This master’s thesis is focused on the use of project management in the construction of production hall. The theoretical part deals with methodics of project management that was applied for the project pre-study to be drawn up. The output of this paper is a set of concepts for the individual parts of the project plan describing the process and managing activities involved in the project.

This work deals with study of swirling flows where the spiral vortical structure appears. The main relation is to flow seen in the draft tube cone of hydraulic turbines operated out of the design point (i.e. best efficiency point). In this cases large coherent vortex structure (vortex rope) appears and consequently high pressure pulsations are propagated to the whole machine system leading to possible restriction of turbine operation. This flow features are consequence of flow instability called vortex breakdown in case of Francis turbine operated at part load (flow rate lower than optimal one). The present study is carried out using simplified device of swirl generator in order to access similar flow conditions as can be found in real hydraulic turbines. Both the dynamic and dissipation effect of spiral vortex breakdown are investigated. The first part of thesis deals with spiral form of vortex breakdown. The experimentally measured velocity profiles (LDA) and wall static pressures are correlated with numerical simulations carried out using open-source CFD package OpenFOAM 2.2.2. The high speed camera recording of cavitating vortex core is used to obtain image ensemble for further post-processing. The dissipation effect of spiral vortex structure is in detail discussed based on computed flow fields. The second part of thesis is dedicated to the application of POD decomposition to the study of spatio-temporal features of spiral vortex dynamics. Firstly the POD is applied to the both the experimentally obtained image ensemble of cavitating vortex and numerically computed static pressure fields. Secondly the comprehensive analysis of spiral vortex mitigation effect by the axial water jet is analyzed. The collaborative study employing the swirl generator apparatus designed by the researchers from Politehnica University of Timisoara in Romania is performed and changes in spatio-temporal vortex dynamic are studied. In this study the numerical data (in a form of three-dimensional pressure and velocity fields) are obtained using commercial CFD software ANSYS Fluent R14.

This doctoral thesis investigates the application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for detection of labeled biomolecules on nitrocellulose paper. Nitrocellulose paper is a material often used for assays involving the concentration and labeling of a target analyte, followed by label detection. Among paper-based diagnostics are lateral-flow immuno-assays (LFIAs). Research efforts have made LFIAs into accessible, portable,and low-cost tools for detecting targets such as allergens, toxins,and microbes in food and water.Gold (Au) nanoparticles are standard biomolecular labels among LFIAs, typically detected via colorimetric means.Other labels, such as quantum dots, are also often metallic, and research is ongoing to expand the number of portable instrumentations applied to their detection. A wide diversity of lanthanide-complexed polymers (LCPs) are used as immunoassay labels but have been inapt for portable paper-based assays owing to lab-bound detection instrumentation, until now. LIBS is a multi-element characterization technique which has recently developed from a bench-top to a portable/hand-held analytical tool. This is among the first studies to show that LCPs can be considered as options for biomolecule labels in paper-based assays using bench-based and hand-held LIBS as label detection modalities.<div>Chapter one reviews the importance of rapid, multiplexed detection of chemical and biological contaminants, the application of current biosensors, and the role of LIBS as an emerging biosensor. Paper-based bioassays were identified as a promising approach for contaminant detection whose capabilities could be enhanced by LIBS. The next chapter dives into LIBS system designs to address which LIBS parameters were appropriate for label detection on paper assay material. A balance of LIBS parameters was found to be important for successful analyte detection. Chaptert hree optimizes a LIBS design for sensitive detection of 17 metals and establishes limit of detection values for 7 metals. Optimal detection parameters depended on the metal being detected and were applied to the objective of the final chapter: LIBS detection of labeled antigen immobilized on a paper-based assay. Both antibody and bacteria detection assays were successfully performed and analyzed using bench top and portable LIBS,suggesting an exciting future for the use of LIBS as a biosensor.The prospect of using LIBS for multiplexed, rapid and sensitive detection of biomolecules in assays is explored, laying grounds for future work in the ever-relevant field of biological and chemical hazard detection.<br></div>

