The ability to recognise an individual's affective state from their facial expression is crucial to human social interaction. However, understanding of facial expression recognition processes is limited because mounting evidence has revealed important differences between posed and genuine facial expressions of emotion. Most previous studies of facial expression recognition have used only posed or simulated facial expressions as stimuli, but posed expressions do not reflect underlying affective state unlike genuine expressions. The current study compared behavioural responses and Evoked Response Potentials (ERPs) to neutral expressions, posed smiles and genuine smiles, during three different tasks. In the first task, no behavioural judgment was required, whereas participants were required to judge whether the person was showing happiness in the second task or feeling happiness in the third task. Behavioural results indicated that participants exhibited a high degree of sensitivity in detecting the emotional state of expressions. Genuine smiles were usually labelled as both showing and feeling happiness, but posed smiles were far less likely to be labelled as feeling happiness than as showing happiness. Analysis of P1 and N170 components, and later orbitofrontal activity, revealed differential activity levels in response to neutral expressions as compared to posed and genuine smiles. This differential activity occurred as early as 135ms at occipital locations and from 450ms at orbitofrontal locations. There were significant interactions between participant behavioural sensitivity to emotional state and P1 and N170 amplitudes. However, no significant difference in ERP activity between posed smiles and genuine smiles was observed until 850ms at orbitofrontal locations. An additional finding was greater right temporal and left orbitofrontal activation suggesting hemispheric asymmetry of facial expression processing systems.

Melanome zählen zu den zehn häufigsten Tumorentitäten weltweit. Bei frühzeitiger Diagnose ist eine Exzision im Gesunden kurativ. Sobald eine Resektion im Gesunden jedoch nicht mehr möglich ist, sinken die Heilungschancen drastisch. Maligne Melanome sprechen wenig auf konventionelle Tumortherapien wie Radiatio und zytostatische Chemotherapie an. Daher werden neue Therapieoptionen in der Melanomtherapie getestet. Neueste Ansätze beziehen sich auf die Modulation von Immunzellen mittels monoklonaler Antikörper sowie die Modifikation der Signaltransduktion über die Mitogen-aktivierte Protein Kinase Kinase (MAPKK = MEK), BRAF und c-KIT. Auch Ionenkanäle stellen eine vielversprechende, zukünftige Option in der Behandlung maligner Melanome dar. Ich konnte zeigen, dass neben der bereits beschriebenen funktionellen Expression des „transient receptor potential“ Kanals TRPM8 in Melanomzelllinien auch TRPA1 in verschiedenen Melanomzelllinien exprimiert und funktionell ist. Die Phytopharmaka Senföl (Allylisothiozyanat; AITC) und Zimtaldehyd zeigen in Melanom-Modellen antitumoröse Effekte. Zudem sind beide Substanzen potente Stimulatoren von TRPA1. In dieser Arbeit wurde untersucht, ob AITC und Zimtaldehyd TRPA1-vermittelt die Proliferation, Apoptose und Migration von Melanomzellen beeinflussen. Das Vorkommen von TRPA1 in verschiedenen Melanomzelllinien wurde auf molekularbiologischer Ebene, mit fluorometrischen Bestimmungen des TRPA1-vermittelten Ca2+-Einstroms sowie in elektrophysiologischen Messungen nachgewiesen. Anschließend wurde die funktionelle Relevanz von TRPA1 bezüglich tumorhemmender Eigenschaften geprüft. Durch die Anwendung von TRPA1-Blockern konnte die AITC- und Zimtaldehyd-induzierte Verminderung der Proliferation nicht aufgehoben werden. Auch bezüglich der Migration und Apoptose konnte keine Korrelation zu einer TRPA1-Modulation festgestellt werden. Daher scheinen die durch AITC und Zimtaldehyd induzierten Effekte höchstwahrscheinlich nicht durch TRPA1 vermittelt zu werden.

