This Master Thesis, written in collaboration with CorPower Ocean, serves as the finalization of the author’s master degree education at KTH (Royal Institute of Technology) Stockholm. The purpose has been to characterize the Cascade gearbox which is used to convert vertical motion induced by waves to rotational motion which powers generators in the company’s future wave energy power plant. The purpose was also to suggest future improvements and shed light on any problems discovered. The method for characterizing the Cascade gearbox was to conduct physical measurements of the load sharing in the inherently overdetermined geometrical design. These data were then used to calibrate a static as well as a dynamic model also developed for this thesis. Focus has been on determining that the novel load sharing method is sufficient and that no gear takes more than the 2,5% overload during max load the gearbox is dimensioned for at any time. Also included in the thesis is an analysis of the tolerances effect on the performance of the Cascade gearbox. Results showed that the current design perform within the expected dimensioning limits. However some unexpected characteristics were discovered after analysis of the results. Because of deliberate geometric decisions half of the gears trail behind initially in one direction causing uneven load sharing and unwanted lateral forces on the rack. Also discovered was the importance of equal stiffness of the flex units, used to divide the load evenly between the gears, since the load sharing factor converges towards values directly proportional to the stiffness ratios in between them. As a conclusion it can be said that although the current design is sufficient, there is still room for improvements which could enhance life expectancy as well as load sharing performance of the Cascade gearbox. / Detta examensarbete utfört i samarbete med CorPower Ocean, är det slutgiltiga steget i författarens utbildning på masternivå på KTH (Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan) Stockholm. Syftet med arbetet är att karakterisera en kaskadväxellåda som används för att omvandla vertikal rörelse från vågor till rotation som driver generatorer i företagets framtida vågkraftverk samt att utifrån resultat föreslå möjliga förbättringar och belysa eventuella problem. Den metod som använts för att karakterisera kaskadväxellådan var att via fysiska mätningar, på den testrigg placerad på KTH (Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan) i Stockholm, erhålla data för lastfördelningen i den geometriskt överbestämda konstruktionen. Dessa data användes sedan för att kalibrera en statisk och en dynamisk modell som också utvecklades för det här projektet. Huvudfokus för arbetet har legat i att ta reda på om den konstruktion som används för att fördela lasten mellan kugghjulen fungerar tillfredställande samt att säkerställa att inget kugghjul tar mer än de 2,5% överlast vid fullast växellådan är dimensionerad för vid något tillfälle. Examensarbetet inkluderar även feltoleransers inverkan på lastfördelningen i kaskadväxeln. Resultaten visade att den nuvarande konstruktionen presterar inom de specificerade dimensioneringsintervallen. Några oväntade karaktärsdrag upptäckdes dock vid analys av resultaten. På grund av en avsiktlig geometrisk oregelbundenhet släpade hälften av kugghjulen efter åt ena hållet vilket i sin tur resulterade i en ojämn lastfördelning och oönskade sidokrafter på kuggracken. Flexenheterna som används för att fördela lasten likvärdigt mellan kugghjulen skilde sig åt i styvhet. Den inverkan spridningen av dessa har på lastfördelningen belystes också eftersom lastfördelningen konvergerar mot värden direkt proportionella mot styvhetsförhållandet mellan dem. Slutsatsen från examensarbetet är att den nuvarande konstruktionen, även om den fungerar tillfredställande, lämnar utrymme för förbättringar som potentiellt kan förbättra både livslängd och lastfördelningsprestanda.

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump distinguished himself from other candidates via his hardline stances on issues of immigration. Using data from national surveys conducted between 2014 and 2019, we identify three key findings about views of immigrants among the American public during the Trump era. First, xenophobia was the strongest predictor of Americans’ feelings—anger, fear, pride, and hope—about Donald Trump during his time in office, and the second strongest predictor of feelings about the Republican party (after partisan identification). Second, the influence of Americans’ levels of xenophobia on their feelings about the Republican Party were significantly mediated by their feelings about Trump, especially for negative affect (anger and fear). Third, there has been a backlash against xenophobia, such that political independents and Democrats became significantly more favorable toward immigrants after 2016. As a result, views of immigrants have become more favorable overall, but also more politically polarized. These findings support and extend immigration backlash theory, contribute to research on affective polarization, and document consequential trends in contemporary American politics.

Latino immigrants who lack assimilation into U.S. society often experience discrimination and immigrant backlash. The purpose of this exploration was to better understand the historical lack of assimilation of Latino immigrants, so they may avoid discrimination and have more access to goods and services. Self-determinism helped explain why the Latino immigrant group has a problem assimilating due to exclusionary practices, while segmented assimilation offered explanations on why assimilation is difficult. In this study, assimilation was measured according to English mastery by Spanish speakers. The research question was focused on what extent the level of generational standing, education, and income relate to assimilation for Latinos in the United States. A correlational design with multiple regression analysis was used in this study to analyze the Latino National Survey of 2006 secondary data (N =8634). Results indicated that every variable was significant except grandparents born outside the United States. The implications for positive social change include providing research-based information that might assist policymakers to develop programs and laws that better assist the Hispanic ethnic group to assimilate into United States.

