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학위논문 (석사)-- 서울대학교 대학원 : 외교학과, 2012. 2. 조동준. ; International anti-piracy operations have been taking place in the Gulf of Aden and Somalia since 2008 in response to the piracy threat that has been directly affecting international trade and threatening the lives and way of life of many states around the world. The area is much larger than any single state could protect on its own, which lead states to cooperate and rely on the naval assets of other states, despite of it being a military effort. The current study's aim is to explain why states would cooperate in the collective, anti-piracy operations, since mainstream international relations theory tells us that states are not likely to participate in collective efforts in security affairs, much less when non-allies are involved. Using the logic of collective action as the theoretical framework, the current research applied four selected factors derived from the literature in piracy studies - the amount of shipping states have in the region, the number of attacks states suffered, the number of navy warships states possess, and whether a state is involved in an alliance. The research then tested these factors using statistical analysis methods to generalize the conditions and reasons that states require and have to participate in the collective anti-piracy operations. It also focused on three cases - Singapore, Japan, and Iran – to provide evidence that states participate in the operations as a result of the factors mentioned; the case studies also observed if there were other factors that affected the decision to deploy warships and participate in the operations and that could not be sufficiently explained with the results of the statistical analysis. The results showed that for the most part, these factors correlated with the deployments and participation of the states in anti-piracy operations. However, one factor, the amount of shipping, did not seem to directly affect the decision of states to deploy their warships, suggesting that states would not participate in the operations unless their civilians were directly harmed. Finally, the case-studies revealed that other factors not tested with statistical analysis, such as prestige, international obligations, and military deterrence also shaped the decision of states to deploy their warships and participate in the operations. ; 국제 대(對)해적작전은 지난 2008년도부터 아덴만 인근 해역(아덴만, 소말리아, 인도양)에서 본격화되기 시작하였다. 특히 소말리아의 해적은 국제무역에 피해를 끼치고 자국민의 생명 및 재산을 위협하고 있기 때문에 국가들은 아덴만으로 군함을 포함한 해군력을 파견하여 자국의 이익을 보호해왔다. 하지만 각 국가는 아덴만 해역을 자국의 해군력만으로 보호하기에는 너무나 방대한 구역이라는 점을 인지하여 결국에는 해적을 소탕하기 위해 집단행동에 참여할 수 밖에 없었다. 본 연구는 국가들이 집단적, 대(對)해적작전에 참가하는 유인을 설명하는 것을 그 목적으로 한다. 국제정치의 주류이론에 따르면, 일반적으로 국가들은 안보와 관련된 집단행동(collective action)에는 참여를 하지 않지만, 그럼에도 불구하고 현재 진행되고 있는 대(對)해적작전은 다양한 국가들이 참여하는 집단행동이라는 점에 착안하였다. 따라서, 본 연구에서는 '집단행동논리'라는 이론적 틀(theoretical framework)을 토대로 국가들의 대(對)해적작전 참여를 설명할 수 있는 4개의 변수(국가들의 아덴만 물동량, 해적으로부터 공격받은 회수, 보유 군함 척수, 그리고 주요 참가국와의 동맹여부)를 가설로 설정하고, 이에 대한 통계분석을 통해 국가들이 대(對)해적작전에 참여하기 위한 조건 및 동기에 대한 일반화를 시도하였다. 또한, 3개의 사례분석(case study)(싱가포르, 일본, 이란)을 바탕으로 상술한 변수들이 개별 국가의 대(對)해적작전 참여 동기와의 상관관계를 분석하였으며, 이를 통해 통계분석결과로 설명되지 않은 다른 변수도 존재한다는 점을 확인하였다. 통계분석의 결과에 의하면 4개 요소 중 3개 요소(해적으로부터 공격받은 회수, 보유 군함 척수, 그리고 주요 참가자와의 동맹여부)는 통계적 유의미성을 보였으며 1개 요소(물동량)는 통계적 유의미성을 보이지 않았다. 이를 통해 국가들은 자국 국민들이 직접적으로 공격받거나, 이에 따른 실질적인 피해가 있어야만 집단행동에 참여한다는 결과를 도출할 수 있었다. 이와 더불어 사례분석 결과를 통해 통계학적으로 분석된 변수들 외에 다른 변수들(위상, 국제적 책임, 군사적 억제력 등)이 국가들의 군함파견 및 대(對)해적작전 참여 여부를 결정하는데 영향을 끼칠 수 있다는 점을 확인할 수 있었다. ; Master

All areas of structural design are moving towards high performance structures which minimise material usage leading to desirable savings in cost and weight. However, doing so leads to proportionally lower safety margins. These margins would previously absorb weaknesses which developed through mechanisms such as impact, corrosion and fatigue. This shift is highlighted in the aerospace industry, especially in military applications. Consequently military aerospace structures will be the focus of this thesis. Currently, the lowered safety margins are combated by regular inspections with skilled staff specialised in non-destructive testing (NDT). This is a manual, time consuming job which may require disassembly of components. As a result the frequency of inspections is limited and many hard to reach areas cannot be inspected. An emerging solution to this problem is structural health monitoring (SHM). This approach relies on permanently attached sensors to the structures critical areas. By doing so different approaches (such as baseline comparison) can be utilised and the system can be automated. This increases the frequency of inspection (potentially as frequent as real time) as well as the confidence in the results. Out of the competing technologies ultrasonic Lamb waves have stood out. Their low weight, profile and cost combined with versatility (many capabilities) make them the most promising technology at this time. As such the thesis shall propose a strategy for the implementation of Lamb wave based SHM into future structures during the design stage. Therefore it will contribute validated modeling techniques, signal processing techniques and a design philosophy. In order to formulate a strategy for implementing Lamb waves a variety of methods were developed. A customised automated laser vibrometry (ALV) rig has been built to capture Lamb wave induced displacements across entire plate specimens. The optimisations detailed in this thesis enable the ALV to capture high resolutions at practical speeds making it one of the best in the world. A finite element (FE) model has been developed alongside. Using custom scripting displacements across entire plate has been extracted for direct comparison with high resolution ALV data. This has enabled validation of FE methodology. ALV and FE were used extensively to characterise Lamb waves and establish fundamental parameters such as excitation frequency and modal content. It also revealed subtle features such as modal interference, mode conversion and refraction. These features form the basis for ray trace modelling of Lamb waves, a concept inspired by the field of optics. The development of the ray tracing tool provided an alternative method for modelling Lamb waves with low solution times. Following the development of an array of tools, the calculation of scattered Lamb waves was pursued to enable damage detection and possible quantification. This method was applied to an idealised flat plate which has been widely reported on, followed by a realistic specimen based on a realistic aircraft lower wing skin. This revealed that variations in plate geometry have a substantial influence on scattered waves used in damage detection. To understand this influence, the ray tracing tool was applied to observe the effects of plate geometry. It was realised that this influence could be controlled to direct Lamb waves at the desired inspection areas thereby improving sensitivity and reliability. Both these traits are critical to the success of Lamb wave based SHM. Finally, two case studies were performed where strategies were developed to improve sensitivity and reliability as previously mentioned. The strategies incorporate all the tools and techniques developed here and demonstrate their intended application. In each case existing realistic structures were redesigned to enhance their SHM prospects. The design philosophy focused on directing Lamb wave energy towards the desired detection area. This design change was facilitated by the ray tracing tool. Its ability to solve the effects of plate geometry on Lamb wave propagation in seconds results in near instant feedback enabling iterative design. The proposed optimisations resulted in substantial (50-90%) increase to damage sensitivity of the Lamb wave based SHM system.

