Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Fire r'

This project examines the relationship between femininity and empowerment in George R. R. Martin's fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. It combines medieval historical context, psychological and sociological research, and feminist theory to construct a framework through which to discuss how power functions in Martin's fictional world of Westeros. With six key characters, I argue that femininity operates as a kind of natural resource anyone can use to access empowerment, regardless of how one personally identifies; further, I illustrate how these routes to power are ultimately more successful than others. Sansa Stark, Cersei Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen are the most prominent figures I discuss at length, but Lord Varys, Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish, and Tyrion Lannister also serve as successful examples who additionally demonstrate the feminine as separated from sex and gender. Overall, I aim to illuminate how power is not exclusively accessed or utilized through masculinity or the rejection of the feminine, specifically by analyzing these six characters' empowerment.
Master of Arts
The heroes and heroines of fantasy fiction often access power by adopting masculine traits and rejecting femininity. But in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, characters who exhibit feminine traits and behaviors are more successful in accessing and maintaining power than those who do not. This project examines the characters of Sansa Stark, Cersei Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen—and also Lord Varys, Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish, and Tyrion Lannister—through the lens of medieval history and feminist theory to show how those characters succeed by using femininity as a means of empowerment.

The prophecies in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series are unclear and often appear to have multiple possible fulfillments, or none at all. In addition, some of these prophesied events occur before they are introduced, which further contributes to the lack of clarity in interpreting them. My thesis will discuss the methods by which Martin offers readers clues to a prophecy’s fulfillment and argue that Martin’s use of these imprecise prophecies challenges high fantasy tropes about prophecies.

The purpose was to compare the physical fitness level of male fire fighters to the average Canadian population of similar age and sex. Subjects were 1303 fire fighters between the ages of 19 and 58 years, categorized into the following four age groups: 19-29 years (n = 351), 30-39 years (n = 408), 40-49 years (n = 408) and 50-59 years (n = 136). Subjects participated in the Canadian Standardized Test of Fitness including (1) pre-test screening; (2) anthropometric; (3) cardiovascular; (4) flexibility and; (5) muscular endurance measurements. It was hypothesized that there would be no significant differences between the body composition, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance levels of fire fighters compared to the average Canadian of similar age. Fire fighters had significantly lower VO$ sb2$max values and significantly greater scores for sit-ups, push-ups and flexibility for all age categories, compared to their counterparts. The fire fighters' lower aerobic capacity was attributed to elevated body mass and possible long-term effects of exposure to carbon monoxide and vapours from combustible chemicals.

This paper examines the exegetical history of the prohibition against kindling fire on the Sabbath day. Since its biblical inception Ex. 35:3, the prohibition against kindling fire on the Sabbath, has undergone a multiplicity of interpretations. The texts examined in this paper survey the treatment of this verse from its inception through to the twentieth century and the advent of electricity. Over generations exegetes have understood this biblical verse to be a prohibition against kindling, burning, and even cooking. The debates concerning the legal status and implications of the verse have additionally been outlined in this paper. Tracing the history of this verse, therefore, provides insight into the meaning of the verse and its halakhic implications.

In an interview with Hy Bender, Neil Gaiman states, â We have the right, and the obligation, to tell old stories in our own ways, because they are our stories.â While fantasy stands apart from other types of fiction, it still provides a particular kind of commentary on the culture/time it is being created in, often by toying with older themes and conventions. Stories of the quest for kingship tend to fall by the wayside in favor of the â unlikely heroâ tale. While the kingâ s story is not always vastly different from that of the hero, there are some key points that need to be taken into consideration. Unlike many heroes, especially in the modern sense, kings (whether recognized at first or not) are born for the duty they must eventually fulfill. A hero may be unaware of the problem at first or later reluctant to engage it; more often than not in tales of kingship there is a deep awareness of the problem and the knowledge of their potential in solving it. There is always a sense of inherent purpose and destiny: they must undertake quests in order to legitimize themselves and their power â their right to rule. These stories bear a similar structure and shared themes that can be found in medieval sources as well as earlier myths. Tales of kingship in modern fiction, specifically in the work of Neil Gaiman (The Sandman) and George R. R. Martin (A Game of Thrones), are similar to the medieval models, as kingship and the requirements of kingship were popular themes in medieval texts, including Beowulf and King Horn. The role of the king in epic tales varies from hero to villain, at times even occupying both roles depending on the story. In the tales explored herein and in much of the medieval source material that inspired the fantasy tradition, the king also takes on the role of healer. The interwoven plots of George R. R. Martinâ s A Song of Fire and Ice series revolve around the struggle for the rightful rule over seven kingdoms, and while the protagonist in The Sandman is in many ways vastly different from Tolkienâ s Aragorn, the character still exists with a sense of purpose, responsibility, and duty; a regal bearing that does not necessarily occur in the majority of typical heroes. The influence of Tolkienâ s work both as a scholar and an author is apparent in Gaimanâ s use of mythology and Martinâ s style of world creation; both authors have admitted their creative debt to and continuing admiration of Tolkienâ s style of fantasy. It is impossible to discuss modern fantasy without acknowledging Tolkien as an influence to these two more recent authors. This paper will discuss The Lord of the Rings as a bridge between modern fantasy and medieval/mythological sources. In each of these modern fantasy tales of kingship, healing and reunion become major themes, tied into the right/duty of a ruler. The patterns established by medieval tales are used by modern authors to create fantasy kings, giving their narratives legitimacy that may have been difficult to establish without these patterns and links back to the medieval tradition.
Master of Arts

Australian grasstrees are a long-lived group of arborescent, monocotyledonous plants that persist in fire-prone landscapes. Renowned for their capacity to survive fire, and flower soon after, these species have long attracted the attention of biologists. A southwestern Australian species, Xanthorrhoea preissii, has been the subject of several recent studies, including use and verification of the "leafbase banding technique" that prompted my study. This technique, which is used to determine the age and fire history of grasstrees, correlates alternating brown- and cream-coloured, transverse bands along the stem of grasstrees with seasonal growth, and intermittent black bands with the burning of the plant. Combined, this information provides a chronology for the fire events. Fundamental to this interpretation is the assumption that grasstrees grow continually, and this growth varies annually in accordance with changes between the two contrasting seasons of its mediterranean climate. I studied X. preissii in two habitats (jarrah forest and banksia woodland) adjacent to the Perth metropolitan area, in southwestern Australia, focussing on leaf growth and phenology in relation to four factors important to the species lifecycle; climate, fire, reproduction and herbivory. Leaf production monitored for grasstrees in both habitats revealed continuous growth, oscillating between maximum rates (2.5-3.2 leaves/d) from late-spring (November) to autumn (April/May), to a minimum rate of as low as 0.5 leaf/d during winter. In additional support of the "leafbase banding technique", annual leaf production was not different from the number of leafbases comprising one cream and one brown band.
Synchronised with leaf production, grasstree water potentials cycled annually, with predawn readings commonly measured as 0 MPa during winter-spring and were as low as -1.26 MPa during summer, but they never exceeded the turgor loss point (-1.85 to -2.18 MPa). The fast summer growth was characterised by a fluctuating pattern of leaf production, particularly in banksia woodland, where grasstrees reliably responded to >18 mm of rainfall. Twenty-four hours after 59 mm of simulated rainfall, grasstrees in banksia woodland showed a significant increase in water potential and increased leaf production by 7.5 times. Reflecting this result, rainfall was the best climatic variable for predicting banksia woodland grasstree leaf production rate during summer, whereas leaf production of jarrah forest grasstrees was most closely correlated with daylength. Substrate differences between the two habitats can explain this variation in leaf growth patterns. While water appears to have played an important role in the evolution of this species, growth phenology suggests that X. preissii may have retained a mesotherm growth rhythm from the subtropical early Tertiary Period. To distinguish fire-stimulated growth from the underlying growth patterns imposed by season, leaf production and starch reserves of X. preissii were compared between plants from unburnt sites and those burnt in spring and autumn. Immediately following fire, X. preissii responded with accelerated leaf production, regardless of season. Rapid leaf accumulation during the initial flush of growth was partly at the expense of starch reserves in the stem. Although this initial flush was relatively short-lived (12-32 weeks), the effect of fire on leaf production was sustained for much longer (up to 19 months).
Mean maximum leaf production rate was higher for spring-burnt grasstrees (up to 6.1 leaves/d) than those burnt in autumn (up to 4.5 leaves/d), due to optimum growing conditions in late spring/early summer. Similarly, the timing of autumn burns in relation to declining temperatures with the approach of winter appeared to dictate how rapidly grasstrees resprouted. These consequences of fire season may have implications for the reproductive success of X. preissii, reflected in the greater mean spike mass of spring-burnt grasstrees (1.19 kg) than those burnt in autumn (0.78 kg). Leaf and spike growth, starch reserves and the effect of restricting light to reproductive plants on spike elongation were assessed. The emergence of the spike from within the plant's apex triggers a reduction in leaf production of up to 4.6 times that of a vegetative grasstree that is sustained until seed release 4.5-5 months later. Jarrah forest grasstrees experienced the largest trade-off in leaf production (7% lower leaf production than grasstrees in banksia woodland), and produced the shortest mature inflorescences (50% of banksia woodland grasstree inflorescences), suggesting a constraint imposed by resource availability in this habitat. During the period from inflorescence elongation to seed release starch reserves were depleted.
Experimentation in the banksia woodland revealed that, although the developing spike is itself photosynthetic, it is the daily production of photosynthates by the surrounding foliage that contributes most significantly to its growth. When light was prevented from reaching the leaves the starch stored within the stem was not a sufficient substitute, evidenced by a significant reduction in spike biomass of 41%. A fire simulation experiment with a factorial design was used to assess three factors considered important for postfire grasstree leaf growth in banksia woodland: water, ash and shade. While results identified that ash and reduced shade significantly affect leaf growth, their effects were small compared with the stimulation derived solely from leaf removal by fire, simulated in this experiment by clipping. Clipping, also used to simulate herbivory, was imposed on a series of grasstrees at different frequencies. X. preissii demonstrated a strong capacity to recover in both jarrah forest and banksia woodland, even after clipping every month for 16 months. Starch reserves were depleted as the result of clipping, providing a cause of the eventual deterioration of grasstree 'health' associated with chronic herbivory. The similarity of growth responses to leaf removal independent of the mechanism (eg. fire or herbivory), provided reason to question the interpretation that grasstrees are essentially adapted to fire, rather than the alternative, that they are adapted to herbivory.

For almost sixty years the Reichstag fire of 27 February 1933 and the events that followed have been the subjects of historical inquiry. The criminal trial against those accused of starting the fire was held before the German Supreme Court, the Reichsgericht.
This thesis examines the conduct of the Reichsgericht during the Reichstagsbrandprozess of September to December 1933. It shows that the trial was conducted by an independent but conservative Supreme Court which managed the proceedings according to its own historical antecedents and precedents. The evidence is based on published government documents and other primary and secondary sources.

