Syftet med studien är att undersöka huruvida det är mer eller mindre motiverande för anställda inom mjukvaruindustrin att jobba enligt agila utvecklingsmetoder än enligt traditionella utvecklingsmetoder. Undersökningen har gjorts med teoretisk utgångspunkt från motivationsskapande variabler ur de kontemporära motivationsteorierna Self Determination Theory samt Job Characteristic model. Som en ansats till att besvara frågeställningen har en kvalitativ fallstudie genomförts på företaget Kambi Sport Solutions AB. Kambi Sport Solutions AB har under de senaste åren genomfört en organisationsförändring där traditionella projektledningsmetoder ersatts av agila projektledningsmetoder. Studiens empiri visar med stöd ur motivationsteori att övergången till agila metoder signifikant påverkat individens motivation positivt. Framförallt som en följd av en högre grad av självbestämmande, kunskapsvariation, identitet i och betydelse av arbetsuppgiften, autonomi samt feedback.

[Abstract] This thesis is divided into two parts, both containing algorithms for dealing with matrices and matrix groups. Part I is concerned with individual matrices over an arbitrary field. Our algorithms make use of a sequence called the rank profile which is related to the linear dependence relations between the columns of a matrix. First we look at LSP decompositions of matrices as defined by Ibarra et al. in 1982. This decomposition is related to, and a little more general than, the LUP decomposition. The algorithm given by Ibarra et al. to compute an LSP decomposition was only defined for m?n matrices where m ≤ n and is claimed to have the same asymptotic cost as matrix multiplication. We prove that their cost analysis overlooked some aspects of the computation and present a new version of the algorithm which finds both an LSP decomposition and the rank profile of any matrix. The cost of our algorithm is the same as that claimed by Ibarra et al. when m ≤ n and has a similar cost when m > n. One of the steps in the Ibarra et al. algorithm is not completely explicit, so that any one of several choices can be made. Our algorithm is designed so that the particular choice made at this point allows for the simultaneous calculation of the rank profile. Next we study algorithms to find the characteristic polynomial of a square matrix. The current fastest algorithm to find the characteristic polynomial of a square matrix was developed by Keller-Gehrig in 1985. We present a new, simpler version of this algorithm with the same cost which makes the algorithm?s reliance on the rank profile explicit. In Part II we present generalised sifting, a scheme for creating Monte Carlo black box constructive group recognition algorithms. Generalised sifting is designed to facilitate computation in a known group, specifically re-writing arbitrary elements as words or straight-line programs in a standard generating set. It can also be used to create membership tests in black-box groups. Generalised sifting was inspired by the subgroup sifting techniques originally introduced by Sims in 1970 but uses a chain of subsets rather than subgroups. We break the problem down into a sequence of separately analysed and proven steps which sift down into each subset in turn ... All of the algorithms in Parts I and II are given with a theoretical proof and (where appropriate) complexity analysis. The LSP decomposition, characteristic polynomial and generalised sifting algorithms have all been implemented and tested in the computer algebra package GAP.

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Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:27:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-03-01Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:27:38Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_mv_me_rcla.pdf: 927964 bytes, checksum: 1bf8757069fd7950b3ef35b7c13da6ba (MD5) / O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar uma demonstração combinatória dos teore- mas de Índice de Poincaré, a saber: Sejam D um disco e γ seu bordo. Seja V um campo vetorial contínuo sobre D com pontos críticos isolados P1, P2, . . . , Pn pertencentes ao interior de D. Se V nunca se anula em γ, então W(γ) = I(P1) + I(P2) + . . . + I(Pn), onde I(Pi) é o índice do ponto crítico Pi e W(γ) o número de voltas de V sobre γ. Seja V um campo vetorial tangente contínuo sobre uma superfície compacta, co- nexa e orientável S. Então a soma dos índices dos pontos críticos de V é igual à característica de Euler de S. / bstract In this work we present a combinatorial proof for the Poincaré index theorems. Let V be a continuous vector field. Let D be a cell and γ its boundary. Supposing that V is not zero on γ, then W(γ) = I(P1) + I(P2) + . . . + I(Pn) where P1, P2, . . . , Pn are the critical points of V inside D, I(Pi) is the index of Pi, and W(γ) is the winding number of V on γ. Let V be a continuous tangent vector field on a compact, connected, orientable surface S. Then the sum of the indexes of the critical points of V equals the Euler characteristic of S.

