The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that affect students' decision-making in an SSI (socio-scientific issue) about nuclear power and energy supply. The study explores students' skills in SSI argumentation and aims to clarify the relationship between values, knowledge and experiences in their SSI decision-making. Nine students grade nine participated. Their argumentation and decision-making processes were followed, the participants wrote reports on their decision-making, and data were collected during multiple stages of an instructional module, the Six-Step SSI Instructional Module. The different arguments used by the students were analysed using the framework of the SEE-SEP-model. The analysis focused on the evaluation skills demonstrated by the students during the exercise and the relationships between the knowledge, values, and experiences that they used in their argumentation. Although all the students had access to the same information and agreed on the factual aspects of the issue, they came to different decisions, the difference depending on their background knowledge, values, and experiences. The assessment framework considers the quality indicators presented in the research and focuses on both the content and the structure that can be observed in students’ SSI argumentation and is meant to function as a tool for identifying quality indicators. The implication for SSI teaching and learning is discussed.

In the modern, sophisticated world, connectivity has become a part of everyday routine: answering the phone call through the car or sending emergency calls by smartwatch to the nearest hospital. The ICT industry is the one that enables this connectivity by developing such technologies as 3G, 4G, 5G and WI-FI that can connect the phone with a smartwatch, car, house or speaker. At the same time, the interconnection of a significant number of devices creates licensing issues, and one of them is discussed in this thesis. The two long-established industries: ICT and automotive, are in licensing contradiction due to the different licensing practices. One such case is the dispute between ICT producer Nokia and car manufacturer Daimler. Nokia obtains a patent essential to the 4G standard that shall be licensed on the FRAND terms. The merits of the case- are to who shall the owner of the ICT patent provide license: to all implementers or just to one; whether it has the right to choose its licensees. To figure out the answers, I examined the contractual obligations of Nokia to the ETSI (FRAND commitment), its compliance with Article 102 of the TFEU (abuse of dominant position) and whether the patent exhaustion prohibits some licensing practices.

Yes / Purpose Previous research (Bandoophanit et al, 2017) has shown that pharmaceuticals are a key input into effective healthcare operations but other equally important inputs are medical supplies, food, utilities, equipment and linen. As stated by the Twelfth National Economic and Social Development Plan (2017-2021) of Thailand, to attempt to deliver national Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) organisations should preserve resources and minimize waste-generation in all aspects. The principal aim of this research project was to identify green practices and develop a model which supported and promoted healthcare efficiencies. Research Approach This was a mixed methods multi-site study using both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods. Six public hospitals were selected as case organizations, covering different types/sizes, locations, and environmental performance expertise. The data collection methods included interviews, documentation reviews and in situ observations. Respondents’ selection was purposive and a bespoke form of content analysis was used for the data review before further cross-case analysis, resulting in the identification of best practices using key indicators. Findings and Originality In spite of facing financial crisis, by reviewing key logistical processes and lifecycle, the overuse of healthcare resources and the poor management of waste, were clearly identified within in this study. This had a negative effect on personnel and patient hygiene. The result of identifying effective GL practices were reported as: (i) promoting the usage of multiple-use medical devices that can minimize inputs, waste, and cost, and (ii) producing/selecting organic food materials and fruits and reusing these waste byproducts to create secondary products e.g. fertilizer, biogas and electricity and cleaning/sterilizing liquid. The results also indicated that there was a drive from leaders to introduce green and efficient systems to improve staff personnel awareness and engagement in this area. The output of this study presents a model for GL implementation guidance, grounded in Thailand’s Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) concept. Research Impacts Currently, healthcare green logistics has received limited attention in developing nations and this study contributes to the reduction of these gaps. The SEP concept promotes sustainable health standards and underpins the focus and the originality/impact of this study. Practical Impacts This study recommends that staff in Thai hospitals focus on effective resource and waste management to contribute to sustainable sufficiency. This allows Thailand to offer an effective healthcare service to its patients. The study presents guidance and support to do this.

