One third of all patients with acute stroke acquire the language impairment aphasia. The assessment of aphasia is important in order to give a correct diagnosis and treatment. Two types of aphasia assessments are assessment of language function and assessment of functional communication (communication in everyday life). The assessment is usually performed by a speech and language pathologist (SLP) but it can also be performed by a family member or close friend with a proxy rating questionnaire. In this study the correlation between proxy rating of functional communication and SLP assessment of both language function and functional communication were examined. The assessments were performed at 16 days and 6 months after stroke onset. The study also examined if two proxy ratings correlated. The study was conducted using ANH and CETI proxy ratings, and the SLP assessments NGTA and ANELT. The results revealed a strong, statistically significant, correlation between proxy rating and SLP assessment and a very strong, statistically significant, correlation between the two proxy ratings. All correlations remained strong over time. When differences between proxy rating and SLP assessment were observed there was a tendency that proxies rated the functional communication higher than the SLP did. When the participants were divided into groups based on severity of aphasia, the results revealed a greater consistency between proxy rating and SLP assessment for people with mild aphasia than for those with moderate to severe aphasia. / En tredjedel av alla som drabbas av stroke får den förvärvade språkstörningen afasi. Det är viktigt att bedöma afasi för att bland annat kunna diagnosticera och lägga upp behandling. Två sätt att bedöma afasi är bedömning av språkfunktion och bedömning av funktionell kommunikation (kommunikation i vardagslivet). Vanligtvis utförs bedömningen av logoped men svårigheterna kan också bedömas genom anhörigskattning. I denna studie undersöktes samband mellan anhörigskattning av funktionell kommunikation med logopedisk bedömning av både språklig funktion och funktionell kommunikation vid 16 dagar samt vid 6 månader efter insjuknandet i stroke. Dessutom undersöktes huruvida två olika anhörigskattningar korrelerade med varandra. Testerna som användes var anhörigskattningarna ANH och CETI samt logopedbedömningarna NGTA och ANELT. Resultaten visade en stark, statistiskt signifikant korrelation mellan anhörigskattning och logopedbedömning samt en mycket stark, statistiskt signifikant korrelation mellan anhörigskattningarna. Korrelationerna var fortsatt starka över tid för alla jämförelser. Observation av skillnader mellan anhörigskattning och logopedisk bedömning visade att anhöriga tenderade att skatta den funktionella kommunikationsförmågan högre än logopedbedömningen av samma förmåga. Vid gruppindelning efter afasigrad observerades att för personer med lätt afasi fanns större samstämmighet mellan anhörigskattning och logopedisk bedömning än för personer med måttlig till grav afasi.

Hoy en día las Pymes presentan muchos desafíos como la competencia con los mercados locales, la ineficiencia en la productividad, calidad y servicios representando un desequilibrio financiero. En Perú, estos desafíos de las Pymes se agudizan por la carencia de Innovación tecnológica, escasez de conocimiento del mercado, falta de producción planificada y una deficiente distribución del trabajo. Estos problemas que enfrentan todas las Pymes generan que los empresarios busquen distintas maneras de sobrellevar los problemas mencionados aplicando distintas soluciones para generar mayor productividad y sostenibilidad en las empresas. Este artículo presenta un caso de estudio en una pequeña empresa tapicera que presenta problemas de eficiencia en la producción donde se propone un modelo de gestión de producción con base en Lean Manufacturing y SLP con el fin de mejorar la capacidad, aumentar la productividad eliminando los desperdicios, minimizando los costos y actividades dentro de la producción y aumentar el flujo de rotación de materiales logrando atender a tiempo los pedidos de los clientes tanto en la industria manufacturera como la de servicio. / Today SMEs present many challenges such as competition with local markets, inefficiency in productivity, quality and services representing a financial imbalance. In Peru, these challenges for SMEs are exacerbated by the lack of technological innovation, lack of market knowledge, lack of planned production and poor distribution of work. These problems faced by all SMEs cause entrepreneurs to seek different ways to overcome the aforementioned problems by applying different solutions to generate greater productivity and sustainability in companies. This article presents a case study in a small upholstery company that presents production efficiency problems where a production management model based on Lean Manufacturing and SLP is proposed to improve capacity, increase productivity by eliminating waste, minimizing costs and activities within production, and increasing the flow of material rotation, managing to meet customer orders on time both in the manufacturing and service industries. / Trabajo de investigación

