Samtidigt som företag försöker bygga relationer till sina konsumenter sker det ibland misstag i kommunikationen som påverkar konsumenternas uppfattning om varumärket. Detta kan exempelvis ske i form av avsiktlig eller oavsiktlig diskriminering i marknadsföring. Tidigare studier har undersökt detta och kommit fram till att reklam ofta diskriminerar människor utifrån bland annat hudfärg, ras och kön. Dock finns det ett gap i litteraturen om hur sådan marknadsföring faktiskt påverkar konsumenter. Syftet med denna studie är därmed att undersöka vilken effekt diskriminerande marknadsföring har på konsumenters attityd, förtroende och lojalitet gentemot ett varumärke. För att genomföra undersökningen tillämpades en kvantitativ insamlingsmetod i form av en enkät. Totalt samlades det in 127 giltiga svar. Resultatet visar att konsumenters attityd, förtroende och lojalitet gentemot ett varumärke påverkas negativt när de exponeras fördiskriminerande reklam. Även ålder visar sig ha en effekt på hur diskriminerandemarknadsföring uppfattas där ju äldre en konsument är, desto mindre diskriminerande uppfattas reklam. Ålder har dock ingen påverkan på hur attityd, förtroende och lojalitet gentemot ett företag påverkas vid exponeringen av diskriminerande marknadsföring. Slutsatsen som dras i denna studie är att diskriminerande marknadsföring har en negativ effekt på konsumenters attityd, förtroende och lojalitet gentemot ett varumärke. Attityd visar sig påverkas mest negativt, följt av förtroende och sedan lojalitet. Denna studie är skriven på svenska. / While companies try to build a relationship with consumers, mistakes may happen in their communication which can affect the consumers’ perception of the brand. This may occur in the shape of intentional or unintentional discrimination in advertising. Prior studies have examined this and stated that people often are discriminated in advertising based on factors like race and gender. There is however a gap in literature as to how this actually affects consumers when they are exposed to discrimination in marketing. The purpose of this study is therefore to examine what impact discrimination in marketing has on consumers’ attitude, trust and loyalty towards a brand. To conduct this study, a quantitative collection method was used in form of an online questionnaire. This resulted in a total of 127 valid answers. The results showed that consumers’ attitude, trust and loyalty against a brand was negatively affected when exposed to discrimination in marketing. Even age showed to have an effect where the older a consumer is, the less discriminatory was the advertisement perceived. Age however did not have an impact on how attitude, trust and loyalty against a brand was affected when exposed to discrimination in marketing. Conclusions for this study is that discriminating marketing has a negative effect on consumers’ attitude, trust and loyalty towards a brand. Whereas attitude was shown to have the most negative effect, followed by trust and loyalty. This study is written in Swedish.

Today, there is an increasing demand for smart robots that can make decisions on their own and cooperate with humans in changing environments. The application areas for robotic arms with camera vision are likely to increase in the future of artificial intelligence as algorithms become more adaptable and intelligent than ever. The purpose of this bachelor’s thesis is to develop a robotic arm that recognises arbitrarily placed objects with camera vision and has the ability to pick and place the objects when they appear in unpredictable positions. The robotic arm has three degrees of freedom and the construction is modularised and 3D-printed with respect to maintenance, but also in order to be adaptive to new applications. The camera vision sensor is integrated in an external camera tripod with its field of view over the workspace. The camera vision sensor recognises objects through colour filtering and it uses an edge detection algorithm to return