In the steel industry, laser triangulation based measurement systems can be utilizedfor evaluating the flatness of the steel products. Shapeline is a company in Linköpingthat manufactures such measurement systems. This thesis work will present a series ofexperiments on a Shapeline measurement system in a relatively untested environment, thehot rolling mill at SSAB in Borlänge.The purpose of this work is to evaluate how the conditions at a hot rolling mill affectsthe measurement performance. It has been anticipated that measuring in high temperatureenvironment would introduce difficulties that do not exist when measuring in cold environments.A number of different experiments were conducted, where equipment such as laserand camera bandpass filter were alternated. Via the experiments, information about noisedue to the environment in the hot rolling mill was gained. The most significant noise wascaused by heat shimmering. Using the presented methods, the magnitude and frequencyspectrum of the heat shimmering noise could be determined. The results also indicates thatheat shimmering cause large errors and is quite troublesome to counter. In addition to this,the quality of the line detections under the hot rolling mill circumstances was examined. Itcould be observed that the line detections did not introduce any significant errors despitethe harmful conditions.

Bicycle sharing systems (BSS) have emerged as a powerful stimulus to non- motorized travel, especially for short-distance trips. However, the imbalances in the distribution of bicycles in BSS are widely observed. It is thus necessary to reposition bicycles to reduce the unmet demand due to such imbalances as much as possible. This paper formulates a new mixed-integer linear programming model considering the dynamic nature of the demand to solve the repositioning problem, which is later validated by an illustrative example. Due to the NP-Hard nature of this problem, we seek for two heuristics (greedy algorithm and rolling horizon approach) and one exact solution method (Benders’ decomposition) to get an acceptable solution for problems with large instances within a reasonable computation time. We create four datasets based on real world data with 12, 24, 36, and 48 stations respectively. Computational results show that our model and solution methods performed well. Finally, this paper gives some suggestions on extensions or modifications that might be added to our work in the future. / text

In this study a new method is introduced to produce bimodal grain structures in low carbon steels. This method is based on cold rolling of dual phase structures and appropriate annealing treatments. The difference in the recrystallization behaviour of ferrite and martensite yields a heterogeneous microstructure with a distribution of coarse and fine grains. These types of microstructures are of interest for optimizing the balance of strength and uniform elongation in ultra-fine grained low carbon steels.

Introduction 100Mo target design is key to commercially viable large scale cyclotron production of 99mTc. The target back plate supporting the 100Mo must be chemically inert to the target dissolution conditions but ideally it should also be able to dissipate the high thermal loads of irradiation, not contaminate target substrate with radionuclidic by-products, and be adequately inexpensive to allow for single use. Aluminum was selected as our target support as it satisfies these requirements. Our process entails rolling 100Mo powder into a foil of desired thickness, and then diffusion bonding [1] the foil onto an aluminum back plate. The 100Mo targets were designed to be 20×80×0.1 mm to match our TR24 cyclotron’s proton beam profile and energy. Efforts are currently underway to scale up the process to allow for simultaneous production of multiple targets at once. Material and Methods The crude enriched 100Mo foil (99.815% enrichment) was made from 100Mo powder using a horizontally mounted rolling mill and an aluminum hopper. The crude foil was rolled repeated-ly, and the space between the rollers gradually reduced until the thickness of the foil was changed from an initial thickness of 0.3 mm to a thickness of 0.1 mm. The rolled 100Mo foil was annealed under reducing atmosphere and then bonded to the aluminum target plate support under inert atmosphere in a heated press at 500 °C. Results and Conclusion By rolling 100Mo foils from powder we were able to produce uniform foils with an average density of > 98 % compared to the maximum theoretical density of 100Mo (n = 5) and thicknesses of roughly 0.1 mm. All foils produced were the desired 20 mm width (i.e. limited by the width of the opening of the hopper) and trimmed to the desired 80 mm length. The annealing process was necessary due to the brittleness of the un-annealed rolled foil and the difference in the thermal expansion coefficients of molybdenum and aluminum which caused un-annealed foils in previous experiments to crack and break off during pressing (n = 10). Surface preparation of the aluminum support plate was also found to play a critical step in the efficiency of the bond, and continuing effort to scale the above de-scribed procedure to mass produce 100Mo tar-gets is ongoing. Targets have undergone preliminary testing to 250 μA.