Wir beschäftigen uns mit Problemen der algorithmischen Gruppentheorie und untersuchen dabei die Komplexität von komprimierten Versionen des Wortproblems und des Konjugationsproblems für endlich erzeugte Gruppen. Das Wortproblem fragt für eine feste, endlich erzeugte Gruppe ob ein gegebenes Wort über der Erzeugermenge das neutrale Element der Gruppe repräsentiert. Wir betrachten das gegebene Wort jedoch in einer komprimierten Form, als Straight-line Program (SLP) und untersuchen die Komplexität dieses Problems, das wir \'komprimiertes Wortproblem\' nennen. SLPs sind kontextfreie Grammatiken, die genau einen String erzeugen. Die Eingabegröße ist dabei stets die Größe des gegebenen SLPs. Eine Hauptmotivation ist dabei, dass für eine feste endlich erzeugte Gruppe das Wortproblem ihrer Automorphismengruppe durch eine Turingmaschine in Polynomialzeit auf das komprimierte Wortproblem der Gruppe selbst reduzierbar ist. Wir untersuchen das komprimierte Wortproblem für die verbreiteten Gruppenerweiterungen HNN-Erweiterungen (amalgamierte Produkte und Graphprodukte) und können zeigen, dass sich Instanzen des komprimierten Wortproblems von einer Turingmaschine in Polynomialzeit auf Instanzen des komprimierten Wortproblems der Basisgruppe (respektive Basisgruppen und Knotengruppen) reduzieren lassen. Weiterhin zeigen wir, dass das komprimierte Wortproblem für endlich erzeugte nilpotente Gruppen von einer Turingmaschine in Polynomialzeit entscheidbar ist. Wir betrachten außerdem eine komprimierte Variante des Konjugationsproblems. Das unkomprimierte Konjugationsproblem fragt für zwei gegebene Wörter über den Erzeugern einer festen endlich erzeugten Gruppe, ob sie in dieser Gruppe konjugiert sind. Beim komprimierten Konjugationsproblem besteht die Eingabe aus zwei SLPs und es wird gefragt, ob die beiden Wörter die von den SLPs erzeugt werden in der Gruppe konjugierte Elemente präsentieren. Wir konnten zeigen, dass sich das komprimierte Konjugationsproblem für Graphgruppen in Polynomialzeit entscheiden lässt. Weiterhin haben wir das Wortproblem der äußeren Automorphismengruppen von Graphprodukten endlich erzeugter Gruppen untersucht. Durch den engen Zusammenhang des komprimierten Konjugationsproblems einer Gruppe mit dem Wortproblem der äußeren Automorphismengruppe konnten wir zeigen, dass sich das Wortproblem der äußeren Automorphismengruppe eines Graphprodukts von endlich erzeugten Gruppen durch eine Turingmaschine in Polynomialzeit auf Instanzen von simultanen komprimierten Konjugationsproblemen der Knotengruppen und Instanzen von komprimierten Wortproblemen der Knotengruppen reduzieren lässt. Als Anwendung gelten obige Resultate auch für right-angled Coxetergruppen und Graphgruppen, da beide spezielle Graphprodukte sind. So folgt beispielsweise, dass das komprimierte Wortproblem einer right-angled Coxetergruppe in Polynomialzeit entscheidbar ist.