measurements of detected objects. The measurements are then used as input for the inverse kinematics, that calculates the rotation of each stepper motor. Moreover, there are three different angular potentiometers integrated in each axis to regulate the rotation by each stepper motor. The results in this thesis show that the robotic arm is able to pick up to 90% of the detected objects when using barrel distortion correction in the algorithm. The findings in this thesis is that barrel distortion, that comes with the camera lens, significantly impacts the precision of the robotic arm and thus the results. It can also be stated that the method for barrel distortion correction is affected by the geometry of detected objects and differences in illumination over the workspace. Another conclusion is that correct illumination is needed in order for the vision sensor to differentiate objects with different hue and saturation. / Idag ökar efterfrågan på smarta robotar som kan ta egna beslut och samarbeta med människor i föränderliga miljöer. Tillämpningsområdena för robotar med kamerasensorer kommer sannolikt att öka i en framtid av artificiell intelligens med algoritmer som blir mer intelligenta och anpassningsbara än tidigare. Syftet med detta kandidatexamensarbete är att utveckla en robotarm som, med hjälp av en kamerasensor, kan ta upp och sortera godtyckliga objekt när de uppträder på oförutsägbara positioner. Robotarmen har tre frihetsgrader och hela konstruktionen är 3D-printad och modulariserad för att vara underhållsvänlig, men också anpassningsbar för nya tillämpningsområden. Kamerasensorn ¨ar integrerad i ett externt kamerastativ med sitt synfält över robotarmens arbetsyta. Kamerasensorn detekterar objekt med hjälp av en färgfiltreringsalgoritm och returnerar sedan storlek, position och signatur för objekten med hjälp av en kantdetekteringsalgoritm. Objektens storlek används för att kalibrera kameran och kompensera för den radiella förvrängningen hos linsen. Objektens relativa position används sedan till invers kinematik för att räkna ut hur mycket varje stegmotor ska rotera för att erhålla den önskade vinkeln på varje axel som gör att gripdonet kan nå det detekterade objektet. Robotarmen har även tre olika potentiometrar integrerade i varje axel för att reglera rotationen av varje stegmotor. Resultaten i denna rapport visar att robotarmen kan detektera och plocka upp till 90% av objekten när kamerakalibrering används i algoritmen. Slutsatsen från rapporten är att förvrängningen från kameralinsen har störst påverkan på robotarmens precision och därmed resultatet. Det går även att konstatera att metoden som används för att korrigera kameraförvrängningen påverkas av geometrin samt orienteringen av objekten som ska detekteras, men framför allt variationer i belysning och skuggor över arbetsytan. En annan slutsats är att belysningen över arbetsytan är helt avgörande för om kamerasensorn ska kunna särskilja objekt med olika färgmättad och nyans.

Denna kunskapsöversikt fokuserar på innebörden av visuell litteracitet i bildämnet. Teman som behandlas är synen på visuell litteracitet och dess relation till visuell kompetens, dess kvalitéer samt hur det kan läras ut. Sökningar har genomförts i databaserna ERIC och ERC för att samla ihop artiklar som är peer reviewed och direkt eller indirekt är relaterade till visuell litteracitet. Resultatet presenteras utifrån två teman som berör hur lärare såväl som elever kan arbeta med visuell litteracitet. Därtill läggs ett speciellt fokus på det visuella elementet färg. En slutsats som dras är att visuell litteracitet bidrar med utvecklandet av elevers kritiska och analytiska förmåga då det kommer till bilder som omger dem i samhället. Vidare visar studien hur visuell litteracitet hjälper elever att utveckla empati såväl som hjälper dem i sitt identitetsskapande och framtida yrkesliv. Slutligen betonas det att ytterligare forskning som berör visuell litteracitet och dess koppling till det svenska skolsystemet behövs.