Investors have historically demanded a return premium for taking on the risk of illiquidity both in terms of characteristic and systematic liquidity risk. Recent research have presented results suggesting that the liquidity premium is diminishing. The increasing popularity of passive investments such as Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have been proposed as a driving force for the declining trend. Despite the popularity of ETFs, there is limited research how they impact the financial markets. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the liquidity premium has developed in the United States between 1997 and 2016 and to explore if developments in the liquidity premium can be linked to the capital inflow to the United States ETF market. The thesis uses measures of stocks’ spreads and order book depths as proxies for the characteristic and systematic liquidities. The proxies are used to test if liquidity has influenced stock returns over 1-year, 5-years and the entire 20-year period. The empirical results obtained through Fama-MacBeth regressions show that the liquidity premium can fluctuate by both sign and magnitude year by year. The characteristic risk premium is negative and significant for the entire 20-year period and the 1-year regressions suggests a clear negative trend. The systematic liquidity premium on the other hand is positive and significant for the entire 20-year period but the 1-year regressions do not show a clear trend. The empirical results show no statistical significance that ETFs influence the liquidity premium. However, the graphical interpretation of the 1-year regressions suggests that the characteristic liquidity premium is negatively correlated with the growth of ETFs. The negative characteristic premium implies that investors are not being adequately compensated for the risk of illiquidity and should therefore avoid a liquidity-based investing strategy which has generated excess return in the past.

abstract: The infrastructure is built in Unsaturated Soils. However, the geotechnical practitioners insist in designing the structures based on Saturated Soil Mechanics. The design of structures based on unsaturated soil mechanics is desirable because it reduces cost and it is by far a more sustainable approach. The research community has identified the Soil-Water Characteristic Curve as the most important soil property when dealing with unsaturated conditions. This soil property is unpopular among practitioners because the laboratory testing takes an appreciable amount of time. Several authors have attempted predicting the Soil-Water Characteristic Curve; however, most of the published predictions are based on a very limited soil database. The National Resources Conservation Service has a vast database of engineering soil properties with more than 36,000 soils, which includes water content measurements at different levels of suctions. This database was used in this study to validate two existing models that based the Soil-Water Characteristic Curve prediction on statistical analysis. It was found that although the predictions are acceptable for some ranges of suctions; they did not performed that well for others. It was found that the first model validated was accurate for fine-grained soils, while the second model was best for granular soils. For these reasons, two models to estimate the Soil-Water Characteristic Curve are proposed. The first model estimates the fitting parameters of the Fredlund and Xing (1994) function separately and then, the predicted parameters are fitted to the Fredlund and Xing function for an overall estimate of the degree of saturation. Results show an overall improvement on the predicted values when compared to existing models. The second model is based on the relationship between the Soil-Water Characteristic Curve and the Pore-Size Distribution of the soils. The process allows for the prediction of the entire Soil-Water Characteristic Curve function and proved to be a better approximation than that used in the first attempt. Both models constitute important tools in the implementation of unsaturated soil mechanics into engineering practice due to the link of the prediction with simple and well known engineering soil properties. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering 2011

O ensaio de palheta de campo em material siltoso levanta problemáticas relacionadas à sua execução e à interpretação dos resultados. O presente trabalho apresenta uma modelagem em poroelasticidade do ensaio de palheta. O modelo de ensaio é definido pelo problema de rotação de um cilindro infinito em um solo poroso. A solução do problema é buscada adotando um comportamento poroelástico não linear fictício tal que a resposta é localmente equivalente àquela do comportamento plástico perfeito. O modelo considera que a rotação do cilindro gera deformações volumétricas não desprezíveis e que a solução fechada de poropressão é garantida por um módulo de cisalhamento equivalente. As soluções do campo de tensões e deformações descritas por equações analíticas são obtidas numericamente por meio do método de diferenças finitas. O modelo é avaliado através de uma comparação com os resultados de simulação em elementos finitos e de solução do modelo com o uso de software de álgebra computacional. Os critérios de Tresca e de Drucker-Prager são considerados nas avaliações. As condições de drenagem foram estudadas através da curva característica de drenagem no espação grau de drenagem U versus velocidade normalizada V. A influência da rigidez e da resistência do material sobre o fenômeno de dissipação foram interpretados no mesmo espaço U ×V . Também foi demonstrado que a dissipação é sensível à definição da zona de influência. O parâmetro numérico de discretização do domínio para o método de diferenças finitas para a obtenção de resultados de boa precisão foi identificado. O modelo foi aplicado para a modelagem do ensaio de palheta em resíduo de zinco e para a interpretação dos resultados desse ensaio. Demonstrou-se que o modelo proposto permite a identificações dos padrões de ensaio que garantem os comportamentos desejados, além de possibilitar o estudo da sensibilidade do processo de dissipação em relação à rigidez e resistência do material. / The Field Vane Test in silty materials raises problematics related to its execution and interpretation of results. The work presents a model for the vane test based on poroelasticity. The modeling of the test is characterized by the problem of the rotation of an infinite cylinder in a porous soil. The solution of the problem is sought by adopting a fictitious non-linear poroelastic behavior such that the answer is locally equivalent to the one corresponding to a perfect plastic behavior. The revised model assumes that rotation of the cylinder does generate volumetric deformation which one is not negligible and the close form of solution for pore pressure is guaranteed by an equivalent shear modulus. The solutions of stresses and displacement field are obtained numerically using the finite difference method. The model is evaluated for materials characterized by two criteria Tresca and Drucker-Prager through a comparison of results obtained by simulation in finite element model and by simulation using computer algebra software. The drainage conditions have been studied through the drainage characteristic curve U ×V . The influence of the stiffness and strength of the material on the dissipation phenomena were interpreted in the same space U ×V . It was also demonstrated that the dissipation process is sensitive to the definition of the influence zone. The numerical parameters to obtain good precision results were identified. The model was applied to the modeling Vane Test in zinc residue and the interpretation of experimental results. It has been shown that the proposed model allows the identification of test patterns that ensures the desired drainage behavior and allows the study of the sensitivity of the dissipation process for stiffness and strength of the material.