Broadly speaking, this dissertation studies fiscal policy mechanisms governments set to retrieve the revenues needed for public expenditure. More concretely, the main question is if these asymmetrical information mechanisms lead to a "desired purpose" and whether they are indeed optimal and fair for both governments and taxpayers. It appears that fiscal policies are among the main forces of unfairness and are an obstacle for new small businesses and practitioners and may also hamper the economic growth of most (developing) countries. The first chapter discusses what we already know about tax evasion and the optimal choice of the latter. Although the scope of this thesis is to go beyond a comprehensive literature review, this initial phase builds an existing solid basis to the rest of the work. This first part presents the different processes of how a taxpayer faces the "evasion choice", as well as the different analytical models which have been used in this field. The second chapter focuses on a widespread practice for governments, which is to gather observable and measurable characteristics of taxpayers and to group the population into homogeneous categories in order to better estimate their real gross income. Although it is common to keep income estimates hidden, in Italy these are announced to the taxpayers before the latter are asked to fill in their tax declarations. The mechanism used in Italy is called Sector Studies (in Italian "Studi di Settore") and relies on taxpayers' gathered information both to partition the population into fairly homogeneous clusters and to determine their presumed income that they ought to declare. The Sector Studies mechanism relies on a cut-off policy: once the government choses and announces the estimated income, it is common knowledge that all taxpayers who declare less than this estimation are surely audited. Thus, it is an asymmetrical information mechanism where taxpayers enjoy the informational advantage. The problem that a taxpayer faces when deciding their declaration in such a scenario is analyzed. The principal aim is to understand whether this cut-off policy is indeed optimal for the government and if it is fair to the taxpayers. Starting from what is happening in Italy - that is the greatest part of the population declares its estimated income but there is always a group that declares differently - a theoretical model is constructed where the income distribution is fixed and audits are costly for both government and taxpayers. The main finding is the characterization of the solution to the taxpayer's problem. When taxpayers are risk-neutral and uniformly distributed in a given segment, the cut-off policy gives rise to three different groups into which taxpayers are endogenously divided. The lowest group is audited with certainty, so that agents bear the audit cost and no individual dishonestly reports her income (Compliance Taxpayers). Reports in the middle group are equal to the estimated income (Over-Declaration) so that no one is audited but individuals pay more taxes than due (Fake Congruous). Declarations in the highest group are equal to the estimated income so that no one is audited but since individuals' real income is greater than the estimated one, they pay less taxes than due and so evade (Evaders). The third chapter addresses another fiscal mechanism concerning the exchange of information and revenue-sharing in tax-treaties. Basically, the situation where firms of a developed country can produce some revenues in a developing one is modeled and analyzed. In such a situation, worldwide income taxation in the country of residence is the legal dogma of international taxation commonly used. This dogma is questioned from the perspective of relations with developing countries from a legal and economic perspective, and a modern and fair proposal for tax treaties is made. It is shown under which conditions a developing and a developed country will voluntarily sign a tax treaty where information is exchanged truthfully and whether they should share revenues. Moreover, it proves how the conclusion of a tax treaty can assist in the implementation of a tax audit system.

This study analyzes the possible intended and unintended impact of statewide exit exams as a governance tool used by education authorities. In a descriptive case study based on quantitative empirical research, three German states (Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia) with differing exit exam traditions (statewide versus school-based) are compared. Consistent with other recent research findings, the potential influences of statewide exit exams on teaching and learning processes can be detected for mathematics, but not for German or biology. In particular, these influences show in the fact that teachers whose students have to take a statewide exit exam are less responsive to students' interests regarding the choice of topics in the classroom, perceive a tendency to narrow the delivered curriculum and increase cooperation with other teachers. In addition, both teachers and students feel a higher pressure to perform and perceive their roles to be different −they see themselves as allies preparing for an externally set exam. Teachers also tend to feel "de-professionalized". In those areas where statewide exams do seem to affect schooling, most of the results are consistent with what was intended by the authorities when they introduced the exams, and there are only few unintended side-effects. From a governance perspective, however, a general capacity of statewide exit exams to move schooling in a desired direction remains rather doubtful, particularly considering the fact that the exam procedures that have recently been implemented in the German states are very heterogeneous and only partly standardized. ; Este trabajo presenta los resultados de un estudio que investigó el impacto de los sistemas de examen de salida de tres estados en la enseñanza y aprendizaje en las escuelas que preparan para la universidad. Este trabajo compara un estado con un sistema de examen tradicional más centralizado, un estado más descentralizado y un estado que recientemente cambio a pruebas más centralizada. El Abitur alemán es una prueba cognitiva muy compleja, en gran medida no esta estandarizada de acuerdo con las normas de los exámenes internacionales. Por otra parte, las diferencias de rendimiento en las pruebas de evaluación de estados con diferentes sistemas fueron significativas sólo en el área de alfabetización matemática. Por lo tanto, las preguntas y los criterios de nota regulados de manera central, a diferencia de las pruebas que son diseñadas localmente y controladas de forma centralizada, tienen poca influencia en las áreas curriculares con "cánones" múltiples, pero parecen tener un impacto ligeramente mayor en matemáticas. En este contexto, y tomando una perspectiva más internacional, se concluye que un sistema general de pruebas sin consecuencias severas puede ser el primer paso para mantener flexibilidad local que sirva a los intereses de los alumnos, rigor académico y una buena dosis de motivación. ; Este artigo apresenta os resultados de um estudo que investigou o impacto dos sistemas de exame de saída de três estados sobre o ensino e a aprendizagem nas escolas que preparam para a universidade. O estudo compara um estado com um sistema de exame tradicionalmente mais centralizado, um estado que é mais descentralizado e um estado que mudou recentemente para testes mais centralizados. O Abitur alemão é um exame cognitivo bastante complexo que não é, em grande parte, padronizado de acordo com os padrões dos exames internacionais. Além disso, as diferenças de desempenho na avaliação dos exames estaduais com regimes diferentes só foram significativas na área de alfabetização matemática. Portanto, as perguntas e os critérios de nota regulados centralmente, ao contrário dos testes que são localmente concebidos e monitorados centralmente, fazem pouca diferença em áreas curriculares com múltiplos "cânones", mas parecem ter um impacto ligeiramente mais significativo em matemática. Neste contexto, e tendo uma perspectiva mais internacional, concluímos que um sistema geral de testes sem consequências muito severas pode ser o primeiro passo para manter a flexibilidade local que serve aos interesses dos alunos, o rigor acadêmico e uma boa dose de motivação.

