Laser-atom interactions create atomic coherence and large nonlinear atomic polarization. We investigate resonant laser-atom interactions to generate large nonlinearities and control them using magneto-optical fields. Coherent control of high-order susceptibilities and magneto-optical rotation are demonstrated. Experiments are supported by theoretical studies that effectively describe the observed phenomena. It is shown that a new coherent field, with polarization orthogonal to a weak signal field, can be parametrically generated via an all-resonant four-wave-mixing process. This is demonstrated in a double-ladder system having two intermediate states between a ground and an excited state. It is shown that the parametricgeneration process can be coherently controlled by coupling lasers and magnetic fields. It is theoretically established that the underlying physics is a resonant three-photon process with a wide domain of control parameters. Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), where absorption of a weak probe is suppressed via quantum interference, is demonstrated in a usual three-level ladder system. It is observed that in contrast with EIT in a usual ladder system, addition of a second channel helps to suppress the absorption of two weak probe fields in the double-ladder system. The resulting enhancement of transmission in two different channels is due to gain caused by three-photon processes. Coherent control is strongly limited by coherence lifetime, which is the inverse of the dephasing rate. A lambda-system, having two ground states coupled to a common excited state by lasers, can generate a new eigen (dark)-state that is transparent to incoming fields and hence suppresses fluorescence. However, ground-state dephasing perturbs the dark state. A new method for measuring the ground-state dephasing rate from fluorescence signals is proposed and a proof-of-principle experiment demonstrated. While two laser fields in a lambda-system are resonant with their respective transitions, the atomic polarizations are very sensitive to an applied magnetic field. This effect can be used for optical magnetometry. The degree of sensitivity of the magnetometer is determined by two competing parameters–atomic density and laser intensity. It is shown experimentally that the optimal sensitivity reaches saturation, which is contrary to the idea that sensitivity increases indefinitely with an increase in the above parameters.

Quantum coherence and interference(QCI) effects have been studied for decades and are widely exploited in many areas. For media with QCI effect, the optical properties can change drastically, which leads to many interesting effects, such as coherent population trapping, electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT), lasing without population inversion(LWI) and so on. We have theoretically studied the pulsed regime of EIT. In particular, simulations of propagation of gaussian and 0 - pi co-propagating laser pulses in a medium consisting of 3-level Lambda-atoms have been performed. It has been found that, even at the two-photon resonance, the length of propagation for the 0 - pi pulses is much smaller than that for the Gaussian probe pulses. We explained such a behavior using the dark and bright basis and the dressed state basis. Some possible applications are discussed. We also investigated the collision-induced coherence of two decay channels along two optical transitions. Quantum interference will suppress the spontaneous emission. The degree of this suppression is measured by the branch ratio of these two transitions. Our preliminary calculations show that a significant decrease of the branching ratio with increase of electron densities is reproduced in the theory. We have developed a new variant of Raman spectroscopy with shaped femtosecond pulses. It has several advantages to be applied in multiscatterd media. It is based on change of the spectra of femtopulses due to Raman scattering (stimulated or coherent). The technique can be used for a broad range of applications from atomic and molecular optical and IR spectroscopy to spore detection and tissue microscopy. Finally, we have shown that Fano interference in the decay channels of three levels system can lead to considerably different absorption and emission profiles. We found that a coherence can be built up in the ground state doublet whose strength depends on a coupling parameter that arises from Fano interference. This can in principle lead to breaking of the detail balance between the absorption and emission processes in atomic systems.

The present study investigated the role of gender, sense of coherence and total physical activity in positive and negative affect. The participants were 376 (169 female, 206 male, and 1 missing value) volunteered students from different faculties of Middle East Technical University. Three questionnaires, namely, Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC), Physical Activity Assessment Questionnaire (PAAQ), and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were administered to the students together with the demographic information sheet. Two separate stepwise multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the predictive power of gender (coded as dummy variable), sense of coherence and total physical activity on positive and negative affect scores. Results revealed that, sense of coherence and total physical activity predicted the positive affect whereas sense of coherence predicted the negative affect of university students. Findings are discussed in the light of sense of coherence, physical activity and positive and negative affect literature.

In this thesis, we aim to analyze the computational aspects of discourse annotation. Discourse is not only a concatenation of sentences / in fact the totality of discourse is more than the sum total of the sentences that constitute it. The property that differentiates discourse from a set of arbitrary sentences is defined as coherence. Coherence is established by the relations between the parts of discourse. We have a lexicalized approach to discourse, therefore in this study, discourse relations are considered to be set up by lexical items called discourse connectives. Systematic analysis of coherence requires an annotated corpus in which coherence relations are encoded. We developed an annotation environment to be used in an ongoing discourse level annotation project which aims to generate a theory-neutral source of coherence relations. We followed a data-driven methodology in design of the data structure employed in the annotation software. For this reason, we examined the predicate-argument structure of connectives. This analysis shows that stand-off annotation technique is more suitable than an inline method for such an annotation environment. This thesis also include a brief discussion on the formal implications of coherence relation constructions.

