Society depend on good education for preparing its citizens to meet the demands of tomorrow. In the last decades, society has gone through a digital revolution that has changed how social bearing institutions and organizations integrate with each other on an evolutional level. This digitization has seeped its way into our schools as well, but with varied results. While organizations like those of the retail genre has benefited massively of the digitization with features like online shopping and personalized ads, the schools have in some cases seen worse results from students using digital means. Until this day, digitization of the education sector has proved to be most challenging and has not yet digitally evolved in a beneficial way for all students and schools. That means we have to look more deeply into what makes a good digital tool for students that actually enhances the results. Thus the questions asked in this research are: How can digital exercise platforms be designed to promote effective learning? By interviewing teachers from modern day schools, we can see that there is a wide variety of apps and tools for students to use and it is up to the teacher to find the best suitable ones, which might be an extremely time consuming and challenging process to navigate the sea of apps. Many of the apps lacks a sound pedagogy, or they might be too expensive or have ads that creates distractions and lowers motivation. This creates a gap in the efficient learning process. That gap can be filled by teachers and developers identifying shortage of motivation, reflection, goal orientation and social learning. Thus, as a secondary research question I ask: How can we implement a gatekeeping process by identifying gaps in efficient learning for apps in the educational sector?

Marknaden för smartphones har vuxit stort under de senaste åren och även utveckling av applikationer till dessa. Då utveckling av applikationer för smartphones skiljer sig från traditionell utveckling så passar inte traditionella utvecklingsprocesser för utveckling till smartphones på ett optimalt sätt. Denna studie undersöker mobilapplikationsutveckling med fokus på användbarhet. Då det råder brist på systemutvecklingsprocesser för mobilapplikationsutveckling så vill denna studie utvärdera ISO standarden ”ISO 9241-210 – Användarcentrerad design för interaktiva system”. Denna standard är en samling av riktlinjer och krav för generell systemutveckling. Studien utvärderar därför lämpligheten att använda ISO 9241-210 för utveckling av mobilapplikationer, då fokus ligger på användbarhet. En prototyp för iPhone utvecklades med ISO 9241-210 som bas och utvärderades sedan för att se om användbarheten var acceptabel. Författarna utvärderade också hur ISO 9241-210 riktlinjer hade implementerats i utvecklingen av prototypen och även utvärderat om riktlinjerna i Apples App Design Strategies har motsvarande riktlinjer i ISO 9241-210. Slutsatsen är att ISO 9241-210 är en bra grund att stå på vid utveckling av mobilapplikationer men att det finns några riktlinjer som kan ges mer eller mindre fokus, beroende på projektets omfattning. / Program: Systemarkitekturutbildningen

