Uppsatsen är en analys där de två amerikanska science fiction-serierna Dollhouse (Joss Whedon, 2009) och Firefly (Joss Whedon, 2002), som sänts i både svensk och amerikansk tv har granskas. Syftet är att titta närmare på hur kvinnor och deras kroppar framställs i serierna och i reklamen för sagda serier. Genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys granskas de båda serierna, där fokus har legat på hur de kvinnliga karaktärerna framställs i båda serierna men också på hur de marknadsförs i reklamen innan serierna har sänts. Uppsatsen är uppdelad i tre teman; ”den kvinnliga hjälten”, ”kvinnans roll” och ”den kvinnliga kroppen”. Serierna har valts ut eftersom de båda är gjorda av regissören Joss Whedon som tidigare gjort serien Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Joss Whedon, 1997), en serie som hyllats för sin positiva framställning av kvinnor. I slutdiskussionen finns sedan en sammanfattning på vad som uppsatsen har kommit fram till. Diskussionen innehåller även reflektioner över Joss Whedons ambition att framställa kvinnor på ett bra och accepterat sätt, men också hur andra serier idag gör framsteg i sina porträtt av kvinnor och deras kroppar.

The objective of this study was to investigate the diversity of fireflies and the mating behavior of Luciola anceyi in Guanziling, Tainan. The field study was carried out from September 2010 to April 2012. The nocturnal survey of number of individuals and species of firefly was within one hour after sunset weekly in two transects, Jiulongshan 1 (JS1) and Shiya valley (SV). The diurnal firefly survey was from 2011 March to May once for every two weeks in these two transects. In addition, vegetation species and layers was recorded in these two transects during winter and spring. The sex ratio, population size and mating behavior of L. anceyi were studied in three transects (Jiulongshan 2, Jiulongshan 3 and Dadongshan) with mark-recapture and digital video camera. Total 6 genus and 14 species of firefly were found in JS1 and SV, Guanziling from September 2010 to December 2011. The maximum number of firefly species reached its peak of 8 in May and June in Guanziling, but no adult firefly was found in January, February and September. Four species of fireflies were found active during daytime, including Drilaster olivieri, Pyrocoelia formosana, Vesta scutellonigra and L. anceyi . The Shannon-Wiener¡¦s diversity index and evenness of nocturnal fireflies were both highest in summer, significantly higher than those from other seasons (Tukey's HSD, P¡Õ0.05). During spring and summer, 12 species of firefly species were recorded but only 4 species was recorded during autumn and winter. In 2011, Luciola cerata was the most dominant species in firefly community in Guanziling, accounted for 68.21%. The second comeon one was Luciola praeusta (9.48 %), followed by Luciola anceyi (6.42%), Curtos mundulus (5.92%), Diaphanes citrinus (4.47%), and Pyrocoelia praetexta (3.29%). The highest average density within one hour after sunset of L. cerata was from April to May (22.77/ 100 m2 and 15.54/ 100 m2 in JS1 and 6.07/ 100 m2 and 5.91/ 100 m2 in SV). The number of L. cerata was positively correlated with temperature in SV (P¡Õ0.05), but the number of L. anceyi was negatively correlated with relative humidity in SV (P¡Õ0.001). The number of L. praeusta was positively correlated with temperature of these two transects (P¡Õ0.05), and C. mundulus was positively correlated with temperature and relative humidity (P¡Õ0.05) in SV. But the number of D. citrinus and P. praetexta were neither correlated with temperature nor relative humidity from these two transects (P¡Ö0.05). Vegetation stratification in SV was more complex than in JS1, and firefly communities were influenced by plant stratification. The relative frequency of plant layer was the highest in two layers of shrub and herb (winter¡G31.82%¡Fspring¡G33.64%) and three layers of tree, shrub and herb (winter¡G30.91%¡Fspring¡G34.55%) among seven layers of plants in SV. On the other hand, The relative frequency was the highest in the single herb layer in JS1 (winter¡G47.50%¡Fspring¡G48.75 %), and lacking herb layer, two layers of tree and shrub and three layers of tree, shrub and herb. L. cerata prefers to appear in the grasslands of JS1, and D. citrinus