According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), about 100 million rock anchors were installed in the USA mining industry during 1999 (Dolinar, 2000). The rock bolt usage in US coal mining industry fell from 85 million in the year 1988 to 68 million by 2005 (Tadolini, 2006), and is assumed to be close to that number of rock anchors consumed currently since, the tonnage from underground is almost the same. Most underground coal mines have conditions such as moisture in the atmosphere, ground water with different chemical contents that are conducive for corrosion of rock anchors and ancillaries (such as plates), and the effects of this on the performance of the anchors had been researched in the US to an extent from the past research at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC). In addition to the general corrosion like pitting and crevice, stress corrosion adds to the process a potentially serious threat and results in material failure underground due to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) yet the effects are not fully understood in the USA. The results of this research therefore will have a positive and direct effect on rock related safety. During this research project in situ specific tests were conducted with bolts to try and determine the corrosion potential in a specific coal-mining region. The coal mining areas were divided into three regions and were named as East, Mid-West and West respectively. To enhance the value/importance of the field data collected from the mines, a metal mine and a salt mine (two non-coal mines) were included in the plan and the data analysis proved that the methodology developed for determining the corrosion potential underground is applicable to any underground mines. The Insitu studies include water samples collection and analysis and open circuit potential (OCP/Eoc) testing and analysis. Open Circuit Potential (OCP) data were recorded to estimate probability of active corrosion. Hypothetically, probability of active corrosion is lower if the actual OCP of roof bolts in the mine is less than the characteristic OCP of the steel grade, and vice versa. The effects of certain factors such as the roof condition, reference distance (distance between bolt and reference electrode) on the open circuit potential data during the measurements were studied to ensure its impact on the corrosion potential determination technique developed. The findings from this research helps standardize the corrosion potential determination methodology. The preliminary study of stress corrosion cracking of the subject test sample (Grade 60 rebar roof bolt) was conducted in this research work. The experimental study invloves testing a complete roof bolt in the mine simulated environment. The mine simulated environment in the test cell consists of the roof strata material collected from the mine site with continuous flow of water at slower and varaible flow rate (0 to 3 ml/minute) with pH in the range of 7.5 to 9.0. The results showed that stress corrosion could be very serious problem when it comes to long term mining applications. The stress corrosion test cell developed and tested was proved to be significant in conducting the long term stress corrosion tests. The strength results of the Grade 60 rebar roof bolt tested had a significant strength loss after 3 months of testing in the stress corrosion cell. Hence, more SCC studies are deemed necessary to evaluate the seriousness of the problem and if possible eliminate it.

The aim of this work was to compile a comprehensive list of methods that deal with the research of voltage on the cell membrane. The work should help in orientation in these methods, as well as understanding of their physical and biological principle. In the first part is analysis of physical properties of membrane potential; in the second part are the most important methods for measuring membrane potential. Very important is the comparison of these methods in terms of their focus, localization, physical demands or in terms degree of damage of object under examination.

