Dissertations / Theses: 'Evolution of State'

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Rodriguez, Tejedo Maria Isabel. "State fiscal institutions an evolution /." College Park, Md. : University of Maryland, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/7324.

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Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2007.
Thesis research directed by: Economics. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

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Kasoulides, George C. "Port state control and jurisdiction : evolution of the port state regime /." Dordrecht [u.a.] : Nijhoff, 1993. http://www.gbv.de/dms/spk/sbb/recht/toc/278339034.pdf.

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Genc, Melda. "The Evolution Of Toilets And Its Current State." Master's thesis, METU, 2009. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12610448/index.pdf.

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Vast consumption of natural resources threats the human life. Growing scarcity of fresh water is posing a great challenge to humanity as well. Thus many governments take special measures for efficient use of freshwater. There are many products that use too much fresh water. Toilet is among these products. In search of new solutions for lack of fresh water, designers design alternative toilets. However, it is necessary to understand the evolution of toilets and current state to develop better new technologies and products. This thesis investigates the evolution of toilet design throughout the history. Factors affect toilet design, and changes in their improvement throughout the evolution of toilets are examined. The study also aims to investigate advantages and disadvantages of squat and flushed toilets and their current state.

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Palumbo, Antonino. "The evolution of Constitutional Order." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.327527.

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Dowling, David Michael. "The evolution of grain edge porosity." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1985. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/847380/.

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An investigation is made of porosity in polycrystals which have an idealised microstructure, comprising regular polyhedral grains of uniform size. The stability of networks of grain edge pores is considered in Chapter Two. In this chapter a new model of interlinked grain edge porosity is derived on physically realistic grounds and takes into account the variation in the dihedral angle of the porosity along its length. The model also improves extant work by paying careful attention to the surface morphology of the porosity in the region of the grain corners, where grain edge tunnels interlink. The relaxation of porous structures of general dihedral angle, to configurations of minimum energy, is the subject of Chapter Three. A mathematical model of the surface diffusion driven morphological changes in grain edge pores is developed. The model employs the sophisticated analysis of Chapter Two to describe the surface morphology of the porosity at any instant in time. In the later chapters the surface diffusion shape change model is extended to include the effects of diffusion in the grain boundaries. Thus the diminution of pore volume, by the condensation of vacancies on the grain boundaries, together with the enhancement of shape changes, by the mechanisms of grain boundary diffusion and surface diffusion acting in parallel, is introduced into the model. The results of a computer program capable of simulating the relaxation of both open, interlinked grain edge networks and closed, isolated edge pores is presented. The significance of these results to the phenomena of fission-gas release in nuclear fuels and sintering in ceramic polycrystals is discussed.

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Kauffmann, Jens. "The state and evolution of isolated dense molecular cores." [S.l.] : [s.n.], 2006. http://deposit.ddb.de/cgi-bin/dokserv?idn=984744398.

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Savant, Gaurav. "Prediction of estuarine morphological evolution." Diss., Mississippi State : Mississippi State University, 2008. http://library.msstate.edu/etd/show.asp?etd=etd-06202008-102016.

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Rice, Justin William. "Evolution education at Iowa State University student understanding and acceptance of evolution, creationism, and intelligent design /." [Ames, Iowa : Iowa State University], 2007.

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9

Peterson, Rebecca C. (Rebecca Carol). "Dante, Machiavelli, and Luther: The Evolution of the Modern State." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1991. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500496/.

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The evolution of the State was a process which went through many stages. Analysis of the modern State tends to begin with the Enlightenment; however, Dante Alighieri, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Martin Luther each represented early phases of this evolution. The theories of these men were closely tied to their evaluation of man's nature. Their main objectives were separation of the State from the Church and the definition of the rulers obligations to his subjects. Although humanism influenced all of them to varying degrees, each developed unique views of the State. Elements of these views can be detected in more modern theorists.

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Ch'ng, Heok Ngee. "A numerical study of microstructural evolution during solid-state sintering." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2003. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/842990/.

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In this thesis, a new set of finite element formulations are developed for computer simulation of microstructural evolution which is controlled by solid-state diffusion and grain-boundary migration. The finite element formulations are based on the classical cubic spline interpolation and form a natural extension of the linear finite element scheme which was first developed by Pan, Cocks and Kucherenko (1997). The cubic spline elements are however much more efficient numerically than the previous linear elements and make it possible to undertake large scale computer simulations of microstructural evolution using ordinary personal computers. The newly developed finite element scheme is then used to study the sintering process of powder compacts. Two important issues are addressed in this thesis. First, the sintering kinetics of large pores is investigated in details. An established theory due to Kingery (1967) predicts that a pore will shrink only if its coordination number (number of grains surrounding the pore) is less than a critical value which depends on the dihedral angle of the powder material. However, there are increasing experimental evidences contradicting this theory. Very large pores were observed to shrink continuously in the sintering process. The numerical study presented in this thesis demonstrated that the critical coordination number theory is in fact not a general rule. The computer simulations show that a very large pore does shrink unless it is surrounded by identical grains, which is obviously not true in any real powder compact. Secondly, the finite element scheme is used to study the anisotropic shrinkage during the sintering process. The numerical study reveals the key factors which control anisotropic shrinkage and shows that models based on continuum mechanics are unable to capture the critical influence of these key factors.

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Min, Won Kyung. "Architectural Evolution of Nascent Industries: Evidence from Solid-State Lighting." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2016. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/400998.

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Business Administration/Strategic Management
Ph.D.
My dissertation is a study of firms’ strategic differences and the performance consequences of these differences in nascent industries. I relax the implicit assumption in the existing literature that a technological breakthrough is exogenous, and provide theoretical and empirical accounts of knowledge evolution before a new technology gets commercialized. In Chapter 2, I highlight the evolution of a technology at the industry level and argue that there exists a pre-commercialization technology life cycle. I develop a series of propositions related to the technology’s architectural evolution during the pre-commercialization phase, and show that an emerging architecture becomes fully integrated before the inception of a new market. In Chapter 3, I shift the focus to the firm level, and compare the pre-commercialization search strategies of market incumbents facing a technological obsolescence to those of technology incumbents disrupting an existing market. I show that these two groups of incumbent firms invest heavily in an emerging technology even before the market takes shape, and that they engage in different search strategies, specifically in the degree to which they integrate or modularize the knowledge about individual technology components across two stages of a pre-commercialization life cycle. In Chapter 4, I argue that such pre-commercialization strategies have post-commercialization consequences. This dynamic view suggests that a select group of established organizations enter a new product market and the heterogeneity in their pre-entry experiences has direct consequences for the product’s initial performance. Throughout, this study uses the emergence of the solid-state lighting (SSL) market as an empirical context.
Temple University--Theses

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Mitchell, Sara Gran. "Late-Cenozoic topographic evolution of the Cascade Range, Washington State, USA /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/6713.