and P. praetexta prefer to appear in the habitat with complex vegetation in SV. The courtship and copulation behavior of L. anceyi were recorded during daytime as well as nighttime. The number of adult male L. anceyi captured during daytime flying was significantly higher than adult female captured (P¡Õ0.05). During nighttime, the recapture rate of marked adult males of L. anceyi was twice that of adult females (15.94 % versus 8.55 %). It indicates that the adult L. anceyi appears to be active in the daytime and nighttime in the same area. The mating behavior of L. anceyi occurrs both day and night, therefore, male L. anceyi most likely uses chemical signals to find mates during day time. The mating pattern of L. anceyi is not corresponded with any sexual communication systems known for fireflies. Therefore it can be regarded as a new type of activity and sexual communication systems for fireflies. Although Guanziling area is influenced by long-term cultivation and over development, the quantity and species number of fireflies are plentiful and fireflies occur in all four seasons. Therefore Guanziling has the potential for developing ecotourism and firefly-watch. However, firefly-watch can also increase the damage to the environment. How to appropriately develop ecotourism without destroying the habitat may become the challenge and test for the goal of sustainable management. Finally, the results of this study can provide useful information for habitat conservation and management of fireflies in Guanziling.

The question of finding the optimal size for battery energy storage systems (BESS) to be used for energy arbitrage and peak shaving has gained more and more interest in recent years. This is due to the increase in variability of electricity prices caused by the increase of renewable but also variable electricity production units in the electricity grid. The problem of finding the optimal size for a BESS is of high complexity. It includes many factors that affect the usefulness and the economic value of a BESS. This study includes a thorough literature study regarding different methods and techniques used for finding optimal size (both capacity and power) for a BESS. From the literature study two meta-heuristic algorithms were found to have been used with success for similar problems. The two algorithms were Genetic algorithm (GA) and Firefly algorithm (FF). These algorithms have in this thesis been tested in a case study optimizing the BESS capacity and power to either maximising the net present value (NPV) of investing in a Li-ion BESS of the LPF type or minimizing the levelized cost of storage (LCOS) for the BESS, with a project lifetime of 10 years. The BESS gains monetary value from energy arbitrage by being a middleman between a large residential house complex seen as the "user" with a predefined hourly electricity load demand and the electricity grid. For the case study a simplified charge and discharge dispatch schedule was implemented for the BESS with the focus of maximising the value of energy arbitrage. The case study was divided into 3 different cases, the base case where no instalment of a BESS was done. Case 2 included the instalment of the BESS whilst case 3 included installing both a BESS and an electrical heater (ELH). The electrical heater in case 3 was implemented to shift a heating load from the user to an electrical load, to save money as well as reduce CO2 emissions from a preinstalled gas heater used in the base case. The results showed that overall GA was a better optimization algorithm for the stated problem, having lower optimization time overall between 60%-70% compared to FF and depending on the case. For case 2, GA achieves the best LCOS with a value of 0.225 e/kWh, being 11.4% lower compared to using FF. Regarding NPV for case 2, FF achieves the best solutions at the lowest possible value in the search space for the capacity and power (i.e., 0.1 kWh for capacity and 0.1 kW for power), with an NPV at -51.5e, showing that for case 2 when optimizing for NPV an investment in a BESS is undesirable. GA finds better solutions for case 3 for both NPV and LCOS at 954,982e and 0.2305 e/kWh respectively, being 35.7% larger and 9.1% lower respectively compared to using FF. For case 3 it was shown that the savings from