Semantic role labelling (SRL) is a natural language processing (NLP) technique that maps sentences to semantic representations. This can be used in different NLP tasks. The goal of this master thesis is to investigate how to support the novel method proposed by He Tan for building corpus annotated with semantic roles. The mentioned goal provides the context for developing a general framework of the work and as a result implementing a supporting system based on the framework. Implementation is followed using Java. Defined features of the system reflect the usage of frame semantics in understanding and explaining the meaning of lexical items. This prototype system has been processed by the biomedical corpus as a dataset for the evaluation. Our supporting environment has the ability to create frames with all related associations through XML, updating frames and related information including definition, elements and example sentences and at last annotating the example sentences of the frame. The output of annotation is a semi structure schema where tokens of a sentence are labelled. We evaluated our system by means of two surveys. The evaluation results showed that our framework and system have fulfilled the expectations of users and has satisfied them in a good scale. Also feedbacks from users have defined new areas of improvement regarding this supporting environment.

The growing interest among consumers in the link between diet and health makes functional food one of the fastest growing sectors in the global food industry, especially functional dairy products. Understanding consumer choices with respect to functional food is an important and relatively new research area. Given the credence nature of functional food attributes, labelling plays a key role in allowing consumers to make informed choices about foods with enhanced health attributes. In 2007, Canada launched a review of the regulatory system for health claims on functional foods, which included rules concerning the approval, labelling and verification of health claims. In 2010 two new health claims related to oat products and plant sterols were approved by Health Canada. An analysis of how consumers respond to health claim information is therefore timely. This thesis focuses on examining the effects of different types of labelling and verification of health claims on consumers stated preferences for a specific functional food product, Omega-3 milk. The analysis incorporates reference-dependent effects. This study improves the knowledge of Canadian consumer understanding of health claims and the impact of health claims on consumer choice. This research is one of the first studies to simultaneously examine the effects of different types of health claims (e.g. function claims, risk reduction claims and disease prevention claims) and other ways of signalling or implying health benefits (e.g. symbols) on Canadian consumers' functional food choices. This study contributes to the knowledge in this domain by providing a comparative analysis of different types of labelling strategies. The extant knowledge of labelling effects in the formats of risk reduction claims, disease prevention claims and symbols or imagery on functional foods is limited. One of the primary contributions of this study is addressing this gap in the literature. The theoretical framework of this thesis is based on random utility theory. A stated preference choice experiment is designed to examine consumers' response to Omega-3 milk under different labelling scenarios. Using data from an online survey of 740 Canadians conducted in summer 2009, discrete choice models, including Conditional Logit, Random Parameter Logit and Latent Class models, and Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) values are estimated. The results suggest that full labelling (function claims, risk reduction claims and disease prevention claims) is preferred over partial labelling (e.g. the use of a heart symbol to imply a health claim), but primarily for risk reduction claims. There is no significant difference between a function claim, such as "good for your heart" and partial labelling in the form of a red heart symbol. The results also suggest that consumers on average respond positively to verification of health claims by government and the third party agencies, however, the Latent Class models reveal considerable heterogeneity in consumer attitudes toward the source of verification. The influences of key-socio-demographic (e.g. income, education and health status) and attitudinal factors (e.g. attitude, trust and knowledge) provide further insights into consumer responses in the choice experiment to identify different consumer segments. Moreover, the results reveal reference-dependent effects where perceived losses of ingredient or price attributes have a greater influence on consumer choice than perceived gains. In terms of industry and public policy implications, this study suggests that food manufacturers in Canada would benefit from the ability to make more precise health claims. The implications derived from the Latent Class Models could help the Canadian functional food industry to identify target consumer segments with different characteristics for the purpose of developing marketing strategies. Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that Canadian consumers are receptive to both full labelling and partial labelling. It indicates that public policy makers need to pay attention to effectively regulating health claims for functional foods so as to balance the need for credible health claims to facilitate the development of the functional food sector with the imperative of protecting consumers from misleading health claims. Public policy makers should also be aware that the verification of health claims plays an important role in reducing consumers' uncertainty and making health claims more credible.

Consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about their foods and more particularly, the origin of their foods and the ingredients they contain. In light of the demand for additional origin information, the 100% Canadian milk branding initiative was launched in 2009 as a means of informing consumers about the origin of milk in their dairy products. The information is indicated by the presence of the 100% Canadian milk symbol on dairy products and can be characterized a form of co-branding. The literature on co-branding stipulates that co-branding can result in changed product perceptions either negatively or positively. In addition, the willingness to pay (WTP) literature stipulates that WTP is determined by product attributes and individuals’ characteristics. This thesis therefore seeks to ascertain the factors affecting consumers’ preferences and WTP for products with the 100% Canadian milk symbol. Specifically, the effects of individual characteristics such as health consciousness, patriotic values and risk perceptions on preferences for dairy products with the symbol are evaluated. Concurrently, the study explores the relationship between respondents’ knowledge of the Canadian dairy industry and WTP for the symbol. Data were gathered from a total of 1012 milk and ice cream consumers using two nationwide internet surveys. Estimations are carried out using the Multinomial Logit (MNL) and the Random Parameter Logit models (RPL). The results suggest that consumers in general have positive perceptions of milk and ice cream with the 100% Canadian milk symbol but negatively perceive store brand and organic labels. However, in some cases, combining a store brand label or organic label with the 100% Canadian milk symbol, are shown to alter consumers’ perceptions of the product. Some socio-demographic variables and individual characteristics were also found to be influential in intended purchase behaviours and WTP for milk and ice cream. The findings from this study provide information on consumers’ perceptions and attribute preferences and are expected therefore to contribute to the marketing strategies of the Canadian dairy industry as a whole.

The work describes the development of a new class of synthetic metallopeptides that features a dirhodium metal center. Combination of peptide and dirhodium properties leads to unique effects on peptide structure, peptide-protein interactions, and metal catalytic activity aimed at small molecule as well as protein substrates. Dirhodium is directly bound to carboxylate side chains of aspartate or glutamate yielding kinetically inert coordination complexes. This improves stability, allows purification and provides enhanced biocompatibility. Bridging of two side chains in the same sequence enables control of the peptide secondary structure. Dirhodium metallopeptides are applied to regulate coiled coil dimerization, stabilize and induce helical secondary structure, catalyze enantioselective organometallic transformation, and serve as ligands for proteins. These results lead to the development of hybrid organic-inorganic therapeutic agents, biological probes for study of protein-protein interactions, and enantioselective metallopeptide catalysis.

The project introduces an application using computer vision for Hand gesture recognition. A camera records a live video stream, from which a snapshot is taken with the help of interface. The system is trained for each type of count hand gestures (one, two, three, four, and five) at least once. After that a test gesture is given to it and the system tries to recognize it.A research was carried out on a number of algorithms that could best differentiate a hand gesture. It was found that the diagonal sum algorithm gave the highest accuracy rate. In the preprocessing phase, a self-developed algorithm removes the background of each training gesture. After that the image is converted into a binary image and the sums of all diagonal elements of the picture are taken. This sum helps us in differentiating and classifying different hand gestures.Previous systems have used data gloves or markers for input in the system. I have no such constraints for using the system. The user can give hand gestures in view of the camera naturally. A completely robust hand gesture recognition system is still under heavy research and development; the implemented system serves as an extendible foundation for future work.

