Medicinteknisk utrustning (MT) har en stor och avgörande roll i dagens samhälle för att kunna utföra en patientsäker sjukvård. De senaste tekniska framstegen har försett sjukvården med otaliga skräddarsydda MT-produkter för olika behov som uppstår vid behandling av patienterna. Trots detta har vissa hälso- och sjukvårdssektorer särskilda behov som inte kan tillgodoses genom marknadens utbud. När en sådan situation uppstår, tillåter regelverket sjukvårdsverksamheter att utveckla egentillverkade produkter eller modifiera befintlig MT-utrustning för att lösa det specifika sjukvårdsproblemet. Egentillverkning av en MT-produkt är en reglerad process i enlighet med EU-förordning om MT-produkter MDR (EU 2017/745) artikel 5.5. Detta regelverk säkerställer en patientsäker och kvalitetssäkrad MT-utrustning för intern användning inom sjukvårdsverksamheten.  Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset (Karolinska) som är Nordens största sjukhus har, i enlighet med regelverket, tagit fram egna interna riktlinjer för egentillverkning av MT-produkter. Covid-19-pandemin har aktualiserat att tillämpa dessa rutiner i praktiken. Karolinska har vårdat ett stort antal Covid-19-patienter med svåra respiratoriska symptom som har krävt ett särskilt omhändertagande bland annat på intensivvårdsavdelningen (IVA).  Ett av de mest förekommande kirurgiska ingreppen på IVA-patienter under denna period har varit trakeotomi. På grund av de stora svårigheter som uppstår med att flytta patienten till vanlig operationssal har öron-näsa-halsenheten (ÖNH) på Karolinska, som ansvarar för alla kirurgiska trakeotomier på sjukhuset, behövt utföra operationen på patienten i IVA-sängen. För att utföra en mer patientsäker på-plats-operation och förbättra denna ohållbara arbetsmiljö har ÖNH-kirurger önskat och sökt ett mobilt operationsbord som kan dockas till de olika IVA-sängtyperna som finns på sjukhuset. Eftersom detta operationsbord inte fanns att köpa på marknaden har MT-mekaniska verkstaden på Karolinska utvecklat en prototyp av trakeotomibordet som uppfyller ÖNH-kirurgernas specifika behov.  I detta arbete undersöktes egentillverkning av MT-produkter inom Karolinska i samband med utveckling av trakeotomibordet. I detta avseende studerades hela processen som krävs av regelverket och Karolinskas interna föreskrifter, från behovsanalys och definition av MT-produkten till kvalitetssäkring och riskhanteringen som garanterar en godkänd MT-utrustning för intern användning inom Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset. / Medical devices have a crucial role in performing a high-quality healthcare with patient safety in focus. Recent technological advances have provided healthcare systems with countless customized medical products for the various needs that arise in the treatment of patients. Despite this, some health care sectors have special needs that cannot be met by the market supply. In such circumstances, the regulations allow healthcare providers to develop in-house production or modify existing medical equipment to solve the specific need of the medical staff. In-house production of a medical device is a detailed regulated process defined in accordance with MDR (EU 2017/745) Article 5 (5). This regulatory framework ensures a patient-safe and quality-assured medical equipment for internal use within the healthcare.  Karolinska University Hospital (Karolinska), which is the Nordic region's largest hospital, follows the regulatory praxis for in-house production of medical devices. These praxes were put into use during the Covid-19 pandemic. Karolinska had to take care of many Covid-19 patients with severe respiratory symptoms who required special care, including intensive care unit (ICU).  One of the most common surgical procedures on ICU patients during this period was tracheotomy. Due to the complications that occur in moving patients to regular operating theatre, the ear-nose-throat unit (ENT) at Karolinska, which is responsible for all surgical tracheotomies at the hospital, has had to perform operations directly on ICU beds.  To improve the quality of the operations and the surgeon's work condition, the Karolinska ENT have sought a mobile operating table with ability to be docked to various ICU beds, available at the hospital. Since this medical equipment was not available on the market, the medical engineering workshop at Karolinska has developed a prototype of the tracheotomy table that meets the specific needs of ENT surgeons. This project studies the in-house production of a medical device at Karolinska through examining the development of tracheostomy table’s prototype by medical engineering workshop. In this respect, the regulatory requirements that approve the tracheostomy table for internal use within Karolinska University Hospital, are studied.

