The purpose of this study is to shed more light on whether the investment tax credit is effective in stimulating capital investment. The sample includes 104 local cooperatives. The majority of the data was collected from the files of the St. Paul, Minnesota, Bank for Cooperatives. The study has a single purpose of determining whether the changes to the Internal Revenue Code in the Revenue Tax Act of 1978 had an effect on the capital expenditure levels of farm supply cooperatives. In 1978 the investment tax credit became fully available to cooperatives. Previous abatement rules were abolished, and unused credit was then passed through in full to the cooperative membership. The research model employed is a pooled time-series and cross-sectional approach, and includes data for years 1975 through 1983. In addition to capital expenditure data, the company-specific variables are debt/asset ratio, local margin, and net margin. Economic variables are a net interest-inflation rate factor, cash receipts from farming, and loan volume of banks for cooperatives. Also included are dummy variables 0 and 1, trend variables 1-9, and interaction variables for all the main-effects variables.

The aim of this master„s thesis is detailed study of multipilot airliner?s crew in sence of optimalization of its actions, which is known as Crew Resource Management (CRM). This paper shows what is the main purpose of CRM through the air crash investigations and human factor analysis. According to this findings, the last chapter presents problems of flight crew planning and personnel selection.

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Global consumption of organophosphate esters (OPs), which are used as flame retardants and plasticizers, is rapidly increasing. Their use as additives in diverse applications poses a risk as they may be emitted from the products they are added to and be further transported in the environment. Therefore, the levels, distribution, and possible sources of 15 OPs, some of which are reported to be toxic, were investigated in indoor and outdoor environments. An exposure assessment was performed, and the exposure to OPs via inhalation was examined for five occupational groups. In addition, based on the findings of the studies, the total flow of OPs in Sweden was estimated. In indoor environments, the OPs detected in air and dust varied between the sites, but generally reflected the building materials, furniture etc. used in the premises. A majority of the analysed OPs were detected in all samples, and public buildings tended to have higher levels than domestic buildings. The chlorinated OPs dominated in indoor air and wipe samples from vehicles. They were also abundant in the dust samples. Some occupational groups were significantly more exposed to OPs than others. Aircraft technicians, for example, were exposed to about 500 times more tributyl phosphate than day care centre personnel. Upon domestic and industrial cleaning, OPs are discharged with the wastewater via the sewage system to sewage treatment plants (STPs). Irrespective of the size of the STPs investigated, they had similar levels of OPs in their influents, indicating that products containing OPs are widely used by the communities they serve. In some cases, it was possible to trace elevated levels of individual OPs to specific sources. The OPs were poorly removed from the wastewater, and the chlorinated OPs especially tended to pass through the STPs without being removed or degraded. Thus, levels of OPs in their effluents were also similar, as were the levels in their sludge. Of the total amounts of OPs entering the STPs, 50% was emitted to the recipients via the effluent. Hence, there is room for significant improvement in the treatment processes. Carps living in a pond, receiving STP effluent were found to contain relatively high levels of OPs compared to perch collected in lakes from background locations. Air and road traffic were also identified as sources of OPs: the concentration of total OPs in snow samples decreased with increasing distance from a major road intersection, and OPs were detected in aircraft lubricants and hydraulic fluids and in waste oil from cars and lorries. OPs are emitted from both diffuse and direct sources to the environment and may then be spread by long-range air transport, rivers and streams. This