Thesis (Ph.D. Communication Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / Hair has been a marker of identity that communicates issues of race, acceptability, class and beauty. Evidence of this was during colonialism and apartheid where South African identities were defined by physical characteristics such as the texture of one’s hair, and the colour of one’s skin. Whiteness was the epitome of beauty which came with certain privileges. Non-White bodies were defined as part of a particular narrative that saw them as well as their hair as inferior to that of White bodies. Academic literature continues to engage African hair from the perspective of a colonial legacy through a postcolonial lens. This study, however, asserts a shift in engaging African hair and introduces an African identity which is re-empowered and liberated through agency and choice, and active participation in the construction of its own identity. This shift in engagement also relinquishes the African identity’s association with the dominant narrative of its conformity to a single European ideology of beauty and identity by introducing a (post)colonial, postmodern theory of a Multi-flex, Neo-hybrid identity which forms part of the theoretical framework of this study. This study draws on the theoretical positions of postmodern theory about the concepts of ‘self’ and identity. It engages interpretations of postmodernism and ‘self’ through the works of Kenneth Gergen and Robert Lifton who provide critical theoretical insight into postmodernism and identity. It also engages critical scholars such as Homi Bhabha, Franz Fanon, Kwame Appiah, Charles Ngwenya and Achille Mbembe, amongst others. Through this theoretical lens, I examine the role of the media in the presentation of the panoply of hair (styles) to South African women in the process of constructing a fluid, flexible and hybrid identity that decentres the ideology of rigid racial identity. I also critically investigate whether non-White women who lived during the colonial-apartheid era and those born in a free democratic era share this multi-flex, neo-hybrid identity of the postmodern woman. Thus this study aims to critically explore social narratives of South African women’s hair and how the media perpetuate the construction of a new postmodern African female identity within the backdrop of the commodification of hair and identity in a globalised market and media environment. Coupled with an interpretivist paradigm, a phenomenological v approach was adopted for this study. Data was collected from print media content material namely, DRUM Hair magazine (editions 2014-2019) due to the assortment of hairstyles and identities it provides for African women. Data was also collected in the form of semi-structured interviews/personal accounts/stories presented as phenomenological narratives from colonial-born Coloured and colonial-born Black female participants. Focus group interviews were conducted on post-apartheid/born-free Coloured and Black female South African participants to understand how these women construct their identities through hairstyle choices and the impact this has on the (re)presentation of their identities within the global beauty market environment. These diverse participants aged from 18 to 104 allow me to trace, if any, the changes in perception of hair and hairstyles from colonial-apartheid South Africa to the new and free post-apartheid South Africa. The results of the study show that media enable the African woman to construct a postmodern identity through the multiplicity of hairstyles/identities available to her. It also provides the African woman with the tools to create various identities for herself through the diversity of hairstyles available to her. The African woman who is exposed to an assortment of hairstyles can navigate from one identity to the next without being loyal to one identity which is typical of the postmodern self. Another finding is that coloniality seems to continue to shape the identities of women born during the colonial apartheid era. But for those born during the (post)colonial and post-apartheid era, they embrace a navigatory form of hybridity that is not loyal to one identity but explores various forms of identity, which the market place affords them and the media perpetuate in the construction of multi-flex, neo-hybrid and postmodern identities. The implication of this study is that it is liberating since it allows us to critically review our identity and what we deem as beautiful and to question the daily choices we make not only with our hairstyles but with fashion, food and other cultural elements that shape our performance of identities. / National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) and South African Humanities Deans Association (SAHUDA)