The purposes of this study, through the researcher¡¦s action research, explore the topics including the concept of the principal¡¦s curriculum leadership, the correlative factors that affect the principal¡¦s curriculum leadership, and how to advance curriculum leadership in nine-year coherence curriculum. The research methods are interview, secondarily document analysis, and participant observation to investigate and analyze the problems and the solution of the problems on curriculum leadership of the junior high school principal. Be based on the results, the conclusions of the study are as follows : ¢¹. The concept of the junior high school principal 1. The ideas of the principal¡¦s student-based curriculum leadership affect the courses of school curriculum development. 2. Unite the principal¡¦s curriculum leadership with the activities on teachers¡¦ professional growth. 3. Adopt expedient leadership to promote the effect in the principal¡¦s curriculum leadership ¢º. The factors that affect the researcher¡¦s curriculum leadership According to the situation at our school, the principal¡¦s curriculum leadership is affected by some factors, for example, the principal, teachers, the organization, the chief of the education administration agency, and community ; however the factors show various influential degree. ¢». How does the researcher advance curriculum leadership in nine-year coherence curriculum 1. The researcher¡¦s curriculum leadership has four stages ¡V organization, design, implementation, and feedback to develop school-based curriculum. 2. School vision should be formed by the democratized mechanism, and fused into curriculum design. 3. Hold teaching demonstration to promote teachers¡¦ teaching effectiveness to be beneficial to develop the principal¡¦s curriculum leadership. 4. Investigating and developing the objective curriculum evaluation system is the theme that requires efforts in our school principal¡¦s curriculum leadership. 5. Associating community resources to establish the connection of coexistence and mutual benefit between community and the school is the problem that has to be faced fearlessly to principal¡¦s curriculum leadership. Finally according to the conclusion, the study takes one step ahead to propose some suggestions separatly focusing on the general junior high school principal, the education administation organizations, and the latter researches in the future.

<p>Axicons are optical elements that produce Bessel beams,i.e., long and narrow focal lines along the optical axis. Thenarrow focus makes them useful ine.g. alignment, harmonicgeneration, and atom trapping, and they are also used toincrease the longitudinal range of applications such astriangulation, light sectioning, and optical coherencetomography. In this thesis, axicons are designed andcharacterized for different kinds of illumination, using thestationary-phase and the communication-modes methods.</p><p>The inverse problem of axicon design for partially coherentlight is addressed. A design relation, applicable toSchell-model sources, is derived from the Fresnel diffractionintegral, simplified by the method of stationary phase. Thisapproach both clarifies the old design method for coherentlight, which was derived using energy conservation in raybundles, and extends it to the domain of partial coherence. Thedesign rule applies to light from such multimode emitters aslight-emitting diodes, excimer lasers and some laser diodes,which can be represented as Gaussian Schell-model sources.</p><p>Characterization of axicons in coherent, obliqueillumination is performed using the method of stationary phase.It is shown that in inclined illumination the focal shapechanges from the narrow Bessel distribution to a broadasteroid-shaped focus. It is proven that an axicon ofelliptical shape will compensate for this deformation. Theseresults, which are all confirmed both numerically andexperimentally, open possibilities for using axicons inscanning optical systems to increase resolution and depthrange.</p><p>Axicons are normally manufactured as refractive cones or ascircular diffractive gratings. They can also be constructedfrom ordinary spherical surfaces, using the sphericalaberration to create the long focal line. In this dissertation,a simple lens axicon consisting of a cemented doublet isdesigned, manufactured, and tested. The advantage of the lensaxicon is that it is easily manufactured.</p><p>The longitudinal resolution of the axicon varies. The methodof communication modes, earlier used for analysis ofinformation content for e.g. line or square apertures, isapplied to the axicon geometry and yields an expression for thelongitudinal resolution. The method, which is based on abi-orthogonal expansion of the Green function in the Fresneldiffraction integral, also gives the number of degrees offreedom, or the number of information channels available, forthe axicon geometry.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>axicons, diffractive optics, coherence,asymptotic methods, communication modes, information content,inverse problems</p>