This thesis explores contemporary modes of video activism for a radical politics of the Left. It offers an analytical contribution to media and communication that promotes an understanding of radical online video as modes of political engagement in contemporary online environments. By focusing on YouTube as one of the most prevalent spaces in which radical video is screened and experienced today, the platform is considered emblematic of an ongoing reorganisation of political space and mediated modes of political engagement in contemporary liberal democracies. As an empirical entry point, YouTube provides a window onto examining the radical video practices emerging in relation to three recent political mobilisations in Europe: 1. The European Social Forum in Malmoe in 2008 2. The alternative COP15 climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009 3. The G20 counter-summit in London in 2009 As three distinct, yet related protest events, these cases provide significant examples of the broad social movement mobilisations that over the past decade have sought to render the consequences of neoliberal politics and governance a visible social problem, and put Left alternatives on the political and public agenda. Through six articles based on the three case studies, this compilation thesis examines the dualities and tensions that characterise video activism on this political vector today. It describes and highlights the texts and contexts of video activism, in a time when the longstanding tradition of working with the power of the image in political portrayal and argument is increasingly reallocated to the mechanisms of social networking and corporate control in contemporary online environments. Part I of this thesis sets the scene by establishing the terrain of the research. As an initial analytical effort, this chapter proposes a typology for understanding radical online video as 'political mash-up genres', emerging in the context of an increasingly complex set of media practices and circuits across intertwined and hybrid communication networks. This chapter further extends the terms of analysis by offering an account of the history of video activism and suggests how an analysis of historical modes of video activism may help contextualise and understand social movement media practices today. The six empirical articles account for Part II of the thesis. Each on its own terms, the articles offer empirical contributions that promote an understanding of the various ways 'the political' is on display and radical politics are being forged on YouTube. In a dual vein of analytical enquiry, the articles examine radical online video as a range of media forms for political argument and portrayal and interrogate the possibilities and constraints offered by the 'architecture of participation' on YouTube to the specific groups and struggles represented in the three case studies. In doing so, the articles identify and analyse a set of tensions and dualities that characterise the ways in which individual and collective actors engage in radical video practice, through media forms that straddle the discursive registers of fact and fiction, art and document, information and entertainment, politics and popular culture. Together, the articles give shape to a range of social movement media practices across a historical, technological, political and aesthetic-discursive range. In the concluding considerations of Part III, I return to the issue of historical contexts to illustrate how close comparative attention to historical modes of video activism can help us understand the complexities and contingencies of online video recruited for radical politics today. The analysis exhibits how contemporary modes of video activism are characterised by practices in which the old and the new, the past and the present, clearly overlap. While we may recognise the incentives and dynamics behind contemporary video activism as well known to the trajectory of Left thinking and action, these insights are suggestive of how such media practices are re-organised and refocused in keeping with the emergence of new means of, and arenas for, political engagement.

Attempt to forcefully impose religious ideology and or belief on Nigeria's secular society is not new. The leader of the Maitatsine sectarian group attempted it in 1981 and eventually led to large scale uprisings. Since the early 1980s and 2012, Nigeria has witnessed other uncountable religious related crises. Beginning from 2009, the country once again, has been stormed by large scale and unimaginable bomb attacks by the Boko Haram movement. Although Boko Haram can be compared in terms of philosophy and objectives to the Maitatsine sectarian group, its organisational planning, armed resistance, and modus operandi is Taliban and attacks executed by the groups so far the most ferocious and devastating. To arrest terrorism related offences, the Nigerian National Assembly on 17th February, 2011 passed a bill on Anti-Terrorism. Even with the Bill in place, and the invitation to negotiate by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Boko Haram attacks which initially was confined to North-Eastern Nigeria, like cancer has infected the North-Central and is spreading to Southern Nigeria. Given the inherent unsettled political and economic environment, the menace caused by Boko Haram attacks has cashed in to compound an already chaotic situation. A fall-out of the Boko Haram saga for example, is the re-awakening of the acrimonious call for a Sovereign National Conference- by implication; the so called 'One Nigeria' is being questioned. On the basis of this background, for the motives and intention of Boko haram, it can no longer be ignored, trivialised or abandoned. Apparently, the dynamics of terrorism in the context of Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria remains insufficiently explored. This article aims to narrow such a gap by analysing the concept of terrorism in light of the philosophy and objectives, spectrum of strategies, dimensions and networking of Boko Haram movement in Nigeria.Key words: Boko Haram; Bomb Attack; Ideology; Nigeria; Religion; Terrorism.Résumé: La Tentative d'imposer par la force l'idéologie religieuse ou de conviction et sur la société laïque du Nigeria n'est pas nouvelle. Le leader du groupe sectaire Maitatsine il a tenté en 1981 et a finalement conduit à des soulèvements de grande envergure. Depuis le début des années 1980 et 2012, le Nigeria a connu d'autres crises innombrables religieuses liées. A partir de 2009, le pays encore une fois, a été pris d'assaut par grande échelle et attentats à la bombe inimaginables par le mouvement Boko Haram. Bien que Boko Haram peut être comparé en termes de philosophie et les objectifs pour le groupe Maitatsine sectaire, sa planification organisationnelle, la résistance armée, et le modus operandi est talibans et les attaques exécutées par les groupes de loin la plus féroce et dévastatrice. Pour arrêter infractions liées au terrorisme, l'Assemblée nationale nigériane le 17 Février, 2011 a adopté un projet de loi sur la lutte contre le terrorisme. Même avec le projet de loi en place, et l'invitation à négocier par le président Goodluck Jonathan Ebele, Boko Haram attaques qui, initialement, a été confinée au nordest du Nigeria, comme le cancer a infecté le Centre-Nord et se propage vers le sud du Nigeria. Compte tenu de la inhérente environnement politique instable et économique, la menace causée par les attaques Boko Haram a encaissé à aggraver une situation déjà chaotique. Une chute-de la saga Boko Haram par exemple, est le réveil de l'appel acrimonieuse pour une conférence nationale souveraine par l'implication, la soi-disant «Un Nigeria est remise en question. Sur la base de ce contexte, pour les motifs et l'intention de Boko haram, il ne peut plus être ignoré, banalisé ou abandonnés. Apparemment, la dynamique du terrorisme dans le contexte des attaques Boko Haram au Nigeria reste insuffisamment exploré. Cet article vise à combler une telle lacune, en analysant le concept de terrorisme à la lumière de la philosophie et les objectifs, le spectre de stratégies, les dimensions et mise en réseau des Boko Haram mouvement au Nigeria.Mots clés: Boko Haram; Attentat à la bombe; L'idéologie; Le Nigeria; La religion; Le terrorisme.