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Curran, Matthew David. "Lenin, Trotsky and the evolution of the Bolshevik State, 1917-1924 /." Title page, table of contents and introduction only, 2004. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09AR/09arc9761.pdf.

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Lee, Woo Cheol. "The political economy of Vietnam : the evolution of state-business relationships." Thesis, SOAS, University of London, 2015. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/23662/.

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While many Vietnam studies mention that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Vietnam face soft budget constraints, a limited amount of studies actually focus on this issue. Most of them are based on the analysis of macro level data and few are firm level analyses such as Tenev et al. (2003) and Gainsborough (2005) which contain both private firms and SOEs in the data set and compare SOEs with private firms in terms of budget constraints. Despite their insightfulness, details of budget constraints among SOEs remain unanswered. To fill this gap, this dissertation analyses the data collected from returned questionnaires from and conducted interviews with 22 local and central SOEs including five equitised SOEs in Hai Phong in 2005. Contrary to the conventional claim, this dissertation finds that the budget constraints on SOEs in Hai Phong have tended to be hardened since the late 1990s and also some large SOEs face softer budget constraints than small SOEs do. This dissertation explains these findings in terms of state-business relations. Firstly, the hardened budget constraints on SOEs can be explained by the strategy of the state to reduce the number of SOEs and to form big SOEs, which this dissertation calls divestiture and concentration. Secondly, given the importance of Gainsborough's argument that connections of SOE directors with politicians and bankers decide the softness of budget constraints, this dissertation argues that the softer budget constraint on large SOEs is the outcome of the rational choice of the state whose political priority is to keep the dominance of the state sector in the socialist-oriented market economy. By providing financial support to loss-making SOEs, the state will obtain political gain in exchange of financial burdens. Given its budget constraint, the state tends to support large SOEs to maximise its political gain.

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Dahlmann, Frederik. "Between inertia and adaptation : state and evolution of corporate environmental strategy." Thesis, University of Bath, 2009. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.512335.

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Companies in the 21st century are exposed to a variety of pressures to respond to a plethora of environmental issues. Understanding how these issues impact companies over time is, therefore, important for corporate practitioners and policy makers alike. This thesis investigates the state and evolution of corporate environmental strategy with the help of a multi-study, longitudinal research design. Theoretically grounded in complexity theory, a conceptual framework is developed that portrays organisations as open systems within which agents interact and attempt to improve organisational fitness. By conceptualising the organisational metaphor of ‘rugged fitness landscapes’, firms are depicted as complex adaptive systems searching for peaks on a constantly changing fitness landscape in order to guarantee economic long-term profit and survival. While study one examines environmental responses among a stratified sample of UK companies through repeated interviews both in 2006 and 2008, the second study draws on KLD data from S&P500 corporations for the period 1991 to 2006 by distinguishing between changes at firm and at population level. The findings suggest that the state and evolution of corporate environmental strategy are effectively subordinated to contributing towards firms’ fitness, whereby firms mostly attempt to remain profitable and obtain social legitimacy. Even over longer periods of time this behaviour has not changed markedly, except that starting from around 2004 higher levels of oil prices and lower interest rates have spurred more proactive environmental changes among a number of firms. Equally, different motivations, individuals and contextual factors appear to influence the varying patterns of evolution. The thesis fills a gap in the existing literature with respect to the lack of conceptual and empirical contributions about the evolution of corporate environmental strategy by providing new insights into how firms are responding to environmental issues over time and by extending various strands of theory.

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Wherry, Julie S. "Simulated test marketing : its evolution and current state in the industry." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37225.

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Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2006.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 33-34).
Simulated test markets are powerful tools that are used frequently to aid marketing managers in making a go/no-go decision before bringing a product to test market. Over the past twenty years, STMs have expanded beyond application in fast-moving consumer goods to industries such as financial services, pharmaceuticals, durables, and new technology. Today, the STM industry is fairly consolidated, with models that are in principal, very similar, whether they are based in purchase intent or share of preference. However, the major vendors discussed here are able to differentiate and position themselves through additional diagnostics and customized services. Advances in data collection and incremental refinements to STM models are presented in addition to challenges that the STM industry currently faces.
by Julie S. Wherry.
M.B.A.

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Watterson, P. A. "Force-free magnetic field evolution in the reversed-field pinch." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1985. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.355048.

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Spangler, Jacob Brian. "Conserved noncoding sequences regulate steady-state mRNA levels in Arabidopsis thaliana." Thesis, Clemson University, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3565242.

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Arabidopsis thaliana has undergone three whole genome duplications within its ancestry, and these events have dramatically affected its gene complement. Of the most recent whole genome duplication events (α event), there remain 11,452 conserved noncoding sequences (CNSs) that have been retained proximal to α duplicate gene pairs. As functional DNA elements are expected to diverge in sequence at a slower rate than nonfunctional DNA elements, the retained CNSs likely encode gene regulatory function. Within this dissertation I provide evidence for the regulatory role of CNSs within Arabidopsis thaliana. Using a collection of over 5,000 microarray RNA expression profiling datasets, I demonstrate that the presence of CNSs near α duplicate pairs is correlated with changes in average expression intensity (AEI), α duplicate pair co-expression, mRNA stability, and breadth of gene expression. The effects of CNSs on AEI, co-expression, and mRNA stability vary relative to their subgene position, because they are located in nontranscribed (5’-upstream and 3’-downstream) and transcribed (5’- UTR, intronic and 3’-UTR) regions. Modeling gene interactions through the generation of co-expression networks, I also demonstrate that a portion of CNSs participate in known gene regulatory networks. Collectively, this body of work demonstrates that CNSs regulate steady-state mRNA levels within Arabidopsis thailiana through both transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms.

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Petter, Pandanus H. "Australian State MPs in their electorates: constituency work and the evolution of representation." Thesis, Griffith University, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/420589.

