Ausgangspunkt dieser vorliegenden Arbeit waren bisherige Untersuchungen unseres Arbeitskreises zum Memb-ranverankerungsverhalten (Phospholipidmembranen, LUV) von Nukleosiden und Oligonukleotiden, welche einen lipophilen Anker an der 5-Position der Pyrimidin- oder an der 8-Position der Purinbase tragen. Diese Nukleolipide ankern gut in der Membran, stehen aber nicht mehr für eine Watson-Crick-Basenpaarung an der Phasengrenzfläche zu Verfügung. Demnach wurde durch die Verwendung unterschiedlicher Reaktionen (Veresterung, Thioetherbildung, Carbamoylverknüpfung oder „Clickreaktion“ zu Triazolen) und verschiedener funktioneller Gruppen (Hydroxy, Thiohydroxy, Azid, Amin) an die 2´-Position der Nukleoside eine Reihe von lipophilen Resten (Alkylketten, Cholesterol, Pyren) eingeführt. Diese Konjugate verankerten ebenfalls gut in den Membranen und es zeigten sich erste Hinweise, dass durch die Einführung eines Spacers zwischen dem Nukleosid und dem lipophilen Anker, eine Basenpaarung an der Phasengrenzfläche möglich ist. Weiterhin zeigte es sich, dass Nukleolipide mit nur einem lipophilen Rest nicht stabil in Membranen verankern, vor allem, wenn dieser nicht verzweigt ist. Bei der Anwendung von Oligonukleotiden zum Ankern in Membranen ist es unbedeu-tend, an welcher Stelle der lipophile Rest am Nukleotid vorkommt, denn zum einen geht das entsprechende Nukleolipid selbst keine Basenpaarung ein und zum anderen erfolgt keine Basenpaarung über dieses hinweg. Für biotechnologische Anwendungen konnte mit Hilfe dieser synthetisierten lipophilen Oligonukleotide gezeigt werden, dass zwei vesikelmembranverankerte Oligonukleotide, welche komplementäre Enden tragen, eine Doppelhelix miteinander bilden und so diese beiden Vesikel auf einen definierten Abstand halten können. Da Nukleolipide einen amphiphilen Charakter aufweisen, sollte unter dem AFM untersucht werden, ob diese supramolekulare Strukturen zeigen. Dies wurde in der Tat auch beobachtet. Ebenso konnten mittels der LB-Technik LB-Schichten aus Nukleolipiden dargestellt werden. / The starting point of this work was found in our previous studies about anchoring behaviour of lipidated nucleo-sides and oligonucleotides in biocompatible phospholipid membranes (LUV). That nucleosides and oligonucleotides bear a lipophilic anchor at the 5-position of pyrimidine or at the 8-position of purinbases. This nucleolipi-des anchor well in such membranes, but were not longer available for a Watson-Crick base pairing at the interface to water. Therefore lipophilic groups (alkyl chain, cholesterol, Pyren etc.) were now connected to the 2''-position of nucleosides by several reactions (esterification, thioether binding, carbamoyl binding or "click reaction") and various functional groups (hydroxy, thiohydroxy, azide, amine) to the 2´-position of nucleosides. These nucleolipides also well anchored in the model membranes, and gave first evidence that by introducing a spacer between the nucleoside and the lipophilic anchor a base pairing at the interface to water is possible. However, only one anchor is not sufficient for a stable anchoring in the phospholipid membranes, especially if they are not branched. It was found out that it is insignifacant for the application of oligonucleotides in membrane anchoring, at which position of nucleotide the lipid is attached, because on the one hand, the corresponding nucleolipid can not form a pair with a corresponding nucleobase and secondly, there is no base pairing in the nucleotides situated between two lipidated positions. For biotechnology applications it might be interesting that two different vesicles each of it furnushed with a complementary lipidated oligonucleotide could be kept together in a defined distance by forming double strand DNA. Since nucleolipide possess amphiphilic character, there abillity to form supramolecular structures was investigated by atomic force microscope (AFM). In addition formation of LB-layers could be achieved by LB-technology.