AbstractObjective: To explore the role of public schools, and other academic institutions, in community medical disaster preparedness and recovery. Methods: A literature search on the subject of public schools utility in community medical disaster preparedness and recovery was performed. Relevant publications were selected, reviewed, and categorized for the strength of evidence. Spatial distribution of schools, and academic facilities, within rural and urban communities using Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis was conducted. GIS of the Northern Virginia (NOVA) region, adjacent to the nation's capital, was used to identify the spatial distribution and relationship of schools, and other academic and healthcare facilities, within rural and urban communities and the walking accessibility distance within a residential area. A group of subject‐matter experts was convened to identify lessons learned and solicit opinions on the use of schools for medical disaster preparedness. All information was integrated in the final assessment of the role of public schools and academic institutions in medical disaster preparedness and recovery. Results: Literature on the use of schools and academic institutions for medical disaster preparedness and recovery is sparse. Meta‐analysis or randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were not found. Most of the relevant information was located in state or federal government websites. Fair evidence supports that: (1) Schools were used, either as healthcare or as shelter facilities, by federal agencies and privately funded humanitarian relief organizations such as the American Red Cross (ARC). Many U.S. states have executed agreements with ARC for such purposes. (2) Schools, on their own, usually lack resources, facilities, and liability coverage to serve as physical and logistic assets for community medical disaster recovery beyond their traditional role of protecting students and staff. (3) University campuses possess educational and infrastructure resources capable of supporting community medical needs following disasters. Some universities have already established emergency preparedness departments, and are recipients of federal and state grants to develop medical disaster educational programs. With modest investments, such programs can be adapted by local schools for additional community outreach activities. (4) GIS analysis can help identify unique physical attributes of schools of interest to medical disaster planning and recovery programs. In the NOVA region, schools have different spatial relationships to the communities and other resources of potential benefit for medical disaster recovery. In the rural areas, schools are not always located within walking distance from residential areas. (5) Community emergency preparedness networks are not fully integrated and may not benefit diverse demographic groups. Discussion: Backed by adequate resources and planning, schools can be used in a dual Function—to care for students and the community. Policy Implications and Conclusions: Schools and other academic institutions should be integrated into community disaster planning and recovery. Best practices from local health departments and privately funded relief organizations, engaging schools, should be incorporated into a nationwide disaster planning framework. NOVA's experience suggests that local health departments can integrate schools into community disaster preparedness and recovery. Adequately funded schools can help with community educational networks for disaster preparedness. Further research into the interdependencies between local health departments and schools and best practices targeting community disaster networking should be undertaken. Limitation: This is a preliminary review intended to identify lessons learned and research gaps in the use of schools for medical disaster preparedness and response. Using the NOVA region, part of the nation's capital region, as a study model may not be applied to other U.S. geographic regions due to the uniqueness of the Washington Metropolitan area. However, the NOVA region may be a good representation of a suburban area. This review is focused on public schools and to some degree state universities. Private schools and/or universities were not included due to the difficulty of acquiring information from parochial organizations and could have introduced additional bias.

