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Trust and Development : The Deep Structure of Institutions-Building and Socio-Economic Performance
Full text linkThis thesis tries to establish first a comprehensive and realistic theoretical system in which trust changes, and then explores different interesting issues using different methods like comparison analysis, econometric analysis and agent-based modeling. The theoretical system restored in this thesis integrates a series of realistic factors in socio-economic environment besides trust, like information, social learning, network, institutions, geographical mobility and so on, and covers gradually increasing levels from individual thoughts and behavior, to interactions, to networks, and to multi-networks. The underlying logic of linking those realistic factors is: Trust, especially its change, is subject to the perception of trustworthiness. Information reflecting trustworthiness plays a decisive role in trust changing. Not conforming to institutions is an important embodiment of untrustworthiness, and is therefore a significant factor causing distrust. Moreover, trustworthiness per se is an institution. Information process and social learning process overlap to a substantial degree. Ways of acquiring information coincide with that of social learning. Through social learning, behavior can directly be acquired (such as, trustworthy behavior), which makes social learning play an important role in nurturing institution-conforming behavior. What is more, social learning can also change thoughts (such as, change cognition to social environments), and then guides conscious behavior (such as, to trust according to trustworthiness). Information functions through personal psychology eventually. Social networks are where information is acquired, social learning is going on, behavior is output and information is diffused subsequently. Geographical mobility changes individual local interaction network. This thesis contains six sections in total: an introduction and 5 chapters. Chapter 1 is the theoretical part of this thesis. It integrates the factors of trust, information, social learning, network, institutions, geographical mobility, etc. guided by the logic stated above, and basically unfolds along the line of individuals, interactions, networks and multi-networks. It can be viewed as composed of three big plates: first, basics of trust; second, trust and trustworthiness per se; third, other factors mentioned above (namely, information, social learning, network, institutions, geographical mobility) constituting the realistic system where trust changes. Besides, several effects of (dis)trust on economic transactions are discussed in detail. Chapter 2 compares or contrasts or presents several socio-economic aspects of China and three Scandinavian countries - Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The selected socio-economic aspects for comparison or presentation include population, network structures, welfare, equality, geographical mobility, social capital, trust, public security, performance of labor market, and economic growth. Not only the possible logic between these aspects and trust (except trust per se) is explained; rich corresponding data of each aspect of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and China is also presented for a relatively comprehensive understanding of the four countries. Chapter 3 quantitatively, empirically explores the impact of others' norm-conforming behavior, others' opinion and geographical mobility on individual general trust using micro data from Chinese General Social Survey 2013 and the provincial data from the Sixth National Population Census of P.R. China. The empirical research proves evidence for the significant impact of others' norm-conforming behavior, similarity degree of opinion with others and individual geographical mobility on general trust. Chapter 4 explores the evolution of interaction and cooperation, supported by individuals' changing, information-driven trust and trustworthiness respectively, on a directed weighted regular ring using agent-based modeling. Under the experimental design and parameter values selection in this chapter, basically as degree of embeddedness in social network, proportion of high trust agents and probability of information diffusion in neighbors increase and as mutation probability of payoff matrix, conflict of mutated payoff matrix and probability of information diffusion in non-neighbors decrease, simulation performs better. Chapter 5 summarizes and concludes
Nachhaltigkeitsprüfung des Pilotprojekts Mehrgenerationensiedlung (MGS), anhand der 17 UN-Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung
Full text linkDie hier vorliegende Bachelorthesis befasst sich mit der Mehrgenerationensiedlung (MGS) und ihrem zukünftigen Beitrag zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung. Um den Beitrag messen zu können, stellen die 17 UN-Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung die Basis dar. Mit dem Ziel den Beitrag der MGS zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung zu prüfen, wurden zunächst die theoretischen Grundlagen zu den 17 UN-Zielen und der Mehrgenerationensiedlung erarbeitet, um darauf aufbauend die empirische Untersuchung anzuschließen. Dazu wurde ein eigenständiges Messverfahren bzw. Bewertungsschema entwickelt und auf die Daten des Experteninterviews und der Dokumenten- und Videoanalyse angewandt. Die Ergebnisse wurden zusammengefasst. Daraufhin wurden konkrete Handlungsempfehlungen für die MGS und weitere entstehende Mehrgenerationensiedlungen abgeleitet, wie sie in allen Unterzielen einen Beitrag leisten und in der Gesamtbewertung leistet einen hohen Beitrag erreichen können. Abschließend erfolgt eine kritische Betrachtung der Arbeit hinsichtlich der Fragestellung: Inwieweit wird das umgesetzte Projekt Mehrgenerationensiedlung einen Beitrag zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung, anhand der 17 UN-Ziele, leisten
Over-the-counter (OTC) drug regulation and the epidemiology of OTC drug use in Germany
Full text linkIntroduction: Public health practice must ensure efficient access to effective and safe pharmaceuticals, while protecting the population from health risks related to the inappropriate use of pharmaceuticals. Background: About half of all packs sold in German pharmacies are over-the counter (OTC) drugs; their use and regulation is thus a subject of high relevance to public health. At the same time, OTC drugs receive rather limited attention in the drug regulatory and pharmacological literature, and little empirical evidence is available about OTC drug consumption and risk perceptions. Scope: The present thesis is based on four individual research papers that cover perceptions of and behaviours regarding OTC drugs among German adults, reasons for unsuccessful applications for changes to drug trade statuses, pharmacological perspectives on prescription-only (Rx)-to-OTC switches and the prevalence and predictors of OTC drugs use. Methods: This research draws on mixed methods, including an online survey, qualitative content analysis of policy and legislative documents and epidemiological analysis of data from the first phase of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults. Results: Among the adult population living in Germany, a seven-day OTC drug use prevalence of 40.2% was found. Female gender, older age, self-reported reduced health status and multimorbidity were significant predictors of OTC drug use. There were seven Rx-to-OTC switches between 2006 and 2015, but not all of these decisions were fully in line with the recommendations of the EU guideline on changing drug trade statuses. Further, unsuccessful applications for Rx-to-OTC switches, OTC-to-Rx switches and other changes trade Status were not infrequent. At the expert level, the most important reasons for rejected applications were drug safety concerns and insufficient data. At the policy level, negative decisions were mainly made because of legal restrictions. It was also found that risk perception of OTC drugs greatly depends on the route of administration and whether the product is plant-based or not. Moreover, consumers do not always read all details in the package leaflet. Conclusions: This thesis constitutes the first measure of OTC drug use in a representative sample of the adult population living in Germany. With a seven-day prevalence of 40.2%, OTC drug use is significant. While applications for changes in drug trade status and their fate are transparent, the reasons for negative recommendations are far less traceable. The findings of this thesis have led to the identification of several opportunities to improve OTC drug regulation. Detailed justifications for negative decisions on applications to changing drug trade statuses should be provided. Data that are already available a for instance, from large epidemiological studies a could be used to inform decision-making on potential changes to drug trade statuses. Such studies should make a distinction between self-medication and OTC drug use; they should also collect information on the doses and durations of OTC drug use. In addition, past changes to trade statuses should be evaluated so that lessons learned can inform future decision-making. Elaboration of a set of criteria concerning the risks and benefits of OTC availability is also recommended to increase evidence-based OTC drug regulation
Adaptive potential of the Arctic diatom Thalassiosira hyalina to climate Change : intraspecific diversity, plasticity and population dynamics
Full text linkArctic phytoplankton is the base of the foodweb in the most rapidly changing region on the planet. Within this thesis I show that Arctic coastal diatom communities can sustain stable productivity under future climate scenarios by several mechanisms: though large phenotypic plasticity, sorting between highly diverse genotypes and species shifts. The specific focus of this work lies on the role and functioning of intraspecific selection and population dynamics of the diatom Thalassiosira hyalina. Through application of new population genetic methodologies, I was able to resolve detailed selection dynamics in simplified diatom populations and found that their outcomes are not predictable from responses recorded in single-strain cultures, hinting towards interactions between conspecifics. Furthermore, my experiments and field studies on natural populations suggest that dynamics within populations are likely driven by more complex processes than clonal dominance. Forecasts on the future functioning of phytoplankton populations are therefore bound to include intraspecific diversity and evolutionary adaptation as crucial processes