Studien syftade till att undersöka hur socialsekreterare beskriver familjehemsföräldrars behov av stöd vid sammanbrott samt vilka möjligheter de uppfattar sig ha att möta stödbehovet. Sju socialsekreterare deltog i studien och data samlades in genom en fokusgruppsdiskussion och tre enskilda intervjuer. Studiens teoretiska ansats var teorin om gräsrotsbyråkrati samt begreppet handlingsutrymme. Resultatet visade att de intervjuade socialsekreterarna upplevde en svårighet att prata om sammanbrottet utan att se till placeringen i sin helhet. Det blev också tydligt att ämnet var ovanligt för socialsekreterarna att reflektera över. Stödjande samtal uppfattades vara det främsta stödbehovet och socialsekreterarna beskrev en för familjehemsföräldrarna känslomässig process i samband med ett sammanbrott, vilken de bemötte med tid för återhämtning samt “ett lyssnande öra”. Organisatoriska förutsättningar i form av arbetets organisering och dess kultur, ledningens insyn och förtroende, hög arbetsbelastning samt geografiskt långa avstånd var aspekter vilka möjliggjorde eller begränsade socialsekreterarna. / The aim of the study was to examine how social workers describe foster parents’ need of support in the event of a placement breakdown and which opportunities the social workers perceived having to meet the parents’ needs. A focus group and three individual interviews were made, including totally seven social workers in the study. The theoretical approach was the theory of street-level bureaucracy with focus on the concept of discretion. The social workers described a difficulty to talk about placement breakdown without seeing the placement as a whole. It became obvious that identifying foster parents’ needs during or after a placement breakdown was not perceived as part of the social workers’ work tasks. Although, they expressed that foster parents’ may need support in this situation. The social workers described an emotional process for foster parents, which they responded to with listening as well as “giving time for recovery”. Organizational conditions affecting the work were discussed in terms of workplace culture and organization, the management’s insight and trust, a high workload and geographically long distance which enabled or limited the social workers.

Glass fibre composites are common materials used in high voltage applications as insulating materials that provide good structural integrity. The aim of this thesis is to develop a method of studying the failure in such materials by measuring the dielectric strength on micro- and meso- scale samples, consisting of single fibre filaments and fibre bundles respectively embedded in epoxy resin. To do this, a body of relevant knowledge has been amassed, which is complemented with finite element analysis giving detailed insight into the electric field distribution in the microstructure of fibre composites. A method of producing virtually defect free single fibre samples has been developed where a filament is hung down tubes and cast in epoxy resin. A similar method was developed for producing bundle samples, however this needs some slight correction in order to prevent exothermic reactions. The dielectric strength of these samples are measured by applying a continuously increasing voltage until discharge is recorded. To evaluate the method micro- and meso- scale samples were prepared of three different fibres and their dielectric strengths measured. This evaluation showed that the method can be used to measure a definitive lower bound in the dielectric strength of fibre composites. However, the method can not definitively determine the location of the discharge, which is necessary to verify conclusions about the materials properties. To progress the method, the dielectric strength of neat epoxy samples of the same dimensions as the fibre composite samples should be investigated. Increasing the tolerance of the measurement setup should also be investigated as this could help by increasing the power of the discharge leading to more severe damage in the material.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur förekomsten av sammanbrott kan minskas. Detta utifrån familjehemsföräldrars upplevelser av stöd och behov av stöd från Humana, samt familjehemsföräldrarnas upplevelser av relationen mellan familjehem och det placerade barnet. Kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes digitalt med fyra konsulentstödda familjehem. Respondenterna upplevde att stödet var tillfredsställande, men att de saknade fler grupphandledningar. Studien visade att familjehemsföräldrarna upplevde att Humanas stöd vid konflikter mellan familjehemmet och det placerade barnet minskade risken för sammanbrott, alternativt fördröjde ett sammanbrott i de fall det var oundvikligt. Vi hade fått en mer heltäckande bild om vi tog hänsyn till det placerade barnets eget perspektiv men av etiska skäl exkluderades barnens perspektiv från studien. En lämplig matchning mellan familjehem och barn innan placeringen visade sig kunna motverka sammanbrott då det ledde till en bättre relation mellan placerat barn och familjehemsföräldrar. / The aim of this study was to examine how the occurrence of placement breakdowns can be reduced. This through foster parents’ experiences of support and need of support from Humana, together with the foster parents’ experiences of the relationship between themselves and the foster child. Qualitative semi-structured interviews took place digitally with four consultancy-supported foster parents. The respondents found the support satisfying, but wanted more group tutoring. The study showed that the foster parents experienced that support from Humana in conflicts between them and the foster child reduced the risk of a breakdown, or delayed the breakdown in those cases it could not be avoided. Taking the foster childrens’ opinions into account would have given a bigger picture, but their point of view was excluded due to ethical reasons. A suitable match between the foster parents and the child led to a better relationship and therefore resulted in preventing breakdowns.

