Changes in the health-care system during the past decades have led to an increased transfer of health care to the home environment which also concerns patients treated with home enteral tube feeding (HETF). Research is scarce about how HETF care is functioning. Therefore, the overall aim with this thesis was to describe and explore HETF care and treatment from patients', relatives' and nurses' perspectives. Three qualitative and one quantitative study were used. The findings showed that the HETF treatment and care had a great impact on daily life for both patients and their relatives and implied many practical, emotional and social problems in their daily life, which they strived to manage. Side effects were common and the patients' reported low HRQL and general health. The amount and quality of received guidance and support from the health care, not least before discharge, turned out to have impact on the patients' and the relatives' daily life and how they could manage their situation. Lack of guidance and support meant insecurity, worries and distress. Cooperation in the care trajectory was found to be decisive for how well the care was running. Nurses' knowledge about tube feeding and discharge planning procedures, their commitment to the patients' care, as well as clarity regarding responsibility of HETF care were factors of crucial importance on how the cooperation worked, and the quality of the HETF care. This thesis shows the need of improvements regarding the care of HETF patients and their relatives.

Analytical solutions to complex trajectory design problems are scarce, since only a few specific cases allow for closed-form solutions. The main purpose of this dissertation is to design simple algorithms for trajectory design using continuous thrust, with a focus on low-thrust applications. By “simple” here we seek to achieve algorithms that either admit an analytical solution, or require minimal input by the user and minimal computation time. The three main contributions of this dissertation are: designing Lyapunov-based closed-loop guidance laws for orbit transfers, finding semi-analytical solutions using a constant magnitude thrust, and perturbation theory for approximate solutions to low-thrust problems. The technical aspect that these problems share in common is that they all use, fully or partially, a thrusting model in which the energy of the system is kept constant. Many orbit transfer problems are shown to be solved with this thrusting protocol. / text

<p>Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to acquire knowledge about daily life with focus on eating problems during the trajectory of care for patients with head and neck cancer treated with radiotherapy. Method: The data in study I were gained from medical and nursing records of 50 patients. Documented parameters of eating problems, their causes and consequences, and undertaken interventions were collected before treatment, during radiotherapy, and one, six, and twelve months after completion of treatment, using a study-specific audit instrument. Data were analysed with descriptive and inferential non-parametric statistics. In study II eight patients were interviewed during the radiotherapy treatment period with focus on experiences of eating problems. In study III nine patients were interviewed six to twelve weeks after treatment with the focus on experiences of daily life during the trajectory of care having eating problems. In study IV twelve patients were interviewed about their conceptions of the significance of a supportive nursing care clinic during the whole trajectory of care. Data were analysed with interpretative phenomenology (II, III) and phenomenography (IV). Findings: The four studies showed that being a patient in the trajectory of care often meant that life was disturbed and threatened. This was partly due to the eating problems and their consequences, which could occur during the whole trajectory of care (I, III, IV) but was experienced as most intense and severe during radiotherapy (II) and the nearest weeks after completion of radiotherapy (III, IV). The disturbances and threats experienced due to eating problems could affect the whole person as they were physical (I-IV), psychological, social and existential (II, III). The experiences of eating problems due to the tumour and its treatment and the experience of having cancer per se were strongly connected as one phenomenon, which disturbed and threatened the informants’ daily life. The other part that disturbed the patients’ life was the waiting in suspense. A long and trying waiting in uncertainty was experienced due to lack of knowledge and support, practical as well as emotional. This was most pronounced during pauses in radiotherapy (III) and after completion of the treatment when the lack of support from the health care was obvious (I, II, III). The patients were then most often left to their own devices. In order to endure, they needed both inner strength, described as own coping strategies, and strength from outside, described as support from family, friends and health care professionals (II, III). The nurse clinic was found to give a hand to hold during the whole trajectory of care (IV). It could meet these patients’ needs of knowledge, care and support, both concerning practical measures related to the eating problems and other side-effects of the treatment, and concerning their emotional needs. In addition the nurse clinic could support the relatives in their worries and anxiety (IV). Conclusion: This thesis showed the necessity of continuous assessment, treatment and evaluation of patients’ problems, and the patients’ needs of information and support throughout the trajectory of care.</p>