[ES] En los últimos años, el aprendizaje profundo ha cambiado significativamente el panorama en diversas áreas del campo de la inteligencia artificial, entre las que se incluyen la visión por computador, el procesamiento del lenguaje natural, robótica o teoría de juegos. En particular, el sorprendente éxito del aprendizaje profundo en múltiples aplicaciones del campo del procesamiento del lenguaje natural tales como el reconocimiento automático del habla (ASR), la traducción automática (MT) o la síntesis de voz (TTS), ha supuesto una mejora drástica en la precisión de estos sistemas, extendiendo así su implantación a un mayor rango de aplicaciones en la vida real. En este momento, es evidente que las tecnologías de reconocimiento automático del habla y traducción automática pueden ser empleadas para producir, de forma efectiva, subtítulos multilingües de alta calidad de contenidos audiovisuales. Esto es particularmente cierto en el contexto de los vídeos educativos, donde las condiciones acústicas son normalmente favorables para los sistemas de ASR y el discurso está gramaticalmente bien formado. Sin embargo, en el caso de TTS, aunque los sistemas basados en redes neuronales han demostrado ser capaces de sintetizar voz de un realismo y calidad sin precedentes, todavía debe comprobarse si esta tecnología está lo suficientemente madura como para mejorar la accesibilidad y la participación en el aprendizaje en línea. Además, existen diversas tareas en el campo de la síntesis de voz que todavía suponen un reto, como la clonación de voz inter-lingüe, la síntesis incremental o la adaptación zero-shot a nuevos locutores. Esta tesis aborda la mejora de las prestaciones de los sistemas actuales de síntesis de voz basados en redes neuronales, así como la extensión de su aplicación en diversos escenarios, en el contexto de mejorar la accesibilidad en el aprendizaje en línea. En este sentido, este trabajo presta especial atención a la adaptación a nuevos locutores y a la clonación de voz inter-lingüe, ya que los textos a sintetizar se corresponden, en este caso, a traducciones de intervenciones originalmente en otro idioma. / [CA] Durant aquests darrers anys, l'aprenentatge profund ha canviat significativament el panorama en diverses àrees del camp de la intel·ligència artificial, entre les quals s'inclouen la visió per computador, el processament del llenguatge natural, robòtica o la teoria de jocs. En particular, el sorprenent èxit de l'aprenentatge profund en múltiples aplicacions del camp del processament del llenguatge natural, com ara el reconeixement automàtic de la parla (ASR), la traducció automàtica (MT) o la síntesi de veu (TTS), ha suposat una millora dràstica en la precisió i qualitat d'aquests sistemes, estenent així la seva implantació a un ventall més ampli a la vida real. En aquest moment, és evident que les tecnologies de reconeixement automàtic de la parla i traducció automàtica poden ser emprades per a produir, de forma efectiva, subtítols multilingües d'alta qualitat de continguts audiovisuals. Això és particularment cert en el context dels vídeos educatius, on les condicions acústiques són normalment favorables per als sistemes d'ASR i el discurs està gramaticalment ben format. No obstant això, al cas de TTS, encara que els sistemes basats en xarxes neuronals han demostrat ser capaços de sintetitzar veu d'un realisme i qualitat sense precedents, encara s'ha de comprovar si aquesta tecnologia és ja prou madura com per millorar l'accessibilitat i la participació en l'aprenentatge en línia. A més, hi ha diverses tasques al camp de la síntesi de veu que encara suposen un repte, com ara la clonació de veu inter-lingüe, la síntesi incremental o l'adaptació zero-shot a nous locutors. Aquesta tesi aborda la millora de les prestacions dels sistemes actuals de síntesi de veu basats en xarxes neuronals, així com l'extensió de la seva aplicació en diversos escenaris, en el context de millorar l'accessibilitat en l'aprenentatge en línia. En aquest sentit, aquest treball presta especial atenció a l'adaptació a nous locutors i a la clonació de veu interlingüe, ja que els textos a sintetitzar es corresponen, en aquest cas, a traduccions d'intervencions originalment en un altre idioma. / [EN] In recent years, deep learning has fundamentally changed the landscapes of a number of areas in artificial intelligence, including computer vision, natural language processing, robotics, and game theory. In particular, the striking success of deep learning in a large variety of natural language processing (NLP) applications, including automatic speech recognition (ASR), machine translation (MT), and text-to-speech (TTS), has resulted in major accuracy improvements, thus widening the applicability of these technologies in real-life settings. At this point, it is clear that ASR and