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Members of Parliament (MPs) in Australia and other established democracies work long hours in their electorates, assisting constituents with service problems, discussing policy issues, interacting with community groups, and connecting with members of their political parties. Despite their hard work, elected representatives and their political parties are increasingly perceived as disconnected from everyday people. Research and commentary suggests that the work MPs do in their constituencies is contributing to this problem. However, existing studies of Australian constituency work lack detailed information on the representative practices, logics, and tensions which guide MPs’ efforts. Moreover, this body of research is concentrated at the federal rather than state level. To further our understanding, this thesis answers the question of what state MPs do in their electorates and why, utilising an analytical framework which sees constituency work as an exercise in connection building with important policy, service, symbolic, and partisan functions. I answer these questions by adapting and expanding upon this framework in two ways. First, I examine how patterns of connection building have changed since the 1890s as MPs’ constituency work has increased in complexity and volume in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Thereafter, to understand contemporary practices of constituency representation, I draw upon a novel nationwide survey of 111 state and federal MPs, and 36 interviews at all three levels of government in Queensland, conducted during the 2019-2021 period. Amidst frequent natural disasters, persistent distrust in politicians and a rising tide of service requests, I find MPs building connections in a variety of distinct styles, while favouring pragmatic over transformative approaches to policy. Furthermore, while MPs seek to build trust by demonstrating that they are responsive and ‘not like other politicians’, these efforts are in tension with their role as ‘authentic’ and effective party representatives. I find possibilities within MPs’ current practices that the represented can be brought into more active participation in the political process. This is important because while healthy scepticism is an important part of a functioning democracy, if the public’s perceptions of representative politics are inaccurate and overly negative, scepticism may give way to a corrosive and disempowering cynicism
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Govt & Int Relations
Griffith Business School
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Levitt, Jeremy Isaac. "The evolution of deadly conflict in Liberia : from paternaltarianism to state collapse." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.620375.

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Zucker, Rachel V. (Rachel Victoria). "Capillary-driven shape evolution in solid-state micro- and nano-scale systems." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/98575.

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Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 2015.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-192).
Thin films are the fundamental building blocks of many micro- and nano-scale devices. However, their high surface-area-to-volume ratio makes them unstable due to excess surface free energy. Capillarity drives a process known as dewetting, during which holes form, the film edges retract, and a thickened rim of material accumulates at the edges. Various shape instabilities can occur on the film edge, resulting in complicated morphologies and break-up of the film into isolated particles. Dewetting occurs in the solid state by surface self-diffusion. In this work, a variety of models are presented to gain insights into the mechanisms that control the shape evolution of thin films. A combination of thermodynamic study, stability analyses, analytical models, explicit interface-tracking simulations, and phase-field simulations reveal the underlying driving forces and mass flows, explain observed morphologies and instabilities, and offer insights into how to manipulate the final structure. These pathways to control dewetting are applicable in two areas: to design micro- and nano-scale devices that are resistant to thermal degradation, and to use dewetting as a new patterning method to generate stable, complex, small-scale geometries.
by Rachel Victoria Zucker.
Ph. D.

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Bon, Tom A., and Henry L. Kucera. "Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Capstone Course Evolution at North Dakota State University." American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, 2005. https://hdl.handle.net/10365/31010.

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The approach to the department's capstone design course has changed considerably since the 1960s. The general evolution of the course has proceeded from extended laboratory exercises to individuals working on self-defined projects to team-based projects. Interactions between the capstone course and other courses have been attempted with varying success. This paper presents the development of the NDSU Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department' s capstone course and thoughts on possible future modifications to the course.
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
College of Graduate and Interdisciplinary Studies

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Haberstock, Kara Lyn. "Sheikhs, Salafis, and the State: The Evolution of Muslim Politics in Chechnya." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/297597.

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Current discourse regarding the contemporary status of Islam in Chechnya tends toward one of two narratives. In the first, Islam becomes merely a political tool wielded in the hands of nationalists, warlords, and now the pro-Russian Chechen government seeking to unite the North Caucasian ethnic groups in the aftermath of a Soviet collapse. In the second, Islam is bound up in the Chechen identity and viewed as a form of resistance to Russia and distinguishing cultural trait. In both narratives, Chechen Muslims are studied in isolation from wider trends within the Central Asian region and the greater Islamic realm. This paper situates events in Chechnya within the context of movements across the Middle East and Central Asia. Through the examination of symbols, rituals, and rhetoric employed by the state and by dissident groups within Chechnya, I analyze the current struggle between the state and dissident Islamists in Chechnya to establish a dominant discourse of Islamic practice. Through this analysis, I move beyond labels of "fundamentalist" Islam and "traditional" Islam often assigned within the Chechen context to demonstrate how Islamic tradition and practice are being re-imagined in the wake of the Soviet collapse and the failed separatist conflict in Chechnya.

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DePalma, Katherine. "Evolution of Campus Carry Policy in the South." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2018. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1142.

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What does current campus carry policy in the south look like and how has it developed though the state legislatures? Eleven out of fifty states now allow some form of campus carry and the amount of legislation introduced in states across the country is growing each year. This thesis examines the language of attempts to pass campus carry legislation at the state level throughout the south. I examine the evolution of policy language in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas and what current campus carry policy in each state looks like. The conclusions of this examination point to a moderation in policy as it passes through the legislative process, even in Republican dominated state legislatures.

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Kallio, Rebecca Mae. "Evaluation of Channel Evolution and Extreme Event Routing for Two-Stage Ditches in a Tri-State Region of the USA." The Ohio State University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1275424336.

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Muirhead, Ian T. "An evolution in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) techniques for optical thin film coatings." Thesis, Heriot-Watt University, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/10399/849.

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Druzin, Bryan Howard. "Norm evolution without the state : an examination of the unique nature of commercial law." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/1596.