Sistemas do tipo cell surface display vêm sendo desenvolvidos para expressão de proteínas heterólogas ancoradas à superfície celular de microrganismos. Várias aplicações foram reportadas destes sistemas, incluindo o emprego como biocatalizador celular, desenvolvimento de vacinas e biosorventes celulares. Neste trabalho foi desenvolvido um sistema que permite ancoragem da proteína glicoamilase de Aspergillus awamori à superfície da parede celular da levedura Saccharomyces cerevisiae. O gene codificador da glicoamilase com sua seqüência sinal foi fusionado ao fragmento do gene codificador da região C-terminal da proteína Flo1p (Flo428), que foi utilizada como âncora (fragmento CG*FC). As células de levedura foram transformadas com o fragmento híbrido CG*FC e os transformantes foram capazes de degradar amido e liberar glicose. A atividade da glicoamilase não foi detectada no meio de cultura, porém está presente no sedimento celular. Estes resultados demonstram que a glicoamilase foi ancorada à parede celular da nova linhagem recombinante de levedura. / Cell surface display systems have being developed for expression of heterologous proteins anchored to the cell surface of microorganisms. Several applications of these systems have been reported, including employment as whole-cell biocatalysts, development of vaccines and cellular biosorvents. In this work it was developed a system that allows the anchoring of the Aspergillus awamori glucoamylase protein to the cell wall surface of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The gene encoding glucoamylase with its secretion signal was fused to the gene fragment encoding the C-terminal region of Flo1 protein, used as an anchor (CG*FC fragment). Yeast cells were transformed with hybrid CG*FC fragment and transformants were able to degrade starch and release glucose. Glucoamylase activity was not detected in the culture medium, but only in sedimented cells. These results demonstrate that glucoamylase was anchored to the cell wall of the new yeast recombinant strain.

This thesis deals with various aspects of indoor navigationfor mobile robots. For a system that moves around in ahousehold or office environment,two major problems must betackled. First, an appropriate control scheme has to bedesigned in order to navigate the platform. Second, the form ofrepresentations of the environment must be chosen. Behaviour based approaches have become the dominantmethodologies for designing control schemes for robotnavigation. One of them is the dynamical systems approach,which is based on the mathematical theory of nonlineardynamics. It provides a sound theoretical framework for bothbehaviour design and behaviour coordination. In the workpresented in this thesis, the approach has been used for thefirst time to construct a navigation system for realistic tasksin large-scale real-world environments. In particular, thecoordination scheme was exploited in order to combinecontinuous sensory signals and discrete events for decisionmaking processes. In addition, this coordination frameworkassures a continuous control signal at all times and permitsthe robot to deal with unexpected events. In order to act in the real world, the control system makesuse of representations of the environment. On the one hand,local geometrical representations parameterise the behaviours.On the other hand, context information and a predefined worldmodel enable the coordination scheme to switchbetweensubtasks. These representations constitute symbols, on thebasis of which the system makes decisions. These symbols mustbe anchored in the real world, requiring the capability ofrelating to sensory data. A general framework for theseanchoring processes in hybrid deliberative architectures isproposed. A distinction of anchoring on two different levels ofabstraction reduces the complexity of the problemsignificantly. A topological map was chosen as a world model. Through theadvanced behaviour coordination system and a proper choice ofrepresentations,the complexity of this map can be kept at aminimum. This allows the development of simple algorithms forautomatic map acquisition. When the robot is guided through theenvironment, it creates such a map of the area online. Theresulting map is precise enough for subsequent use innavigation. In addition, initial studies on navigation in human-robotinteraction tasks are presented. These kinds of tasks posedifferent constraints on a robotic system than, for example,delivery missions. It is shown that the methods developed inthis thesis can easily be applied to interactive navigation.Results show a personal robot maintaining formations with agroup of persons during social interaction. <b>Keywords:</b>mobile robots, robot navigation, indoornavigation, behaviour based robotics, hybrid deliberativesystems, dynamical systems approach, topological maps, symbolanchoring, autonomous mapping, human-robot interaction

Decisions are performatives - or at least, they share important features with performative utterances that can elucidate our theory of what type of thought they are, and what they do. Namely, decisions have an analogous force to that of performatives, where the force of a propositional attitude or utterance is constituted by (i) its point, or purpose, which is mainly a matter of its direction-of-fit, and (ii) its felicity conditions. The force of both decisions and performatives is to bring into being the states of affairs represented in their intentional contents, merely in virtue of the decision or performative’s occurrence and the satisfaction of the felicity conditions they presuppose. The first chapter of the thesis explicates this general framework, and the second and third attempt to show some of the work it can do for a theory of decisions.

