Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'House cats'

House cat movements in Canberra suburbs adjacent to grassland and forest/woodland areas were examined using radio-telemetry over 9 months. Information on the composition of vertebrate prey caught by house cats in Canberra was also collected by recording prey items deposited at cat owners' residences over 12 months. Home range areas of 10 suburban house cats, and a colony of seven farm cats, were examined using 95% convex polygons. Nocturnal home range areas of the suburban cats varied between 0.02 and 27.93 ha (mean 7.89 ha), and were larger than diurnal home range areas (range 0.02 to 17.19 ha - mean 2.73 ha). Nocturnal home range areas of cats from the farm cat colony varied between 1.38 and 4.46 ha (mean 2.54 ha), and were also larger than diurnal home range areas (range 0.77 to 3.70 ha - mean 1.70 ha). Activity levels were greater at night than during the day, though diel activity patterns varied seasonally in response to ambient temperature. Four suburban house cats moved between 390 m and 900 m into habitat adjoining the suburb. Movements further than 100-200 m from the suburb edge were always made at night. Polygons describing the home ranges of these animals were strongly spatially biased away from the suburban environment, though the cats spent the majority of their time within the bounds of the suburb. In addition to nocturnal and diurnal effects, home range areas, and subsequently habitat utilisation, appeared primarily determined by the density and spatial distribution of cats utilising separate food resources, and the dominance of individual cats in local social hierarchies, rather than gender or neutering effects. Home ranges of cats in the farm cat colony overlapped extensively, as did those of cats living at the same suburban residence. There was little or no overlap between the home ranges of cats from different residences. Barriers, in the form of busy roads, appeared to also significantly influence home range size and shape. Within home range areas, house cat movements during the day appeared strongly influenced by available cover (drains, tall grass, fences and shrubs etc.), and the location of resting/sunning spots and hunting sites close to home. At night, movement patterns appeared influenced by the location of favoured hunting sites toward the outer edges of home range areas (in this study, tall grass and scrub/forest habitat, and farm buildings). Nineteen hundred and sixty one prey items representing 67 species were reported or collected. Sixty-four percent of the prey items were introduced mammals, with native birds comprising 14%, introduced birds 10%, unidentified birds 3%, reptiles 7%, amphibians 1% and native mammals 1%. Predation appeared to be largely opportunistic with respect to spatial and temporal (daily and seasonal) prey availability and accessibility. All amphibians and 62% of mammals taken by cats not confined at night, were caught at night. In contrast, 70% of birds caught, and 90% of reptiles, were taken during the day (45% of birds between 0600 h and 1200 h, and 61% of reptiles between 1200 h and 1800 h). There was some evidence that small mammals are preferred prey of house cats. The mean number of prey items reported per cat over 12 months - 10.2 � 2.66 (2SE, n=138) - was significantly lower than mean predation per cat per year - 23.3 � 6.16 (2SE, n=138) - estimated by cat owners before the prey survey began. Seventy percent of cats were observed to catch less than 10 prey items over 12 months, but for 6% of cats, more than 50 prey items were recorded. Because counts of the amount of prey caught per house cat per unit time were highly positively skewed, data assumptions and statistical parameters used to extrapolate results from the study sample of cats, to the house cat population of Canberra, had a significant effect on estimates of total predation in Canberra. The precision of the total predation estimate was low (± 25%), from a sample of 0.3% of the Canberra house cat population. The accuracy of such estimates are dependent on how representative the study cat sample is of the wider house cat population, and on the proportion of prey items not observed by cat owners. The total amount of prey taken was not significantly influenced by cat gender, age when desexed, or cat breed. Nor did belling or the number of meals provided per day have a significant influence on predatory efficiency. Cat age and the proportion of nights spent outside explained approximately 11 % of the variation in the amount of prey caught by individual cats. House cat density and distance to prey source areas (rural/grassland habitat) explained 43% of variation in predation on introduced mammals and birds. The impact of predation beyond suburb edges is likely to be most significant on populations of small to medium sized arboreal and ground-dwelling mammals, because of their nocturnal nature, and because they appear to be preferred prey types of house cats. Impacts on diurnally active prey, such as most birds and reptiles, are likely to be confined to within 200 m of residential housing (possibly further where good cover is available). Properly enforced nocturnal confinement should restrict the range sizes of cats that roam widely and utilisation of habitat beyond suburb edges, and also reduce predation on mammals and amphibians. Night-time curfews however, are unlikely to greatly reduce predation on diurnally active species, including most birds and reptiles. Curfews are currently neither widely adopted nor effectively practiced in Canberra. Estimates of predation by house cats, particularly extrapolated estimates, should be treated with caution. They do not necessarily reflect relative impacts on different prey types. Nor do high rates of predation prove prey populations are detrimentally effected, particularly in urban environments. Nonetheless, on a small (backyard) scale in suburban environments, and in habitat within 1 km of residential housing, including isolated private properties, predation by individual cats may threaten populations of native wildlife. Hunting by house cats is particularly undesirable in relatively undisturbed habitat because of fundamental differences in the ecological processes operating in these areas (especially isolated remnants) compared with contrived and modified suburban environments. Adverse impacts on native fauna will always be potentially greatest in undisturbed habitat adjacent to new residential developments