This thesis examines problems concerning international standard-essential patent licensing disputes within the EU from a private international law perspective. Furthermore, it seeks to analyse the jurisdictional rules which are established by the Brussels Ia Regulation when applied to cross-border SEP licensing disputes. The backdrop for the present study is the system of international standardisation and the licensing of those patents which are essential to the implementation of a technical standard. It is primarily concerned with EU law as it relates to technical standardisation in the field of telecommunications, since it plays a significant role in today’s global information society. As a rule, SEP holders make a commitment to license their essential patents according to terms which are fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND). In order to fulfil the aim of the thesis, the legal nature of such a FRAND commitment has been examined, finding that it should be characterised as an enforceable contract for the benefit of third parties. Patent rights have traditionally been thought of as territorial in nature, which raises questions regarding the possibilities for cross-border enforcement, as well as how the rules on jurisdiction should be applied by national courts in the EU when faced with international disputes where the subject matter is considered to be, to an extent, territorially bound. One of the fundamental questions that arise out of this is how, in the context of SEP licensing, the legal framework for SEP disputes affects the application of the jurisdictional rules in cross-border cases. As a consequence of the lack of harmonisation as well as legal regulation and guidance relating to SEP licensing, individual courts in Europe have developed their own distinct approaches and methodologies in SEP disputes. There is a risk that this lack of uniformity leads not only to greater legal uncertainty, but also widespread patent litigation. In particular, recent case law from Germany and the United Kingdom has been influential in creating a precedent that national courts are able to set FRAND licensing terms which are global in scope. This has led to certain courts taking a more active approach in international SEP disputes—even if they concern foreign patents—granting injunctions which in some cases seek to limit the jurisdiction of foreign courts. It seems to follow from this that a ‘race to the courthouse’ is to be expected in SEP disputes, which is further facilitated by the ample room for forum shopping that exists in the Brussels Ia Regulation. Lastly, the thesis also deals, in part, with the new unitary patent system, as well as the Unified Patent Court and the question of how the UPC may come to affect the future of SEP disputes within the EU. Appropriate solutions to the identified problems are discussed, favouring either a concentration of SEP litigation to one forum, or the development of guiding principles so as to increase legal certainty.

The diploma thesis Teaching Civic Education at the Elementary Schools in České Budějovice focuses on the current state of civic education at elementary schools in České Budějovice. The theoretical part deals with the system of curricular documents, analysis of the Framework Educational Program for basic education and its subsequent comparison with individual school educational programs at selected elementary schools in České Budějovice. The practical part presents interviews with four teachers who teach the subject of civic education at selected elementary schools in České Budějovice. These are the following elementary schools: Kubatova Elementary School and Kindergarten, Elementary School Matice školské, Church Elementary School and Elementary School and kindergarten of J. Š. Baara.

De nombreux mécanismes de sécurité ont été proposés pour les réseaux fixes et mobiles. Bien que ces mécanismes aient pu répondre à un ensemble d'exigences de sécurité, ils demeurent uniquement efficaces dans un contexte spécifique lié aux hypothèses et aux exigences restrictives qui ont été émises lors de la conception. Dans un premier temps, nous définissons une liste d'exigences en sécurité qui permet d'analyser les solutions de sécurité les plus déployées. Dans un second temps, nous proposons d'étendre le protocole SSL/TLS avec de nouveaux services. SSL/TLS est une solution de sécurité générique et transparente aux applications. Ainsi, il ne couvre pas les besoins spécifiques à certaines classes d'application telles que les applications de paiement sur Internet. Notre propositions d'intégrer le protocole d'échange des clés ISAKMP avec SSL/TLS permet de fournir, entre autres, la protection d'identité des utilisateurs et l'unification des associations de sécurité. Afin d'étendre l'utilisation de SSL/TLS vers les systèmes de paiement sur Internet, nous intégrons un module générique pour la génération d'une preuve de non répudiation dans le protocole SSL/TLS. Par ailleurs, toutes ces propositions restent, cernées par le problème d'interopérabilité avec les anciennes versions de chaque protocole. Ce qui rend la satisfaction de tous les besoins à travers un des protocoles existants irréalisables. Pour cela, nous proposons finalement de concevoir et de valider un nouveau protocole de sécurité qui intègre nativement l'évolution des protocoles de sécurité des échanges et des réseaux d'une manière performante. Nous avons appelé ce protocole SEP (Secure and Extensible Protocol)

Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η εκτίμηση των περιβαλλοντικών και υδρογεωλογικών συνθηκών της ευρύτερης περιοχής του Μεσολογγίου, η εκτίμηση της ποιότητας νερών και πηλών στης περιοχές ενδιαφέροντος όσον αφορά τους ιαματικούς φυσικούς πόρους της περιοχής και τέλος η διερεύνηση των πιθανών πηγών ρύπανσης της περιοχής και ειδικότερα των παραπάνω θέσεων ενδιαφέροντος. Από τα αποτελέσματα της παρούσας εργασίας προκύπτει ότι τα υπόγεια νερά της περιοχής παρουσιάζουν αυξημένη αλατότητα όπως αυτό ερμηνεύεται από τις πολύ υψηλές τιμές της ηλεκτρικής αγωγιμότητας που παρουσιάζουν. Λόγω του ασήμαντου ρυπαντικού τους φορτίου δεν καθιστούν πηγή ρύπανσης των θέσεων ενδιαφέροντος. Από της άλλη μεριά τα νερά και οι πηλοί που συλλέχθησαν από ρέματα της περιοχής που καταλήγουν στην λιμνοθάλασσα, παρουσίασαν αυξημένες τιμές βαρέων μετάλλων που οφείλονται κατά κύριο λόγο στις ανθρωπογενείες δραστηριότητες της περιοχής, ενδέχεται να επιβαρύνουν τους πηλούς κυρίως σε βαρέα μέταλλα. Το μεγαλύτερο μέρος της συγκέντρωσης των βαρέων μετάλλων που ανιχνεύτηκε στους πηλούς της περιοχής δεν συνιστά πηγή δευτερογενούς ρύπανσης. Από τα αποτελέσματα της μεθόδου διαδοχικής εκχύλισης BCR-SEP φάνηκε ότι το μεγαλύτερο μέρος των βαρέων μετάλλων είναι ισχυρά συνδεδεμένο με το ίζημα (συνδεδεμένα με το κρυσταλλικό πλέγμα των ορυκτών των ιζημάτων) και ένα μικρό μέρος μπορεί να διαφύγει και να προκαλέσει ρύπανση της υδάτινης στήλης. Οι πηγές ρύπανσης των θέσεων ενδιαφέροντος είναι ο Βιολογικός Καθαρισμός του Δήμου Μεσολογγίου, οι ανεξέλεγκτες χωματερές που γειτνιάζουν με την λιμνοθάλασσα, η πόλη του Μεσολογγίου (κυρίως στο βόρειο τμήμα της Δυτικής Κλεισοβας) και τέλος οι διάφορες ανθρωπογενείς δραστηριότητες της περιοχής απόβλητα των οποίων ρίχνονται στα ρέματα και μέσω αυτών καταλήγουν στην λιμνοθάλασσα. / The aim of this thesis was the assessment of environmental and hydro geologic conditions of Mesolonghi’s area, the assessment of the quality of water and sediments in the areas in question regarding their medicinal natural resources and finally the estimation of possible sources of pollution. According the results of that thesis all groundwater samples present an increased salinity (increased rates of Electrical conductivity). Due to their of no importance pollution load it is believed that groundwater do not affect areas in question. On the contrary the surface samples of water and sediments collected from flumes shows that this water which ends up in Kleisova lagoon may affect the areas mostly with heavy metals. Great part of heavy metals concentration found in sediments does not threaten areas as ectypal source of pollution. Results from sequential extraction procedure showed that heavy metals are being highly associated with minerals crystalline lattice of sediments. Sources of pollution at areas in question are the wastewater treatment plant of Mesolonghi’s Municipality, many incontrollable refuse dumps which are neighboring on Kleisova lagoon, the Mesolonghi’s city and finally the surface water of flumes which ends up in lagoon and carries an high amount of heavy metals.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-03-31T15:37:57Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertacao Julierme Araujo _ Versão Final_Biblioteca Central.pdf: 5689636 bytes, checksum: 17f1c9468e867914d378e2fef1626269 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-31T15:37:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertacao Julierme Araujo _ Versão Final_Biblioteca Central.pdf: 5689636 bytes, checksum: 17f1c9468e867914d378e2fef1626269 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-12 / Vários fatores interligados ou isolados podem desencadear graves anormalidades no Sistema Elétrico de Potência (SEP). Dentre estes fatores, um de fundamental importância é o humano. Os operadores (OP) são aqueles que estão constantemente em contato com os equipamentos das instalações (presencialmente ou remotamente) e desempenham papel vital na correta operação do SEP. Um das principais atividades do OP é a execução de manobras em tempo real, seguindo o estabelecido pelo documento de plano de manobras (PM). No entanto, devido à natureza repetitiva destas atividades os OPs estão sujeitos a cometerem falhas operacionais. Tais eventos podem ocorrer através de uma mera desatenção na execução dos PMs ou na total negligência destes. Operações em equipamentos a partir de manobras mal elaboradas, bem como softwares que não favoreçam a elaboração e a validação de tais manobras, também são fatores que promovem a ocorrência de falhas humanas e anormalidades no processo. Neste trabalho é apresentada uma arquitetura para implementação de um conceito de sistema baseado em software, hardware e sensibilidade a contexto. Em simulações referentes às operações sobre manobras, foi possível observar o sistema atuando de forma preventiva ao alertar o usuário sobre possíveis atividades inconsistentes. A execução de manobras em subestações ocorreu através de uma versão do sistema para dispositivos móveis. Essa abordagem promoveu vários benefícios como, por exemplo, a eliminação de falhas oriundas de atividades repetitivas, o estabelecimento de um mecanismo de confirmação da execução da manobra e o aperfeiçoamento do processo de interação entre os operadores de sistemas e operadores de subestações. Tendo como referência resultados que apontam uma redução de 47% da taxa de anormalidades geradas pelos processos de elaboração e validação de manobras operativas, chegou-se a conclusão que o conceito de sistema apresentado neste trabalho promoveu uma considerável diminuição nas deficiências oriundas desses processos e aumentou a qualidade e a segurança no processo de execução de manobras. / Several factors, interconnected or isolated, may be the cause of abnormalities on the Electric Power Systems (EPS). Among such factors, human factors play a fundamental role. Operators (OPs) are the staff responsible to deal with installations equipment, operated both presently or remotely, playing a vital part to the correct operation of the EPS. One of OP’s main activities is executing maneuvers in real time, following what was established by the maneuvers plan (MP) establishes. However, due to the repetitive nature of these activities, OPs are subject to commit operational failures. These events may occur through a mere inattention in the execution of the MPs or in their total neglect. Equipment operations from poorly elaborated maneuvers, as well as softwares that do not favor the elaboration and validation of those maneuvers are also factors that promote the occurrence of human failure and abnormalities in the process. Herein this work we present a hardware - software architecture sensible to context. In simulations related to operations on maneuvers it was possible to observe the system’s prototype acting preventively when it alerts the user about possible inconsistent activities. The maneuvering in substations occurred through a system version for mobile devices. This approach promoted several benefits such as the correction of the faults originated from repetitive activities, the establishment of a mechanism for confirmation of the maneuvering and the improvement of the interaction process between system and substation operators. Having as reference results which show a reduction of 47% in the rate of abnormalities generated by the drafting and validation of operational maneuvers, we concluded that the concept of system presented in this paper promoted a considerable decrease in deficiencies originated from these processes and increased the quality and safety maneuvers in the process.

