This thesis evaluates the rehabilitation process with respect to client participation. The Swedish version of a client-centred structure, the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), is evaluated from the perspectives of the clients, the occupational therapists and the members of a rehabilitation team. Data have been collected through diaries, the COPM, assessments of ability to perform activities of daily living, mobility, self-assessments of pain and health, interviews with clients, interviews with staff, and focus groups interviews. The results show that a structured method is needed in order to improve clients’ active participation in goal formulation. The Swedish version of the COPM has high responsiveness to change over time. The use of the COPM improved client participation in the goal-formulation process, according to the results from a study with experiment and control groups. The clients perceived that treatment goals were identified, they were able to recall the goals and felt that they were active participants. They also perceived they had a higher ability to manage after the rehabilitation period was completed compared to clients in the control group. The clinical utility of the Swedish version of the COPM was confirmed in focus-group interviews with occupational therapists. The occupational therapists perceived the COPM as helpful in the goal-setting process and planning of treatment interventions. Even though problems are identified, they are directly related to, and formulated as, goals. Clients receive feedback on improvement over time. The COPM ensures a client-centred approach, facilitates communication within the rehabilitation team, and encourages therapists in their professional role. Therapists need knowledge about the theoretical foundation of the instrument and have to develop a personal interview technique. When the COPM is used in a team setting, it provides the team with broader information on what is purposeful occupation to the client. The focus is on occupational performance rather than function. According to team members the use of the COPM as a team tool increased client participation, was a good outcome measure, resulted in distinct goals, and focused on goals that were meaningful to the client. Implementation of a client-centred approach is facilitated when a structured method is used, but this is not enough. Involvement and motivation from all team members are required, as well as support during the introduction and implementation period. Support from management, knowledge about the underlying theory, time for discussions and reflections as well as opportunities to develop a personal interview technique are pointed out as important factors for a successful implementation. / On the day of the defence date the status on article V was Submitted.