This dissertation is a comparative study of Sámi and Norwegian family living arrangements, explored from the perspective of the elderly and their co-residing behaviour with an own adult child. Up until 1875 nearly two-thirds of all elderly Sámi resided with an own adult child, 10 percentage points lower among Norwegians. In 1900, fewer than half of the elderly lived together with an own adult child. The change happened in the Sámi as well as in the Norwegian population, however it was most pronounced among the Sámi. The change was primarily characterized by a decline in the number of married sons staying in their parental homes, and the decline was persistent in all economic sectors. What we see is an increase in dependent elderly people living as lodgers in households of supposedly non-relatives. A focus on household economy has revealed that intergenerational co-residence was positively associated with an occupation in farming, or combined fishing and farming, compared with an occupation in fishing. The association between political economy and intergenerational co-residence focuses on the effects of legal rules governing inheritance. Unlike the Norwegian system that benefitted the oldest son, the youngest son's right has been determined as a Sámi system. Thus, differences in intergenerational co-residence between Norwegians and the Sámi, at least up until 1875, might therefore be explained by differences in inheritance practice. The dissertation further argues that the decline in intergenerational co-residence between 1875 and 1900 may be explained by young men's increased opportunities to take on different occupations, and for some this may have been more attractive than staying at home. Secondly, we know that the Norwegian state increased its efforts to assimilate the Sámi population into Norwegian law and culture. Along with this assimilation process, we also see an increased interaction in the private sphere, e.g. interethnic marriages. Thus, as ethnic differences in intergenerational co-residence had disappeared in 1900, the consequence was an approach towards a similar family system for the Sámi and the Norwegian population. ; Avhandlingen er en komparativ studie av hvordan den samiske og norske befolkningen organiserte sine familiehushold i perioden 1865 til 1900. Den metodiske innfallsvinkelen har vært å ta utgangspunkt i eldre personers samboerskap med egne voksne barn. Mot slutten av 1800-tallet endret husholdsstrukturen seg i Nord-Troms og Finnmark, og stadig færre eldre bodde sammen med egne voksne barn. Endringen viser at fram til 1875 bodde ca. 2/3 av alle eldre samer sammen med eget voksent barn. Nivået var 10 prosentpoeng lavere blant nordmenn. I 1900 var ikke bare de etniske forskjellene utvisket, færre enn halvparten av de eldre bodde i såkalt flergenerasjonshushold. Endringen skyldtes primært en nedgang i foreldres samboerskap med gifte sønner, og nedgangen skjedde uavhengig av økonomisk tilknytning. I økende grad finner vi eldre mennesker bosatt som losjerende i hushold der det familiære slektskap synes å ha vært fraværende. Ved å fokusere på husholdsøkonomi viser analysene at flergenerasjonshushold var sterkere forankret blant bønder og fiskerbønder enn blant fiskere. Frem til 1875 viser analysene at det samiske familiesystemet i høyere grad enn det norske var tilknyttet flergenerasjonshusholdet. Dette kan forklares ut i fra ulik praksis knyttet til eiendomsoverdragelse, hvor preferanse for yngste barn, fortrinnsvis yngste sønn, er tilskrevet en samisk tradisjon, ganske ulikt det norske systemet. Avhandlingen argumenterer for at nedgangen i flergenerasjonshusholdet etter 1875 kan forklares ved at unge menn i den perioden sto ovenfor flere yrkesvalg, og at det for enkelte må ha fortont seg som mer attraktivt å flytte et annet sted enn å bli værende på hjemplassen. Dernest vet vi at den norske stat strammet det politiske grepet i en prosess med å assimilere den samiske befolkningen til norsk språk og kultur. Parallelt med denne assimileringsprosessen ser vi en økt samhandling i den private sfæren, vist blant annet gjennom økt ekteskapsinngåelse på tvers av etniske grupper. Konsekvensene av både de økonomiske, politiske og sosiale strømningene ble en tilnærming mot et likt familiesystem i den samiske og norske befolkningen.

A measurement of W+W- production in pp collisions at s=7 TeV and a search for the Higgs boson are reported. The W+W- candidates are selected in events with two leptons, either electrons or muons. The measurement is performed using LHC data recorded with the CMS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 pb-1. The pp › W+W- cross section is measured to be 41.1±15.3(stat)±5.8(syst)±4.5(lumi)pb, consistent with the standard model prediction. Limits on WW? and WWZ anomalous triple gauge couplings are set. The search for the standard model Higgs boson in the W+W- decay mode does not reveal any evidence of excess above backgrounds. Limits are set on the production of the Higgs boson in the context of the standard model and in the presence of a sequential fourth family of fermions with high masses. In the latter context, a Higgs boson with mass between 144 and 207 GeV/c2 is ruled out at 95% confidence level. © 2011 CERN ; California Earthquake Authority Serbia Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro Fuel Cell Technologies Program Joint Institute for Nuclear Research Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission: Pakistan Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences Foundation for Promotion of Material Science and Technology of Japan Hispanics in Philanthropy Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture California Department of Fish and Game National Research Foundation Canadian Mathematical Society A.G. Leventis Foundation U.S. Department of Energy Academy of Finland Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior Türkiye Atom Enerjisi Kurumu NSC, Taipei Research Promotion Foundation: Cyprus National Science Foundation Science and Technology Facilities Council Human Growth Foundation Croatia Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo Secretaría de Educación Pública Western Carolina University Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS National Natural Science Foundation of China Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Hungarian Scientific Research Fund Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India Department of Science and Technology, Government of Rajasthan Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie Belgian Federal Science Policy Office Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, COLCIENCIAS European Commission Nemzeti Kutatási és Technológiai Hivatal: Hungary CERN General Secretariat for Research and Technology European Research Council Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Santa Fe Institute Ministry of Education and Science Louisiana Academy of Sciences ; We wish to congratulate our colleagues in the CERN accelerator departments for the excellent performance of the LHC machine. We thank the technical and administrative staff at CERN and other CMS institutes, and acknowledge support from: FMSR (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq , CAPES , FAPERJ , and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN ; CAS , MoST , and NSFC (China); COLCIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); Academy of Sciences and NICPB (Estonia); Academy of Finland , ME , and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF , DFG , and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); OTKA and NKTH (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); NRF and WCU (Korea); LAS (Lithuania); CINVESTAV , CONACYT , SEP , and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); PAEC (Pakistan); SCSR (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan); MST and MAE (Russia); MSTD (Serbia); MICINN and CPAN (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); NSC (Taipei); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (USA). Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie programme and the European Research Council (European Union); the Leventis Foundation ; the A.P. Sloan Foundation ; the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation ; the Associazione per lo Sviluppo Scientifico e Tecnologico del Piemonte (Italy); the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office ; the Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture (FRIA-Belgium); and the Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie (IWT-Belgium). --

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the Gulf crisis of 1990-91 and its aftermath through the prism of how it served as a test and a defining moment for US foreign policy in the post-Cold War era, in terms of both how to articulate America's global leadership and how to understand the key challenges of contemporary international security. Based on extensive research on newlyavailable archival evidence from the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library, this piece of research examines how the policies taken by President George H.W. Bush and his national security staff in response to the challenges posed by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait led them to the development of a framework for American foreign policy in the post-Cold War era. The dissertation argues that the Bush Administration entered office in 1989 determined to articulate a national security strategy strictly consistent with the Cold War "containment" doctrine of confrontation with the Soviet Union, and that the US contribution to the Cold War endgame was strongly influenced by that conservative foreign policy outlook. Evidence suggests that, although they felt that the Gulf crisis was in fact the first crisis of a new era, Bush and his staff understood the challenge posed by Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait mainly through the prism of traditional and Cold War US national security doctrines, such as the Carter Doctrine and the assumption that no hostile power should achieve hegemony over a region of critical strategic and economic relevance to American interests. The acknowledgment that the preservation of an international system of multilateral cooperation led by the US would be a critical asset for a post- Cold War national security policy led the Bush Cabinet to articulate its strategy toward the Gulf crisis by appealing to universal principles of international cooperation and collective security, and in this effort to conceptualize a vision for a post-Cold War "new world order," the President and his staff drew inspiration from past US efforts to organize the peace in the aftermath of major conflicts. The promotion of universal values, however, contrasted with the pursuit of some strategic goals considered vital by the White House to the achievement of a settlement in the Gulf favorable to American national interests, especially the dismantlement of Iraq's unconventional arsenal and the neutralization of the threat to regional stability posed by Saddam Hussein's regime. The Bush Administration hoped to circumvent these crucial political and strategic dilemmas by adopting a military strategy that appeared to be capable of achieving the national goals in a way that made them justifiable as instrumental to the pursuit of the universally endorsed objectives of liberating Kuwait and minimize casualties. The US-led military campaign failed to create all the political outcomes the White House was hoping for, and eventually the President and his advisers resolved to content themselves of a limited but outstanding military success which boosted US global standing. The Bush Cabinet, however, was not prepared to foreswear its desire to achieve all the goals it had judged necessary to achieve a satisfying settlement of the conflict with Saddam's Iraq. Such an attitude forced the Administration to divert increasing political and diplomatic resources from the pursuit of other long term objectives which appeared within reach in the aftermath of the Gulf War, such as the achievement of a sustainable and cooperative regional order in the Gulf and the promotion of a settlement to other long-standing conflicts in the Middle east. This dissertation argues that such an over-ambitious attitude was the result of the combination between the Bush Administration's original conservative political outlook and its assessment of the implications of America's emerging status as the only remaining superpower. The dissertation finally notes that, despite its costs in terms of legitimacy of, and support for, US global leadership, the foreign policy template developed by the George H.W. Bush Administration turned out to be appealing in the view of subsequent American Presidents and national security teams as well, and represents one of the most relevant legacies of the Gulf War experience to the making of post-Cold Was US grand strategy.

