Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Wool market'

[Truncated abstract] The core objective of this thesis is summarised by its title: “Understanding the World Wool Market: Trade, Productivity and Grower Incomes”. Thus, we wish to aid understanding of the economic mechanisms by which the world wool market operates. In doing so, we analyse two issues trade and productivity and their effect on, inter alia, grower incomes. To achieve the objective, we develop a novel analytical framework, or model. The model combines two long and rich modelling traditions: the partial-equilibrium commodity-specific approach and the computable-general-equilibrium approach. The result is a model that represents the world wool market in detail, tracking the production of greasy wool through five off-farm production stages ending in the production of wool garments. Capturing the multistage nature of the wool production system is a key pillar in this part of the model . . . The estimated welfare gain for China is 0.1% of real income; this is a significant welfare gain. For three losing regions Italy, Germany and Japan the results are robust and we can be highly confident that these regions are the largest losers from the complete removal of 2005 wool tariffs. In both wool tariff liberalisation scenarios, regions whose exports are skewed towards wool textiles and garments gain the most as it is these wool products that have the highest initial tariff rates. The overall finding of this work is that a sophisticated analytical framework is necessary for analysing productivity and trade issues in the world wool market. Only a model of this kind can appropriately handle the degree of complexity of interactions between members (domestic and foreign) of the multistage wool production system. Further, including the nonwool economy in the analytical framework allows us to capture the indirect effects of changes in the world wool market and also the effects on the nonwool economy itself.

The New Zealand Wool Industry (NZWI) contributes over a billion dollars a year to NZ gross output. However, this industry is at a crossroads and the incumbent practitioners are looking for ways to increase the value of the New Zealand wool clip. The value of the industry to the economy is directly related to the price which buyers are prepared to pay for wool, primarily as a result of the marketing approaches used, physical parameters of wool as well as intra and inter-fibre competition. The inflation adjusted price has steadily decreased over recent years and understanding of its dynamics is a fundamental problem for the stakeholders. Among the stakeholders, buyers / exporters, heavily involved in the process of price formation currently face a real time problem of sourcing strong wool from two parallel but different marketing systems operated simultaneously – auction and direct supply. The underlying mathematics which governs the decision making of buyers on the price dynamics in these sourcing options is poorly understood. This study developed system models for price formation in both auction and direct supply sourcing and an associated optimization model for the buyer / exporter of the New Zealand wool clip. All three of these models were original and none appear to have been described previously. It is hoped that these three models will be of quite general utility and also be useful therefore for other agricultural commodities that are traded simultaneously via auction and direct supply. The average price for a given wool type, which is the output from this new modelling exercise is precisely what is required as input data for solving the minimization problem in wool blending models.

Thesis (doctoral)--Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 2006.
Thesis documentation sheet inserted. Appendix reprints four papers and manuscripts, two co-authored with others. Includes bibliographical references. Also issued electronically via World Wide Web in PDF format; online version lacks appendix.

Recent emphasis on producing energy from woody biomass has raised questions about the impact of a vibrant wood-to-energy market on the southern wood supply chain, which consists of forest landowners, forest industry mills, and harvesting contractors. This study utilized two surveys of southern wood supply chain participants and a designed operational study of an energywood harvest to investigate the impact of an expanded wood-to-energy market on each member of the southern wood supply chain. First, a survey of consulting foresters was conducted to examine how harvest tract size, forest ownership, and forest industry structure have changed within the U.S. South and how foresters expect the wood-to-energy market to impact the wood supply chain in the future. Second, this study employed a mail survey of forest landowners, forest industry mills, and wood-to-energy facilities from the thirteen southern states in order to investigate expected competition for resources, wood supply chain profitability, and landowner willingness to sell timber to energy facilities. Third, this study conducted a designed operational study on a southern pine clearcut in the Coastal Plain of North Carolina, with three replications of three harvest prescriptions to measure harvesting productivity and costs when harvesting woody biomass for energy. The three treatments were: a Conventional roundwood only harvest (control), an Integrated harvest in which roundwood was delivered to traditional mills and residuals were chipped for energy, and a Chip harvest in which all stems were chipped for energy use. Results from the two surveys suggest that timber markets are inadequate in many areas of the South as a result of expanded timber supply and reduced forest products industry capacity. Only 12% of responding landowners and foresters had sold wood to an energy facility, indicating that wood-to-energy markets are non-existent in many areas of the South. Nonetheless, 98% of consulting foresters and 90% of landowners reported a willingness to sell timber to an energy facility if the right price were offered. Consulting foresters expected wood-to-energy facilities to provide an additional market for wood, and not displace forest products industry capacity. However, two-thirds of consulting foresters, wood-to-energy facilities, and private landowners expected competition between mills and energy facilities while 95% of fibermills (pulp/paper and composite mills) expected competition. Fibermills were much more concerned about competition for resources and increases in wood costs than any other member of the southern wood supply chain. The operational study documented the challenges facing some harvesting contractors in economically producing energywood. Onboard truck roundwood costs increased from $9.35 green t-1 in the Conventional treatment to $10.98 green t-1 in the Integrated treatment as a result of reduced felling and skidding productivity. Energy chips were produced for $19.19 green t-1 onboard truck in the Integrated treatment and $17.93 green t-1 in the Chip treatment. Energywood harvesting costs were higher in this study than in previous research that employed loggers with less expensive, more fuel efficient equipment. This suggests that high capacity, wet-site capable loggers may not be able to economically harvest and transport energywood without a substantial increase in energywood prices. This study suggests that the southern wood supply chain is in position to benefit from a vibrant wood-to-energy market. Landowners should benefit from an additional market for small-diameter stems. This study shows that high production, wet-site capable loggers should not harvest energywood until prices for this material appreciate considerably. Wet-site loggers have very expensive equipment with high hourly fuel consumption rates and this study documented that energywood production was not sufficiently high to offset the high hourly cost of owning and operating this equipment. Nevertheless, a wood-to-energy market should benefit harvesting contractors in general because unless the forest products industry contracts further, loggers can continue to harvest and deliver roundwood to mills as they do at present and those properly equipped for energywood harvesting at low cost may be able to profit from a new market. The forest products industry has the largest potential downside of any member of the southern wood supply chain. This study documents widespread anticipation of competition between the forest products and wood-to-energy industries. However, to date there has been minimal wide-scale competition between the forest products and wood-to-energy industries. It is possible that the wood-to-energy industry will complement, rather than compete with the forest products industry, and thereby benefit each member of the southern wood supply chain.
Ph. D.

The largest wool exporter in the world is Australia, where wool being a major export is worth over AUD $2 billion per year and constitutes about 17 per cent of all agricultural exports. Most Australian wool is sold by auctions in three regional centres. The prices paid in these auction markets are used by the Australian production and service sectors to identify the quality preferences of the international retail markets and the intermediate processors. One ongoing problem faced by wool growers has been the lack of clear market signals on the relative importance of wool attributes with respect to the price they receive at auction. The goal of our research is to model the structure of Australian wool auction prices. We aim to optimise the information that can be extracted and used by the production and service sectors in producing and distributing the raw wool clip.Most of the previous methods of modelling and predicting wool auction prices employed by the industry have involved multiple-linear regressions. These methods have proven to be inadequate because they have too many assumptions and deficiencies. This has prompted alternative approaches such as neural networks and tree-based regression methods. In this thesis we discuss these alternative approaches. We observe that neural network methods offer good prediction accuracy of price but give minimal understanding of the price driving variables. On the other hand, tree-based regression methods offer good interpretability of the price driving characteristics but do not give good prediction accuracy of price. This motivates a hybrid approach that combines the best of the tree-based methods and neural networks, offering both prediction accuracy and interpretability.Additionally, there also exists a wool specifications problem. Industrial sorting of wool during harvest, and at the start of processing, assembles wool in bins according to the required wool specifications. At present this assembly is done by constraining the range of all specifications in each bin, and having either a very large number of bins, or a large variance of characteristics within each bin. Multiple-linear regression on price does not provide additional useful information that would streamline this process, nor does it assist in delineating the specifications of individual bins.In this thesis we will present a hybrid modular approach combining the interpretability of a regression tree with the prediction accuracy of neural networks. Our procedure was inspired by Breiman and Shang’s idea of a “representer tree” (also known as a “born again tree”) but with two main modifications: 1) we use a much more accurate Neural Network in place of a multiple tree method, and 2) we use our own modified smearing method which involves adding Gaussian noise. Our methodology has not previously been used for wool auction data and the accompanying price prediction problem. The numeric predictions from our method are highly competitive with other methods. Our method also provides an unprecedented level of clarity and interpretability of the price driving variables in the form of tree diagrams, and the tabular form of these trees developed in our research. These are extremely useful for wool growers and other casual observers who may not have a higher level understanding of modelling and mathematics. This method is also highly modular and can be continually extended and improved. We will detail this approach and illustrate it with real data.The more accurate modelling and analysis helps wool growers to better understand the market behaviour. If the important factors are identified, then effective strategies can be developed to maximise return to the growers.In Chapter 1 of this thesis, we present a brief overview of the Australian wool auction market. We then discuss the problems faced by the wool growers and their significance, which motivate our research.In Chapter 2, we define the predictive aspect of the modelling problem and present the data that is available to us for our research. We introduce the assumptions that must be made in order to model the auction data and predict the wool prices.Chapter 3 discusses neural networks and their potential in our wool auction problem. Neural networks are known to give good results in many modern applications resolving industrial problems. As a result of the popularity of such methods and the ongoing development of them, our research partner, the Department of Agriculture and Food, Government of Western Australia, performed a preliminary investigation into neural networks and found them to give satisfactory predictions of wool auction prices. In our Chapter 3, we perform an analysis and assessment of neural networks, specifically, the generalised regression neural networks (GRNN). We look at the strengths and weaknesses of GRNN, and apply them to the wool auction problem and comment on their relevance and usability in our wool problem. We detail the problems we face, and why neural networks alone may not be the best approach for the wool auction problem, thus laying the foundation for the development of our hybrid modular approach in Chapter 5. We also use the numerical prediction results from GRNN as the benchmark in our comparisons of different modelling methods in the rest of this thesis.Chapter 4 details the tree-based regression methods, as an alternate approach to neural networks. In analysing the tree-based methods with our wool auction data, we illustrate the tree methods’ advantages over neural networks, as well as the trade-offs, with our auction data. We also demonstrate how powerful and useful a tree diagram can be to the wool auction problem. And in this Chapter, we improve a typical tree diagram further by introducing our own tabular form of the tree, which can be of immerse use to wool growers. In particular, we can use our tabular form to solve the wool specification problem mentioned earlier, and we incorporate this tabular form as part of a new hybrid methodology in Chapter 5. In Chapter 4 we also consider the ensemble methods such as bootstrap aggregating (bagging) and random forests, and discuss their results. We demonstrate that, the ensemble methods provide higher prediction accuracies than ordinary regression trees by introducing many trees into the model. But this is at the expense of losing the simplicity and clarity of having only a single tree. However, the study of assemble methods do end up providing an excellent idea for our hybrid approach in Chapter 5.Chapter 5 details the new hybrid approach we developed as a result of our work in Chapters 3 and 4 using neural networks and tree-based regression methods. Our hybrid approach combines the two methods with their respective strengths. We apply our new approach to the data, compare the results with our earlier work in neural networks and tree-based regression methods, then discuss the results.Finally, we conclude our thesis with Chapter 6, discussing the potential of our new hybrid approach and the directions of possible future works.