The purpose of this project was to track the posture of a person sitting by a desk, and then use the information to adjust the desk to achieve an optimal height for the user. The solution was to track the angle of the users forearm relative to the desk’s horizontal plane, which should be around zero degrees for an ergonomic posture. Two Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) in different colours were attached to the user, one at the elbow and one at the wrist. The LEDs were tracked with a camera connected to a laptop running Open Source Computer Vision Library (OpenCV). Window tinting was placed on the camera lens so that only the LEDs and other strong light sources were visible. By using OpenCV, coordinates for the two LEDs were given. With the coordinates found, the angle of the users arm could be calculated and the height of the desk evaluated. Information about necessary height adjustments were sent from the laptop to an Arduino via Bluetooth. The Arduino then controlled a stepper motor by sending signals to a stepper driver, making the motor rotate, thus adjust the height of the desk. The desk was a single leg laptop desk. The leg consists of two tubes. The lower, outer tube was connected to the foot while the upper inner tube, which ran freely in the outer tube, was connected to the tabletop. The height was adjusted with a lead screw positioned parallel to the leg.The nut on the lead screw was connected to the outer lowertube. When the motor rotated so did the lead screw, lifting the table top up or lowering it. / Syftet med detta project var att undersöka om det är möjligt att i realtid spåra en persons hållning vid ett skrivbord, och använda den informationen för att justera skrivbordet höjd och nå en optimal höjd för användaren. Lösningen var att spåra vinkeln på användarens underarm relativt skrivbordets horisontalplan, som bör vara runt noll grader för en ergonomisk ställning. Två lysdioder i olika färger placeras på användaren, en på armbågen och en på handleden. Med hjälp av OpenCV spårades lysdioderna med en kamera kopplad till en dator. Solfilm sattes på kameralinsen så att endast lysdioderna och andra starka ljuskällor var synliga. Genom att använda OpenCV togs koordinaterna för lysdioderna fram. Med koordinaterna kunde vinkeln på användarens underarm beräknas och skrivbordets höjd utvärderas. Information om nödvändiga höjdändringar skickades från laptopen till en Arduino via Bluetooth. Arduinon kontrollerade en stegmotor genom att skicka signaler till en stegmotordrivare, vilket fick motorn att rotera och justera skrivbordets höjd. Skrivbordet var ett enbent laptopställ. Benet bestod av två rör. Det nedre yttre röret satt fast i foten och det övre inre röret satt fast i bordsskivan, och löpte fritt i det yttre röret. Höjden justerades med en gängstav som satt parallellt med benet. Muttern satt ihop med det nedre röret. När motorn roterade gjorder också gängstaven det, vilket antingen pressade upp bordsskivan eller sänkte den.

The purpose of this project was to track the posture of aperson sitting by a desk, and then use the information toadjust the desk to achieve an optimal height for the user.The solution was to track the angle of the users forearm relativeto the desk’s horizontal plane, which should be aroundzero degrees for an ergonomic posture. Two Light EmittingDiodes (LEDs) in different colours were attached tothe user, one at the elbow and one at the wrist. The LEDswere tracked with a camera connected to a laptop runningOpen Source Computer Vision Library (OpenCV). Windowtinting was placed on the camera lens so that only theLEDs and other strong light sources were visible. By usingOpenCV, coordinates for the two LEDs were given. Withthe coordinates found, the angle of the users arm couldbe calculated and the height of the desk evaluated. Informationabout necessary height adjustments were sent fromthe laptop to an Arduino via Bluetooth. The Arduino thencontrolled a stepper motor by sending signals to a stepperdriver, making the motor rotate, thus adjust the height ofthe desk.The desk was a single leg laptop desk. The leg consistsof two tubes. The lower, outer tube was connected to thefoot while the upper inner tube, which ran freely in theouter tube, was connected to the tabletop. The height wasadjusted with a lead screw positioned parallel to the leg.The nut on the lead screw was connected to the outer lowertube. When the motor rotated so did the lead screw, liftingthe table top up or lowering it. / Syftet med detta project var att undersöka om det är möjligtatt i realtid spåra en persons hållning vid ett skrivbord, ochanvända den informationen för att justera skrivbordet höjdoch nå en optimal höjd för användaren.Lösningen var att spåra vinkeln på användarens underarmrelativt skrivbordets horisontalplan, som bör vara runt nollgrader för en ergonomisk ställning. Två lysdioder i olikafärger placeras på användaren, en på armbågen och en påhandleden. Med hjälp av OpenCV spårades lysdioderna meden kamera kopplad till en dator. Solfilm sattes på kameralinsenså att endast lysdioderna och andra starka ljuskällorvar synliga. Genom att använda OpenCV togs koordinaternaför lysdioderna fram. Med koordinaterna kunde vinkelnpå användarens underarm beräknas och skrivbordets höjdutvärderas. Information om nödvändiga höjdändringar skickadesfrån laptopen till en Arduino via Bluetooth. Arduinonkontrollerade en stegmotor genom att skicka signalertill en stegmotordrivare, vilket fick motorn att rotera ochjustera skrivbordets höjd.Skrivbordet var ett enbent laptopställ. Benet bestod av tvårör. Det nedre yttre röret satt fast i foten och det övre inreröret satt fast i bordsskivan, och löpte fritt i det yttre röret.Höjden justerades med en gångstav som satt parallellt medbenet. Muttern satt ihop med det nedre röret. När motornroterade gjorder också gångstaven det, vilket antingen pressadeupp bordsskivan eller sänkte den.

