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Utgångspunkten för denna kandidatuppsats är att den byggda miljön påverkar våra liv och vårt handlingsutrymme. Den byggda miljön kan möjliggöra eller begränsa olika typer av aktiviteter. Leken är en av de mest grundläggande aktiviteterna i vår sociala utveckling och är en del av den sociala interaktionen med andra människor. Leken förknippas ofta med barn, men leken förkommer och är viktig för alla ålderskategorier.Syftet med studien är att ta reda på hur den byggda miljön kan skapa möjligheter för leken att etableras. Vi undersöker om man kan planera och styra leken och vad leken kan tillföra i ett miljonprogramsområde.Många av de miljonprogramsområden som byggdes i Sverige under 1960- och 70-talet är ofta problemtyngda och den byggda miljön lider av ett eftersatt underhåll. Området Gårdsten i Göteborg är ett område som genomgått ombyggnadsprojekt med inriktning på hållbarhetsfrågor, med de sociala frågorna i huvudfokus. Vi har genomfört en fallstudie av området och genom analys utvärderat hur den byggda miljön skapar förutsättningar för lek. / The basis for this candidate essay is that the built environment affects our lives and our freedom of action. The built environment can facilitate or limit different types of activities. Play is one of the most basic things in our social development and is part of the social interaction with other people. The play is often associated with children, but the play is as important for all age groups.The purpose of this study is to investigate how the built environment can support the opportunity for play to establish itself in one place. We investigate to what extent you can plan and control the play and what play can supply to a Million Programme area.Many of the Million Programme areas that were built in Sweden during the 1960s and 70s are often problematic and the built environment suffers from deferred maintenance. The area Gårdsten in Gothenburg is an area that has undergone renovation projects with a focus on sustainability issues, with social issues in the main focus. We have conducted a case study of the area and through analysis evaluated how the built environment can create conditions for play.

According to a 2016 report by Catalyst, women in the United States make up 46.8% of the workforce and 51.1% of management and professional positions, but only a startling 4% of top leadership positions in S&P 500 companies. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, and this paper will consider the major theories behind it. Through the lens of the financial services industry and using both the qualitative research technique of semi-structured interviews, and quantitative techniques to measure the findings from the qualitative research, this paper endeavors to show which factors impact female leaders’ ability to reach the senior levels of management from their own perspective, and illustrate how these may differ from the challenges their male colleagues experience. The goal of this research is to provide insights to help direct future research and offer guidance to the financial services industry regarding steps to take to ensure women are afforded equal advancement opportunities. The research shows that both harassment and social role conflict impact women to a greater extent than men in the financial services industry. / Business Administration/Interdisciplinary

In this thesis, solutions to two of the problems encountered in the design and control of human-friendly robots are investigated. The first problem is severe human injuries can occur when an accidental human-manipulator impact happens. A theoretical and experimental study on using foam coverings to reduce the severity of a human-manipulator impact and enhance human safety is presented. An improved human-manipulator impact model that incorporates the manipulator dynamics, foam covering dynamics and the coupling between the human head and torso is introduced. A method for approximating the configuration-dependent dynamics of robotics manipulators with the dynamics of a single DOF manipulator is proposed. With this model, the design parameters that significantly influence the human head acceleration are investigated. A model-based foam covering design procedure to properly select parameters of foam coverings in accordance with safety criteria and the foam thickness constraint is then proposed. The impact model and the foam covering design procedure are validated experimentally with two manipulators. The maximum error between the predicted and experimental head acceleration was less than 9%. The maximum error between the predicted and experimental foam compressed depth was less than 12%. The second problem is mobile robot navigation in the presence of humans and other motion-unpredictable