probably explains why OPs were also detected in air and fish from background locations. Finally, OPs are ubiquitous substances in both indoor and outdoor environments. The possibility that prolonged exposure to OPs at the levels found may cause adverse effects, for instance in aqueous organisms, cannot be excluded. For example, the OP levels in snow were of the same magnitude as reported effect concentrations. Similarly, in some premises, indoor exposure to OPs was close to the suggested guideline value. However, since these studies include only a limited number of samples, and data regarding the health and environmental effects of OPs are sparse, no definitive conclusions regarding their possible environmental effects can be drawn. / Den globala konsumtionen av organiska fosfatestrar (OP) för användning som flamskyddsmedel och mjukgörare har ökat kraftigt på senare tid. Det breda användningsområdet för dessa additiv medför en risk att de kan avges från de produkter de är satta till och transporteras vidare ut i miljön. Följaktligen undersöktes källor till, halter av, och fördelning i inom- och utomhusmiljöer av 15 OP, varav en del har toxiska effekter. Vidare har exponering för OP i bl.a bostäder och offentliga byggnader beräknats. Utöver detta undersöktes exponeringen för OP via inandning hos 5 yrkesgrupper. Slutligen användes resultaten för att uppskatta det totala flödet av OP i Sverige. I de olika inomhusmiljöerna uppmättes ett flertal OP i varierande halter i damm och luft, men generellt speglade halterna byggnadsmaterial, möbler etc. som fanns i lokalerna. De offentliga lokalerna tenderade att uppvisa högre halter än privata hus, förmodligen beroende på högre brandskyddskrav. Klorerade OP dominerade i inomhusluft samt i avstrykningsprov från fordon och förekom även i höga halter i damm. Vissa yrkesgrupper var exponerade för betydligt högre halter OP än andra, t.ex. exponerades flygtekniker för upp till 500 ggr högre lufthalter av tributylfosfat jämfört med förskollärare. I samband med våtskurning i inomhusmiljöer (hushåll, industrilokaler, osv.) släpps avsevärda mängder OP ut i avloppet och når till sist reningsverk. Oberoende av storlek på reningsverken var halterna av OP relativt lika, i vardera ingående vatten och slam, vilket indikerar en bred användning av OP i samhället. I vissa fall kunde specifika källor till OP i avloppsvattnet spåras. Exempelvis hade två av reningsverken högre halter av en klorerad OP jämfört med övriga reningsverk. Dessa behandlade vatten från en skumplastfabrik, respektive en fabrik som tillverkar flamskyddad färg. Avskiljningsgraden av OP från avloppsvatten visade sig generellt vara dålig, i synnerhet klorerade OP tenderade att passera genom reningsverken utan att degraderas eller avskiljas från vattnet. Av den mängd OP som nådde reningsverken släpptes 50 % ut till miljön via utflödet. Som ett resultat av detta uppvisade karpar från en damm påverkad av utflödet från ett reningsverk höga halter OP jämfört med abborrar från referenssjöar. Det finns därför anledning att förbättra tekniken på reningsverken. Flyg- och vägtrafik kunde också identifieras som källor till OP i miljön. OP uppmättes i hydrauloljor och smörjmedel för flygplan samt i spillolja från bilar och lastbilar. Vidare minskade totalhalten OP i snöprov med ökat avstånd från en större vägkorsning. OP släpps således ut från både diffusa och direkta källor och kan sedan spridas vidare via luft och vattendrag. Därmed var det inte förvånande att OP även påträffades i luft och fisk från bakgrundslokaler. Avslutningsvis förekommer OP i varierande halter i såväl inom- som utomhusmiljöer. Det kan inte uteslutas att långvarig exponering för de halter av OP som uppmätts skulle kunna orsaka negativa effekter hos t.ex vatten- eller jordlevande organismer. I smälta snöprov från en flygplats uppmättes exempelvis halter av OP i samma storleksordning som rapporterade effektkoncentrationer. Dessutom visade sig den beräknade exponeringen av OP, i några av de provtagna inomhuslokalerna, uppgå till halter nära det föreslagna riktvärdet för OP i Tyskland. Dessa studier inkluderar dock ett begränsat antal prov och provtyper och kunskapen om dessa föreningars miljö- och hälsoeffekter är bristfällig. Därför bedöms underlaget som för litet för att några definitiva slutsatser ska kunna dras angående OPs eventuella effekter på miljön.