Following mineral-sand mining in the northern sandplains near Eneabba, southwestern Australia, rehabilitation managers have the difficult task of restoring shrubland communities of exceptional plant species richness. Management aims to restore a fully functional and self-sustaining shrubland community with similar vegetation and resilience properties to that of the surrounding natural vegetation. This thesis examines the performance of the restoration program by Iluka Resources Ltd. (and their predecessors) by comparing current vegetation properties and their response to fires on previously mined land versus the surrounding natural shrubland. As biomass accumulates post-restoration, fires will return as a natural disturbance factor and, as a result, a desirable measure of restoration success might include the ability of the postmined lands to recover from disturbance. Pre-burnt plant species diversity, composition, structure and key functional attributes in four mined sites rehabilitated 8 (R8) to 24 (R24) years ago were compared with those of surrounding natural areas classified on the basis of substrate type (low and high sand dunes, shallow sand swales, sand over laterite and sand over limestone). The rehabilitated sites (except R8) had more species (about 140) than natural sites (about 100) with 12–37% species in common with natural sites. Floristic composition was most similar to the local swales and dunes (physically closest).
Two strong colonizers, the fire-killed Acacia blakelyi and the fire-tolerant Melaleuca leuropoma, were universally present. Plant densities were about a quarter to half those of natural sites. Fire-resprouters were under-represented. Growth-form distributions were most similar to those of the dunes, with some woody shrubs up to 2.5 m tall present. Greater iron levels and soil hardness (penetrability) were the only soil factors consistently greater in rehabilitated sites. Following experimental fires at the same study sites, species richness fell by 22–41% in rehabilitated sites but increased by 4–29% in natural sites. Species present before fire were reduced by 40–56% in rehabilitated sites and 4–12% in natural sites. Only 42–66% of resprouting species recovered in rehabilitated sites, whereas 96–100% recovered in natural sites. Nonsprouting species recruitment was also lower in rehabilitated (18–57%) than natural (67–85%) sites. Seedling mortality over the first summer after fire was higher in rehabilitated sites (59-86% death of individuals) than in natural sites (14-60%). PCoA ordination showed that fire altered the floristic composition of rehabilitated sites much more than it did in natural sites, mostly attributable to the loss of the extant resprouter species. It was found that the smaller lignotuber size (source of dormant buds) recorded in rehabilitated (vs. natural) resprouters was responsible for their higher post-fire mortality. For equivalent crown size in ten common lignotuberous shrub species, lignotuber circumferences were, on average, 50% smaller at rehabilitated sites.
As a result, overall persistence in these species was much lower in rehabilitated (mean of 52% alive, range of 11–93%) versus natural sites (mean of 96%, range of 79–100%), but improved with time since restoration for five of the ten selected species. Apart from differences in the age of the plants (natural sites having much older plants recruited after previous fires), the lower soil penetrability at rehabilitated sites may have restricted lignotuber development. A tradeoff favoring a higher crown volume to lignotuber size ratio was also apparent in nine of the ten species with greater crown volumes (by 37%) and smaller lignotubers (by 36%) in rehabilitated sites. Demographic attributes for six selected woody species were compared between rehabilitated and natural sites (~3-30 years since disturbance) to investigate growth patterns and optimum fire-return intervals. At matched years since restoration or last fire, nonsprouter species in rehabilitated sites grew larger (1.1 to 4.7 times) and produced/stored more viable seeds per plant (1.1 to 10.9 times). Despite older aged individuals in natural sites at matched years since restoration vs. last fire, restored resprouters were larger (1.1 to 3.6 times) and produced/stored more viable seeds (1.1 to 6.9 times). Although greater growth and fecundity rates were recorded in rehabilitated sites, the estimated optimum fire-return interval based on maximum seed production was similar in rehabilitated and natural sites for five out of six species.
However, mean fire intervals typical of surrounding natural vegetation near the Eneabba area (13 years over the last 40 years) may not be suitable for rehabilitated minesites at Eneabba, whereby longer initial fire intervals (20–30 years) would better ensure persistence of resprouter individuals via the seedling recruitment strategy and resprouting strategy. Iv My study indicated that the returned vegetation can at present be classified as “rehabilitated” or “partially restored” but not “completely restored” since the original plant diversity, composition, structure, and resilience properties to fire have not yet been achieved. It may not be possible/realistic to achieve complete restoration since mining is such a destructive disturbance type that some complex ecological attributes may take centuries to develop. I discuss six key factors as important in improving the overall restoration success at Eneabba: 1) restoration of a deeper topsoil and looser subsoil profile; 2) collection of appropriate amounts of only local provenance species, mulch and topsoil; 3) control of highly competitive species; 4) management of fertilizer additions; 5) reseeding and replanting in subsequent years after the initial restoration treatments, including after initial fires; and 6) delaying the introduction of management fires until the restored vegetation develops sufficient fire-resilience properties.

Kwongan, also known as sandplain heathland, occurs in remnant vegetation throughout the fragmented landscape of the Western Australian wheatbelt. This vegetation community has high levels of species richness and endemism, and is of high conservation value. In many vegetation remnants in the wheatbelt the native tree species Allocasuarina huegeliana (rock sheoak) is expanding out from its normal range and encroaching into kwongan. A. huegeliana may ultimately dominate the kwongan, causing a decline in floristic diversity. Altered disturbance regimes, particularly the absence of fire and reduced or absent browsing mammal herbivores, are likely to be responsible for causing A. huegeliana encroachment. This study used experimental and observational data from patches of kwongan in three Nature Reserves in the central and southern wheatbelt to investigate the role of fire, native mammal activities and interactions between these two factors in shaping A. huegeliana woodland–kwongan community boundaries. Investigations were carried out into the characteristics of encroaching A. huegeliana populations; the environmental factors affecting the extent of encroachment, naturally recruited juveniles, and seedling emergence and establishment; historical and current abundances of native mammals; and the effects of mammal herbivores on seedling establishment during inter-fire and post-fire periods. Results from this study confirm that A. huegeliana has encroached into kwongan throughout the wheatbelt region and recruitment appears likely to continue in most areas. Few of the environmental factors measured in this study affected the extent of encroachment, the locations of naturally recruited A. huegeliana juveniles, and seedling germination and establishment. Western grey kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus) browsed extensively on seedlings, which largely prevented them from establishing in open areas of kwongan. However, numerous A. huegeliana seedlings escaped browsing herbivores by establishing in perennial shrubs, where they appeared to be tolerant of increased levels of inter-specific competition. There was no native mammal common to all three Reserves that declined around the time that A. huegeliana encroachment most likely began in the 1970s. In addition, tammar wallabies (Macropus eugenii) had little effect even where their densities were high. It is therefore unlikely that the decline of an individual mammal species initiated encroachment. A. huegeliana encroachment appears to be driven by increased propagule pressure, which is in turn caused by increased inter-fire intervals. Long periods of time without fire have enabled fire-sensitive A. huegeliana trees to produce increasing quantities of seed that are continuously released into kwongan. A range of other factors may interact synergistically with this process to affect encroachment and these are also discussed. This study considered the implications of these findings for management of remnant vegetation in fragmented landscapes, particularly kwongan in the Western Australian wheatbelt, and areas for further research are suggested.

This thesis is prepared in three parts; the first part is a study of the ant species of the southern Carnarvon Basin, which was undertaken in order to determine the patterns of ant species distribution in this arid zone area. The distribution patterns were looked at in terms of biogeographical regions and they demonstrated the transitional nature of this particular area. Recommendations to alter the border between the South-west Province and the Eremaean Province were supported. The next chapter of this thesis analysed ant species from long unburnt and burnt areas of three main vegetation types (two Triodia species grasslands and Acacia aneura woodlands) in the Gibson Desert Nature Reserve. This study was carried out to observe the recovery of ant populations after fire. The results provided further evidence that invertebrates are measurably impacted by fire in the arid zone. The final chapter is a comparison of these two arid zone studies with six other ant community studies from throughout Western Australia. It demonstrated the uniqueness of some arid zone sites as well as related each study to each other according to their ant communities.

The capability to monitor bushfires on a large scale from space has long been identified as an important contribution to climate and atmospheric research as well as a tool an aid in natural hazard response. Since the work by Dozier (1981), fire monitoring from space has relied on the principles he described. His method of identifying fires within a pixel significantly larger than the fire by utilizing the different responses of the 3 μm and 11 μm channels has been applied to a number of sensors. Over the last decade a lot of work has been invested to refine and validate fire detections based on this approach. So far, the application of the method proposed by Dozier (1981) reached its peak with the launch of the MODIS instrument on board the Terra satellite. In contrast to earlier sensors, MODIS was equipped with spectral channels specifically designed for the detection of fires with algorithms based on the work by Dozier (1981). These channels were designed to overcome problems experienced with other platforms, the biggest of which is the saturation of the 3 μm channel caused by big, hot fires. Since its launch, MODIS has proven itself to be a capable platform to provide worldwide fire detection at a moderate resolution of 1 km on a daily basis.
It is the intention of this work to open up new opportunities in remote sensing of fires from satellites by showing capabilities and limitations in the application of other spectral channels, in particular the 2.1 μm channel of MODIS, than the ones currently used. This channel is chosen for investigation as fires are expected to emit a significant amount of energy in this bandwidth and as it is available at a native resolution of 500 m on MODIS; double the resolution of the 3 μm and 11 μm channels. The modelling of blackbodies of typical bushfire temperatures shows that a fire detection method based on the 2.1 μm channel will not be able to replace the current methods. Blackbodies of temperatures around 600 to 700 K, that are common for smoldering fires, do not emit a great amount of energy at 2.1 μm. It would be hardly possible to detect those fires by utilizing the 2.1 μm channel. The established methods based on the 3 μm and 11 μm channels are expected to work better in these cases. Blackbodies of typically flaming fires (above 800 K) however show a very high emission around 2.1 μm that should make their detection using the 2.1 μm channel possible.
In order to develop a fire detection method based on the 2.1 μm channel, it is necessary to differentiate between the radiance caused by a fire of sub pixel size and the radiance of a pixel caused by the reflection of sunlight. This is attempted by using time series of past observations to model a reflectance value for a given pixel expected in absence of a fire. A fire detection algorithm exploiting the difference between the expected and observed reflectance is implemented and its detection results are compared to high resolution ASTER fire maps, the standard MODIS fire detection algorithm (MOD14) and burnt area maps. The detections of the method based on the 2.1 μm channel are found to correspond very well with the other three datasets. However, the comparison showed detections that do not align with MOD14 active fire detections but are generally aligned with burn areas. This phenomena has to be investigated in the future.