<p>Constrained optimization is used to derive human postures and movements. In the first study a static 3D model with 30 muscle groups is used to analyse postures. The activation levels of these muscles are minimized in order to represent the individual's choice of posture. Subject specific data in terms of anthropometry, strength and orthopedic aids serve as input. The aim is to study effects from orthopedic treatment and altered abilities of the subject. Initial validation shows qualitative agreement of posture strategies but further details about passive stiffness and anthropometry are needed, especially to predict pelvis orientation. In the second application, the athletic long jump, a problem formulation is developed to find optimal movements of a multibody system when subjected to contact. The model was based on rigid links, joint actuators and a wobbling mass. The contact to the ground was modelled as a spring-damper system with tuned properties. The movement in the degrees of freedom representing physical joints was described over contact time through two fifth-order polynomials, with a variable transition time, while the motion in the degrees of freedom of contact and wobbling mass was integrated forwards in time, as a consequence. Muscle activation variables were then optimized in order to maximize ballistic flight distance. The optimization determined contact time, end configuration, activation and interaction with the ground from an initial configuration. The results from optimization show a reasonable agreement with experimentally recorded jumps, but individual recordings and measurements are needed for more precise conclusions.</p><p> </p>

In this thesis, a cognitive neural predictive controller system has been designed to guide a nonholonomic wheeled mobile robot during continuous and non-continuous trajectory tracking and to navigate through static obstacles with collision-free and minimum tracking error. The structure of the controller consists of two layers; the first layer is a neural network system that controls the mobile robot actuators in order to track a desired path. The second layer of the controller is cognitive layer that collects information from the environment and plans the optimal path. In addition to this, it detects if there is any obstacle in the path so it can be avoided by re-planning the trajectory using particle swarm optimisation (PSO) technique. Two neural networks models are used: the first model is modified Elman recurrent neural network model that describes the kinematic and dynamic model of the mobile robot and it is trained off-line and on-line stages to guarantee that the outputs of the model will accurately represent the actual outputs of the mobile robot system. The trained neural model acts as the position and orientation identifier. The second model is feedforward multi-layer perceptron neural network that describes a feedforward neural controller and it is trained off-line and its weights are adapted on-line to find the reference torques, which controls the steady-state outputs of the mobile robot system. The feedback neural controller is based on the posture neural identifier and quadratic performance index predictive optimisation algorithm for N step-ahead prediction in order to find the optimal torque action in the transient to stabilise the tracking error of the mobile robot system when the trajectory of the robot is drifted from the desired path during transient state. Three controller methodologies were developed: the first is the feedback neural controller; the second is the nonlinear PID neural feedback controller and the third is nonlinear inverse dynamic neural feedback controller, based on the back-stepping method and Lyapunov criterion. The main advantages of the presented approaches are to plan an optimal path for itself avoiding obstructions by using intelligent (PSO) technique as well as the analytically derived control law, which has significantly high computational accuracy with predictive optimisation technique to obtain the optimal torques control action and lead to minimum tracking error of the mobile robot for different types of trajectories. The proposed control algorithm has been applied to monitor a nonholonomic wheeled mobile robot, has demonstrated the capability of tracking different trajectories with continuous gradients (lemniscates and circular) or non-continuous gradients (square) with bounded external disturbances and static obstacles. Simulations results and experimental work showed the effectiveness of the proposed cognitive neural predictive control algorithm; this is demonstrated by the minimised tracking error to less than (1 cm) and obtained smoothness of the torque control signal less than maximum torque (0.236 N.m), especially when external disturbances are applied and navigating through static obstacles. Results show that the five steps-ahead prediction algorithm has better performance compared to one step-ahead for all the control methodologies because of a more complex control structure and taking into account future values of the desired one, not only the current value, as with one step-ahead method. The mean-square error method is used for each component of the state error vector to compare between each of the performance control methodologies in order to give better control results.

This thesis explores how an Asteroid Sample Return Mission might make use of solar electric propulsion to send a spacecraft on a journey to the asteroid 1989ML and back. It examines different trajectories that can be used to get an asteroid sample return or similar spacecraft to an interplanetary destination and back in the most fuel-efficient manner. While current plans call for keeping such a spacecraft on the asteroid performing science experiments for approximately 90 days, it is prudent to inquire how lengthening or shortening this time period may affect mission fuel requirements. Using optimal control methods, various mission scenarios have been modeled and simulated. The results suggest that the amount of time that the spacecraft may spend on the asteroid surface can be approximated as a linear function of the available fuel mass. Furthermore, It can be shown that as maximum available thrust is decreased, the radial component of the optimal thrust vector becomes more pronounced.