This dissertation consists of three essays. The objective of the essays is to study the impacts of different regulations on the behavior of regulated agents. The first two essays focus on the analysis of non-traditional regulatory policies that complement traditional regulations consisting of inspections and fines for plants that violate regulations. The third essay studies the impacts of the Minimum Legal Drinking Age regulation on alcohol and marijuana consumption. The first essay of this dissertation analyzes the effects of disclosing information online and through the newspapers about Mexican gas stations that cheat the consumer by selling chiquilitros (liters that are less than a true liter). The information about gas stations that commit fraud is revealed through random inspections that the Consumer Protection Agency (PROFECO by its Spanish acronym) conducts on all gas stations in Mexico and is disclosed in PROFECO's website. Newspapers in different municipalities also publish reports with lists of gas stations that are reported by PROFECO as being in violation of regulations. Using data on inspection histories and local news reports, we estimate the impact of disclosing information online and through the newspapers on the probability of future regulatory compliance. Our findings show that disclosing information online significantly improves compliance with regulations. In contrast, newspaper reports are only effective at improving compliance rates for those gas stations that had been found in violation prior to the publication of the reports. One of the main reasons gas stations improve their behavior is that their sales are negatively affected as a result of bad publicity in the newspapers. Using a unique dataset with monthly gasoline sales at the gas station-level, we show that gas stations that were reported in the newspaper reports suffered a loss of sales of 2.2% to 2.4% in the month of the publication. The results suggest that public disclosure of firm's behavior through the media can serve as a complementary tool for inspections and fines in contexts were fines and sanctions are limited.The second essay studies the impacts of self-policing policies to induce environmental audits. State-level statutes in most of the states of the US provide firms that engage in environmental self-audits and that self-report their environmental violations, with a variety of different regulatory rewards, including "immunity" from penalties and "privilege" for information contained in self-audits. These regulations have been controversial in the environmental arena. Critics argue that they provide with incentives to polluters to reduce the level of care, increasing toxic emissions and inspection costs. Proponents argue instead that these regulations can effectively induce more care by polluting plants and lower EPA's enforcement costs. We find that, by encouraging self-auditing, privilege protections tend to reduce pollution and government enforcement activity; however, sweeping immunity protections, by reducing firms' pollution prevention incentives, raise toxic pollution and government inspection oversight. We conclude that self-policing policies that grant limited incentives to firms to self-audit are effective at reducing both toxic emissions and government enforcement effort, whereas those regulations that grant excessive protection by reducing the penalty from disclosed violations, increase both toxic emissions and enforcement costs.The third essay estimates the causal effect of increased availability of alcohol on marijuana use. We exploit the Minimum Legal Drinking Age regulation that restricts the consumption of alcohol for people younger than 21 and compare alcohol and marijuana consumption in individuals just below and just above the age of 21. We show that both the probability and frequency of marijuana consumption decrease sharply at age 21, while the probability and frequency of alcohol intake increase, suggesting that marijuana and alcohol are substitutes. We further find that the substitution effect between alcohol and marijuana is stronger for blacks than whites and for women than men. Overall, our results suggest that policies designed to limit alcohol use have the unintended consequence of increasing marijuana use.

For over a century, American religious organizations have waged a battle against scientists and their allies over the idea of human evolution. What began as a dispute about the scientific theory of evolution by natural selection has, over time, developed into a long-running policy conflict over the teaching of evolution and creationism in public schools. At the heart of the matter is a puzzle: Despite a nationwide shift in the policy status quo favoring evolution and two U.S. Supreme Court decisions that placed creationists at a severe institutional and political disadvantage relative to their opponents, what accounts for the ability of creationists to keep the dispute alive and to continue to score policy victories; and conversely, why have scientists and their allies failed to end the conflict? This outcome, called "contested policy change," raises big questions about policy sustainability and the relationship of political and non-political actors to the policy process. Specifically, how can a new policy grow stronger over time, while the winners who advocated for the policy change get weaker, and the losers actually manage to get stronger? To answer these questions, we must first reconceptualize the conflict in two dimensions. The first dimension is the policy conflict between pro- and anti-evolution organizations. At stake is the question of whether evolution or creationism (in its various forms) should be taught in public schools. The second, often overlooked, dimension is the "ideational" conflict between religious authorities and scientists. Motivating this dispute is the question of how human life began. Both conflicts are being waged by individuals and organizations--political and non-political--which occupy two distinct organizational fields. In this dissertation, I argue that perpetuation of the policy conflict can only be explained in relation to the battle of ideas. Specifically, creationists were successful because they engaged in the practice of "field bridging," drawing resources from the organizational field associated with the battle of ideas (i.e., "the ideational field") to sustain and advance their policy agenda. Field bridging is a general mechanism of policy change, which can be found in any policy conflict in which non-political actors are major participants. There are three general mechanisms by which field bridging can advance an organization's policy goals. First, organizations can secure needed material resources from their organizational fields to stay alive and press their policy demands. Second, organizations can supply new ideas to actors in the policy field. Third, organizations can recruit external support from the organizational fields in which they are embedded. In the case at hand, creationists employed all three mechanisms in the wake of their 1960s-era policy defeats. By reframing their policy demands under the banner of "creation science," securing new material resources, and recruiting "creation scientists" and conservative Protestants to the cause, creationist policy activists were able to garner the attention of numerous policy makers during the 1970s and 1980s, while securing a few high-profile victories in several states.On the other hand, scientists let down their guard after the Supreme Court ruled in their favor in 1968. Although some scientists recognized the growing threat posed by the reinvigorated creationism movement, it would take an entire decade for scientists to begin to organize themselves at the state and local level to challenge creationists in the policy field. Although they eventually found their organizational footing, scientists' most decisive policy victories only came about because of their alliance with church-state separationist organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Despite a second decisive Supreme Court victory in 1987, scientists continue to find themselves fighting a seemingly neverending policy conflict against the organizations of the creationism movement, now operating under the banner of "intelligent design." Until one side or the other is able to conquer the battle of ideas, policy strife is likely to persist.