Based on research undertaken with Tlicho Dene residing in Canada's Northwest Territories, this thesis explores what it means to be knowledgeable if you say you are from the land. The question came from statements constantly made by Dene during meetings with government and industrial personnel, and in the course of research associated with the telling of events and happenings connected with traditional governance, caribou and place. I take it as given that humans dwell as part of the environment, and show how they form relations with other beings who mayor may not have similar perspectives. I show that the Tlicho perspective includes the experience and growth of individuals as well as the stories that constantly weave the past and the present, allowing it to unfold in the future. Constantly reinforced through oral narratives, this perspective provides the listener with the means to embrace their own truth while respecting the personal knowledge of others, to share it and have it validated (or not) by others. As individuals grow they become . increasingly knowledgeable, aware that tP~y are part ofa constantly changing environment to which one must stay opeh by listening, experiencing, and observing in preparation to take on tasks that need doing. I consider several occurrences, both . within the bounds ofsettled life and while in the bush, that reveal a process of perpetual discovery and re-discovery that is caught in the tensions between story and experience, between older and younger, past and future, not knowing and knowing, and between leader and follower. These are not so much dichotomies as relational oppositions whose continual renewal is brought about through a practical engagement with all that is of the 'land'. In the first chapter, I explore the process by which a story grows into personal truth through experience. I show that becoming knowledgeable is a continual process, as shown by Moise who experiences a story he heard seventy years before. Chapter two explores remembering through the telling and retelling of oral narratives, and explores the past as told through the stories that are 'just told and heard' as well as told in context. I argue that temporal eras are sequential with past events residing in ~he present rather than disconnected and static. The process reinforces a perspective that can be used to guide individuals during tense periods. Chapter three discusses the concepts of 'beings' and 'place' by focusing on the way Tlicho dwell and establish relations with human persons and other-than-human . beings. This is exemplified through a description of the unpredictability of events dependent on harmonious relations occurring within the ebb and flow of seasonality. Chapter four emphasises how 'knowing' and 'using' are key to both the maintenance ofharmonious relations and the result of tension. Four significant examples are discussed in this chapter: feeding the fire, paying the land, travelling the land, and using others. Both chapters five and six focus on the period of time during which Tlicho are establishing relations with 'whites', while experiencing events and happenings with them that are remembered and told through oral narratives. These chapters emphasise the manner in which Tlicho personal autonomy is being undermined through government policy and legislation, while it is nevertheless respected by some 'white' individuals. Throughout becoming knowledgeable through experience is a priority. Chapter seven focuses on a situation in which Tlicho are strategizing to take action that will provide their descendants with personal autonomy and self-government. I argue that given the importance of following knowledgeable individuals, and given that adults invest in the young, older generations will not follow younger people until they demonstrate that 'they know something'. By providing a perspective to their descendants, elders invest in their own personal futures as well as the futures of the society. Chapter eight returns to the interplay between story and experience, demonstrating that people who both walk the land and follow the footsteps of their ancestors are respected because while travelling one is becoming more knowledgeable. This is a never-ending process; the gap between listening to stories and experiencing the story is also a time of tension in which one does not yet know. . To conclude, an understanding ofbecoming and being knowledgeable among the TijchQ Dene takes into account several dynamics. To become and be knowledgeable is a lifelong process that begins with gaining a perspective from oral narratives that originate within the de. Key elements of the TijchQ perspective include such things as knowing one's place and the place of others, interacting and maintaining harmonious relationships, and having and sharing knowledge. The principal conclusions of the thesis are as follows: 1'. • The past is continually pulled thrOUgh to the present by experiencing occurrences that originated in the past and shared through stories with social descendants. All happenings and events are continually connected as the points of entry and exit are the same. • Human individuals are never completely 'knowing', rather they are constantly becoming knowledgeable through experiencing life. • There are no empty spaces. All beings have their own place and their own trails within the de. Their place and their trails give human and other beings their unique knowledge and perspective. Becoming knowledgeable is based on actions, relationships, interaction and happenings, creating and re-creating a taskscape. Humans and other beings experience taskscapes along intersecting trails through space and time.

In the forests of Wemindji Cree Territory on the eastern shores of James Bay, north-western Quebec, forest fires burn frequently, human interventions are rare, and fire is the key agent of forest transformation. This thesis examines Cree perceptions of spatial and temporal post-fire ecosystem processes, more specifically, the interactions of plants, animals, people and the physical landscape. Western scientific studies have focused on the complex actions of fire in shaping these ecosystems. I interviewed Cree forest experts in Wemindji and reviewed the literature on forest fire in this area. The knowledge that both hunters and scientists have acquired is often nearly parallel. I suggest some ways in which the different perspectives of Cree and western scientists might complement each other and contribute to new knowledge of postfire ecology.
Sur le territoire des Cris de Wemindji, sur la rive est de la Baie James au Nord-Ouest du Québec, les incendies de forêt surviennent fréquemment, les interventions humaines sont rares et le feu est l'acteur clef des transformations touchant la forêt. Ce mémoire examine les conceptions des Cris face aux processus spatio-temporels affectant l'écosystème après un feu et, plus spécifiquement, les interactions entre plantes, animaux, humains et contexte physique. Les études scientifiques occidentales se focalisent sur les rôles complexes du feu dans le façonnement des écosystèmes. J'ai interrogé à Wemindji des experts cris de la forêt et revu la littérature sur les incendies de la région. Un parallèle net peut être établi à plusieurs égards entre les connaissances des chasseurs et celles des scientifiques. Je suggère des moyens pour rendre les perspectives respectives des Cris et des scientifiques occidentaux complémentaires et contribuer à l'acquisition de nouvelles connaissances concernant l'impact écologique des feux de forêt.

Fire-cracked rock is often overlooked in archaeology. This study attempted to determine whether or not fire-cracked rock from the surface of an archaeological site located in a cultivated field can be differentiated from other cracked rocks. A study sample of 67 rocks from the surface of a prehistoric site located in a cultivated field and another study sample of 58 rocks from an adjacent area that was sterile of prehistoric human activities was collected. A third sample of 70 fire-cracked rocks excavated from features below the plowzone in a prehistoric site served as a control sample. The fracture surface morphologies of the control sample were examined for distinguishing characteristics, which were then compared to the study samples. Those cracked rocks from the study samples which exhibited similar characteristics were identified as fire-cracked rock. Ten fire-cracked rocks were thus observed within the on-site sample and the offsite sample included only one.
Department of Anthropology

The maintenance of German colonial rule in East Africa depended on a strong military presence. The Kaiserliche Schutztruppe fur Deutsch Ostafrika was established to meet this need, but financial and political constraints dictated that this force be manned by an African rank and file. Initially, most of the African recruits came from outside of the colony, but, as time passed, the Germans began recruiting from a few specific ethnic groups in the colony.
The relationship between the African soldiers and their German employers yielded military successes for the new colonial government and, by extension, an enhanced status for the soldiers themselves. Over time, the Africans within the Schutztruppe distanced themselves from other Africans in the colony and began to develop separate communities at the government stations, which in turn fostered the growth of an askari group identity. The interests of these communities became inextricably linked to the German presence in the region. The development of this relationship helps to explain the askaris' support of the German campaign against the British during the First World War.

Includes bibliographical references.
Writing about redress 1 -un-dressed, giving my voice to the work, is probably the hardest part for me. It was my voice which was silenced when, as an eleven year old, I stepped into the witness box of the Cape Town Magistrates' Court. In the end my only defence was silence, as each consecutive question of the defence distorted my personal story until my position of victim turned into that of perpetrator. That is to say, the perpetrator was released and I went to jail. Not literally. But the effect of the trauma shaped who I am today. This experience triggered my ongoing investigation of systems of control, positions of power and causes of trauma which I explored in my undergraduate year in 2007. Comfort Room - ukhuselekile - Speak out 1 was a psychologically charged installation which explored aspects of secondary trauma experienced by children in the judicial process. The current body of work moves beyond the trauma as it investigates processes of redress. For that reason the details of the initial events are no longer the primary concern; strategies of transformation are at the heart of this investigation. This brief detour outlines my personal motivation and interest in these strategies, or forms of redress, which lead me to juxtapose processes of what I have termed aesthetic redress against processes of judicial redress. I therefore stage the fictional case of R v Judicial Redress 2010 (R v JR 2010) 2 in this document and my practical body of work.

Using data from the Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS), this thesis explores the effects that innovation activities has on the survival of new firms. The KFS follows 4,928 American start-ups from 2004 to 2011. A probit model is used to examine the relationships that may exist between a number of different variables relating to innovation and survival. The results indicate that firms that invest in research and development (R&D) and machinery and equipment persistently are more likely to survive than those that do not, or those that only invest once in these types of innovative business activities. Also, with regards to intellectual property (copyrights, trademarks and patents), firms that hold these types of intellectual property have a better chance of survival than those that do not hold any intellectual property.

This thesis examines firm innovation in China from firm-level human capital per- spective since resource-based theory and upper echelon theory reveal that the reason why firms vary in performance is that they differ in human capital. Two types of human capital are examined: general human capital measured by number of highly educated workers, and managerial human capital measured by characteristics (edu- cation and age) of general manager and management team. Besides human capital indicators, we also take R&D, firm size, market structure, firm age, ownership, city fixed effects, and industry fixed effects into account. Given the fact that innovations are made up of multifarious elements and hard to measure and define, this thesis examines firm innovation from three different aspects, patent applications, product innovation and total factor productivity.