Purrrfect House es una empresa dedicada a la producción y comercialización de artículos ensamblables de entretenimiento diseñado exclusivamente para gatos, lo original de estos artículos es que se pueden ensamblar entre sí. En la actualidad los espacios en los departamentos y/o casas son cada vez más reducidos, sin embargo, buscan una mascota para la familia, en la mayoría de casos adoptan un gato al ser de menor tamaño, hogareños e independientes. Asimismo, se logró identificar las principales necesidades y problemas que falta explorar en el mercado respecto a los gatos, por lo cual existe un nicho importante en Lima Metropolitana, dirigido para ambos sexos, entre un rango de edades desde los 18 a 55 años, pertenecientes al NSE A y B que maneje de forma básica el internet desde cualquier dispositivo. Por ello, el emprendimiento de satisfacer a los dueños de gatos como reducción de espacio, precios de acuerdo al mercado, innovador, entre otros, adquiriendo de forma virtual sin trasladarse de su domicilio y de esta manera dar mención que los productos son eco-amigables. Los dos primeros años se lanzará dos productos en venta que son Dear Bigotes, Sr. Adorable y en el tercer año se incrementara un producto más en el mercado llamado Mr.Kawaii. Finalmente, se refleja un crecimiento de 10% anual de ventas, en la cual el primer año se estima con ventas de ambos productos. Por ende, existirá a la par un flujo una retroalimentación por parte de los clientes para buscar y detectar mejoras en el servicio brindado. Asimismo, se realizó un diagnostico financiero en donde se recurrió a la utilización de los estados financieros como también la información que se pudo obtener de las entrevistas realizadas, incluye además el cálculo e interpretación de las principales razones e indicadores financieros y la aplicación de herramientas como el análisis horizontal y vertical, que sirvieron de base para la elaboración del informe financiero.
Purrrfect House is a company dedicated to the sale of assembled entertainment items designed exclusively for cats that can be assembled together, since at present the spaces in the apartments and / or houses are increasingly reduced, however, they are looking for a pet for the family, in most cases they adopt a cat as it is smaller, homey and independent. Likewise, it was possible to identify the main needs and problems that need to be explored in the market regarding cats, for which there is an important niche in Metropolitan Lima, aimed at both sexes, between an age range from 18 to 55 years old, belonging NSE A and B that basically manages the internet from any device. For this reason, the undertaking to satisfy cat owners as space reduction, prices according to the market, innovative, among others, acquiring virtually without leaving their home at affordable prices and thus mentioning that the products are eco-friendly. In the first two years, two products for sale will be launched, which are Dear Bigotes, Sr. Adorable, and in the third year, another product will be increased in the market called Mr. Kawaii. Finally, a 10% annual sales growth is reflected, in which the first year is estimated with sales of both products. Therefore, there will be at the same time a flow of feedback from customers to seek and detect improvements in the service provided.
Trabajo de investigación