How to make a wheelchair understand spoken commands
Full text linkIn this thesis, I aimed at recognising a wheelchair user' s intent when making commands to an intelligent wheelchair, relying on what the user meant by the words chosen, the situation the interactants are in, and the ongoing discourse of interaction, making use of only symbolic processing. For this purpose, I created a language-based taxonomy of simple things, locations and processes that could be integrated into a rule-based understanding module, composed of a speech recogniser, a CCG-based text analyser, trackers of states and changes in the environment and four mechanisms to integrate contextual features: a material thing integrator for identifying referents in the surroundings, a figure integrator for ascertaining the participant roles referents should take in described events, a nexus integrator for relating represented events back to the current states in the situation and forward to potential desired states, and a dialogue move integrator for recognising how an utterance moves the dialogue forwards. With this integration mechanism, I achieved 95% task success rate in an evaluation experiment conducted within a simulated apartment and wheelchair viewed from above
A flexible integrated forward/reverse logistics model with random path
Full text linkThis dissertation focuses on the structure of a particular logistics network design problem, one that is a major strategic issue for supply chain design and management. Nowadays, the design of the supply chain network must allow for operation at the lowest cost, while providing the best customer service and accounting for environmental protection. Due to business and environmental issues, industrial players are under pressure to take back used products. Moreover, the significance of transportation costs and customer satisfaction spurs an interest in developing a flexible network design model. To this end, in this study, we attempt to include this reverse flow through an integrated design of a forward/reverse supply chain network design, that avoids the sub-optimal solutions derived from separated designs. We formulate a cyclic, seven-stage, logistics network problem as an NP-hard mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model. This integrated, multi-stage model is enriched by using a complete delivery graph in forward flow, which makes the problem more complex. As these kinds of problems belong to the category of NP-hard problems, traditional approaches fail to find an optimal solution in sufficiently short time. Furthermore, considering an integrated design and flexibility at the same time makes the logistics network problem even more complex, and makes it even less likely, if not impossible, for a traditional approach to provide solution within an acceptable time frame. Hence, researchers develop efficient non-traditional techniques for the large-term operation of the whole supply chain. These techniques provide near optimal solutions particularly for large scale test problems. In our case within this thesis, to find a near optimal solution, we apply a Memetic Algorithm with a neighborhood search mechanism and a novel chromosome representation called extended random path direct encoding method which includes two segments. Chromosome representation is one of the main issues that can affect the performance of a Memetic Algorithm. To illustrate the performance of the proposed Memetic Algorithm, LINGO optimization software as commercial package serves as a comparison for small size problems. We show that the proposed algorithm is able to efficiently find a good solution for the flexible, integrated, logistics network. Each algorithm has some parameters that need to be investigated to provide the best performance. In this regard, the effect of different parameters on the behavior of the proposed meta-heuristic algorithm is surveyed first. Then, the Taguchi method is adapted to identify the most important parameters and rank the latter. Additionally, Taguchi method is applied to identify the optimum operating condition of the proposed Memetic Algorithm to improve the results. In this study, four factors that are defined inputs of the proposed Memetic Algorithm, namely: population size, cross over rate, local search iteration, and number of iterations are considered. The analysis of the parameters and the improvement in results are both illustrated by a numerical case studies. Finally, to show the performance of the Memetic Algorithm, a Genetic Algorithm - as a second meta-heuristic algorithm option - is considered as regards large size cases
People in my Life: A Conceptual and Technological Exploration of Felt Closeness for Social Work Practice
