This thesis investigates the application of multimodal metaphors in electronic Customer Loyalty Management Systems (e-CLMS) in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, user satisfaction, and understandability of the customisation tasks and information communicated. The potential of users developing loyalty as a result of better usability and user satisfaction is also accessed via questionnaires. The first experiment investigated issues of usability and the users' views of an e-commerce platform developed for these experiments using three conditions with three independent groups. A visual group (VICLMS, n=25) that was communicated information within the platform using text with graphics, a multimodal group (MICLMS, n=25) that usedrecorded speech, earcons and auditory icons and an expressive avatars group(AICLMS, n=25) that was predominantly communicated information using avatars. The second experiment evaluated three avatar-based multimodal conditions using a dependent group (n=50). This experiment evaluated user satisfaction, perceived convenience, enjoyment, ease of use and customisation, and successful completion of user tasks. The conditions were avatars with earcons (AEICLMS), avatars with auditory icons (AAICLMS) and avatars with both earcons and auditory icons (AICLMS).The use of expressive avatars in the e-CLMS interface contributed to the positive predisposition of usersto develop loyalty. Multimodal metaphors contributed more significantly to complex customisation tasks. A set of empirically derived guidelines and a validation approach is suggested for designing multimodal E-CLMS interfaces.

Bakgrund: Smärta från rörelseorganen ligger bakom många sjukskrivningar. För att stärka den medicinska rehabiliteringen gjorde Socialdepartementet en överenskommelse med Sveriges kommuner och landsting 2008; Rehabgarantin. Den insats som skulle få prestationsersättning var multimodal rehabilitering. I Landstinget Dalarna har man startat multimodala team med resurser från Rehabgarantin i primärvården. Denna uppsats beskriver ett sådant teams uppbyggnad och faktorer som personal uppfattar som viktiga för teamets uppbyggnad och arbete. Syfte: Syftet med förändringsarbetet är att patienter med långvarig värk ska få ett snabbt och adekvat omhändertagande av ett team som har kunskaper och erfarenhet av att jobba tillsammans. Studiefrågor: Vilka effekter för patienterna kan kopplas till ansatsen att skapa multimodal rehabilitering på en primärvårdspraktik? Vilka faktorer, upplever personal på vårdcentralen, har påver-kat skapandet av ett smärtteam på vårdcentralen? Metod: En blandad studie med flera metoder för datainsamling. Öppen intervju med personal, strukturerad telefonintervju med patienter och journalgranskning. Resultat: Smärtteamet har lyckats påverka arbetsåtergången och patienterna har en positiv upp-levelse av genomförandet av rehabiliteringen där de varit med och skapat en rehabiliteringsplan. De faktorer som personal upplever har påverkat smärtteamets uppbyggnad är: syfte, mätningar, patientcentrering, samarbete, miljö, engagemang, information, stöd från ledning och tid. Diskussion: Oavsett om man fokuserar på ett teams uppbyggnad eller generellt på ett förbättringsarbete återkommer vissa faktorer som viktiga. Här ingår en tydlig plan för arbetet där deltagarna ställer sig bakom syftet med det arbete som man i teamet ska utföra och kontinuerliga mätningar för att öka engagemanget för deltagarna i arbetet och de som direkt eller indirekt berörs av arbetet. Vidare finns det en vinst att skapa sig en gemensam bild av vad vi tillsammans ska uppnå. Vidare forskning behövs av effekterna av teamarbete med smärtpatienter. Patientnytta och ekonomiska konsekvenser behöver kartläggas. Är multimodal rehabilitering det bästa alternativet eller kan intermediär rehabilitering vara ett alternativ för små enheter?