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The discussion examines the idea that because of its relatively unique nature, commercial law has the distinct ability to evolve and function in the absence of a central coercive authority. While law of a non-commercial nature generally requires the backing of a state through which to derive its efficacy, a great deal of commercial law as it exists today evolves often in the absence of a single coercive authority, shaped largely by market forces outside the purview of any one state power. To this end, we look primarily at transnational commercial law, specifically at what is commonly understood as the new law merchant. It is the central contention of this paper that commercial law stands apart from other forms of law in that it is uniquely equipped to generate norms in situations where a single legislative power is notably not present, as it is largely impacted by the choices and behaviour of individual economic actors. We examine the notion that the manner of interaction implied by commercial intercourse involves a higher degree of overall engagement. This we term ‘high engagement’, which we divide into two elements: repetition and game creation, which with reciprocity, works in tandem to produce identifiable legal norms and the subsequent compliance with them. In Part I, after presenting a brief overview of the idea of reciprocity and spontaneous law theory, a more detailed explanation of the notion of engagement is offered. In Part II, we set out exactly how high engagement facilitates the development of and compliance with legal norms. Finally, the conclusion this paper reaches is that this element of high engagement, a salient characteristic of commercial interaction, plays a decisive role in the ability of commercial law to evolve and function in the vacuum of a central legislative authority.

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Alnafisi, Saleh. "Critical perspectives on the evolution of a rentier constitutional state : Kuwait, 1950-1962." Thesis, Durham University, 2013. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/6358/.

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The political economies of the oil rich GCC countries are generally contextualized within the framework of rentier state theory. The picture the theory portrays is that of an autonomous state with abundant revenues generated from oil which are in turn distributed to the larger population to gain political legitimacy within prevailing non-democratic cultures. Albeit having a democratically elected parliament with a vibrant political environment for a comparatively long time, rentierism is also applied to the political economy of Kuwait. This study, hence, aims to explore the development of Kuwait into a rentier constitutional state beyond the generally accepted notions put forward by rentier state theory. Its focus is to understand the perceptions and ideas behind the economic and political policy decisions in the context of the oil boom of the 1950s and early 1960s. Economically, therefore, the main aim is to explore and critically analyze why distributive policies, which constitute a main feature characterizing the country’s economy, were initiated in the post-oil era. The study also critically analyzes the diverse influences oil had on the concurrent rise in political activity and direction towards democratization, crowned by the framing of the constitution in 1962. In examining these developments, the study stresses the importance of looking not only at internal factors, but also at foreign and international influences that are brought about by oil booms. In the case of Kuwait, these include the primary role Britain played, in light of its oil interests, in the country’s internal affairs, and the ways in which oil sparked, for a small and newly rich Arab state, international dynamics that shaped the thinking of policymakers as to the importance of undertaking certain crucial reforms. An examination of the relevant archival record makes it is clear that the framework provided by rentier state theory is insufficient in capturing the complex factors that influence the economic and political decisions of policymakers in countries experiencing oil booms. The findings, therefore, challenge rentier state theory’s core assumptions, such as its stress on ‘political utility’ as the main, if not sole, driver of socioeconomic policy, and the ‘materialistic approach’ in which political activity is contextualized. The study shows that much of the socioeconomic policies that created what is referred to as a ‘distributive state’ stemmed from much deeper influences than those postulated by the theory, such as certain perceptions of tradition and culture; views of citizen ‘rights’ and social justice in a specific historical context; and influences of social currents overtaking the region at the time. Furthermore, the study demonstrates how, in the period concerned, contrary to the position of the rentier state literature, oil played a significant role in the democratization of Kuwait, transforming it from a primitive patriarchal autocracy to a modern ‘rentier constitutional state’. The latter embodies, as the study argues, the concept of a rentier state combined with a constitutional form of government in which citizens are directly involved in the economic and political decision-making process. The study concludes that Eurocentric theoretical frameworks as expressed in rentier state theory may not always be sufficient in explaining the complex realities of countries such as Kuwait. There is a need, therefore, for a new approach that engages directly with the internal and external dynamics of individual countries in order to understand their respective political economies beyond assumptions imported largely from foreign experiences.

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Rübel, Sascha [Verfasser], and G. [Akademischer Betreuer] Gudehus. "Evolution of state and shape of viscoplastic formations / Sascha Rübel. Betreuer: G. Gudehus." Karlsruhe : KIT-Bibliothek, 2012. http://d-nb.info/1026283809/34.

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Behbehanian, Laleh. "The Pre-emption of Resistance| Occupy Oakland and the Evolution of State Power." Thesis, University of California, Berkeley, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10190289.

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This dissertation aims to contribute to our understanding of contemporary state strategies targeting social movements by examining the case of Occupy Oakland. Emphasizing how state strategies, both tactical and discursive, dynamically evolve through their iterative relation to movement strategies, it presents a detailed empirical account that is disaggregated into three ?moments?, each of which are characterized by the predominance of a distinct state strategic repertoire. The objective is to highlight an underlying transformation through which the state?s strategies evolve from being highly reactive, indiscriminate and vulnerable to spectacularization to becoming increasingly pre-emptive, targeted and discursively buttressed. The first ?moment? commences with the movement?s occupation of Oscar Grant Plaza. Faced with Occupy Oakland?s highly disruptive tactics and its firm rejection of any forms of negotiation or cooperation with City officials, the state resorts to a strategy of Naked Coercion (reactive, indiscriminate violence that is highly vulnerable to spectacularization) which backfires and results in an internationally televised disaster on the evening of October 25th. This creates an extraordinary window of opportunity for the movement, dramatically increasing public support and enabling it to undertake the first general strike in the U.S. since 1946. This fuels a process of adaptation as the struggle proceeds into the second ?moment?, and the state shifts to a strategy of Targeted Repression that is increasingly pro-active, targeted and discursively buttressed so as to diminish the danger of its spectacularization. The new strategy succeeds in permanently dislodging the occupation of Oscar Grant Plaza, as well as criminalizing the tactic of occupation and excising it from movement?s repertoire. Still unsatisfied with the repression it had achieved, in the third and final ?moment? the state introduces a strategy of Pre-emptive Neutralization that is pre-emptively oriented, targeted at high ?risk? populations and discursively buttressed by powerful spectacles of ?risk?. This enables a thorough incapacitation of the movement ? fully neutralizing its potential for collective action by rendering Occupiers a target population that could no longer even publicly assemble without inciting highly militarized police responses that were now pre-emptively justified by the risk of ?violence? they collectively posed.

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Adolfson, Jack. "An Evolution of the Kurdish Issue in Turkey: Beyond a State-Centric Perspective." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2017. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1559.