Kısa Özetİran ve Türkiye ilk bakışta benzer siyasal ve ekonomik tarihsel deneyimler yaşadı. Özellikle İkinci Dünya Savaşı sonrasında iki ülke hem paralel kurumsal reform programları hem de ekonomik büyüme ve kalkınma performanslarıyla bir yakınsama sürecine girdiler. Ancak bu yakınsama, iki ülkenin 1980'li yıllarda tamamen farklı ekonomik kurumsal yapılara doğru evrilişleri ile birlikte sekteye uğradı. İşte bu tez, Iran ve Türkiye'nin ekonomik kurumlarının bu farklı dönüşümünü karşılaştırmalı bir analize tabi tutmaktadır. Çalışmada genel olarak kurumların toplumun genel yararı için oluşturulmadığı kabul edilmiş, hatta kurumsal yapılanma, kendileri için en uygun olan dengeleri kuran kuralları oluşturmak isteyen stratejik aktörler arasındaki bir yarışın ve ayrıca sürekli pazarlık sürecinin bir ürünü olarak tanımlanmıştır. Dolayısıyla kurumları anlamanın güç dengelerinin dinamiklerini çözümlemeye bağlı olduğu yaklaşımı benimsenmiştir. Bu bakış açısından yola çıkılarak ise, (Kurumsal) Patikaların Çarpışması (CoP), adı ile yeni bir çerçeve önerilmiştir. CoP yaklaşımı ile (1) politik ve ekonomik kurumlar arasında amansız bir korelasyonun varlığı; (2) formel kurumların inşa edildikleri temeli oluşturan informel kurumların önemi; ve (3) farklı kurumsal patikaların karşılıklı-evrimsel etkileşiminin birbiri üzeirnde dönüştürücü etkisi vurgulanmıştır. Bu çerçeveden, İran ve Türkiye örneklerine bakıldığında iki ülkenin İkinci Dünya Savaşı sonrası farklı siyasal kurumsal yapılara doğru evrilmesi, 1980'lerle başlayan ıraksama ve ekonomik kurumların farklı dönüşümünün altında yatan temel nedenlerden biri olarak öne sürülmüştür. Buna bağlı olarak, formel ekonomik kurumların Iran'da siyaseten kudretli aktörler arasında yapılan özel kontratların, Türkiye'de ise kamu politikasını etkileme yarışının ürünleri olarak doğdukları; bu süreçlerin Iran'da siyasi kurumsal yapısı nedeni ile sadece limitli oranda yeniden dağıtımcı rantlarla desteklendiği, Türkiye'de ise oyların aynı zamanda kredibilitesi yüksek tehditler de oluşturabilmesi nedeniyle yaygın yeniden bölüşümsel rantlar ile desteklendiği tartışılmıştır. Bu süreçlerin sonuçları da dolayısıyla işleyişleri gibi farklı olmuş; Iran'da arızi (de facto) güce sahip gruplar kanuni (de jure) siyasi güce de erişmek istemiş ve bu gücün süreğenliğini garanti altına almak için ekonomik kurumları da bu doğrultuda değiştirmiştir. Farklı, hatta çelişkili taleplerin tümünün kısmi de olsa karşılanmaya çalışıldığı Türkiye'de ise ekonomik kurumlar birdenbire dönüşmemiş, kademeli bir şekilde değişmiştir.AbstractIran and Turkey historically had outwardly similar politoconomic experiences. Particularly after the WW I there were both similar institutional reform programmes on the two countries' agendas and convergence in their economic growth and development levels. However, this convergence came to a standstill with their picking of totally diverse economic institutional in 1980s. This thesis attempts to provide an analysis of this diverse transformation of economic institutions. It is generally assumed in the study that institutions are not typically chosen for the general benefit of society as a whole. Rather, institutional building is analysed on the basis of a contest and continuous bargaining among hegemonic actors, who seek to establish rules that structure the outcomes to those equilibria most favourable to them. Thus the view that understanding institutions requires understanding the dynamics of power balances is adopted. Yet, an extension namely the Clash of Paths (CoP) is introduced, within which (1) the inexorable correlation between political and economic institutions; (2) the importance of informal institutions as the foundation on which formal institutions are built; and (3) transformatory effect of co-evolutionary interaction of different institutional paths are highlighted. For the cases of Iran and Turkey it is concluded that post-WW II divergence between political institutional structures of these countries emerged as a major underlying reason behind dissimilar formation of economic institutions in the 1980s. In view of that, formal institutions in the former is argued to emerge as the products of private contracts that included limited redistributive rents and as the outcomes of competition over influencing the public policy making in the latter where votes meant credible threats on the part of the masses and led to considerable redistributive rents. As a result, in Iran groups with de facto political power wanted to capture de jure political power and transformed the economic institutional structure in a way that would facilitate the sustainability of the newly formed political institutional structure, whereas in Turkey mediation of different demands led to shifts rather than switches in the economic institutional structure.