Wir beschäftigen uns mit Problemen der algorithmischen Gruppentheorie und untersuchen dabei die Komplexität von komprimierten Versionen des Wortproblems und des Konjugationsproblems für endlich erzeugte Gruppen. Das Wortproblem fragt für eine feste, endlich erzeugte Gruppe ob ein gegebenes Wort über der Erzeugermenge das neutrale Element der Gruppe repräsentiert. Wir betrachten das gegebene Wort jedoch in einer komprimierten Form, als Straight-line Program (SLP) und untersuchen die Komplexität dieses Problems, das wir \''komprimiertes Wortproblem\'' nennen. SLPs sind kontextfreie Grammatiken, die genau einen String erzeugen. Die Eingabegröße ist dabei stets die Größe des gegebenen SLPs. Eine Hauptmotivation ist dabei, dass für eine feste endlich erzeugte Gruppe das Wortproblem ihrer Automorphismengruppe durch eine Turingmaschine in Polynomialzeit auf das komprimierte Wortproblem der Gruppe selbst reduzierbar ist. Wir untersuchen das komprimierte Wortproblem für die verbreiteten Gruppenerweiterungen HNN-Erweiterungen (amalgamierte Produkte und Graphprodukte) und können zeigen, dass sich Instanzen des komprimierten Wortproblems von einer Turingmaschine in Polynomialzeit auf Instanzen des komprimierten Wortproblems der Basisgruppe (respektive Basisgruppen und Knotengruppen) reduzieren lassen. Weiterhin zeigen wir, dass das komprimierte Wortproblem für endlich erzeugte nilpotente Gruppen von einer Turingmaschine in Polynomialzeit entscheidbar ist. Wir betrachten außerdem eine komprimierte Variante des Konjugationsproblems. Das unkomprimierte Konjugationsproblem fragt für zwei gegebene Wörter über den Erzeugern einer festen endlich erzeugten Gruppe, ob sie in dieser Gruppe konjugiert sind. Beim komprimierten Konjugationsproblem besteht die Eingabe aus zwei SLPs und es wird gefragt, ob die beiden Wörter die von den SLPs erzeugt werden in der Gruppe konjugierte Elemente präsentieren. Wir konnten zeigen, dass sich das komprimierte Konjugationsproblem für Graphgruppen in Polynomialzeit entscheiden lässt. Weiterhin haben wir das Wortproblem der äußeren Automorphismengruppen von Graphprodukten endlich erzeugter Gruppen untersucht. Durch den engen Zusammenhang des komprimierten Konjugationsproblems einer Gruppe mit dem Wortproblem der äußeren Automorphismengruppe konnten wir zeigen, dass sich das Wortproblem der äußeren Automorphismengruppe eines Graphprodukts von endlich erzeugten Gruppen durch eine Turingmaschine in Polynomialzeit auf Instanzen von simultanen komprimierten Konjugationsproblemen der Knotengruppen und Instanzen von komprimierten Wortproblemen der Knotengruppen reduzieren lässt. Als Anwendung gelten obige Resultate auch für right-angled Coxetergruppen und Graphgruppen, da beide spezielle Graphprodukte sind. So folgt beispielsweise, dass das komprimierte Wortproblem einer right-angled Coxetergruppe in Polynomialzeit entscheidbar ist.

<p>Stimulation of the T cell receptor (TCR) induces tyrosine phosphorylation of numerous intracellular proteins, leading to activation of the interleukin-2 (IL-2) gene in T lymphocytes. Shb is a ubiquitously expressed adapter protein, with the ability to associate with the T cell receptor and several signaling proteins in T cells, including: the TCR ζ-chain, LAT, PLC-γ1, Vav, SLP-76 and Gads. Jurkat T cells expressing Shb with a mutation in the SH2 domain, exhibited reduced phosphorylation of several proteins and abolished activation of the MAP kinases ERK1, ERK2 and JNK, upon CD3 stimulation. The TCR induced Ca²⁺ response in these cells was abolished, together with the activation of the IL-2 promoter via the transcription factor NFAT. Consequently, IL-2 production was also perturbed in these cells, compared to normal Jurkat T cells. Shb was also seen to associate with the β and γ chains of the IL-2 receptor, upon IL-2 stimulation, in T and NK cells. This association occurred between the Shb SH2 domain and Tyr-510 of the IL-2R β chain. The proline-rich domains of Shb were found to associate with the tyrosine kinases JAK1 and JAK3, which are important for STAT-mediated proliferation of T and NK cells upon IL-2 stimulation. Shb was also found to be involved in IL-2 mediated regulation of apoptosis. These findings indicate a dual role for Shb in T cells, where Shb is involved in both T cell receptor and IL-2 receptor signaling. </p><p>A Shb homologue, Shf was identified, and seen to associate with the PDGF-α-receptor. Shf shares high sequence homology with Shb and a Shd (also of the Shb family) in the SH2 domain and in four motifs containing putative tyrosine phosphorylation sites. When Shf was overexpressed in fibroblasts, these cells displayed significantly lower rates of apoptosis than control cells in the presence of PDGF-AA. These findings suggest a role for the novel adapter Shf in PDGF-receptor signaling and regulation of apoptosis.</p>