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The left-wing Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) began its violent insurgency campaign against the Turkish state in 1984, claiming that an independent Kurdistan should exist. However, the origins of this conflict can be traced back even further – to the inception of the Turkish Republic in 1923. This thesis begins by investigating the history of how the conflict between the Kurdish and Turkish political frameworks escalated, exploring the concept of “Turkishness” as an element of a homogeneous nation-state. The paper then assesses the effects of a range of exclusionary measures adopted by the Turkish state (beyond punitive military responses in southeastern Turkey and cultural discrimination policies). Ultimately, I argue that the ruling Justice and Development Party’s recent push for a more authoritarian style of leadership under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has ostracized the Kurdish population and has created a climate for Kurdish terrorist organizations, such as the PKK and TAK, to prosper and expand recruitment.

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Gomez-Alpizar, Luis E. "Molecular Evolution of Phytophthora infestans (Mont.)de Bary, the late blight pathogen." NCSU, 2004. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-11302004-224228/.

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Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary causes late blight of potato and tomato and is one of the world?s most devastating plant diseases. P. infestans left its footprint in human history when, in the 19th century, it was responsible for the Irish Potato Famine. Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA variability was used to examine the population history of P. infestans. DNA sequence data from three nuclear regions (Intron Ras, Ras, and â-tubulin) and two mitochondrial regions (P3 and P4) were obtained from ninety isolates from various locations including Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Mexico (Toluca Valley), the USA and Ireland. Population summary statistics show that the Mexican population from the presumed center of origin of P. infestans, harbored less nucleotide and haplotype diversity than South American populations, and was genetically differentiated from other populations, particularly at the mitochondrial loci. Coalescent-based genealogies of mitochondrial (rpl14, rpl5, tRNAs, cox1) and nuclear (Intron Ras+Ras) loci were congruent and demonstrated the existence of two lineages leading to the present day haplotypes of P. infestans associated with potatoes. A third lineage, associated with a group of isolates from Solanum tetrapetalum collected in the Andean Highlands of Ecuador was also found. In the mitochondrial genealogy the two potato lineages corresponded to the mitochrondrial haplotypes Type I and Type II described elsewhere. Mitochondrial haplotypes were associated with different nuclear backgrounds. Haplotypes found in the Toluca Valley population were derived from only one of the two lineages in both mitochondrial and nuclear genealogies, whereas haplotypes found in South American populations (Peru and Ecuador) were derived from both lineages. Haplotypes found in USA and Ireland populations were also derived from both lineages and these populations were not genetically differentiated from the Peruvian populations, suggesting a common ancestry among these populations. Evidence for recombination was found for Mexican and USA populations. Solanum tetrapetalum isolates were highly polymorphic within the regions analyzed and may be a new species. The results support a South American origin of P. infestans and are discussed in relation of previous hypotheses regarding the geographic origin of this plant pathogen.

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Kao, Zoe M. "Trait Evolution in Anseriformes: Is Evolution of Body Mass, Diet, Locomotory Behavior, and Diel Activity Pattern Correlated?" Scholarship @ Claremont, 2014. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/345.

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The morphologies and behaviors of animals evolve and diversify, filling ecological niches in their environments. In this study I examine how a morphological trait, body mass, and three ecological traits, namely diel activity patterns, diving/non-diving locomotion, and diet, evolve in the Anseriformes (waterfowl). Through ancestral state reconstructions using a maximum likelihood approach the evolution of these traits was compared to see if any patterns of trait coevolution emerged. Body mass was compared to each ecological trait using a phylogenetic ANOVA to test if there were body size differences between ecological groups. The pattern of male and female body mass evolution across the clade was found to be remarkably similar, indicating that selection effected body mass in similar ways between the sexes. Diving locomotion appears to be the ancestral state for Anseriformes with non-diving independently evolving probably five times. The ancestral state of diet appears to be either herbivory or omnivory, with carnivory secondarily evolving twice independently. For diel activity patterns, the ancestral state reconstruction showed little resolution at the internal nodes, indicating the high degree of plasticity in this trait among the species studied. Body mass in both males and females was not significantly correlated with any particular diet, diving locomotion, or diel activity pattern.

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Van, Dyke Christopher. "Changing States: Using State-and-Transition Models to Evaluate Channel Evolution Following Dam Removal Along the Clark Fork River, Montana." UKnowledge, 2015. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/geography_etds/31.

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Located just east of Missoula, Montana, Milltown Dam stood from 1908 to 2008 immediately downstream of the Clark Fork River’s confluence with the Blackfoot River. After the discovery of arsenic-contaminated groundwater in the nearby community of Milltown, as well as extensive deposits of contaminated sediment in the dam’s upstream reservoir, in 1981, the area was designated a Superfund site – along with much of the Upper Clark Fork Watershed. This motivated the eventual decision to remove the dam, perform environmental remediation, and reconstruct approximately five kilometers of the Clark Fork River and its floodplain. This study is part conceptual and part empirical. It describes a state-and-transition framework equipped to investigate channel evolution as well as the adjustment trajectories of other socio-biophysical landscapes. This framework is then applied to understand the post-restoration channel evolution of the Clark Fork River’s mainstem, secondary channels, and floodplain. Adopting a state-and-transition framework to conceptualize landscape evolution lets environmental managers more effectively anticipate river response under multiple disturbence scenarios and therefore use more improvisational and adaptive management techniques that do not attempt to guide the landscape toward a single and permanent end state. State-and-transition models can also be used to highlight the spatially explicit patterns of complex biophysical response. The state-and-transition models developed for the Clark Fork River demonstrate the possibility of multiple evolutionary trajectories. Neither the secondary channels nor the main channel have responded in a linear, monotonic fashion, and future responses will be contingent upon hydrogeomorphic and climatic variability and chance disturbances. The biogeomorphic adjustments observed so far suggest divergent evolutionary trajectories and that in some instances the long-term fates of the mainstem, floodplain, and secondary channels are inescapably enmeshed with one another.

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Ledgard, Louise Joyce. "Macrostructural and microstructural evolution during unidirectional solidification of aluminium alloys under steady state conditions." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.385219.

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Snetkov, Aglaya. "The evolution of Russia's security discourse 2000-2008 : state identity, security priorities and Chechnya." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2011. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/2887/.

