In this thesis, Gallium Nitride (GaN) micro- and nanostructures were fabricated based on focused ion beam (FIB) milling. The starting wafer is an epitaxial structure containing InGaN/GaN multi-quantum wells. High crystal quality structures such as the nano-cone, nanopillar array and single pillar were fabricated based on the FIB method. During the fabrication process, various approaches were designed to minimize FIB damage caused by Gallium ion bombardment. The fabrication process for nano-cone is a combination of mask preparation by FIB with subsequent reactive ion etching (RIE). For fabricating nanopillar arrays, the nanopillars were patterned directly using FIB with an optimized beam current followed by wet etching process to remove the damage. On the other hand, the single pillar is achieved by gradually decreasing the ion beam current as the diameter of the pillar becomes smaller. The first order Raman spectra for the nanopillar array reveal a strong additional peak when the diameter of the nanopillars is less than 220 nm. This peak can also be observed in GaN pillars without MQW and is clearly assigned to the surface optical (SO) mode originated from the A1 phonon in wurtzite GaN. The frequency of this SO mode is found to be sensitive with the diameter and surface roughness of the nanopillars. Temperature-variable photoluminescence (PL) measurements show that a broadband emission in the as-grown sample split into the two well-resolved bands for nanopillars and the emission band at the higher energy side quickly thermally quenched. Room temperature PL measurements on the single pillars exhibit an increasing blue-shift of the peak emission with the decreasing of the pillar diameter. Additional simulation data and excitation power dependent PL studies confirm the observation of strain relaxation in the pillar’s MQW due to FIB fabrication. The temperature variable PL on the single pillar shows a monotonous blue shift as the temperature arises to 300 K. / published_or_final_version / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

“Fresh Fuel: The CanU Food Club” (Fresh Fuel) is the food and nutrition component of the larger CanU program aimed at improving the future well being of vulnerable children. A mixed-method case study evaluation was conducted with Fresh Fuel, employing a Utilization-Focused Evaluation approach. Results suggested that there were some gains in Fresh Fuel Participant (FFP) food and nutrition outcomes. Also, there were a variety of social benefits to FFPs, such as positive interaction with volunteers and peers, and having fun. Volunteers and practicum students developed career goals and skills. Results identified incompatible program goals, time limitations, inconsistent program implementation, and lack of direction in nutrition education; however, Fresh Fuel provided a supportive environment, hands on learning, and included positive nutrition discussions and food preparation experiences. The Utilization-Focused Evaluation approach has resulted in a meaningful report. Rigorous evaluations of Fresh Fuel and other food and nutrition programs are recommended. / October 2015

The Western world manufacturing industry is facing a tough global market today. The production is moved to developing countries, where the production costs are much lower. Big manufacturing companies like VOLVO, SKF and ABB are all following this trend. The tradition in the manufacturing industry is to produce and sell a product, where the best scenario is to never see it again. This tradition is starting to change and the focus of revenue from the whole product life cycle has increased during the last decades. When utilities the whole life cycle with different services the revenue increases drastically, there is a competitive advantage, a more stabile revenue flow in economic cycles, socio-economical and environmental sustainability. When increasing service orientation, there will be challenges to overcome, discovered on a conceptual level, thereby the research call for how these challenges can be seen at an operative level. The purpose of this thesis is to identify these critical factors and understand these at an operative level. This master thesis was conducted through a case study and used several data collection methods, such as interviews, observations and literature review. The empirical data was thematically analysed and categorized as different critical factors and compeered with the literature. The case company chosen for the thesis is the Rolls-Royce site in Kristinehamn, Sweden. They are in a process of restructuring, where the production is downsized. A “catch 22” problem was seen; when a manufacturer becomes more service orientated the aim is to generate a profit from services, meaning that a service needs a fee. But the possibility to put a fee on a service is hindered by the lack of service orientation within the manufacturing organisation. In this thesis increased service orientation is used to create a foundation for charged services. Critical factors on an operative level was identified and understood. Two new critical factors that were found to have an impact in this specific case were concluded. A general model of how to approach the problem of putting a fee on services, starting in the end of service orientation, is conducted. This gives an implication of how manufacturers can improve their service orientation and eventually set a fee on their free services.