Understanding groundwater flow systems and how these control transport is an essential part in assessing the suitability of subsurface environments as hosts for storage of toxic waste. Therefore it is important to be able to integrate knowledge obtained from field characterisation of the subsurface with methods which can be used to evaluate and predict possible impact on surrounding environments.In this thesis I investigate the characteristics of flow and transport in discrete fracture networks by analysing Eulerian and Lagrangian descriptions within a stochastic framework. The analysis is conducted through numerical flow and transport simulations configured according to available field data, combined with independent theoretical analytic and semi-analytic methods which are able to reveal insight to relevant constitutive properties. It is shown that numerical simulations conducted with the discrete fracture network approach can be both conditioned and confirmed against field measurable quantities, and the developed theoretical methods are evaluated against results obtained from simulation. Thereby, a methodology which can provide links between field measurable quantities and tracer discharge is presented, developed and evaluated. It is shown to be robust with respect to underlying assumptions used for flow configurations.In particular, a specific sampling algorithm for obtaining a Lagrangian description of transport based on a Eulerian description of flow is proposed, evaluated and shown to be robust for the cases considered, providing accurate replications. Also a generalisation of both the advection-dispersion solution and the one-sided stable distribution is shown to be able to evaluate advective transport quantities, and combined with a Lagrangian retention model it is shown to be a fairly accurate and robust method for upscaling distributions, enabling predictions of transport in terms of tracer discharge. Evaluation of transport is also conducted against the advective-dispersion assumption, where results indicate advective transport is generally non-Fickian for the fracture networks and domain scales considered, but not necessarily anomalous. Additionally, the impact certain model assumptions have on tracer discharge are analysed. For example, transport is evaluated for assumptions regarding injection mode, fracture network heterogeneity, relationship between aperture and transmissivity, relationship between transmissivity and size, as well as scale and modelling dimension. In relation to hydraulic testing and flow analysis, a method for conditioning fracture transmissivity from field measurements of flow by simulation is developed and evaluated against homogenisation assumptions commonly used in field applications. Results indicate the homogenisation assumption generally fails for current interpretations of field data. / Miljökonsekvensbedömningar av toxiskt avfall i djupt bergförvar kräver engrundläggande förståelse av grundvattenströmning samt hur detta påverkartransportfenomet. Därför är det viktigt att kunna integrerafältundersökningsdata från berggrundsmätningar med metoder som kan användas föratt utvärdera och förutsäga potentiella konsekvenser på omgivningen.I denna avhandling undersöker jag flödes- och transportegenskaper i diskretaspricknätverk genom stokastisk analys av eulerska och lagrangeskafältbeskrivningar. Analysen sker genom en kombination av dels numeriska flödes-och transportsimuleringar som är konfigurerade enligt tillgänglig fältdata, samtdels med oberoende teoretiska analytiska och semi-analytiska metoder som gerdjupare insyn i relevanta konstitutiva egenskaper. Resultat visar att dennumeriska simuleringsmetoden för diskreta spricknätverk kan både konditionerastill fältdata och bestyrkas gentemot mätbara kvantiter. Detta är av betydelse dåde teoretiska metoderna i sin tur är främst evaluerade gentemotsimuleringsresultat. Därmed utvecklas en bestyrkt metodik som kansammanlänka och i viss mån omvandla fältdata till uppskattningar av mängdenspårämnen i ett utflöde. Resultat indikerar att denna metodik är robust avseendeflera antaganden som har används i simuleringskonfigurationen.En särskild urvalsalgoritm introduceras som kan erhålla en lagrangesktransportbeskrivning utifrån ett eulerskt strömningsfält. även denna utvärderasavseende vissa simuleringsantaganden och resultat tyder på att den är robust förde undersökta fallen. Vidare föreslås en viss generalisering av lösningen tillden advektiva-dispersionsekvationen samt av ensidigt stabila (one-sided stable)sannolikhetsfördelningar som metod för att prediktera advektiva kvantitetergenom upskalning av transportfördelningar i rummet. Denna modell kombineras meden tidigare utvecklad metod för transportretention för att uppskatta reaktivagenombrottsfördelningar. Således blir det möjligt att prediktera reaktivtransport d v s rumslig upskalning av genombrottstider för spårämnestransport.Metoden används också för att evaluera ett linärt dispersionsantagande, därresultat indikerar att även advektiv transport kan påvisa icke-linärt beteende.Transport i spricknätverk utvärderas bland annat för modellantaganden avseendeinjektionsmetod, heterogenitet i spricknätverk, konstitutiva relationer mellanapertur och transmissivitet samt mellan transmissivitet och spricklängd, ochmodelleringsskala samt dimension. Beträffande hydrauliska testmetoder ochflödesanalys introduceras en simuleringsmetod för att konditioneraspricktransmissivitet från flödesmätningar. Detta jämförs med etthomogeniseringsantaganden som inte sällan används i fältundersökningar för atttolka flödesmätningar till spricktransmissivitet, och resultat tyder på attdetta antagande kan betydligt undervärdera transmissivitet.

A new version of the Deforming-Spatial-Domain/Stabilized Space--Time (DSD/SST) formulation of incompressible flows has been introduced recently to have additional subgrid-scale representation features. This is the space--time version of the residual-based variational multiscale (VMS) method. The new version is called DSD/SST-VMST (i.e. the version with the VMS turbulence model) and also Space--Time VMS (ST-VMS). The thesis starts with a brief overview of the ST-VMS method. It continues with a comprehensive set of test computations with 3D airfoil geometries at high Reynolds numbers and comparison with experimental data. The thesis shows that the test computations signal a promising future for the ST-VMS method.

A new version of the Deforming-Spatial-Domain/Stabilized Space--Time (DSD/SST) formulation of incompressible flows has been introduced recently to have additional subgrid-scale representation features. This is the space--time version of the residual-based variational multiscale (VMS) method. The new version is called DSD/SST-VMST (i.e. the version with the VMS turbulence model) and also Space--Time VMS (ST-VMS). The thesis starts with a brief overview of the ST-VMS method. It continues with a comprehensive set of test computations with 3D airfoil geometries at high Reynolds numbers and comparison with experimental data. The thesis shows that the test computations signal a promising future for the ST-VMS method.

