This study is a description of the reactions of adolescents, who had opportunities for independence and growth toward maturity as a result of a crisis situation. Special consideration is given to (a) the variety of heroic and realistic experiences had during the flood; (b) personal and social adjustments in the unique setting of dormitory living (separated from families); and (c) the academic achievements in the emergency learning situation.

Aquatic habitats are closely linked to surrounding terrestrial environments via reciprocal subsidies. Much of the research on these subsidies has been focused on streams, while subsidies across aquatic-terrestrial boundaries of other aquatic systems, like temporary ponds, have received little attention. Temporary ponds are seasonally inundated aquatic habitats and patterns of energy transport across transient aquatic-terrestrial boundaries are not well understood. To address the lack of information regarding these cross-habitat subsidies, I quantified: 1) leaf litter inputs, 2) amphibian egg inputs, 3) terrestrial insect inputs, 4) amphibian metamorph emergence, and 5) aquatic insect emergence for eight temporary ponds. Terrestrial insect inputs to ponds represented substantial high-quality subsidies to ponds that are generally unaccounted for in similar studies. While larger ponds produced greater total fluxes to terrestrial habitats, smaller ponds were often more productive per unit area. Therefore, a mosaic of small ponds may produce greater or equivalent subsidies and may be of greater value to terrestrial food webs than a single large pond. Resource subsidies of energy and nutrients can be transported via physical forces or biotic processes, such as animal migration or emigration. I quantified net nutrient fluxes associated with amphibian migrations across aquatic-terrestrial boundaries of eight temporary ponds in Illinois. I measured carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) subsidies from forests to ponds, in the form of eggs, and the reciprocal subsidies from ponds to forests via juvenile emigration. Juvenile emergence biomass did not resemble egg biomass, as not all species bred successfully in each pond, resulting in variability in the magnitude of nutrient fluxes both across ponds and species. The forest was not always the recipient system of net nutrient fluxes. Hydroperiod, trophic interactions, and species composition explained some dynamics of N and P subsidies. Most studies have focused on the magnitude of cross-boundary fluxes, but the impact of a subsidy is mediated by the size of the flux as well as the quality and relative abundance of similar resources in the recipient habitat. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) are necessary for proper physiological function, are unevenly distributed across the landscape, and animals differ greatly in their ability to synthesize them de novo. This creates the potential for limitation and increases their possible importance as a subsidy. I examined LC-PUFA tissue concentration and export in eight species of emerging amphibian metamorphs across eight temporary ponds in a wetland complex. I found that tissue concentrations and export of LC-PUFAs varied across species, but were generally within the ranges of several freshwater fish and aquatic insects. Anurans exported higher amounts of LC-PUFAs than salamanders, largely due to the higher emergence biomass of anurans. Further, I explored fatty acid profiles and immune function of wolf spiders in wetland and upland habitats. Wetland spiders had higher tissue levels of aquatic-derived LC-PUFAs and elevated immune function compared to upland spiders. These patterns suggest aquatically derived nutrients, such as LC-PUFAs, may benefit organisms exploiting freshwater habitats.

An evaluation of eleven roadway matting systems was conducted to determine their effectiveness in carrying heavy vehicle traffic over loose sand subgrades. Three of the eleven matting systems were also evaluated over soft fine-grained subgrades. Matting products included high-density polyethylene, aluminum, fiberglass, and polyester. System configurations included continuous rolls of material, segmented rolls, and individual panels. The matting products were assembled on test sections and trafficked with a 7-ton, 6-wheeled truck loaded with a 7-ton payload until 20 percent of the mat section was no longer reusable or 2,000 truck passes were achieved. Earth pressure cells were installed under nine of the sand test sections to monitor load distributions provided by the matting systems. Based on the test results, recommendations are given for selecting the best roadway matting system types for use on temporary roads with sand or soft fine-grained subgrades.

A temporary refuge for persons in need has become, in various forms, a solution to the mass influx of people around the world. Despite extensive practice, the institute remains almost unregulated by international law, and the only hard law remedy for temporary refuge is the EU Council Directive 2001/55/EC on Temporary protection. However, since the adoption of this Directive, the institute has not been used within the EU. This work aims to make a contribution to the discussion on the suitability of temporary refuge as a solution for a migration crisis in Europe and on a need to regulate this institute by universal international law norms. This thesis is divided into two chapters. The first chapter deals with the scope of a temporary refuge, its legal basis and situations which the institute can be applied to. To describe the situations for which the temporary refuge had been used as a solution to mass influx, the work provides an overview of the solution to mass influx in regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America. The second chapter deals with the analysis of three practical forms of the temporary refuge related to the solution of migration crises in Europe. The first case analyzed is the temporary refuge granted to people fleeing the conflict in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. It focuses...