Cirurgias minimamente invasivas tornaram-se importantes porque propiciam vários benefícios para o paciente, tais como redução do risco de infecção, menos dor, menor tempo de internação e recuperação mais rápida. Na neurocirurgia, a orientação por imagens é fundamental para a realização de uma cirurgia minimamente invasiva. Por esse motivo, os sistemas de neuronavegação tornaram-se cruciais para os neurocirurgiões. Enquanto as técnicas tradicionais para localização de craniotomia podem apresentar erros de mais de 10mm, os neuronavegadores proporcionam maior precisão, com erros menores do que 5mm. Apesar de seu papel crucial nos procedimentos neurocirúrgicos, muitos cirurgiões afirmam que a usabilidade dos neuronavegadores tem que ser melhorada. Outros mencionam que os neuronavegadores são caros e inacessíveis em hospitais com poucos recursos. Nesse contexto, alguns pesquisadores sugeriram que soluções de realidade aumentada poderiam ser uma alternativa aos neuronavegadores. Os sistemas de realidade aumentada estão surgindo na neurocirurgia, alguns deles tentando fornecer melhor usabilidade do que os sistemas atuais de neuronavegação, e outros tentando fornecer uma solução mais barata e que possa ser facilmente adotada. Neste trabalho, analisamos os avanços dos sistemas de realidade aumentadade de neuronavegação nos últimos anos. Percebeu-se que muitas soluções de realidade aumentada superam algumas das deficiências do neuronavegador tradicional, mas também trazem novos problemas. Essas abordagens de realidade aumentada podem ser caras e de difícil adoção, ou exigem muitas etapas pré-operatórias por parte do neurocirurgião, tornando-as indesejáveis para uso em casos reais. Para resolver esses problemas, apresentamos um aplicativo para dispositivos móveis, chamado ARNeuro, que auxilia na localização da craniotomia. O ARNeuro é mais acessível e mais fácil de usar do que a maioria das abordagens de realidade aumentada. Além disso, o ARNeuro é um aplicativo independente, o que significa que não é necessário nenhum hardware ou software adicional, além do que já está disponível nos hospitais. Nossa solução utiliza Odometria Inercial Visual, através de um framework de realidade aumentada, para indicar o centro da região da incisão, sobreposta na cabeça do paciente, mostrada na tela do dispositivo. Nossos experimentos iniciais indicam que o ARNeuro é uma ferramenta promissora. A versão atual do aplicativo tem um erro médio geral menor do que 3,1mm. Apesar disso, o sistema ainda tem muitas limitações e sua acurácia pode ser melhorada. / Minimally invasive surgeries have become important because they bring many benefits to the patient, such as reduced risk of infection, less pain, shorter hospital stays, and faster recoveries. In neurosurgery, imageguidance is fundamental to perform a minimally invasive surgery. For this reason, neuronavigation systems became crucial for neurosurgeons. While traditional techniques for craniotomy localization may have a target registration error of more than 10mm, neuronavigators provide higher accuracy, with errors of less than 5mm. In spite of their crucial role in neurosurgical procedures, many surgeons claim that neuronavigators usability has to be improved. Others mention that neuronavigators are expensive and not accessible in hospitals with few resources. In this context, some researchers suggested that augmented reality solutions could be an alternative to neuronavigators. Augmented reality systems are emerging in neurosurgery, some of them trying to provide better usability than current neuronavigation systems, and others trying to provide an affordable solution that could be easily adopted. In this work, we analyze the advances of augmented reality neuronavigation systems in the last years. It was noticed that many augmented reality solutions do overcome some of the traditional neuronavigator shortcomings, but they also bring new problems. These augmented reality approaches may be expensive and hard to adopt, or require many preoperative steps from the neurosurgeon, making them undesirable for using in real cases. To address these issues, we present a mobile application, called ARNeuro, that assists in craniotomy localization. ARNeuro is more affordable and easier to use than most augmented reality approaches. Also, ARNeuro is a standalone application, which means that no additional hardware or software is required, besides what is already available at the hospitals. ARNeuro makes use of Visual Inertial Odometry, provided by an augmented reality framework, to draw the center of the incision region, superimposed on the patient’s head, shown on the device screen. Our initial experiments indicate that ARNeuro is a promising tool. The current version of the application has an overall mean target registration error of less than 3.1mm. In spite of that, the system still have many limitations, and its accuracy can be improved. / São Cristóvão, SE

Grande parte da comunidade internacional defende que as cidades devem ser sustentáveis, inclusivas, seguras e resilientes. Neste sentido, tem sido desenvolvidas diversas iniciativas que, normalmente, envolvem revitalização de áreas urbanas, implementação de infraestrutura e criação de políticas de incentivo ao transporte não motorizado, como o deslocamento a pé. Apesar das evidentes vantagens deste tipo de transporte, como o baixo impacto ambiental e a prática de exercícios físicos, a vulnerabilidade dos pedestres é maior devido a sua exposição direta à fatores externos. Essa realidade se agrava quando são consideradas regiões de trânsito no entorno de escolas, colégios ou outras instituições educacionais, àreas estratégicas por atrairem novos usuários para a rede local de tráfego, incluindo as crianças. Esta dissertação trata sobre projeto de um aplicativo para promover o deslocamento de pedestres em áreas escolares, estimulando o transporte ativo entre crianças e adolescentes. A metodologia de projeto utilizada para a criação do sistema teve como base teórica e prática o design de interação, e considerou paralelamente as pesquisas específicas sobre o deslocamento de pedestres em áreas escolares obtidas na revisão teórica. A usabilidade e o potencial do sistema para o incentivo ao transporte ativo foram validados através de testes com um protótipo semi-funcional e de discussões orientadas em grupo focado. Os resultados obtidos nos testes foram majoritariamente favoráveis à adesão ao uso do aplicativo e ao seu potencial para incentivo à realização de deslocamentos a pé no trajeto casa/escola, de acordo com diversos critérios de avaliação fundamentados na revisão teórica. / A large part of the international community argues that cities must be sustainable, inclusive, secure and resilient. In this sense, several initiatives have been developed that involve revitalization of urban areas, implementation of infrastructure and creation of policies to encourage non-motorized transportation, such as walking. Despite the obvious advantages of this type of transport, such as low environmental impact and physical exercise, the vulnerability of pedestrians is greater due to their direct exposure to external factors. This reality worsens when they are considered transit regions around schools, colleges or other educational institutions, strategic areas for attracting new users to the local traffic network, including children. This thesis deals with the design of a mobile application to promote the movement of pedestrians in school areas to stimulating active transportation among children and adolescents. The project methodology used for the creation of the system was based on interaction design, and considered the specific research on the pedestrian movement in school areas carried out in the theoretical revision. The results obtained in the tests were mostly positive according to several evaluation criteria based on the theoretical review, indicating the adherence to the use of the proposed mobile app and showing its potential as an incentive children and teenagers walking.