Primary aluminum production brings about severe environmental burden due to its energy intensive process.  Secondary aluminum production contributes to cutting off high energy demand around 90-95% and greenhouse gas emission by remelting scraps. However, previous research indicates melting furnace’s energy efficiency in secondary plant is still very low, which is around 26-29% and more than 70% heat is lost in different way. The objective of this project is to investigate energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in secondary aluminum cast house through process analysis. The result offers a comprehensive overview to aid decision-maker to compare energy consumption and environmental impacts caused by different product or process. This project has been done in collaboration with SAPA Heat Transfer. This project consists of two tasks. First task is aimed to give an overview of annual energy distribution and carbon footprint of per ton aluminum slab in SAPA cast house. In order to analyze energy distribution, mass and energy conservation has been applied for calculation. Meanwhile, International standard method, life cycle assessment, has been used to evaluate greenhouse gas contribution of the whole production process. The second task intends to investigate two effects (melting furnace type, raw material type) on products’ energy consumption and carbon footprint.  Melting furnace’s effect is compared by selecting electric induction furnace and oxy-fuel furnace. On the other hand, raw material’s effect is studied by comparison of four different cast house products which have different raw material recipe. Calculation and analysis results indicates that per ton Sapa cast house aluminum slab consumes energy 3826MJ and contributes to 306kgCO2eq. green house gas. Meanwhile, comparison results show that oxy-fuel melting furnace has higher energy efficiency than electric induction furnace, however, it contributes much more GHG due to consumption of propane fuel. In addition, primary ingot has been concluded as distinct carbon footprint contribution than others contributors (i.e. fuel) for Sapa cast house’s slab.

This thesis is the result of an exploration to develop an architectural series of modular units. It is my position that information regarding site and program are unnecessary when beginning an architectural project. This is clearly demonstrated through my process. In the beginning, these units were developed independently of any program or specific site information. After establishing a series of fundamental architectural ideas, they were used to address a specific program.
Master of Architecture

Thousands of cats are housed in rescue shelters worldwide. Unfortunately, the welfare of these animals is often compromised. Environmental enrichment is' frequently used in an attempt to improve the physical and psychological well-being of sheltered cats. To date, the use of sensory enrichment for such animals has been overlooked. This thesis thus aimed to explore the potential value of sensory stimulation as a method of enrichment for cats residing in one of the leading feline rescue charities in the United Kingdom, Cats Protection. Four experiments were conducted; the first assessed the general behaviour exhibited by cats in the rescue shelter in order to establish baseline levels of activity, while the subsequent three experiments explored the effects of sensory enrichment (visual, olfactory and auditory) on the behaviour and welfare ofsuch animals. For all experiments, cats were studied for three hours a day for three days. Each animal's behaviour was recorded every five minutes over the three hours oftesting per day using time-sampling. Results from the experiments indicated that the cats were experiencing some degree of chronic stress likely to be associated with boredom. Some of the sensory stimulations had a positive effect upon the behaviour and welfare of the animals studied. Visual stimulation, particularly that combining elements of prey items and linear movement, was considered the most effective type of environmental enrichment. Olfactory stimulation in the form of catnip also offered welfare advantages, promoting play and behavioural diversity. Auditory stimulation had inconclusive results on the behaviour of the sheltered cats, and at this stage is not recommended as a form of environmental enrichment for such animals. Overall, it is concluded that certain types of sensory stimulation harbour enrichment potential for sheltered cats. Further long-term studies in this area are highly advocated, however, before generalised conclusions can be drawn.

In this diploma thesis, the possibilities to enhance the process production and energy efficiencyas well as the energy recovery potential of PFA 2 at Hydro-Sunndalsøra have been determined.To identify the potentials for energy recovery, it has been conducted energy balances. The resultsfrom the balances give an overview of the waste heat sources and their total energy content, togetherwith the temperatures at which they are available. The total energy in the waste heatsources for PFA 2 was found to be 17.8 GWh/year. The largest waste heat sources were localisedin connection to the cooling agent of the casting ingot machine. Here disappears 12.32GWh/year through cooling water within a temperature range of 10 to 30°C as well as convectionand radiation to surrounding. The cooling water section one was determined as the most promisingheat recovery potential with 7.47 GWh/year. Furthermore the initialisation of liquid aluminiumalloy was revealed as a waste heat source with 5.48 GWh/year. Here disappears 3.34GWh/year through the flue gas of the furnace within a temperature range of 288 to 1,100°C andcreates the most promising heat recovery potential at the furnace.The energy saving potential is divided into three groups: energy saving by existing equipment,optimising of equipment and waste heat recovery. Here energy saving by existing equipmentreveals 26.4 MWh/year for an improved control quality of the melt temperature. The greatestpotential for energy saving by optimisation of the equipment was found to be 1.98 GWh/year forthe implementation of regenerative burner. Furthermore effects an installation of a furnace pressurecontrol system 689.14 MWh/year less energy consumption due to the avoided false air. Thegreatest energy saving potential for waste heat recovery was estimated to 1.65 GWh/year for thepreheating of charged metals to 300°C, instead of 20°C. The preheating also leads to improvedsafety, because of the elimination of moist metal in the furnaces, and increases the process production,as a consequence of larger melt capacity. Furthermore, heat to power solutions revealedthe use of favourable electricity production by the generation of waste heat. Here the greatestgeneration potential was found to be in the flue gas from the furnace. A common Rankine cycle,with a direct heat recovery design and water as working fluid, was estimated with a recoverypotential of 1.1 GWh/year. With the use of an organic Rankine cycle the potential can be recoveredto 489.8 MWh/year for an indirect heat recovery design and pentane as working fluid. Thereare still some challenges associated with flue gas heat exchangers (dust) and operation of suchpower generation plants at alternating heat loads, but the technology is under rapid development.The waste heat generation potential for the casting ingot machine was determined with 411.3MWh/year for an ideal organic Rankine cycle heat recovery design, within a temperature rangeof 58 to 90°C and R 134a as working fluid. An alternative ideal organic flash cycle layout revealed253.4 MWh/year (&#61544;expander = 0.6) respectively 416.5 MWh/year (&#61544;expander = 0.6), within atemperature range of 36 to 90°C and butane as working fluid. These considerations have lowerefficiencies compared to the furnace layouts caused by the low application temperatures (TBoiler <90°C).