obstacles. A novel navigation algorithm, based on the virtual force field (VFF) method, is proposed as a solution. It features improved functions for the repulsive and detour virtual forces, and a new stabilizing virtual force. Methods to calculate sizes of the active and critical regions for different obstacles are developed. Stability of the new VFF is proven using a novel piecewise Lyapunov function and Lyapunov's second method. Based on simulations for different obstacle configurations, the new VFF-based algorithm successfully produces collision-free paths while five well known navigation algorithms incurred collisions in one of the configurations. With the new VFF-based navigation algorithm, simulations and experiments are successfully performed with a holonomic robot and a nonholonomic robot for several configurations, including multiple moving obstacles. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Himalayan orogen provides an incredible natural laboratory to test models for continent-continent collision. The highest peaks of the Himalayas are composed of the Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS), which is bound by a north-dipping low angle detachment fault above (South Tibetan detachment; STD) and by a thrust fault below (Main Central thrust; MCT). Assuming simultaneous movement on these features, the GHS can be modeled as a southward extruding wedge or channel. Channel flow models describe the coupling between mid-crustal flow, driven by gradients in lithostatic pressure between the Tibetan Plateau and the Indian plate, and focused denudation on the range front. Although the general geometry and shear sense criteria for these bounding shear zones has been documented, prior to this investigation, relatively few attempts had been made to quantify the spatial and temporal variation in flow path history for rocks from an exhumed section of the proposed mid-crustal channel. Results from this investigation demonstrate that mid-crustal flow at high deformation temperatures was distributed throughout the proposed channel. As these rocks began to exhume to shallower crustal conditions and therefore lower temperatures, deformation began to become partitioned away from the core of the channel and into the bounding shear zones. Based on these results a new method (Rigid Grain Net) to measure the relative contributions of pure and simple shear (vorticity) is proposed. Detailed thermobarometric analysis was conducted on rocks from the highest structural level in the Khumbu region, Nepal to construct pressure-temperature-time-deformation paths during the tectonic evolution of the GHS between ~32-16 Ma. Another aspect of the project suggests that the most active feature of the region is the N-S trending Ama Drime Massif (ADM). By combining new structural interpretation with existing remote sensing data this investigation proposes that the ADM is being exhumed during extension that is coupled with denudation in the trans-Himalayan Arun River gorge. Together these data provide important insights into the dynamic links between regional-scale climate and crustal-scale tectonics. / Ph. D.

Yes / This paper investigates how to facilitate users’ exploration through data graphs for knowledge expansion. Our work focuses on knowledge utility – increasing users’ domain knowledge while exploring a data graph. We introduce a novel exploration support mechanism underpinned by the subsumption theory of meaningful learning, which postulates that new knowledge is grasped by starting from familiar concepts in the graph which serve as knowledge anchors from where links to new knowledge are made. A core algorithmic component for operationalising the subsumption theory for meaningful learning to generate exploration paths for knowledge expansion is the automatic identification of knowledge anchors in a data graph (KADG). We present several metrics for identifying KADG which are evaluated against familiar concepts in human cognitive structures. A subsumption algorithm that utilises KADG for generating exploration paths for knowledge expansion is presented, and applied in the context of a Semantic data browser in a music domain. The resultant exploration paths are evaluated in a task-driven experimental user study compared to free data graph exploration. The findings show that exploration paths, based on subsumption and using knowledge anchors, lead to significantly higher increase in the users’ conceptual knowledge and better usability than free exploration of data graphs. The work opens a new avenue in semantic data exploration which investigates the link between learning and knowledge exploration. This extends the value of exploration and enables broader applications of data graphs in systems where the end users are not experts in the specific domain.