Dropped objects are among the top ten causes of fatalities and serious injuries in the oil and gas industry. Objects may be dropped during lifting or any other offshore operation. Concerns of health, safety, and the environment (HSE) as well as possible damages to structures require the prediction of where and how a dropped object moves underwater. This study of dropped objects is subdivided into three parts. In the first part, the experimental and simulated results published by Aanesland (1987) have been successfully reproduced and validated based on a two-dimensional (2D) theory for a dropped drilling pipe model. A new three-dimensional (3D) theory is proposed to consider the effect of axial rotation on dropped cylindrical objects. The 3D method is based on a modified slender body theory for maneuvering. A numerical tool called Dropped Objects Simulator (DROBS) has been developed based on this 3D theory. Firstly, simulated results of a dropped drilling pipe model using a 2D theory by Aanesland (1987) are compared with results from 3D theory when rolling frequency is zero. Good agreement is found. Further, factors that affect the trajectory, such as drop angle, normal drag coefficient, binormal drag coefficient, and rolling frequency are systematically investigated. It is found that drop angle, normal drag coefficient, and rolling frequency are the three most critical factors determining the trajectories. In the second part, a more general three-dimensional (3D) theory is proposed to physically simulate the dynamic motion of a dropped cylindrical object underwater with different longitudinal center of gravity (LCG). DROBS has been further developed based on this 3D theory. It is initially applied to a dropped cylinder with LCG = 0 (cylinder #1) falling from the surface of calm water. The calculated trajectories match very well with both the experimental and numerical results published in Aanesland (1987). Then DROBS is further utilized to simulate two dropped cylinders with positive LCG (cylinder #2) and negative LCG (cylinder #3) in Chu et al. (2005), respectively. The simulated results from DROBS show a better agreement with the measured data than the numerical results given in Chu et al. (2005). This comparison again validates and indicates the effectiveness of the DROBS program. Finally, it’s applied to investigate the effects of varying LCG on the trajectory and landing points. Therefore, the newly developed DROBS program could be used to simulate the distribution of landing points of dropped cylindrical objects, as is very valuable in the risk-free zone prediction in offshore engineering. The third part investigates the dynamic motion of a dropped cylindrical object under current. A numerical procedure is developed and integrated into Dropped Objects Simulator (DROBS). DROBS is utilized to simulate the trajectories of a cylinder when dropped into currents from different directions (incoming angle at 0o; 90o; 180o; and 270o) and with different amplitudes (0m/s to 1.0m/s). It is found that trajectories and landing points of dropped cylinders are greatly influenced by currents. Cylinders falling into water are modeled as a stochastic process. Therefore, the related parameters, including the orientation angle, translational velocity and rotational velocity of the cylindrical object after fully entering the water, is assumed to follow normal distributions. DROBS is further used to derive the landing point distribution of a cylinder. The results are compared to Awotahegn (2015) based on Monte Carlo simulations. Then the Monte Carlo simulations are used for predicting the landing point distribution of dropped cylinders with drop angles from 0o to 90o under the influence of currents. The plots of overall landing point distribution and impact energy distribution on the sea bed provide a simple way to indicate the risk-free zones for offshore operation.

Satellite formation missions allow for scientific measurement opportunities that are only otherwise possible with the use of unrealistically large satellites. This work applies the Evolutionary Algorithm (EA), Differential Evolution (DE), to a 4-satellite mission design that borrows heavily from the mission specifications for Phase 1 of NASA's Magnetospheric Multi-Scale Mission (MMS). This mission specifies goals for formation "quality" and size over the arc when scientific measurements are to be taken known as the Region of Interest (ROI). To apply DE to this problem a novel definition of fitness is developed and tailored to trajectory problems of the parameter scales of this mission. This method uses numerical integration of evolved initial conditions for trajectory determination. This approach allows for the inclusion of gravitational perturbations without altering the method. Here, the J2 oblateness correction is considered but other inclusions such as solar radiation pressure and other gravitational bodies are readily possible by amending the governing equations of integration which are stored outside of the method and called only during evaluation. A set of three launch conditions is evaluated using this method. Due to computational limitation, the design is restricted to only single-impulse maneuvers at launch and the ROI is initially restricted but then expanded through a process known here as "staging". The ROIs of tests are expanded until they fail to meet performance criteria; no result was able to stage to the full MMS specified $\pm20^\circ$ ROI but this is a result of the single-impulse restriction. The number of orbits a launch condition is able to meet performance criteria is also investigated. Revolutions considered and the ROIs therein contained are staged to investigate if the method is able to handle this additional problem space. Evidence of suitable formation trajectories found by this method is here presented.