By scrutinising the contemporary practice and discourse of the nineteenth-century cabbing, this thesis has sought to enhance our understanding of London’s hackney carriages from one place to another particularly by reconsidering some relatively overlooked primary sources and adopting a different methodology from previous researchers. The increasing amount of searchable online databases of newspaper collections, periodicals, diaries, letters, and literature works has opened new practical possibilities to explore the untouched area left by previous works on London’s hackney carriages. Also, the object-in-use, object-in-discourse approach adopted in this study has enabled this thesis to provide new understandings of the practice of cabbing in the Victorian London, the relationship between the cab driver and passenger, and the interaction between the city, the cab, and other forms of public transport in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This study has suggested that London’s hackney carriage kept changing its role to help its clientele cope with the increasingly mobilised/modernised/time-pressured society. It became a coordinator or connection among different modes of transport and communication. In addition, it was often appropriated to fulfil a wide range of tasks essential to the time-conscious, privacy-aware, and privacy-pursuing modern urban life, including policing, delivery, transporting ill and wounded people, and providing a private place for meeting, sleeping, or even committing suicide, making itself indispensable to Victorian Londoners. This study also demonstrated various and dynamic relationships between Victorian cab drivers and passengers. It has shown how the service was constantly debated and negotiated among the administration (usually the police and the magistrates), the trade (usually the drivers), and the public (usually the cab hirers) by examining the highly informative court reports considering the quarrels between the cab drivers and the hirers. The driver-passenger relationship was ephemeral and female cab passengers were vulnerable and unprotected so far assumed has been challenged. Evident has been shown in this study to prove that a long-term, or even friendly relationship between individual driver and passenger existed, that Victorian females not only regularly took horse-drawn cabs but also dared to perform bargaining with the drivers (at times even bilked or sued them), and that our Victorian ancestors had different ways of practicing cabbing to ours (bargaining, tipping, or offering the drivers a meal or a drink…), which helped develop different and more complicated driver-passenger relationships.

En los últimos años, ha crecido la tenencia de los gatos en los hogares, lo que también implica atender sus necesidades básicas, así como su estimulación y recreación, por ese motivo sus dueños buscan nuevas opciones de productos para el bienestar de su gato, ya que pasan mucho tiempo fuera de casa porque trabajan o estudian, generando que la mascota se quede sola todo el día, generando estrés o melancolía, siendo perjudicial para la salud y el bienestar de su gato. Por ello, se creó a Kitty Home, una empresa dedicada a la fabricación y comercialización de casas modulares de entretenimiento para gatos que ofrecen protección, comodidad y juego, con el fin de distraer a la mascota durante el día y mejorar su calidad de vida. El segmento de clientes está conformado por personas de estratos A, B y C, de los distritos de Lima Metropolitana que tienen un gato como mascota y se preocupan por su bienestar y salud. Estas casas modulares son de excelente calidad, de atractivos diseños y ecológicos que se pueden usar como vivienda, donde cada módulo se puede personalizar según el espacio y las necesidades, ya que se pueden apilar al “módulo base” (dormitorio), pudiendo crear innumerables opciones de montaje que pueden ir desde una casa pequeña hasta un edificio completo de entretenimiento para gatos. Es un negocio con grandes proyecciones de crecimiento y que dejará grandes ganancias para sus inversionistas.
In recent years, the ownership of cats in homes has grown, which also implies attending to their basic needs, as well as their stimulation and recreation, for that reason their owners seek new options of products for the welfare of their cat, already who spend a lot of time away from home because they work or study, causing the pet to be left alone all day, generating stress or melancholy, being detrimental to the health and well-being of your cat. For this reason, Kitty Home was created, a company dedicated to the manufacture and marketing of modular cat entertainment houses that offer protection, comfort and play, in order to distract the pet during the day and improve its quality of life. The customer segment is made up of people from strata A, B and C, from the districts of Metropolitan Lima who have a cat as a pet and are concerned about their well-being and health. These modular homes are of excellent quality, attractive and ecological designs that can be used as a home, where each module can be customized according to space and needs, since they can be stacked to the "base module" (bedroom), being able to create countless mounting options that can range from a small home to a complete cat entertainment building. It is a business with great growth projections and that will leave great profits for its investors.
Trabajo de investigación