In 1903; the British Governor of Malta appointed a committee with the purpose of establishing a National Museum in the capital. The first National Museum; called the Valletta Museum; was inaugurated on the 24th of May 1905. Malta gained independence from the British in 1964 and became a Republic in 1974. The urge to display the island's history; identity and its wealth of material cultural heritage was strongly felt and from the 1970s onwards several other Museums opened their doors to the public. This paper goes through the history of National Museums in Malta; from the earliest known collections open to the public in the seventeenth century; up until today. Various personalities over the years contributed to the setting up of National Museums and these will be highlighted later on in this paper. Their enlightened curatorship contributed significantly towards the island's search for its identity. Different landmarks in Malta's historical timeline; especially the turbulent and confrontational political history that has marked Malta's colonial experience; have also been highlighted. The suppression of all forms of civil government after 1811 had led to a gradual growth of two opposing political factions; involving a Nationalist and an Imperialist party. In the absence of a formal constitution; the political battle between the two factions was necessarily engaged on a largely cultural basis. The Maltese language; its religion; literature and its history were all hotly disputed in a partisan attempt to define the Islands culture according to a pro- Italian or to a pro-British political creed. Archaeology was no exception; finding itself caught up in the frustratingly irrelevant arguments that raged between Imperialists and Nationalists as to the real identity of the 'Maltese race'. (Cutajar; 1995: 70-71) National Museums in Malta are a reflection of the island's long history; politics; culture; values and identity. For centuries Malta depended on the sea and trade and it has had many influences arriving from the surrounding continents; as one can see at Malta's Maritime Museum in Birgu. The National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta displays a wealth of artefacts originally located in the prehistoric temple sites of Malta that range from up to 7000 years ago. The successive epoch; being Malta's Medieval period; when Byzantine; Arab and Norman communities occupied the islands; however; is barely represented. The few artefacts on display from that period do not give a clear narrative and educational representation; reflecting the fact that the Catholic faith was and still is highly dominant in the lives of many Maltese. It can be argued that the most represented artefacts on display in Malta's National Museums date to the Baroque period; when Malta was under the Catholic Order of the Knights of St. John; from the sixteenth till the eighteenth centuries. Catholicism; as it is still visible on the streets and in every village and cultural calendar of the Maltese islands; is still highly valued. The history of national museums in Malta goes on up to today; and so do the attempts at improving the current displays and narratives. The need for the setting up of new national museums; showing off the more recent and contemporary identity of the islands; is also strongly felt; especially the setting up of a National Modern and Contemporary Art Museum. The capital city of Malta; Valletta; – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – will be the European Capital of Culture in 2018. Today; three of Malta's national museums are located within the city of Valletta. These are the National Museum of Fine Arts; the National Museum of Archaeology and the National War Museum. The Palace Armoury; housing the National Collections of Arms; is located in the Grand Masters Palace; also in Valletta. The other national museums that will also be briefly discussed are the National Museum of Natural History; located in Mdina; and Malta's Maritime Museum in Birgu. It is hoped that; by 2018; further improvements will be done; reflecting a more contemporary approach in displaying Malta's unique identity. ; peer-reviewed

In many large cities of Europe standard air quality limit values of particulate matter (PM) are exceeded. Emissions from road traffic and biomass burning are frequently reported to be the major causes. As a consequence of these exceedances a large number of air quality plans, most of them focusing on traffic emissions reductions, have been implemented in the last decade. In spite of this implementation, a number of cities did not record a decrease of PM levels. Thus, is the efficiency of air quality plans overestimated? Do the road traffic emissions contribute less than expected to ambient air PM levels in urban areas? Or do we need a more specific metric to evaluate the impact of the above emissions on the levels of urban aerosols? This study shows the results of the interpretation of the 2009 variability of levels of PM, Black Carbon (BC), aerosol number concentration (N) and a number of gaseous pollutants in seven selected urban areas covering road traffic, urban background, urban-industrial, and urban-shipping environments from southern, central and northern Europe. The results showed that variations of PM and N levels do not always reflect the variation of the impact of road traffic emissions on urban aerosols. However, BC levels vary proportionally with those of traffic related gaseous pollutants, such as CO, NO2 and NO. Due to this high correlation, one may suppose that monitoring the levels of these gaseous pollutants would be enough to extrapolate exposure to traffic-derived BC levels. However, the BC/CO, BC/NO2 and BC/NO ratios vary widely among the cities studied, as a function of distance to traffic emissions, vehicle fleet composition and the influence of other emission sources such as biomass burning. Thus, levels of BC should be measured at air quality monitoring sites. During morning traffic rush hours, a narrow variation in the N/BC ratio was evidenced, but a wide variation of this ratio was determined for the noon period. Although in central and northern Europe N and BC levels tend to vary simultaneously, not only during the traffic rush hours but also during the whole day, in urban background stations in southern Europe maximum N levels coinciding with minimum BC levels are recorded at midday in all seasons. These N maxima recorded in southern European urban background environments are attributed to midday nucleation episodes occurring when gaseous pollutants are diluted and maximum insolation and O3 levels occur. The occurrence of SO2 peaks may also contribute to the occurrence of midday nucleation bursts in specific industrial or shipping-influenced areas, although at several central European sites similar levels of SO2 are recorded without yielding nucleation episodes. Accordingly, it is clearly evidenced that N variability in different European urban environments is not equally influenced by the same emission sources and atmospheric processes. We conclude that N variability does not always reflect the impact of road traffic on air quality, whereas BC is a more consistent tracer of such an influence. However, N should be measured since ultrafine particles (<100 nm) may have large impacts on human health. The combination of PM10 and BC monitoring in urban areas potentially constitutes a useful approach for air quality monitoring. BC is mostly governed by vehicle exhaust emissions, while PM10 concentrations at these sites are also governed by non-exhaust particulate emissions resuspended by traffic, by midday atmospheric dilution and by other non-traffic emissions. ; This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (VAMOS CGL2010-19464/CLI; DAURE CGL2007-30502-E/CLI, GRACCIE-CSD2007-00067), Department of Inovation, Science and Enterprise of the Andalusian Autonomous Government (AER-REG-P07-RNM-03125), the Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, and the 7th FP from the EC project SAPUSS (Marie Curie intra-European Fellowship). The authors acknowledge the Departament de Territori i Sostenibilitat from Generalitat de Catalunya, Gobierno de Canarias and Junta de Andalucia (Spain), DEFRA (UK) and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) for providing the data.