Designing a completely secure and trusted system is a challenge that still needs to be addressed. Currently, there is no online system that is: (i) easy to use, (ii) easy to deploy, (iii) inexpensive, and (iv) completely secure and trusted. The proposed authentication techniques aim to enhance security and trust for video applications in the untrustworthy online environments. We propose a transparent multimodal biometric authentication (TMBA) for video conferencing applications. The user is identified based on his/her physiological and behavioral biometrics. The technique is based on a ‘Steps-Free’ method, where the user does not have to perform any specific steps during authentication. The system will authenticate the user in a transparent way. We propose authentication techniques as an additional security layer for various ‘user-to-user’ and ‘user-to-service’ systems. For ‘user-to-user’ video conferencing systems, we propose an authentication and trust establishment procedure to identify users during a video conference. This technique enables users that have never met before to verify the identity of each other, and aims at enhancing the user’s trust in each other. For ‘user-to-service’ video conferencing systems, we propose a transparent multimodal biometric authentication technique for video banking. The technique can be added to online transaction systems as an additional security layer to enhance the security of online transactions, and to resist against web attacks, malware, and Man-In-The-Browser (MITB) attacks. In order to have a video banking conference between a user and a bank employee, the user has to be logged in to an online banking session. This requires a knowledge-based authentication. Knowledge-based authentication includes a text-based password, the ‘Challenge Questions’ method, and graphical passwords. We analyzed several graphical password schemes in terms of usability and security factors. A graphical password scheme can be an additional security layer add-on to the proposed multimodal biometric video banking system. The combined techniques provide a multimodal biometric multi-factor continuous authentication system.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo desenvolver um método de segmentação de cenas em vídeos digitais que trate segmentos semânticamente complexos. Como prova de conceito, é apresentada uma abordagem multimodal que utiliza uma definição mais geral para cenas em telejornais, abrangendo tanto cenas onde âncoras aparecem quanto cenas onde nenhum âncora aparece. Desse modo, os resultados obtidos da técnica multimodal foram signifiativamente melhores quando comparados com os resultados obtidos das técnicas monomodais aplicadas em separado. Os testes foram executados em quatro grupos de telejornais brasileiros obtidos de duas emissoras de TV diferentes, cada qual contendo cinco edições, totalizando vinte telejornais / This work aims to develop a method for scene segmentation in digital video which deals with semantically complex segments. As proof of concept, we present a multimodal approach that uses a more general definition for TV news scenes, covering both: scenes where anchors appear on and scenes where no anchor appears. The results of the multimodal technique were significantly better when compared with the results from monomodal techniques applied separately. The tests were performed in four groups of Brazilian news programs obtained from two different television stations, containing five editions each, totaling twenty newscasts