This diploma thesis elaborate consumer behavior on selected market. Especially consumer behavior on agriculture market based on customers satisfaction. First part of this work was about studing literature in this thema. The main chapter of literary research was consumer behavior and specifically how the consumers behave on markets. Than, it was necesary to write about agriculture in Czech Republic. The base of practical part was questionnaire survey, which examined customer satisfaction, to chosen company. On the other side, was made structured interview with director of chosen company. The second main section of practical part on this thesis was specialised analysis. The task of this analysis was to find out main segments of survey. Especially based on third question which examined customer preferences "Which parameters you chose when you decide to buy tractor?". Two segments are based on quality of after-sale service tractors and medial presentacion of brand and exhibitions and fairs. At the end of this diploma thesis are proposed two recommendation how to get better customer satisfaction.

Mobile game application entrepreneurs can offer many benefits to the U.S. economy; however, 80% of the entrepreneurs in this study stated that marketing their mobile applications was a major business challenge. Successful strategies that entrepreneurs have used to overcome their mobile game application marketing challenges may be beneficial to other entrepreneurs. Based on Schumpeter's theory of economic development and new value creation of technological innovation, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the strategies that entrepreneurs have used to market their mobile game application development businesses successfully. Twenty mobile game application entrepreneurs from northern California, who successfully sustained their businesses for 3 or more years, completed semistructured interviews. The entrepreneurs responded to open-ended questions designed to determine how they successfully marketed their mobile game applications. Moustakas's modified van Kaam method was used and included coding and organizing data into 5 primary themes that emerged from the analysis. The primary themes that emerged from the analysis were marketing challenges, social network influences, financing opportunities, innovative marketing approaches, and marketing strategies. The findings suggest that social media and networks are essential for marketing success, and mobile games should be innovative to ensure competitive advantages. The knowledge generated from this study may help mobile game entrepreneurs successfully market their mobile game applications and sustain their business. An increased number of businesses may lead to social change by helping to create jobs, thus reducing unemployment.

La maladie d'Alzheimer se caractérise par des dégénérescences neurofibrillaires, des plaques séniles et une mort cellulaire neuronale massive. Les plaques séniles sont constituées par l'agrégation du peptide amyloïde, formé suite au clivage de la betaAPP, par deux activités enzymatiques, nommées beta- et gamma-secrétases. L'activité gamma-secrétase est portée par un complexe protéique composé au minimum par une préséniline (PS), la nicastrine (NCT), Aph-1 et Pen-2. L'absence d'une seule de ces quatre protéines induit l'inhibition de l'activité gamma-secrétase. Nous avons examiné les processus de dégradation des protéines Aph-1 et Pen-2, ainsi que leur rôle dans la régulation de la mort neuronale. Nous montrons que ces deux protéines, ainsi que la NCT, réduisent la sensibilité des neurones à l'apoptose, en inhibant l'activité de la caspase-3. Ces phénomènes sont contrôlés par l'oncogène p53, dont l'expression est régulée par la NCT, Aph-1 et Pen-2. Cependant, les membres du complexe gamma-secrétase n'engagent pas la même voie de signalisation. La fonction protectrice d'Aph-1 et de Pen-2 requiert l'intégrité du complexe, mais pas l'activité gamma-secrétase, tandis que celle de la NCT est totalement indépendante du complexe. Nous avons examiné la régulation transcriptionnelle de Pen-2 et des présénilines. Nous montrons que le lien existant entre p53 et Pen-2 n'est pas unidirectionnel. La transcription de p53 est régulée par le fragment AICD issu du clivage de la betaAPP. Nos résultats montrent qu'AICD et p53 potentialisent la transcription de Pen-2. De plus, Pen-2 intervient également dans le contrôle transcriptionnel des présénilines, soulignant qu'une modulation de l'expression d'un membre du complexe peut influencer l'expression des autres membres.