This report describes a method of incorporating decision analysis principles to enhance a simulation being created by The University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Advanced Technology (IAT). The simulation is called Virtual Simulation Learning Platform (VSLP) and the scenario created to test the platform is called Virtual Platoon Leader (VPL). Recommendations include a method of implementing value-focused decision making, the implementation of decision tools to build a scenario within the simulation, a dialogue process between the developer and the subject matter expert, a design for the implementation of graphical user interfaces for the decision tools used to build a scenario and a user scoring methodology. / text

La presente tesis tiene por objetivo identificar para la enseñanza del español una serie de características prosódicas que son comunicativamente importantes. El trabajo también se propone poner de relieve el papel central de la prosodia en la comunicación, así como la necesidad de incorporar esta destreza en las competencias comunicativas de la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras. La tesis integra una colección de cinco estudios, tres de los cuales realizados con un enfoque empírico experimental y dedicados a los temas siguientes: (a) las diferencias en la realización de prominencia prosódica por parte de hablantes de español L2 y español L1 (Estudio I), (b) la transferencia de estrategias pragmáticas del sueco L1 al español L2, manifestada en la realización de los tonos de frontera ascendentes (Estudio II), y (c) la contribución de rasgos prosódicos al acento extranjero percibido en hablantes suecos de español L2 con especial atención al rol desempeñado por los tonos de frontera ascendentes y sus correspondientes valores pragmáticos (Estudio III). El objetivo de estos tres estudios es, por un lado, identificar cuáles son las características prosódicas más importantes para conseguir una interacción exitosa en la L2 y, por el otro, investigar en qué medida estas características han sido adquiridas por los aprendientes investigados. Estudio IV resalta que, a pesar del enfoque comunicativo en la enseñanza LE, se abordan los aspectos suprasegmentales en el currículo sueco así como en los cinco libros de enseñanza E/LE analizados como una competencia aislada que no está integrada en la competencia comunicativa. El Estudio V, al combinar los resultados de los Estudios I-III con los de otros estudios temáticamente relevantes, busca identificar unas características principales, unos Core Prosodic Features, para la enseñanza de la prosodia española a los aprendientes suecos. El estudio recomienda un enfoque basado en la atención a la forma para la enseñanza de estas características en contextos interaccionales. / This thesis sets out to identify a series of communicatively important prosodic features for the teaching of Spanish in a Swedish context. The present work also aims to highlight both the central role played by prosody in communication and the need for this skill to be integrated in the communicative competences of second language teaching and learning. The thesis comprises a collection of five studies, three of which use an experimental approach to investigate the following: (a) differences in the realization of prosodic prominence by L2 and L1 speakers of Spanish (Study I); (b) the transfer of pragmatic strategies from L1 Swedish to L2 Spanish, manifested in the realization of rising boundary tones (Study II); and (c) the contribution of the type of L2 prosody displayed by Swedish learners to a percieved foreign accent, focusing, focusing especially on the role played by rising boundary tones and their pragmatic values  (Study III). These initial studies describe some of the main prosodic characteristics of the L2 product as compared to Spanish L1, and identify prosodic features of Spanish L1 that are of importance to acquire for interactional success in the L2. Study IV highlights the fact that, despite the emphasis on a communicative approach in L2 teaching, the approach to the teaching of prosody in the Swedish curriculum and the L2 Spanish text books studied tends to be addressed as a separate skill, that is not integrated in the descriptions of the communicative competences. Study V, by combining the results of Studies I-III with those of other thematically relevant studies, proposes some main features, so-called Core Prosodic Features (CPFs), for the teaching of Spanish prosody to Swedish learners. The identification of the CPFs also enables a future evaluation of the form-focused teaching approach suggested.