Konsumtion är något vi ägnar åt oss i vardagen och som inte går att komma ifrån. Nya möjligheter idag, vare sig det handlar om högre inkomst eller större utbud på marknaden, gör att det skapas nya begär och att den nya konsumtionen efter ett tag känns nödvändig. Idag konsumeras därmed fler varor än någonsin tidigare. Men konsumtionen av varor och tjänster påverkar miljön, och det under hela sin livscykel, från utvinning av råvara till då den blir till avfall. Konsumtion av mode är ett exempel på konsumtion där man uttrycker sina begär och sin längtan. Mode som ofta uttrycks genom kläder ger stimulans till konsumtion och mode och trender förändras snabbt, vilket innebär att det är svårt att hålla kolla på hela produktionsledet och hur miljön påverkas. Om konsumtion av mode har negativa effekter på miljön lyder frågan ifall det då är möjligt att konsumera mode på ett sätt som är mer hållbart. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka ifall det är möjligt att kombinera ett modeintresse med en miljömedvetenhet. Det som undersöks är bland annat ifall mode kan konsumeras på ett hållbart sätt, samt vilka möjligheter och svårigheter det finns med att kombinera mode med miljö. Dessa frågor besvaras med hjälp av en teoretisk litteraturstudie, framförallt eftersom det inte finns många studier som kombinerar mode med miljö. Teorierna som behandlas handlar bland annat om konsumtion och beteenden, och för att kunna kombinera mode med miljö behöver konsumtionsmönster förändras och alternativ till konventionella kläder finnas på marknaden. Om flera val tillhandahålls och marknadsförs på marknaden skapas alternativ som bidrar till att individen kan förena ett modeintresse och en miljömedvetenhet, men detta kan inte ses som den enda lösningen. Denna studie analyserar även huruvida praktiska exempel miljömärkning och second hand kan bidra till att kombinera miljö och mode. / Consumption is something we do every day which we cannot get away from. New opportunities today, whether it is a higher income or a higher supply on the market, enable the creation of new desires and that the new consumption after a while feels necessary. Today we consume more products than ever before. But the consumption of both products and services affect the environment during their whole life cycle, from production to waste. Consuming fashion is an example of consumption where desires are expressed. Fashion which is often expressed through clothes stimulates a longing for consumption, and with fashion changing so fast it is hard to keep track of the whole production and how the environment is affected. If consuming fashion has negative effects on the environment the question is whether it is possible to consume fashion in a more sustainable manner. The purpose of this essay is to examine if it is possible to combine a fashion interest with an environmental awareness. Some of the matters examined are whether fashion can be consumed in a sustainable way or not, and what opportunities and challenges there are with combining fashion with an awareness of the environment. These questions are answered with the help of a theoretical literature study. Theories about consumption and behaviours are being used, and to combine fashion with an environmental awareness, consumption patterns have to change. Alternatives to conventional clothing must also be found on the market. If more choices are provided on the market, the individual can find alternatives through which she/he can unite a fashion interest with an awareness of the environment, but that cannot be seen as the only solution. This paper also analyzes whether practical examples, such as labelling and second hand, can contribute towards combining environment and fashion.

<p>People in Sweden have become more aware and interested in environmental issues. This has led to an increased demand for environmental friendly food products. Previously the price often determined if a customer bought the product or not. During the recent years internet has become a more widely used media than ever before. This has led to that inter-net is one of the important tools to gather information and knowledge, among other things environmental issues.</p><p>With such aspects in mind the authors found it interesting to investigate if companies could use internet as a marketing tool for environmental friendly products. Therefore the purpose of this thesis is to:</p><p>investigate if and how companies display environmental friendliness in their marketing strategy and how it is presented on their company webpage’s.</p><p>In order to fulfil the purpose five general dealer’s home and webpage’s were examined. As a supplementing research one store for each of the five general dealers were visited and ex-amined.</p><p>The used theoretical framework is focused on value and green marketing. How to create a specific value is often the core when formulating and creating a strategy for a company. Green marketing is such marketing that include environmental concerns in the marketing offers. The sales of ecological food has increased and according to SCB (2006) represented 6 Billions in revenue between 2004 and 2005. The literature indicates that green marketing have to change and become more like conventional marketing, in order to reach the larger consumer segments. As a supplement to this theory, a section with home and webpage de-sign and chromatics are added.</p><p>The analysis and conclusion showed that there were some differences in how the re-searched companies used green marketing. Two of the companies used their webpage’s and displayed environmental awareness, while two had a clear focus on price. One company had a health focus. It was also found that there are differences between the messages and information on the home and webpage’s, compared to the findings in the stores. What also was found was that green marketing not only should target the already green consumers, but instead aim at the larger consumer segment. To do this green marketing should become more like conventional marketing and not only focus on the product, but also other value factors. The findings also suggest that the companies could use their home and webpage’s to a higher extent than they do today.</p>

Knotenfärbungen mit Abstandsbedingungen sind graphentheoretische Konzepte, motiviert durch das praktische Problem der Frequenzzuweisung in Mobilfunknetzen. In der Arbeit werden verschiedene Varianten solcher Färbungen vorgestellt. Für (Listen-)Färbungen mit einer beliebigen Anzahl r von Abstandsbedingungen werden allgemeine Eigenschaften und Schranken für die benötigte Anzahl von Farben bewiesen. Anschließend wird der Spezialfall r=2 behandelt. Färbungen mit zwei Abstandsbedingungen - die sogenannten L(d,s)-Labellings - werden für eine Reihe von Graphenklassen untersucht, u.a. für reguläre Parkettierungen, Weg- und Kreispotenzen und Graphen mit Durchmesser 2. Die Listenversion dieser Färbungen - die sogenannten L(d,s)-List Labellings - werden für Wege, Sterne, Kreise und Kakteen betrachtet. Ferner werden Untersuchungen zum Zusammenhang von L(2,1)-Labellings und L(2,1)-List Labellings bei speziellen Bäumen durchgeführt.