I takt med en ökad globalisering och expandering av de större städerna så har det avgått allt fler flyg till och från Sverige, vägar har byggts ut och allt fler platser som är exponerade för trafikbuller har tillkommit. Detta är ett stort problem då buller kan ha förödande effekter på människors hälsa. Som svar på detta problem har bl.a. BBR uppfört krav på fastigheter beroende på dess användningstyp. Kravet är restriktioner gällande bullernivåer vid en byggnads yttre fasad där permanenta bostäder har det högsta kravet på en låg bullernivå. Vid de allt mer ljudexponerade platserna så nekas bygglov regelbundet då de potentiella fastigheterna inte möter detta krav. Då det rör sig mer folk i Sverige, t.ex. via affärsresor, både inrikes och utrikes, så skapas en efterfrågan på temporära bostäder där människor kan vistas tillfälligt upp till 6 månader. På senare tid har allt fler projekt startats upp där man utnyttjar läget av bullerutsatta platser för att etablera verksamheter tillägnat åt temporära bostäder. Detta eftersom temporära bostäder inte ställer samma höga krav på bullernivåer som permanenta bostäder gör. Examensarbetet undersöker de problem och förutsättningar som finns vid en bullerutsatt plats för att senare gestalta ett förslag på ett temporärt boende som håller de gällande krav och bestämmelser som finns vid uppförandet av en sådan byggnad i det aktuella läget. Arbetet avgränsades till Stockholms län och de arkitektoniska samt vissa byggtekniska detaljer projekterades fram. Inga egna bullermätningar gjordes då mätnoggrannheten på de egna verktygen var låg. Utifrån de förutsättningar och kunskaper som gavs från platsanalysen och den teoretiska referensramen så projekterades ett gestaltningsförslag på ett lägenhetshotell fram på en fastighet precis intill Arlanda flygplats där bullernivåerna överskred BBR:s riktlinjer gällande bullernivåer vid permanenta boendens fasad. Resultatet blev en tung betongkonstruktion med tjocka partier isolering samt vegetation på fasad och tak. Byggnaden utnyttjade det aktuella läget för fastigheten och placerades vid kringliggande vegetation som har ett naturligt bullerreducerande skydd. Examensarbetet lämnade dock kvar frågor som förblev obesvarade. Stod byggnaden emot fastighetsägarens höga krav för ljusinsläpp och design? Hur mycket ljudreducerande agerade den omkringliggande vegetationen? Var det mer lämpligt att bygga på bredden snarare än höjden? Detta lämnar rum för vidare undersökning kring problematiken eventuella och lösningar vid nybyggnation i bullriga miljöer. / With the increased globalization and expansion of larger cities, we’ve seen an increase in flight traffic around the airports in Sweden. At the same time, cities are getting more populated which leads to more roads that are being built to strengthen the communications between the cities. A consequence of this expansion is that more areas are being affected by sound pollution. This is a huge problem as sound pollution may have devastating consequences on the health of people being exposed by it. To counteract the exposure of sound pollution, Boverket (the national Board of Housing), has created specific regulations on real estate’s regarding the accepted levels of sound exposure for buildings. The allowed level of sound exposure are stricter to buildings that are meant to be permanently inhabited as the inhabitants run greater risk of health issues the longer they are exposed by it. As there are more people traveling across Sweden on e.g. business trips, there has been an increase in demand of temporary housing where people are allowed stay for up to 6 months. Just recently, plenty of new projects are taking advantage over the set regulations by the National Board of Housing because the regulations for sound exposure are lower on temporary housing. This thesis will investigate the possibilities regarding projecting a building meant for temporary housing in a sound polluted area. The project is limited to the Stockholm county and focus mainly on the architectural point of view in projecting a building. A projected architectural proposal of an apartment hotel on a property right next to Arlanda airport was made from the information that was provided by the site analysis and the theoretical framework. The property was located in an area where the sound exposure was above the regulations of maximum sound pollution by the facade of building meant for permanent housing. The result was a heavy constructed concrete building with thick layers of insulation and vegetation on the outside walls and roofs. The building was placed in an area where it was surrounded natural vegetation to improve the reduction of sound pollution. The thesis left a few unanswered questions however: Did the projected building meet the requirements of the property owners regarding architecture and lighting? By how much does the surrounding vegetation actually reduce sound pollution? Would it be more efficient to increase the width of the building rather than the height? These questions leaves room for further studies regarding the issues and how to solve them when projecting buildings in a highly sound polluted area.

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Airfield matting systems are used for the expedient construction of temporary airfields and rapid expansion of existing airfields to provide maneuvering support for military aircraft. They protect the subgrade by distributing the load exerted by aircraft over a larger area. Six airfield matting systems of varying materials and designs were evaluated through the construction of full-scale test sections to determine their effectiveness at reducing the accumulation of subgrade deformation and decreasing the pressure experienced by the subgrade. The matting systems were tested on a California Bearing Ratio (CBR) of 6 and subjected to simulated F-15E aircraft traffic while monitoring mat breakage, deformation, and subgrade earth pressure. The systems were compared in terms of the rate of subgrade permanent deformation. Based on test results, a simplified expression was developed to predict subgrade deformation on a CBR of 6 as a function of F 15E aircraft passes and airfield mat properties.