The extended finite state machine (EFSM) is a powerful modelling approach that has been applied to represent a wide range of systems. Despite its popularity, testing from an EFSM is a substantial problem for two main reasons: path feasibility and path test case generation. The path feasibility problem concerns generating transition paths through an EFSM that are feasible and satisfy a given test criterion. In an EFSM, guards and assignments in a path‟s transitions may cause some selected paths to be infeasible. The problem of path test case generation is to find a sequence of inputs that can exercise the transitions in a given feasible path. However, the transitions‟ guards and assignments in a given path can impose difficulties when producing such data making the range of acceptable inputs narrowed down to a possibly tiny range. While search-based approaches have proven efficient in automating aspects of testing, these have received little attention when testing from EFSMs. This thesis proposes an integrated search-based approach to automatically test from an EFSM. The proposed approach generates paths through an EFSM that are potentially feasible and satisfy a test criterion. Then, it generates test cases that can exercise the generated feasible paths. The approach is evaluated by being used to test from five EFSM cases studies. The achieved experimental results demonstrate the value of the proposed approach.

We construct a mathematical model of an order driven market where traders can submit limit orders and market orders to buy and sell securities. We adapt the notion of no free lunch of Harrison and Kreps and Jouini and Kallal to our setting and we prove a no-arbitrage theorem for the model of the order driven market. Furthermore, we compute signatures of order books of different financial markets. Signatures, i.e. the full sequence of definite iterated integrals of a path, are one of the fundamental elements of the theory of rough paths. The theory of rough paths provides a framework to describe the evolution of dynamical systems that are driven by rough signals, including rough paths based on Brownian motion and fractional Brownian motion (see the work of Lyons). We show how we can obtain the solution of a polynomial differential equation and its (truncated) signature from the signature of the driving signal and the initial value. We also present and analyse an ODE method for the numerical solution of rough differential equations. We derive error estimates and we prove that it achieves the same rate of convergence as the corresponding higher order Euler schemes studied by Davie and Friz and Victoir. At the same time, it enhances stability. The method has been implemented for the case of polynomial vector fields as part of the CoRoPa software package which is available at http://coropa.sourceforge.net. We describe both the algorithm and the implementation and we show by giving examples how it can be used to compute the pathwise solution of stochastic rough differential equations driven by Brownian rough paths and fractional Brownian rough paths.

Au cours de la production d'hydrocarbures, l'extraction de fluides fait décroître la pression de pore dans les réservoirs (« depletion »). Ceci induit un changement du champ de contraintes qui résulte en une augmentation des contraintes effectives appliquées sur le réservoir. Les mesures in situ montrent que les variations de contraintes peuvent être décrites par un paramètre appelé chemin de chargement (stress path), défini comme le rapport entre la variation de contrainte effective horizontale et la variation de contrainte effective verticale par rapport aux conditions initiales dans le réservoir. La compaction induite par la production d'hydrocarbures peut avoir de graves conséquences dans le cas de roches faiblement consolidées car elle induit des variations des propriétés pétrophysiques des roches in situ, notamment de la perméabilité, un des paramètres les plus importants pour estimer la performance d'un réservoir mais aussi un des plus difficiles à mesurer. Pour compliquer encore les choses, la perméabilité est souvent anisotrope dans les réservoirs avec de forts contrastes entre la perméabilité horizontale kh et la perméabilité verticale kv.L'objectif de cette étude est de comprendre l'influence des chemins de chargement sur le comportement mécanique et les évolutions couplées de perméabilité pour un sable quartzeux (Sable de la Durance, DS) et un grès faiblement consolidé (grès d'Otter Sherwood, OSS, qui constitue la roche réservoir du champ pétrolier de Wytch Farm en Angleterre). Nos résultats montrent que le grès peu consolidé présente un comportement mécanique similaire à celui de roches consolidées. Au contraire, le sable présente un comportement différent, avec une transition plus graduelle entre les régimes de déformation qui nécessite d'utiliser un critère basé sur l'évolution du rayon de courbure des courbes contraintes-déformations pour déterminer les contraintes limites : cette méthode a été validée par une étude d'analyse des émissions acoustiques