<p>The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between gender and self reported symptoms (physiological and psychological) and sense of coherence (SOC) and Job Demand-Control-Social support (JDCS). The sample consisted of 360 respondents (nfemale= 261, nmale= 99), in the ages between 19-53 (M=25,57, SD=5,77), all students from Växjö University. A quantitative work method was used in the study; data was collected using questionnaires that consisted of self-reported questions, based on three parts: A modified symptom checklist, SOC 13 and a modified JDCS questionnaire. The result of our study showed that both SOC and JDCS had an effect on self-reported symptoms but there were no interaction between SOC and JDCS. No significant gender differences were found regarding the level of SOC. Female students reported symptoms in a significant higher extent than male students. There were no gender differences regarding JDCS. Our results are discussed in relation to previous studies. Our conclusion is that it is important to perform further research on students’ health and work environment.</p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>The aim of this study was to examine whether there are differences in Sense of Coherence between people in monotonous and non – monotonous jobs with regard to birth order. In this present study, 89 individuals from three different working organizations participated, of which 51 (57, 3 %) of them were men and 38 (42, 7 %) women. The results showed that in varying occupations, firstborn children showed a higher level of Sense of Coherence. In monotonus jobs, middle children prove to have the lowest level of Sence of Coherence. The results from this study also show that Sense of Coherence is associated with the individuals’ age and their experienced relationship with their parents during childhood.</p> / <p>Sammanfattning</p><p>Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka om det finns skillnader i känsla av sammanhang mellan personer på monotona och icke – monotona arbeten med hänsyn tagen till syskonplacering. I den här studien deltog 89 personer från tre olika arbetsorganisationer i södra Sverige, varav 51 (57,3 %) av dem var män och 38 (42,7 %) kvinnor. Resultatet visade att i varierade arbeten har förstfödda barn högre nivåer av KASAM. I monotona arbeten uppvisar mellanbarn inneha den lägsta nivån av KASAM. Resultatet från denna studie visar även att KASAM är kopplad till individers ålder och upplevda relation till föräldrarna under barndomen.</p>

Syftet med undersökningen är att ta reda på om det finns ett samband mellan KASAM och motivation till att öva på sitt instrument, hos gymnasieungdomar i årskurs tre, två klasser, på estetiska programmet. Undersökningen är en kvantitativ enkätstudie med 29 gymnasieelever på en skola i en mellansvensk stad, med bortfall noll. Aaron Antonovskys livsfrågeformulär (KASAM 13) användes för att mäta gymnasieelevernas grad av KASAM, enkäten kompletterades med en egen fråga (benämnd Egen) gällande informanternas motivation till att öva på sitt instrument. De undersökta elevernas motivation till övning (EgenO) hade ett medelvärde på 3.79 varav 7 var det högsta värdet för maximal motivation till övning, vilket kan anses vara varken högt eller lågt. För att sammanfatta resultatet kring korrelationen mellan KASAM i förhållandet till motivation att öva på sitt instrument kan det konstateras att studien visar att informanterna har en relativt låg känsla av meningsfullhet i det de gör. Gällande begriplighet visar utfallet att 90 % av informanterna upplever låg känsla av begriplighet, vilket troligtvis leder till att drivkraften att öva minskar. Det skulle kunna bero på att motivation saknas att göra sådant de inte begriper. När det gäller hanterbarhet har ca 53 % av eleverna optimala värden (15-16). Utifrån utfallet gällande upplevd hanterbarhet kan antas att upplevd hälsa inom en majoritet av informanterna är god. Det finns inga signifikanta skillnader mellan könen i utfallet av någon av de 13 delfrågorna i KASAM13-enkäten. Även i tidigare forskning har könstillhörighet inte funnits ha någon signifikant betydelse. När det kommer till kön kopplat med meningsfullhet, begriplighet och hanterbarhet visas att kvinnorna i denna studie visar på sämre grad av meningsfullhet. Det finns också svag tendens till att kvinnorna i högre utsträckning än männen är skeptiska till begriplighet i sina liv, även när det gäller hanterbarhet. / The purpose of this study is to examine if there is a correlation between sense of coherence (SOC) and motivation in practicing musical instruments. The study is based on a survey with students in upper secondary school within the art program. Research questions was; is there a correlation between the motivation to practice and SOC and if there are any differences in SOC concerning gender based on comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness. A quantitative study was made through a questionnaire with 29 participants from a secondary upper school in a midsize town in Sweden. The questionnaire made by Aaron Antonovsky was used (SOC13) and two questions were added; the degree of motivation to practice a musical instrument and what gender the participants belonged to. To conclude the result, a correlation between sense of coherence and motivation to practice musical instrument was found. However, the result shows that students have a low degree of comprehensibility and manageability but higher degree of meaningfulness. No significant differences are found between genders, which are in line with previous research.

ABSTRACT Control of spectral thermal emission from surfaces may be desirable in some energy related applications, such as nano-scale antenna energy conversion and thermophotovoltaic conversion. There are a number of methods, from commercially available paints to advanced surface gratings that can be used to modify the thermal emission from a surface. To find out the proper emission controlling technique for a given energy conversion method all the surface emission controlling methods are comprehensively reviewed regarding the emission control capabilities and the range of possible applications. Radiation with high degree of coherence can be emitted using advanced surface emission controlling techniques. The entropy of the thermal radiation, and therefore the exergy, is a function of the degree of coherence. A methodology is presented to calculate the exergy of partially coherent wave fields so that the radiation fields can be evaluated based on exergy. This exergy method is extended to develop a rigorous evaluation criterion for thermal emission controlling methods used in frequency dependent energy conversion applications. To demonstrate these developed criteria using actual data, a surface plasmon emitter is designed and fabricated. Also, possible ways of improving the emitter performance and the research needed to be carryout to fabricate cost effective emitters are described.