Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, many Swedish auditors have been forced to work fulltime from home. If auditors are negatively impacted working from home, it could result in auditors engaging in reduced audit quality (RAQ) behavior and negatively impact overall audit quality. Working from home to this extent is a new phenomenon, and thus, there is a need to further research the effects on auditors.  In this thesis, the factors influencing RAQ behavior are theorized based on the Job Demand-Control-Support (JDCS) model. This thesis examines how auditors with high home demands perceive time pressure, workload, and work-life balance to be affected when working from home and how it affects their propensity to engage in RAQ behavior. Furthermore, this thesis aims to examine if there are gender differences in auditors’ perceptions regarding these factors. In this thesis, high home demands mean having at least one child under the age of twelve. Data was collected using a qualitative method and conducting 14 interviews on how the auditors perceive the factors influencing RAQ behavior have been affected while working from home. The result of the thesis indicates that the propensity of auditors engaging in RAQ behavior is decreased when auditors with high home demands are working from home. Also, the results indicate that both male and female auditors with high home demands enjoy working from home and that there has been a decreased propensity to engage in RAQ behavior. This thesis highlights how the propensity of auditors with high home demands engaging in RAQ can be reduced, contributing to overall higher audit quality.

Reduced-control antenna arrays reduce the number of controls required for beamforming while maintaining a given array aperture. A reduced-control array for direction finding (DF), inspired by the concept of compressive sensing (CS), was recently proposed which uses random compression weights for combining antenna-element signals into fewer measurements. However, this compressive array had not been studied in terms of traditional characteristics such as directivity, sidelobe level (SLL) or beamwidth. In this work, random compression weights are shown to be suboptimal and a need for the optimisation of compressive arrays is expressed. Existing codebook optimisation algorithms prove to be the best starting point for the optimisation of compressive arrays, but are computationally complex. A computationally efficient codebook optimisation algorithm is proposed to address this problem, which inspires the compressive-array optimisation algorithm to follow. Compressive antenna arrays are formulated as a generalisation of reduced-control arrays and a framework is presented for their optimisation in terms of SLL. By allowing arbitrary compression weights, compressive arrays are shown to improve on existing reduced-control techniques. A feed network consisting of interconnected couplers and fixed phase shifters is proposed, enabling the implementation of compressive arrays in microwave hardware. The practical feasibility of compressive arrays is illustrated by successfully manufacturing a 3-GHz prototype compressive array with integrated antenna elements. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / PhD / Unrestricted

The consumption of meat and meat products has been cited as the most critical area to be addressed if we are to meet a sustainable future diet, regarding the impact on climate change and health. The numerous sustainability concerns that have been raised have stimulated calls to reduce the quantity of meat people in general eat, and have created an on-going global debate among policymakers, academics and practitioners. This research makes use of the Integrative Model of Behavioural Prediction (IMBP) in order to isolate the key determinants of what drives the intentions of middle to upper-income South Africans to engage in a meat-reduced diet (MRD). A two-phase methodology was utilised, by firstly conducting an elicitation study to identify the salient beliefs present in the population, and secondly by conducting a population survey to quantify the cognitive foundation of this behaviour. The empirical results showed that the areas of cognition which most strongly predict whether one intends to engage in an MRD were instrumental attitude, experiential attitude and injunctive norms. This study makes three primary contributions. Firstly, a theoretical contribution, through providing insight into how behavioural themes and beliefs materialise into changes in meat-consumption. Secondly, marketing practitioners can benefit from the insight offered by IMBP, which is valuable as it helps to identify what behavioural shift is required to promote MRDs. Lastly, this study contributes to the methodology utilised when applying the IMBP by applying the model to dietary behaviour, which has received comparatively less attention in the past.