A nationwide mail survey of professional home builders, remodelers, and siding contractors was undertaken to develop a better understanding of professional end users and the patterns of competition in the residential siding market. Perceptual mapping and determinant attribute analysis are demonstrated to have strategic applications in the forest products industry. Four-hundred and twelve respondents provided information related to activities involving siding, product use, and distribution. Product-markets were explored using siding preferences, which were measured for single-family homes in six home price categories. Perceptions of siding materials were used to evaluate the threat that non-wood materials pose to solid wood, hardboard, and plywood sidings. Respondents rated seven siding materials on eleven attributes. Perceptual maps were constructed using multiple discriminant analysis, and preferences were used to locate ideal points. Negative perceptions of all wood products exist in terms of weather resistance and maintenance. Solid wood holds a niche in appearance/status, and remains competitive against brick because of brick's application cost. While solid wood siding remains relatively free from substitution threats, vinyl's threat would increase if repositioned to enhance its appearance/status. Vinyl poses a considerable threat to hardboard and plywood. Hardboard's lack of competitive advantage and position relative to vinyl makes it particularly vunerable to vinyl substitution. Comparisons of users and non-users of each product are made, and general guidelines of using the perceptual map for positioning, promotion, and new product strategies are given.
Master of Science

Thermally modified wood (TMW) contains no toxic components and is recommended for its durability, levels of equilibrium of moisture content, and dimensional stability performance. A limitation of TMW is the lack of market acceptance and products due to insufficient information regarding the performance of commercially available products. The goal of this project was to improve the market penetration and industrial processes of TMW. The first objective was to study the perception of TMW products from architects in North America using a survey instrument. Results revealed that information regarding TMW is not reaching the audience for TMW, and that providing knowledge regarding technical and marketing aspects of TMW is essential to increase the market share. The second objective consisted of the evaluation of the variability of the physical and mechanical properties of three thermally treated species manufactured in North America. Results showed that the performance of the commercially produced material was similar among the three companies, where only in seven out of 24 properties had statistical differences. Properties that were significantly different, did not have large enough differences in means to be realistically noticed by customers and all were highly different from untreated wood. The final objective involved the implementation of Lean thinking to the manufacturing process of TMW with the goal of improving the process with a direct impact on cost and waste reductions. Three companies were used as case studies for the production process. The implementation of Lean thinking in the process proposed a reduction in lead times from 55.47 days to 23.20 days, with an increase in value-added activities from 1% to 6%. Most of these gains were obtained through a reduction in inventory levels.
Master of Science
Thermally modified wood (TMW) contains no toxic components and is recommended for its durability, levels of equilibrium of moisture content, and dimensional stability performance. The current market for TMW encounters a lack market acceptance, due to insufficient information and performance measures. The main goal of this study was to increase market penetration and study the industrial processes for manufacturing TMW, using three specifics objectives. For the first objective, a survey was conducted to study the perception of TMW among architects. The results showed a that there was a lack of information regarding the technical and marketing aspects of TMW products, which needs to be addressed by distributors and producers. The second objective consisted of the evaluation of the variability of mechanical and physical properties of three thermally treated species manufactured in North America. The results showed that the performance from the commercial processes were similar, where only seven out of 24 cases showed statistical differences based on the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The final objective consisted of a Lean process strategy to produce TMW, improving the process with a direct impact on cost and waste reduction. To study the production process, three case study companies were used. The proposed Lean process reduced the lead times and value-added activities increased. The primary gain was seen in reducing inventory levels.

Decision-makers involved in material choice decisions in the United States infrastructure were surveyed to identify factors which are important in the material choice decision and to determine the perceptions of wood in various infrastructure applications. This information led to the development of strategies to increase the use of wood in infrastructure markets across the US. The highway, marine/inland waterway, railroad and utility systems composed the four markets representing the US infrastructure. A total of 2344 questionnaires were mailed nationwide. The perceptions of wood were further defined through personal interviews with 112 individuals in four geographically dispersed states. The most important factors in material choice decisions were durability, maintenance and cost. Environmental impact, ease of design and innovativeness of material were less important in the material choice decision. Highway and marine/inland waterway respondents perceived wood to be among the lowest materials in overall performance. Railroad and utility respondents perceived wood to have significantly better overall performance than highway and marine/inland waterway respondents. Respondents perceived wood's advantages to be its aesthetically pleasing appearance, low initial cost, ease in repair and ease in field modification. They perceived the disadvantages of wood to be high life-cycle costs, high maintenance requirements and low biological decay resistance. Several strategies are suggested to increase wood use in infrastructure, including: greater market approach by the wood products industry, improved timber structure design details, and increased service life of wood through improved chemical preservative treatments.
Master of Science

Over the last decades, wood has encountered increasing competition from other building materials. Hence, it is relevant to study the underlying factors of material substitution. The market for repair and remodelling (R&R) is growing in importance. The end-consumer´s, or the household?s, assessments as to material selection are generally more crucial in R&R than in construction of new houses, a circumstance highlighting the importance of the end-consumer. Consequently, this thesis deals with material substitution within an end-consumer context. Proper market segmentation and targeting presuppose an understanding of why households differ as to material preferences. Prioritising customer needs in quality improvement and/or product development requires information as to the importance of different customer requirements or needs as well as the performance of wood, relative substitutes, in providing for these needs. The thesis proposes a coherent approach for market segmentation and for prioritising customer needs: (i) how to provide a basis for market segmentation and targeting, i.e., to extract the distinguishing features of different material preferences; (ii) how to extract information enabling the prioritising of customer needs, i.e., importance and performance information. Identifying prominent discriminating factors of building application material preference, in order to subsequently explain why households differ within and between samples/cultures as to material preferences, and finally assessing customer requirements or needs as to the importance and the performance of wood relative substitutes in fulfilling them, presuppose an approach for data collection and analysis, which in turn requires a theoretical frame of reference. Hence, in the thesis a theoretical framework and different methods, for extracting decisive preferential predictors and assessing customer needs respectively, are suggested and evaluated. A pronounced design profile and distinct material alternatives make floorcovering a good illustrative example. The results indicate that material substitution with an end-consumer focus should be studied within a contextual framework. Hence, the usage context, the type of room refloored and whether the dwelling is owned or not, seems to define the types of materials actively considered. Further, households obviously differ in how they perceive the concept of floorcovering in a given usage context, depending on the general life situation and individual experience. Data collection, with the aim of identifying distinguishing factors of building application material preferences, must thus handle the collection of data related to usage context as well as the general life situation and individual experience. To obtain a deeper understanding of the underlying motives open-ended questions are called for. Performance benchmarking as to customer requirements or needs should be relative competitors in the same market segment, i.e., close substitutes. The assessment of customer needs should allow analysis on benefit levels, as alternatives in material substitution most readily can be compared in terms of the more abstract benefits/consequences they provide rather than concrete attributes. The apparent causal complexity, resulting from contextual influences, severely limits the usefulness and adequacy of traditional, additive, statistical analysis. Multivariate projection methods like partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA); in coping with collinear variables, as well as the Boolean approach of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA); enabling data reduction in a theoretically guided manner, have potential for handling multiple conjunctural causation when analysing material preferences. Furthermore, both methods are able to handle binary variables resulting from open-ended questions, dependent as well as independent. PLS-DA can, however, more readily than Boolean algebra capture contextual influences. Analysis by means of PLS-DA thus seem to provide the information necessary for market segmentation and targeting, i.e., the causes of preferential differences both between and within cultures: evaluative criteria and variables related to the context. The output from the analysis of material preferences serve as input to the subsequent assessment of customer needs, as to the make-up of customer needs and as to which materials constitute close substitutes, i.e., share usage context. Customer satisfaction modelling (CSM) using partial least squares (PLS) seems well adapted for extracting the information necessary for prioritising customer needs: the impact on customer satisfaction of the fulfilment of different customer requirements or needs, and the performance of wood, relative substitutes, in providing for these needs. A valuable asset of CSM is the ability to allow analysis on customer benefit as well as attribute level. Usage context and data connected with the life situation provide instruments for market segmentation and targeting. For example: according to the present results, users of wooden flooring in the Netherlands are house owners to a greater extent and generally have a higher household income than users of laminated flooring. One of the apparently salient reasons for choosing wood, the natural material property, is part of the intrinsic nature, character, of the material. This quality of wood could provide an edge on the close substitute, laminated flooring. The results presented in the thesis further indicate that practical, functional, benefits exert the greatest impact on customer satisfaction, for wooden flooring as well as its closest substitutes laminate and carpet. This is noteworthy, as the salient evaluative criteria for choosing wooden flooring, unlike the other materials studied, were of a non-practical nature. This circumstance highlights the necessity of considering substitutes to identify latent needs. A low cost over the life cycle and hygiene are apparently the most important benefits to improve for wooden flooring manufacturers, as importance is high and performance relatively low.

In the past two decades, China has achieved a spectacular success in its economic growth. As a basic input for the production process, the forest resource has been one of the fundamental factors propping up the expansion of China's economy. When China is absorbing imports of timber products in the global market, studies of China's forestry system and its timber market incite greater interest. This paper represents a systematic approach to probe into the comprehensive realities of China's forestry system and its timber market. Econometric methods are applied in analyzing the demand and supply patterns. The empirical analysis is used to forecast the quantity demanded for timber products in China.