MT technologies can be utilized to produce cost-effective, high-quality multilingual subtitles of video contents of different kinds. This is particularly true in the case of transcription and translation of video lectures and other kinds of educational materials, in which the audio recording conditions are usually favorable for the ASR task, and there is a grammatically well-formed speech. However, although state-of-the-art neural approaches to TTS have shown to drastically improve the naturalness and quality of synthetic speech over conventional concatenative and parametric systems, it is still unclear whether this technology is already mature enough to improve accessibility and engagement in online learning, and particularly in the context of higher education. Furthermore, advanced topics in TTS such as cross-lingual voice cloning, incremental TTS or zero-shot speaker adaptation remain an open challenge in the field. This thesis is about enhancing the performance and widening the applicability of modern neural TTS technologies in real-life settings, both in offline and streaming conditions, in the context of improving accessibility and engagement in online learning. Thus, particular emphasis is placed on speaker adaptation and cross-lingual voice cloning, as the input text corresponds to a translated utterance in this context. / Pérez González De Martos, AM. (2022). Deep Neural Networks for Automatic Speech-To-Speech Translation of Open Educational Resources [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/184019 / Premios Extraordinarios de tesis doctorales

The exact mechanism of the discharge in liquids ignition is not sufficiently known up to now. Although during the last years was achieved the great progress and overloading which some of them are written in this theoretical part of thesis. This thesis is divided into two experimental parts. When the first part deals with diagnostics of diaphragm discharge in electrolyte solutions and the second part is focused on its use for uncoiling (higher homogenization) of carbon nanotubes in solutions. In experiment 1, three different sized (4 l, 100 ml, 50 ml) diaphragm discharge configurations were used to diagnose diaphragm discharge in electrolyte solutions. Diagnostics is done through current and voltage waveforms with the addition of synchronized ICCD camera images that have been connected to a four-channel oscilloscope. The V-A characteristic can be described by three events occurring in the electrolyte solution with a gradual increase in voltage. Slowly increasing of the voltage in the solution leads first to electrolysis. The next phase is the formation of microbubbles or bubbles, which is characteristic of the curve by a slight decrease in the increase of the current passing between electrodes. The sudden increase in the current flow is characteristic of the last phase, namely the discharge phase. The distance of the electrodes from the diaphragm does not significantly affect the V-A characteristic. The higher diameter of the pin hole, therefore, has a higher voltage, but this does not affect the origin of bubble generation or breakdown. The higher thickness of diaphragm, the higher voltage is needed to the beginning of the bubbles generation, and consequently the discharge breakdown. Comparison of the voltage of the start generation of the bubbles and breakdown for PET diaphragms and diaphragms from the ceramic there was no mark able difference. One of the most important parameters is the conductivity of the electrolyte solution. The lower voltage is needed for the start generation of the bubbles at the higher solution conductivity, and also the discharge generation is observed at a lower breakdown voltage. The second experimental part is focused on the study of the diaphragm discharge effect on carbon nanotubes. A specially designed U-shaped reactor is used to modify carbon nanoparticles. Tap water and aqueous solutions of organic compounds are used as the electrolytic solutions. The discharge is generated by a non-pulsed DC high source with a voltage in the range of 0-2.8 kV supplied to platinum electrodes located in the electrolyte solution. The experimental results have shown that the diaphragm discharge has positive effects on the disintegration of clusters and agglomerates of carbon nanotubes. The primary effect on disintegration is probably the shock waves generated by the discharge. It turned out that it depends on the electrode configuration, where the treatment in anode space has far greater effects than the treatment in cathode half of the reactor. Effects of carbon nanotubes disintegration in solution are long-lasting and the treatment effect is not loosed after several months. There were detected no significant changes in the structure of plasma-treated nanotubes by Infra-red spectroscopy.