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This thesis examines the evolution of Russia’s internal and external security perceptions from 2000-2008. Drawing on social constructivist ontology, it argues that the Putin regime’s articulation of security priorities evolved in relation to its reconceptualisation of Russian state identity from a ‘weak’ to a ‘strong’ state. To trace this evolutionary relationship between state identity and security perceptions, official discourse on Chechnya is examined. In this way, Russian narrative constructions of the process of securitisation and desecuritisation of Chechnya, and the role that this discourse played within the articulation of state identity and security priorities are investigated. The thesis suggests that the initial securitisation and subsequent desecuritisation of Chechnya are best understood within the Putin regime’s discursive construction of state building and changing security priorities, rather than as a reflection of shifting material conditions. The thesis concludes that analysis of individual security policies should take into account that the narrative construction of these policies shape, and are shaped by, the multifaceted and evolutionary meta-narratives of Russian state and security identity. Moreover, it is argued that Russian security policy should be studied as a subject in its own right, investigating both internal and external security issues, rather than being subsumed within a broader foreign policy analysis.

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Haque, Mesbah 1972. "An evolution of the state of affairs of grid computing : current and future projections." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/31169.

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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2005.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-70).
Grid computing has a potential market opportunity of $12 billion by 2007 [6] and recent business strategy alignment to support Grid Computing by the major vendors like IBM, SUN, Oracle and others has resulted in high interests in numerous 'Grid Computing' products and solutions offered. The different frameworks and standards have also led to confusion in the industry as to the 'right' way of implementing Grid Computing. There is a tremendous need today for massive computing cycles to evaluate various business and engineering decisions and businesses are under continuous pressure of high infrastructure costs and lack of flexibility and reliability [4]. There are already various solutions that have evolved over decades to meet these needs but there is no overwhelming adoption of such technologies by corporations unlike in academia. The thesis is derived from this need to attempt to clarify the current and future state of Grid Computing by evaluating the various standards and implementations available. A hierarchy of Types of Grid is also presented. Several case studies are also used to illustrate the effect of current technology implementations and their benefits. Future predictions of the market and technology drivers are also presented based on interviews and available research data.
by Mesbah Haque.
S.M.

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Hagood, Michael Curtis. "Structure and evolution of the Horse Heaven Hills in south-central Washington." PDXScholar, 1985. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/3600.

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The Horse Heaven Hills uplift in south-central Washington consists of distinct northwest and northeast trends which merge in the lower Yakima Valley. The northwest trend is adjacent to and parallels the Rattlesnake-Wallula alignment (RAW; a part of the Olympic-Wallowa lineament). The northwest trend and northeast trend consist of aligned or en echelon anticlines and monoclines whose axes are generally oriented in the direction of the trend. At the intersection, folds in the northeast trend plunge onto and are terminated by folds of the northwest trend.

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39

Chen, Gang. "The role of interfacial structure in the evolution of precipitate morphology." Diss., Virginia Tech, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/40065.

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Fassio, Joseph Michael. "Geochemical Evolution of Ferruginous Bauxite Deposits in Northwestern Oregon and Southwestern Washington." PDXScholar, 1990. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/3821.

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Ferruginous bauxite deposits developed from flows of the Columbia River Basalt Group in northwestern Oregon and southwestern Washington. Samples of the iron pisolite and the gibbsite nodular zones from the upper portion of the weathering profile of drill core from Columbia County, Oregon and Cowlitz County, Washington, were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation. The mineralogy was determined using Xray diffraction and Mossbauer spectroscopy. The gibbsite nodular zone is above the clay-rich saprolite or relic basalt zone. The nodules contain relic vesicles and well preserved relic plagioclase microlites. Gibbsite occurs with poorly crystalline goethite and hematite in the gibbsite nodular zone. Clays are absent in this part of the profile . The iron pisolite zone is at the top of the profile above the gibbsite nodular zone. Both maghemite and goethite pisolites occur in the lower part of the zone while maghemite pisolites are dominant in the upper part of the pisolite zone. The parent flow is the Frenchman Springs Member of the Wanapum Basalt for the Columbia County profile and the Pomona Member of the Saddle Mountains Basalt for the Cowlitz County profile. Distribution of the major, minor and trace elements through the profile shows three distinct sympathetic patterns consisting of lanthanide elements and Na; As, Sbi Th, Hf, and Ta; and transition metals Fe, Ti, V, and Cr. Ratios between the high-field strength elements Ta and Hf are nearly constant through the profile, and Hf appears to be the least mobile elements of the elements analyzed in the profile. Ratios of other elements were calculated against Hf, based on the assumption that it has remained largely immobile during weathering, to show element enrichment and depletion in the profile independent of mass-volume changes. Transition metals and Al show a progressive depletion through the upper gibbsite nodular and iron pisolite zone due to leaching in the profile. Lanthanide elements (except Ce), As, and Sb show an obvious enrichment in the iron pisolite zone relative to the gibbsite nodular zone. Volume reduction during weathering was calculated based on the immobility of Hf. In the gibbsite nodular zone, the volume reduction calculated for bulk samples is greater than for gibbsite nodule separates suggesting that a greater volume reduction occurred the matrix material surrounding the nodules. Ratios between gibbsite nodules and parent basalt of the immobile elements Hf, Ta, Fe, Ti, Th and Cr suggest that the nodules, where the relic textures are preserved, have undergone volume reduction. Based on the immobility of Hf, the gibbsite nodules lost approximately 40% of the original volume. The volume factors based on the immobility of Hf show that the pisolite zone experienced a greater volume reduction than the gibbsite nodular zone. Absolute gains and losses relative to the parent basalt show the following relative order of depletion: Na > La > Eu > Sm > Co > Mn > Ce > Sc > Ta > V > Cr > Lu > Th > Fe > Ga > Al. The lesser mobility of Ce and Lu relative to other lanthanide elements suggests fractionation of lanthanide elements in the bauxite profile. Aluminum is both enriched and depleted at different depths in the gibbsite nodular zone suggesting that Al is mobilized from the matrix and possibly the pisolite zone into Al enriched gibbsite nodules. Volume reduction and destruction of relic textures in the pisolite zone is accompanied by small-scale mobilization of Th, Cr, Fe, Hf, Ga, Sc, and Ta during the formation of iron pisolites. Formation of the iron pisolite zone above the gibbsite nodular zone may indicate a change in climate from a heavy year round to a seasonal rainfall pattern.

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Johannes, Ben. "Organizational modes of non-state armed groups." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2017. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:4c99d9ff-3b7f-4c6b-969f-978138197a78.