Esta tese refere-se a pesquisa cujo o principal objetivo foi estudar os efeitos da sinalização elétrica sobre parâmetros fisiológicos de trocas gasosas e fluorescência da clorofila, bem como caracterizar e identificar rotas de propagação de sinais elétricos desencadeados por estímulos de queima em plantas de girassol. Os resultados obtidos a partir deste estudo demonstram que os sinais elétricos desencadeados por estímulo de queima podem ser classificados como potenciais de variação (PV). Estes sinais apresentaram maior facilidade de propagação no eixo vertical da planta atingindo folhas intactas que provavelmente possuem conexão vascular com a folha de estímulo. Apresentaram maior número de eventos de propagação na direção acrópeta da planta e foram incapazes de propagar-se lateralmente não atingindo folhas opostas à de estímulo. Nas folhas opostas onde não houve propagação de PVs foi registrada a ocorrência de hiperpolarização de membranas característica de potencial sistêmico (PS). Quanto aos efeitos fisiológicos do PV, observou-se que este promoveu redução na assimilação líquida de CO2 (A) que provavelmente está relacionada a inativação da fase não fotoquímica da fotossíntese, uma vez que, esteve acompanhada de queda da dissipação fotoquímica dos fotossistemas (qP) e da taxa de transporte de elétrons (ETR). Embora tenha sido registrada alterações na condutância estomática (gs), na concentração intercelular de CO2 (Ci), elevação da dissipação não fotoquímica (qN) e queda na eficiência quântica efetiva do fotossistema II (ΦFSII), estes não foram responsáveis pela queda de A, uma vez que, foram registrados posteriormente a sua redução. / This thesis mainly aimed to study the effects of electrical signaling on physiological parameters of gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence, and to characterize and identify route propagation of electrical signals triggered by burning stimuli in sunflower plants. The results from this study demonstrate that the electrical signals triggered by burning stimulus can be classified as variation potentials (VP). These signals showed greater ease of propagation in the vertical axis of the plant, reaching intact leaves that are likely to have vascular connection with the stimulus leaf. They presented greater ease of propagation in acropetal direction of the plant and are unable to spread laterally, not reaching leaves opposed to the stimulus. On opposed leaves, where there was no VPs propagation, it was recorded the occurrence of membrane hyperpolarization of systemic potential (PS). Concerning the physiological effects of PV, it was observed that this promoted a reduction in the liquid CO2 assimilation (A) which is probably related to the inactivation of non-photochemical phase of the photosynthesis, since it was accompanied by the decrease of the photochemical dissipation of the photosystems (qP) and the electron transport rate (ETR). Although changes were recorded in stomatal conductance (gs), CO2 intercellular concentration (Ci), increase of nonphotochemical dissipation (qN) and a decrease in the effective quantum efficiency of the photosystem II (Φ FSII) were not responsible for the A fall, since its reduction was subsequently reported.

Abstract The dissertation considers the time fractional diffusion equation (TFDE) with the Dirichlet boundary condition in the sub-diffusion case, i.e. the order of the time derivative is α ∈ (0,1). In the thesis we have studied the solvability of TFDE by the method of layer potentials. We have shown that both the single layer potential and the double layer potential approaches lead to integral equations which are uniquely solvable. The dissertation consists of four articles and a summary section. The first article presents the solution for the time fractional diffusion equation in terms of the single layer potential. In the second and third article we have studied the boundary behaviour of the layer potentials for TFDE. The fourth paper considers the spline collocation method to solve the boundary integral equation related to TFDE. In the summary part we have proved that TFDE has a unique solution and the solution is given by the double layer potential when the lateral boundary of a bounded domain admits C1 regularity. Also, we have proved that the solution depends continuously on the datum in the sense that a nontangential maximal function of the solution is norm bounded from above by the datum in L2(ΣT). If the datum belongs to the space H1,α/2(ΣT), we have proved that the nontangential function of the gradient of the solution is norm bounded from above by the datum in H1,α/2(ΣT).

In eighties, the idea of using potential fields was first introduced in the field of the robotics. The purpose of using potential fields was to achieve the natural movement in robotics. Many researchers proceeded this idea to enhance their research. The idea of using potential fields was also introduced in real time strategy games for the better movement of objects. In this thesis we worked on the idea of using asymmetric potential fields in the game environment. The purpose of our study was to analyze the affect of asymmetric potential fields on unit’s formation and their movement in game environment. In this study performance of asymmetric potential fields was also compared with symmetric potential fields. By literature review the potential field and its usage in RTS games were studied. The methodology to implement the potential fields in RTS game was also identified in literature review. In experimental part the asymmetric potential fields implemented by using the methodology proposed by Hagelbäck and Johansson. By following that methodology asymmetric potential field was applied on StarCraft bot by using the BWAPI. Experiment was also designed to test the asymmetric potential field bot. Asymmetric potential field bot was tested on the two maps of StarCraft: Brood War game. On these two maps, bot implemented with asymmetric potential field and the bot implemented with symmetric potential field competed with four bots. Three bots were selected from StarCraft competition and one was built-in bot of this game. The results of these competition shows that asymmetric potential field bot has better performance than symmetric potential field bot. The results of experiments show that the performance of bot implemented with asymmetric potential fields was better than symmetric potential field on single unit type and two unit types. This study shows that with the help of asymmetric potential fields interesting unit formation can be formed in real time strategy games, which can give better result than symmetric potential fields.