<p>This thesis deals with various aspects of indoor navigationfor mobile robots. For a system that moves around in ahousehold or office environment,two major problems must betackled. First, an appropriate control scheme has to bedesigned in order to navigate the platform. Second, the form ofrepresentations of the environment must be chosen.</p><p>Behaviour based approaches have become the dominantmethodologies for designing control schemes for robotnavigation. One of them is the dynamical systems approach,which is based on the mathematical theory of nonlineardynamics. It provides a sound theoretical framework for bothbehaviour design and behaviour coordination. In the workpresented in this thesis, the approach has been used for thefirst time to construct a navigation system for realistic tasksin large-scale real-world environments. In particular, thecoordination scheme was exploited in order to combinecontinuous sensory signals and discrete events for decisionmaking processes. In addition, this coordination frameworkassures a continuous control signal at all times and permitsthe robot to deal with unexpected events.</p><p>In order to act in the real world, the control system makesuse of representations of the environment. On the one hand,local geometrical representations parameterise the behaviours.On the other hand, context information and a predefined worldmodel enable the coordination scheme to switchbetweensubtasks. These representations constitute symbols, on thebasis of which the system makes decisions. These symbols mustbe anchored in the real world, requiring the capability ofrelating to sensory data. A general framework for theseanchoring processes in hybrid deliberative architectures isproposed. A distinction of anchoring on two different levels ofabstraction reduces the complexity of the problemsignificantly.</p><p>A topological map was chosen as a world model. Through theadvanced behaviour coordination system and a proper choice ofrepresentations,the complexity of this map can be kept at aminimum. This allows the development of simple algorithms forautomatic map acquisition. When the robot is guided through theenvironment, it creates such a map of the area online. Theresulting map is precise enough for subsequent use innavigation.</p><p>In addition, initial studies on navigation in human-robotinteraction tasks are presented. These kinds of tasks posedifferent constraints on a robotic system than, for example,delivery missions. It is shown that the methods developed inthis thesis can easily be applied to interactive navigation.Results show a personal robot maintaining formations with agroup of persons during social interaction.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>mobile robots, robot navigation, indoornavigation, behaviour based robotics, hybrid deliberativesystems, dynamical systems approach, topological maps, symbolanchoring, autonomous mapping, human-robot interaction</p>

Andelen flerspråkiga barn i Sverige ökar och följdaktligen så även behovet av kunskap om deras språkutveckling. Flerspråkiga barns språkutveckling har visat sig skilja sig i viss mån från den hos enspråkiga barn och då normer för flerspråkiga barns språkutveckling saknas i logopedisk verksamhet idag finns en osäkerhet kring hur deras språkutveckling bör bedömas. Föreliggande studie ingår i det internationella forskningsnätverket COST Action IS0804 och ämnar utgöra ett litet bidrag till en växande databank om flerspråkiga barns språkutveckling, i detta fall i jämförelse med enspråkiga barns språkutveckling. Studien utgår från 100 narrativer berättade av sex- och sjuåriga enspråkiga svensktalande och flerspråkiga engelsk-svensktalande barn. Narrativerna eliciterades med hjälp av två bildsekvenser från bedömningsmaterialet MAIN och samlades in inom ramen för tre tidigare magisteruppsatser i logopedi från Uppsala universitet. Resultaten visar att de flesta deltagare förankrade sina narrativer i dåtiden, att de enspråkiga deltagarna förankrade sina narrativer mer konsekvent i ett tempussystem än de flerspråkiga deltagarna, samt att de flerspråkiga deltagarna oftare skiftade tempussystem i sina engelska narrativer. Vidare gjorde alla grupper av deltagare 75-78% av sina referentintroduktioner och 80-82% av sina referentupprätthållanden på samma sätt som förväntas av vuxna. Behärskning av temporal förankring visade sig således variera beroende på språkval och en-/flerspråkighet, medan behärskning av referentiell kohesion visade sig vara mindre beroende av språkval eller en-/flerspråkighet hos svensk- och engelsk-svensktalande barn i tidig skolålder. / The number of bilingual children in Sweden is ever-increasing, and consequently the need for research into their language development is also growing. The language development of bilingual children differs to some extent from that of monolingual children, and as no norms have yet been established within speech and language pathology for bilingual children’s language development, assessment of their language skills is problematic. This study is part of the international research network COST Action IS0804 and aims to make a small contribution to its growing stock of studies on bilingual children’s language development, in this case in comparison with that of monolingual children. The study is based on 100 narratives told by six and seven-year-old monolingual Swedish-speaking children and bilingual English-Swedish-speaking children. The narratives were elicited using two sets of pictures from the assessment material MAIN and were transcribed by the authors of three earlier Master’s theses in Speech and Language Pathology from Uppsala University. The results of this study show that most of the participants anchored their narratives in the past tense, that the monolingual participants anchored their narratives more consistently in one tense than the bilingual participants, and that the bilingual participants mixed tenses more often in their English narratives. Furthermore, all the groups of participants produced 75-78% adequate referent introductions and 80-82% adequate referent maintenance. Thus, temporal anchoring varied according to the choice of language and monolingualism/bilingualism, while referential cohesion was less dependent on the choice of language or monolingualism/bilingualism among Swedish-speaking and English-Swedish-speaking children of six to seven years of age.