The detection of predators by prey species is crucial in order to escape the threat posed by a predator. In mammals, the olfactory sensory system is commonly used to detect odors emitted by predators, and to determine how threatening the situation actually is. However, knowledge about this ability is still sparse and in some cases conflicting. The aim of the present study was therefore to assess whether CD-1 mice (Mus musculus) show behaviors such as avoidance, anxiety and/or decreased activity when exposed to any of the three odorants: cat bladder urine, horse voided urine or a fruity odor (N-pentyl acetate), with a blank solvent as an alternative in a two-compartment test arena. I found no significant differences between avoidance (the time that the mice spent in the different compartments), anxiety (the numbers of fecal pellets dropped by the mice), or the overall activity (the number of switches between the two compartments), when the mice were exposed to the three different odors. The fact that the cat urine derived from the bladder of the cat may explain the lack of avoidance responses, since bladder urine might not contain the same chemical components as voided urine. Bladder urine might therefore also lack the chemical components that signal “predator” to the mice. In conclusion, mice do not respond differently to the odor of cat bladder urine than to horse voided urine or to the fruity odor of N-pentyl acetate.

A variety of prey species are able to detect predators by odours emanating from their urine, feces, fur and anal glands. However, it is unknown whether the odour of a predator’s blood also contains information signalling “predator” to a prey. The aim of the present study was therefore to assess if blood odour from a cat elicits avoidance or anxiety responses in CD-1 mice (Mus musculus). A two-compartment test arena was used to assess place preference, motor activity and fecal excretions when the mice were simultaneously presented with cat blood and a blank control. Additionally, the mice were tested with horse blood and N-pentyl acetate, a fruity odour. The mice did not show avoidance of any of the three odours. Nevertheless, the mice were significantly less active when exposed to cat blood in comparison to horse blood, but did not increase defecation when exposed to cat blood. This suggests that the information mice get by the odour of cat blood did not contain the signal “predator”.

The aim of the final thesis is design of boarding house and horse stables. The boarding house has two floors, partial basement and exploited attic. The building is designed as rectangle and will serve as support area for guests´accommodation. The building has saddle roof. The main material of vertical and horizontal structures is cast-in-place concrete using formwok VELOX. The second building is horse stables. The building has two floors, partial basement and partial exploited attic for storing fodder. The L-shaped building will serve as stable for eleven horses, storage of fodder and garage for agricultural equipment. The building has saddle roof with truss girders. The main material of vertical and horizontal structures is cast-in-place concrete using formwok VELOX. These buildings are designed on slightly sloping terrain from east to west.

The final thesis is focused on a design of an apartment house and processing of the design documentation. Designed building is situated on the periphery of the town Chrudim in the locality of the housing estate Na Větrníku. It’s a detached house with five floors and a basement. Building has a rectangular plan with dimensions 30,92 × 17,17 m. The foundation of the building is designed as a combination of piles and strips. The vertical constructions will be made of the clay blocks. The floor structures are designed as cast-in-place reinforced concrete floors. The apartment house has a saddle roof with a slope 15°. There are 25 apartments in the building and the mass garages for 15 cars, which are situated in the basement. The garages will serve to the residents of the house.