The present understanding of the structure and dynamics of turbulent boundary layers on aerodynamically smooth walls has been clarified over the last decade or so. However, the dynamics of turbulent boundary layers over rough surfaces is much less well known. Nevertheless, there are many industrial and environmental flow applications that require understanding of the mean velocity and turbulence in the immediate vicinity of the roughness elements.</p> <p>This thesis reports the effects of surface roughness on the flow characteristics in a turbulent boundary layer. Both experimental and numerical investigations are used in the present study. For the experimental study, comprehensive data sets are obtained for two-dimensional zero pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layers on a smooth surface and ten different rough surfaces created from sand paper, perforated sheet, and woven wire mesh. The physical size and geometry of the roughness elements and freestream velocity were chosen to encompass both transitionally rough and fully rough flow regimes. Three different probes, namely, Pitot probe, single hot-wire, and cross hot-film, were used to measure the velocity fields in the turbulent boundary layer. A Pitot probe was used to measure the streamwise mean velocity, while the single hot-wire and cross hot-film probes were used to measure the fluctuating velocity components across the boundary layer. The flow Reynolds number based on momentum thickness, , ranged from 3730 to 13,550. The data reported include mean velocity, streamwise and wall-normal turbulence intensities, Reynolds shear stress, triple correlations, as well as skewness and flatness factors. Different scaling parameters were used to interpret and assess both the smooth- and rough-wall data at different Reynolds numbers, for approximately the same freestream velocity. The appropriateness of the logarithmic law and power law proposed by George and Castillo (1997) to describe the mean velocity in the overlap region was also investigated. The present results were interpreted within the context of the Townsends wall similarity hypothesis. </p> <p>Based on the mean velocity data, a novel correlation that relates the skin friction to the ratio of the displacement and boundary layer thicknesses, which is valid for both smooth- and rough-wall flows, was proposed. In addition, it was also found that the application of a mixed outer scale caused the velocity profile in the outer region to collapse onto the same curve, irrespective of Reynolds numbers and roughness conditions. The present results showed that there is a common region within the overlap region of the mean velocity profile where both the log law and power law are indistinguishable, irrespective of the surface conditions. For the power law formulation, functional relationships between the roughness shift, and the power law coefficient and exponent were developed for the transitionally rough flows. The present results also suggested that the effect of surface roughness on the turbulence field depends to some degree on the specific characteristics of the roughness elements and also the component of the Reynolds stress tensor being considered. </p> <p>In the case of the numerical study, a new wall function formulation based on a power law was proposed for smooth and fully rough wall turbulent pipe flow. The new formulation correctly predicted the friction factors for smooth and fully rough wall turbulent pipe flow. The existing two-layer model realistically predicted the velocity shift on a log-law plot for the fully rough turbulent boundary layer. The two-layer model results also showed the effect of roughness is to enhance the level of turbulence kinetic energy and Reynolds shear stress compared to that on a smooth wall. This enhanced level extends into the outer region of the flow, which appears to be consistent with present and recent experimental results for the boundary layer.

The effects of coating formulation on thermal characteristics of coating layers were systematically studied for xerographic toner fusion on coated papers. Model coatings were formulated using three types of ground calcium carbonate and one kaolin pigments, each mixed with 6, 10, 18, and 25 pph of styrene butadiene latex binder. Porosity was found to be a key parameter for coating thermal conductivity adjustment, and was determined by the latex concentration. The particle size distribution and morphology of pigments also affect the overall thermal characteristics of coating layers. Print qualities on model coated papers were evaluated by print gloss measurement, toner adhesion test, and pair-wise visual ranking, and it was proved that print gloss is reduced with increasing bulk thermal conductivity of coating layers. The coating layer consisted of Covercarb HP pigment and 10 pph of latex was found to have the best performance in the three print quality evaluation tests.

The effects of coating formulation on thermal characteristics of coating layers were systematically studied for xerographic toner fusion on coated papers. Model coatings were formulated using three types of ground calcium carbonate and one kaolin pigments, each mixed with 6, 10, 18, and 25 pph of styrene butadiene latex binder. Porosity was found to be a key parameter for coating thermal conductivity adjustment, and was determined by the latex concentration. The particle size distribution and morphology of pigments also affect the overall thermal characteristics of coating layers. Print qualities on model coated papers were evaluated by print gloss measurement, toner adhesion test, and pair-wise visual ranking, and it was proved that print gloss is reduced with increasing bulk thermal conductivity of coating layers. The coating layer consisted of Covercarb HP pigment and 10 pph of latex was found to have the best performance in the three print quality evaluation tests.