Variables affecting the physical properties of Mozzarella cheese were investigated. The effects of various milk-clotting enzymes were examined. The type of milk coagulating enzyme used played a significant role in determining physical properties of direct acid Mozzarella cheese. Cook color was not affected by enzyme type, but melt and stretch were significantly affected. Proteolytic nature of starter cultures was reviewed and recommendation s were give n. Cheese made with proteinase-deficient strains had more stretch after holding for 14 and 28 d than cheese made with non-deficient strains. Cheese made with pairs or single strains of L. helveticus had the same melt, more stretch, and less cook color than cheeses made with paired strains of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus salivarius ssp. thermophilus. Frozen storage, thawing, and shredding of Mozzarella cheese were described and suggestions given for optimizing shelf life. Shredding, freeze temperature, thaw temperature , and time of storage had no effect on cook color. Frozen, shredded cheese stretched more and melted less than non-shredded frozen cheese. Reduced fat, high moisture Mozzarella cheese was made and found acceptable when compared to low moisture part-skim Mozzarella cheese. Reduced fat cheeses decreased in stretch and increased in melt throughout storage. Differences in stretch, melt, and cook color were not significant from one casein-to-fat ratio to another. Reduced fat, high moisture Mozzarella cheese was made with partial or total replacement of L. helveticus with L. casei ssp. casei and was found to compare well with low moisture part-skim Mozzarella cheese. Cheese made with L. casei ssp. casei cultures, paired with either S. salivarius ssp. thermophilus and L. helveticus or just S. salivarius ssp. thermophilus, had the least stretch and the greatest melt.

As overweight and obesity numbers continue to climb around the world, consumers continue to search for reduced-fat alternatives to foods they often consume. Given that cheese is naturally high in fat, this is one food that is often targeted for fat reduction. However, as fat plays an important functional role in the texture of cheese by breaking up the continuous protein matrix, reduced-fat products tend to be very chewy and rubbery compared to their full-fat counterparts. My study aimed at producing a reduced-fat cheese with improved texture compared to other reduced-fat cheese products by incorporating a double emulsion into the cheese in place of cream. The double emulsion consisted of small water droplets dispersed within oil droplets, which in turn were dispersed within a secondary water phase. The oil droplets that would then be incorporated into the cheese could essentially be made up of 40% water droplets and only 60% fat, allowing for a cheese to be designed with the same number of fat droplets as full-fat cheese while having a 40% fat reduction. In my experiments, I made cheese with varying levels of fat using the double emulsion, along with reduced-fat and full-fat control cheeses that contained oil droplets composed entirely of fat. Though retention of double emulsion in the cheese due to its inherent instability was the key factor, I found that the double emulsion cheeses had similar to improved textural qualities compared to the control cheeses of higher fat.

Les phases de conception et de validation de pièces mécaniques nécessitent des outils de calculs rapides et fiables, permettant de faire des choix technologiques en un temps court. Dans ce cadre, il n'est pas possible de calculer la réponse exacte pour l'ensemble des configurations envisageables. Les métamodèles sont alors couramment utilisés mais nécessitent un grand nombre de réponses, notamment dans le cas où celles-ci sont non-linéaires. Une solution est alors d'exploiter plusieurs sources de données de qualité diverses pour générer un métamodèle multi-fidélité plus rapide à calculer pour une précision équivalente. Ces données multi-fidélité peuvent être extraites de modèles réduits.Les travaux présentés proposent une méthode de génération de métamodèles multi-fidélité pour l'optimisation de structures mécaniques par la mise en place d'une stratégie d'enrichissement adaptatif des informations sur la réponse de la structure, par utilisation de données issues d'un solveur LATIN-PGD permettant de générer des données de qualités adaptées, et d'accélérer le calcul par la réutilisation des données précédemment calculées. Un grand nombre de données basse-fidélité sont calculées avant un enrichissement intelligent par des données haute-fidélité.Ce manuscrit présente les contributions aux métamodèles multi-fidélité et deux approches de la méthode LATIN-PGD avec la mise en place d'une stratégie multi-paramétrique pour le réemploi des données précédemment calculées. Une implémentation parallèle des méthodes a permis de tester la méthode sur trois cas-tests, pour des gains pouvant aller jusqu'à 37x. / Engineering simulation provides the best design products by allowing many design options to be quickly explored and tested, but fast-time-to-results requirement remains a critical factor to meet aggressive time-to-market requirements. In this context, using high-fidelity direct resolution solver is not suitable for (virtual) charts generation for engineering design and optimization.Metamodels are commonly considered to explore design options without computing every possibility, but if the behavior is nonlinear, a large amount of data is still required. A possibility is to use further data sources to generate a multi-fidelity surrogate model by using model reduction. Model reduction techniques constitute one of the tools to bypass the limited calculation budget by seeking a solution to a problem on a reduced order basis (ROB).The purpose of the present work is an online method for generating a multi-fidelity metamodel nourished by calculating the quantity of interest from the basis generated on-the-fly with the LATIN-PGD framework for elasto-viscoplastic problems. Low-fidelity fields are obtained by stopping the solver before convergence, and high-fidelity information is obtained with converged solution. In addition, the solver ability to reuse information from previously calculated PGD basis is exploited.This manuscript presents the contributions to multi-fidelity metamodels and the LATIN-PGD method with the implementation of a multi-parametric strategy. This coupling strategy was tested on three test cases for calculation time savings of more than 37x.