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To what extent can two 'Modes' be found amongst non-state armed groups (NSAGs)? The Modes theory hypotheses that NSAGs are organized into two distinct Modes, either the 'Imagistic' or the 'Doctrinal' Mode, with each Mode characterised by a particular organisational structure and type of resource extraction. Previous preliminary research on this had three limitations: 1) it used a sample of only five groups; 2) "Galton's problem", i.e. non-independence of groups was not taken into account, and 3) the theory of resource extraction was underdeveloped. The present research overcomes each of these limitations. First, can the patterns found in the 5-group case study be replicated with a larger sample? A dataset with 50 NSAGs was constructed, with variables that were derived from the theory and resembling those used for the 5-group case study. Analysis results showed that a few 'Doctrinal' variables were significantly correlated and 'Doctrinal' rituals had a frequency distribution as predicted. Yet, most correlations between all Modes variables were not significant, and analyses did not convincingly show that there were two distinct Modes. Second, to what extent does "Galton's problem" (autocorrelation) play a role amongst NSAGs regarding their Modes properties? Data on relations between armed groups and their geographical locations were added to the sample. Using Moran's I, it appeared that two to four Modes properties were significantly autocorrelated. With geographical region as covariate, analyses were redone. Results remained basically the same as without regional covariate. Third, what is the relationship between Modes and the type of Resource extraction? Resource types were operationalized and Resource type data were added to the sample of NSAGs. A theory on Risk, and a ROI (Return on Investment) and Risk index were developed. Regressions showed no change in ROI or Risk over time. Low ROI did not typically predict Doctrinal-related Modes properties, and high-ROI did not typically predict Imagistic-related Modes properties. The significance of relations between Modes properties and Resource types strongly depended on whether the analysis was a correlation or a regression. Overall, only a few relationships were significant and no consistent pattern emerged. Limitations of the present research, and suggestions for further research are discussed, as well as an overall assessment of the Modes theory.

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42

Liu, Pinghuang. "Virus infection and evolution in the central nervous system following intracerebroventricular inoculation with Feline Immunodeficiency Virus." NCSU, 2005. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-10302005-212859/.

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HIV-1 infection of the central nervous system (CNS) results in neurological impairments in subpopulation of HIV-infected individuals which range from from mild cognitive/motor disorder (MCMD) to HIV-associated dementia (HAD). HIV-1 associated neurological diseases are still a big problem even with the introduction of combined antiretroviral therapy. However the mechanisms of CNS infection and pathogenesis that lead to HAD are still not completely clear. HIV-1 CNS infection occurs soon after peripheral infection. Subsequent to infection, the CNS may act as a protected anatomical reservoir for lentiviruses and may also give rise to the development of or sequestration of unique quasispecies. The choroid plexus (ChP) has been demonstrated to be an important site for lentivirus infection and contains a mixture of viral quasispecies including both systemic and brain derived isolates. Since the appearance of viral RNA is particularly prominent in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the ChP-CSF pathway may contribute to infection and viral diversity in the CNS. In the present study, we investigated lentiviral infection and evolution within the CNS by directly infusing virus into the CSF using an FIV animal model. Cell-free NCSU1 FIV or cell-associated FIV (FIV infected ChP macrophages) was directly injected into the right lateral ventricle of the brain. Negative controls were sham inoculated with uninfected ChP macrophages or cell-free culture supernatant and positive controls were infected systemically with cell-free FIV by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) inoculation with cell-free FIV resulted in high levels of plasma FIV RNA detected as early as 1-2 weeks post inoculation in all 6 i.c.v. cats, and the plasma viremia preceded the detection of CSF viral RNA. Compared to i.p. cats, i.c.v. cats exhibited much higher levels of CSF FIV RNA and FIV DNA in the brain, increased ratios of CSF to plasma viral load (>1 at several time points), and a unique rebound CSF viral peak (5 of 6 cats). Infusion of FIV-infected ChP-Mac induced an acute inflammatory response and a slight suppression of the CD4+:CD8+ ratio, but failed to produce a detectable infection. After cell-free inoculation, FIV env variants, amplified by the poymerase chain reaction (PCR) and isolated using the heteroduplex tracking assay (HTA), exhibited clear compartmentalization between the CNS and periphery. Unique or enriched variants rapidly appeared in the CSF. Similar variation was seen in FIV proviral DNA isolated from cortical and subcortical brain regions. Compared to the initial viral peak in CSF, the second CSF viral peak displayed considerable change from both the first CSF peak and matched samples of plasma. FIV env diversity was highest in the CNS tissue and was unrelated to matched PBMCs collected at the same time indicating that the sequences were not due to PBMC trafficking. In addition, three unique variants were found to be selectively enriched in the CNS. Taken together, these results demonstrated that 1) CSF provides an efficient pathway for the transfer of infectious virus to the periphery, 2) virus trafficking through the CSF promotes infection of the CNS and viral diversification, 3) CSF virus may derive from both the local productive infection and blood, and 4)virus within the CNS experienced a relatively rapid and independent evolution relative to virus in the periphery.

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43

Rogers, Amanda Michelle. "Creating a sense of place or simply a good parking space? evolution of the historic town squares of Mississippi /." Master's thesis, Mississippi State : Mississippi State University, 2008. http://library.msstate.edu/etd/show.asp?etd=etd-04232008-165642.

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44

Lövgren, Hans. "Utilizing state-of-art NeuroES and GPGPU to optimize Mario AI." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Institutionen för kreativa teknologier, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-4386.

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Context. Reinforcement Learning (RL) is a time consuming effort that requires a lot of computational power as well. There are mainly two approaches to improving RL efficiency, the theoretical mathematics and algorithmic approach or the practical implementation approach. In this study, the approaches are combined in an attempt to reduce time consumption.\newline Objectives. We investigate whether modern hardware and software, GPGPU, combined with state-of-art Evolution Strategies, CMA-Neuro-ES, can potentially increase the efficiency of solving RL problems.\newline Methods. In order to do this, both an implementational as well as an experimental research method is used. The implementational research mainly involves developing and setting up an experimental framework in which to measure efficiency through benchmarking. In this framework, the GPGPU/ES solution is later developed. Using this framework, experiments are conducted on a conventional sequential solution as well as our own parallel GPGPU solution.\newline Results. The results indicate that utilizing GPGPU and state-of-art ES when attempting to solve RL problems can be more efficient in terms of time consumption in comparison to a conventional and sequential CPU approach.\newline Conclusions. We conclude that our proposed solution requires additional work and research but that it shows promise already in this initial study. As the study is focused on primarily generating benchmark performance data from the experiments, the study lacks data on RL efficiency and thus motivation for using our approach. However we do conclude that the GPGPU approach suggested does allow less time consuming RL problem solving.