La presente tesis contiene tres ensayos sobre las estrategias empresariales de I + D y sobre la adaptación de estándares tecnológicos bajo diferentes estructuras de mercado. Los dos primeros capítulos contribuyen a la literatura sobre innovación empresarial. El tercer capítulo contribuye a la literatura sobre la adopción de estándares tecnológicos. Cada capítulo puede considerarse independientemente del resto. Capítulo 1 investiga empíricamente cómo las empresas eligen sus estrategias de I + D en función de las características propias de las empresas y de los parámetros externos del mercado, centrándose en el impacto de la protección de la propiedad intelectual y en el grado de competitividad de los mercados. Se consideran tres estrategias de I + D: abstenerse de innovar, imitar e innovar. El análisis se basa en datos de empresas alemanas de los sectores manufactureros y servicios correspondientes al año 2005. El presente estudio es novedoso en tres aspectos. En primer lugar, se analizan la elección estratégica empresarial de I + D, distinguiendo entre estrategias de innovación e imitación. Por lo tanto, se emplea un modelo de elección discreta (regresión logística estereotípica). En segundo lugar, incluimos variables explicativas que no fueron considerados de manera conjunta en los estudios anteriores. Estas variables son las características internas de las empresas y parámetros externos del mercado, concretamente, la intensidad de protección de la propiedad intelectual, la presión competitiva medida por el número de competidores y el grado de la diferenciación del producto. Hasta ahora ningún estudio ha investigado cómo la protección de la propiedad intelectual y la presión competitiva afectan a la elección estratégica empresarial de I + D. Además, no se ha prestado atención a las complementariedades potenciales existentes en los efectos del nivel de protección de la propiedad intelectual y la presión competitiva considerados en conjunto en la elección de las empresas para innovar e imitar. En tercer lugar, se amplía el análisis de la elección estratégica empresarial de I + D a nivel de la industria, proporcionando robustez y comprobando los resultados obtenidos a nivel de empresa con un modelo de datos de conteo (regresión binominal negativa). Para investigar los factores determinantes de las decisiones de las empresas sobre las estrategias de I + D, se aplican los datos de la encuesta sobre innovación MIP (Mannheim Innovation Panel). Esta encuesta se llevó a cabo por el Centro para la Investigación Económica Europea (ZEW) anualmente. Se cubre una muestra representativa de las empresas alemanas en los sectores manufactureros y de servicios durante el período 1995-2007. Los datos incluyen información con respecto a la introducción de nuevos productos, servicios y procesos de innovación por las empresas. La base de datos tiene la estructura transversal de forma que las preguntas de la encuesta se difieren entre las ondas de la encuesta. Debido a que sólo la encuesta de innovación 2005, que es la onda 13 de la MIP, proporciona los datos necesarios que se utilizarán para el fin de este estudio. En dicha encuesta, las empresas les preguntan sobre los factores internos y externos que afectan a su comercialización y las decisiones de innovación durante el período 2002-2004. La muestra cubra las empresas con 5 o más empleados. Las probabilidades de ser escogidas para las empresas son desproporcionadas con las cuotas más altas de las grandes empresas, las empresas de Alemania del Este y de los sectores con una alta variación en la productividad laboral. Para el análisis a nivel de industria, adicionalmente, se utilizan los datos proporcionados por la Monopolkomission (Alemania). Los resultados demuestran que la eficiencia de la protección por patentes afecta positivamente a la innovación y la imitación para cualquier nivel de presión competitiva, excepto en el caso de los mercados con pocos competidores. En los mercados con pocos competidores la protección de patentes incrementa los incentivos a la innovación (mediante la introducción de novedades al mercado) y disminuye los incentivos de las empresas para la imitación (la introducción de mejoras en los productos ya existentes). Por último, en los mercados donde las empresas tienen un poder casi monopolístico, un aumento de la protección de patentes aumenta la introducción de productos mejorados (es decir, la imitación) más que la introducción de nuevos productos (es decir, la innovación). Una disminución en la presión competitiva de muchos a pocos competidores afecta positivamente a la propensión de las empresas a mejorar los productos ya existentes e introducir novedades al mercado. Este efecto varía según la eficacia la protección de patentes. Cuando la protección de patentes es baja, la innovación y la imitación aumentan, mientras que cuando la protección de patentes es alta, se reduce la imitación y la innovación crece. Una disminución adicional de la presión competitiva desde un número reducido de competidores hacia el monopolio disminuye la innovación y favorece la imitación. El análisis de las decisiones estratégicas de las empresas sobre I + D a nivel de industria proporciona apoyo a las conclusiones obtenidas a nivel de empresa. Este trabajo se relaciona con varios estudios teóricos. Los resultados manifiestan a favor de Boldrin y Levine (2008) que argumentan que la protección de propiedad intelectual es un buen mecanismo para potenciar la innovación. El presente trabajo va más allá analizando cómo este efecto depende del nivel de competencia con que se enfrentan las empresas. Frente a Vives (2008), la evidencia empírica sobre las empresas alemanas sugiere que un aumento en el tamaño del mercado tiene un efecto positivo no ambiguo sobre la introducción de nuevos productos. Por último, los resultados contradicen a los resultados teóricos de Zhou (2009). En su estudio el uso del marco oligopolio estándar muestra que la competencia se intensificó medido por un aumento en el número de competidores siempre amortigua la innovación. En virtud de un nivel moderado de competencia, débil protección de la propiedad intelectual (o un alto nivel exógeno de spillovers) aumenta los incentivos de las empresas para innovar. Esto podría deberse al hecho de que en Zhou (2009), el modelo no tiene en cuenta los posibles cambios en las estrategias de I + D elegidas por las empresas (innovación y la imitación) cuando se hace más rentable cambiar la estrategia actual. Cuando el nivel de spillovers es elevado (o el nivel de protección de la propiedad intelectual es bajo), las empresas anteriormente innovadoras pueden encontrar más rentable pasar a la imitación, aumentando la competencia entre los imitadores. Al contrario de Zhou (2009), el presente trabajo concluye que un pequeño número de competidores puede estimular tanto los innovadores de producto como imitadores. Eso significa que la protección de la propiedad intelectual en gran medida afecta la propensidad de las empresas a innovar y, de forma indirecta, tiene un pequeño efecto positivo estimulando la mejora del producto por imitadores debido al aumento de la actividad de los innovadores. Por lo tanto, debido a los efectos de la presión competitiva y protección de la propiedad intelectual, es importante a la hora de desarrollar el modelo de innovación e imitación enfocar estrategias de I + D como la elección endógena por las empresas. Los resultados del presente estudio sugieren mirar más allá de la suma total de gastos de I + D en el análisis del rendimiento innovador de la industria. La razón es que las empresas eligen las estrategias de I + D que a su vez influyen al rendimiento global innovador de las industrias. Además, el presente análisis deriva una relación entre la política de protección de derechos de propiedad intelectual y la política de competencia. Las dos políticas deben estar estrechamente coordinadas porque protección de derechos de propiedad intelectual y la presión competitiva en conjunto afectan las decisiones estratégicas de las empresas sobre I + D. Con el fin de proporcionar un fundamento teórico para la evidencia empírica observada en el caso de las empresas alemanas, el capítulo 2 asume que las elecciones estratégicas de las empresas sobre I + D son endógenas y dependen de las características internas de las empresas y de los factores externos de mercado. Este trabajo está relacionado con una gran cantidad de literatura sobre la relación entre la estructura del mercado y la estrategia de innovación. Específicamente, se relaciona con las dos líneas de investigación. La primera línea analiza cómo las inversiones de I + D de las empresas se ven afectadas por la competencia en el mercado. Trabajos pioneros en este campo son los de Schumpeter (1934 y 1942), quien sostiene que, por un lado, la presión del mercado puede fomentar la innovación de las empresas. Pero, por otro lado, la presión del mercado también puede disminuir las inversiones de I + D de las empresas, porque el poder de monopolio de las grandes empresas actúa como un acelerador importante del progreso tecnológico. En realidad, todavía no existe un acuerdo en este debate Schumpeterian en los estudios teóricos y empíricos. Por ejemplo, algunos autores sostienen que la competencia en el mercado más intensiva disminuye los incentivos de una empresa para la innovación, porque cuando las ventajas de la innovación son temporales, sólo el poder de mercado suficiente garantiza que las empresas inviertan en I + D (Arrow, 1962; Futia, 1980; Gilbert y Newbery, 1982; Reinganum de 1983, o Zhou, 2009). Este argumento se apoya en estudios empíricos que encuentran que la concentración del mercado aumenta el ritmo del cambio innovador. Por ejemplo, Henderson y Cockburn (1996) muestran que las grandes empresas de la industria farmacéutica de los EE.UU. realizan I + D más eficiente, ya que pueden disfrutar de economías de escala y alcance. Utilizando los datos de patentes de las empresas manufactureras del Reino Unido, Cefis (2003) encuentra que, debido al esfuerzo innovador, la contribución de las grandes empresas al rendimiento industrial agregado está por encima del promedio industrial. Por otro lado, también se argumentó que la concentración de mercado tiene un efecto moderador sobre la innovación porque la competencia más intensa actúa como un incentivo importante para que las empresas innoven (Dasgupta y Stiglitz, 1980). Una vez más, este argumento teórico esta apoyado por la evidencia empírica (Geroski, 1990;. Blundell et al, 1999). Estos resultados contradictorios condujeron a la hipótesis de que el efecto de la competencia en el mercado sobre el esfuerzo innovador de las empresas es no monótono. Por ejemplo, Boone (2000) encuentra que cuando la competencia es débil, aumentan los incentivos de las empresas menos eficientes para innovar. Sin embargo, cuando la competencia se hace más intensa, los incentivos de las empresas eficientes para innovar crecen. Aghion et al. (2005) sugieren la existencia de una relación de U-inversa. Ambos, un nivel alto o bajo de la competencia ofrecen pocos incentivos para innovar, mientras que un nivel medio de competencia fomenta la innovación de las empresas que operan en un nivel tecnológico similar. Por el contrario, Tishler y Milstein (2009) encuentran que las inversiones en I + D disminuyen con la presión de la competencia. Sin embargo, en un cierto nivel de competencia de las empresas empiezan a participar en las guerras de I + D y gastan excesivamente en I + D. Nuestros resultados también indican una relación no monótona y ponen de relieve la importancia de factores tales como la protección de la propiedad intelectual y la diferenciación de los productos junto con el efecto de los cambios en la presión competitiva sobre la innovación. La segunda parte de la literatura a la que se refiere el presente estudio son los estudios que, contrariamente a la literatura anterior que asume que todas las empresas son innovadoras, permiten la heterogeneidad de las estrategias de I + D empresarial mediante la distinción entre las empresas que innovan y las que imitan a los innovadores. La evidencia empírica sugiere que la mayoría de los mercados se caracterizan por una elevada heterogeneidad de las actividades de I + D. Por lo tanto, en la mayoría de los mercados nos encontramos con un núcleo de empresas que son innovadoras persistentes mientras que otras empresas o bien son innovadoras o imitadoras ocasionales (Cefis y Orsenigo, 2001; Cefis, 2003). Czarnitzki et al. (2008) encuentran que, dependiendo del papel de la empresa en el mercado, la presión competitiva podría tener un efecto diferente sobre su esfuerzo innovador. Por ejemplo, mientras que la presión de entrada disminuye la inversión de la empresa promedia, aumenta el esfuerzo innovador de las líderes del mercado. En los estudios teóricos (Grossman y Helpman, 1991; Aghion y Howitt, 1992; Zhou, 2009), la imitación se muestra a fomentar la actividad innovadora de los líderes tecnológicos. Este hallazgo desafía la visión común de que la protección de patentes debe ser fortalecida. De hecho, algunos estudios sostienen que la fuerte protección de la protección de patentes puede ralentizar el desarrollo de los países y disminuir el bienestar mundial y el excedente del consumidor (Helpman, 1993; Bessen y Maskin 2009; Che et al, 2009;. Fershtman y Markovich, 2010). Además, Braguinsky et al. (2007) encontraron que la relación entre la innovación y la imitación en sí depende de otros factores como la madurez de una industria. Cuando la industria es joven y pequeña, los innovadores no tienen