No full textAutonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) as a marketing tool : an examination of the online phenomenon' s potential in the promotion mix of slow tourism destinations
Full text linkAutonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is an online phenomenon that is becoming increasingly popular and has been brought to the attention of the public by brands using it to advertise their products. The goal of this thesis is to evaluate the potential of this phenomenon for promoting slow tourism destinations and to develop recommendations for action based on the findings of the study. The research question the study aims to answer is how slow tourism destinations can use ASMR as a marketing tool in their promotion mix. To answer this question, a literature review was carried out and an online survey addressed to the ASMR community was conducted. The study found that in order to use ASMR as a marketing tool, slow tourism destinations need to show an appreciation for ASMR by producing content that is valuable to the community and appeals to the widest possible audience. This can be achieved by acknowledging and using the preferences of the community as determined in this study, making appropriate themes, such as nature, wellness or slowness, the focus of the marketing content as well as choosing the kind of ASMR marketing most suitable to the destination. While ASMR can be used for offline communication, such as on TV or radio, the study found that the ASMR community greatly preferred online communication, either through sponsorship or, to a lesser extent, though self-produced content
Making a Maker! Zur Bedeutung des Selbermachens mit Digitalen Medien in Technologieworkshops
Full text linkThe 'Maker Movement' has become relevant in our society in recent years. Public spaces such as FabLabs and Open Spaces have emerged, in which a a do-it-yourselfa approach using digital media takes place among like-minded people. Makers, their spaces and their products are enjoying growing social importance. Against the background of the digital divide, it is interesting to see how access to manufacturing workshops and the use of digital media is perceived by people who are not technophiles. The aim of this study is threefold. Firstly, the study investigates the importance of making and using digital media in technology workshops as a means of education for individuals not familiar with technology. Secondly, it analyses the way that learning takes place in these settings. Finally, it discusses whether access to technology and hence participation in a digital culture can be promoted
A Methodological Concept for Supporting the Commercialization of Electric Vehicles towards Sustainable Urban Freight Transport
Full text linkEmployment of Electric Commercial Vehicles (ECVs) constitutes a measure to achieve sustainable Urban Freight Transport (UFT). Despite a need for ECVs, the commercialization of ECVs in UFT has remained relatively low, which is reflected in the low market penetration. To increase the market penetration, much attention has been paid to four areas, which are the feasibility of ECVs, adaptions of logistics concepts, adaptions of vehicle concepts, and support of stakeholders. Besides studying these four areas, obtaining a satisfactory match between characteristics of ECVs and preferences of UFT is also an area for increasing the market penetration. However, due to the shortage of academic studies and appropriate tools that can systematically guide decision-makers in UFT to obtain a satisfactory match, little attention has been paid to this area. The present dissertation proposed a methodological concept, namely Sustainable ECV-UFT Matching Concept, to deal with the outlined problem. This concept comprises two methodologies (methodology of assessment and methodology of determination). Since matching up the ECVs and UFT generates many possibilities (denoted as ECV-UFT combinations), the methodology of assessment was developed to help decision-makers to assess the diverse ECV-UFT combinations quantitatively in the economic, social, and environmental perspective. Subsequently, the methodology of determination was developed to analyze the assessment results and support decision-makers in determining the satisfactory match from the many possibilities. In addition, this dissertation implemented this methodological concept by designing a simulation platform, which includes an available database and corresponding mathematical expressions. Three scenarios (DCV-, BEV-, and HEV-Express/post) were applied in the simulation platform to analyze the proposed methodological concept. The results confirmed that the Sustainable ECV-UFT Matching Concept is feasible in supporting decision-makers to determine the satisfactory match from the many ECV-UFT combinations. The benefits of obtaining a satisfactory match may inspire corresponding decision-makers to consider the employment of the appropriate ECVs in their UFT markets. This consideration may subsequently facilitate the market penetration of ECVs to achieve sustainable UFT. Overall, the main contribution of this dissertation is the development of a methodological concept to support the commercialization of ECVs for achieving sustainable UFT