Abstract Background: The factors underlying,the gradual,decline in the,participation inthe,elections and ,the devocalization ,of the ,political movements ,that are being observed,during,the last decades in Greece have not been previously studied through the looking glass of psychological processes, such as the phenomenon,of Learned ,Helplessness ,first put ,forward ,by Maier ,and Seligman in 1976. The latter phenomenon,postulates that when,a belief that events are independent of behaviour and thus uncontrollable is established, itresults in affective, motivational and cognitive deficits e.g. a tendency to bea passive learner who depends on others for decisions and guidance, unwilling,to try ,and ,influence ,his/her environment. , The ,objective of the present,study ,is to ,explore ,the presence of the ,phenomenon ,of Learned Helplessness amongst,Greek students,as well as its possible correlation with their negative ,perception ,of the ,quality of democracy ,in Greece. Method: Questionnaires,were ,administered ,to 220 Greek ,Students ,attending ,the Kappodistrian University and the Panteion University, both located in

ii1 Introduction 11.1 Goal of the Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.2 Organization of the Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Background 42.1 Evolutionary Algorithms Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.1.1 Variable-length Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62.1.2 Genotype-Phenotype Distinction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62.1.3 Multi-level Representation of Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....

En los últimos años el interés por la Inteligencia Competitiva (IC) ha aumentado notablemente entre académicos, investigadores y profesionales, promoviendo el surgimiento de una nueva disciplina en el campo de la administración y dirección estratégica de empresas. La IC es un proceso sistemático de recolección de información, análisis y diseminación acerca del ambiente de negocios, de los competidores y de la propia organización. Esta área del conocimiento ha logrado mejorar significativamente una de las fases fundamentales de todo proceso estratégico. No obstante su utilidad, la literatura y la evidencia empírica todavía es escasa. De allí que el objetivo principal de este trabajo sea el determinar la existencia de una relación positiva entre el desempeño empresarial y la Generación de Inteligencia Competitiva (GIC) en las empresas multinacionales de Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación (TIC's) de Barcelona. Adicionalmente, se desea encontrar la tipología de las empresas orientadas hacia la inteligencia competitiva (INTCOR) y finalmente encontrar los elementos que contribuyen al éxito de modelos de IC en estas empresas. Esta propuesta es la primera aproximación del proyecto doctoral del autor, a sustentarse en la UAB.

The area covered by this study extends from the mouth of the Gambia estuary to about 250 km inland. In this stretch of the estuary, about 43 seining sampling stations were operated. The purpose of this study is to look closely at the fish resources of the estuary with the view of improving understanding of existing patterns that determine periodic yields as a prerequisite for rational and sustainable management, which has to be based on sound scientific findings. Understanding the fish resource patterns and trends of factors that affect it would facilitate review and enable proper formulation of legislation governing its sustainable exploitation. The results are expected to help explain past, present and future yield patterns as well as provide a basis for planning and implementation of future estuarine-related projects. In the report, environmental parameters such as water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, water transparency and depth are observed as well as fish species occurrence within the estuary. In sum, during the five surveys conducted throughout the estuary, surface water temperatures did not differ much from bottom temperatures. The small difference between mean surface temperature and bottom temperature (0.68oC) indicates an absence of a thermocline in the Gambia estuary even during the rainy season. Records of salinity throughout the surveys indicate a negative upstream gradient with slopes differing from survey to survey depending on the volume of down stream flow of freshwater. The results of the study indicate surface and bottom concentration of dissolved oxygen in a parallel pattern of oscillation throughout the estuary with a mean difference of only about 0.29 mg/l. On the whole, the lower estuarine waters were observed to be relatively more turbid from September to May, while the upper estuarine turbidity was observed to be highest in April to September. Turbidity appears closely linked to river discharge regime. About 80 fish and shellfish species were encountered in the Gambia estuarine system belonging to more than 40 families. Salinity seems to be the main factor controlling the occurrence of species throughout the Gambia estuary.