This study is both quantitative and qualitative in nature. In order to support or discard the hypothesis that high-functioning, autistic upper secondary school students speak more freely in English than in their native language Swedish, an experiment with a narrative format was conducted with students both within and without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Measurements of lexical density, hesitations and long pauses in the narrative were applied to assess the quality of produced speech. A questionnaire survey for teachers of this age category of students was also carried out. The analyses of the results are primarily quantitative, but a portion of the questionnaire is also thematically analysed. The study shows that there is initial support for the hypothesis. / Denna studie är båda kvantitativ och kvalitativ i sin natur. För att stödja eller förkasta hypotesen att högfungerande, autistiska gymnasieelever talar engelska mer obehindrat än deras modersmål svenska, genomfördes ett experiment med ett berättande format med studenter både inom och utanför Autismspektrumtillstånd (AST). Mått på lexikalisk täthet, tvekan och långa pauser i berättandet användes för att utvärdera kvalitén av producerat tal. En enkätundersökning för lärare av denna ålderskategori av elever genomfördes också. Analyserna av resultaten är primärt kvantitativa, men en del av enkäten är också tematiskt analyserad. Studien visar att det föreligger ett initialt stöd för hypotesen.

In this investigation we analyzed the spatiotemporal variation of ecosystem service values (ESVs) and its correlation with numerous environmental factors (EFs) for the karst region of Northwest Guangxi, China, from 1985 to 2005 using remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS) and statistical techniques. The results indicate that historically ESVs for this karst region decreased from 1985 (109.652 billion Yuan) to 1990 (88.789 billion Yuan) and then increased at the turn of the twenty-first century. However, the ESVs in both 2000 (103.384 billion Yuan) and 2005 (106.257 billion Yuan) never achieved the level recorded in 1985. The total of nutrient cycling, organic production and gas regulation combined were 72.69, 64.57, 70.18 and 72.10% of ESVs in 1985, 1990, 2000 and 2005, respectively. In contrast, the ESVs of water conservation, soil reservation, recreation and culture were determined to be relatively low contributing only 17.44, 23.82, 19.26 and 24.76% of total ESVs, respectively, during these four years. With regards to the spatial distribution of ESVs, larger values were recorded in the west and smaller ones recorded in the east. The most significant factors that were deemed to influence ESVs are annual rainfall, per capita cropland, slope and vegetation coverage. Annual rainfall and slope exert a negative force, whereas per capita cropland and vegetation coverage exert a positive force on ESVs. The results of the study would suggest that ecosystem conditions of this important karst region have been improved as the result of the implementation of rocky desertification control policies.

In May 1856 the EFS (the Swedish Evangelical Mission Society), influenced by the new evangelism-movement, was established as an “internal mission” within the Church of Sweden. During the same period the “new evangelism” revival movement established regional organizations in order to coordinate the movement in different parts of the country. These regional organizations consisted of the movement’s local mission societies in a province or part of a province of Sweden. This study will focus on democracy and theological identity in the EFS through an analysis of how the regional organizations acted, what role they played, how the EFS was influenced by them and how the EFS decided to establish its own regional organization. One result of the earlier tensions between the regional mission organizations and the EFS was the establishment of the independent organizations Mission Covenant Church of Sweden (Svenska Missionsförbundet) (1878-) and Mission Society of Bible faithful Friends (Missionssällskapet Bibeltrogna Vänner) (1911-). This investigation looks into 17 of 36 regional mission organizations that existed. The time frame of the investigation is from the establishment of the EFS in 1856 to the establishment of the regional structure of the EFS in 1922. The EFS changed over time. The change of society and wishes from the movement’s local mission societies and regional mission organizations were agents in this transformation. An important result of this research is that this transformation of the EFS proceeded at a slow pace and with the preservation of the EFS’s theological identity.