This thesis describes the development of an empirical model of focus beam reflectance measurements (FBRM) and the application of the model to monitoring batch cooling crystallization and extracting information on crystallization kinetics. Batch crystallization is widely used in the fine chemical and pharmaceutical industries to purify and separate solid products. The crystal size distribution (CSD) of the final product greatly influences the product characteristics, such as purity, stability, and bioavailability. It also has a great effect on downstream processing. To achieve a desired CSD of the final product, batch crystallization processes need to be monitored, understood, and controlled. FBRM is a promising technique for in situ determination of the CSD. It is based on scattering of laser light and provides a chord-length distribution (CLD), which is a complex function of crystal geometry. In this thesis, an empirical correlation between CSDs and CLDs is established and applied in place of existing first-principles FBRM models. Built from experimental data, the empirical mapping of CSD and CLD is advantageous in representing some effects that are difficult to quantify by mathematical and physical expressions. The developed model enables computation of the CSD from measured CLDs, which can be followed during the evolution of the crystal population during batch cooling crystallization processes. Paracetamol, a common drug product also known as acetaminophen, is selected as the model compound in this thesis study. The empirical model was first established and verified in a paracetamol-nonsolvent (toluene) slurry, and later applied to the paracetamol-ethanol crystallization system. Complementary to the FBRM measurements, solute concentrations in the liquid phase were determined by in situ infrared spectra, and they were jointly implemented to monitor the crystallization process. The framework of measuring the CSD and the solute concentration allows the estimation of crystallization kinetics, including those for primary nucleation, secondary nucleation, and crystal growth. These parameters were determined simultaneously by fitting the full population balance model to process measurements obtained from multiple unseeded paracetamol-ethanol crystallization runs. The major contributions of this thesis study are (1) providing a novel methodology for using FBRM measurements to estimate CSD; (2) development of an experimental protocol that provided data sets rich in information on crystal growth and primary and secondary nucleation; (3) interpretation of kinetics so that appropriate model parameters could be extracted from fitting population balances to experimental data; (4) identification of the potential importance of secondary nucleation relative to primary nucleation. The protocol and methods developed in this study can be applied to other systems for evaluating and improving batch crystallization processes.

This is an in-depth study of word knowledge where the researcher attempts to investigate the need to systematically teach vocabulary in the language classroom. It is motivated by findings within second language (L2) vocabulary testing research that state that the current communicative language learning environment is insufficient for L2 learners to acquire adequate vocabulary knowledge and L2 learners need help with vocabulary learning (Laufer, 2005). This semester-long study explores the need to provide explicit vocabulary instruction from within a meaningful environment. It also investigates the relevance of focus on forms and focus on form practices in helping second language (L2) learners increase the size and depth of word knowledge. The study involved 129 undergraduates from a writing program, and used a pretest and posttest design to measure gains in L2 learners vocabulary knowledge. .The results indicate that the vocabulary gains for both implicit (control) and explicit (treatment) instructional context were not very different though the subjects in the implicit instructional group learned slightly more words compared to the explicit instructional group. However, this has more to do with individual instructor effectiveness and learner proficiency. In terms of word use, L2 learners subjected to explicit focus on forms and focus on form tasks increased their word use while the first language (L1) learners and L2 learners from the control groups did not increase their academic words. Therefore, it is possible to suggest that L2 learners can be taught to increase the depth of their vocabulary knowledge through explicit instructional practices. In terms of L1 and L2 learners, the initial findings revealed that the L2 learners did not benefit from explicit instruction. However, additional analysis revealed that subjects with sufficient vocabulary knowledge at the 2000 word level can increase their word size much more rapidly than the proficient L2 learners in the control group. An additional test on L1 and L2 learners' word collocation skills indicated that while explicit instruction did not help increase L2 learners vocabulary size, it was able to help L2 learners increase their word collocation skills and also make word associations that are closer to L1 learners' associations.