Protein interactions are the basis of synaptic function, and studying these interactions on a molecular level is crucial for understanding basic brain function, as well as mechanisms underlying neurological disorders. In this thesis, kinetic and mechanistic characterization of synaptic protein interactions was performed by using surface plasmon resonance biosensor technology. Fragment library screening against the reverse transcriptase of HIV was included, as it served as an outlook for future drug discovery against ligand-gated ion channels. The protein-protein interaction studies of postsynaptic Ca2+ -binding proteins revealed caldendrin as a novel binding partner of AKAP79. Caldendrin and calmodulin bind and compete at similar binding sites but their interactions display different mechanisms and kinetics. In contrast to calmodulin, caldendrin binds to AKAP79 both in the presence and absence of Ca2+ suggesting distinct in vivo functional properties of caldendrin and calmodulin. Homo-oligomeric β3 GABAA receptors, although not yet identified in vivo, are candidates for a histamine-gated ion channel in the brain. To aid the identification of the receptor, 51 histaminergic ligands were screened and a unique pharmacology was determined. A further requirement for identifying β3 receptors in the brain, is the availability of specific high-affinity ligands. The developed biosensor assay displayed sufficient sensitivity and throughput for screening for such ligands, as well as for being employed for fragment-based drug discovery. AMPA receptors are excitatory ligand-gated ion channels, involved in synaptic plasticity, and modulated by auxiliary proteins. Previous results have indicated that Noelin1, a secreted glycoprotein, interacts with the AMPA receptor. By using biochemical methods, it was shown that Noelin1 interacts directly with the receptor. The kinetics of the interaction were estimated by biosensor analysis, thereby confirming the interaction and suggesting low nanomolar affinity. The results provide a basis for functional characterization of a novel AMPA receptor protein interaction. The results demonstrate how secrets of synaptic protein interactions and function were revealed by using a molecular based approach. Improving the understanding of such interactions is valuable for basic neuroscience. At the same time, the technical advancements that were achieved to study interactions of ligand-gated ion channels by surface plasmon resonance technology, provide an important tool for discovery of novel therapeutics against these important drug targets.

Investors are continuously looking to increase the return on their investments. In an ideal world investors want to increase there return and outperform the market. Theory states that it is impossible to do so without increasing your risk. Arbitrage is a concept where investors are able to generate risk-free returns exceeding the market. Dividend is a common tool for publicly listed firms when rewarding their shareholders. On ex- dividend day, the day after the dividend payout, the stock price should according to theory decrease in order for the valuation of the stock to be held constant. In our research we investigate if there are arbitrage opportunities in connection to the dividend payouts, namely the ex-dividend effect. We want to generalize our results across experimental settings, thus across different stock markets. As a basis for our research we picked the OMXS. We base our research on three theoretical areas: the dividend irrelevancy theory, the efficient market hypothesis and the anchoring theory. The dividend irrelevancy relates to how the stock price ought to behave on ex-dividend day whereas the efficient market hypotheses states that prices on a market fully reflects all available information. Both theories concur that no arbitrage opportunities should be available on the financial market. The anchoring theory highlights the fact that investors formulate an anchor price for financial assets, for example stocks. In our research we aim to formulate a practical method on how to make abnormal returns on the ex dividend effect, based on the anchoring theory. Our census sample consists of dividend-paying firms publicly registered on the OMXS, and consists of 694 observations taken from 2009 to 2012. The sample was picked on the basis of characteristics, for example that the firm has been registered for at least four years and paid dividend one time during the four years of investigation. In order to tests for arbitrage opportunities on ex-dividend day, we used a simple mathematical model measuring the deviation between the price drop cum-dividend day to ex-dividend day, and the dividend amount. We conclude that the price drop differs from the dividend amount, only accounting for a price drop of 0.73 of the dividend amount. Thus, the price drop for each dividend unit is 0.73, in relation to a perfectly efficient market where there should be no difference; hence the price drop would be equal to the dividend amount, 1. Research on the ex-dividend effect is a thoroughly investigated area, where the first research was presented in 1955. Previous research all attempts to explain why there are market anomalies, but none examine how one can capitalize on the findings. In our research we examine if it is possible to make abnormal returns based on a segmenting of stocks, depending on their price volatility. This research is thereby first in examining how to capitalize on found arbitrage opportunities.