installing the ELH stands for a large portion of the profits, leading to a positive NPV compared to case 2 when it was not implemented. Finally, it was found that the GA can be a useful tool for finding optimal power and capacity for BESS instalments, compared to FF that got stuck at local optimums. However, it was seen that the charge and discharge dispatch schedule play an important role regarding the effectiveness of installing a BESS. As for some cases the BESS was only used 17% of all hours during a year (case 2, when optimizing for NPV). Therefore, further research is of interest into the schedule function and its role regarding finding the optimal BESS size. / Frågan angående hur man hittar den optimal storleken på en energilagringsenhet av batteritypen (BESS) som skall användas för energiarbitrage samt "peak shaving" har fått mer och mer uppmärksamhet de senaste åren. Detta sker på grund av en ökning av variabiliteten av elpriser, vilket i sig delvis kommer från ett ökat installerande av förnyelsebar, men då också variabla energiproduktionsenheter till elnätet. Problemet med att hitta den optimala storleken för en BESS är på grund av komplexitet i frågan. Det innehåller många faktorer som påverkar effektiviteten samt det ekonomiska värdet av en BESS. Denna avhandling innehåller en litteraturstudie om olika tekniker och metoder som används för att hitta den optimal lösningen för optimal storlek (kapacitet och kraft) på en BESS. Från litteraturstudien hittades två meta-heuristiska algoritmer som använts med succés på liknande problem. De två algoritmerna var "Genetic algorithm" (GA) och "Firefly algorithm (FF). Dessa algoritmer har i denna avhandling blivit testade i en fallstudie för att optimera kapacitet och kraft för en BESS genom att antingen maximera nettonuvärdet (NPV) som fås av att investera i en Li-ion BESS av typen LPF eller att minimera "levelized cost of storage" (LCOE) för en BESS med en livstid på 10 år. Detta genom att man får monetärt värde från att använda en BESS för energiarbitrage genom att vara en mellanhand mellan ett stort bostadskomplex som ses vara en "användare" med ett förbestämt elanvändningsmönster och elnätet. För fallstudien användes en simpel metodologi för laddnings- och urladdninsgschema för att maximera energiarbitrage. Fallstudien delades upp i tre olika fall, ett basfall där ingen installation av en BESS gjordes. I fall 2 installerades bara en BESS medans för fall 3 installerades både en BESS samt en elektrisk värmare (ELH) för att omvandla användarens termiska energianvändning till mer elektrisk energianvändning. Genom detta kan monetära besparingar göras samt reducera mängden CO2 utsläpp som annars hade kommit från en redan installerade gasvärmare, i basfallet.  Resultatet visade att totalt sätt var GA en bättre optimeringsalgoritm för det specifika problemet, med lägre optimeringstid på 60%-70% jämfört med FF och beroende på fall. För fall 2 hittar GA det lägsta värdet på LCOS på 0.225 e/kWh, och var då 11.4% lägre jämfört med FF. Angående NPV för fall 2 hittar FF den bästa lösningen på det minsta möjliga värdet på kraft och kapacitet i sökutrymmet (det vill säga 0.1 kWh för kapacitet och 0.1 kW för kraft), med ett NPV värde på -51.5e, vilket visar att för fall 2 när man optimerar för NPV så finns ingen ekonomisk vinning av att investera i en BESS. GA hittar den bästa lösningen för fall 3, både för NPV och LCOS på 954,982e och 0.2305 e/kWh respektivt, vilket är 35.7% större och 9.1% lägre respektivt jämfört när man använder FF. För fall 3 visade resultaten att besparingarna från att installera en ELH stod för den större delen av alla vinster, vilket ledde till positiva värden för NPV. Slutligen visade resultaten att GA kan vara ett användbart verktyg för att hitta den optimala lösningen för storleken på en BESS, jämfört med FF som fastande på lokal optimala lösningar. Dock kunde resultaten också visa att laddnings- och urladdninsgschemat använt i fallstudien spelade en viktig roll angående effektiviteten med att installera en BESS. I vissa fall så användes BESS:en så lite som 17% av alla timmar på ett år (fall 2, optimering av NPV). Därför är det ett stort intresse att göra fortsatt forskning på andra laddnings- och urladdninsgscheman och dess roll med att hitta en optimal storlek på en BESS.