Background: Neck pain has a prevalence at 15-30 % in diffrent populations with diffrent causes like whiplash or tension in the muscle. It has proven a positive association between reduced pain and inhibiting the endorphin systems with physical activity. No recent review has been made since 2015, so there was a need to compile recent studies in the field.  Objective: Searches for litterature were made in the databses PubMed, PEDro and CINAHL to find randomized controlled studied that investigated strengthening training of the neck and the thoracal part of the back in persons with neckpain. All of the included articles were appraised by the PEDro-scale and the level of reliability was graded using GRADEstud.  Results: Six studies were included in this review with 382 participants. In one of six studies a significant between group diffrence was seen, the results should be discussed according to the studie's diffrent intervention/control groups. Three studies showed high quality and three showed moderate quality according to PEDro-scale. The grading in evidence showed that strengthening training of the neck and the thoracic back as treament for neckapin has a high level of evidence (++) to not reduce pain according to GRADEstud. The variation in population and time resulted in point deduction for lack of precision.  Conclusion: The results shows that strengthening training of the neck and the thoracic back does not reduce neckpain. Only one of six studied could show a significant between group diffrence. According to GRADEstud a high level of evidence is shown that the treatment dose not give effekt. The results of this study should be drawn with caution due to a low number of studies and the lack of precision in the interventions.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第19037号 / 農博第2115号 / 新制||農||1031(附属図書館) / 学位論文||H27||N4919(農学部図書室) / 31988 / 京都大学大学院農学研究科森林科学専攻 / (主査)教授 神﨑 護, 教授 北島 薫, 教授 北山 兼弘 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第21623号 / 医博第4429号 / 新制||医||1033(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 川口 義弥, 教授 坂井 義治, 教授 伊達 洋至 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Der Folsäureantagonist Methotrexat (MTX) wird zur Behandlung onkologischer und rheumatoider Erkrankungen eingesetzt. Die Aufnahme des Methotrexats in die Zielzelle ist dabei Vorraussetzung für die Bindung an seine intrazellulären Zielstrukturen und erfolgt über verschiedene Transportsysteme. In diesem Zusammenhang ist bei entsprechenden Plasma-konzentrationen von MTX der Reduced Folate Carrier (RFC1) von besonderer Bedeutung. 1994 konnte erstmals die cDNA dieses Transporters aus Maus- und Hamstergewebe isoliert werden. Die cDNA für einen mit dem RFC1 identischen hepatozellulären MTX-Transporter der Ratte wurde 2000 kloniert. Vorhergehende Gen-Expressionsstudien zeigten, dass die RFC1-mRNA ubiquitär gebildet wird. Die Proteinexpression wurde jedoch bisher nur in ausgewählten Geweben der Maus untersucht. Systematische Arbeiten, in denen in vergleichender Weise sowohl die RFC1 Gen- als auch die Proteinexpression in allen Geweben mit einer möglichen Relevanz für die Folat- und Antifolataufnahme, Speicherung und Eliminierung untersucht werden, fehlten bisher. Insbesondere die Expression des RFC1-Proteins der Ratte (rRFC1) mittels immunologischer Verfahren ist bisher nicht beschrieben worden. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es daher, die Gen- und Proteinexpression des rRFC1 in ausgewählten Geweben der Ratte darzustellen. Dieses schließt die Generierung spezifischer Antiseren gegen den rRFC1 als ersten Schritt mit ein. Es wurden geeignete antigene Aminosäuresequenzen des rRFC1 bestimmt und die entsprechenden cDNA Sequenzen wurden amplifiziert und in einen geeigneten Expressionsvektor kloniert. Rekombinante rRFC1 Fusionsproteine konnten mittels E. coli Zellen hergestellt und anschließend aufgereinigt werden. Nachfolgend wurden entweder die rRFC1 Fusionsproteine oder die rRFC1 spezifischen Peptide, welche von dem Affinitätspeptid separiert worden waren, für die Immunisierung von Kaninchen verwendet Drei Antiseren mit ausreichender Reaktivität und Spezifität konnten gewonnen und mittels Affinitätschromatographie aufgereinigt werden. Die erhaltenen Antiseren sind gegen die intrazellulären N- und C-terminalen Regionen (ID1, ID7) bzw. gegen die erste extrazelluläre Schleife (OD1) gerichtet. In Western-Blot Studien konnte mittels dieser Antiseren für den rRFC1, der in transfizierten Nierenepithelzellen (MDCK-rRFC-HA) stabil exprimiert wurde, ein Molekulargewicht von 71 kD für die glykosylierte Form und von 53 kD für die unglykosylierte Form ermittelt werden. Weiter konnte belegt werden, dass das Protein in MDCK-rRFC1-HA Zellen überwiegend in der glycosylierten Form vorliegt. Mittels RT-PCR Analysen wurde die Genexpression des rRFC1 in allen untersuchten Geweben nachgewiesen. Besonders hohe mRNA-Gehalte waren in Thymus, Niere und Milz vorhanden, während in Herz- und Muskelgewebe sowie in Leukozyten nur ein Signal nahe der Nachweisgrenze detektierbar war. Durch immunhistologische Untersuchungen konnten die rRFC1 Proteinexpression und beträchtliche Unterschiede in der Signalintensität bestätigt werden. Zusätzlich konnten neue Informationen über die unterschiedliche subzelluläre Lokalisation gewonnen werden: so konnte eine starke Expression des Transporters in der apikalen Membran von Dünn- und Dickdarmmukosa dargestellt werden, während die ebenfalls starke Färbung in der Niere auf den Bereich der basolateralen Membran der Tubuli beschränkt war. In der Leber war eine Expression mittlerer Intensität im Bereich der Lebertrias erkennbar. Während in der Milz nur in der roten Pulpa das RFC1-Protein detektiert wurde, konnten im Thymus sowohl in der Rinde als auch im Mark positive Zellen nachgewiesen werden. Im Hoden konnte der Transporter in den Sertoli-Zellen dargestellt werden. Eine starke Expression des Transporters wurde im Gehirn im Bereich der apikalen Membran der Ependymzellen des Plexus choroideus nachgewiesen. In der Skelettmuskulatur und im Herzgewebe beschränkte sich die Expression des rRFC1 auf das Perimysium des Muskelgewebes und auf kleinere Gefäße des Muskel- und Herzgewebes. In dieser Arbeit konnte somit gezeigt werden, dass der RFC1 der Ratte ubiquitär exprimiert wird, wobei die Expressionsstärke jedoch stark variiert. Die beobachtete Gewebslokalisation des RFC1 belegt sowohl dessen zentrale Rolle in der Folathomöostase als auch in der MTX vermittelten Organtoxizität und Pharmakokinetik, insbesondere bei der intestinalen Resorption sowie der hepatischen und renalen Exkretion.