A statewide mail survey of primary and secondary wood product manufacturers was undertaken to quantify the production and consumption of wood residues in Virginia. Two hundred and sixty-six wood product manufacturers responded to the study and they provided information on the production, consumption, markets, income or disposal costs, and disposal methods of wood residues. Hardwood and pine sawmills produce approximately 66 percent of Virginia's wood residues. Virginia's wood product manufacturers produce three primary residues: chips, bark, and sawdust. These three residues comprised nearly 83 percent of Virginia's total residue production in 1996. Approximately 200,000 tons or 6 percent of Virginia's wood residues appear not to have adequate markets. A second survey was directed to all municipal waste, construction and demolition, and "other" waste facilities in Virginia. The focus of this survey was to quantify the volume of solid wood residues received at the facilities. In addition, the study was conducted to ascertain tipping fees, did the landfill(s) actively market wood residues, were wood residues recycled, were wood residues restricted from being landfilled, and disposal methods for wood residues. Additionally, the survey was conducted to determine the type of waste facility operated, the quantity of all wastes directed to each landfill, and tipping fees. Seventy-five respondents provided information on the total and solid wood waste volumes received at their respective facilities, recycling efforts, and disposal practices. Approximately 689,000 tons of solid wood, or 8 percent of all wastes, was received at Virginia's landfills in 1996. Virginia's waste facilities reported processing or recycling approximately 406,000 tons or 59 percent of the solid wood received in 1996.
Master of Science

Companies in the construction industry have a wide range of choices of suppliers for the company's needs in building materials. Local (in-state) suppliers within key southern states have issues gaining market share within the construction sectors. Construction companies often outsource their purchase of wood products from a different state or country, which adversely affects the local economy due to not purchasing from in-state or local wood product suppliers. Construction companies are often not aware of local suppliers due to lack of resources or general lack of knowledge. The primary research question of this thesis is: can construction company procurement decisions and supplier selection methods help local wood product suppliers gain more market share within the construction industry? Companies within the states of Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Florida, and Virginia were interviewed over the phone and in person to determine how the companies choose the wood product suppliers and what factors impact the purchasing decisions. Key factors included: cost, quality, delivery, flexibility, location, relationship, and payment options. A survey of construction companies was created and conducted after the interviews were concluded. Important factors highlighted by the survey responses included: cost, quality, relationship, and lead time in choosing a supplier. Suppliers were asked to differentiate their products using information the construction companies highlighted as factors they emphasized. Construction companies offered insight into how they purchase wood products, the factors they desire in their suppliers, and how often they purchase in-state. In-state wood product suppliers have an opportunity to gain market share within the construction industry using the factors those construction companies favored in interviews and survey results.
Master of Science
Companies in the construction industry have a wide range of choices of suppliers for the company's needs in building materials. Local (in-state) suppliers within key southern states have issues gaining market share within the construction sectors. Construction companies often outsource their purchase of wood products from a different state or country, which adversely affects the local economy due to not purchasing from in-state or local wood product suppliers. Companies within the states of Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Florida, and Virginia were interviewed over the phone and in person to determine how the companies choose the wood product suppliers and what factors impact the purchasing decisions. Key factors included: cost, quality, delivery, flexibility, location, relationship, and payment options. A survey of construction companies was created and conducted after the interviews were concluded. Important factors highlighted by the survey responses included: cost, quality, relationship, and lead time in choosing a supplier. Suppliers were asked to differentiate their products using information the construction companies highlighted as factors they emphasized. In-state wood product suppliers have an opportunity to gain market share within the construction industry using the factors those construction companies favored in interviews and survey results.

Japan is one of the world’s major importers of wood products. Most of the wood entering the country is destined to Japan’s house building industry. However, Japan has been an indifferent market regarding demand of wood products certified for sustainable forest management. Current pressures that may indicate a shift in market conditions include: the recent economic recovery, increasing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and the new government’s public purchasing policies (PPP) titled Timber Procurement Policies. In order to assess the market prospect (in the next 5 years) for wood products certified as coming from sustainable and/or legal sources a study was completed focusing on Japanese home builders. Data was collected through a self administered mail survey of residential builders in Japan. Results show that there is a low level of understanding, as well as willingness to adopt, forest management certification among Japanese builders. Consequently, current market demand for certified products is low and builders expect little change in consumers’ demand for wood materials certified for sustainable management as well as those certified for legality in the next five years. Builders considered the most important potential drivers for increased demand for certified and/or legal wood products to be rigorously implemented public purchasing policies, followed by increasing final consumers’ demand and the growth in CSR. Builders also estimated that the positive impact of PPPs would be rather modest but widespread. Finally, builders indicated that PPPs would favour demand for certain product categories, such as: domestic wood, softwoods, wood from plantation and to a lesser degree wood from temperate forests.

A nationwide mail survey was conducted among importers and other members of the supply chain linked to the importation of tropical hardwood products to assess the market potential for Bolivian lesser-known wood species (LKS) in the U.S. market. One hundred and eleven companies responded to the questionnaire and provided information on their interest in importing lesser-known wood species, their willingness to pay for a Bolivian wood species substitute, percentage of their imports that are environmentally certified, and important factors considered to try new wood species. The results indicate that tropical hardwoods represent 33% of the product mix of companies that purchased wood products. Typically, companies imported less than 100 MBF in 2006. Sawnwood was the product that was imported the most, followed by plywood, veneer and flooring. Six Bolivian LKS are among the top 16 new wood species purchased by respondent companies in 2006 and three Bolivian LKS are part of the top 12 common tropical wood species imported in the U.S. Sixty-seven percent of overall respondents stated that they have plans to increase the imports of tropical hardwoods in 2007. Typically, members of the supply chain tried 1 to 2 new wood species in 2006. Retailers were the sector that tried the most, on average 5 new species. Price and availability were the major reasons to try new wood species. A MS-Access database was developed that allows comparisons of 20 potentially marketable Bolivian LKS with 10 common U.S. domestic hardwoods and 20 common tropical hardwoods imported into the U.S. Finally, strategic marketing recommendations are suggested to promote Bolivian LKS in the U.S. Results indicate that there are good opportunities for Bolivian LKS in the U.S market.
Master of Science

This thesis investigates the relationship between marketing communications and wood use. This investigation was conducted among architects within the context of the North American nonresidential construction market, where the structural use of wood is low compared to steel and concrete. Among architects, wood was deemed to be the most environmentally friendly material compared to steel and concrete. However, wood products are not perceived to perform as well as concrete in the areas of durability, fire resistance, contribution to building value, and structural performance. Using a common brand personality scale as an exploratory technique, architects perceived wood to be a ‘sincere’, but ‘unexciting’, structural material. Through an experimental design, it was shown that the perceived identity of wood among architects was not altered by any of the communications stimuli that were used. These stimuli, which were representative of common industry practices, were brochures categorized as Advertising, Case Study, and Technical Data. The case study was more influential than the technical brochure, with the advertisement ranking in between. Architects were more likely to keep the technical data for future reference than the other brochures. Important informational needs identified related to design possibilities, regulations and standards, environmental footprints, and sustainable design. These needs suggest that wood products will increasingly be bundled with information, which will require wood product firms to produce knowledge in addition to products. To alleviate the challenge of communicating with architects, it was proposed that wood products firms may implement a branding strategy. As a result, a framework for unveiling the brand identity of wood products organisations was developed. With such a branding strategy in place, the role of communications for wood products firms evolves from the goal of persuasion towards a longer term, communicative intent.

A candidate gene approach was used to identify potential genetic markers associated with wool quality traits including mean fibre diameter (MFD), fibre diameter standard deviation (FDSD), coefficient of variation of fibre diameter (CVD), prickle factor, curvature, yellowness, brightness, staple strength, staple length, yield, greasy fleece weight (GFW) and clean fleece weight (CFW). Inheritance of potential genetic markers was studied in two half-sib Merino families and assessed for association with the wool quality traits. The sire for one of the half-sib families is referred to as MV144-58-00, and wool measurements from its progeny were taken at 12 (n = 131), 24 (n =128) and 36 (n = 37) months of age. The sire for the second half-sib family is referred to as Stoneyhurst, and wool measurements from its progeny (n = 35) were taken at 12 months of age. Genes that code for the keratin intermediate-filament proteins (KRTs) (KRT1.2, KRT2.10) and the keratin intermediate-filament-associated proteins (KAPs) (KAPl.1, KAPl.3, KAP3.2, KAP6.1, KAP 7, KAP8) were targeted for this investigation, along with the beta 3-adrenergic receptor (ADRB3) gene and microsatellites BfMS and OarFCB193. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify specific DNA fragments from each locus and PCR- single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis was used to detect polymorphism within the half-sib families for all the loci, except for the KAP1.1 gene, where length polymorphism was detected using agarose gel electrophoresis. Only the loci that were heterozygous for the sire (KAP1.1, KAP1.3, KRT1.2, ADRB3, KAP8) and hence were informative, were genotyped in the progeny. The total number of alleles observed at the KAP1.1, KAP1.3, KRT1.2, KAP8 and the ADRB3 loci were four, ten, six, five and six, respectively. Analysis of each of the informative loci revealed allelic associations with various wool traits. In the MV144-58-00 (genotypes KAP1.1 AB; KAP1.3 BD; KRT1.2 AB; ADRB3 CE) half-sib, inheritance of the KAP1.1 A allele was associated with a higher yield at 24 months of age (P = 0.037). This trend also observed at 36 months of age (P = 0.078). At 12 months of age, the KAP1.1 A allele tended to be associated with increased staple length (P = 0.08). At 36 months of age, the inheritance of the KAP1.1 B allele tended towards being associated with whiter wool (P = 0.080). The MV144-58-00 KAP1.3 D allele tended to be associated with increased yield at 24 and 36 months of age (P = 0.091 and 0.059, respectively), and with lower FDSD at 12 months of age (P = 0.055). The sire KAP1.3 B allele was associated with whiter wool colour at 36 months of age (P = 0.045). The inheritance of the MV144-58-00 KR T1.2 B allele was associated with or tended to be associated with a smaller FDSD (P = 0.040), an increase in staple strength (P = 0.025) and an increase in GFW (P = 0.069) at 12 months of age. At 24 months of age, the KR T1.2 B allele tended to be associated with increased yield (P = 0.057). At 36 months of age, the KRTl.2 A allele was associated with whiter wool (P = 0.019) and tended to be associated with increased crimp within the wool fibre (P = 0.089). In the Stoneyhurst (genotypes KAP1.1 BC; KAP1.3 CJ; KRT1.2 DE; ADRB3 CE) half-sib, inheritance of the KAP1.1 B allele was associated with longer staple length (P = 0.018) and a decrease in wool brightness (P = 0.039). In contrast, KAP1.1 C allele was associated with lowest staple length (P = 0.018) and brighter wool colour (P = 0.039). Associations observed with the inheritance of Stoneyhurst KAP 1.1 alleles were similar to the inheritance ofKAPl.3 alleles. Stoneyhurst KAP1.3 J allele was associated with longer staple length (P = 0.017) and a decrease in wool brightness (P = 0.010). In contrast, KAP1.3 C allele was associated with lowest staple length (P = 0.017) and brighter wool colour (P = 0.010). The Stoneyhurst KRT12 D allele was associated with longer staple length and a decrease in wool brightness (P = 0.033). In contrast, KRT1.2 E allele was associated with lowest staple length (P = 0.033) and brighter wool colour (P = 0.022). Sire alleles at the ADRB3 gene locus were associated with variation in staple strength (P = 0.025) for MV144-58-00's progeny, and with variation in yield (P = 0.023) for Stoneyhurst's progeny. The results obtained in this thesis are consistent with KAP1.1, KAP1.3 and KRT1.2 being clustered on one chromosome because both sires in this study passed on two major KAP1.1-KAP1.3-KRT1.2 haplotypes to their progeny, and the associations with wool traits were very similar for all the three loci. The major sire derived KAP1.1 – KAP1.3 - KRT1.2 haplotypes observed within the MV144-58-00 half-sib were: BBA (frequency of 43.4%; n = 43) and ADB (frequency of 44.4%; n = 44). Other minor haplotypes observed were: ADA (frequency of 4.0%; n = 4); BDA (frequency of 2.0%; n = 2); BBB (frequency of 3.0%; n = 3) and BDB (frequency of 3.0%; n = 3). In the Stoneyhurst half-sib, major sire-derived KAP 1.1 - KAP 1.3 - KR Tl.2 haplotypes observed were CCE (frequency of 53.1 %; n = 17) and BJD (frequency of 40.6%; n = 13). The minor haplotype BJE (frequency of 6.3%; n = 2) was also observed. Statistical analyses within the MVI44-58-00 half-sib showed that KAP1.1 AKAP1.3 D - KRT1.2 B haplotype was associated with increased yield (P = 0.023) and tended towards whiter wool colour (P = 0.059), smaller FDSD (P = 0.081) and stronger staple strength (P = 0.092). In the Stoneyhurst half-sib, the KAP1.1 B - KAP1.3 J - KRT1.2 D haplotype was associated with longer staple length (P = 0.010), while the KAP1.1 C - KAP1.3 C - KRT1.2 E haplotype showed a strong trend with increased wool brightness (P = 0.096). Result from this study indicated that the keratin genes on chromosome 11 are recombining relatively frequently at recombination "hotspots". A high rate of recombination among loci that impact on wool traits would make breeding for consistent wool quality very difficult. The results presented in this thesis suggest that genes coding for the KRTs and KAPs have the potential to impact on wool quality. KAP1.1, KAP1.3 and KRT1.2 could potentially be exploited in gene marker-assisted selection programmes within the wool industry to select for animals with increased staple length, 'increased staple strength, higher yield and brighter wool. This study was however limited to two half-sib families, and further investigation is required.