Stimulation of the T cell receptor (TCR) induces tyrosine phosphorylation of numerous intracellular proteins, leading to activation of the interleukin-2 (IL-2) gene in T lymphocytes. Shb is a ubiquitously expressed adapter protein, with the ability to associate with the T cell receptor and several signaling proteins in T cells, including: the TCR ζ-chain, LAT, PLC-γ1, Vav, SLP-76 and Gads. Jurkat T cells expressing Shb with a mutation in the SH2 domain, exhibited reduced phosphorylation of several proteins and abolished activation of the MAP kinases ERK1, ERK2 and JNK, upon CD3 stimulation. The TCR induced Ca2+ response in these cells was abolished, together with the activation of the IL-2 promoter via the transcription factor NFAT. Consequently, IL-2 production was also perturbed in these cells, compared to normal Jurkat T cells. Shb was also seen to associate with the β and γ chains of the IL-2 receptor, upon IL-2 stimulation, in T and NK cells. This association occurred between the Shb SH2 domain and Tyr-510 of the IL-2R β chain. The proline-rich domains of Shb were found to associate with the tyrosine kinases JAK1 and JAK3, which are important for STAT-mediated proliferation of T and NK cells upon IL-2 stimulation. Shb was also found to be involved in IL-2 mediated regulation of apoptosis. These findings indicate a dual role for Shb in T cells, where Shb is involved in both T cell receptor and IL-2 receptor signaling. A Shb homologue, Shf was identified, and seen to associate with the PDGF-α-receptor. Shf shares high sequence homology with Shb and a Shd (also of the Shb family) in the SH2 domain and in four motifs containing putative tyrosine phosphorylation sites. When Shf was overexpressed in fibroblasts, these cells displayed significantly lower rates of apoptosis than control cells in the presence of PDGF-AA. These findings suggest a role for the novel adapter Shf in PDGF-receptor signaling and regulation of apoptosis.

Power system state estimation (PSSE) is an energy management system function responsible for the computation of the most likely values of state variables viz., bus voltage magnitudes and angles. The state estimation is obtained within a network at a given instant by solving a system of mostly non-linear equations whose parameters are the redundant measurements, both static such as transformer/line parameters and dynamic such as, status of circuit breakers/isolators, transformer tap positions, active/reactive power flows, generator active/reactive power outputs etc. PSSE involves solving an over determined set of nonlinear equations by minimizing a weighted norm of the measurement residuals. Typically, the L1 and L2 norms are employed. The use of L2 norm leads to state estimation based on the weighted least squares (WLS) criterion. This method is known to exhibit efficient filtering capability when the errors are Gaussian but fails in the case of presence of bad data. The method of hypothesis testing identification can be incorporated into the WLS estimator to detect and identify bad data. Nevertheless, it is prone to failure when the measurement is a leverage point. On the other hand state estimation based on the weighted least absolute value (WLAV) criterion using L1 norm, has superior bad data suppression capability. But it also fails in rejecting bad data measurements associated with leverage points. Leverage points are highly influential measurements that attract the state estimator solution towards them. Consequently, much research effort has focused recently, on producing a LAV estimator that remains robust in the presence of bad leverage measurements. This problem has been addressed in the thesis work. Two methods, which aims development of robust estimator that are insensitive to bad leverage points, have been proposed viz., (i) The objective function used here is obtained by linearizing L2 norm of the error function. In addition to the constraints corresponding to measurement set, constraints corresponding to bounds of state variables are also involved. Linear programming (LP) optimization is carried out using upper bound optimization technique. (ii) A hybrid optimization algorithm which is combination of”upper bound optimization technique” and ”an improved algorithm for discrete l1 linear approximation”, to restrict the state variables not to leave the basis during optimization process. Linear programming optimization, with bounds of state variables as additional constraints is carried out using the proposed hybrid optimization algorithm. The proposed state estimator algorithms are tested on 24-bus EHV equivalent of southern power network, 36-bus EHV equivalent of western grid, 205-bus interconnected grid system of southern region and IEEE-39 bus New England system. Performances of the proposed two methods are compared with the WLAV estimator in the presence of bad data associated with leverage points. Also, the effect of bad leverage measurements on the interacting bad data, which are non-leverage, has been compared. Results show that proposed state estimator algorithms rejects bad data associated with leverage points efficiently.