Cette thèse étudie la race, le mimétisme, l'ambivalence et la théorie du tiers espace dans The Woman of Colour: A Tale (1808). J'ai examiné les représentations des femmes de couleur dans ce roman et j'ai soutenu que ces dernières vont au-delà des représentations conventionnelles restreintes des femmes de couleur dans la plupart des romans du XVIIIe siècle. L'auteure anonyme de The Woman of Colour capte la coexistence, au début du XIXe siècle, de positions opposées envers les femmes de couleur des Antilles. De plus, j'ai examiné comment les femmes de couleur représentées dans ce roman peuvent créer une version d'un tiers-espace dans les interstices de cultures conflictuelles. Le tiers-espace est un concept que les critiques culturels et les théoriciens de la résistance utilisent pour définir une opposition aux forces dominantes par les personnes qui leur résistent. L'introduction fournit des discussions sur certains concepts de fond importants, notamment la race, le mimétisme, l'ambivalence et le tiers-espace. Le premier chapitre étudie les représentations des femmes de couleur dans le roman et le deuxième chapitre explore le tiers-escape qu'elles tentent de créer. / This thesis studies race, mimicry, ambivalence, and third space in The Woman of Colour: A Tale (1808). I have examined the representations of women of color in this novel and argued that these representations go beyond the restricted conventional depictions of women of color in most novels of the eighteenth century. The anonymous author of The Woman of Colour captures the coexistence, in the early nineteenth century, of opposing attitudes towards women of color from the West Indies. Furthermore, I have examined how the women of color represented in this novel could create a version of a third space in the interstices between conflicting cultures. The third space is a concept that cultural critics and resistance theorists use to define an opposition to dominating forces by the people withstanding them. The introduction provides discussions of some significant background concepts, notably race, mimicry, ambivalence, and third space. The first chapter studies to the representations of women of color in the novel and the second chapter explores third space they attempt to create.

<p> The globular cluster system of a nearby giant elliptical galaxy, NGC 5128 is studied to place constraints on the formation history of the galaxy. In this thesis, we have identified 190 new globular clusters via radial velocity measurements, bringing the total known population of globular clusters to 605 within this galaxy. We have examined the colour and spatial distributions of the globular cluster system and find it is bimodal in colour, with both a red and blue globular cluster population. The blue population is more spatially extended than the red, and both populations fall off in number density with radius as a power-law. There is a clear lack of globular clusters along the isophotal minor axis of the galaxy beyond a galactocentric radius of 15' warranting further search. With this new dataset, we have measured the ages, metallicities, and formation timescales for 72 globular clusters. The spectroscopic metallicity distribution function is bimodal indicating there is a metal-rich and metal-poor globular cluster population that corresponds to the red and blue globular clusters, respectively. We find the majority of both metal-rich (56%) and metal-poor (92%) globular clusters are older than 8 Gyr, comparable to the Milky Way globular cluster system. We do find a smaller fraction, 18% of our sample, are metal-rich globular clusters with ages younger than 5 Gyr, while the remaining globular clusters have intermediate ages between 5 -8 Gyr. The formation times of these globular clusters, estimated by their alpha-to-iron abundance ratios, indicate they formed quickly, on a timescale similar to globular clusters in most spiral galaxies, but on slower timescales than those in some other giant elliptical galaxies. The kinematics of the full globular cluster system is analyzed, as well as for the metal-rich and metal-poor globular clusters separately, as a function of galactocentric radius. We find the metal-poor globular cluster system has a small rotation signature of 17±14 km s-1 around no clearly defined axis and its dynamics are dominated by dispersion. The metal-rich globular cluster system has a mild rotation of 41 ± 15 km s-1 about the