Thesis (MScFor (Forest and Wood Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.
This study is about marketing of Uapaca kirkiana fruit in Zambia, a fruit that has great economic value especially among the rural and urban poor. It contributes to general food security. In southern Africa, farmers and other stakeholders have identified Uapaca as a priority species for domestication. Current agroforestry initiatives are promoting integration of indigenous trees into farming systems to provide marketable products for income generation. Domestication of trees however, depends on expanding the market demand for tree products. There is considerable evidence that expanding market opportunities is critical for the success of domestication innovations but farmers have been introduced to domestication with little consideration for marketing. The existing market potential can be achieved through sound knowledge on markets and marketing. Information on the marketing of Uapaca fruit is inadequate. This study, therefore, aimed at generating information on the marketing of Uapaca kirkiana fruit, including the basic conditions of demand and supply of the fruit. The main study was conducted in Chipata and Ndola districts in the Eastern and Copperbelt provinces respectively, while fruit pricing was conducted in Lusaka district in Lusaka Province. Questionnaires and participatory research methods were used to collect the data. A total of 37 markets involving 49 collectors, 59 retailers, 189 consumers and 20 government forest workers are included in the study. The study reveals that there is demand for the fresh and secondary products of the fruit and hence substantial fruit trading exists in Zambia. However, the marketing system is characterised by underdevelopment. There is insufficient capacity to satisfy the demand for the fruit and institutional /policy support to Uapaca fruit market expansion. Currently, only basic technology for product development exists. The results suggest a need to address policy and capacity development for expansion of Uapaca kirkiana fruit industry. To improve the Uapaca trade industry, the study proposes developing and scaling up policy strategies, fruit processing sector, research-extension-trader-agribusiness linkages, infrastructure development and knowledge generation for improved understanding of the Uapaca fruit markets.

Uppsatsen behandlar olika aspekter av skogsbränslemarknaden mot bakgrund av biobränslets ökande betydelse i den svenska energiförsörjningen. Biobränslets andel av den totala svenska energitillförseln har ökat stadigt de senaste två decennierna. Ökningen hänger mycket samman med att värmesektorn, och då i främsta hand värmeverken, har ökat användningen av biobränslen och en stor andel av denna utgörs av skogsbränslen, dvs avverkningsrester och biprodukter från skogsindustrin. Skatter på fossila bränslen har varit en viktig drivkraft.

Uppsatsen gör en beskrivning av vilka aktörerna på skogsbränslemarknaden är och hur kedjan från skogen till slutanvändare ser ut. Analysen är baserad på egna intervjuer av såväl säljare och användare av skogbränslen men också på sekundärdata av olika slag. Statistiken är bristfällig. Trenden för priser på skogsbränslen är uppåtgående och såväl säljare som användare väntar sig att priserna ska fortsätta upp i reala termer.

Skogsbränslemarknaden ser ut att vara en fungerande (effektiv) marknad trots att den är förhållandevis ny och stadd i kraftig förändring. Många aktörer gör att konkurrensen är påtaglig i alla led. Det finns konkurrens både på säljarsidan och användarsidan. Dessutom sker viss import och export. Import av pellets är särskilt viktig. Men det sker också import av flis och samt rundved (för flisning). Det finns ett element av regionalisering förknippad med höga transportkostnader för lastbilstransporter.

I discuss various aspects of the market for wood fuels against the background of the increasing importance of bio fuels in the Swedish energy system. The use of bio fuels as a share of total energy supply in Sweden has increased considerably during the last couple of decades. Taxes on fossil fuels explain the increase in use of bio energy. It is district heating (fjärrvärme) which is the main user of wood fuels (outside the paper and sawmill industries themselves).

The supply chain from the cutting of logs to the end user is described. I base the description/analysis on interviews with suppliers and users of wood fuels as well as secondary sources. Statistics on wood fuels are generally deficient. Prices on wood fuels have increased in real terms and market actors (producers as well as users) expect prices to continue to increase in the medium term.

The market for wood fuels appears to be an efficient one despite the lack of standards and the despite the fact that it is a “new” market. There are a fairly large number of producers as well as users and there are no barriers to entry. The market is also “contestable” in the sense that wood fuels are imported. There is though an element of regionalisation of the wood fuel market due to high transportation costs.

C’est au cœur d’une crise de la représentation et de la transparence intérieures, initiées par les découvertes scientifiques sur le psychisme, que Proust, Woolf et Pessoa fabriquent une poétique de l’intime. Nées dans des zones géographiques complémentaires, dont Paris constitue le centre d’influence, les œuvres de ces trois auteurs constituent les jalons d’un parcours littéraire qui va de l’invention proustienne du roman intime en France à l’exploration des limites de l’intime-fiction chez Pessoa, en passant par les pratiques woolfiennes de réécritures de la Recherche. Invention, appropriation, dépassement, tels sont les moments de la micro-histoire de ce que nous pourrions appeler une tendance du roman dans les premières décennies du XXe siècle à construire un espace à soi, un espace fictionnel de représentation de l’intime. S’opposant à la tradition autoréférentielle des genres dits autobiographiques, nos auteurs refaçonnent la représentation de l’intime dans le roman et inventent une poétique fictionnelle, qui se sert de la fiction comme le déclencheur et le révélateur paradoxal de l’intime. Nous nous attacherons donc à cerner une poétique, au sens étymologique de fabrique, et au sens esthétique de dispositifs, mis en place pour représenter la diversité de la vie intime dans le roman. Défini dans son triple sens psychique, relationnel et spatial, l’intime devient un nouveau champ d’expérimentation romanesque et d’invention poétique. D’une complexité psychique et physique à un territoire qui donne forme à l’intériorité des personnages, du personnel au domestique, nos romans parcourent les possibilités de la représentation de la vie intime. Conçu en scènes du quotidien qui mettent enjeu la dialectique du corps et de la pensée, de soi et de l’autre, du dedans et du dehors, le roman revalorisé alors l’infra-ordinaire, ce qui se joue en-deçà du romanesque et du notable, jusqu’aux limites de la représentation et du dicible
Proust, Woolf and Pessoa develop the poetics of intimacy, which roots go back to the crisis opened by psychiatry and psychoanalysis and the way these sciences shattered both representation and transparent minds. Born in complementary geographical zones, which have Paris as their common center, the works of these authors follow a path which goes from Proust inventing the intimate novel in France to the very limits of this attempt with Pessoa’s intimate—fiction, joining Woolf’s rewritings of La Recherche. Invention, appropriation, exceeding, there are the key moments of a trend running through fiction during the first decade of XXth century, a trend which aim is to come up with a space of one ’s own, a fictional space of representation of intimacy. Understood from the points of view of psychology, relationships and space, the intimacy becomes a new field of investigation for the novelists, leading in the end to a new poetic. In sharp contrast with what is commonly understood as autobiographical and personal writings, all three writers come up with a brand new way of expressing the inner life in novels, which uses fiction as a paradoxical way to bring the intimate life to existence. Dealing with both the psychological and the physical complexity of the characters, and also inventing a proper space for the self to express itself, the novels studied here cover a wide range of experiences, from the deeply personal to the most domestic. Our aim is to come as close as possible to this poetic form, as defined by its etymology fabric as well as by its use in esthetics, meaning here the various techniques devised by fiction to represent the many shades of the intimate life. Considered here as the embodiment of everyday life, these novels present us with a complex play between the body and the mind, the self and others, thus putting in front of our eyes what lies way under our common life, developing what is normally unheard or goes unnoticed in fiction, approaching what is close to the unspeakable and the unseen

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are important in rural southwest Virginia as a source of household sustenance and supplemental income. The trade in NTFPs from this region is centuries old and now helps supply growing worldwide demands. Although marketing is a vital part of optimizing the value of these products, it has been ignored in rural natural resource development. This research analyzes marketing systems for selected NTFPs in southwest Virginia by describing marketing chains, interpreting data on important marketing elements, and comparing results within and between different groups of NTFPs. Product categories selected for emphasis are crafts (grapevine wreaths, baskets, furniture, and birdhouses), medicinal and herbal products, specialty wood products (musical instruments), and edible forest products. This qualitative, exploratory study utilizes direct interviews with fifty market players at various levels in marketing chains. Results provide information on NTFP products, value addition, market outlets, pricing, promotion, distribution, and marketing chains. Hundreds of people are involved with the NTFP trade in southwest Virginia and marketing can help ameliorate negative effects of job scarcity. The greatest opportunity for local level marketing exists for market players of crafts and specialty wood products. Medicinal and herbal products are the only category which very little local value addition takes place within the region and as a result, market players have minimal control over marketing. Edible forest products are not marketed but are collected only for consumption in the household. Several opportunities for marketing include improving market access for crafts and specialty wood products, increasing production through cultivation for medicinal and herbal products, and developing capacity for edible product cultivation.
Master of Science