incentivos para evitar la imitación. Pero cuando la industria se expande, el esfuerzo innovador se reduce debido a la presión de imitación. Los resultados de este trabajo contribuyen a esta literatura en primer lugar, al mostrar cómo las diferentes características del mercado dan lugar a diferentes configuraciones de innovador / imitador. En segundo lugar, los resultados muestran que un aumento de protección de los patentes puede tanto aumentar como disminuir el bienestar social en función de las características de los mercados subyacentes. Este resultado reconcilia los puntos de vista que se enfrentan sobre el papel de la fuerza de protección de patentes. En el análisis derivado las empresas eligen entre dos estrategias, o bien invertir en I + D o abstenerse de I + D propia y imitar los resultados de los innovadores. Esto planteamiento produce tres tipos de equilibrio: o todas las empresas innovan, o algunas empresas innovan y otras imitan, o todas las empresas se abstienen de la innovación. En equilibrio las estrategias de las empresas dependen crucialmente de los factores externos del mercado. El análisis indica que la eficiencia de la protección de la propiedad intelectual afecta positivamente a los incentivos de las empresas para que inviertan en I + D, mientras que la presión competitiva excesiva tiene un efecto negativo. Además, las empresas más pequeñas son más propensas a ser imitadoras cuando el producto es homogéneo y el nivel de spillovers es elevado. En cuanto al bienestar social, los resultados indican que el fortalecimiento de la protección de la propiedad intelectual puede tener un efecto ambiguo. En los mercados que se caracterizan por una alta tasa de innovación, una reducción de la protección de la propiedad intelectual puede desalentar el desempeño innovador sustancialmente. Sin embargo, una reducción de la protección de los patentes también puede aumentar el bienestar social, ya que puede inducir a la imitación. Esto indica que cuestiones políticas, tales como la duración óptima y la amplitud de la protección de los patentes no pueden resolverse sin tener en cuenta el mercado específico y características de las empresas. La implicación principal para políticas derivada del nuestro análisis es que una política común de protección de los patentes para todos los mercados podría ser inadecuada. Esto se debe a que una política beneficioso para un determinado tipo de mercado podría desalentar la innovación y el progreso tecnológico en otro mercado con distintas características. El análisis de los efectos indirectos sobre el bienestar social muestra que una reducción de la protección de los patentes, destinada a inducir la imitación, puede desalentar a los resultados en innovación sustancial en los mercados que se caracterizan por una alta tasa de innovación. Entonces, una reducción adicional de protección de los patentes induce más la imitación y aumenta el bienestar. Sin embargo, después de un cierto punto, la reducción de la protección de patentes completamente desalienta la innovación y por lo tanto reduce el bienestar social. Por otra parte, una política de protección de derechos de propiedad intelectual debe estar estrechamente coordinada con la política de competencia. Esto se debe a parámetros externos tales como protección de los patentes y la presión competitiva conjuntamente afectan las estrategias de I + D escogidas por las empresas. Aparte de la protección de propiedad intelectual, la adopción de tecnologías emergentes ha sido una gran preocupación y ha ganado mucha atención de los responsables políticos. Los grandes fondos se destinan a fin de mejorar los incentivos de las empresas para la adopción de costosas tecnologías emergentes. La principal preocupación de los responsables políticos son mercados con externalidades, como el impacto ambiental o la seguridad nacional. En muchos casos, los productos en estos mercados son bienes del sistema (“system goods”). Esto significa que los consumidores derivan el valor de todo el sistema de componentes (como por ejemplo, sistemas de carga y vehículos mutuamente compatibles, o hardware y software). El conjunto de componentes que son compatibles uno con el otro está determinado por elecciones de los estándares tecnológicos de las empresas. Sin embargo, una vez hay un estándar tecnológico establecido, la transición a tecnologías más avanzadas esta a menudo obstaculizada por varias razones. En primer lugar, puede haber una diferencia entre el coste de producción de una establecida y un nivel tecnológico superior. Por ejemplo, las empresas pueden tener compromisos previos que elevan los costes de producción en caso de cambio a un nivel diferente, lo que hace que la adopción de una norma tecnológica superior no rentable. En segundo lugar, una vez que hay un estándar tecnológico establecido, las empresas pueden participar suficientemente en el desarrollo de otras tecnologías potencialmente superiores. Por lo tanto, la adopción y el desarrollo de nuevas tecnologías y productos en los mercados de productos de sistemas a menudo dependen de la intervención pública. El capítulo 3 deriva un modelo para los mercados con productos que constituyen un sistema (se consumen juntos) y que tienen estándares tecnológicos diferentes, un estándar establecido y uno superior. El estándar ya establecido incurre en menores costos unitarios de producción que el estándar superior, pero causa una externalidad negativa. A falta de intervención política, con un estándar tecnológico establecido las empresas no tienen incentivos para adoptar el estándar superior. Por lo tanto, el presente trabajo compara los efectos de los subsidios para la reducción de costes directos e indirectos en mercados con productos de sistema en la presencia de externalidades. Se indican las condiciones óptimas para los subsidios en función de la diferencia de costes entre los dos estándares, del impacto de la externalidad y de la dependencia de los consumidores de una tecnología determinada. Si la decisión de compra por los consumidores se realiza antes de que se determinen los precios de uno de los componentes del sistema, la intervención política es deseable sólo cuando el impacto de la externalidad no es menor que la diferencia de coste entre las normas. Entonces, si el efecto de la externalidad es relativamente similar a la diferencia de costes entre los estándares tecnológicos, un subsidio directo sólo al primer adoptante de la tecnología superior es óptimo para incentivar la transición al estándar tecnológico superior. Además, cuanto mayor es la externalidad, mas adoptadores de la tecnología deben recibir las subvenciones. Esto significa que en el caso de los subsidios directos, todos los adoptadores de la tecnología deben recibir una subvención igual a la diferencia de coste entre los estándares. La comparación entre los subsidios directos e indirectos sugiere que cuando la diferencia de coste entre el nivel tecnológico es alta y la externalidad es baja o intermedia, los subsidios directos son socialmente preferibles. Cuando el coste de la externalidad es alto y la diferencia de coste entre los estándares es baja, los subsidios directos e indirectos funcionan igualmente. Sin embargo, debido a que el subsidio indirecto óptimo es mayor que el subsidio directo, el subsidio directo conduce a un mayor bienestar social. Por último, si los consumidores realizan la decisión de compra después que los precios de todos los componentes del sistema se conocen los efectos de las subvenciones directas e indirectas son iguales. En este caso, si la diferencia del coste de producción es baja, el primer adoptante de la tecnológica superior podría tener incentivos naturales para adoptar la tecnología superior. Esto significa que la adopción de la tecnología superior implica un menor coste para la sociedad. Si la diferencia de coste de producción es alta, la adopción requiere ambas subvenciones, directas y indirectas. Por otra parte, el subsidio al segundo adoptante es mayor que el subsidio al primer adoptante. Estos resultados se suman a la discusión sobre la elección entre los subsidios directos e indirectos. Para ilustrar esto, nos centramos en los casos de Brasil y de los EE.UU. En Brasil, como resultado de la implementación subsidios indirectos, para el año 1990, el 90% de los vehículos fabricados utilizan tecnología que permite a cargar los vehículos por el biocombustible. Sin embargo, según los resultados de este trabajo, esta forma de adopción de tecnología es más costosa para la sociedad, en presencia de los consumidores dependientes de la tecnología, es decir, si los consumidores son, a priori, obligados acudir a la tecnología establecida o superior. Por ejemplo, en este caso, los subsidios indirectos pueden ser menos eficaces porque en el principio de adopción de tecnología los consumidores están condicionados en su elección del coche por la disponibilidad de toda la infraestructura relacionada (carga y estaciones de servicio, aparcamientos) en su área urbana. Por el contrario, cuando la infraestructura para ambas tecnologías está instalada y el consumidor puede tomar su decisión de compra después de que los precios de todos los componentes son conocidos, los dos tipos de subvenciones tienen el mismo efecto. En los EE.UU., los fueron preferidos los subsidios directos a los fabricantes de automóviles. De acuerdo con nuestros resultados, esta es la solución más óptima en el comienzo de la adopción de tecnología superior. Sin embargo, una vez que la infraestructura de ambas tecnologías está instalado (en otras palabras, en ausencia de los consumidores "adherencia" a la tecnología), los subsidios indirectos a los productores de tecnologías de energía limpia (biocombustibles, la generación de electricidad) también deben ser implementadas. Del mismo modo, la importancia de las subvenciones indirectas se espera que crezca en la UE. Recientemente, el debate se inició con respecto al despliegue de la infraestructura de recarga en toda Europa. Los resultados de este estudio se discuten en el contexto de la elección de subvención óptima para mejorar el rendimiento del medio ambiente en los mercados de bienes del sistema. Sin embargo, estos resultados proporcionan un fundamento para la elección subsidio óptimo en una serie de mercados que comparten estructura de mercado similar en presencia de externalidades relacionadas con la tecnología, tales como, por ejemplo, la seguridad nacional. Los resultados del modelo se han presentado en el contexto de la elección del subsidio óptimo para mejorar el desempeño ambiental en los mercados de bienes del sistema. Sin embargo, estos resultados proporcionan un fundamento para una amplia variedad de políticas. Un problema similar surge en la adopción de tecnología en las industrias relacionadas con la seguridad nacional. Los componentes de los sistemas son producidos por una serie de empresas públicas y privadas. Por lo general, las empresas públicas elaboran la arquitectura básica del sistema (hardware), mientras que algunos de los componentes externos son proporcionados por las empresas privadas. En esta interacción las empresas privadas necesitan incentivos para la transición a una nueva tecnología. Por ejemplo, los servicios de navegación por satélite han sido habilitados por el equipo de GPS. Muchas empresas privadas proporcionan un número de aplicaciones que utilizan la señal de GPS. Por lo tanto, hoy en día, el mercado mundial de navegación por satélite es dominado por GPS, que está bajo el control militar de los EE.UU. Para la economía europea el sector de servicios de navegación por satélite se ha vuelto muy importante (alrededor del 7% del PIB de la UE en 2009) y se espera que crezca. Por lo tanto, con el fin de proporcionar la independencia de Europa en la navegación por satélite fue lanzado el proyecto Galileo. El uso de Galileo genera una serie de externalidades positivas por razones económicas y de seguridad. Por lo tanto, el gobierno nacional con el objetivo de promover una GNS nacional debe ofrecer incentivos a los productores de aplicaciones para cambiar al estándar tecnológico nacional, por ejemplo, sustituir los chipsets de GPS por Galileo en los teléfonos celulares. Esto podría elevar los costos como un mayor desarrollo de dispositivos y aplicaciones que se necesita para explorar mayores posibilidades de precisión de Galileo. Para proporcionar a las empresas con incentivos a una mayor colaboración e la I + D pueden ser aplicados los dos enfoques. En primer lugar, el contrato entre la entidad pública y las empresas privadas se puede mejorar para provenir les las condiciones más favorables que con el GPS. En segundo lugar, las subvenciones directas se pueden aplicar a las empresas privadas por la adaptación del estándar Galileo. Con el fin de elegir entre las dos políticas, las externalidades positivas y la diferencia del coste entre las dos tecnologías, y el efecto “compromiso” de los consumidores deben ser considerados. Los "menos optimistas" estimaciones teniendo en cuenta los posibles impactos de la crisis económica sugieren que los beneficios totales acumulados procedentes de Galileo durante el período 2008-2030 serían de entre € 55 y € 62 ter. Los consumidores de GNS aplicaciones basadas pueden estar comprometidos con el uso del sistema nacional debido a razones políticas. En este caso, debido a que la externalidad positiva se estima como muy alta, y la diferencia del coste es relativamente pequeña, nuestros resultados sugieren que sería socialmente óptimo para subvencionar empresas que producen aplicaciones basadas en Galileo, es decir, utilizan una subsidio directo.