An option, a type of a financial derivative, is a contract that creates an opportunity for a market player to avoid risks involved in investing, especially in equities. An investor desires to know the accurate value of an option before entering into a contract to buy/sell the underlying asset (stock). There are various techniques that try to simulate real market conditions in order to price or evaluate an option. However, most of them achieved limited success due to high uncertainty in price behavior of the underlying asset. In this study, I propose two new Firefly variant algorithms to compute accurate worth for European and American option contracts and compare them with popular option pricing models (such as Black-Scholes-Merton, binomial lattice, Monte-Carlo, etc.) and real market data. In my study, I have first modelled the option pricing as a multi-objective optimization problem, where I introduced the pay-off and probability of achieving that pay-off as the main optimization objectives. Then, I proposed to use a latest nature-inspired algorithm that uses the bioluminescence of Fireflies to simulate the market conditions, a first attempt in the literature. For my thesis, I have proposed adaptive weighted-sum based Firefly algorithm and non-dominant sorting Firefly algorithm to find Pareto optimal solutions for the option pricing problem. Using my algorithm(s), I have successfully computed complete Pareto front of option prices for a number of option contracts from the real market (Bloomberg data). Also, I have shown that one of the points on the Pareto front represents the option value within 1-2 % error of the real data (Bloomberg). Moreover, with my experiments, I have shown that any investor may utilize the results in the Pareto fronts for deciding to get into an option contract and can evaluate the worth of a contract tuned to their risk ability. This implies that my proposed multi-objective model and Firefly algorithm could be used in real markets for pricing options at different levels of accuracy. To the best of my knowledge, modelling option pricing problem as a multi-objective optimization problem and using newly developed Firefly algorithm for solving it is unique and novel. / October 2016

Otimização estrutural é uma área relativamente nova que vem sendo cada vez mais explorada. Existem muitos métodos clássicos, e outros mais recentes vem surgindo para disputar em eficiência, confiabilidade e rapidez na obtenção de um resultado ótimo. Os algoritmos são classificados em algoritmos determinísticos, que utilizam a informação do gradiente, ou seja, usam os valores das funções e suas derivadas, e os meta-heurísticos, algoritmos de otimização aleatórios que são métodos probabilísticos não baseados em gradiente, ou seja, usam somente a avaliação da função objetivo. São apresentados dois algoritmos meta-heurísticos relativamente recentes: o Harmony Search, baseado na improvisação musical em busca da harmonia perfeita, e o Firefly Algorithm, que é inspirado no comportamento da luz dos vagalumes. Vários exemplos clássicos de treliças 2-D e 3-D considerando otimização paramétrica e de forma, com restrições de tensão, deslocamento, flambagem e frequência natural, são apresentados para demonstrar a eficiência dos métodos. Os resultados são comparados aos de outros autores usando diferentes métodos encontrados na literatura. Os resultados indicam que os algoritmos de otimização estudados neste trabalho são melhores ou tão eficientes quanto os demais. Por fim, os métodos são aplicados à estrutura de um projeto de engenharia adaptado. / Structural optimization is a relatively new area that has been increasingly exploited. There are many classical methods, and newer are emerging to compete on efficiency, reliability and speed in obtaining an optimal result. The algorithms are classified into deterministic algorithms, which use the gradient information, i.e., use the values of the functions and their derivatives, and meta-heuristic algorithms, random optimization methods which are probabilistic methods not based on gradient, i.e., they use only objective function evaluation. Two relatively recent meta-heuristics algorithms are presented, Harmony Search, based on musical improvisation in search of the perfect harmony, and Firefly Algorithm, which is inspired by the behavior of the light of fireflies. Several benchmarks of 2-D and 3-D trusses considering size and shape optimization, with stress, displacement, buckling and natural frequency constraints, are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the methods. The results are compared to the others authors using different methods found in the literature. The results indicate that optimization algorithms studied in this work are better than or as efficient as others. Finally, the methods are applied to the structure of an adapted engineering design.

