Each live organism is made to adapt to the constantly changing environment. The success of child’s integration into society, his conduct in society depends on the family and school. Frequently, excessive care by their parents prevents a disabled child from developing independency skills. One of the most important tasks for the school is to prepare an individual for independent life and seek his integration into society. The issue of developing independency of a disabled individual has not been studied in detailed yet. The object of this study is independency of the pupils with hearing impairments. The paper contains an analysis of the reference sources and findings of the study, which disclose the peculiarities of developing independency of the deaf and hard of hearing pupils during technology classes. The respondents were surveyed by test-interview methods and the data obtained were processed with the help of SPSS software. When summarizing the academic, professional and methodical literature, a model of the pupils’ independency was drafted by dividing independency into three groups of its manifestation (inquisitiveness, initiative and organization skills) and by defining technological skills by three types of skills ( planning, information collection and use, technology activities). Analysis of individual programs revealed that the teachers of technologies devote attention to the development of the pupils’ independency at the schools for deaf and heard to hear students... [to full text]

This thesis is a historical study and evaluation of the form of church government practised by the Particular Baptists of the 17th and 18th centuries, from the years 1650 to 1750. This study is based on confessional statements, the ecclesiological literature, and the extant church books of the Particular Baptists. It is shown that the Particular Baptists practised a definitive form of church government known traditionally as Independency, similar to that expounded by John Owen, minus infant baptism. Under the principle of the autonomy of the church the Particular Baptists practised believer’s baptism, an explicit church membership, and upheld covenant theology. Under the principle of the headship of Christ, they practised the separation of church and state, upheld the divine right of the magistrate, and also believed in the liberty of conscience. Under the principle of rule by elders the majority of the Particular Baptists practised a plurality of elders in which there was a distinction made between the roles of the pastor or minister and the ruling elders, although they occupy the same basic office of rule. However, deviation from a plural eldership took place, leading to the singlepastor- and-multiple-deacons situation, accompanied by the disappearance of ruling elders and the practice of congregational democracy in governance. This arrangement is characteristic of modern Congregationalism. Under the principle of the communion of churches the regional associations of churches accomplished much good, while a number of issues remained unresolved, including open and closed communion, congregational hymn singing, and the training of ministers. In the final chapter, the study attempts to resolve some ecclesiological issues controverted among Reformed Baptists today by applying the lessons learned from the Particular Baptists. To the Particular Baptists, Independency was the jus divinum (divinely ordained) form of church government used by God as the vehicle to carry out the Great Commission with a view to establishing biblically ordered churches, which upheld the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. These three components of church life − mission-mindedness, biblical church order, and the 1689 Confession of Faith − arose from the thorough biblicism of the Particular Baptists. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Church and Dogma History))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo o estudo dos escritos de Thomas Paine para poder elaborar filosoficamente sua concepção democráticarepublicana no contexto da Filosofia das Luzes e sobretudo, no quadro histórico das revoluções americana e francesa do final do século XVIII. A ambição deste escritor é precisamente ajudar à construção de um Estado em que as decisões políticas são tomadas pelo sufrágio universal, em que todo o povo é progressivamente incorporado à cidadania e tratado com igualdade de direitos, e que pela vocação laica este Estado mantem-se completamente independente de toda tendência de natureza religiosa. Seus escritos, sua vida e algumas interlocuções com seus contemporâneos serão examinados ao longo deste trabalho. / This research aims to study Thomas Paine\'s writings in order to elaborate philosophically his republican-democratic conception in the context of the Philosophy of Enlightenment and especially in the historical framework of the American and French revolutions of the late eighteen\'s century. This author\'s ambition is precisely to help build a state in which political decisions result from universal suffrage, where all people are progressively integrated into citizenship and have equal rights, a state that by its laical vocation is kept completely independent from all religious influence. His writings, his life and some debates with his contemporaries will be examined in the course of this work.

In this paper, we discuss the deficiencies of normal form definitions based on Functional Dependency and introduce a new normal form concept based on Functional Independency. Functional Independency has not been systematically investigated while there is a very strong theoretical foundation for the study of Functional Dependency in relational database normalization. This paper will demonstrate that considering Functional Dependency alone cannot eliminate some common data anomalies and the normalization process can yield better database designs with the addition of Functional Independency.

