På CBH (Skolan för kemi, bioteknologi och hälsa) har en mikro-CT utvecklats, men med förbättringspotential gällande användbarheten. Målet med kandidatexamensarbetet var att förbättra mjukvaran genom att automatisera tre olika aspekter av manuell datahantering: Dels att placera filerna i en mapp med namn kopplat till valda bildtagningsinställningar. Dels att kopiera data via SCP mellan två datorer kopplade till mikro-CT:n. Samt att radera kopierade data från disken som preliminärt sparar filerna. För att möjliggöra en automatisk dataöverföring implementerades ett SSH-nyckelpar med publik nyckelautentisering mellan de två datorerna. Till den befintliga mjukvaran tillades ett skript samt en klass med handhavande över de tre automatiseringsaspekterna. Genom användargränssnittet hämtar klassen inledningsvis information om bildtagningsinställningarna till mappnamnet och när bildtagningen är klar anropar programkoden skriptfilen som utför SCP-kopieringen. Därefter kontrolleras att inga data gått förlorade under överföringen, varefter en radering av de kopierade filerna utförs på den ursprungliga disken. Den nya klassen förbättrar mikro-CT:ns användarvänlighet och underlättar hanteringen av data efter en bildtagning. / At CBH (The School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health) a micro-CT has been developed, but the system has potential improvement regarding the usability. The purpose of this bachelor’s thesis was to improve the software by automatizing three aspects of manual data handling: Firstly to place the data in a folder with a name related to the obtained acquisition settings. Secondly to transfer files through SCP between the two computers connected to the micro-CT. Lastly to delete the copied data from the disk that initially saves the files. In order to automate the data transfer an SSH key pair with public key authentication was implemented between the two computers. To the existing software a script as well as a class controlling the three automation aspects were added. From the user interface, the class initially retrieves information about the acquisition settings to the folder name and when the acquisition is complete, the program code calls the script file that performs the SCP transfer. Afterwards a verification is made that no data was lost during the transfer, after which a deletion of the copied files is performed on the original disk. The new class improves the usability of the micro-CT and facilitates the handling of data after an acquisition.

Our earths resources are not endless, so it is important to avoid wasting our planets natural resources. Recycling metal saves 95% more energy than producing new metal from ore, which is why it is necessary to reuse metal. Waste sorting is very important in today’s modern society as the demand for metals is increasing at a rapid rate. Landfills are overfilled, lots of energy is required to mine ore and produce metal’s, thus metals should be used sparingly and recycled. Considering all these aspects, we felt an urgent need to look into other methods to make recycling metal easier. The most common way waste sorting is done in today’s society is manually. We are trying to make it automatic to have a higher percentage of correct sorts and to make it easier and faster for consumers to sort their waste. The purpose of this project is to construct a prototype which will automatically sort metal and non-metal waste. By using an inductive proximity sensor, the prototype will be able to distinguish if the object is made of metal. Using a stepper motor, two waste bins, one for metal objects and the other for non-metal objects, will rotate depending on if the inductive proximity sensor gives a signal or not. Ultrasonic sensors were used to detect if an object was present and needed to be sorted. Two ultrasonic sensors gave an increase of 118% accuracy in comparison to using only one ultrasonic sensor. The purpose of the project is achieved, resulting in an automatic waste sorter that is user-friendly and can assist the user in daily waste sorting. However this prototype is limited to objects smaller than 65 millimeters in diameter, and in future work the prototype could be expanded. / Vår planets resurser är inte oändliga och därför är det nödvändigt att undvika slöseri av vår planets naturresurser. Att återvinna metall sparar 95% mer energi än att producera ny metall från malm, därför är det nödvändigt att återanvända metall. Avfallssortering är mycket viktigt i dagens samhälle då efterfrågan på metaller ökar i snabb takt. Deponier är överfyllda, mycket energi krävs för att bryta malm och producera metaller, därför bör metaller användas sparsamt och återvinnas. Med tanke på alla dessa aspekter kände vi ett akut behov av att undersöka andra metoder för att göra återvinning av metall enklare. Det vanligaste sättet att sortera avfall i dagens samhälle är manuellt. Vi försöker göra det automatiskt för att få en högre andel korrekta sorteringar och för att göra det enklare och snabbare för konsumenterna att sortera sitt avfall. Syftet med detta projekt är att konstruera en prototyp som automatiskt sorterar metall- och icke-metall avfall. Genom att använda en induktiv närhetssensor kan prototypen urskilja om föremålet är gjort av metall eller inte. Med hjälp av en stegmotor kommer två avfallskärl, en för metallföremål och en för icke-metallföremål, att rotera beroende på om den induktiva närhetssensorn ger en signal eller inte. Ultraljudssensorer användes för att upptäcka om ett föremål fanns i behållaren och behövde sorteras. Två ultraljudssensorer gav en ökning på 118% noggrannhet jämfört med att endast använda en ultraljudssensor. Syftet med projektet har uppnåts, vilket har resulterat i en automatisk avfallssorterare som är användarvänlig och kan hjälpa användaren i dens dagliga sopsortering. Denna prototyp är dock begränsad till föremål som är mindre än 65 millimeter i diameter, och i framtida arbeten kan prototypen utökas.