Nous pr��sentons une ��tude comparative de l'injection optique quasi-statique pour des lasers �� semi-conducteurs et des lasers �� fibre. La fabrication des lasers �� fibre �� contre-r��action r��partie est d��taill��e. L'��tude spectrale de l'injection de lasers �� semi-conducteurs pour des puissances inject��e usuelles (> -30 dBm) permet, par des cartographies, de caract��riser des r��gimes bistables, le r��gime de relaxation, et la synchronisation de chaos. Pour de faibles puissances inject��es (< -30 dBm), nous montrons que le laser esclave est un amplificateur de qualit�� pour de faibles signaux coh��rents, et observons l'attraction en fr��quance de l'esclave inject�� par le ma��tre. L'injection statique des lasers �� fibre permet d'observer une r��ponse dynamique dans le domaine temporel, li��e �� des ph��nom��nes de relaxation. Nous proposons des m��thodes de mesure, par injection optique, du facteur de Henry, de faibles largeurs spectrales, du taux d'��mission spontan��e du laser esclave.

Investments in R&D activities are essential to firms. Decisions to increase or decrease R&D investments may rely according to changes in macroeconomic factors. The purpose of this paper is: to examine how firms in the industries; manufacturing computers, electronics and optics and manufacturing electrical equipment, have increased or decreased their R&D investments, in conjunction with macro factors during the 2000s. The sample is 49 Swedish firms. This paper is based on quantitative firm-level panel data on R&D activity investments and aggregated quantitative macro-level data on macro factors. The firm-level panel data set has been put together completely from scratch, using collected and transformed raw data. Using a logistic regression model, the results show that macro factors do affect R&D investments on a micro-level, to some extent. Further, the results show that change in macro factors does to a greater extent, affect decreases in R&D investments than increases in R&D investments. The process of increase and decrease of R&D investment should be considered as two different dynamic processes. Increase and decrease do not follow the same pattern, thus a decrease of R&D investments is a more explicit decision than a decision to increase R&D investments.

In this thesis the impact of R&D expenditures on firm market value and stock returns is examined. This is performed in a sample of European listed firms for the period 2000-2009. I apply different linear and GMM econometric estimations for testing the impact of R&D on market prices and construct country portfolios based on firms’ R&D expenditure to market capitalization ratio for studying the effect of R&D on stock returns. The results confirm that more innovative firms have a better market valuation,investors consider R&D as an asset that produces long-term benefits for corporations. The impact of R&D on firm value differs across countries. It is significantly modulated by the financial and legal environment where firms operate. Other firm and industry characteristics seem to play a determinant role when investors value R&D. First, only larger firms with lower financial leverage that operate in highly innovative sectors decide to disclose their R&D investment. Second, the markets assign a premium to small firms, which operate in hi-tech sectors compared to larger enterprises for low-tech industries. On the other hand, I provide empirical evidence indicating that generally highly R&D-intensive firms may enhance mispricing problems related to firm valuation. As R&D contributes to the estimation of future stock returns, portfolios that comprise high R&D-intensive stocks may earn significant excess returns compared to the less innovative after controlling for size and book-to-market risk. Further, the most innovative firms are generally more risky in terms of stock volatility but not systematically more risky than low-tech firms. Firms that operate in Continental Europe suffer more mispricing compared to Anglo-Saxon peers but the former are less volatile, other things being equal. The sectors where firms operate are determinant even for the impact of R&D on stock returns; this effect is much stronger in hi-tech industries.

Background: The consumption of plant based foods has demonstrated an inverse association with disease prevalence. Among the components of plant based foods, polyphenol and fibre are two of the main contenders for many health benefits. The majority of polyphenols and fibre pass through the small intestine unabsorbed, reaching the colon where they are subjected to the action of the colonic microbiota; resulting in the production of the potentially bioactive metabolites: phenolic acids and SCFA. These metabolites are potentially responsible for many of the health benefits exerted by polyphenols rich foods and fibre. Given the recent advances in understanding the role of colonic microbiota in metabolic and immune responses, factors, which may positively or negatively modify the composition of the colonic bacteria have also received much attention. Foods rich in dietary fibre and polyphenols have the potential to modify colonic bacteria through prebiotic and antibiotic action. The potential bacterial inhibition by polyphenolics and the stimulation of bacterial growth by fibre and polyphenols means potential for both sets of compounds to influence metabolite production from each other. Polyphenols and fibre are most often present in the same foods and may be found together in plant cell walls. Thus they most often enter the colon together. We aimed to explore how the presence of these two components in the diet may impact on the metabolite production from the other by the colonic microbiota. Methods: The food matrix interaction of fibres and polyphenols was assessed using the fibres: raftiline, pectin and ispaghula, having different physio-chemical properties (rate of fermentation and viscosity) and the polyphenols: rutin and catechin, epicatechin and other polyphenols present in cocoa in vitro models of phenolic acid and short chain fatty acid (SCFA) production. The impact of ispaghula on urinary phenolic acids after cocoa ingestion was then investigated in an acute human study. In Chapter-3 the impact of the fermentable fibres on phenolic acid production from isolated parent compound: rutin in-vitro using 24 hour batch cultures using human faecal samples from volunteers (n=10) after being on a 3-day low polyphenol diet was investigated. Using the same model the impact of rutin, quercetin and their metabolites on SCFA production from raftiline, ispaghula and pectin was then investigate. The SCFA were measured by GC-FID and phenolic acids by GCMS. pH and gas were also measured. Using the same methodology the matrix interaction between raftiline, ispaghula and pectin separately on phenolic acid production from their parent compounds within their food matrix was investigated using cocoa as a rich source of polyphenols, as well as the impact of cocoa polyphenols and their metabolites on SCFA production from the fermentable fibres (Chapter-4) In Chapter-5, 24-hour urinary polyphenolic acids were measured in 5 batches (0, 0-2, 2-5, 5-8, 8-24 hour) in 12 human volunteers after ingestion of 1g paracetamol with 20g cocoa (extra brute Cocoa-Cacao Barry, Barry Callebaut, Hardricourt, France) with water, 15g of ispaghula with water or the combination of the two. Urine samples were also used for total phenol and antioxidant capacity measurement. Plasma was collected over six hours (every half hour for 4 hours and at 6th hour) and used for the measurement of total phenols as well as paracetamol concentrations for the estimation of gastric emptying rate. Breath hydrogen was used for estimation of small bowel transit time and visual analogue scales (VAS) were used for the estimation of subjective appetite response to meals. Results: The faecal fermentation of rutin resulted in the production of the following phenolic acids: PAA, 4-HBA, 3-HPAA, 4-HPAA, 3,4-DHPAA, 3-HPPA and 4-HPPA. All of these phenolic acids were significantly reduced by at least one of the three fibres, with the exception of 3-HPPA and 4-HPPA. The extent of inhibition of total sum of phenolic acids from raftiline and pectin was similar (p < 0.01) and ispaghula demonstrated the least inhibitory effect (p=0.03). Rutin and quercetin had no impact on the SCFA production from the fermentable fibres. The phenolic acids identified from cocoa faecal incubations consisted of: of PAA, 3-HPAA, 4-HPAA, 3,4-DHPAA, 3-HPPA, 4-HPPA, 3,4-DHPPA, 4-HBA, 3,4-DHBA, hippuric acid and vanillic acid. Unlike the rutin study where majority of phenolic acids were significantly reduced, in this study only four of eleven phenolic acids were affected (PAA, 3-HPAA, 4-HPAA, 4-HBA: also inhibited in the rutin study).The extent of phenolic acid reduction was the highest for pectin (p < 0.01), followed by raftiline (p < 0.01) and ispaghula (p=0.03). These phenolic acids or their parent compounds had no impact on SCFA production from the fermentable fibres. The consumption of cocoa resulted in the urinary excretion of the following phenolic acids: 3-HPAA, 4-HPAA, 3,4-DHPAA, Hippuric, 4-HPA, 4-HBA, 3,4-DHBA, Vanillic, 4-HVA, Mandelic and 4-HMA. All of which, with the exception of vanillic acid and 3,4-DHPAA, were reduced by ispaghula (Table-I). Ispaghula accelerated gastric emptying rate but had no impact on small bowel transit time. The analysis of total phenol (TP assay) concentration (plasma and urine) and antioxidant capacity (urine) did not demonstrate any difference between cocoa and ispaghula, which were both high. However when they were ingested together there was a signification reduction in both total phenol and antioxidant capacity (p < 0.01). Given that urinary and plasma concentration of total phenols was no different for ispaghula and cocoa we analysed the free phenolic and bound phenolics in both ispaghula and cocoa, showing that cocoa has significantly higher free phenolics than ispaghula, whereas bound phenolics were higher in ispaghula. The sum of bound and free total phenols was higher in cocoa than ispaghula (approximately 10 fold). Urinary, faecal SCFA were not measured as they are not validated to represent in-vivo production. Conclusion: there is a strong inhibition of phenolic acid production from polyphenol by the fermentable fibres and their metabolites. This inhibition is stronger in-vivo than in-vitro for ispaghula, which may reflect the longer interaction time in the colon and potential small bowel interaction. The production of SCFA from fermentable fibres was not inhibited by the polyphenols or their metabolites. These interactions need to be considered when assessing the bioavailability of phenolic acid production and their potential health benefits.