Convergence of quantitative genetics and genomics is becoming the way that fundamental genetics and applied breeding will be carried out in the next decades. This study bridges the quantitative genetics of complex growth and wood properties traits with genomic technologies towards a more innovative approach to tree breeding. Planted forests play a major role to fulfill the growing world demand for wood products and energy. Eucalypts stand out for their high productivity and versatile wood resulting from the advanced breeding programs associated to clonal propagation and modern silviculture. Despite their fast growth, breeding cycles still take several years and wood properties assessment is limited to a sample of trees in the late stages of selection due to the costs involved in wood phenotyping, not exploitingthe range of genetic variation in wood properties. In this study, we examined fifteen traits including growth and wood chemical and physical properties in 1,000 individuals sampled from an elite Eucalyptus breeding population. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) models were developed and used for high-throughput phenotyping of wood traits.Highdensity data for 29,090 SNPs was used to obtain accurate pedigree-record-free estimates of trait variance components, heritabilities, genetic and phenotypic correlations, based on a realized relationship matrix, comparing them to pedigree-based estimates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to do this in plants. NIRS predictions were accurate for wood chemical traits and wood density, and variably successful for physical traits. Heritabilities were medium for growth (0.34 to 0.44), high for wood chemical traits (0.56 to 0.85) and variable for wood physical traits (0.11 to 0.63). High positive correlations among growth traits and negative between cellulose and lignin content were observed, while correlations between wood chemical and physical traits and between growth and wood quality traits were low although significant. Phenotypes and SNP markers were then used to build genomic predictive models using a marker density higher than any previous genomic selection study in trees (1 SNP/21 kbp). Two models (RR-BLUP and Bayesian LASSO) that differ regarding the assumed distribution of marker effects were used for genomic predictions. Predictions were compared to those obtained by phenotypic BLUP. Predictive abilities very similar by the two models and strongly correlated to the heritabilities. Accurate genomic-enabled predictions were obtained for wood chemical traits related to lignin, wood density and growth, although generally 15 to 25% lower than those achieved by phenotypic BLUP prediction. Nevertheless, genomic predictions yielded a coincidence above 70% in selecting the top 30 trees ranked by phenotypic selection for growth, wood density and S:G ratio, and 60% when tandem selection was applied. The results of this study open opportunities for an increased use of highthroughput NIRS phenotyping and genome-wide SNP genotyping in Eucalyptus breeding, allowing accurate pedigree-record-free estimation of genetic parameters and prediction of genomic breeding values for yet to be phenotyped trees. These applications should become routine in tree breeding programs for the years to come, significantly reducing the length of breeding cycles while optimizing resource allocation and sustainability of the breeding endeavor.
A convergência da genética quantitativa com a genômica está se tornando a maneira pela qual a genética fundamental e aplicada serão conduzidas nas próximas décadas. Este estudo buscou conectar a genética de fenótipos complexos de crescimento e propriedades de madeira às tecnologias genômicas, em uma abordagem inovadora para o melhoramento florestal. Florestas plantadas têm papel fundamental para satisfazer a crescente demanda mundial por produtos madeireiros e energia. O eucalipto,com sua alta produtividade e madeira versátil, é resultado de programas avançados de melhoramento associados à propagação clonal e silvicultura moderna. Apesar de seu rápido crescimento, ciclos de melhoramento ainda levam muitos anos e a avaliação detalhada de propriedades da madeira é limitada a apenas uma amostra das árvores em estágios avançados de seleção, devido aos altos custos de fenotipagem, não explorando assim toda a variação genética disponível. Neste estudo, examinamos quinze caracteres, incluindo crescimento e propriedades químicas e físicas da madeira, em 1000 indivíduos amostrados de uma população elite de melhoramento. Modelos de espectroscopia de infravermelho próximo (NIRS) foram desenvolvidos e utilizados para fenotipagem de alto desempenho de propriedades de madeira. Genotipagem de alta densidade com 29.090 SNPs foi utilizada para obter estimativas acuradas de componentes de variância, herdabilidades e correlações genéticas baseadas em uma matriz de parentesco realizado, ou seja,sem o uso de pedigree. Este é o primeiro estudo de que temos conhecimento a fazer isso em plantas. Predições NIRS foram precisas para caracteres químicos da madeira e densidade, e apresentaram sucesso variável para caracteres físicos. As herdabilidades foram médias para crescimento (0,34 a 0,44), altas para caracteres químicos de madeira (0,56 a 0,85) e variáveis para caracteres físicos da madeira (0,11 a 0,63). Altas correlações positivas entre caracteres de crescimento e negativas entre celulose e lignina foram observadas, enquanto correlações entre caracteres químicos e físicos da madeira foram baixas, porém significativas. Fenótipos e marcadores SNP foram em seguida utilizados na construção de modelos preditivos com a maior densidade de marcadores já utilizada em estudos de seleção genômica em espécies florestais (1 SNP/21 kpb). Dois modelos de predição (RR-BLUP e LASSO Bayesiano)foram usados nas predições genômicas e comparados ao BLUP fenotípico. Os modelos apresentaram capacidades preditivas similares, fortemente correlacionadas às herdabilidades. Predições genômicas precisas foram obtidas para caracteres relacionados à lignina, densidade e crescimento, embora geralmente 15 a 25% menores do que as predições obtidas por BLUP fenotípico. Contudo, predições genômicas alcançaram coincidências acima de 70% na seleção das melhores 30 árvores ranqueadas pela seleção fenotípica para crescimento, densidade e relação S:G, e de 60% quando seleção em tandem foi aplicada. Os resultados deste estudo abrem enormes oportunidades para o uso combinado de fenotipagem NIRS e genotipagem com SNPs no melhoramento do eucalipto, permitindo estimativas acuradas de parâmetros genéticos e a predição de valores genéticos genômicos para plantas jovens ainda não fenotipadas. Estas aplicações deverão se tornar rotineiras nos programas de melhoramento florestal nos próximos anos, reduzindo significativamente a duração dos ciclos de seleção e, consequentemente, otimizando a alocação de recursos e a sustentabilidade do melhoramento.

Ce travail a pour but d’étudier comment a été écrite la mort du héros dans La Mort d’Ivan Ilitch de Léon Tolstoï, Les Buddenbrook de Thomas Mann, Le Temps Retrouvé de Marcel Proust, Les Années de Virginia Woolf et Le Guépard de Tomasi di Lampedusa. La mort dans ces œuvres a ceci de particulier qu’elle s’inscrit dans la représentation de la fin d’un monde et dans un nouveau rapport du héros à sa propre finitude. Il s’agit d’établir quelles ont été les causes extérieures et intimes qui ont amené la vieille bourgeoisie et l’aristocratie au sentiment de leur propre perte et à la conscience du déclin, mais aussi de démontrer comment le récit de Tolstoï inaugure un nouveau rapport de l’homme moderne à la mort : autant il est question de l’angoisse que le héros ressent envers sa propre mort, autant il est également question du rapport à la mort de l’autre, exprimé par l’hypocrisie du deuil et l’indifférence à la mort d’autrui. Pour les écrivains, écrire le deuil signifie aussi faire un travail de deuil personnel par le biais de l’écriture. La mort a ses propres prodromes : la maladie et la vieillesse. Il s’agit donc de montrer également le nouveau rapport du héros à la médicalisation et l’originalité de la représentation de la vieillesse. Celle-ci, tout en nouant avec les thèmes classiques des vanitas ou des danses macabres, est réélaborée à travers une relecture moderne de ces thèmes, auxquels s’ajoute l’écriture de la monstruosité inhumaine du vieillir. Écrire la mort signifie en un sens percer son mystère, rendre par le langage l’insaisissable, l’“hapax” de la mort. Force est de démontrer enfin par ce travail comment écrire la mort signifie aussi la vaincre par l’immortalité que la littérature peut donner au travers de l’écriture, immortalité qui présuppose néanmoins le sacrifice que l’écriture impose aux écrivains
The purpose of this work is to study how the death of the hero was written in Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilitch, Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks, Marcel Proust’s Time Regained, The Virginia Woolf’s The Years, and Tomasi di Lampedusa’s The Leopard. Death in these works is unique as it matches with the representation of a world’s end and a new relationship of the hero to his own finitude. It is a matter of establishing what were the external and intimate causes that brought the old bourgeoisie and aristocracy to the feeling of their own loss and the consciousness of their decline, but also to demonstrate how the story of Tolstoy inaugurates a new relationship of moderne man with death : as much as the anguish that the hero feels towards his own death, it is also a question of how people relate to the death of others, expressed by a certain hypocrisy of mourning and the indifference toward the death of others. For writers, writing about bereavement also means doing personal grief work through writing. Death has its own prodromes : sickness and old age. It is therefore also a question of showing the hero’s new relationship to medicalization and the originality of representation of old age. This, while mingled with the classic themes as vanitas or macabre dances, is re-elaborated through a modern reinterpretation of these themes, to which is added the writing of the inhuman monstrosity of aging. Writing about death means, in a sense, to pierce its mistery, to seize its elusiveness through language, the “hapax” of death. Lastly, it is important for this study to demonstrate how to writing about death also means to overcome it, thanks to the immortality that literature can give through writing, that immortality which nevertheless presupposes the sacrifice of writing imposed on writers

Företaget TräEnergi Teknik AB säljer pelletskaminer. Försäljningen av produkten går inte så bra, men ägaren Carl-Axel Fagerström tycker att produkten borde vara efterfrågad av kunderna eftersom den är både miljövänlig och prisvärd. I denna rapport undersöks hur företaget kan ändra sina marknadsföringsstrategier för att nå ut till potentiella köpare. En enkätundersökning har gjorts hos återförsäljare för att ta reda på slutkundernas behov och önskemål. Ur undersökningen framgick att även om kunden är miljömedveten går priset alltid före. Det visade sig dessutom att kunderna de senaste åren börjat leta efter nya alternativ på grund av de kalla vintrarna och högre elpriserna. Vad gäller marknadsföring tyckte återförsäljarna att mässor, webbsidor, TV-reklam och annons i facktidningar är de bästa kanalerna. Kundernas kännedom om pelletskaminer varierar, att de väljs bort till fördel för värmepumpar handlar ofta om okunskap om produkten. Samtliga av respondenterna anser att det finns en potential i framtiden inom marknaden. För att Träenergi Teknik ska lyckas nå ut till den tilltänkta målgruppen krävs utvecklad marknadsföringsstrategi, detta kan göras genom att mer ingående arbeta mer med kanalstrategi.
The company TräEnergi Teknik AB sells wood/pellet stoves. Sales is not to good however, the owner Carl-Axel Fagerström thinks that the product ought to be more in demand since it is both environmental friendly and worth its price. This study will show how the company can change its market strategies to better reach the market and the potential customers. A survey was conducted among retailers to find out about the customers’ demands and requirements. The results of the survey showed that even though the customer is environmentally conscious, the price is always the decisive factor. The survey also showed that customers in recent years have started to look for new heating solutions due to the hard winters and higher electricity prices. Regarding how to market the product the retailers suggested fairs, web pages, TV commercials and advertizing as the best channels to do so. The customers’ knowledge of pellet stoves varies and the fact that heat pumps are chosen over pellet stoves most likely has to do with the lack of knowledge regarding pellet stoves. All the respondents think there is potential for a future market and to be able to reach their target group, TräEnergi Teknik needs a defined market strategy. This thesis will show that the best strategy is channel differentiation through retailers.