Treatment success often depends on the availability of accurate and reliable diagnostic assays to guide clinical practitioners in their treatment choices. An optimal test must excel in specificity and sensitivity, and depending on the application area time, low-cost and simplicity are equally important. For instance, time is essential in infectious diagnostics but this is less important in non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). In NIPT, specificity and sensitivity are the most important parameters. In this thesis I describe the development of four different methods, all based on padlock probes and rolling circle amplification, intended for molecular diagnostics. Application areas range from infectious disease diagnostics to NIPT and oncology. The methods described have in common that they overcome certain limitations of currently available assays. This thesis includes two new assays targeting infectious agents: one assay specifically detecting a highly variable double stranded RNA virus and the second assay demonstrating a new format of antibiotic susceptibility testing, which is rapid and generally applicable to different pathogens. Furthermore, I describe the development of a method that uses methylation markers to enrich fetal DNA, accurately quantify chromosome ratios and thus, detecting trisomy 21 and 18. The fourth method described in this thesis uses gap-fill ligation of padlock probes to detect diagnostic relevant point mutations with high specificity in situ. The assays presented have the potential, after automation and successful validation and verification studies, to be implemented into clinical practice. Furthermore, these assays demonstrate the wide applicability of padlock probes which, due to their properties in regard to specificity and multiplexity, are useful tools for nucleic acid detection in vitro as well as in situ. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

The monotonous and strenuous shoulder moving pattern during throwing may result in microtrauma and fibrous adhesions between the layers of fascia among athletes. In the last decade, self myofascial release (SMR) has gained good reputation as a way to treat these adhesions. However, there is limited data demonstrating the effects on upper body performance among athletes. PURPOSE: The purpose was to examine the effects from an acute bout of upper body SMR or from dynamic stretch (DS), on shoulder range of motion (ROM), throwing velocity and throwing accuracy. Also to examine correlations between shoulder ROM and throwing velocity/accuracy and between playing experience (PE) and changes in throwing velocity/accuracy and ROM. METHODS: 20 elite male handball players (age 20 ± 5 years, weight 84 ± 9 kg) were included in the study. The study had an experimental cross-over design in which participants first performed baseline measures. They also performed SMR and DS in two different trials. The trials were supervised and separated by 14 days. During SMR, the athletes performed a series of foam rolling exercises during two minutes for the muscles surrounding the shoulder joint. The same muscles were stretched for two minutes during the DS trial. Directly after foam rolling and DS, shoulder ROM, throwing velocity and throwing accuracy were measured using a gravity reference goniometer, radar gun and a high speed videocamera. ANOVA with repeated measures and t-tests were used to analyze differences between and within groups. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in either shoulder ROM, throwing velocity or throwing accuracy between the three trials. There was a moderate correlation between shoulder extension and mean accuracy (r = 0.62; p = 0.004) after DS. When dividing the group into high and low experienced players, among the players in the PE-low group, the most experienced players elicited the greatest increase in peak throwing velocity after DS (r = 0.58; p = 0.10). Change in peak accuracy showed moderate but conflicting correlations after SMR (r = -0.53; p = 0.09) and DS (r = 0.50; p = 0.11) for the players in the PE-high group, indicating a better result after SMR. CONCLUSION: An acute bout of upperbody SMR does not affect ROM and does not improve throwing velocity or throwing accuracy compared to baseline or DS among elite male handball players. Nor could any correlation between ROM and throwing velocity or throwing accuracy be observed. The associations between PE and throwing performance was inconclusive. Further studies is needed to define if PE should be taken into consideration when using SMR or DS in order to improve throwing performance.

Background: Self-myofascial release is widely used by athletes but the scientific evidence of its supposedly positive effects is limited. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of foam rolling as a warm-up routine in comparison with a dynamic stretching routine and how it may affect the jumping performance among subjects familiar with weight training. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effect of foam rolling vs. a standardized dynamic stretch warm-up routine on jumping performance. Method: Twelve subjects, mean (SD) age 25.1 (± 3.0) years, participated in a randomized, controlled, crossover study. All subjects completed a standardized foam rolling (FR) and a dynamic stretch (DS) warm-up routine on separate days of testing. Squat jump (SJ), counter movement jump (CMJ) and loaded counter movement jump (L-CMJ) all performed bilaterally and unilaterally were conducted to investigate the acute effect of the two warm-up routines. A dependent T-test was used to investigate differences between the warm-up routines. Results: A statistical significant difference in favor of the DS was found for SJ performed bilaterally among males (p = 0.009). The mean (SD) jumping height for SJ FR was 35.6 (± 4.7) cm and for SJ DS 37.9 (± 5.2) cm. The male group also improved more in L-CMJ performed on the right leg with an external load of 54kg after DS compared to FR. No other statistical significant differences were found between the two interventions. A near statistical significant difference was found for SJ performed bilaterally for the total sample (p = 0.057) also in favor of the DS. The mean (SD) jumping height for SJ FR was 29.3 (± 8.7) cm and for SJ DS 30.5 (± 9.9) cm. Conclusion: Findings from this study supports a dynamic stretch warm-up routine prior to performing high intensity bilateral plyometrics instead of a foam rolling warm-up routine. However the data was inconsistent and more research with larger sample sizes is needed to further investigate the possible effects of foam rolling as a warm-up routine on jumping performance performed both bilaterally and unilaterally.