The reasons for choosing or promoting a certain way of transporting goods are dependent on a multitude of factors. Shippers will be interested in reliable logistics and low cost, while authorities are in general more concerned with relieving congestion and minimizing the environmental impact of transport in general. Historically, transport analysts have mainly focused on either economic or environmental aspects, but have hardly ever joined the two. This thesis aims to achieve an integrated approach to the assessment of transport, in this case focused on intermodal chains at a micro level. This means we focus on the performance of the entire intermodal logistic chain as a whole and not on the performance of each transport mode. During the three last years, we have participated in the European funded 6th framework project CREATING, where we have been the leader of the work package in charge of the assessment activities. To achieve this task, we developed an integrated assessment framework that can translate quantitative and qualitative values into a single performance indicator. This model is implemented in usable software, quite easily understandable by the users. The impacts considered in the integrated assessment framework are related to various performance areas: the economy, the environment, the logistics and the safety. The logistics and the safety are directly taken in charge by the software while the economy and the environment require the use of an underlying model developed by colleagues from Delft University, working in close relation with the model developed within this thesis: LODA stating for Logistic Optimization and Decision Aiding. The Delft model provides outputs related to the costs and the environmental impacts of transport chains based on technical aspects of transport means. These outputs are directly imported in LODA to perform the integrated evaluation. A list of indicators is elaborated for each performance domain. After a first aggregation step, the model provides four global indexes presenting the performance of transport projects related to the four above-mentioned fields. These four aggregations are realized by means of a multicriteria decision aiding method named PROMETHEE stating for Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment and Evaluation and other aggregation methods such as a sum and an average. Then, a final indicator provides the global performance of transport projects by aggregating the indexes into one global score by using the PROMETHEE method. This single indicator makes possible to rank the scenarios on the basis of the aggregated performances. In addition, it is possible to test the robustness of the ranking on the basis of different weights. The assessment framework developed in this thesis is demonstrated by means of cases under evaluation in the CREATING project. The first case covers the transport of cargo from Germany to South-Eastern Europe by road and by intermodal scenarios featuring RORO (stating for Roll-on / Roll-off) waterborne transport along the Danube. This case highlights the major benefits of an intermodal transport compared to an all-road transport regarding the pollution, the reduction of accidents as well as the positive impacts on the costs and the logistics. iii The second case revolves around the transport of biomass on a lake in the Paijanne area in Finland. The woodchips are used as an important source of energy by a local power plant which plans to increase its activity in the coming years. The increase demand of biomass will generate a lot of traffic which can not be absorbed by the only road transport. So, regarding the lake system, the waterborne transport alternative could be an efficient solution to ensure the sustainable development of biomass transport in that area. The third case is dedicated to the study of conditioned banana transport (temperature controlled and kept under an atmosphere with reduced amounts of oxygen). The bananas arrive in Antwerp, from South America, by seagoing reefer ships and have to be transported to ripening houses in Strasbourg. This transport is currently realized by truck. The impacts of intermodal transport alternatives are studied and show that intermodal transport can perform better than an all-road transport. Finally, the integrated assessment framework is applied to the transport of chemicals over the inland waterways in the Netherlands. This transport is currently done by single hulled ships which need to be replaced by double hulled ships in the near future while the transport by road could take a slight shortcut. Once again, the model demonstrates the competitiveness of inland navigation. The above-mentioned cases highlight the possible application of our model in real conditions while possible further developments can be identified regarding the internalization of external transport impacts. On the basis of the case studies, it appears that intermodal transport represents a pertinent alternative to all-road transport allowing a better modal balancing.

The research describes the experience of a beginning special education teacher who examined and adapted her teaching practices to attempt to meet the learning needs of the young struggling readers and writers with whom she was working. Autoethnography allowed the researcher to probe and analyze her classroom practice. As the researcher shares her teaching experiences simplistic solutions to reading difficulties are discounted as ineffective. The hegemony of standards-based instruction and assessment practices are challenged. An educational system whereby some students are labeled as deficient due to their sociocultural or socioeconomic differences is viewed through a critical lens. The researcher proposes that fostering students’ freedom to express their knowledge using multimodal expression while supporting students within their zones of proximal development is the key to enhancing literacy learning. Creating learning opportunities that allow students to build on their strengths and pursue their interests ameliorates the injustice of the typical skill drill lessons regularly prescribed for students struggling in school. Teachers need to be respected as professionals who can make programming decisions that are specifically designed to support students at their level of need.

Designing a completely secure and trusted system is a challenge that still needs to be addressed. Currently, there is no online system that is: (i) easy to use, (ii) easy to deploy, (iii) inexpensive, and (iv) completely secure and trusted. The proposed authentication techniques aim to enhance security and trust for video applications in the untrustworthy online environments. We propose a transparent multimodal biometric authentication (TMBA) for video conferencing applications. The user is identified based on his/her physiological and behavioral biometrics. The technique is based on a ‘Steps-Free’ method, where the user does not have to perform any specific steps during authentication. The system will authenticate the user in a transparent way. We propose authentication techniques as an additional security layer for various ‘user-to-user’ and ‘user-to-service’ systems. For ‘user-to-user’ video conferencing systems, we propose an authentication and trust establishment procedure to identify users during a video conference. This technique enables users that have never met before to verify the identity of each other, and aims at enhancing the user’s trust in each other. For ‘user-to-service’ video conferencing systems, we propose a transparent multimodal biometric authentication technique for video banking. The technique can be added to online transaction systems as an additional security layer to enhance the security of online transactions, and to resist against web attacks, malware, and Man-In-The-Browser (MITB) attacks. In order to have a video banking conference between a user and a bank employee, the user has to be logged in to an online banking session. This requires a knowledge-based authentication. Knowledge-based authentication includes a text-based password, the ‘Challenge Questions’ method, and graphical passwords. We analyzed several graphical password schemes in terms of usability and security factors. A graphical password scheme can be an additional security layer add-on to the proposed multimodal biometric video banking system. The combined techniques provide a multimodal biometric multi-factor continuous authentication system.