Cette thèse se propose d’explorer les rapports entre enfance et sentiment poétique pour considérer la manière dont l’impression enfantine peut se faire le modèle, en filigrane, d’une esthétique narrative moderne. Un corpus composé de récits de Pierre Loti, Marcel Proust, Colette, Virginia Woolf et Katherine Mansfield permet d’analyser l’inscription fictionnelle de personnages enfants pour montrer la similitude de caractéristiques supposément enfantines et de traits relevant d’une certaine conception du récit moderne, au tournant des XIXe et XXe siècles : le primat de la subjectivité, une pénétration du texte par le sentiment poétique et une esthétique de la discontinuité cristallisant le récit sur des moments privilégiés. L’analyse convoque également des représentations de l’enfant, tant scientifiques que littéraires, du XVIIIe au XXe siècle. Les écrits des premiers psychologues de l’enfance, les textes romantiques mettant en scène des enfants poètes, et l’affirmation baudelairienne qui fait du génie une « enfance retrouvée » sont interrogés pour mettre au jour les conceptions fantasmatiques de l’enfant implicitement activées par les auteurs de ces récits. La croyance et l’imagination proverbiales de l’enfant, la supposée authenticité d’un âge proche des origines, sont autant de projections utopiques que charrie la littérature, et que cautionnent, dans une certaine mesure, les pensées philosophiques et scientifiques jusqu’au premier tiers du XXe siècle. Cette étude sonde les sources et les enjeux de ces représentations pour comprendre ce qui les motive et explorer leurs résonances avec certaines modalités d’écriture, entre poésie, mysticisme et impressionnisme
This thesis explores the relationship between childhood and poetical feeling to consider how childhood impressions can implicitly model a modern narrative aesthetics. A corpus of narratives by Pierre Loti, Marcel Proust, Colette, Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield serves to analyse the fictional inscription of child characters and show the likeness between allegedly childish characteristics and traits related to a certain conception of the modern narrative, at the corner of the 19th and 20th centuries. Among these characteristics : the predominance of subjectivity, a poetical feeling pervading the text, and a discontinuous narrative focusing on moments of being. The analysis summons both literary and scientific representations of the child, from 18th to 20th century. It convokes the theories of the first child-psychologists along with Romantic texts figuring child poets and questions the premise, according to Baudelaire, that genius is based on « childhood recovered ». In doing so it means to shed light on the phantasmatic conceptions of the child implicitly activated by the authors of these narratives. The child’s proverbial imagination and credulity, the presumed authenticity of an age closer to origins are as many utopic projections conveyed by literature and cautioned, to a certain point, by philosophic and scientific thoughts until the first third of the 20th century. This study examines their sources and their stakes to understand what accounts for them and to investigate their resonance with certain writing dimensions, such as poetry, mysticism and impressionism

This diploma thesis in architecture is a book composed of a combination of embedded anthropological documentation and creative fiction, written with help from Virginia Woolf and Marcel Proust. It is a story built up, fragment by fragment, that describesregular visits to the Girls Night events at a Youth Centre in Fittja, in Northern Botkyrka, south of Stockholm, where the author went to meet and spend time with a group of local girls on Thursday evenings in the Spring of 2015. Ungdomens Hus is a Youth Centre in Fittja for locals between the ages of 15 to 22. Many boys come and play games here, including pool, ping-pong, video games, the Turkish game Okey, boxing, they also watch TV and generally hang out. The ability for girls to occupy this room, on the other hand, tends to be reduced to three hours a week, when the room becomes a space for the girls alone: A room of their own. On Thursday evenings Rädda Barnen and the municipality Botkyrka arrange the Girls Nights in the Youth Centre in Fittja. This forum is open for all girls between the ages of 15 to 20 years old who live in Northern Botkyrka. The Girls Nights exists to make it possible for young women to make their presence visible, and for them to be able to take space at the Youth Centre, developing their courage to take place in other public spaces and in the context of contemporary society more generally.
Detta examensarbete i arkitektur är en bok som fått sin form från en kombination av antropologisk dokumentation och fiktion, skriven med hjälp från Virginia Woolf och Marcel Proust. Historien byggs upp fragmentariskt och beskriver regelbundna besök på Tjejforum på en ungdomsgård i Fittja, Norra Botkyrka, Stockholm, där författaren mötte och spenderade tid med en grupp tjejer på torsdagskvällar under våren 2015. Ungdomens Hus är en ungdomsgård i Fittja för ungdomar (15-22 år) i området Norra Botkyrka. Många killar går dit. De spelar biljard, pingis, tevespel, okey, boxas, tittar på teve och umgås rent allmänt. Möjligheten för tjejer att ta plats i detta rum, å andra sidan, tenderar att reduceras till tre timmar per vecka då Ungdomens Hus förvandlas till ett rum för bara tjejer: deras eget rum. På torsdagskvällar anordnar Rädda Barnen tillsammans med Botkyrka kommun Tjejforum på Ungdomens Hus i Fittja. Verksamheten är öppen för alla tjejer (15-20 år) i Norra Botkyrka. Tjejforum finns för att unga kvinnor i Norra Botkyrka ska få synas och ta plats på Ungdomens Hus, i andra offentliga rum och i hela vårt samhälle.

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Arquitetura, com a especialização em Arquitetura apresentada na Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre.
Em Portugal, o período industrial foi um dos maiores impulsionadores do crescimento e desenvolvimento urbano. Em meados do século XIX, com a aceleração das industrializações, a vila do Barreiro torna-se um importante polo industrial para o restante País. Contudo após vários anos de auge industrial o vasto património é quase inexistente, devoluto ou em ruínas, tornando-se assim numa zona com fortes dissonâncias e grandes vazios urbanos. A escolha deste território surge da oportunidade de revitalizar um lugar dotado de um património natural significativo, sustentado num processo de intervenção minimalista e que valoriza a identidade e a memória do lugar. A componente chave da oportunidade enunciada, corresponde à possibilidade de criação de novos usos, quer para os vazios urbanos quer para os edifícios existentes a reabilitar. A proposta incide na zona ribeirinha de Alburrica, tendo como objetivo a reabilitação da Quinta do Braamcamp e do Moinho de maré, assim como a dinamização de atividades desportivas, recreativas tornando este lugar com cariz turístico e consequente desenvolvimento económico local. A valorização das zonas verdes existentes consiste na conceção e otimização das acessibilidades dentro do local de intervenção assim como a sua ligação com o centro da cidade do Barreiro através de percursos em palafita.
ABSTRACT: In Portugal, the Industrial Period was one of the main drivers of urban growth and development. In the middle of the nineteenth century, with the acceleration of the industrialization, the village of Barreiro becomes an industrial center for the rest of the country. However, after several years of industrial boom the vast heritage is almost nonexistent, empty or in ruins making it an area of great asymmetries and marked by large urban voids. The choice of this territory arises from the opportunity of revitalizing a place endowed with a significant natural heritage, in a sustainable way and through a process of minimal intervention and that values the identity and memory of the place. The key component of this opportunity concerns the possibility of creating new uses, both for the urban voids and for the existing buildings being rehabilitated. The proposal focuses on the riverside area of Alburrica, aiming at the rehabilitation of the Quinta do Braamcamp and its Tide Mill, as well as the promotion of sports and recreational activities, making this place a tourist destination and, consequently, fostering local economic development. The enhancement of existing green areas consists of the design and optimization of accessibilities within the intervention site, as well of its connection with the center of the city of Barreiro through stilt routes.
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Dans des contextes communs de guerres et de révolutions scientifiques, les représentations qui fondent, et parfois hantent, l’imaginaire d’auteurs de l’époque baroque et du début du vingtième siècle présentent des similitudes. Images d’un monde renversé, où les espaces, les êtres et les instants se reflètent, où l’instabilité et la mutabilité sont des lois régissant toute chose, les scènes et décors des trois œuvres du corpus se substituent à l’harmonie du monde, celle du Créateur, telle que la Bible la décrit. Espace, personnages, temps vécu apparaissent à travers un prisme qui renvoie à leurs doubles, diffractés, reflétés d’abord dans la machine de la mémoire involontaire. La réalité se change dès lors en réalités, les lieux en impressions d’un ailleurs, les amis en chimères, tous faisant l’objet d’études et d’interprétations sans cesse réévaluées. Dans une écriture où les vues s’accumulent et se superposent, Marcel Proust et Virginia Woolf n’en finissent pas de prolonger les impressions, circonvolutions, arabesques qui diffèrent sans cesse la conclusion du récit, au profit du spectacle d’événements sensibles et de voyages de héros à travers les strates du temps vécu. Personnages en mouvement, Orlando et le Narrateur courent à la recherche de la chair du temps, qu’ils semblent trouver dans leur ombre et dans le frisson d’un instant, selon des modalités extatiques que Le Bernin ou Le Caravage ont représentées dans leur art respectif. Faits de mondes d’apparences, d’illusions, Sodome et Gomorrhe, Le Temps retrouvé ou Orlando ne sont pourtant pas des textes faisant l’apologie du scepticisme et du renoncement à une certaine forme d’essence : encore faut-il qu’elle soit éclatante et advienne dans la beauté d’une image qui traduise la coïncidence d’une vision éphémère et d’une création poétique offerte aux temps à venir
In common contexts of wars and scientific revolutions, the representations that melt, and sometimes haunt, the imaginary of writers of the Baroque and early twentieth century are similar. Images of an inverted world, where spaces, beings and moments are reflected, where instability and mutability are laws governing everything, the scenes and scenery of the three works of the corpus replace the harmony of the world that of the Creator, as the Bible describes it.Space, characters, lived time appear through a prism that refers to their double, diffracted, reflected first in the machine of involuntary memory. Reality is then changed into realities, places into impressions of an elsewhere, friends in chimeras, all subject to studies and interpretations constantly reevaluated.In a writing where views accumulate and overlap, Marcel Proust and Virginia Woolf endlessly prolong the impressions, convolutions, arabesques that constantly differ the conclusion of the story, in favor of the spectacle of sensitive events and hero journeys through the strata of lived time.Characters in motion, Orlando and the Narrator run in search of the flesh of time, which they seem to find in their shadow and in the thrill of a moment, according to ecstatic modalities that Bernini or Caravaggio represented in their art respective.Facts of worlds of appearances, of illusions, Sodom and Gomorrah, The Time found or Orlando are not however texts making the apology of the skepticism and the renunciation of a certain form of essence: it is still necessary that it be brilliant and come into the beauty of an image that reflects the coincidence of an ephemeral vision and a poetic creation offered to the times to come