Otimização estrutural é uma área relativamente nova que vem sendo cada vez mais explorada. Existem muitos métodos clássicos, e outros mais recentes vem surgindo para disputar em eficiência, confiabilidade e rapidez na obtenção de um resultado ótimo. Os algoritmos são classificados em algoritmos determinísticos, que utilizam a informação do gradiente, ou seja, usam os valores das funções e suas derivadas, e os meta-heurísticos, algoritmos de otimização aleatórios que são métodos probabilísticos não baseados em gradiente, ou seja, usam somente a avaliação da função objetivo. São apresentados dois algoritmos meta-heurísticos relativamente recentes: o Harmony Search, baseado na improvisação musical em busca da harmonia perfeita, e o Firefly Algorithm, que é inspirado no comportamento da luz dos vagalumes. Vários exemplos clássicos de treliças 2-D e 3-D considerando otimização paramétrica e de forma, com restrições de tensão, deslocamento, flambagem e frequência natural, são apresentados para demonstrar a eficiência dos métodos. Os resultados são comparados aos de outros autores usando diferentes métodos encontrados na literatura. Os resultados indicam que os algoritmos de otimização estudados neste trabalho são melhores ou tão eficientes quanto os demais. Por fim, os métodos são aplicados à estrutura de um projeto de engenharia adaptado. / Structural optimization is a relatively new area that has been increasingly exploited. There are many classical methods, and newer are emerging to compete on efficiency, reliability and speed in obtaining an optimal result. The algorithms are classified into deterministic algorithms, which use the gradient information, i.e., use the values of the functions and their derivatives, and meta-heuristic algorithms, random optimization methods which are probabilistic methods not based on gradient, i.e., they use only objective function evaluation. Two relatively recent meta-heuristics algorithms are presented, Harmony Search, based on musical improvisation in search of the perfect harmony, and Firefly Algorithm, which is inspired by the behavior of the light of fireflies. Several benchmarks of 2-D and 3-D trusses considering size and shape optimization, with stress, displacement, buckling and natural frequency constraints, are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the methods. The results are compared to the others authors using different methods found in the literature. The results indicate that optimization algorithms studied in this work are better than or as efficient as others. Finally, the methods are applied to the structure of an adapted engineering design.

Otimização estrutural é uma área relativamente nova que vem sendo cada vez mais explorada. Existem muitos métodos clássicos, e outros mais recentes vem surgindo para disputar em eficiência, confiabilidade e rapidez na obtenção de um resultado ótimo. Os algoritmos são classificados em algoritmos determinísticos, que utilizam a informação do gradiente, ou seja, usam os valores das funções e suas derivadas, e os meta-heurísticos, algoritmos de otimização aleatórios que são métodos probabilísticos não baseados em gradiente, ou seja, usam somente a avaliação da função objetivo. São apresentados dois algoritmos meta-heurísticos relativamente recentes: o Harmony Search, baseado na improvisação musical em busca da harmonia perfeita, e o Firefly Algorithm, que é inspirado no comportamento da luz dos vagalumes. Vários exemplos clássicos de treliças 2-D e 3-D considerando otimização paramétrica e de forma, com restrições de tensão, deslocamento, flambagem e frequência natural, são apresentados para demonstrar a eficiência dos métodos. Os resultados são comparados aos de outros autores usando diferentes métodos encontrados na literatura. Os resultados indicam que os algoritmos de otimização estudados neste trabalho são melhores ou tão eficientes quanto os demais. Por fim, os métodos são aplicados à estrutura de um projeto de engenharia adaptado. / Structural optimization is a relatively new area that has been increasingly exploited. There are many classical methods, and newer are emerging to compete on efficiency, reliability and speed in obtaining an optimal result. The algorithms are classified into deterministic algorithms, which use the gradient information, i.e., use the values of the functions and their derivatives, and meta-heuristic algorithms, random optimization methods which are probabilistic methods not based on gradient, i.e., they use only objective function evaluation. Two relatively recent meta-heuristics algorithms are presented, Harmony Search, based on musical improvisation in search of the perfect harmony, and Firefly Algorithm, which is inspired by the behavior of the light of fireflies. Several benchmarks of 2-D and 3-D trusses considering size and shape optimization, with stress, displacement, buckling and natural frequency constraints, are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the methods. The results are compared to the others authors using different methods found in the literature. The results indicate that optimization algorithms studied in this work are better than or as efficient as others. Finally, the methods are applied to the structure of an adapted engineering design.