English, Afrikaans and Zulu summaries / While there is increasing interest in the effect of landscape on ancient imagination, less attention has been paid to the impact of restless karst hydrology on ancient beliefs. By identifying shared themes, this study compares and contrasts the way Hittites and Aegean people in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages reshaped peripheral karst landscapes into physical and imagined transitional zones. Karst geology underpins much of the Aegean and Anatolian landscape, allowing subterranean zones to be visible and accessible above ground via caves, springs, sinking streams, sinkholes and other unusual natural formations. In both cultures, certain dynamic landscapes were considered to be sacred porous points where deities, daemons, heroes and mortals could transit between cosmic realms. Evidence suggests that Hittites and Aegean people interpreted dramatic karst landscapes as liminal thresholds and spaces situated between the world of humans and the world of deities. Part One investigates physical zones of transition via the karst ecosystems of rural sanctuaries. Part Two considers the creative interpretation in myth and iconography of karst phenomena into metaphysical zones of transition. The examples reveal the way in which Hittites and Aegean people built their concept of the sacred on the extraordinary characteristics of karst geology. Numinous karst landscapes provided validity and a familiar reference point for the creation of imagined worlds where mortal and divine could connect. / Vandag is daar toenemende belangstelling in die effek van die landskap op die verbeelding van die mensdom in die oudheid - maar minder aandag word bestee aan die impak van die rustelose karst landskap op die mens se gelowigheid in die oudheid. Deur die identifisering van sekere gemene temas, vergelyk hierdie verhandeling die manier waarop die Hetiete en die Egeïese volkere in die Laat Brons- en vroeë Ystertydperke die omliggende karstlandskap herskep het in fisiese en denkbeeldige oorgangszones. Die Egeïese en Anatoliese landskap bestaan grotendeels uit karst geologie, met tot gevolg dat ondergrondse zones bo die grond sigbaar en toeganklik is in die vorm van grotte, bronne, sinkgate en ander uitsonderlike natuurlike formasies. In beide bogenoemde kulture is sekere landskapstonele beskou as heilige en poreuse punte waar gode, demone, helde en sterwelinge tussen die kosmiese zones kon beweeg. Die getuienis van die tyd suggereer dat die Hetiete en die Egeïese volkere die dramatiese karst landskappe as grense of drempels tussen hulle wêreld en dié van die gode beskou het. Deel Een ondersoek die fisiese oorgangszones deur te kyk na die karst ecostelsels waarin plattelandse heiligdomme hulle bevind het. Deel Twee beskou die kreatiewe gebruik van karst verskynsels as voorstellings van metafisiese oorgangszones in die gekrewe bronne en ikonografie. Die geselekteerde voorbeelde dui aan die manier waarop die Hetiete en Egeïese volke hulle konsepte van heiligdom gebaseer het op die buitengewone verskynsels van karst geologie. Numineuse karst landskappe het hulle idees gestaaf en ‘n bekende verwysingspunt uitgemaak waar die menslike en die goddelike met mekaar in kontak kon kom. / Ngenkathi intshisekelo ekhulayo yethonya lokwakheka komhlaba emcabangweni wasendulo, kunakwe kancane umthelela we-karst hydrology engenazinkolelo ezinkolelweni zasendulo. Ngokukhomba izingqikithi okwabelwana ngazo, lo mqondo uqhathanisa futhi uqhathanise indlela amaHeti nabantu base-Aegean kweLate Bronze kanye ne-Early Iron Ages abuye abuye abumbe kabusha imigwaqo ye-karst yomngcele ibe yizingxenye zesikhashana zomzimba nezicatshangwe. I-Karst geology isekela kakhulu indawo yezwe i-Aegean ne-Anatolian evumela ukuthi izindawo ezingaphansi komhlaba zibonakale futhi zifinyeleleke ngaphezu komhlaba ngemigede, iziphethu, imifudlana ecwilayo, imigodi yokushona nokunye ukwakheka okungokwemvelo okungajwayelekile. Kuwo womabili amasiko izindawo ezithile eziguqukayo zazithathwa njengezindawo ezingcwele zokungena lapho onkulunkulu, amademoni, amaqhawe nabantu abafayo bengadlula phakathi kwezindawo zomhlaba. Ubufakazi bukhombisa ukuthi amaHeti nabantu base-Aegean bahumusha imidwebo emangazayo yekarst njengemikhawulo yemikhawulo nezikhala eziphakathi komhlaba wabantu nezwe lonkulunkulu. Ingxenye yokuqala iphenya izindawo eziguqukayo zomzimba ngokusebenzisa imvelo ye-karst yezindawo ezingcwele zasemakhaya. Ingxenye Yesibili ibheka ukutolikwa kokudala kunganekwane nakwizithonjana zezinto ze-karst kube izingxenye eziguqukayo zenguquko. Izibonelo ziveza indlela abantu abangamaHeti nabantu base- Aegean abawakha ngayo umqondo wabo ongcwele ngezimpawu ezingavamile ze-karst geology. Amathafa amahle we-karst ahlinzeka ngokusebenza kanye nephuzu elijwayelekile lesethenjwa lokwakhiwa kwamazwe acatshangelwe lapho abantu abafayo nabaphezulu bangaxhuma khona. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M. A. (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)