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo principal apresentar um processo de qualificação de peças estruturais das espécies emergentes Leucaena leucocephala, Corymbia maculata e híbrido torelliodora: Corymbia torelliana x Corymbia citriodora, através de ensaios simplificados a fim de profissionalizar o uso generalizado da madeira. O mercado madeireiro não dispõe de recursos técnicos e econômicos para oferecer, com critério de segurança, novas alternativas de madeiras. Cumpriu-se um exigente programa de métodos de ensaios laboratoriais conhecidos em normas e de novos procedimentos de ensaio de obra aliando vantagens econômicas, segurança e tempo. São apresentados ensaios de flexão não destrutivos e destrutivos em peças na condição real de uso em máquina universal de ensaio, em obra e em corpos de provas segundo recomendações da norma brasileira NBR 7190/97. Não houve diferenças significativas entre os métodos de ensaio, concluindo-se, por um lado, que dificilmente se conseguem corpos de prova totalmente isentos de defeitos e, por outro lado, que os ensaios de obra são plenamente confiáveis. Estabeleceram-se correlações entre módulo de elasticidade (EM0) e o módulo de ruptura (fM) e entre resistência à compressão (fc0) e o módulo de ruptura (fM), módulo de elasticidade (EM0), módulo de elasticidade na compressão (Ec0), resistência ao cisalhamento (fv0) e densidade aparente, a fim de determinarem-se as propriedades mecânicas obtidas por ensaios mais complicados a partir de ensaios mais simples e, assim minimizar custos e tempo. Os resultados corroboraram para que a madeira seja comercializada e qualificada pelo módulo de elasticidade (EM0) e módulo de ruptura (fM) para cálculos e dimensionamentos de estruturas de madeira, possibilitando otimização de material e maior segurança nas estruturas. As espécies estudadas são aptas para o mercado de madeira estrutural ficando evidenciado que o ensaio de obra constitui-se numa metodologia que pode ser facilmente utilizada a nível comercial e de obra.
The current study aims to present a qualification process of structural wood pieces of emerging species Leucaena leucocephala, Corymbia maculata and hybrid torelliodora (Corymbia torelliana x C. citriodora), through simplified tests to professionalize the generalized timber uses. The wood market, due to lack of technical and economic resources, cannot offer, with safety criteria, alternatives to timber sources. A demanding program of standard laboratory testing protocols was followed and new test procedures for field tests combining economic advantages, security and time were developed. Nondestructive and destructive bending tests are presented in timber pieces in the real use condition in the universal testing machine, in field tests and in specimens according to recommendations of the Brazilian standard NBR 7190/97. No significant differences between the test methods were observed, which implies, from one side, that is almost impossible to obtain entirely defect-free specimens and, from the other side, the field tests are fully reliable. Correlations were established between modulus of elasticity (EM0) and modulus of rupture (fM); and between compression strength (fc0) and modulus of rupture (fM), modulus of elasticity (EM0), modulus of elasticity in compression in parallel to the grain (Ec0), shear strength (fv0) and apparent density to determine the more complex mechanical properties from those simpler and thus reducing costs and time. The results contribute to timber marketing and qualification by the modulus of elasticity (EM0) and modulus of rupture module (fM) for calculations and dimensioning of wooden structures, enabling material optimization and higher structural safety. The studied species are suitable for the structural wood market becoming an evidence that the field tests constitute a methodology that can be easily used in commercial level and construction.

De maneira geral, o abastecimento de madeira de indústrias de celulose brasileiras provém de áreas plantadas próprias e de madeira comprada no mercado. Programas de planejamento florestal de longo prazo procuram, normalmente, abranger o manejo da floresta plantada de forma dissociada à aquisição de madeira de fontes externas. O objetivo deste estudo é avaliar o impacto da variação de valores de aquisição da madeira de mercado em modelos de programação linear que consideram seu volume adquirido como uma das variáveis-resposta. Fundamentado em dados florestais de 155 Unidades de Produção fornecidos pela International Paper do Brasil Ltda., empresa do ramo de papel para imprimir e escrever situada em Mogi-Guaçu, Estado de São Paulo, o trabalho apresenta resultados provenientes da geração de 80 modelos de programação linear submetidos a cinco diferentes cenários de valores de madeira de mercado. As abordagens dos modelos foram divididas em: modelos de maximização do valor presente líquido e modelos de minimização do valor do custo presente, subdivididos em modelos Global e Regionalizado (procurando observar uma condicionante administrativa da empresa), ordenados ou de produção livre e, finalmente, submetidos ou não a restrições operacionais de área máxima de colheita. Os resultados permitem observar que as diferentes abordagens de planejamento possuem graus variados de sensibilidade a variações de valores de madeira de mercado, notadamente os modelos de minimização do valor presente do custo. Esta sensibilidade pode ser medida pelas variações provocadas nos programas de colheita de madeira própria e compra de madeira de mercado, pela flutuação das idades médias de colheita, pelos resultados das funções-objetivo e pelo percentual de aproveitamento de área própria. Os dados também sugerem que há vantagem em manejar a floresta pelo modelo Global, que desconsidera os limites administrativos da empresa. Também, pode-se afirmar que a maximização do valor presente líquido das prescrições é a abordagem preferível em função de demonstrar maior robustez na geração de planos de manejo menos sensíveis aos diferentes cenários de valor da madeira de mercado.
Generally, the Brazilian pulp industry wood supply is largely provided by planted forests owned by the companies and wood purchased in the market. Long term planning programs usually address the two supplying sources – fee forests and market wood -separately. The main objective of this study is to assess the impact of different wood acquisition value scenarios in linear programming models that consider the amount of purchased wood as one of the variables. Based on data of 155 Production Units supplied by International Paper do Brasil Ltda., a printing paper company located in Mogi-Guaçu, State of São Paulo, the study presents results from the generation of 80 linear programming models submitted to five different wood acquisition value scenarios. The approach was divided into: maximization of net present value and minimization of the present cost, divided into Global and Regionalized models (pertaining to a company administrative restriction), with regulated or floating production and submitted or not to operational restrictions as a maximum harvesting area. Results allow observing that the different modeling approaches show different degrees of sensitivity to variations in the wood acquisition value – notably the minimization models. That sensitivity can be measured against variations in the harvesting and wood purchase programs, the floatation of the average harvesting ages, results of the objective function values and the percentage of utilization of fee lands. Results also suggest that there are advantages in managing the forest through the Global model, not considering the actual administrative limitations. Also, the maximization approach is the preferred one once it demonstrates more robustness through the generation of management programs less sensitive to the different proposed wood acquisition value scenarios.

"Temps et fiction" explore, à travers La montagne magique de Thomas Mann, A la recherche du temps perdu de Marcel Proust et Les vagues de Virginia Woolf, la figuration du temps par la fiction littéraire. Le temps, d'ordinaire imperceptible, est rendu sensible par ces fables qui le prennent pour objet de leur histoire. Temps et fiction montre tout d'abord comment les figures du temps naissent de l'effacement de l'habitude chronologique. Puis la deuxième partie essaie de déchiffrer, sous la forme du pli, les marques du temps, inscrites aussi bien dans le style que dans la structure de l'œuvre. Cette recherche, qui souligne la nature temporelle du texte littéraire, débouche sur une mise en perspective de la théorie narrative dans son rapport problématique au temps. L'exploration de la fiction littéraire ouvre alors sur une réflexion qui découvre la triple dimension temporelle du texte : temps du discours, temps de la fable, temps de l'histoire.