The aim of the diploma thesis is composition of project documentation for construction of multifunctional building. Object is situated on the cadastral area of Třebíč in the location Na kopcích on the eastern part of city. Terain is slightly sloping. In the multifunctional bulding there are four above-ground floor and one below-ground floor. In the below-ground floor there are situated technical and storage spaces. In the first below-ground floor there are two entrances, the first one for administrative part and second one for residential part. The first and second above-ground floor is used for administrative purposes. The third and fourth above-ground floor is used for living in flats. Above part of the third above-ground floor there is roof made of extensive green roof and above the fourth above-ground floor there is roof made of a flat roof with a classical order of layers with waterproofing layer made of PCV-P. There is a lift in the part of object with flats. The vertical construction system of the building is wall-mounted, supplemented with girders and columns. The ceiling structures are made of reinforced concrete monolithic slabs. The staircase is monolithic reinforced concrete.

This diploma thesis deals with the project documentation of the reconstruction of a mixed-use building in Radnice, which is designed as a four-floor. In the first floor are premises of a post office a pharmacy. The second and the third floor is designed for the management of the city and there is a public library in the fourth floor. The structural system is a cast-in-place concrete frame with the precast floor slabs and the gabled roof. The building is located in a terraced house on a square.

The objectives of the diploma thesis are selected parts of construction technology project – apartment house „Panoráma nad přehradou“. The diploma thesis contains operational procedure of manufacture of bored piles and foundation slab (use of waterproof concrete) and their applicable control and test plans. Another part of the diploma thesis are time and economic plans, concept of site equipment, study of main technological phase realization and block plan drawing. Item budget, OHSAS, operational procedur for manufacture of RC cast-in-place floor slabs and assigned drawings were done within another task.

The subject of this diploma thesis is technological preparation of realization guest – house Jánský potok II. in Jánské Lázně. The diploma thesis contains study of the main technological phases of the object, project of the site equipment, useful machines, time schedule, budget, technological prescription for reinforced concrete construction, project of the formwork for wall and floor slab, control plan, project of the acces road and parking. The basis for technological preparation in this diploma thesis is design documentation.

Confrontés au pouvoir de marché croissant de la grande distribution française, les fournisseurs n’ont cessé de demander l’intervention de l’Etat. Cette intervention a pris la forme du titre IV du livre IV du Code de commerce, un ensemble de règles juridiques encadrant les négociations commerciales annuelles entre distributeurs et fournisseurs. Cette thèse décrit les transformations du Titre IV et évalue la portée du recours au droit dans un contexte marchand. L’enquête porte sur l’élaboration des règles du Titre IV, le contrôle entrepris par la DGCCRF (une administration du ministère de l’Economie et des Finances) ainsi que l’appropriation de ces règles par l’une des enseignes de la distribution française. Les résultats éclairent les conditions sociales d’efficacité des lois destinées à protéger des acteurs économiques faibles. Pour rendre le Titre IV efficace, l’administration a introduit dans le droit des principes moraux et a incité les juges à s’écarter des normes écrites pour évaluer les situations au cas par cas. Les résultats montrent également les ambiguïtés d’un tel recours au droit. Pour s’approprier et contourner les règles dirigées contre elle, la grande distribution s’est dotée de ressources juridiques. Face à cela, l’administration a réagi en rendant les règles plus précises, facilitant ainsi de nouveaux contournements par les distributeurs. Le recours au droit crée également une solidarité entre les professionnels du Titre IV, qu’ils soient affiliés à l’administration, aux fournisseurs ou aux distributeurs. Chez ces professionnels, la défense de l’autonomie du monde du Titre IV finit par primer sur les intérêts des acteurs qu’ils sont censés représenter
Faced with the increasing market power of French mass retail, suppliers lobbied the state into protecting them. The state intervened by creating a new set of rules (“Titre IV du livre IV du Code de commerce”: henceforth “Title IV”) that specifically targeted the annual bargaining process between retailers and suppliers. This dissertation describes the transformation of Title IV and questions whether law constitutes a useful resource to settle structural economic imbalances. To achieve this, I investigated how Title IV was drafted and enforced by DGCCRF (a department of the French ministry of Finance) and how retailers responded to those rules. Results show how to turn economic and commercial law into an effective weapon in the hands of weaker market players. To make Title IV effective, the state regulator incorporated moral principles into statutes and encouraged judges to adjudicate on a case-by-case basis, rather than strictly following the letter of the law. However, results also show the limits of law as a means of settling economic imbalances. By hiring lawyers and complying symbolically with regulations (rather than obeying the letter of the law), mass retailers gradually internalized Title IV. DGCCRF responded by drafting more precise rules. This had the unexpected consequence of making symbolic compliance even more widespread. Title IV had another unexpected effect. It created a sense of solidarity among a group of legal professionals and civil servants. To that group, defending the boundaries of Title IV as a field of expertise became more important than defending specific economic interests