pour caractériser l'endommagement. Les domaines de déformation élastique et plastique ont été bien définis et les contraintes limites ont été comparées aux prédictions du modèle Cam-Clay modifié et du modèle d'enveloppe limite normalisée. Les perméabilités horizontale et verticale ont été mesurées sous contraintes. Pour analyser l'influence des effets de bord dans les essais mécaniques, les perméabilités mesurées soit classiquement sur toute la longueur de l'échantillon, soit entre deux points intermédiaires ont été comparées. Pour l'écoulement horizontal, les facteurs géométriques et facteurs d'anisotropie ont été déterminés par des simulations numériques en éléments finis afin de pouvoir déterminer les vraies valeurs de perméabilité horizontale. L'évolution de la perméabilité suit l'évolution de la déformation des matériaux et est contrôlée aussi bien par la déformation volumique que par la déformation en cisaillement. A partir de nos mesures il est possible de séparer l'effet de la pression moyenne de l'effet de la contrainte déviatorique sur l'évolution de la perméabilité en construisant des cartes d'isoperméabilités dans l'espace des contraintes. Enfin une modélisation élasto-plastique a été réalisée pour prédire le comportement hydro-mécanique du grès faiblement consolidé. L'approche utilisée permet de prédire de manière satisfaisante l'évolution de la perméabilité avec les contraintes, à partir d'une loi exponentielle fonction de la déformation effective. Au contraire, pour le sable de la Durance le lien entre l'évolution de la perméabilité et la déformation est loin d'être évidente, notamment aux faibles contraintes où la réduction de perméabilité est très rapide. Pour mieux comprendre ces évolutions de perméabilité, une analyse de l'endommagement a été réalisée par des mesures sur échantillons et en utilisant des techniques d'imagerie à plusieurs échelles. / During hydrocarbon production, the extraction of fluid induces a decrease of pore pressure called depletion. This depletion causes a change in the stress field that results in an increased stress on the rock by enhancement of the effective stress in the reservoir. In situ measurements show that the stress variations can be described by the so-called stress path parameter, defined as the ratio of the change in effective horizontal stress by the change in effective overburden stress from initial reservoir conditions. This production induced compaction can have severe consequences in the case of poorly consolidated reservoirs. Compaction induces variations of petrophysical properties of in situ rocks and particularly permeability variations, one of the most important parameters controlling reservoir performance. Yet it is one of the most difficult property to measure. To complicate matters further, permeability anisotropy is often found in reservoirs. Therefore the horizontal permeability kh, may be different from the vertical permeability kv.The aim of this study is to understand the influence of stress paths on the mechanical behavior and coupled permeability evolutions of a Quartz sand (Durance Sand, DS) and a weakly consolidated sandstone (Otter Sherwood Sandtone, OSS which is the reservoir rock of the Wytch Farm oil field, UK). We found that the weakly consolidated rock presents a mechanical behavior similar to that of consolidated rocks. However, the sand shows a different behavior, with a gradual transition regime which requires the use of a curvature criterion to peak yield stresses on the stress-strain evolution plot; this criterion has been validated on the basis of Acoustic Emission analysis. The elastic and plastic deformation regimes are well identified and the determined yield stresses are fitted using the modified Cam-Clay and Elliptic Cap models for all observed onsets of plastic yielding. Both vertical and horizontal permeability have been measured during loading. To analyze the influence of end effects during loading in the triaxial cell, permeabilities measured over the mid-section and over the total core length were compared. For the horizontal flow, the geometrical and anisotropy factors were determined using Finite Element simulations in order to calculate the correct horizontal permeability. Permeability evolution follows closely the material deformation and is controlled by both volumetric and shear strains. It is possible to infer the effect of the mean pressure and/or the deviatoric stress on the permeability evolution by building isopermeability maps in the stress space. Finally, an application of elasto-plastic modeling to predict the hydromechanical behavior of the weakly consolidated rock is presented. This approach allows a satisfying prediction of the permeability evolution with stresses, using an exponential function of an effective strain. Reversely for DS, the link between strain and permeability is not obvious as permeability reduction is pronounced at early stage of loading. To understand these permeability evolutions, a damage analysis has been performed using core analysis measurements and multi-scale imaging.