This research will focus on the minority position of the Kurdish population in Turkey and how it has developed over time. The aim is to study particular historical and recent events that have affected the Kurdish population to understand why the Kurdish people are one of the world’s largest minority populations without an independent state. This research utilizes a qualitative case study employing text analysis of scholars and treaties such as the Lausanne and Sevres Treaty. The theory that will be used during this research will be neorealism with the main philosophy being that state emphasizes an interest in power to secure security in an anarchic world. The state is the most important actor in any position regardless of the event occurring around it which also is the reasons behind the Kurdish minority position and why they have not reached independence.

The Class-E topology was presented as a single-switch power amplifier with high efficiency at the optimum condition, where the switch enjoys zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and zero-voltage-derivative switching (ZDS). It is also used in MHz dc-dc converters, and in inverters for wireless power transfer, induction heating, and plasma pulsing. The load current in these applications usually varies over a range. Efficiency of a conventional Class-E design degrades dramatically due to the hard switching beyond the optimum conditions. Keeping ZVS with load change in a Class-E topology is preferred within the load range. Soft switching with load variation is realized by duty cycle modulation with additional transformer, matching network, or resistance compression network. Since two ZVS requirements need to be satisfied in a conventional Class-E design, at least two parameters are tuned under load variation. Thus, changing switching frequency, duty cycle, and component values were used. Impressively, a load-independent Class-E inverter design was presented in 1990 for maintaining ZVS and output voltage under a given load change without tuning any parameters, and it was validated with experimental results recently. The operating principle of this special design (inconsistent with the conventional design) is not elucidated in the published literatures. Load-independency illucidation by a Thevenin Model – A Thevenin model is then established (although Class-E is a nonliear circuit) to explain the load-independency with fixed switching frequency and duty cycle. The input block of a Class-E inverter (Vin, Lin, Cin, and S) behaves as a fixed voltage source vth1 and a fixed capacitive impedance Xth1 in series at switching frequency. When the output block (Lo and Co) is designed to compensate Xth1, the output current phase is always equal to the phase of vth1 with resistive load (satisfies the ZVS requirement of a load-independent design). Thus, soft switching is maintained within load variation. Output voltage is equal to vth1 since Xth1 is canceled, so that the output voltage is constant regardless of output resistance. Load-independency is achieved without adding any components or tuning any parameters. Sequential design and tuning of a load-independent ZVS Class-E inverter with constant voltage based on Thevenin Model - Based on the model, it's found that each circuit parameter is linked to only one of the targeted performance (ZVS, fixed voltage gain, and load range). Thus, the sequential design equations and steps are derived and presented. In each step, the desired performance (e.g. ZVS) now could be used to check and tune component values so that ZVS and fixed voltage gain in the desired load range is guaranteed in the final Class-E inverter, even when component values vary from the expectations. The Thevenin model and the load-independent design is then extended to any duty cycles. A prototype switched at 6.78 MHz with 10-V input, 11.3-V output, and 22.5-W maximum output power was fabricated and tested to validate the theory. Soft switching is maintained with 3% output voltage variation while the output power is reduced tenfold. A load-independent ZVS Class-E inverter with constant current by combining constant voltage design and a trans-susceptance network - A load-independent ZVS Class-E inverter with constant current under load variation is then presented, by combining the presented design (generating a constant voltage) and a trans-susceptance network (transferring the voltage to current). The impact of different types and the positions of the networks are discussed, and LCL network is selected so that both constant current and soft switching are maintained within the load variation. The operation principle, design, and tuning procedures are illustrated. The trade-off between input current ripple, output current amplitude, and the working load range is discussed. The expectations were validated by a design switched at 6.78 MHz with 10-V input, 1.4-A output, and 12.6-W maximum output power. Soft switching is maintained with 16% output current varying over a 10:1 output power range. A "ZVS" Class-E dc-dc converter by adding a diode rectifier bridge and compensate the induced varying capacitance at full-load condition - The load-independent