Despite a few decades of discussion and the existence of all the studies on the transfer of the Brno Main Station to the river and the subsequent construction of the new Trnitá district, it has not been decided on the exact architectural form of these major urban interventions. In my pre-diploma thesis, I worked out an urban study of a new southern district - Trnitá, which gave above all a functional and mass form of the territory. This location will be extremely interesting for both the city's visitors, who will be moving from the station to the center, and of course for the potential new residents of the district. The district offers a unique combination of city life and recreation in the immediate vicinity of the natural river and park features. For a more detailed elaboration, I chose a building within a walk-through block by a river consisting of two buildings. My goal was to create a new scenery for what's happening in the neighborhood, to design new scenarios for how we can look at blocks. Given the contact with the waterfront and the river, I decided to propose both private and public functions. An important role is played by the courtyard, which defines a private space (a raised platform intended only for the residents of the house) and a public space - a creative center courtyard using a raised part as a residence bench. The mass of the house is horizontally divided into two parts. The first and second floors belong to the creative center, which is transparent with distinctive stone columns. An important goal was to show the life and movement of the center and its openness to new people and ideas - access from the yard. From the third floor there are apartments that are terraced and offer views of the river and roof terraces of deluxe apartments.

There is concern about the indoor environment in aircraft but few stud-ies exist on self-rated health (SRH) and respiratory symptoms among pilots. Occupational and non-occupational risk factors for SRH, respira-tory symptoms and other symptoms among commercial pilots were investigated in this thesis. One cohort study and one prevalence study were performed among pilots in one Scandinavian airline company. Fungal DNA, furry pet allergens and volatile organic compounds of microbial origin (MVOC) were measured on board. Cat (fel d1), dog (Can f1) and horse (Ecu cx) allergens were found in all dust samples and allergen levels were 27-75 times higher in aircraft with textile seats as compared to leather surfaces. The sum of MVOCs in the cabin air was 3.7 times higher than in homes in Uppsala and 2-methyl-1-butanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol concentrations were 15-17 times higher. Asper-gillus/Penicillium DNA and Aspergillus versicolor DNA were more common in aircraft with textile seats. One fifth reported SRH as poor or fair, 62% had fatigue, 46% overweight/obesity and 71% insomnia. Poor or fair SRH was associated with overweight/obesity, lack of exercise, insomnia, low sense of coherence (SOC) and high work demand. Re-covery from work was worse among those with insomnia and low social support at work. Fatigue was more common among young or female pilots and related to insomnia and high work demand. Pilots flying MD80 or Saab 2000 aircraft had less fatigue. Pilots exposed to environmental tobacco (ETS) on board had more eye symptoms and fatigue which were reduced after the ban of smoking (in 1997). Pilots with increased work demand developed more rhinitis, dermal symptoms and fartigue and those with decreased work control developed more eye symptoms. The incidence of doctors’ diagnosed asthma and atopy were 2.4 and 16.6 per 1000 person years, respectively. Pilots changing type of flight got more airway infections. Those reporting decreased work control had a higher incidence of atopy. Risk factors in the home environment included ETS, dampness or mould, window pane condensation in winter and living in houses built after 1975. In conclusion, SRH and respiratory health among pilots are associated with specific occupational and non-occupational risk factors.

lavare lente | a place for slow washing | alexandria, virginia the proposal is for a slow laundering facility for alexandria, virginia. the building is intended to be slow and deliberate in its construction and inhabitation. without conventional machines, the architecture and the individual must take on increased roles in the process of washing. ideas about how slowness relates to memory, drawing and construction, and about how we might ground ourselves in a manageably paced lifestyle are at the root of the thesis.
Master of Architecture