Die kontinuumsmechanische Untersuchung der Lastübertragungsmechanismen zwischen den Rovings im textilbewehrten Feinbeton trägt wesentlich zum Gesamtverständnis des mechanischen Verhaltens des Verbundmaterials bei. Neben der Erfassung der gegenseitigen Beeinflussung sich kreuzender Rovings erfordert insbesondere die mechanische Modellierung und numerische Simulation von Bewehrungsstößen und Endverankerungen die Kenntnis dieser Übertragungsmechanismen. Die numerischen Simulationen sollen u. a. zeigen, welche Endverankerungslängen und welche Übergreifungslängen an Bewehrungsstößen erforderlich sind und wie die Querbewehrung die Rissbildung beeinflusst. / This paper concerns with the investigation of stress transfer mechanisms between yarns and concrete matrix and their influence on the overall behavior of textile reinforced concrete (TRC). This investigation considers textile reinforcement splices and textile reinforcement development lengths and carried out by means of Finite-Element simulations and fracture mechanic approaches. A first modeling procedure is made towards analyzing and investigating the damage mechanisms in TRC specimen under tension loading which are mainly characterized by matrix cracking and yarn pullout. This modeling approach allows for considering the yarn crack bridging which is a main characteristic behavior of TRC. In the same manner, 3D Finite-Element models are conducted for calculating the required reinforcement development lengths and the reinforcement overlapping lengths. The conducted approach takes into account different damage mechanisms observed in the corresponding experimental investigations which are also used for calibrating the modeling procedures. Moreover, the presented approach covers a wide range of required textile reinforcement overlapping lengths and development lengths and provides the corresponding ultimate loads.

Submitted by JONAS MARCHETTI (jonas.marchetti@gmail.com) on 2015-03-04T02:02:27Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Jonas_Simoes_Coelho_Marchetti.pdf: 738783 bytes, checksum: 95af4abacbaf288580dd0c89b2ce4b78 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br) on 2015-03-04T17:28:26Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Jonas_Simoes_Coelho_Marchetti.pdf: 738783 bytes, checksum: 95af4abacbaf288580dd0c89b2ce4b78 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-04T18:27:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Jonas_Simoes_Coelho_Marchetti.pdf: 738783 bytes, checksum: 95af4abacbaf288580dd0c89b2ce4b78 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-09 / Until June 2011, in Brazil, each credit card company was responsible for its own minimum payment due policy, which defines the minimum percentage of the invoice that should be paid by the customer. From July of that same year, the Central Bank of Brazil - BACEN has established by law the minimum percentage of 15% of the total statement, as a minimum payment amount. This study assesses the effects of this change in credit card policy from a theoretical point of view. This policy might have the following effects: increased short-term default, change the volume financed and anchoring impact. To empirically investigate this effect I used invoice and payment information, in the preceding and subsequent implementation period. This institutional change effects are identified by the method of difference in differences, the effects of the new law in short term financed volume caused by the credit crunch and anchoring. Results indicates that the adjusted minimum impact on the number of customers overdue. Moreover, variations were not observed in the number of customers who have paid more than the minimum payment required by legislation. This result contrasts the use of the minimum as anchoring and increases the default in the short term, caused by the increase in the minimum payment. / No Brasil, até junho de 2011, cada banco emissor de cartões de crédito estipulava, por critérios próprios, o percentual mínimo da fatura que deveria ser pago pelo cliente. A partir de julho daquele mesmo ano, o Banco Central do Brasil – BACEN, estabeleceu o percentual de 15% do total da fatura, como valor de pagamento mínimo. Em vista disso, este estudo busca analisar as consequências dessa alteração na política de cartões de crédito. Do ponto de vista teórico, uma política desse tipo pode ter os seguintes efeitos: aumento da inadimplência de curto prazo, alteração do volume financiado e diferentes impactos em anchoring. Para investigar empiricamente esse efeito são utilizadas informações de fatura e pagamento destes clientes, nos momentos anteriores e posteriores à implantação da regulamentação do BACEN. Tal mudança institucional permite identificar, através do método de diferenças em diferenças, os efeitos da nova lei na inadimplência e alteração de volume financiado no curto prazo, provocados pela restrição ao crédito, e anchoring. As estimações indicam que a alteração do mínimo impactou no número de clientes em atraso, também é observada uma redução no volume financiado dos clientes que pagavam mais que 20% da fatura. Por outro lado, não são observadas variações na quantidade de clientes que pagaram mais que o mínimo exigido na regulamentação. Este resultado indica que a elevação do mínimo está positivamente correlacionada com o volume de pagamento para clientes que costumam fazer pagamentos superiores a 20% e aumenta a inadimplência no curto prazo, causada pela elevação do pagamento mínimo.