This paper was aimed to study if and how business leaders’ leadership style change throughout the life cycle of a business. Leadership has long been a well-studied area, where research has primarily focused on larger business sizes. Therefore, the essay writers found it interesting to instead study leadership from a micro and small business perspective. The study has used a qualitative research method with semi-structured interviews as the data collection method. The method was chosen based on the essay writers' desire to gain insight into the respondents' experiences and perspectives on the study subject. The collected data was then analyzed through a theory-driven thematic analysis based on the study's theoretical framework. The data was analyzed based on the theories of company life cycle phases and leadership styles in an attempt to answer the study's purpose and research question. The conclusion showed that corporate leaders' leadership styles are partially absolute and partially dynamic. The absolute leadership style was expressed during stable circumstances and phases, while the dynamic leadership style emerged during demanding and challenging situations and phases. Furthermore, it was found that leadership styles changed more significantly if the phases or circumstances required other leadership methods than the methods that the leader's absolute leadership style is characterized by. The change in leadership styles is therefore based on which life cycle phase the company is in, but also on the leadership style that the leader possesses fundamentally. / Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att undersöka om och hur ledarskapsstilar hos företagsledare förändras i takt med företags livscykelfaser. Ledarskap har länge varit ett välstuderat ämnesområde, där forskningen främst har varit inriktad mot de större företagsstorlekarna. Därför fann uppsatsskribenterna det intressant att istället studera ledarskap ifrån mikro-och småföretagsperspektiv. Studien har tillämpat en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med semistrukturerade intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Metodvalet baserades på att uppsatsskribenternas önskan att få ta del av respondenternas erfarenheter och perspektiv kring studieämnet. Därefter analyserades insamlad data genom en teoristyrd tematisk analys som baserades på studiens teoretiska referensram. Hädanefter analyserades datan utifrån teorierna om företagslivscykelfaserna och ledarskapsstilar i ansats att besvara studiens syfte och frågeställning. Slutsatsen påvisade att företagsledares ledarskapsstilar delvis är absoluta och delvis dynamiska. Den absoluta ledarskapsstilen kom till uttryck under stabila omständigheter och faser medan den dynamiska ledarskapsstilen framträdde vid krävande och utmanande situationer och faser. Vidare kunde det konstateras att ledarskapsstilarna förändrades mer avsevärt om faserna eller uppkomna omständigheter krävde andra ledarmetoder än de metoder som ledarens absoluta ledarskapsstil karakteriseras av. Förändringen i ledarskapsstilar baseras därav på vilken fas i livscykeln företaget befinner sig inom men även vilken ledarskapsstil ledaren innehar i grunden.

The dissertation thesis is focused on research and development in the field of microfabrication by the technology of electron beam lithography. In the first part of this work, the extensive study is conducted in the field of technology of electron beam lithography in terms of physical principles, writing strategies and resist materials. This is followed with description of physical principles of etching for the transfer of relief structures into substrates. The thesis describes innovative techniques in modelling, simulation, data preparation and optimization of manufacturing technology. It brings new possibilities to record deep binary or multilevel microstructures using electron beam lithography, plasma and reactive ion etching technology. Experience and knowledge in the large area of microlithography, plasma and anisotropic wet-etching of silicon have been capitalized to the design process of manufacturing of nano-patterned membranes. It was followed with practical verification and optimization of the microfabrication process.