This dissertation investigates how the upgrading of informal settlements impacts home-based enterprises (HBEs). De Soto’s ‘Mystery of Capital Theory’ suggests that the formalisation of tenure rights, through informal settlement upgrading, can result in poor households gaining access to capital using their houses as collateral against loans. Furthermore, these households can then use this capital to finance the operations of their HBEs. Rust’s conceptualisation of the ‘Housing Asset Triangle’ explains the importance of HBEs in the lives informal settlement households as an economic asset. Thus, the lack of support for HBEs in the implementation of informal settlement upgrading, by municipal officials, impacts negatively on HBEs, and demonstrates Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civilisations’ Theory. Huntington states that when state officials implement informal settlement upgrading, disagreements arise between the officials and the beneficiaries of upgrading, in terms of the objectives and the results of upgrading, stemming mainly from the fact that the state officials and the beneficiaries belong to different civilisations. The researcher uses Cato Crest located in eThekwini Municipality as the case study area, where interviews were conducted with the municipal housing officials that implemented the in-situ upgrade in Cato Crest, using the Informal Settlement Upgrading Programme (ISUP) of the Breaking New Ground (BNG): Housing Policy. Household surveys were also conducted with the Cato Crest households that operated HBEs in the upgraded settlement, who had also done so in the informal settlement prior to the upgrade. The researcher found that HBEs in Cato Crest informal settlements are heavily dependent foot paths, for customers, used by people walking through the settlement. However, the upgraded settlement has lower housing densities than the informal settlement and the foot paths are replaced by road-side pavements. Only the businesses trading from containers located on the road-side survive, as customers using the roads and pavements stop easily to purchase goods. As a result, HBEs suffer and are unable to attract customers anymore and re-establishing HBEs in the upgraded settlement becomes a useless task as only businesses trading from the roadside are successful in the Cato Crest upgraded settlement. Trading from the road-side requires moving the HBE out of the house and into a road-side container, where the latter needs to be purchased by the household in order to take advantage of customers using the roads and pavements. This process proved to be too expensive for poor households operating HBEs in Cato Crest. HBEs are an important income generation strategy for Cato Crest households, and the upgrading of their informal settlement creates a better living environment for these households. However, the inability to continue generating an income using the house in the upgraded settlement creates a harsh environment for households that depend on HBEs for survival. Based on the findings of this study, the recommendations for the future implementation of informal settlement upgrading are that there is a need for a more collaborative effort between municipal housing officials, the Business Support Unit of the eThekwini Municipality, the Local Economic Development Offices, as well as households operating HBEs. More research of the phenomenon of HBEs in informal settlements of any particular area to be upgraded should be conducted. Thereafter, the implementation of HBE accommodating and fitting upgrading plans to each settlement, needs to be carried out by the upgrading officials, so that the upgraded settlement does not only give people access to housing and infrastructure, but creates an environment where they can continue using their houses for income generation in the upgraded settlement.
Thesis (M.Housing)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

An increasing trend of using macroprudential instrument, caps on loan-to-value (LTV) ratio, requires a full understanding of how the instrument works in practice. As the empirical research is still scant, this thesis attempts to contribute with a new evidence on LTV effectiveness in context of six developed economies, namely Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania. To achieve this objective we analyse the impact of caps on LTV on credit growth, mortgage credit-to- GDP ratio and price growth. LTV limits are not a harmonised measure and its national-level implementation includes numerous specificities that can hinder cross-country comparisons. As a result, this thesis proposes a construction of LTV index reflecting specific aspects of the measure. Using the LTV Index we confirmed a slowdown of credit, mortgage and price growth. JEL Classification E44, E51, E52, E58, G21 Key words caps on loan-to-value ratio, maximum LTV ratio, macroprudential policy, credit-related instruments, LTV Index, house price growth, credit growth, financial stability.

Edgar Allan Poe has long been considered one of the great writers in Gothic literature. His works, as he himself suggested in his essay “The Philosophy of Composition,” are intended to strike a unique balance between mainstream appeal and higher literary craft. In many ways, my goals as a composer are similar, not just in mitigating this often tenuous dynamic, but also in tapping into powerful emotional states. Poe is a master at creating moods, for instantly drawing the reader into his dynamic worlds. Many of his works spend a significant amount of time, sometimes paragraph upon paragraph as in the opening to The Fall of the House of Usher, simply detailing his specific vision of the story’s tenor. In this piece, I was interested in musically depicting the imagery, which Poe so eloquently writes. I have chosen three of Poe’s short stories: The Black Cat, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Fall of the House of Usher. In each movement, I deliberately avoid any programmatic connection to the story, that is to say specific events in the music do not coincide with any actual depiction of an event within the intended story. Rather this piece examines and details the specific tone of each story. Midnight Drearies: Three Moods on Edgar Allan Poe was written for Dan Welcher and the University of Texas New Music Ensemble.
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