Class-E design is extended to dc-dc converter by adding a diode rectifier bridge followed by the Class-E inverter. The equivalent impedance seen by the inverter consists of a varying capacitance and a varying resistance when the output changes. As illustrated before, ZVS and constant output can only be maintained with resistive load. Since the varying capacitance cannot be compensated for the whole load range, performance with using different compensation is discussed. With the selected full-load compensation, ZVS is achieved at full load condition and slight non-ZVS occurs for the other load conditions. The expectation was validated by a dc-dc converter switched at 6.78 MHz with 11 V input, 12 V output, and 22 W maximum output power. ZVS (including slight non-ZVS) is maintained with 16% output voltage variation over 20:1 output power range. Design of variable Capacitor by connecting two voltage-sensitive capacitors in series and controlling the bias voltage of them - The equivalent varying capacitance in the Class-E dc-dc converter can be compensated in the whole load range only with variable component. The sensitivity of a Class-E power conversion can also be improved by using variable capacitors. Thus, a Voltage Controlled Capacitor (VCC) is presented, based on the intrinsic property of Class II dielectric materials that permittivity changing much with electric field. Its equivalent circuit consists of two identical Class II capacitors in series. By changing the voltage of the common point of the two capacitors (named as control voltage), the two capacitance and the total capacitance are both changed. Its operation principle, measured characteristic, and the SPICE model are illustrated. The capacitance changes from 1 μF to 0.2 μF with a control voltage from 0 V to 25 V, resulting a 440% capacitance range. Since the voltage across the two capacitors (named as output voltage) also affects one of the capacitance when control voltage is applied, the capacitance range drops to only 40% with higher bias in the output voltage. Thus, a Linear Variable Capacitor (LVC) is presented. The equivalent circuit is the same as VCC, while one of the capacitance is designed much higher to mitigate the effect of output voltage. The structure, operational principle, required specifications, design procedures, and component selection were validated by a design example, with 380% maximum capacitance range and less than 20% drop in the designed capacitor voltage range. This work contributes to • Analytical analysis and Thevenin Model in load-independent Class-E power conversion • Variable capacitance with wide range / Doctor of Philosophy / The Class-E topology was presented as a single-switch power amplifier with high efficiency at the optimum condition. Efficiency of a conventional Class-E design degrades with load variation dramatically due to the hard switching beyond the optimum conditions. Since two requirements need to be satisfied for soft switching in a conventional Class-E design, at least two parameters are tuned under load variation. Impressively, a load-independent Class-E inverter design was presented for maintaining Zero-Voltage-Switching (ZVS) and output voltage under a given load change without tuning any parameters, and it was validated with experimental results recently. A Thevenin model is established in this work to explain the realization of load-independency with fixed switching frequency and duty cycle. Based on that, a sequential design and tuning process is presented. A prototype switched at 6.78 MHz with 10-V input, 11.3-V output, and 22.5-W maximum output power was fabricated and tested to validate the theory. Soft switching is maintained with 3% output voltage variation while the output power is reduced tenfold. A load-independent ZVS Class-E inverter with constant current under load variation is then presented, by combining the presented design and a trans-susceptance network. The expectations were validated by a design switched at 6.78 MHz with 10-V input, 1.4-A output, and 12.6-W maximum output power. Soft switching is maintained with 16% output current varying over a 10:1 output power range. The load-independent Class-E design is extended to dc-dc converter by adding a diode rectifier bridge, inducing a varying capacitance. With the selected full-load compensation, ZVS is achieved at full load condition and slight non-ZVS occurs for the other load conditions. The expectation was validated by a dc-dc converter switched at 6.78 MHz with 11 V input, 12 V output, and 22 W maximum output power. ZVS (including slight non-ZVS) is maintained with 16% output voltage variation over 20:1 output power range. The varying capacitance in the Class-E dc-dc converter needs variable component to compensate. Thus, a Voltage Controlled Capacitor (VCC) is presented. The capacitance changes from 1 μF to 0.2 μF with a control voltage from 0 V to 25 V, resulting a 440% capacitance range. The capacitance range drops to only 40% with higher bias in the output voltage. Thus, a Linear Variable Capacitor (LVC) is presented, with 380% maximum capacitance range and less than 20% drop in the designed capacitor voltage range.