The objectives of the study were to evaluate the soil disturbances and manure dispersion created by the AerWay aerator in a silt loam soil; and to generate a calibrated and validated soil-tool model using Discrete Element Methods (DEM) that simulate the draft and vertical forces of the aerator. The experimental results showed that a trend indicated that the faster tractor speeds would disturb more soil. After one hour with the manure application rate of 42 000 L/ha, manure was spread to a depth of 250 mm, 200 mm in the forward direction and 100 mm in the lateral direction. The model draft forces had a relative error of 13.4-31.2% when compared to the literature data between 100-150 mm depth while the predicted vertical force was found to linearly increase until 150 mm depth at around 700 N per rolling tine and plateaus until the full insertion of 200 mm.

The objectives of the study were to evaluate the soil disturbances and manure dispersion created by the AerWay aerator in a silt loam soil; and to generate a calibrated and validated soil-tool model using Discrete Element Methods (DEM) that simulate the draft and vertical forces of the aerator. The experimental results showed that a trend indicated that the faster tractor speeds would disturb more soil. After one hour with the manure application rate of 42 000 L/ha, manure was spread to a depth of 250 mm, 200 mm in the forward direction and 100 mm in the lateral direction. The model draft forces had a relative error of 13.4-31.2% when compared to the literature data between 100-150 mm depth while the predicted vertical force was found to linearly increase until 150 mm depth at around 700 N per rolling tine and plateaus until the full insertion of 200 mm.

Rails play a significant role in transport of goods and passengers. In Australia railway transport industry contributes 1.6% of GDP with goods and services worth $AUD 8 billion each year which includes $ AUD 0.5 billion per year in exports (Australasian Railway Authority Inc, 2002). Rail track maintenance plays an important role in reliability and safety. The Office for Research and Experiments (ORE) of the Union International des Chemins de Fer (UIC) has noted that maintenance costs vary directly (60-65 per cent) with change in train speed and axle load. It was also found that the increase in these costs with increased speed and axle load was greater when the quality of the track was lower (ORR, 1999). Failures during operation are costly to rail players due to loss of service, property and loss of lives. Maintenance and servicing keep rail tracks in operating, reliable and safe condition. Therefore, technical and economical analysis is needed by rail players to reduce maintenance cost and improve reliability and safety of rail networks. Over the past few years, there have been major advances in terms of increased speed, axle loads, longer trains, along with increased traffic density in corridors. This has led to increased risks in rail operation due to rolling contact fatigue (RCF) and rail wear. The infrastructure providers have less incentive to maintain a given infrastructure standard if its access charges are rigid and rolling stock standard is not achieved. It has been estimated that between 40 to 50 per cent of wagon maintenance costs and 25 per cent of locomotive maintenance costs are related to wheel maintenance (Railway Gazette International, 2003). The economic analysis of Malmbanan indicates that about 50% of the total cost for maintenance and renewal were related to traffic on rails and 50% not related to traffic, such as signaling, electricity and snow-clearance. The results from the analysis have made it possible for the mining company LKAB to start up the 30 Tonnes traffic with new wagons and locomotives on the Malmbanan line in year 2001 (Åhrén et al 2003). The rail infrastructure providers have challenges to maintain infrastructure due to government control on access charges and limited control on rail operations. The aim of the research is to: · Develop a maintenance cost model for optimal rail grinding for various operating conditions; and · Develop integrated rail grinding and lubrication strategies for optimal maintenance decisions. In this research real life data has been collected, new models have been developed and analysed for managerial decisions. Simulation approach is used to look into the impact on various costs such as rail grinding, operating risk, down time, inspection, replacement, and lubrication. The results of the models for costs and the effect of rail grinding and lubrication strategies are provided in this thesis. In this research rail track degradation, rail failures and various factors that influence rail degradation are analysed. An integrated approach for modelling rail track degradation, rail wear, rail grinding and lubrication is developed. Simulation model and cost models for rail grinding are developed and analysed. It has been found through this research that rail grinding at 12 MGT interval is economic decision for enhancing rail life. It was also found that lubrication is most effective compared to stop/start and no lubrication strategies in steep curves. Rail grinding strategies developed in this research have been considered by Swedish National Rail for analysing the effectiveness of their existing policies on grinding intervals. Optimal grinding and lubrication decisions have huge potential for savings in maintenance costs, improving reliability and safety and enhancing rail life.