Eukaryotic genomes are densely compacted into chromatin, so that they can be contained in the nucleus. Despite the tight packaging genes need to be accessible for normal metabolic activities to occur, such as transcription, repair and replication. These processes are regulated by a vast number of proteins but also by the level of compaction of chromatin. The translocation of motor proteins along DNA produces torsional stress which in turn alters chromatin compaction both upstream and downstream. Few single-molecule studies have investigated the behaviour of nucleosomes when subjected to torsion. The inability to measure the applied torque though represented a major limitation to those reports. The implementation of the rotor bead assay, which allows to directly measure the torque applied in magnetic tweezers experiments, has been hindered by a difficult sample preparation procedure. In order to overcome this limitation an efficient protocol for the insertion of chemical or structural modifications in long DNA substrates was developed. This was then further expanded to allow the introduction of labels in multiple loci and/or both strands and has been used successfully in a number of studies. Furthermore this is the first report of tensile experiments performed on nucleosomes with a histone variant. H2AvD nucleosomes were studied due to the interest in the biological role of H2A.Z-family proteins. Interestingly, the variant nucleosomes appear to bind less DNA and to be evicted from the DNA at lower forces than those observed for canonical nucleosomes. These findings show an important role for the H2A-H2B dimers in the mechanical stability of nucleosomes. Furthermore these results are in agreement with recently proposed models of a dynamic nucleosome, in contrast to the long-standing view of nucleosomes as static structures.

Das Verbraucherinteresse an Qualität und bestimmten Produkteigenschaften nimmt immer weiter zu. Die Kennzeichnung von Lebensmitteln ist für Verbraucher ebenfalls auf Grund der hohen Produktdifferenzierung und dem daraus resultierenden großen Produktangebot an Lebensmitteln ein wichtiges Informationsinstrument, um eine gut informierte Produktwahl treffen zu können. Dabei spielen bei der Kennzeichnung von Produkten Vertrauenseigenschaften wie Prozess- oder Produktqualitäten eine wichtige Rolle, die ein entscheidendes Auswahlkriterium darstellen können. Vertrauenseigenschaften zeichnen sich dadurch aus, dass sie von Verbrauchern nicht selbst überprüft werden können. Daher haben einige Elemente der Lebensmittelkennzeichnung das Ziel, Vertrauens- in Sucheigenschaften umzuwandeln, um so Informationsasymmetrien abzubauen Nur wenn Unterschiede in Lebensmitteln für Konsumenten sichtbar werden, können diese gut informierte Entscheidungen treffen. Zudem ist es für einen funktionierenden Markt notwendig, dass unterschiedliche Qualitäten deutlich werden, denn nur so kann verhindert werden, dass lautere Wettbewerber aus dem Markt verdrängt werden. Ziel der Dissertation ist es, verschiedene Labelling Policies, die bisher nicht im Fokus der Konsumentenforschung standen, mittels empirischer Konsumentenbefragungen zu untersuchen, zu bewerten und Empfehlungen für Entscheidungsträger in der Lebensmittelkennzeichnung abzuleiten. Die drei zu untersuchenden Forschungsfragen lauten: 1. Wie zu Grunde liegende Prozess- und Produkteigenschaften differenziert auf Lebensmittelverpackungen kommuniziert werden können, 2. wie verschiedene Kennzeichnungselemente, die Signalling Cues für Verbraucher darstellen, auf Produktverpackungen von Verbrauchern wahrgenommen und beurteilt werden und 3. wie die Nischenprodukte Tierschutzfleisch und Weidemilch am besten vermarktet werden können und wie Zielgruppen zu charakterisieren sind. Die Ergebnisse der Forschungsarbeit zeigen auf, dass die derzeitige Lebensmittelkennzeichnungspraxis Defizite und Verbesserungspotenzial aufweist. Daneben wurde aufgezeigt, dass ein mehrstufiges Labellingsystem Potenzial aufweist, am Markt Veränderungen gegenüber einem binären Labellingsystem hervorzurufen, die weiteren Forschungsbedarf erfordern. Es werden Empfehlungen für Politik und Wirtschaft abgeleitet. Weiterhin werden Marketingempfehlungen für Tierschutzfleisch und Weidemilch abgeleitet und die Zielgruppen für die diese Produkte charakterisiert.