Context. The advances in location-acquisition and mobile computing techniques have generated massive spatial trajectory data. Such spatial trajectory data accumulated by telecommunication operators is huge, analyzing the data with a right tool or method can uncover patterns and connections which can be used for improving telecom services. Forecasting trajectory data or predicting next location of users is one of such analysis. It can be used for producing synthetic data and also to determine the network capacity needed for a cell tower in future. Objectives. The objectives of this thesis is, Firstly, to have a new application for CWT (Collapsed Weighted Tensor) method. Secondly, to modify the CWT method to predict the location of a user. Thirdly, to provide a suitable method for the given Telenor dataset to predict the user’s location over a period of time.   Methods. The thesis work has been carried out by implementing the modified CWT method. The predicted location obtained by modified CWT cannot be determined to which time stamp it belongs as the given Telenor dataset contains missing time stamps. So, the modified CWT method is implemented in two different methods. Replacing missing values with first value in dataset. Replacing missing values with second value in dataset. These two methods are implemented and determined which method can predict the location of users with minimal error.   Results. The results are carried by assuming that the given Telenor dataset for one week will be same as that for the next week. Users are selected in a random sample and above mentioned methods are performed. Furthermore, RMSD values and computational time are calculated for each method and selected users.   Conclusion. Based on the analysis of the results, Firstly, it can be concluded that CWT method have been modified and used for predicting the user’s location for next time stamp. Secondly, the method can be extended to predict over a period of time. Finally, modified CWT method predicts location of the user with minimal error when missing values are replaced by first value in the dataset.

Certains gènes, modulant la sérotonine (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT), ont été associés aux tempéraments liés à l'anxiété. Une limitation dans la plupart de ces études est que les études sont de nature transversale et l'anxiété a été évaluée à un seul point dans le temps. De plus, seules quelques études ont été réalisées chez les enfants. Le but de la présente étude était d'étudier le rôle des gènes HTR2A et TPH2 dans le développement des trajectoires d’anxiété durant l’enfance. Les associations entre ces gènes, ces trajectoires, le diagnostic d’anxiété à l'âge adulte et les différences entre les sexes ont été examinées dans l'Étude Longitudinale des Enfants de Maternelle au Québec, composée de 3185 enfants recrutés en 1986-1987. Leur anxiété a été cotée par leur professeur annuellement entre 6 et 12 ans. Ces cotes ont été modélisées en trajectoires comportementales. Les données genotypées de 5-HT, disponibles pour 1068 personnes, ont été analysées en utilisant les statistiques du Chi-carré, des régressions logistiques et des analyses de variance. Sur les 37 polymorphismes étudiés, plusieurs ont été associés à la trajectoire de forte anxiété, tels le 5-HTR2A (rs1328684, rs95534511, rs1745837, rs7984966, 7330636) et TPH2 (rs11179050, rs11179052, rs1386498). Bien que les trajectoires d’anxiété en enfance n’aient pas prédit le diagnostic d'anxiété à 21 ans, les relations ont été trouvées entre ce diagnostic, HTR2A et les polymorphismes du nucléotide simple (PNS) de TPH2. On remarque que les PNS associés à l’anxiété durant l’enfance et l’âge adulte ne sont pas les mêmes. La force d'association entre les gènes étudiés et l'anxiété diffère entre les garçons et les filles. Cette étude est la première à identifier une association entre les variantes TPH2, 5-HTR2A et les trajectoires d’anxiété en enfance. Les études futures devraient reproduire les résultats dans d'autres échantillons, enquêter sur l'interaction avec les facteurs de stress, et étudier la pertinence fonctionnelle de la PNS. / A number of genes known to modulate serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) have been associated with anxiety-related temperaments. A limitation in most of these studies is that the studies are cross-sectional and anxiety has been measured at a single point in time. Furthermore, only a few studies have been done in children. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of the HTR2A and TPH2 gene in the development of trajectories of anxiety in childhood/ adolescence. Associations between these genes, anxiety trajectories in childhood and anxiety diagnoses in adulthood were also investigated. Finally, gender differences were explored. Research questions were investigated in the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children, consisting of 3185 boys and girls, selected in 1986-1987. Children`s anxiety was rated by their teacher every year between the age of 6 and 12 years. The ratings were modeled into behavioral trajectories. 5-HT genotyping data were available for 1068 cohort members. Data were analyzed using Chi-square statistics, logistic regressions and ANOVAs. Out of 37 investigated polymorphisms, several polymorphisms, such as 5-HTR2A (rs1328684, rs95534511, rs1745837, rs7984966, 7330636) and TPH2 (rs11179050, rs11179052, rs1386498) were associated with a high anxiety trajectory. Though trajectories of high anxiety in childhood did not predict an anxiety diagnosis at age 21, relationships were found between HTR2A and TPH2 SNPs and anxiety diagnosis at age 21. We note that the SNPs associated with anxiety were different between adults and children. The strength of association between the investigated genes and anxiety differed between boys and girls. This is the first study reporting an association with some HTR2A and TPH2 variants and trajectories of anxiety in children. Future studies should replicate the findings in other samples, investigate the interaction with stressors, and study the functional relevance of the SNPs