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45

Kaewmanee, Dhiwakorn. "The evolution of the Thai state the political economy of formative and transformative external forces." Berlin dissertation.de, 2006. http://www.dissertation.de/buch.php3?buch=5115.

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46

Smith, Denise A. "The evolution of multimodal transportation planning: key factors in shaping the approaches of state DOTs." Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/47702.

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As a result of the changing needs of society since the early 20th century, approaches to transportation planning have been continually shifting from highway-focused to multimodal, an approach which takes multiple modes of transportation into consideration. This evolution has been reflected in federal transportation legislation and continues to have many implications for transportation agencies, especially state departments of transportation (DOTs). The objective of this thesis is to analyze what state DOTs have done in order to adapt to the shift. More specifically, the project focuses on the organizational and funding structures of state DOTs. First, an organizational structure analysis of all 50 state DOTs was carried out. This analysis looked at how state DOTs incorporate multiple modes of transportation into their organizational structure. Secondly, the results of a statewide multimodal planning survey, to which 35 states responded, were analyzed. The survey gauged to what extent the representative from a given state DOT thought that their agency was conducting multimodal transportation planning. It also analyzed state DOT modal responsibilities, funding options, and characteristics that influence multimodal transportation planning. Lastly, case studies were carried out for six state transportation agencies: Florida DOT, North Carolina DOT, Oregon DOT, Virginia's Transportation Secretariat, Maryland DOT, and Massachusetts DOT. These case studies focused on organizational structure, funding, and multimodal efforts. Findings from the three different aspects of this thesis support the notion that highway is still the dominant mode in statewide transportation planning in most state DOTs. However, this research also supports the idea that this situation is changing, though more rapidly in some states than in others. Though it is not evident that one type of organizational structure is better than another, states have used the reorganization of these structures as a method for adapting to multimodal transportation planning. Overall, state DOTs tend to incorporate multiple modes of transportation into their organizational structure through multimodal divisions, separate modal divisions, or a combination of both. In addition to the organizational structures, some states have also restructured their funding mechanisms in order to make funds more flexible across all modes of transportation so that they may be able to better accommodate multimodal transportation planning. Those state DOTs with transportation trust funds and separate modal programs have generally shown more initiative in embracing a more multimodal approach to transportation planning. Besides organizational and funding structures, leadership, organizational culture, and institutional issues have been recognized as factors that influence the extent of multimodal planning.

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Mikuriya, Kunio. "The evolution of customs valuation in the developing world : From Deregulation to Developing State Capapcity." Thesis, University of Kent, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.504466.

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An accurate assessment of the value of imported goods by customs is an essential precondition of an accurate determination of an importer's tax liability. However, customs au thori ties in many developing coun trie s exp erie nce considera ble difficulty in discharging this function. Poor compliance of importers, weak administrative capacity in customs, and pervasive corruption are often identified as the major problems. Beginning in the 1980's neo-liberal approaches to customs modernization encouraged states to adopt "market solutions" to customs problems. As a result, core customs functions including revenue determination were contracted out to private inspection companies with the support of international financial institutions. These companies proposed to examine documents and carry out physical inspection of consignments (in exporting countries) and to provide information on quantity, quality, value, and tariff classification of the goods for the benefit of the importing jurisdiction before the actual shipment of the goods. Today some 30 governments have adopted this partial privatization, called Preshipment Inspection (PSI), to address the weakness of customs. Based on a realization that unregulated privatization did not bring about the expected efficiency enhancements, states have recently moved to re-regulate these private companies. This movement has been observed in assessment discussions held at the WTO and in other forums, as well as in improved contracts with PSI firms. States and international financial institutions have also become more focused on directly enhancing the capacity of customs authorities. The inspection industry has responded to this trend. It has begun to offer services that support the business model of customs, rather than replace customs functions. Case studies of four countries that have adopted the PSI service show that benefits have been mixed in terms of both their ability to enhance revenue and improve the integrity of customs administration. There is little evidence of transfer of skills and technology to customs authorities. In fact, the use of the private sector has often resulted in a long-term dependence on expensive PSI contracts. Only governments that made serious efforts in direct customs reform have demonstrated an ability to improve customs operations and exit from the PSI program.

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Kurzweil, Florian [Verfasser], and Ronny [Akademischer Betreuer] Schönberg. "The evolution of the oceanic redox state through Precambrian times / Florian Kurzweil ; Betreuer: Ronny Schönberg." Tübingen : Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, 2015. http://d-nb.info/1197693726/34.

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Guimaraes, Ignez de Pinho. "The petrological evolution and tectonic associations of the Bom Jardim complex, Pernambuco State, N.E. Brazil." Thesis, Imperial College London, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/47458.

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Mikhailova, Anna. "Spatial evolution of a museum building : a case of the State Historical Museum in Moscow." Thesis, University of Leicester, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/40774.

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This thesis contributes to the modern understanding of museum architecture, by exploring the relationship between a museum as an organisation and its physical form of the museum building. By choosing the spatial transformations at the State Historical Museum in Moscow as a case study, it introduces Russian museum practices into international museological context. The thesis analyses the planning and construction stages, as well as two major renovations that took place in significantly different political contexts: Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union and the modern democratic Federation. Applying a micro historical approach and a facility management lens offers an insight into the complexity of the processes that shape the physical space: its sensitivity to internal and external agencies and multiple contexts, such as the urban built environment; the political climate and the economy; museum trends; and the professional community. The building itself, once completed or at earlier stages, becomes another actor in the equation. An in-depth analysis of the events in question reveals the elaborate nature of the production of space, and demonstrates the importance of professional communication and interpersonal relationships that can impact the institution, both positively and adversely. The attitudes to the Museum, demonstrated by different governments over the years, offer an insight into how a central location can be viewed as a bigger asset than the institution itself and discourage it from independence, both organisationally and spatially. The history of the SHM, and the multiple improvements it required over less than 150 years of functioning, serve as evidence of the importance of planning and foresight.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Evolution of State'

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