Les réseaux traitant l’information, intègrent différentes technologies incluant une large gamme de dispositifs aux capacités et puissances très variées et capables de gérer une immense quantité d’informations sous forme de données d’une grande diversité de formats. La recherche sur l'imagerie 3D, la réalité virtuelle et autres techniques holographiques permettront d’offrir de nouvelles techniques d’interactions homme/machine (IHM), notamment pour les appareils mobiles. Cela enrichira encore la variété et la diversité de ces dispositifs. Beaucoup d'efforts ont été faits, notamment ces dernières années, afin d’établir une intégration ouverte, évolutive et transparente des différentes technologies permettant l’affichage de contenus, notamment d’images 2D et 3D et ce pour tout type de système, y compris mobile en tenant compte, notamment et de plus en plus, de la situation géographique individuelle de l'utilisateur final. Sur ces différents points, la tâche est loin d’être terminée. Cette thèse représente, dans ce contexte, une contribution, vers la généralisation de la transportabilité des informations pour des objets communicants de natures différentes, notamment portables, particulièrement dans le cas de l’imagerie en 3 dimensions, de plus en plus exploitée.L'objectif de ce travail de recherche est de trouver un moyen de résoudre le problème énoncé ci-dessus en proposant une architecture pour fournir un accès sans contrainte, continu et personnalisé pour le contenu et les applications interactives partout et à tout moment avec la plus grande quantité possible d’appareils communicants. Un exemple d’exploitation utile et particulièrement adaptée d'un tel système est l'apprentissage sur mobile en raison de la grande diversité des appareils communicants disponibles, dotés de caractéristiques et de fonctionnalités très différentes. Comme solution au problème considéré, une nouvelle architecture nommée "Smoothie" est proposée, un prototype a été développé et évalué en tant que composant important d'un jeu d'apprentissage collaboratif de langues étrangères nommé LLG (Language Learning Game). / Today’s network landscape consists of many different network technologies, a wide range of end-devices with large scale of capabilities and power, an immense quantity of information and data represented in different formats. Research on 3D imaging, virtual reality and holographic techniques will result in new user interfaces (UI) for mobile devices and will increase their diversity and variety. A lot of effort is being made in order to establish open, scalable and seamless integration of various technologies and content presentation for different devices including those that are mobile, considering the individual situation of the end user. Till today the research is going on in different parts of the world but the task is not completed yet.The goal of this research work was to find a way to solve the above stated problems by investigating system architectures to provide unconstrained, continuous and personalized access to the content and interactive applications everywhere and at anytime with different devices. As a Solution of the problem considered, a new architecture named “Smoothie” is proposed, developed as prototype and evaluated as an important feature of a collaborative foreign language learning game named LLG.

The Swedish child welfare system allows a possibility to place children in out-of-home-care. In 2016 a new form of placement was introduced: supported housing [stödboende]. The main purpose of a placement in supported housing is to prepare the residents – young people between the ages of 16 and 20 – for an independent life and living. Unaccompanied youths constitutes a category of service-users that has become relevant for placement in supported housing due to the assumption that they are in need of support-oriented rather that treatment- and care-oriented services. The purpose of this master’s thesis is to analyse how supported housing units for unaccompanied youths are organised and how the staff describe working to ensure the independence of the youths. To meet the purpose of the study, supported housing units in three Swedish municipalities have been studied through a total of 15 semi-structured interviews with section managers, unit managers, coordinators and staff. Supported housing for unaccompanied youths has been studied as an organisational idea which has been received and adopted in the municipalities. To understand how external pressure and internal processes influence the units and the work, an organisational perspective has been applied on the empirical material, through new institutionalism and Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucracies. From Said’s theory of orientalism the construction of “the other” is used as a complement to also understand how different constructions of residents and work with independency are expressed. The results of the study indicates that the organisation of the units and the work within them are highly affected by external factors, such as reduced economical resources and the situation in which many of the placed youths are still awaiting decisions on their asylum applications due to long processing times at the Swedish Migration Agency. This leads to great challenges both in terms of organisation and work. To meet the needs of the situation informal adjustments of routines and work are often made by both managers and staff. Concerning the work with independency, a division of three becomes visible: practical, societal and emotional/social independency. How the work is conducted seems to be influenced not only by the discretion of the staff, but also by whether or not the youths have received a residential permit. An important conclusion is the emergence of a construction of the “ideal” supported housing unit, where the placed youths can practice on standing on their own two feet in a safe environment. However there is also a parallel construction of “reality”, where challenges beyond the control of the staff and managers highly affect the units and the organisation of the work, including economical resources, the Swedish asylum politics, other social service actors, as well as the mental health of the placed youths.