This paper evaluates some arguments made against the conceptions of right action within virtue ethics. I argue that the different accounts of right action can meet the objections raised against them. Michael Slote‘s agent-based and Rosalind Hursthouses agent-focused account of right action give different judgments of right action but there seems to be a lack of real disagreement between the two accounts. I also argue that the concept of right action often has two important parts, relating to action guidance and moral appraisal, respectively, and that virtue ethics can deal with both without a concept of right action.

Currently, there is a limited understanding of change mechanisms across all treatment approaches for eating disorders (ED), particularly with regard to group psychotherapy. This presents one of the major obstacles in the development of more effective treatments. The purpose of this study was to extend current understanding of therapeutic processes in group psychotherapy for bulimic disorders. Thirty-one women were randomly assigned to either 16-weeks of Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) or Motivation/Education and Skill Building (M/ESB) as part another study at a participating outpatient ED program. The goals of this study were to: (1) evaluate the relationship between in-session processes; (2) compare these processes between two group treatments; (3) examine in-session differences as a function of client activity in group EFT; (4) and identify a pathway to change. As expected, the findings demonstrated that mid therapy emotional arousal was associated with higher levels of insight, and an increase in insight overtime was associated with an increase in therapeutic alliance. Arousal was not positively correlated with alliance. There was a significant interaction between group treatment x time: clients in EFT reported gains in insight overtime, as measured by post-session change measure, whereas clients’ scores in M/ESB did not change over the course of psychotherapy. Alliance increased significantly over the course of therapy in both groups. Contrary to expectations, clients in the EFT group did not report higher levels of arousal compared to the M/ESB group. The limited sample size in the control group precludes firm conclusions about group comparisons. When examining client activity within EFT, the results demonstrated that clients that were actively engaged in the chair-tasks reported higher post-session change scores, arousal, and alliance compared to when they were in the observing role; however, there was a significant upward trend on post-session change scores regardless of the client role. The pathway to change was partially supported: the observer-rated degree of resolution scores predicted a third of variance in post-session change scores; controlling for pre-treatment outcome scores, post-session change scores predicted variance at the outcome on several EDI-3 subscales. These preliminary findings are discussed in the context of psychotherapy process literature, highlighting limitations and future directions.

Currently, there is a limited understanding of change mechanisms across all treatment approaches for eating disorders (ED), particularly with regard to group psychotherapy. This presents one of the major obstacles in the development of more effective treatments. The purpose of this study was to extend current understanding of therapeutic processes in group psychotherapy for bulimic disorders. Thirty-one women were randomly assigned to either 16-weeks of Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) or Motivation/Education and Skill Building (M/ESB) as part another study at a participating outpatient ED program. The goals of this study were to: (1) evaluate the relationship between in-session processes; (2) compare these processes between two group treatments; (3) examine in-session differences as a function of client activity in group EFT; (4) and identify a pathway to change. As expected, the findings demonstrated that mid therapy emotional arousal was associated with higher levels of insight, and an increase in insight overtime was associated with an increase in therapeutic alliance. Arousal was not positively correlated with alliance. There was a significant interaction between group treatment x time: clients in EFT reported gains in insight overtime, as measured by post-session change measure, whereas clients’ scores in M/ESB did not change over the course of psychotherapy. Alliance increased significantly over the course of therapy in both groups. Contrary to expectations, clients in the EFT group did not report higher levels of arousal compared to the M/ESB group. The limited sample size in the control group precludes firm conclusions about group comparisons. When examining client activity within EFT, the results demonstrated that clients that were actively engaged in the chair-tasks reported higher post-session change scores, arousal, and alliance compared to when they were in the observing role; however, there was a significant upward trend on post-session change scores regardless of the client role. The pathway to change was partially supported: the observer-rated degree of resolution scores predicted a third of variance in post-session change scores; controlling for pre-treatment outcome scores, post-session change scores predicted variance at the outcome on several EDI-3 subscales. These preliminary findings are discussed in the context of psychotherapy process literature, highlighting limitations and future directions.