Les matériaux composites sont largement utilisés dans l'industrie en raison de leur bonne tenue mécanique et de leur faible densité. La diversité des domaines d'application des matériaux composites donne lieu à une grande variété de modes de sollicitation et d'endommagement. De ce fait, l'évaluation de leurs propriétés et le contrôle de leur état présentent un grand intérêt industriel. Dans ce travail, une nouvelle méthode d'évaluation et de contrôle non destructif dite par sonothermographie est explorée. Cette méthode est basée sur l'analyse du champ thermique induit par des ondes ultrasonores de puissance dans les matériaux absorbants tels que les composites. Deux applications complémentaires sont étudiées, d'une part l'évaluation des propriétés thermiques du matériau et d'autre part le contrôle non destructif de structures par thermographie infrarouge. Dans ce cadre, le problème direct de la sonothermographie est résolu numériquement à partir d'un modèle par éléments finis. Ce modèle permet de simuler le champ thermique induit par la propagation d'ondes ultrasonores dans un matériau absorbant dont les propriétés sont connues. Les simulations réalisées permettent de montrer l'applicabilité de la sonothermographie à la détection de défauts. Une nouvelle approche de caractérisation thermique est également développée. Cette approche basée sur la formulation faible de l'équation de conduction de la chaleur permet une estimation robuste de la diffusivité thermique du matériau à partir du champ thermique induit par les ondes ultrasonores de puissance. Des résultats expérimentaux sont présentés pour le cas de plaques minces.

Protein aggregation and physical stability are perpetual concerns in medicine and industry. Misfolded protein can form ordered protein aggregates, amyloids, which are associated with a host of neurodegenerative diseases in mammals and control heritable traits in fungi and yeast. Industrially, amorphous aggregates reduce the efficacy of protein-based therapeutics and activity of enzymes during production and storage. This work studies ion-specific and solvent-based effects on protein physical stability. We show that ion-specificity significantly affects amyloid formation kinetics, aggregate morphology, thermostability, frangibility, and, most intriguingly, prion infectivity in vivo. Forming amyloid in chaotropic or kosmotropic solutions generates predominately weak or strong prion variants, respectively. Ion-specific effects also influenced amorphous aggregation of model proteins and antibodies. To quantify protein - protein stability/affinity, we developed a rapid and reliable diffusion-based technique. Our technique was able to resolve relative differences in colloidal stability between various saline and saccharide solutions. In all, this dissertation expands our understanding of ion-specific and water-mediated interactions with prion proteins and protein dispersions.

The world today is confronted by the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression of 1920’s. Due to the financial system being globalised and interdependent, the contagion effects of the financial crisis trickled down to Europe and ultimately triggered the recession of 2007-2009, which had far-reaching repercussions on cross-border economic activities. The severe international downturn had a significant effect on the Swedish economy and Swedish SMEs. Moreover, the recession has heightened economic uncertainty and combined with the existing challenges facing SMEs, created one of the most difficult business climates in decades, hence, a prevailing need for creating resilience. The purpose of this study is to examine how Swedish Internationalised SMEs remain resilient during times of recession. This will be studied through investigating what resources and capabilities were crucial for building resilience and how the SMEs changed their strategy during the recession to remain resilient. The study is conducted through a qualitative case study and an abductive approach in order to get a profound insight into the firm’s behaviour. The theoretical framework is founded on the area of strategy and resilience, by accounting for strategy formulation, the RBV, resilience and strategic change. Moreover, the empirical chapter presents the results of the data gathered from the six case companies and is structured according to the companies and the three research problems. In the analysis, the patterns emerging from the theoretical framework and the empirical data is analysed based on the three research problems through trying to understand the underlying reasons for the emerging patterns. The study conclude that Swedish internationalized SMEs remained resilient during the recession of 2007- 2009, through reconfiguring its critical resources and capabilities, and changing their strategy to adapt to the changes in the external environment caused by the recession.