In recent decades, fully bioresorbable polymer composites with appropriate biocompatibility and mechanical properties have provided an exciting opportunity to replace conventional metal alloy implants. This work explores the development of a novel, one-step in-situ polymerisation (ISP) process for the manufacture of fully bioresorbable phosphate based glass fibre (PGF) reinforced composites with matrix materials of polycaprolactone (PCL), polycaprolactone-polylactic acid copolymer (PLA-PCL) and polylactic acid (PLA). Composites produced via conventional laminate stacking (LS) process were used as the comparison to demonstrate the advantages that ISP can provide in composites quality. In-vitro degradation in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at 37 °C, flexural property retention and cytocompatibility were investigated for both LS and ISP composites. Additionally, the composites were degraded under representative flexural loading for high cycle fatigue analysis to understand and predict their lifetime in service and their likely mechanisms of failure. Significantly more robust fibre/matrix interface and uniform fibre distribution along the cross section of the composites were achieved via ISP compared to LS. These enhancements resulted in considerably higher initial mechanical properties (~450 MPa and ~24 GPa for flexural strength and modulus, close to the upper range of human cortical bone properties), prolonged mechanical retention, less and slower water uptake and mass loss profiles for the ISP composites. The flexural fatigue life of the ISP composites was at least 10 times longer than the LS composites counterpart within both dry and wet (within PBS at 37 °C) testing environments. Furthermore, positive cytocompatibility was also found for both the LS and ISP PLA/PGF composites. Conclusively, ISP composites exhibited considerably enhanced mechanical retention and drastically improved media resistance, making those fully bioresorbable composites significantly more favourable as materials for bioresorbable bone fracture fixation devices.

Purpose Various studies suggested that family ownership plays a significant role in R&D investment considering family-owned businesses. This thesis specifically explores sibling ownership and how it influences R&D Investment in their company. Moreover, various factors have been highlighted and explored extensively to understand what makes the difference between sibling owners and sole owners when it comes to their behaviors whether to pursue and invest in R&D for the betterment of the company. Method This paper adopted qualitative research as a method. Data was collected from 5 cases which consisted of sibling owners and sole owners to understand the differences between 2 types. In this multiple case study, two respondent took part in each case. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to have an in-depth understanding of the cases. Furthermore, the analysis of these data was done using the SEWi scale which provided us the three dimensions to scrutinize the impact on R&D investment by sibling owners and compare it with sole owners. Conclusion Using the theoretical lenses, the sibling ownership presents a unique attitude as of any other family ownership. To have a more broader approach, the comparison between a sole owner and sibling owner derived many different factors to take up R&D Investments. It shows that sibling owner does not always initiate investment for the company to prosper but they consider other family members involvement for investing. R&D investments are taking part in the sibling ownership by keeping the family wealth in mind. This tends to provide evidence that sibling owner is careful in investment for R&D. Family values and family unity in sibling owned business create an immense impact on the decision making for the investment. Considering the decision making regarding R&D investment, sibling owner believe that they have ease to make a decision when the family is involved whereas sole owner finds difficulty in taking such decisions, especially under uncertainty. The following observations from our research provided the idea that sibling owner initiative to invest in R&D is not only restricted to the company growth perspective but also the involvement of various family dimensions.

Cílem diplomové práce bylo navrhnout metodiku poskytování outsourcingu v oblasti tiskových a reprografických služeb z pohledu společnosti, která outsourcing poskytuje. . Navržená metodika reflektuje proces outsourcingu formou projektu. Práce se skládá ze čtyř částí. První část se zabývá obecným vysvětlením pojmu outsourcing, jeho přínosy, výhodami a nevýhodami. Druhá část se věnuje zhodnocení současného stavu outsourcingu tiskových služeb ve firmě Konica Minolta a navržení zlepšení, kterých je možno dosáhnout. Ve třetí části je vypracován návrh metodiky poskytování outsourcingu v Konica Minolta. V poslední, čtvrté části, je pro přiblížení situace na trhu a pro možnost srovnání uvedena nabídka služeb největších konkurentů společnosti.

In this introductory Chapter the rationale for this research is explained and an overview of the thesis is provided. This chapter serves as a concise introduction to the subject of the knowledge base and knowledge pipelines in a metropolis as Brussels, as well as providing an insight into the policy driven empirical research with additional focus on the appropriate spatial level of analysis to highlight the spatial inequality of innovation. The objectives of the thesis are reviewed by giving an overview of the research questions and the main hypotheses related to them. The theoretical background used in this thesis is briefly outlined. The structure of the thesis can be summarised as follows. The second chapter provides basic information about data on patents and scientific publications, the construction of indicators based on patents and scientific publications, as well as guidelines for the compilation and interpretation of patent and scientific publication indicators. The third chapter focuses on the determinants of the efficiency levels across regions in Belgium at different spatial levels. The fourth chapter builds on the research made in the previous chapters and focuses on the analysis of the impact of patent collaboration networks on the output growth of R&D active companies in Belgium. The fifth chapter analyses the impact of different collaboration ties on the productivity of innovative companies in Belgium, measured in several ways through the innovation survey and in terms of patents. The conclusion reported in the last chapter summarises the main findings and highlight possible suggestions for future research.
Benchmarking exercises are increasingly used as an assessment instrument to guide policy-makers. They contribute to policy-making in three broad ways: delineating and monitoring development and progress; facilitating the exchange and gathering of knowledge on practices and policies; and promoting the image and attractiveness of economies. This research complements existing information about the Brussels Regional Innovation System (BRIS) with additional data that is less frequently available through current channels or difficult to make public due to the number of data manipulations. This research illustrates the Brussels innovation system by focusing on various aspects related to intra- and interregional connections. The dataset is based on scientific publications and patents over the period 1993-2013 containing at least one author with an affiliation or one inventor located in the Brussels-Capital Region, Vienna and Berlin. Patents and scientific publications provide a clear picture of the nature of technological change and innovation. Moreover, these sources give some further indication of R&D activities in the field and the position and specialisation of countries. The main benefit of such indicators is the unique empirical characterization they provide of the way actors interact as a collective system of knowledge production and diffusion (OECD, 1996). The main objective of this work is to compare Brussels with Belgian regions, city agglomerations and districts, as well as with capital cities of metropolitan regions (Vienna and Berlin) in terms of patenting and producing scientific publications, in order to map and understand how knowledge exchange takes place when Brussels actors are involved and which partners, locations, scientific fields and technological sectors are preferred. The main focus is on providing basic information about patent and scientific publication data, the construction of indicators based on patents and scientific publications, as well as guidelines for the compilation and interpretation of patent and scientific publication indicators.
The topic of the spatial pattern in R&D activities was investigated by several scholars. It is worthwhile to explore the dynamism and change of R&D activities’ spatial spread as R&D activities are very much a dynamic phenomenon and the consequences in terms of past growth of these activities have painted the current relative position of the regions. Analysing the determinants of the efficiency levels across Belgian regions at different spatial levels (3 regions, 10 provinces, 43 districts, and city agglomerations), we derive a regression based on the measurement of regional output growth by estimating an extended Cobb-Douglas production function based on a representative sample of Belgian R&D active firms over the period 2000-2013. We investigate the role played by knowledge (private and public R&D stocks) on the output growth by applying spatial econometric methods that account for both heteroscedasticity and spatial autocorrelation. The chapter focuses on the comparison of obtained results with previous studies based on Belgium. It turns out that a large part of output growth differences across the Belgian regions are explained by disparities in the endowments of these determinants.
Although the literature on the relations between patents and output growth of R&D active companies has been widely investigated, there has been little research with respect to the impact of patent collaboration networks on the output growth of R&D active companies. Integrating theoretical developments from the literature, we propose and test a conceptual framework that allows us to explain to what extent patent collaboration networks affect output growth. Testing the framework by using a constructed company-level dataset for Belgium, the empirical analysis reveals that output growth is significantly influenced by patenting activities and by collaborative relations with respect to patents. The chapter focuses on two distinct spatial levels. First, the spatial reach of the patent collaboration network is considered. The findings show that output growth is higher when collaborative relations are internationally oriented. Second, the regional location of the company shows differences in patenting activity, patent collaboration, and the spatial reach of the patent collaboration network.
Inter-organisational relations are a crucial aspect of knowledge flows, which are at the same time an important engine for innovation. Collaboration has become an ever more important feature of entrepreneurial strategy to innovate. Network ties facilitate companies’ innovative capabilities by acting as key sources for innovations, helping to access the resources and boosting knowledge transfer. This chapter analyses the impact of different collaboration ties on the productivity of innovative companies in Belgium, measured in several ways through the innovation survey (Community Innovation Survey) and in terms of patents (Patstat). Patent statistics are used as an objective measure for innovation. Unlike patent data, innovation surveys measure innovation activities carried out in companies. This chapter is primarily concerned with the following research question: do collaboration networks, as measured by innovation surveys (CIS database) and by invention applications (Patstat database), impact productivity growth in the same way? Further, this chapter focuses on an alternative spatial approach in order to look into the role played by proximate and distant inter-organisational networks among organisations. The findings show that the collaboration ties between companies are contributing the most to productivity growth followed by collaboration ties involving universities and government, public or private research institutes. Second, the spatial reach of the inter-organisational networks shows divergent impact on productivity performance of innovating companies.
Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The main purpose of this study is to enhance the analysis of the impact of R&D expenditure on firms’ growth. This study adopts an OLS regression for a data sample of 46 firms listed on Nasdaq Stockholm for the 2006-2019 period. We present models with R&D expenditure and R&D intensity as the main mechanisms of firm growth, defined as sales growth in this study. Furthermore, firm size, firm age and sector belonging determining the R&D and sales growth relationship are also investigated. We find that R&D intensity has a statistically significant negative impact on firm growth, while R&D expenditure does not show a statistically significant relationship to firm growth. Thus, the results of this paper suggest that devoting a higher proportion of your sales to R&D activities does not translate into firm growth.