This paper presents a study of educational materials used in Swedish language education. The aim of the study is to understand in which way multimodal resources can be used in texts, to benefit in the process of meaning making among pupils in the nine-year compulsory school. The theoretical framework used as a basis for understanding and analysing these educational materials is the social semiotic multimodal perspective and the design theoretical multimodal perspective. The study is a multimodal text analysis but it also involves analyses of the syllabi connected to the subject of Swedish language education. The extended concept of text was introduced in the year of 2000 in the syllabus and today multimodal texts are supposed to be part of the Swedish language education. In course of this study the researcher found that multimodal resources can be used in different ways to benefit in the process of meaning making. The study shows that the use of resources is connected to the different aims among texts and to the affordances of meaning making resources.  The aim of texts differs among and in-between the educational materials connected to the different syllabi.  The researcher also found that the texts supposed to be included in Swedish language education has increased since the extended concept of text was introduced and according to the process of time. Pupils however, aren´t introduced to strategies for dealing with these new kinds of texts, in the same extent.

Designing a completely secure and trusted system is a challenge that still needs to be addressed. Currently, there is no online system that is: (i) easy to use, (ii) easy to deploy, (iii) inexpensive, and (iv) completely secure and trusted. The proposed authentication techniques aim to enhance security and trust for video applications in the untrustworthy online environments. We propose a transparent multimodal biometric authentication (TMBA) for video conferencing applications. The user is identified based on his/her physiological and behavioral biometrics. The technique is based on a ‘Steps-Free’ method, where the user does not have to perform any specific steps during authentication. The system will authenticate the user in a transparent way. We propose authentication techniques as an additional security layer for various ‘user-to-user’ and ‘user-to-service’ systems. For ‘user-to-user’ video conferencing systems, we propose an authentication and trust establishment procedure to identify users during a video conference. This technique enables users that have never met before to verify the identity of each other, and aims at enhancing the user’s trust in each other. For ‘user-to-service’ video conferencing systems, we propose a transparent multimodal biometric authentication technique for video banking. The technique can be added to online transaction systems as an additional security layer to enhance the security of online transactions, and to resist against web attacks, malware, and Man-In-The-Browser (MITB) attacks. In order to have a video banking conference between a user and a bank employee, the user has to be logged in to an online banking session. This requires a knowledge-based authentication. Knowledge-based authentication includes a text-based password, the ‘Challenge Questions’ method, and graphical passwords. We analyzed several graphical password schemes in terms of usability and security factors. A graphical password scheme can be an additional security layer add-on to the proposed multimodal biometric video banking system. The combined techniques provide a multimodal biometric multi-factor continuous authentication system.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo desenvolver um método de segmentação de cenas em vídeos digitais que trate segmentos semânticamente complexos. Como prova de conceito, é apresentada uma abordagem multimodal que utiliza uma definição mais geral para cenas em telejornais, abrangendo tanto cenas onde âncoras aparecem quanto cenas onde nenhum âncora aparece. Desse modo, os resultados obtidos da técnica multimodal foram signifiativamente melhores quando comparados com os resultados obtidos das técnicas monomodais aplicadas em separado. Os testes foram executados em quatro grupos de telejornais brasileiros obtidos de duas emissoras de TV diferentes, cada qual contendo cinco edições, totalizando vinte telejornais / This work aims to develop a method for scene segmentation in digital video which deals with semantically complex segments. As proof of concept, we present a multimodal approach that uses a more general definition for TV news scenes, covering both: scenes where anchors appear on and scenes where no anchor appears. The results of the multimodal technique were significantly better when compared with the results from monomodal techniques applied separately. The tests were performed in four groups of Brazilian news programs obtained from two different television stations, containing five editions each, totaling twenty newscasts