(English) Brazil is not gifted by greatest conditions for its existence - president do have strong legislative powers, which allow him to dominate politics, and he is confronted by severely fragmented legislature. This kind of political constellation should cause strong political crises and should be responsible for unstability of political regime. In this paper, we are trying to describe reasons why it is not so. Thanks to the change of international ideological and political context (i.e. end of Cold War) democracy has been internalized by various political actors and army returned back to barracks. Parliament and president were left alone to face their own fate. Even though president dominates legislative process (thanks to his strong powers) and can structure parliament's choices, constitution (de facto) forces him to seek support in parliament and create wider coalitions. On the other hand parliament has strong tools how to offer president alternative proposals and de facto decides if president's policy will be permanent or not. In extreme cases (i.e. political crises) is parliament proactive actor, which controls presidents survival.

Adults who have not developed effective communication skills are at an increased risk of having unsuccessful relationships. Children of divorce are less likely to have communication behaviors modeled to them, resulting in undeveloped communication and therefore a higher likelihood to get divorced themselves. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental study was to determine if there was an association between the successful transition to emerging adulthood and the development of communication behaviors among adults. The research question focused on whether successful transition through emerging adulthood positively discriminates communication patterns among adults, specifically using Gottman's framework of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse when controlling for gender and level of education. The sample consisted of 30 participants ages 25 to 30 years old, recruited from university participant pools. Arnett's definition of successful transition into adulthood (accepting responsibility for one's actions, independent beliefs, financial independence) was operationalized to collect data for the predictor variable. The Four Horsemen Questionnaire was used to garner data for the continuous dependent variable (maladaptive communication patterns). An analysis of variance indicated a significant relationship between maladaptive communication patterns and the transition into adulthood. Findings contribute to social change by helping emerging adults understand the impact of a successful transition into adulthood on communication behaviors. Using the developmental period of emerging adulthood to improve communication patterns may assist in mitigating divorce risk variables and relationship breakdowns.

It is common practice to perform accelerated aging with 60 Hz ac to determine the lifetime characteristics of insulation used in the machine. Comparable breakdown measurements are performed at different voltage levels and temperatures for the polyimide insulated machine winding under normal operating conditions of 60 Hz ac. The result shows that the time to failure can be represented by the inverse power law and the Arrhenius equation with respect to test voltage and temperature respectively. However, the use of power electronic devices causes harmonics, and spikes that electrically degrade the machine winding insulation. Applied high frequency pulse voltages can be used to study the impact of electrical degradation of the machine winding insulation that exists in electrical machines. Evaluation of change in dielectric strength, partial discharge and breakdown voltage is monitored versus aging caused by high frequency pulse voltage at 90% of operating temperature.

The continuing need for greater energy security and energy independence has motivated researchers to develop new energy technologies for better energy resource management and efficient energy usage. The focus of this dissertation is the development of optical (spectroscopic) sensing methodologies for various fuels, and energy applications. A fiber-optic NIR sensing methodology was developed for predicting water content in bio-oil. The feasibility of using the designed near infrared (NIR) system for estimating water content in bio-oil was tested by applying multivariate analysis to NIR spectral data. The calibration results demonstrated that the spectral information can successfully predict the bio-oil water content (from 16% to 36%). The effect of ultraviolet (UV) light on the chemical stability of bio-oil was studied by employing laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy. To simulate the UV light exposure, a laser in the UV region (325 nm) was employed for bio-oil excitation. The LIF, as a signature of chemical change, was recorded from bio-oil. From this study, it was concluded that phenols present in the bio-oil show chemical instability, when exposed to UV light. A laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS)-based optical sensor was designed, developed, and tested for detection of four important trace impurities in rocket fuel (hydrogen). The sensor can simultaneously measure the concentrations of nitrogen, argon, oxygen, and helium in hydrogen from storage tanks and supply lines. The sensor had estimated lower detection limits of 80 ppm for nitrogen, 97 ppm for argon, 10 ppm for oxygen, and 25 ppm for helium. A chemiluminescence-based spectroscopic diagnostics were performed to measure equivalence ratios in methane-air premixed flames. A partial least-squares regression (PLS-R)-based multivariate sensing methodology was investigated. It was found that the equivalence ratios predicted with the PLS-R-based multivariate calibration model matched with the experimentally measured equivalence ratios within 7 %. A comparative study was performed for equivalence ratios measurement in atmospheric premixed methane-air flames with ungated LIBS and chemiluminescence spectroscopy. It was reported that LIBS-based calibration, which carries spectroscopic information from a “point-like-volume,” provides better predictions of equivalence ratios compared to chemiluminescence-based calibration, which is essentially a “line-of-sight” measurement.