This thesis deals with tropical intraseasonal variation (TISV) having time scales in 20-80 day range. Variations on this time scale have been observed to have profound influence on the weather and climate of the entire globe, and hence its study forms an important area of current research. A large number of studies have been carried out on this topic since the pioneering work of Madden and Julian in 1971. However, the observational studies are biased towards using the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) as the variable of interest, and other variables, pressure in particular, have received less attention. The present thesis explores features of intraseasonal variations in sea level pressure (SLP) with the following main objectives. 1. Compare and contrast wavenumber – frequency spectra of OLR, zonal winds and SLP. 2. Quantify temporal and spatial variations of different tropical modes observed in the above variables. 3. Investigate intraseasonal variations in sea level pressure in the tropics and its meridional connections. 4. Document the movement of cloud bands during the periods of high and low TISV activity during different seasons. 5. Explore the relations between intraseasonal variations in SLP and monsoon rainfall over India. The study considered global data for a time period of 25 years from 1979 to 2003. Spectral analysis and correlations are the main tools of analysis. A combined FFT-wavelet spectral method, which uses FFT in longitude and wavelet transform in time, was developed for this purpose. This method provided an effective way of obtaining wavenumber - frequency spectra as well as in quantifying temporal variations of different modes. The transform gives spectral intensity as a function of wavenumber, frequency and time. The analysis is applied to OLR, zonal wind and SLP to understand spectral characteristics of different modes and their temporal variations. The thesis shows that the nature of spectra for OLR, SLP and wind is different although these variables are physically connected. OLR spectrum shows many of the equatorial modes observed from the previous studies for an equivalent depth of 40 m. Spectra of zonal winds at three vertical levels (850 mb, 500 mb and 200 mb) shows peaks corresponding to MJO, Kelvin modes at an equivalent depth of 75 m and Rossby Haurwitz modes. SLP spectrum is different from others. It has peaks at wavenumber zero and at MJO and Rossby Haurwitz modes. Another important new result of the thesis is the spatial and temporal behavior of SLP on intraseasonal time scales. It is shown that the the global atmosphere exhibits quasi-periodic oscillations in SLP with variations in the tropics and high latitudes strongly correlated but in opposite phases. Importantly, the strength of TISV is correlated with sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. This may have some predictive value for predicting the active and weak TISV activity.

This thesis describes the design of a new plant for the production of printed circuit boards with a capacity of 40,000 square meters per year. Describes the basic principles of a new production, production logistics principles and technological design, procedure for application of the method SLP, placement of production areas and capacity calculation of employees and machines. It also describes the technological process of production of printed circuit boards with subtractive method and discusses the different steps of production with regard to the proposed production. The practical part deals with the actual realization of the project, a selection of production technology, machinery, design the layout of the building, capacity calculations, deployment tools, practical application of the method SLP, visualization of production in the Plavis VisTable software, waste management and economic evaluation of project costs.

This thesis examines the optimal scheduling of a hydroelectric power plant with cascaded reservoirs each with multiple generating units under uncertainty after testing three linearization methods. These linearization methods are Successive Linear Programming, Piecewise Linear Approximations, and a Hybrid of the two together. There are two goals of this work. The first goal of this work aims to replace the nonconvex mixed-integer nonlinear program (MINLP) with a computationally efficient linearized mixed-integer linear program (MILP) that will be capable of finding a high quality solution, preferably the global optimum. The second goal is to implement a stochastic approach on the linearized method in a pseudo-rolling horizon method which keeps the ending time step fixed. Overall, the Hybrid method proved to be a viable replacement and performs well in the pseudo-rolling horizon tests. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)