Holz aus Kurzumtriebsplantagen (KUP) mit Pappeln (Populus spp.) kann eine bedeutende Rolle im Mix der Bioenergieressourcen in Deutschland spielen. Trotz eines günstigen Energieinput-Energieoutput-Verhältnisses ist das Erreichen wirtschaftlich zufriedenstellender Ergebnisse mit KUP jedoch auf den meisten potenziellen Anbauflächen durch hohe Ansprüche der Pappeln an die Wasserversorgung erschwert. Hohe Produktivitätsraten der Pappeln sind an einen hohen Wasserverbrauch gebunden und viele Trockenheitsanpassungen führen zu deutlichen Ertragsrückgängen. In der vorgestellten Arbeit wurde eine sechsjährige Vollgeschwister-F1-Kartierungspopulation der Europäischen Zitter Pappel (Aspe, Populus tremula L., Wuchsperiode 1998-2003) physiologisch und genetisch untersucht, um mögliche Wege zu einer züchterischen Verbesserung der Trockenheitstoleranz von Pappeln diskutieren zu können. Dabei wurde das Zuchtziel der Trockenheitstoleranz als Minimierung der Ertragsrückgänge unter trockenen Bedingungen definiert. Neben wuchsleistungsbezogenen Größen (Biomassegesamtleistung (BM, oberirdische Dendromasse), Biomassezuwachs (iBM), Radialzuwachs (ir), Baumhöhe (h)) wurden physiologisch holzanatomische Eigenschaften untersucht, die retrospektiv anhand der Jahrringe messbar sind und zur nicht direkt messbaren Eigenschaft der Trockenheitstoleranz in einer Beziehung stehen. Diese waren die Kohlenstoff- und Sauerstoffisotopsignatur (δ13C, δ18O), die Faser- und Gefäßgliedlänge (FL, GL), die Gefäßlumenquerschnittsfläche (AG), die Gefäßdichte (GD), der potenziell Saftstrom leitende Querschnittsflächenanteil (LQ), der hydraulisch gewichtete Gefäßlumendurchmesser (Dh) und die röntgendensitometrische Holzdichte (RD). Um trockenheitsbedingte physiologische Reaktionen vom Einfluss der Juvenilität der Kartierungspopulation unterscheiden zu können, wurden regionaltypische Juvenilitätstrends der RD, FL, GL, und des ir anhand eines zweiten, für das östliche Deutschland repräsentativen Aspen-Kollektivs aus natürlicher Sukzession ermittelt. Bedingt durch Trockenheitsanpassungen bzw. eine bevorzugte Wurzelentwicklung nach dem Verpflanzen zeigte die Kartierungspopulation in den ersten drei Jahrringen Abweichungen von den regionaltypischen Juvenilitätstrends. In den Trendverläufen der Kartierungspopulation heben sich die beiden Trockenvegetationsperioden 2000 und 2003 ab, wobei bis zum Sommer 2003 infolge des Starkniederschlages 2002 (Flut) ein außergewöhnlich gutes Grundwasserangebot herrschte. Alle untersuchten phänotypischen Eigenschaften zeigten 2000 starke trockenheitsbedingte Abweichungen. Im Jahrring 2003 wichen nur die GL und die RD von ihren Juvenilitätstrends ab. Außerdem konnte anhand der δ13C und δ18O Werte eine signifikante Abnahme der Wassernutzungseffizienz bzw. eine Zunahme der Transpiration im Jahr 2003 gezeigt werden. Die übrigen Größen folgten ihren Juvenilitätstrends und stiegen an. Die Jahrringdatensätze 2000 und 2003 der RD waren nicht signifikant mit der BM korreliert, dagegen zeigten die δ13C Datensätze 2002 und 2003 schwach positive Korrelationen mit der BM. Der trockenheitstoleranteste Genotyp verband seine überdurchschnittliche BM mit einer hohen Wassernutzungseffizienz (angezeigt durch überdurchschnittliche δ13C Werte), mit einer überdurchschnittlichen AG und mit einer nicht unterdurchschnittlichen RD in Höhe des Populationsmittels. Aufgrund des Fehlens negativer Korrelationen zwischen BM und δ13C bzw. BM und RD in der vorliegenden Arbeit können δ13C und RD als nützliche Weiser für die Unterscheidung der Trockenheitstoleranz verschiedener Aspen zu züchterischen Zwecken vorgeschlagen werden. Außer der BM unter trockenen Bedingungen kann keine der untersuchten Eigenschaften als alleiniger Trockenheitstoleranzweiser empfohlen werden. Zu einer Trockenheitstoleranzbewertung sollten Merkmalspaare verwendet werden, von denen ein Merkmal positiv mit dem Ertrag korreliert ist und das andere eine Trockenheitsanpassung verkörpert. Dadurch werden sowohl das primäre Zuchtziel eines höchstmöglichen Ertrages als auch eine bessere Trockenheitsangepasstheit berücksichtigt. Zwei verschiedene Trockenheitstoleranzindizierungen wurden angewendet, um die Kartierungsnachkommen entsprechend ihrer Trockenheitstoleranz einem Ranking zu unterziehen. Dabei wurden in beiden Fällen Bäume mit einem höheren Ertrag besser platziert. Der zweite Schwerpunkt der Arbeit lag auf der genetischen Kartierung von Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) für die untersuchten phänotypischen Jahrringeigenschaften mit Bezug zur Trockenheitstoleranz. Als Basis für das QTL Mapping wurden, der Pseudo-Testcross-Mapping-Strategie folgend, genetische Kopplungskarten für die Elternbäume der Kartierungspopulation konstruiert. Die maternale Karte (P. tremula, „Schandau 4“) deckte mit 157 Markern (144 AFLP, 13 SSR) in 30 Kopplungsgruppen 1.369 cM ab, die 21 paternalen Kopplungsgruppen mit 148 Markern (132 AFLP, 16 SSR) überspannten 1.079 cM des Genoms (P. tremula, „Lichtenhain 1“). Die im Vergleich zur haploiden Chromosomenzahl der Pappeln (19) hohen Zahlen an Kopplungsgruppen sowie die hohen Zahlen an Doublets und unkartierten Markern zeigten eine geringe Genomabdeckung an. So konnte nur eine begrenzte Zahl, höchstens zwei QTL für die untersuchten phänotypischen Jahrringeigenschaften mit Bezug zur Trockenheitstoleranz, kartiert werden. Ein QTL Bereich mit pleiotropem Effekt auf mehrere wachstumsbezogene Größen wurde auf der maternalen Kopplungsgruppe 1 (dem Populus Chromosom I zuzuordnen) detektiert. Die Signifikanz der Effekte dieses QTL auf den Radialzuwachs entwickelte sich steigend mit zunehmendem Baumalter
Wood production in short rotation coppices (SRC) with poplar (Populus spp.) can contribute significantly to the future bio energy supply mix in Germany. Although the energy-input to energy-output ratio is rather good, SRC often do not meet cost effectiveness due to high water demand of poplar species. High biomass productivity depends on optimal water supply. Also, numerous adaptations to water deficits result in an undesirable decrease of yield. Combined physiological and genetic investigations were conducted within a six-year old F1-full-sib crossbred population of European aspen (Populus tremula L., growing period 1998-2003). Possible implications on selection, breeding or improvement of poplar cultivars showing a high tolerance to water deficits are discussed. For the work presented here, the breeding goal of higher water deficit tolerance was defined as the minimisation of yield losses under dry conditions. Beyond growth related traits (aggregate yield (BM), aboveground woody biomass), biomass increment (iBM) and radial increment (ir), physiological and wood anatomical traits were included; these are related to reactions to water deficit and are measurable on tree rings retrospectively. These traits were the Carbon- and Oxygen isotope ratios (δ13C, δ18O), the fibre length and vessel element length (FL, GL), the vessel lumen cross sectional area (AG), the vessel density (GD), the cumulative vessel lumen area to cross sectional area ratio (LQ), the hydraulically weighted mean vessel lumen diameter (Dh) and wood density assessed by X-ray densitometry (RD). To distinguish the drought induced physiologic reactions from juvenile developmental patterns of the mapping population, juvenile trends of RD, FL, GL, and ir, which are representative of habitats in south-eastern Germany, were investigated in a second aspen collective that was selected from natural succession. During the first three years, the mapping population showed deviations from the juvenile trends due to water deficit adaptations or preferential root development, respectively. Due to drought in the growing seasons of 2000 and 2003, the juvenile trends show outstanding values for both years, although ground water supply in 2003 was exceptionally good following the intense rain event of 2002 (Elbe flood 2002). The tree ring traits of both years stand out from the juvenile trends due to drought adaptations. In 2000, all phenotypic traits showed a significant deviation from their respective trends. In 2003, only GL and RD showed an adaptation to drought as observable by a deviation from their juvenile trends. A significant decrease in water use efficiency (WUE) and an increase in net transpiration, respectively, were shown for 2003 by means of δ13C or δ18O values. All other traits showed an increase following their juvenile trends. RD data for 2000 and 2003 were not significantly correlated with BM, but δ13C data (and therefore WUE) for 2002 and 2003 revealed a weakly positive correlation with BM. The genotype that was most tolerant to water deficits showed a combination of a superior growth with a superior WUE (by means of δ13C), a superior AG, and an RD close to but not less than the population average. Due to the lack of negative correlation between BM and δ13C or BM and RD in the present work, δ13C and RD can be valuable proxies for the determination of drought tolerance of aspen trees for tree improvement purposes. Aside from BM under dry conditions, no other traits that were investigated can be recommended as a stand-alone proxy for water deficit tolerance. For a water deficit tolerance evaluation, pairs of traits should be used, of which one trait is positively correlated with yield and the other represents a water deficit adaptation. Both the primary breeding goal of the highest possible yield as well as a better water deficit tolerance should always be considered in this context. Two different drought tolerance indices were used to rank the individuals of the mapping population according to their water deficit tolerance. In both cases, trees with higher BM were ranked better. The second focus of the present work is on genetic mapping of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) for the investigated tree-ring traits that refer to water deficit reaction. As a basis for the QTL-mapping approach, genetic linkage maps were constructed for each parental tree of the F1-full-sib crossbred mapping-population following the two-way pseudo-testcross mapping strategy. The maternal map (P. tremula, “Schandau 4”) consisted of 157 markers (144 AFLP, 13 SSR) in 30 linkage groups and covered 1,369 cM. The 21 linkage groups of the paternal map (P. tremula, “Lichtenhain 1”) covered 1,079 cM of the genome (144 AFLP, 13 SSR). Compared with the haploid chromosome number (19) of the Populus genome, the high number of linkage groups, doublets and unlinked markers indicated low genome coverage. Only a low number of QTL was detected, maximal two per in¬vesti¬gated phenotypic trait with a relation to water deficit tolerance. One QTL having a pleiotropic effect on several growth related traits was detected on the maternal linkage group 1 (corresponding to the Populus Chromosome I). The significance of the QTL effects seemed to increase with tree age

Les maladies du bois de la vigne, causées par des champignons nécrotrophes, ont un impact considérable sur l'économie viticole au niveau mondial. En effet, tous les cépages Vitis vinifera cultivés actuellement présentent une sensibilité plus ou moins forte à ces champignons.Dans le but d'établir un test rapide d'évaluation de la sensibilité de clones de vigne (nouvellement sélectionnés ou futures obtentions variétales) à Eutypa lata, le champignon responsable de l'Eutypiose, une recherche de marqueurs moléculaires de tolérance a été réalisée. Suite à l'infection in vivo et in vitro d'une douzaine de cépages de sensibilité différente par E. lata, plusieurs gènes candidats ont été identifiés comme marqueurs potentiels de la tolérance à la maladie à partir d'une étude transcriptomique.A l'aide d'un système innovant d'infection in vitro, le dialogue moléculaire sans contact physique entre des disques foliaires de V. vinifera et le mycélium d’E. lata a également été étudié chez les douze cépages. Cette étude a permis de mettre en évidence le rôle potentiel d'éliciteurs dans la mise en place des réponses de défenses. De plus, l'infection par E. lata régule différentiellement l'expression des gènes codant pour un transporteur d'hexoses et des invertases, ainsi que les activités invertasiques associées, chez les cépages de sensibilités variables.Les travaux de recherche présentées dans cette thèse ont ainsi permis l'identification des marqueurs de tolérance à l'Eutypiose et la mise au point d'un test d'infection in vitro efficace et fiable, permettant de diagnostiquer la sensibilité des futures créations variétales. De plus les résultats obtenus démontrent l'importance des éliciteurs dans la mise en place des défenses, de la régulation du transport et du métabolisme des sucres au cours de l'infection par E. lata
Nowadays, grapevine wood decay diseases cause significant economic losses for the most sensitive varieties and represent a threat to the sustainability of the wine industry.This research focuses on the identification of molecular markers for sensitivity to Eutypa lata, responsible for Eutypiosis that could be used to diagnose the sensitivity of new grapevine clones or cultivars. Using an in vivo and in vitro infection assay, several potential markers genes for tolerance to Eutypiosis have been identified from a gene expression study on twelve different cultivars.Using an innovative in vitro infection system, the molecular dialogue (without physical contact) between Vitis vinfera foliars discs of and Eutypa lata was studied, leading to the identification of elicitors that could potentially play a role in the induction of defense responses in the cultivars. In addition, the expression of several sugar transport and invertase genes and their associated activities were demonstrated to be differentially regulated by the infection in tolerant and susceptible cultivars.Altogether, this research work led to the identification of several tolerance markers genes to Eutypiosis and to the development of a new, efficient and reliable in vitro infection system that could be used to diagnose new cultivar susceptibility. Furthermore, the results obtained demonstrated the importance of sugar transport and defense metabolism regulation during the infection of grapevine by Eutypa lata

A travers un choix de romans dans lesquels des schémas mythiques sont à la fois présents et dissimulés derrière une série de scènes et de motifs, l'émergence du mythe est étudiée selon 3 axes : la formation du schéma mythique dans le cadre de la "réalité" représentée dans chaque roman : ici sont pris en considération tant les procédés textuels que l'instance du lecteur, capitale pour estimer la présence d'un mythe précis, l'efficacité des grandes scènes révélatrices, la possibilité d'exploiter le jeu des allusions. Puis l'étude se concentre sur la notion d'espace et de temps, sur leur transformation radicale qui les rend réceptives et signifiantes à un degré maximal à l'égard du schéma mythique incorporé, et sur une thématique qui se traduit en techniques aboutissant à la transfiguration de l'apparence"réaliste" de l'univers représenté. Et, la démytification est envisagée comme éclatement de la structure et de l'unité mythiques par un ensemble de procédés, du jeu au commentaire, inséparables des grands thèmes véhiculés par les textes. Ces aspects sont liés à des traits de la modernité littéraire et à une reformulation irrespectueuse du "Bildungsroman"