This dissertation reports the results of case studies on innovation and new product development in eight Scottish food companies and a subsequent triangulation survey of 85 innovative Scottish companies. The case studies are carried out using qualitative research methods and a realistic inductive research strategy. It is found that the case study companies use an informal and cross-functional innovation process, which is independent of the age of enterprise. It is also discovered that these companies develop new products, often luxuriant variants of their existing products, which are mainly indulgences rather than healthy foods and are sold mostly to large retailers. Use of production methods that are amenable to quick changes in final products and networking with customers, suppliers, other food companies and Scottish Enterprise is also observed. Creative people with high innovative proclivity, who often travel to new locations in search of product ideas, drive the process. The case study companies are high-variety-low-volume businesses, possess good understanding of customer needs and circumstances and are able to achieve a good fit between needs of the market and their own resources. Not facing financial constraints, these companies are able to attract and retain talent, needed to develop new products. Continuously learning from their NPD endeavours, they sell their products without any major advertising or marketing effort. The subsequent triangulation survey of 85 innovative Scottish companies, from food as well as non-food sectors, confirms most of the above-mentioned findings. Contrary to the case study results however, the survey discovers that innovative Scottish companies face financial constraints while developing new products, do not sell most of their new products to large retailers or undertake travel to new locations in search of product ideas. The main contributions to knowledge by this research include crystallisation of the new product development practices in Scotland, highlighting difference in product innovation between various sub-groups of enterprises, a new conceptual construct within which all notions and definitions of innovation can be accommodated and identification of a basic flaw in the present innovation policy in Scotland.

This diploma thesis deals with the crucial impact of the neutral vowel schwa on creating prominence contrasts in English pronunciation teaching, i.e. a schwa-centred approach. The theoretical part focuses on the complex description of the target sound with regard to the suprasegmental level, including Czech speakers' difficulties to recognise and pronounce this vowel and prominence patterns it participates in. Furthermore, it defines the essence of the schwa-centred approach. The practical part presents the implementation of the schwa-centred approach in teaching practice in the form of a set of activities aimed at perception, production and raising students' awareness of this phenomenon. The effectiveness of the activities is evaluated by means of the analysis of audio recordings made before and after the teaching and assessment of students' questionnaires. The thesis also contains all worksheets with task descriptions applying the schwa-centred approach. KEY WORDS schwa, full vowel, prominence contrasts, perception, production, raising awareness

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This project has been design orientated and the focus was to study the possibilities of the glass in a industrial product development process. The goal has been to develop a lighting product with strong character that furthermore has possibilities to rational manufacturing. The inspiration comes from many different elements, like 1700 century Swedish glass, Moulin Rouge and contemporary shapes and expressions.

<p>This project has been design orientated and the focus was to study the possibilities of the glass in a industrial product development process. The goal has been to develop a lighting product with strong character that furthermore has possibilities to rational manufacturing. The inspiration comes from many different elements, like 1700 century Swedish glass, Moulin Rouge and contemporary shapes and expressions.</p>

Read before the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain on December 14th, 1915.

Job for Organ is an eight movement organ cycle by the Czechoslovakian composer Petr Eben (1929-2007). This work is based upon the story of Job in the Old Testament. Eben perceived the dramatic depth of the Book of Job and created a musical work that vividly portrays the consequences of a wager between Satan and God on the fate of a human being--in this case, Job. The eight movements of this cycle tell the story of Job's struggle, perseverance, and triumph in the midst of human suffering. Job remains faithful to God throughout his trials, and in the end God rewards him for his faithfulness.This document thoroughly explores the methods Petr Eben used to illustrate the story of Job, as a musical program, in the organ cycle Job for Organ. My purpose is to find connections between the program and Eben's compositional techniques. This study focuses upon three specific musical devices and how each device is used to portray a musical program: musical quotations, associative themes, and dramatic musical contrasts.I isolate the musical quotations utilized in this cycle and demonstrate how each quotation supports the program. I identify associative themes and their interrelationships and demonstrate how these devices dramatize the story as it was written in the Book of Job. Associative themes include the canon, passacaglia, and numerous motives, textures, and melodies, all crafted to symbolize portions of the narrative as it unfolds. I demonstrate Eben's use of dramatic musical contrasts to convey a musical program, including the juxtaposition of tonal and polytonal harmonies, sudden changes in timbre and (or) dynamics, abrupt rhythmic interjections, the use of unique textures, unusual melodic and harmonic transformations, and changes in registration, dynamics, meter, and range. A complete list of the devices Petr Eben used to illustrate programmatic intent in the organ cycle Job for Organ would be quite extensive. Although there is no unimpeachable way of proving that my conclusions represent the way Eben intended the listener to interpret his work, my suggestions represent logical and plausible associations between musical devices and programmatic intent based upon a thorough examination of Job for Organ. Eben's compositional technique is dramatic in nature and his music lends itself to theatrical interpretation. This document provides a detailed musical analysis of each movement of the work, and the author offers a possible recreation of the plot and its interpretation, based upon extensive analysis of the score and Petr Eben's program notes. Detailed graphic maps of each movement vividly portray the musical themes, textures, musical quotations, dramatic musical contrasts, and their interrelationships, and reveal a fabric of allusion that suggests a plausible programmatic basis for this composition based upon these musical devices. The analysis demonstrates that Job for Organ is a product of utmost craftsmanship. It is a powerful musical drama that vividly portrays Job's ordeal utilizing an extended musical program.