Current source is used in auxiliary power supplies, battery chargers, and LED drivers. The battery chargers are required to provide constant current within a wide output voltage range, similar to LED drivers. The load-independent (LI) Class-E inverter is a promising topology for such applications since it can realize zero-voltage switching (ZVS) within a wide load range. Class-E current source can be achieved by converting constant voltage (CV) Class-E inverter to current source with a trans-susceptance network or using parallel resonant topology. The design and analysis of LI Class-E inverters usually assume a high-Q resonant load tank so that the load current/voltage is sinusoidal. While this is the case in RF applications, it's not required in DC-DC power conversion. Besides, high-Q design leads to high inductance and increased voltage/current stress on the resonant components, increasing converter volume, loss, and cost. This work aims to provide a design guideline for the CC Class-E inverter when significant harmonics are present by reflecting the trade-off between load range and voltage stress, with the help of a modified frequency domain analysis method to eliminate the iteration existing in the time domain analysis. Output current variation and voltage stress can be automatically quantified when circuit parameters vary. Generalized load range contours are obtained to guide the circuit design. With the help of the analysis, a 10-W dual-output Class-E gate power supply is designed with optimized magnetics and reduced isolation capacitance. Compared with CC Class-E based on trans-susceptance network, the parallel resonant CC Class-E inverter has smaller part counts due to its low-order resonant network. However, the current topology suffers from limited maximum output power. In this work, a coupled-inductor based parallel resonant CC Class-E inverter is proposed with more than 2 times maximum power without increasing part counts. / Doctor of Philosophy / Current source is used in auxiliary power supplies, battery chargers, and LED drivers. The battery chargers are required to provide constant current within a wide output voltage range, similar to LED drivers. The load-independent (LI) Class-E inverter is a promising topology for such applications since it can realize zero-voltage switching (ZVS) within a wide load range. This work aims to provide a new design guideline for the CC Class-E inverter when significant harmonics are present by reflecting the trade-off between load range and voltage stress, with the help of a modified frequency domain analysis method to eliminate the iteration existing in the time domain analysis. Output current variation and voltage stress can be automatically quantified when circuit parameters vary. Generalized load range contours are obtained to guide the circuit design. With the help of the analysis, a 10-W dual-output Class-E gate power supply is designed with optimized magnetics and reduced isolation capacitance. Compared with CC Class-E based on trans-susceptance network, the parallel resonant CC Class-E inverter has smaller part counts due to its low-order resonant network. However, the current topology suffers from limited maximum output power. In this work, a coupled-inductor based parallel resonant CC Class-E inverter is proposed with more than 2 times maximum power without increasing part counts.

我國資訊科技產業自80年代起快速成長，企業組織亦同時朝向大型化及集團化發展，企業併購遂成為當時企業層級策略的主要選項。然而在企業聚焦核心事業以及修正多角化策略的浪潮下，企業分割已成為近來產業進行經營績效以及組織重整的重要策略工具。 分割策略提供企業「一而為多」的組織改造模式，有助企業進行專業化經營或建立退場機制，確立各事業之專業分工更可有使分割公司之價值提升之效果。本研究為補強學術上之論述，由資源觀點出發，擬透過了解新事業成長過程各階段資源發展、累積以及運用的情況，探究宏碁集團在施行企業分割策略時，各種資源流動以及分配的狀態。期待能歸納出企業在進行分割策略時，資源分配、流動以及母企業在後續資源連結之共通點。並試圖找出關鍵的影響因素。提供決策者有別財務績效外於可參考的指標。 / Taiwanese IT industry has grown by leaps and bounds since the 1980s and in the meantime, the entrepreneurs have turned themselves into large-size corporations or conglomerates. Thus, corporation’s merger and acquisition (M &A) gradually has become their major issue of strategy studies. However, while the increasing trend of business strategy is to focus on the corporation’s core business, the corporation’s spin-offs becomes the more important tool for generating profits and organizational restructuring. Spin-offs strategy offers enterprises with the so-called “one for all” model, enabling corporations to focus on their core businesses or divest from dog business. The spin-off strategy also ensures spun-out units can achieve individual performances and effectiveness. In order to complement current academic studies, this research based on resources perspective attempts to explore the status of resources allocation of Acer in the spin-off strategy. This study would like to observe how the resource flows and distributes when a spun-out company grows, in order to conclude similarities that firms might have.