneous nitrogen to phosphorus ratios and hydrodynamic processes, in particular vertical mixing. The objective of this thesis that was performed in the framework of the MISTRALS program is the study of the biogeochemical cycles of these various regimes that composed the Mediterranean. It is mainly based on the in situ observations collected during DeWEx project and on 3D physical/biogeochemical modeling at the scale of the entire basin and at the regional of the western sub-basin. The first study is a ten-year basin scale study which allows an ecological classification, giving bioregions in function of their physical and biogeochemical properties. Southern oligotrophic areas in both eastern and western sub-basins are characterized by low efflorescence and deep nutriclines. While in the north, near Rhodes Island, in the southern Adriatic Sea and in the Liguro-Provencal sub-basin, the summer oligotrophic regime is altered annually by intense vertical dynamics, the deep convection. This process is considered as a driving force of the thermohaline circulation and entrains an enrichment of nutrients in surface layer which allows rapid and intense blooms in spring. The Mediterranean receives organic matter from the Atlantic Ocean, while, it is a source of inorganic matter for the Atlantic. In a second part of this thesis, a high resolution model on the western sub-basin was embedded in the basin model to quantify the physical and biological processes that determine the temporal variability of the nutrient stocks and their stoichiometry. The north-western Mediterranean turns from an eutrophic regime during deep convection to an oligotrophic regime after the spring bloom. During the eutrophic regime new production dominates the primary production at the surface while during the oligotrophic regime primary production is essentially associated to subsurface regenerated one. Adjacent water masses of the convection zone and west-southern regions are characterized by a dominance of regenerated production all over the year.

A large theoretical and empirical literature has studied the response in prices to changes in demands and costs. Three of the essays in this thesis are empirical studies of price-setting. The most important reason for studying the properties of price adjustments is the possible link between pricing and the business cycle. One family of models deals with price rigidities. If prices adjust slowly to changes in costs or demand, it will magnify fluctuations in output. A second family of models examines price changes due to changes in intensity of competition. Many of these models build on the idea that changes in demand affect the possibility of maintaining implicit collusion. Cyclical changes in the intensity of competition may cause a cyclical pricing pattern that magnifies fluctuations in output. Another line of research models the effects of liquidity constraints on the business cycle. One possible effect is that prices in markets where consumers have switching costs may increase, if the firms are hit by increased liquidity constraints. As increased liquidity constraints are common in recessions, prices will get a counter-cyclical tendency, which magnifies fluctuations in output. Another reason for studying price-setting patterns is that they can give an indication of the form of interaction between competing firms, which are of importance for competition policy. The fourth essay models sex discrimination formally. It shows that it is possible that sex discrimination in the labor market might be due to self-fulfilling sex stereotypes on the distribution of time out for child care between men and women. Both an even and an uneven distribution of time out for child care are possible equilibria in the model. The four essays can be read separatelyEssay 1 Price Responses to Seasonal Demand Changes in the Swedish Gasoline MarketA common idea in a number of papers on cyclical pricing is that implicit price collusion may be affected by changes in demand. In these models, tacit collusion is modeled as a game where agents balance gains from deviating from the collusive price, thereby gaining a short-run profit, against the gains from maintaining collusion in future periods. If demand fluctuates, the gains from deviating is high in periods of high demand; collusion may still be sustainable, however, if the collusive price is allowed to vary with demand. A lower price in high demand states reduces the gains from deviating, since it reduces the gain from each unit sold in these demand states. Hence, in order to equalize the profit from deviating and the profit from sticking to the implicit agreement, the price must move in the opposite direction to demand. Changes in demand can, naturally, be correlated with other factors affecting the price, such as cost changes. Thus, prices do not necessarily fall when demand increases in the data. According to the theory the, however, increase in demand should add a tendency to lower prices in order to make implicit collusion sustainable. The basic idea that changes in demand should affect prices if firms are engaged in implicit collusion has been employed in a number of papers, with different models for different assumptions on the pattern of demand changes. The demand for gasoline in Sweden follows a seasonal cycle, with demand being 42 percent higher in July than in January. Haltiwanger and Harrington provide a theory for implicit collusion over deterministic cycles, such as the seasonal cycle. Borenstein and Shepard (1996) tested Haltiwanger and Harrington’s model on the American gasoline retail market and found support for the theory. In this essay the model is tested for Swedish data, but no support for this theory is found. It is also investigated whether the effects on margins of the demand fluctuations induced by tax increases are compatible with theories of implicit collusion, but this is found not to be the case.Essay 2 Price Adjustments by a Gasoline Retail ChainEssay 2 is joint with Marcus Asplund and Richard Friberg. Stickiness of prices is an important building block in many business cycle models. This has spurred an empirical literature on price adjustments. Different types of price rigidities have different policy implications. Price setting can be state dependent, e.g. prices are adjusted when costs have changed by at least some minimal amount since the last price adjustment, or time-dependent e.g. adjusted once a week or once a year. Another issue is whether prices are equally rigid downwards as upwards. The second essay examines price responses in the Swedish gasoline retail market to changes in the Rotterdam spot price of gasoline, exchange rates and taxes. The main results are that cost changes are not fully passed through in the short run, but gradually moves towards the long-run equilibrium. Prices are stickier downwards than upwards. There is a minimum absolute size of price changes. Only very limited evidence of time-dependent price setting is found.Essay 3 Prices, Margins and Liquidity Constraints: Swedish Newspapers 1990-1996Essay 3 is written with Marcus Asplund and Niklas Strand. Chevalier and Scharfstein (1996) provide a model where consumer switching costs in combination with liquidity constraints give rise to a counter-cyclical tendency in prices. Customer stocks can be viewed as an investment, when consumers have switching costs when changing suppliers. Firms can exploit captured customers by setting a high price to raise short-run profits. However, a high price will induce consumers to search for alternatives, and customers once lost are costly to win back. Liquidity constraints, for instance in recessions, may force firms to sacrifice long-run profits for short-run gains. In this case, firms may have to cut back on investments in customer stocks by raising prices. Using firm level data from the Swedish daily newspaper industry, we test the effects of liquidity constraints on prices in markets with consumer switching costs. The newspaper industry is of particular interest, since firms set prices in two markets, the subscription market, where switching costs are high, and the advertising market, where switching costs are low. With accounting data from newspaper firms we can, by solvency, broadly categorize them as being more or less liquidity constrained. When Sweden enters a recession at the beginning of the nineties, we find a relative increase in subscription prices and margins for liquidity constrained firms. This is not the case for advertising prices, however. The results support the theory.Essay 4 Statistical Discrimination and Sex Stereotypes in the Labor MarketTime out for child care is unevenly distributed between the sexes. Parental leave benefits are usually exclusively given to the mother or distributed to both parents according to their choice. In Sweden, one month is reserved for each parent, however. One reason for this is to give the child better contact with both parents, but increased equality between the sexes in the labor market has also been put forward as an argument. This argument implicitly rests on the idea that sex stereotypes create sex discrimination, and that sex discrimination affects the distribution of time out for child care between the sexes. Essay 4 investigates if the uneven distribution of time out for child care can be explained by self-fulfilling sex stereotypes. It provides a model of distribution of time out for child care based on statistical discrimination and human capital investments. The model has three equilibria. In one equilibrium, time out for child care is evenly distributed between the sexes. In the second equilibrium, there is full specialization. The third equilibrium is an intermediate case, where time out for child care is unevenly distributed without full specialization There are no differences in ability or variance of ability between the sexes, the only differences between the equilibria are the self-fulfilling expectations of firms and workers. / Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Handelshögsk., 2001