The Electrical Functional Stimulation (EFS) allows the direct connection between man and machine through electrical signals. The last years growth in EFS is possible because of the new technological resources that make it feasible. Restoring someone s vision or hearing, even parcially, is one among several contribution that EFS may contribute to human s well-being. However the interface between the electrical circuits and the tissue is sensitive to several factors. Among several effects that may damage the tissue and electrode in EFS we can find those caused by the electrical stimuli, this may harm the application. This work presents contributions regarding electrical circuits topologies for safety stimuli in EFS. It is essential to ensure proper electrical charge balance and a small residual voltage on the tissue-electrode interface. For each of these problems one proposal is presented, both share circuit blocks. The blocks to control intensity and polarity of stimuli are designed to avoid the integration of high voltage devices. The current mode stimuli is generated using an ultra-low power charge redistribution Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) for stimulus intensity definition. This DAC architecture even simplifies the feedback mechanism that is obtained directly from measurement circuit. The technic that uses only low voltage devices to measure electrodes current is presented, it is suitable to implement the charge balance control in an integrated circuit. This measurement technique is insensitive to capacitors mismatch and to the current measurement absolute ratio. That control is possible through the a simplified feedback path that joins the controller and the measurement in an efficient way acting directly in the DAC. The proposed residual voltage control technique requires only passive elements to be added to the circuit, that suggest a lower power consumption. The charge redistribution DAC keeps residual voltage information stored, in order to compensate it in next stimulation cycles. The stimulation cycle polarity is explored, alternated cathodic and anodic-first cycles are used in order to reduce the charge imbalance and residual voltage. Both proposals are presented and validated with electrical simulation, known metrics are used and the performance is equivalent to state-of-art in literature. / A estimulação elétrica funcional(EFS) faz a interface direta entre o homem e a máquina, por meio de sinais elétricos. A viabilidade advinda de novas tecnologias justifica o seu crescimento nos últimos anos. Restaurar a visão ou a audição, mesmo que parcialmente, são duas das inúmeras contribuições que pode proporcionar para o bem estar do ser humano. No entanto, a interface entre o circuito elétrico e o tecido é sensível a diversos fatores. Entre os diversos fenômenos que podem ocasionar danos ao tecido e ao eletrodo na interface de EFS estão os causados pelo estímulo elétrico usado, e isso pode inviabilizar a aplicação. Neste sentido, este trabalho apresenta contribuições relacionadas à topologia de circuitos para segurança na geração do estímulo em EFS. O correto balanceamento de carga elétrica e a diminuição da tensão residual, na interface entre o tecido e o eletrodo, são indispensáveis. Uma técnica é propostas para a solução de cada um desses problemas, ambas compartilham blocos de circuito comuns. O controle da intensidade e da polaridade de estimulação são concebidos para evitar a necessidade de dispositivos de alta tensão. A geração de estímulos em modo corrente utiliza um Conversor Digital para Analógico (DAC) do tipo redistribuição de carga de ultra baixo consumo de energia para o controle da intensidade dos pulsos. Esse conversor ainda simplifica a realimentação, que é derivada diretamente do circuito de medição. Como solução para viabilizar a implementação em circuito integrado de controle do desbalanço de carga, uma técnica de medição usando somente dispositivos de baixa tensão é apresentada. Essa técnica é tolerante ao descasamento entre capacitores utilizados e à variação no ganho do circuito de medição de corrente. O controle é possível por meio de um laço de realimentação simplificado, que une medição e controle de forma eficiente e atua direto no DAC. A técnica proposta para controle da tensão residual nos eletrodos requer somente adição de elementos passivos ao circuito, sugerindo a redução do consumo de energia. O DAC tipo redistribuição de carga é usado para armazenar a informação da tensão residual e a compensação no ciclo seguinte. A fase dos ciclos de estimulaçãotambém é explorada, ciclos com fases alternadas são usados visando redução no desbalanço de carga e tensão residual. As duas propostas são apresentadas e validadas por meio da simulação elétrica, métricas conhecidas são utilizadas e o desempenho observado é equivalente ao estado da arte.

L’endommagement de fluage des aciers 316L(N) a été étudié expérimentalement et théoriquement à des températures élevées et des temps à rupture jusqu'à dix-neuf ans. Pour le fluage à court terme, les durées de vie sont correctement prédites par le modèle de striction en tenant compte de la dispersion expérimentale. Le modèle de Riedel couplant croissance de cavités par diffusion lacunaire et germination continue est utilisé afin de prédire l’effet de l’endommagement intergranulaire sur la durée de vie des aciers 316L(N). Les durées de vie sont correctement prédites par ce modèle pour le fluage à long terme quelle que soit l'acier austénitique étudié et la température appliquée (525°C-700°C). En tenant compte du régime de vitesse basse contrainte de la loi de Norton, le modèle de Riedel permet de prédire la durée de vie de fluage jusqu'à 25 ans. Aucun paramètre ajusté n’a été utilisé dans le modèle de Riedel. Mais le taux de nucléation de cavités doit être déduit des mesures de densité de cavités à partir des observations MEB-FEG. La cavitation se produit principalement aux interfaces carbures M23C6 /matrice austénitique. L'effet de l'hétérogénéité de la microstructure sur les concentrations de contraintes à l’interface matrice/précipité est simulé par la méthode des éléments finis (logiciel Cast3M). Elle vise à déterminer la distribution des champs de contraintes normales autour de précipités et à prédire numériquement le taux de nucléation de cavités. Les caractéristiques des précipités et le comportement en fluage de la matrice austénitique sont conjointement pris en compte. Les simulations numériques sont en accord avec les observations de sites préférentiels de micro-cavitation. / The creep fracture of 316L(N) austenitic SSs has been studied both experimentally and theoretically for high temperatures and lifetimes up to nineteen years. For short term creep, experimental lifetimes are predicted by the necking model taking into account scatter in input parameters. The Riedel modeling of cavity growth by vacancy diffusion along grain boundaries coupled with continuous nucleation is then carried out. Lifetimes are predicted fairly well using this model for long term creep failure whatever the considered austenitic SSs and the applied temperature (525°C - 700°C). Taking into account low and high stress regimes of the Norton-power law, the Riedel model allows us to predict the creep lifetimes in agreement with literature results up to 25 years. No fitted parameter has been used as applying the Riedel model. But the cavity nucleation rate should be deduced from cavity density measurements using FEG-SEM observations. The intergranular cavitation occurs mainly at M23C6 carbides / austenitic matrix interfaces. That is why the effect of the heterogeneity of the microstructure at the matrix/precipitate interface stress concentrations is simulated by the finite element method (Cast3M software). It aims to determine the distribution of normal stress fields around precipitates and to predict the cavity nucleation rate. The features of the precipitates and the creep behavior of the austenitic matrix are both taking into account. Numerical simulations are in agreement with the observations of preferential sites cavitation.