Context. People in recent times are getting engaged more often in playing video games. Few play for enjoyment, few play for stress relaxation and so on. Generally, the degree of involvement of a player with the game is described as game immersion. People when immersed into playing a game doesn't realize that they are getting dissociated with the outside world and are losing track of time. Objectives. In this research, the main objective is to explore the relationship between the game immersion and game experience using the five factors of game immersion. In addition, the study also involves exploring different methods that can be used to measure game immersion. Methods. In this research, initially literature review has been conducted to explore the meaning of game immersion and also different methods that can be used to measure it and next user studies in the form an experiment was conducted to measure game immersion. After the experiment was conducted regression analysis was performed on the data obtained from the results to describe the relation between game immersion and game experience. Results. After the experiment participants were asked to answer the IEQ questionnaire and the answers obtained from the questionnaire are analyzed using regression analysis. An inverse linear regression was observed between game immersion and game experience. Conclusions. After analyzing the data, from the observed inverse linear regression, it is concluded that game immersion levels decrease with the increase in the game experience.

In recent years, companies and organizations have increasingly integrated software security testing into the software development life cycle using DevOps practices. The current integration approach introduces multiple challenges in an information technology environment that consists of a large number of software development projects and multiple software security testing tools. This thesis aims to address these challenges by proposing a microservice-based framework to unify application security testing. The thesis first identifies the challenges, then proposes a design for a framework based on relevant literature and common characteristics of application security testing tools. The main components of the proposed framework are implemented and evaluated. The evaluation result shows that the framework offers many benefits: more secure credential management process, reduced execution time for Continuous Integration (CI) pipelines, and more efficient project onboarding and management. Furthermore, the integration of the proposed framework does not introduce major security threats to the current environment. / Under de senaste åren har företag och organisationer i allt högre grad integrerat testning av programvarusäkerhet i livscykeln för programvaruutveckling med hjälp av DevOps-metoder. Den nuvarande integrationsmetoden medför flera utmaningar i en informationsteknisk miljö som består av ett stort antal programvaruutvecklingsprojekt och flera verktyg för testning av programvarusäkerhet. Detta examensarbete syftar till att ta itu med dessa utmaningar genom att föreslå en mikrotjänstbaserat ramverk för enhetlig testning av programsäkerhet. I arbetet identifieras först utmaningarna och därefter föreslås en konstruktion baserad på relevant litteratur och gemensamma egenskaper hos verktyg för testning av applikationssäkerhet. De viktigaste komponenterna i det föreslagna ramverket implementeras och utvärderas. Utvärderingsresultatet visar att ramverket erbjuder många fördelar: säkrare process för hantering av autentiseringsuppgifter, kortare genomförandetid för Continuous Integration (CI)-pipelines och effektivare projektstart och -hantering. Dessutom medför integrationen av det föreslagna ramverket inga större säkerhetshot i den nuvarande miljön.

Nowadays preservation of safety is one of the most important conditions for consequential air traffic development. That was the reason why the Safety Management System was formed by the ICAO. Thesis´ objective was especially to scrutinize all the aspects relating to implementation of this system. In the first place every component of the system was described, eventually its function. Next point was to draft an implementation plan for small aviation operators. Besides that ways and means of evaluating effectiveness of the system and expected benefits were described. The process of implementation was consulted with several aviation operators and organizations related to civil aviation whether from the Czech Republic or abroad. Their knowledge helped in many ways to make an issue of practical implementation of the Safety Management System clear. Finally it is true to say that the Safety Management System going to be an essential part of every aviation operator in few years.

Innovations in optical communication are expected to transform the landscape of global communications, internet and datacenter networks. This dissertation investigates several important issues in optical communication such as fairness, throughput, blocking probability and differentiated quality of service (QoS). Novel algorithms and new approaches have been presented to improve the performance of optical circuit switching (OCS) and optical burst switching (OBS) for long haul, and datacenter networks. Extensive simulations tests have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. These simulation tests were performed over a number of network topologies such as ring, mesh and U.S. Long-Haul, some high processing computing (HPC) topologies such as 2D and 6D mesh torus topologies and modern datacenter topologies such as FatTree and BCube. Two new schemes are proposed for long haul networks to improve throughput and hop count fairness in OBS networks. The idea is motivated by the observation that providing a slightly more priority to longer bursts over short bursts can significantly improve the throughput of the OBS networks without adversely affecting hop-count fairness. The results of extensive performance tests have shown that proposed schemes improve the throughput of optical OBS networks and enhance the hop-count fairness. Another contribution of this dissertation is the research work on developing routing and wavelength assignment schemes in multimode fiber networks. Two additional schemes for long haul networks are presented and evaluated over multimode fiber networks. First for alleviating the fairness problem in OBS networks using wavelength-division multiplexing as well as mode-division multiplexing while the second scheme for achieving higher throughput without sacrificing hop count fairness. We have also shown the significant benefits of using both mode division multiplexing and wavelength division multiplexing in real-life short-distance optical networks such as the optical circuit switching networks used in the hybrid electronic-optical switching architectures for datacenters. We evaluated four mode and wavelength assignment heuristics and compared their throughput performance. We also included preliminary results of impact of the cascaded mode conversion constraint on network throughput. Datacenter and high performance computing networks share a number of common performance goals. Another highly efficient adaptive mode wavelength- routing algorithm is presented over OBS networks to improve throughput of these networks. The effectiveness of the proposed model has been validated by extensive simulation results. In order to optimize bandwidth and maximize throughput of datacenters, an extension of TCP called multipath-TCP (MPTCP) has been evaluated over an OBS network using dense interconnect datacenter topologies. We have proposed a service differentiation scheme using MPTCP over OBS for datacenter traffic. The scheme is evaluated over mixed workload traffic model of datacenters and is shown to provide tangible service differentiation between flows of different priority levels. An adaptive QoS differentiation architecture is proposed for software defined optical datacenter networks using MPTCP over OBS. This scheme prioritizes flows based on current network state.

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