galaxy's isophotal major axis, following the rotation of a representative field star population, the planetary nebulae. The motion of the metal-rich globular cluster system is also dominated by random motion. We estimate the mass of the galaxy to be (5.5 ± 1.9) x 1011 with a mass-to-light ratio of 15.35 M0 /L80 using the globular cluster M0 population out to 20'. This estimate places NGC 5128 on a mass scale similar to other giant elliptical galaxies. The evidence collected suggests that NGC 5128 formed in a hierarchical scenario, gradually building up larger structure from smaller protogalaxies at early times in the history of the Universe. The group environment of NGC 5128 may have prolonged star formation within the galaxy as well, enabling a small spread in the old ages of globular clusters and also slowing the formation timescales compared to globular clusters in other giant elliptical galaxies. Results from this thesis also support more recent accretions in the history of NGC 5128, building up the more metal-rich and young globular clusters, which have a different rotation axis than the rest of the population. </p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

Die Entdeckung der Kanalrhodopsine (ChRs) C1 und C2 aus der Grünalge Chlamydomonas reinhartii vor 10 Jahren brachte die neue Proteinfamilie der lichtgesteuerten Ionenkanäle hervor. Diese 7-Transmembranproteine verwenden all-trans Retinal, um Licht einer bestimmten Wellenlänge zu absorbieren. Bei Lichtabsorption isomerisiert das Retinal und das Protein öffnet daraufhin seine Pore, die es Ionen wie H+, Na+ und Ca2+ erlaubt, abhängig von ihrem elektrochemischen Gradienten, die Membran zu passieren. Insbesondere in der Neurophysiologie findet seit kurzem das C2 eine breite Anwendung, da seine Expression in Nervenzellen es erlaubt, mittels kurzer Lichtpulse die elektrische Aktivität dieser Zellen zu kontrollieren. In dieser Arbeit wurden zum ersten Mal die beiden neuen ChRs V1 und V2 aus der mehrzelligen Grünalge Volvox carteri elektrophysiologisch charakterisiert. Hierbei zeigte sich, dass V2, ähnlich wie C2, im blauen Spektralbereich absorbiert und auch, dass sich die kinetischen Eigenschaften stark ähneln. Dagegen besitzt V1 eine um 70 nm längerwellig verschobene Absorption auf 535 nm bei einer ~ 10 x langsameren Abklingkinetik als C2. Durch die schlechte Membranintegration von V1 in eukaryotischen Zellen ist der Photostrom gering und die Anwendungen in Neuronen stark eingeschränkt. Um die Membranintegration zu verbessern, wurden einzelne Helices von V1 gegen die entsprechenden Helices der anderen ChRs ausgetauscht. Hierbei wurde eine Chimäre C1V1-25, die aus den ersten 2 Helices von C1 und den restlichen 5 Helices von V1 besteht, entwickelt. Die Chimäre besitzt weiterhin eine rotverschobene Absorption bei 539 nm, einen 4 x höheren Photostrom als V1 und der doppelt so hoch ist wie der von C2. / The discovery of the channelrhodopsins (ChRs), C1 and C2 from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii 10 years ago, created the new protein family of light-gated ion channels. Those 7-Transmembranproteins are utilizing all-trans retinal to absorb light at specific wavelength. Upon light absorption the retinal isomerizes which leads to opening of a protein pore allowing ions such as H+, Na+ and Ca2+ to pass the membrane depending on their electrochemical gradient. In the last years C2 attracted a lot of attention in neuroscience since its expression in neurons allows to control their electrical properties with short light pulses. This work presents the electrophysiological characterization of two new ChRs V1 and V2 from the multicellular agla Volvox carteri for the first time . V2 absorbs light in the blue visible range like C2 and almost identical kinetic properties. In contrast, V1 exhibit a 70 nm redshifted absorption towards 535 nm and a ~ 10 x slower off-kinetic than C2. Since V1 displays only weak membrane targeting the resulting overall small photocurrent in eukaryotic cells significantly hampered its application in neuronal cells. To improve membrane targeting and to retain redshifted absorbance helices from V1 were exchanged with the corresponding helices from the other ChRs. A chimera called C1V1-25, which consists out of the first 2 helices from C1 and the last 5 helices from V1 showed a absorbance maximum at 539 nm and exhibit a 4 times higher photocurrent even beeing 2 times higher then the one of C2.