Depuis les années 1990, les grandes entreprises françaises mettent en place des politiques d’évaluation des « hauts-potentiels » pour préparer le renouvellement des équipes dirigeantes. Ces processus maintenus secrets sont très peu étudiés, alors qu’ils conditionnent le devenir professionnel des salariés concernés. La thèse ouvre la boîte-noire en étudiant la construction de l’évaluation des « potentiels » dans les processus (internes à l’entreprise et externalisés à un cabinet de conseil) mis en place par trois grandes entreprises. En prenant appui sur l’approche conventionnaliste des compétences et la sociologie de l’action organisée et à partir d’un matériau empirique très riche (150 entretiens semi-directifs, observations non participantes, analyse des outils et des rapports d’évaluation), cette thèse précise comment se construit l’évaluation dans un processus étiré, allant de l’élaboration des politiques d’évaluation jusqu’à la restitution du jugement au salarié évalué. Elle souligne que l’enjeu principal pour les différents acteurs impliqués tient non pas à l’objectivation, mais à la légitimation de l’évaluation dans l’entreprise. Elle démontre comment l’acceptabilité sociale de l’évaluation se construit par un travail de convergence et de mise sous silence des désaccords. Elle met enfin en évidence la fonction intégratrice des gestionnaires RH, au cœur de ce processus de construction de l’acceptabilité. / Since the 1990s, French big companies are implementing evaluation policies of "high-potential" to prepare the renewal of leadership teams. There are few empirical studies regarding these processes, whereas they have crucial impacts on the professional future of employees. The thesis opens the black box by studying the construction of "potential" in the evaluation processes (internal to companies and outsourced to a consulting firm) set up by three big companies. Relying on the conventionalist approach of competencies and the sociology of organized action and using a rich empirical material (150 semi-structured interviews, non-participant observation, analysis of assessment tools and evaluation reports) this dissertation specifies how the evaluation is constructed in an extended process from the development of evaluation policies until feedbacks to the assessed employee. It stresses that the main challenge for the different actors involved in the process is not the objectification, but the legitimation of the evaluation in the company. It shows how the social acceptability of the assessment is built by a work of convergence and by ignoring disagreements. Finally, it highlights the integrative role of HR managers at the core of the process of construction of acceptability.

This diploma thesis focuses on strategic analysis of Škoda Auto, a. s. Its first part summarizes strategic analyses theory. The next part analyses factors of internal and external potential. The main emphasis is on a warning against possible difficulties and a recommendation for evaluation. It compares students' opinions with the opinions of company and group management and in appropriate cases the opinion of dealers. Their opinions are based on questionnaire survey. The end of the thesis deals with a strategic analysis of the effect on sales forecasting.

Emotiv EPOC is a low-cost consumer headset capable of acquiring a raw EEG signal. The thesis evaluates its usage for an acquisition of research event-related potentials. A controlled laboratory experiment was performed with an objective of isolating the Bereitschaftspotential (Readiness Potential) and other movement-related potentials and comparing the results with the results of the previous research. The possibility of measuring the potential with Emotiv EPOC was not confirmed, most probably due to procedural issues during the experiment, however, further analysis of the data suggests its presence. Other outcomes of the research include qualitative findings about the headset, mainly its hardware construction, and testing feedback of EEGLab, an open source toolbox for EEG processing and visualization.