Drawing from organizational learning theory, this PhD thesis explores the relationship between exploratory and exploitative R&D and firm performance and advances prior knowledge by specifying how firm- and industry-specific contingencies influence this relationship. Research on ambidexterity suggests that firms should balance exploratory and exploitative R&D activities for enhancing their performance (i.e. invest significantly in both activities). Yet, exploitative R&D (which relies on existing knowledge and old certainties and includes activities and structures that focus on efficiency) and exploratory R&D (which requires distant knowledge and includes activities and structures that rely on experimentation) are two antithetical activities with distinctively different knowledge requirements and outcomes. We therefore posit that specialization rather than ambidexterity might be more beneficial for the performance of some firms. Accordingly, in the context of R&D, we examine how balance versus specialization in exploratory R&D and exploitative R&D affect firm performance. In the first empirical chapter, we test and make a direct comparison between specialization in either exploratory or exploitative R&D and ambidextrous R&D strategies. This chapter also identifies whether and how the returns to exploratory and exploitative R&D vary for those firms that adopt a specialization versus an ambidextrous strategy. It advances thus scholarly understanding of how certain mechanisms affect the returns from specializing in exploratory or exploitative R&D and consequently firm performance. The second empirical chapter contributes to the literature on exploration and exploitation by identifying which specialization strategy (exploratory or exploitative R&D) and under what conditions is more beneficial for firm performance. Drawing from industrial organization economics, our analysis shows that this depends on industry orientation (a typology we develop that captures cross-industry variations in the concentration of exploratory and exploitative R&D activities). In the third empirical chapter, we contribute to our understanding of the phenomenon by examining how firms change their specialization strategies over time. We propose that firm performance depends on the speed at which firms switch between specialization strategies in a given timeframe and examine how the speed of such changes affect firm performance. This chapter offers thus an explanation that accounts for performance differentials across firms that change at different speeds and in different contexts. We test our framework and hypotheses using a longitudinal dataset of 32,537 observations. The analysis mainly supports our theoretical predictions, indicating that the effects of specialization in exploratory/exploitative R&D depend upon both firm and industry- specific dynamics that either accentuate or weaken the effects of exploratory and exploitative R&D investments.

In recent years there has been a steady increase in the number of patients being discharged within five days of coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The ability to be able to predict those patients likely to be discharged within five days of surgery is important to improve the individual patient pathway, plan resources and surgical activity, and also to achieve current policy objectives. Guided by the theory of Stress, Appraisal and Coping (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984), the aim of this observational study was to develop and validate local multivariate models from preoperative patient variables for the purpose of predicting postoperative length of stay and discharge within five days of surgery. The study also investigated the influence of previously neglected psychological variables on these outcomes. The study was conducted in two phases: Phase I A cross-sectional survey design was used for univariate and multivariate analyses of thirty one empirically or theoretically derived variables. Previously collected data was retrospectively analysed for 1043 consecutive patients undergoing first time isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery at a single National Health Service trust during 2005. By univariate analysis twenty variables were found to be associated with postoperative length of stay as a continuous variable, and as a categorical dichotomy of either less than or equal to five days or more than five days. Multivariate analysis of these variables showed that both postoperative length of stay and discharge within five days of surgery were poorly predicted. However, the models developed were much better at predicting postoperative lengths of stay greater than five days. Phase II Another cohort of 503 patients was used to prospectively validate the models. The potential influence of perceived stress and health locus of control was also investigated. These variables were not associated with either outcome. This study identified areas for further research, including the potential of other psychosocial variables to improve the predictive ability of the models. This would increase the utility of the models in practice and contribute to improvements in both the quality of the patient journey and the business objectives of healthcare organisations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-278).
This dissertation demonstrates that valuable strategic insight and a reasonable measure of predictive power can be obtained by developing and analyzing context-rich parsimonious game theoretic strategy models during large technology transitions in concentrated industries. Such models enable clear and compact analysis of oligopolistic competitive dynamics which are typically addressed by more informal processes in much of current managerial practice. This result is established by constructing 3-player game theory models of two prominent, ongoing technology transitions in semiconductor manufacturing: EUV lithography (EUVL) and 450mm silicon wafers. The iterative multi-data-source process used for establishing appropriate game structures and payoff estimates is described in detail. Contextual realism was augmented by in-depth behavioral analysis of select industry players and by interactions with the equipment supplier facing groups at a semiconductor device manufacturer. The robust game theoretic prediction from the EUV lithography R&D model was subsequently validated by the announcement of a series of chipmaker investments totaling greater than $6B in the largest photolithography supplier in July/August 2012 (including significant financial assistance to EUV equipment readiness) and by several other industry financing events in late 2012. Although no such distinct confirmatory evidence exists for the 450mm wafer model predictions, it was found to have substantial face validity. Based on learning from the modeling efforts, criteria are proposed for determining whether other technology transitions will be amenable to such analysis. Generalizability to similar transitions in other industries (including aerospace and automotive) is discussed. Industry strategists, technology and business strategy scholars, and innovation policy makers should find the work of interest.
by George Thomas Heaps-Nelson.
Ph.D.

Aujourd’hui, sur le poids total d'un véhicule, on sait recycler 70% sous forme de ferrailles et 5% sous forme de métaux non ferreux. L’enjeu porte donc sur les 25% restant (RBA), actuellement mis en décharge et principalement représentés par des matières plastiques, caoutchoucs, verres, bois, mousse, etc. La tache est énorme puisque le parc annuel des voitures à recycler compte plus que 1,8 million d'unités. Le traitement des RBA et en particulier de la partie fine (< 15 mm), généralement non-traitée et qui représente une grande partie de la mise en décharge, est le but primordial de la présente recherche. Afin de réduire leur volume et de récupérer toutes les fractions métalliques, des nouvelles techniques ont été mises en œuvre en laboratoire, ainsi qu'aux échelles semi-industrielle et industrielle. Il est proposé un criblage à sec, à 4 mm, des fines 0-15 mm. Ensuite la fraction 4-15 mm est traitée par lavage, magnétisme et courants de Foucault. La fraction 0-4 mm est traitée à sec par magnétisme et tablage pneumatique. Sur la fraction 0-15 mm, on récupère environ 13% en poids sous forme de produit magnétique, 5% sous forme de métaux non ferreux et 37% sous forme d'un stérile faiblement combustible

This dissertation comprises three individual chapters. Chapter Two examines how free riding across neighbors influenced the diffusion of color television sets in rural China. Chapter Three tests for asymmetric information between a firm’s management and other investors concerning its patent output. Chapter Four discusses how knowledge stocks influence a patenting firm’s later diversification. Chapter Two documents the existence of a type of network effects - free riding across neighbors - in the consumption of color television sets in rural China, which reduces the propensity of non-owners to purchase. I construct a model of the timing of the purchase of a durable good in the presence of free riding, and test its key implications using household survey data in rural China. Chapter Three tests for asymmetric information between a firm’s management and other investors about its patent output by examining insider trading patterns and stock price changes in R&D intensive firms. It demonstrates that management has considerable information about its patent output beyond what is known to investors. It also shows that the predictive power of insider trading patterns on patent output comes from purchases rather than sales. Chapter Four discusses two sequential channels through which knowledge stocks may influence a firm’s later diversification. One is that firms with more knowledge are more likely to enter a new industry. The other is that firms’ businesses have a better chance of surviving, conditional on being formed. By examining U.S. public patenting firms in manufacturing sectors for 1984-1996, I find that knowledge stocks predict the likelihood of new industry entry when controlling for firm size. However, this predictive power is weakened when diversification effects are included. On the other hand, a survival study of newly established segments shows that initial knowledge stocks have significant positive effects on segment survival, whereas diversification effects are insignificant.

This master’s thesis deals with evaluation the performance of a limited liability company Zlatovánek. The work is divided into two parts. The theoretical part describes the topic of benchmarking using professional literature. There is explained the concept of benchmarking and issue five-stage model of benchmarking. The practical part describes the selected company Zlatovánek, s. r. o. and benchmarking method is applied in order to increase business performance. Then is the firm compared with a better competitor. The conclusion suggested possible measures to improve business performance.

Governments in both advanced and emerging markets invest heavily into joint R&D projects to facilitate inter-firm collaboration and scientific productivity. As a science-based cluster, nanotechnology is a highly R&D-intensive field with very complex interdisciplinary features that enables multiple interactions between scientists from diverse cultural backgrounds working for multi-faceted organizations across public and private sectors and through internationally regulated borders. In this thesis, I examine the main determinants of the dimensions of inter-firm collaboration in high-tech industries particularly among nanotechnology R&D organisations across Europe. Also, I investigate the key factors that influence the innovation, financial and exit performance of nanotech companies during the commercialisation period and across 15 developed and developing countries, taking into consideration the involvement of venture capital (VC) firms. In order to methodically integrate the qualitative and quantitative features of my research study, I employed mixed method to analyse primary and secondary data collected via survey instruments and comprehensive databases; to gain valuable insights into the complexities around nanotech R&D organisations. The regression results show that a predictable legal system; a high level of tolerance for uncertainty; the proximity to key partners; a high level of export demand for high-tech products; and expansionary economic policies, leads to highly valuable and long-term relationships which produces optimal partnership size with an effective organizational structure. I find that a high financial status of nanotech firms equips R&D project managers with sufficient tangible and intangible resources to engage into complex collaborative partnerships which yield innovative performing outcomes. Also, I find that nanotech R&D firms that exit venture capital investments via IPO are more likely to have their head offices in a big city; and access foreign capital to expand manufacturing operations. I conclude that the successful commercialisation of nanotechnology industries across the globe has been due to the substantial R&D public expenditures and private investments into the application and proliferation of nanotechnologies in key converging scientific fields which require robust inter-firm collaborative partnerships to rapidly develop and promote several portfolios of high-tech products that continually satisfy consumer needs in disruptive ways and secure long-term profitability for nanotech R&D organisations.

This study explored mindfulness in eight self–injuring psychiatric adolescents. A concurrent triangulation mixed–method design was used. In–depth semi–structured clinical interviews and clinical records constituted the qualitative data, while quantitative data was gathered using the Five–Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Thematic analysis was used to generate themes and subthemes for both selfinjury and mindfulness. Findings regarding self–injury were in line with the literature. In terms of mindfulness, two groups emerged: one sometimes acting mindfully and the other often acting mindfully. Both similarities and differences were found between the groups. Similarities in self–injuring behaviour can be explained by their similar scores on Observe and Nonreact, while the differences can be explained by the differences in their scores on Describe, Act with Awareness and Nonjudge. Those who sometimes act mindfully tend to be more self–critical, report more severe and lethal self–injuring episodes and more often use self–injury for self–punishment. Although those who often act mindfully self–injure more often, they show more selfcompassion and report less severe injuries and less lethal methods. Future research should explore the usefulness of mindfulness–based interventions, especially teaching Nonjudge and Nonreact skills, to not only increase mindfulness, but to decrease selfinjuring behaviour. Seeing that this is an exploratory study on a small sample, the results presented here should be considered to be preliminary until replicated with a larger clinical sample.
Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This master thesis is focused on analysis of competitive environment of the company Intelsol s.r.o. The goal was to compare companys competition and determining companys competetive advantage. The theoretical part deals with the basic terminology such as competetive environment, SWOT analysis, and Porters five forces framework. The rest of the chapters in theoretical part are dedicated to market segmentation, marketing communication, customer acquisition and customer service. The practical part is describes the company and its major competitors on domestic market. It is internal and external analysis. Further there is introduction of main competetiors and their comparison using the SWOT analysis and Porters five forces framwork. The last part deals with customer service and competetive advantage. It also contains recommendations regarding managing and improving the company, which Intelsol may find useful in its further corporate life.