Firefly, a television series created, written, and directed by Joss Whedon, premiered on the Fox network in 2002 and aired only eleven episodes before it was cancelled halfway through its first season. While it gained some on-air popularity, it was not until fans convinced Fox via online chatrooms to release the series on DVD that it gained posthumous acclaim. Whedon credits westerns as the inspiration for Firefly because frontier characters tend to be natural, flawed, complex human beings who question universal truths through widely recognized motifs of classic westerns. In a February 17, 2011 Entertainment Weekly interview, Firefly actor Nathan Fillion stated that if he won the lottery, he would buy the rights to Firefly, inadvertently rallying fans to bring back the series that was cancelled almost a decade before, mirroring the cowboy culture that Firefly emulates of marginalized individuals fighting for a cause. Despite its science fiction and space motifs, Firefly is no different from classic westerns in blending legend and reality, reinforcing the mixture of myth and fact that constitutes frontier ideology. Firefly, like the cowboy culture it represents, has become a cultural icon, romanticized because of its brief and nostalgic nature. This paper will look at the enduring appeal of Firefly through western motifs of frontier, displacement, and mobility, considering why westerns lend themselves to continued nostalgia and reinvention in contemporary popular culture.

Mobile learning (m-learning) is a relatively new technology that helps students learn and gain knowledge using the Internet and Cloud computing technologies. Cloud computing is one of the recent advancements in the computing field that makes Internet access easy to end users. Many Cloud services rely on Cloud users for mapping Cloud software using virtualization techniques. Usually, the Cloud users' requests from various terminals will cause heavy traffic or unbalanced loads at the Cloud data centers and associated Cloud servers. Thus, a Cloud load balancer that uses an efficient load balancing technique is needed in all the cloud servers. We propose a new meta-heuristic algorithm, named the dominant firefly algorithm, which optimizes load balancing of tasks among the multiple virtual machines in the Cloud server, thereby improving the response efficiency of Cloud servers that concomitantly enhances the accuracy of m-learning systems. Our methods and findings used to solve load imbalance issues in Cloud servers, which will enhance the experiences of m-learning users. Specifically, our findings such as Cloud-Structured Query Language (SQL), querying mechanism in mobile devices will ensure users receive their m-learning content without delay; additionally, our method will demonstrate that by applying an effective load balancing technique would improve the throughput and the response time in mobile and cloud environments.

A significant number of known human genetic diseases is associated with nonsense mutations leading to the introduction of a premature termination codon into the coding sequence. A termination codon can be read through by its near-cognate tRNA (tRNA with two anticodon nucleotides base-pairing with a stop codon); potentially generating C-terminally extended protein variants. In yeast, UGA stop codon was described to be read through by tRNA-Trp and tRNA-Cys. Similar was observed for tRNA-Trp in human HEK293T cell line. The aim of this thesis was to investigate if human tRNA-Cys can act as a near-cognate tRNA in human HEK293T cell line. There are two isoacceptors which constitute the tRNA-Cys family, with ACA and GCA anticodon. There are 1 and 23 isodecoders to the ACA and GCA anticodons, respectively. Here, altogether as many as nine tRNA-Cys isodecoders (distinct in their sequence and with varying levels of expression) were tested for their ability to increase UGA readthrough in HEK293T using p2luci and pSGDluc dual-luciferase reporter vectors. In both p2luci and pSGDluc, we observed that at least one tRNA-Cys isodecoder, tRNA-Cys-GCA-4-1, is capable of significantly elevating the UGA readthrough levels when overexpressed in HEK293T. This indicates that similarly to yeast, tRNA-Cys is capable of...