This dissertation offers demonstrations of autonomous catalytic microtubes (microjet engines) with tunable diameters ranging from micro- to nanoscale and lengths from 50 μm to 1 mm. These results open the door to effective microengines and represent the entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for “the smallest man-made jet engine.” Several attractive methodologies of machine-based functions at the micro- and nanoscale are shown. For instance, catalytic Ti/Cr/Pt microjets, which are integrated on a planar substrate, can operate as “on chip” chemical micropumps by decomposition of hydrogen peroxide fuel into oxygen bubbles and water. When released from a substrate, microjets self-propel autonomously in solution. The incorporation of ferromagnetic layer (Fe) into the rolled-up geometry enables their remote control using external magnetic field. Such microjets were used to load, transport, deliver and assemble multiple cargo particles, including biological cells in bulk solutions and microfluidic channels. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that for microjets that are fixed to or self-propelled above a platinum patterned surface, the microengine power/speed can be controlled using a white lightsource. A change in intensity of the white light leads to a controllable switching “off” and “on” of the microengine power on demand. Light degrades a local concentration of the hydrogen peroxide fuel and surface tension and subsequently suppresses the generation of oxygen microbubbles. In the next step, the diameter of the microjets was rigorously reduced to 250 nm by using hybrid heteroepitaxial/catalytic InGaAs/GaAs/Cr/Pt nanotubes. Due to asymmetry of the rolled-up layers, these nanojets move in corkscrew-like motions and act as “self-propelled nanotools,” which were used in the next step to transport yeast cells and drill into fixed cancer Hela cells. Although it is well-known that hydrogen peroxide cannot be used to sustain viable cellular function, it is however conceivable that alternative fuels, such as glucose, might enable operation of such nanotools under biologically compatible conditions. As a first step to achieve this goal, demonstrations were made using metal-enzyme biocatalytic Ti/Au/SAM/Catalase microengines. Synthetic components with competing interactions are well-suited to study the emergence of their collective behavior, such as swarms of large numbers of individuals. Microengines’ self-organization in bistable swarms is shown at the air-liquid interface of the mixture of propylene carbonate and hydrogen peroxide. Microengines act as “water striders.” Buoyed by oxygen bubbles, they self-propel via the microbubble recoiling mechanism and, depending on the bubbles’ sizes, self-organize into swarms due to the meniscus climbing effect. These reversible swarms depend on the microengine power, which competes against attracting surface tension force. The demonstrated microjet engines show great promise for emerging applications, including biomedical, on-chip, environmental, and robotic micromachines. Furthermore, a key method discovered, entitled “rolled-up nanotechnology on polymers,” allowed for the fabrication of highly parallel arrays of microtubes with multiple functionalities and aimed for different purposes.

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Performance management is an activity of the greatest of importance in any organization, whether that organisation functions within the public or private sector. The importance of performance management has however grown greatly within the public sector due to a renewed focus on efficiency, effectiveness and economy of actions. Within an environment increasingly characterised by a scarcity of resources, the application of performance management has therefore become an essential component. This applied research study hence examines the role of performance management within the public sector. The importance of this essay is due to the fact that very limited research has been done in this field in So~th Africa concerning the modification and application of performance management, which was primarily a private sector initiative, on the more complex public sector. By making use of historical and descriptive research methods, the researcher furthermore analyses the usage of performance management within a particular educational facility. This research study therefore focuses on the formulation and implementation of a performance management instrument for the measurement of the performance of administrative and support personnel employed by the specific educational facility, with the objective to solve existing performance problems within the organisation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Prestasiebestuur is 'n aktiwiteit wat van allergrootste belang is in enige organisasie, hetsy die organisasie in die private sektor of die openbare sektor funksioneer. Die belangrike rol van prestasiebestuur binne die openbare sektor het egter aansienlik gegroei met die openbare sektor se hernude fokus op effektiwiteit, doeltreffendheid en ekonomie van aktiwiteite. Binne 'n omgewing wat toenemend gekenmerk word deur 'n skaarsheid van hulpbronne, word die toepassing van prestasiebestuur gevolglik 'n ononbeerlike komponent. Vervolgens bestudeer hierdie toegepaste meestersvlak navorsingstuk die rol van prestasiebestuur binne die openbare sektor. Die uiterste belangrikheid van hierdie navorsingstuk spruit uit die beperkte hoeveelheid navorsing wat daar binne hierdie veld gedoen is rakende die aanpassing en toepassing van prestasiebestuur, wat aanvanklik slegs binne die privaat sektor gebruik is, op die meer komplekse openbare sektor. Verder ondersoek die navorser deur middel van historiese en beskrywende navorsingsmetodes ook die gebruik van prestasiebestuur binne 'n spesifieke onderwysinstelling. Die werkstuk fokus gevolglik op die formulering en implementering van 'n prestasie metingsinstrument vir die meting van die prestasie van administratiewe en ondersteuningspersoneel verbonde aan die spesifieke onderwysinstelling, met die oog daarop om bestaande prestasie probleme binne die organisasie op te los.