<p>Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, neuropathologically characterized by neurofibrillay tangles and deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides. Several mutations in the gene for amyloid precursor protein (APP) cause familial AD and affect APP processing leading to increased levels of Aβ42. However, the Arctic Alzheimer mutation (APP E693G) reduces Aβ levels. Instead, the increased tendency of Arctic Aβ peptides to form Aβ protofibrils is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis. </p><p>In this thesis, the pathogenic mechanisms of the Arctic mutation were further investigated, specifically addressing if and how the mutation affects APP processing. Evidence of a shift towards β-secretase cleavage of Arctic APP was demonstrated. Arctic APP did not appear to be an inferior substrate for α-secretase, but the availability of Arctic APP for α-secretase cleavage was reduced, with diminished levels of cell surface APP in Arctic cells. Interestingly, administration of the fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) stimulated α-secretase cleavage and partly reversed the effects of the Arctic mutation on APP processing.</p><p>In contrast to previous findings, the Arctic mutation generated enhanced total Aβ levels suggesting increased Aβ production. Importantly, this thesis illustrates and explains why measures of both Arctic and wild type Aβ levels are highly dependent upon the Aβ assay used, with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot generating different results. It was shown that these differences were due to inefficient detection of Aβ oligomers by ELISA leading to an underestimation of total Aβ levels. </p><p>In conclusion, the Arctic APP mutation leads to AD by multiple mechanisms. It facilitates protofibril formation, but it also alters trafficking and processing of APP which leads to increased steady state levels of total Aβ, in particular at intracellular locations. Importantly, these studies highlight mechanisms, other than enhanced production of Aβ peptide monomers, which could be implicated in sporadic AD.</p>

Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) often have a family history of the disease, implicating genetics as a major risk factor. Three genes are currently known to cause familial early-onset AD (&lt;65 years): the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and the presenilins (PSEN1 and PSEN2). For the much more common late-onset disease (&gt;65 years), only the APOE gene has repeatedly been associated to AD, where the ε4 allele increases disease risk and decreases age at onset. As APOE ε4 only explains part of the total estimated disease risk, more genes are expected to contribute to AD. This thesis has focused on the study of genetic risk factors involved in AD. In the first study, we conducted a linkage analysis of six chromosomes previously implicated in AD in a collection of affected relative pairs from Sweden, the UK and the USA. An earlier described linkage peak on chromosome 10q21 could not be replicated in the current sample, while significant linkage was demonstrated to chromosome 19q13 where the APOE gene is located. The linkage to 19q13 was further analyzed in the second study, demonstrating no significant evidence of genes other than APOE contributing to this peak. In the third study, the prevalence of APP duplications, a recently reported cause of early-onset AD, was investigated. No APP duplications were identified in 141 Swedish and Finnish early-onset AD patients, implying that this is not a common disease mechanism in the Scandinavian population. In the fourth study, genes with altered mRNA levels in the brain of a transgenic AD mouse model (tgAPP-ArcSwe) were identified using microarray analysis. Differentially expressed genes were further analyzed in AD brain. Two genes from the Wnt signaling pathway, TCF7L2 and MYC, had significantly increased mRNA levels in both transgenic mice and in AD brains, implicating cell differentiation and possibly neurogenesis in AD.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder which is histopathologically characterised by amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Amyloid plaques consist of the amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) that can form aggregates in the brain. Aβ is generated from the amyloid precursor protein (APP) through proteolytic cleavage. APP belongs to a conserved protein family that also includes the two paralogues, APP-like proteins 1 and 2 (APLP1 and APLP2). Despite the immense amount of research on APP, motivated by its implication in AD, the function of this protein family has not yet been determined. In this thesis, we have studied the expression and proteolytic processing of the APP protein family. Our results are consistent with previous findings that suggest a role for APP during neuronal development. Treatment of cells with retinoic acid (RA) resulted in increased synthesis. In addition, we observed that RA treatment shifted the processing of APP from the amyloidogenic to the non-amyloidogenic pathway. The proteins in the APP family have been hard to distinguish both with respect to function and proteolytic processing. However, for development of new drugs with APP processing enzymes as targets this is of great importance. Our studies suggest similarities, but also differences in the mechanism regulating the processing of the different paralogues. We found that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) had different impact on the members of the APP family. Most interestingly, we also found that the mechanism behind the increased processing in response to IGF-1 was not identical between the homologous proteins. In summary, our results indicate that in terms of regulation APLP1 and APLP2 differ more from each other than from APP. Our studies open up the possibility of finding means to selectively block Aβ production without interfering with the processing and function of the paralogous proteins.