A system safety assurance case aims to demonstrate that a system is reasonably safe within the parameters defined according to its intended use. A system safety assurance case involves the definition of a Safety Engineering Process and its execution for the particular system. An essential element in the Safety Engineering Process is hazard analysis. An often used version of hazard analysis is HAZOP. HAZOP identifies hazards and hazardous events in the system's design. Traditionally, HAZOP is performed based on the expertise of a multi-disciplinary team. This team uses a heuristic based approach that results in documented output that often does not include adequate traceability as to how the output results were obtained. This thesis proposes a systematic approach to HAZOP that was developed after performing detailed analysis on how traditional HAZOP is performed in industry. It aims to produce documented output in which the output results are traceable to interim steps in the process. We call this systematic approach HAZOP+, because it was designed to provide sufficient detail so that it can form the basis of a HAZOP metamodel created in Workflow+ - a relatively new model driven methodology for developing assurance cases. Workflow+ has well-defined semantics, and so we refer to HAZOP+ as formalizable. HAZOP+ has a number of benefits over traditional HAZOP, and these benefits are demonstrated by comparing a traditional application of HAZOP with the application of HAZOP+, both applied to a typical Lane Keeping Assist feature. A long term objective of system safety assurance is to be able to perform incremental safety assurance, for example, by updating the system safety assurance case after a modification to the system or its environment. Since the safety assurance case for a system depends on elements of the Safety Engineering Process, as well as the outputs of that process, the ability to perform an incremental hazard analysis after a modification to the system or environment can be a real benefit. This thesis further describes how HAZOP+ can be enhanced/extended to HAZOPdelta - an incremental version of HAZOP+. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Cette thèse a pour but l'analyse des performances d'une communication radio en présence d'évanouissements et d'effet de masque. Le masquage, du aux obstacles entre l'émetteur et le récepteur, fait varier la probabilité d'erreur moyenne ("Symbole Error Probability" SEP). L'étude de la probabilité de coupure symbole (SEO "Symbol error Outage") définie comme la probabilité que le SEP moyen excède une valeur seuil est donc plus pertinent. La difficulté de son étude réside dans le fait qu'une inversion du SEP moyen par rapport au SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) est nécessaire. Par la méthode de Laplace nous donnons des approximations précises à tout SNR du SEP dans un canal de Nakagami-m et Rice dans le cas mono-antenne. Nous montrons ensuite que ces approximations sont inversibles par rapport au SNR et permettent d'exprimer analytiquement le SEO en fonction du SEP cible. Nous intégrons ensuite le codage canal et dérivons des expressions analytiques de la probabilité de coupure paquet pour un codage bloc puis un codage convolutif à entrée décidée. Nous étendons l'étude aux systèmes MIMO à codage bloc orthogonaux puis à multiplexage spatial où des formes exactes du SEO sont dérivées. Nous considérons le cas où des interférents sont présents. Nous dérivons une approximation précise et inversible de la probabilité d'erreur lorsque les signaux se propagent à travers un canal à évanouissements rapides de Rayleigh. Enfin parce que la prise en compte de l'interférence est un moyen avéré d'augmenter la capacité des réseaux, nous étudions les performances de la détection multiutilisateurs à maximum de vraisemblance (MUD-MLSE), dans un contexte WLAN à canaux recouvrant.