Part I of this thesis concerns the question in which dimensions manifolds with higher orientability properties can have an odd Euler characteristic. In chapter 1 I prove that a k-orientable manifold (or more generally Poincare complex) has even Euler characteristic unless the dimension is a multiple of 2^k+1, where we call a manifold k-orientable if the i^th Stiefel-Whitney class vanishes for all 0 < i < 2^k (k ≥ 0). For k = 0, 1, 2, 3, k-orientable manifolds with odd Euler characteristic exist in all dimensions 2^k+1m, but whether there exist a 4-orientable manifold with an odd Euler characteristic is an open problem. In Chapter 2 I present calculations on the cohomology of the first two Rosenfeld planes, revealing that (O ⊗ C)P² is 2-orientable and (O ⊗ H)P² is at least 3-orientable. Part II discusses the homotopy type of spaces of nested manifolds. I prove that the space of d-dimensional manifolds with k-dimensional submanifolds inside Rⁿ has the homotopy type of a linearised model T_k<d, which can be thought of as a space of off-set d-planes inside Rⁿ with a (potentially empty) off-set k-plane inside of it, compactified with a point at infinity representing the empty set. Applying an induction I generalise this result to the case of higher nestings, establishing that the space Ψ_I (Rⁿ) of nested manifolds inside Rⁿ, for I a finite list of strictly increasing dimensions between 0 and n - 1, has the homotopy type of a linearised model space T_I.

abstract: The Culture-Language Interpretive Matrix (C-LIM) is a new tool hypothesized to help practitioners accurately determine whether students who are administered an IQ test are culturally and linguistically different from the normative comparison group (i.e., different) or culturally and linguistically similar to the normative comparison group and possibly have Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) or other neurocognitive disabilities (i.e., disordered). Diagnostic utility statistics were used to test the ability of the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) C-LIM to accurately identify students from a referred sample of English language learners (Ells) (n = 86) for whom Spanish was the primary language spoken at home and a sample of students from the WISC-IV normative sample (n = 2,033) as either culturally and linguistically different from the WISC-IV normative sample or culturally and linguistically similar to the WISC-IV normative sample. WISC-IV scores from three paired comparison groups were analyzed using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve: (a) Ells with SLD and the WISC-IV normative sample, (b) Ells without SLD and the WISC-IV normative sample, and (c) Ells with SLD and Ells without SLD. Results of the ROC yielded Area Under the Curve (AUC) values that ranged between 0.51 and 0.53 for the comparison between Ells with SLD and the WISC-IV normative sample, AUC values that ranged between 0.48 and 0.53 for the comparison between Ells without SLD and the WISC-IV normative sample, and AUC values that ranged between 0.49 and 0.55 for the comparison between Ells with SLD and Ells without SLD. These values indicate that the C-LIM has low diagnostic accuracy in terms of differentiating between a sample of Ells and the WISC-IV normative sample. Current available evidence does not support use of the C-LIM in applied practice at this time. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Educational Psychology 2012

The primary goal of this study is to investigate the combination of concrete merged with textiles. Furthermore, it investigates exchanging the characteristics of these contrasting materials. Consequently, the work shows the reciprocal influence of both textile and concrete to each other. The resulting final collection presents six pieces with the main intention to present different expressions of flexibility. These appear through the interaction of textile and concrete, with the textile providing the flexibility. Depending on the precise characteristics of the used textiles, the flexibility can be shown through the tension in a fabric, the ability to be squeezed or the movement. A subsequent range of experiments investigates techniques, methods and material qualities to prove, that the required effects of the end result can be fulfilled. The crucial factors are the textile materials, the connection between concrete and textile and the treatment of the resulting surface or object. Depending on which way the crucial components are fused, a variety of expressions in the results can be accomplished. These can be described as rather organic through to geometric, and also depends whether the piece is in motion. The outcomes provide an overview of design possibilities, of incorporating such contrasting materials to create different properties and unexpected characteristics in each piece. Based on the final results, it can be concluded that the major objective, to explore design possibilities through a reciprocal interaction of textile and concrete, gives a strong and impressive expression. The approach of this relatively broad research is nevertheless important for the textile field. Therefore, it suggests further exploration, using the results as a foundation and narrow it down by focusing on specific factors.