<p>Tematika disertacije obuhvata projektovanje, izradu i karakterizaciju pasivnih induktivnih RF komponenti u PCB i LTCC tehnologiji, kao i poboljšanje njihovih performansi. Izvršena je i karakterizacijarazličitih tipova dielektričnih i feritnih&nbsp; LTCC materijala koji su korišćeni za izradu komponenti. Ukupno je projektovano i izrađeno 37 struktura, 14 induktora i 23 transformatora. Na poboljšanje karakteristika projektovanih struktura, koje se ogleda prvenstveno u povećanju induktivnosti zavojaka, uticalo se izradom projektovanih struktura na supstratima izrađenih od različitih materijala, supstratima formiranih od kombinacije materijala različitih karakteristika, redizajnom osnovnih (polaznih) geometrija struktura i optimizcijom parametara LTCC postupka izrade.</p> / <p>Topic of this theases focuses on design, fabrication and characterization of industive passive RF components in PCB and LTCC technology, as well as on improvement of their performances. Characterization of different types ofdielectric and ferrite LTCC materials that were implemented for component fabrication was also performed. In total, 37 structures were designed and fabricated, of those 14 are inductor structures and 23 are transformers. Performance improvement of designed structures that is manifested through increase of inductance value of structures windings implied fabrication of designed components on substrates formed from different materials, or from combination of two or more materials with different properties, redesign of original design and optimization of LTCC fabrication process parameters.</p>

Potentielle Steuerreformen befinden sich regelmäßig auf der Tagesordnung der politischen Diskussion in Deutschland und Europa. Die erwarteten Aufkommens- und Verteilungswirkungen von Steuerreformen werden von Simulationsmodellen quantifiziert, die damit der politischen Entscheidungsunterstützung dienen. Bisherige Simulationsmodelle basieren auf makroökonomischen oder unternehmensindividuellen Daten und führen die Analyse für einen historischen Zeitraum oder für einzelne Länder durch. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellen die Beiträge dieser Dissertation das Design, die Implementierung und die Anwendung des Mikro-Simulationsmodells ASSERT dar. ASSERT basiert auf unkonsolidierten Jahresabschlussdaten sowie Beteiligungsbeziehungen europäischer Unternehmen, länderspezifischen Parameterdaten und berücksichtigt die nationalen Besteuerungsvorschriften der europäischen Länder. Die Simulation der zukünftigen Unternehmensentwicklung erlaubt eine vorwärtsgerichtete Analyse für mögliche nationale oder europäische Steuerreformszenarien unter Unsicherheit. Dabei werden Auswirkungen auf inländische und ausländische verbundene Unternehmen berücksichtigt. Das formale und steuerliche Design von ASSERT wird in Beitrag 1 erläutert. Die Anwendung von ASSERT erfolgt dann in Beitrag 2. Ziel dieses Beitrags ist die Quantifizierung der Auswirkungen möglicher Reformszenarien zur alternativen Besteuerung der ertragsteuerlichen Organschaft in Deutschland. Die Präsentation des Entwicklungsprozesses, des optimierten IT-Designs und der Implementierung ist Gegenstand von Beitrag 3. Zunächst wurde ASSERT für eine zeitnahe Realisierung funktionenorientiert konzipiert und realisiert. Nachfolgend wurde ein ganzheitliches Datenbankdesign und ein integriertes Programm-Paket erstellt, um Verbesserungen der Performance und der Wartbarkeit zu erzielen. Da zu erwarten ist, dass unternehmerische Entscheidungen durch Steuerreformen beeinflusst werden, werden in Beitrag 4 Verhaltensreaktionen in Bezug auf die Finanzierungsstruktur berücksichtigt und die resultierenden Zweitrundeneffekte für verschiedene Szenarien ermittelt. Die Modellierung der Zielkapitalstruktur erfolgt in Abhängigkeit des tariflichen, des marginalen Steuersatzes und weiteren Konzerncharakteristika.

This thesis examines the role of authenticity, its elements and manifestations in the process of developing a relationship between micro-celebrities and their fans. The issue is demonstrated by the example of YouTube, the most important video-sharing site. Part of the issue is whether the YouTube content creators and their subscribers develop parasocial relationships as defined by Horton and Wohl (1956), and authenticity as an element that sets the relationship between micro-celebrities and their fans apart from the relationship between traditional celebrities and their fans. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with concepts that are associated with development of the micro-celebrity phenomenon, discusses the concepts of micro-celebrity and authenticity themselves, and expounds the parasocial relationships theory. Analysis of the role of authenticity in the process of developing the relationship between micro-celebrities and their fans is based on qualitative research that draws from interviews with micro-celebrities and their fans and the analysis of videos and comments by which viewers respond to them.

The goal of the thesis is creating marketing strategy of small intuitive driven family business. Small and medium sized entities where Sprint belongs, have defined marketing strategy rarely. Therefore marketing strategy and its implementation into the management is big competitive advantage. Theoretic part of the thesis includes strategic analysis of external and internal environment of the enterprise which is summarized by SWOT analysis. Marketing strategy based on strategic analysis conclusions is defined in several areas: main marketing goals, human resources, product portfolio, price, distribution and communication.