Partial saturation of porous rock by two fluids substantially affects compressional wave propagation. In particular, partial saturation causes significant attenuation and dispersion due to wave-induced fluid flow. Such flow arises when a passing wave induces different fluid pressures in regions of rock saturated by different fluids. When partial saturation is mesoscopic, i.e. existing on a length scale much greater than pore scale but less than wavelength scale, significant attenuation can arise for frequencies 10-1000 Hz. Models for attenuation and dispersion due to mesoscale heterogeneities mostly assume fluids are distributed in a regular way. Recent experiments indicate mesoscopic heterogeneities have less idealised distributions and distribution affects attenuation/dispersion. Thus, theoretical models are required to simulate effects due to realistic fluid distributions. / The thesis focus is to model attenuation and dispersion due to realistic mesoscopic fluid distributions and fluid contrasts. First X-ray tomographic images of partially saturated rock are analysed statistically to identify spatial measures useful for describing fluid distribution patterns. The correlation function and associated correlation length for a specific fluid type are shown to be of greatest utility. Next a new model, called 3DCRM (CRM stands for continuous random media) is derived, utilizing a correlation function to describe the fluid distribution pattern. It is a random media model, is accurate for small fluid contrast and approximate for large fluid contrast. Using 3DCRM attenuation and dispersion are shown to depend on fluid distribution. / Next a general framework for partial saturation called APS (acoustics of partial saturation) is extended enabling estimation of attenuation and dispersion due to arbitrary 1D/3D fluid distributions. The intent is to construct a versatile model enabling attenuation and dispersion to be estimated for arbitrary fluid distributions, contrasts and saturations. Two crucial parameters within APS called shape and frequency scaling parameters are modified via asymptotic analysis using several random media models (which are accurate for only certain contrasts in fluid bulk moduli and percent saturation). For valid fluid contrasts and saturations, which satisfy certain random media conditions there is good correspondence between modified APS and the random media models, hence showing that APS can be utilized to model attenuation and dispersion due to more realistic fluid distributions. / Finally I devise a numerical method to test the accuracy of the analytical shape parameters for a range of fluid distributions, saturations and contrasts. In particular, the analytical shape parameter for randomly distributed spheres was shown to be accurate for a large range of saturations and fluid contrasts.

Talperception avser förmågan att uppfatta och känna igen talat språk. Nedsatt talperception förekommer hos flera grupper barn som besöker audiologisk och logopedisk klinik och i synnerhet hos barn med språkstörning. I förevarande studie testades talperceptionsförmåga i ljudmiljöerna tyst och babbel hos tio barn med språkstörning i åldrarna 7 – 9 år. Som kontrollgrupp tjänade tjugoen jämnåriga barn med typisk utveckling. För bedömning användes talperceptionstestet Lyssna-Säg, vilket är ett datorbaserat test, som mäter diskrimination, identifikation och produktion av konsonantkontraster i minimala ordpar. Studiens resultat visar att barn med språkstörning hade proportionerligt svårare än typiskt utvecklade barn att uppfatta tal i babbel och att förmågan att uppfatta skillnad i artikulationsställe var särskilt nedsatt hos dem. Viss försämring från tyst till babbel kunde även observeras på ordproduktionen, vilket kan indikera att babbelmiljön hade en negativ påverkan på barnens arbetsminne. Studien har bidragit med insikter kring hur barn med språkstörning uppfattar tal i olika ljudmiljöer och har även bidragit till utvecklingsarbetet med Lyssna-Säg-testet. / Speech perception refers to the ability to perceive and recognize spoken language. Impaired speech perception occurs in several groups of children visiting the audiological and speech language pathology clinic, and particularly in children with language impairment. In the present study, speech perception was tested in ten children with language impairment aged 7 – 9 years in silent and in babble. Twenty-one children with typical development of the same age served as control group. The Listen-Say test, which is a computer-assisted speech perception test that assesses discrimination, identification and production of consonant contrasts, was used as assessment tool. The study showed that children with language impairment had proportionally greater difficulty to perceive speech in babble compared to typically developing children and that place of articulation was particularly difficult to distinguish for them. A slight decrease in word production in babble may indicate that this condition had a negative impact on the children's working memory. The study has provided insight into how children with language impairment perceive speech in different auditory backgrounds, and has contributed to the development of the Listen-Say test.