Background:  The 2019 Gillette advertisement ‘We believe: the best men can be’ was released when the #MeToo movement was gaining momentum. The commercial addressed conventional ideas of masculinity and received a lot of public criticism for its message. To examine how advertising affects society’s perception of gender it is essential to develop an understanding of customer responses to this controversial advertisement.     Purpose:   The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how customers respond to the controversial Gillette advertisement and the reason for this reaction. The study looks to identify the variety of emotions, actions, and cognitive processes displayed by customers by examining comments made by users on the YouTube advertisement video.    Method:  Using netnography, both a qualitative and quantitative research method, the study examined 2,400 comments from the Gillette advertisement published on YouTube. To find trends and patterns relating to customer responses, these comments are grouped and analyzed thematically. Waller’s proposed response model for controversial advertising serves as the foundation for analysis, with the inclusion of modifications to consider the special features of the YouTube comments.    Conclusion:  Analyzing the comments on the advertisement indicates a wide range of responses to the Gillette campaign. Commenters expressed disapproval, sarcasm, dislike, and offense. Negative behaviors included plans to boycott Gillette or spread negative word of mouth. There were a few positive comments that expressed positive emotions like approval, liking, and appreciation, but little to no positive actions. A majority of the negative reactions were influenced by perceptions of masculinity, gender constructs within society, political affiliation, as well as perceptions of Gillette’s brand actions. These results offer insightful understandings of the challenges of addressing masculinity and managing the social environments in the context of advertising.

China is accused of conducting disinformation campaigns on Taiwan's social media. Existing studies on foreign interventions in democratic societies predict that such disinformation campaigns should lead to increasing partisan polarization within Taiwan. We argue that a backlash effect, making Taiwan's citizens more united against China, is equally plausible. We conduct a survey experiment exposing participants to a real-life rumour and rebuttal to test these competing hypotheses. We find, at best, mixed evidence for polarization. Although neither rumour nor rebuttal mention China, there is consistent evidence of backlash against China. Most notably, participants across the political spectrum are more inclined to support Taiwanese independence after viewing the rumour rebuttal. These findings indicate that citizens may put aside partisanship when confronted with false news that is plausibly linked to an external actor. We conclude by discussing the broader applicability of our theory and implications for cross-Strait relations.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis project is conducted in collaboration with Swepart Transmission AB, aimed to dynamically simulate the compact gearbox design with planetary gears meant to be used in robots. The primary objective of this project is to analyze operational principles of planetary gears and their suitability for mitigating lost motion (backlash). Simulations have been carried out using MSC Adams software where the input speed is 1400 rpm on the pinion gear, which is equal to 1100 deg/s when applied to the sun gear. An adjustment gear is mounted atop sun gear, which is used to adjust the position of the planet gears and it is locked with different variations of 0, 5 and 10 degrees of angular displacement to adjust the planet gears. Additionally, one of the planet gears is selected and the position of teeth in that planet gear is deviated by 10, 20, 30 and 40 micrometers and these new gears are then placed in position of the existing planet gear one by one. These models are then simulated to study the variations and effects of angular velocity on the ring gears, angular velocity of the adjustment gear, displacement in radial direction of the planet gear after it is adjusted, force and torque generated on contact between the planet gear and the ring gear over a period of 5 seconds using 1000 time steps.

Similarities exist between the current climate change movement and the earlier suffragette movement. Both are progressive, challenge the status quo, have feminist underpinnings, and face opposition from the political right and through the media. However, the link between the similarities in argumentative opposition between the two, remains unestablished. Therefore, this study seeks to first establish the argumentative strategies developed to oppose climate activists and then place these in a historical perspective by comparing them to the opposition to women's suffrage in Sweden. Using rhetorical topoi analysis, this study examined Facebook posts to find, categorize, and analyze arguments with the help of green backlash and countermovement theory. These findings were then compared with pre-established arguments against women's suffrage in Sweden. The study finds that the argumentative strategies deployed against Swedish climate activists are characterized by climate denial, hostility, and mockery, which are used as tactics to discredit, undermine, and oppose them. The analysis also shows a historical resemblance between the opposition to climate activists and the suffragettes, highlighting the recurring resistance to socially progressive pro-women movements.

Métodos de controle baseado em dados utilizam dados de operação da planta para minimizar algum critério de desempenho, tipicamente quadrático, sem que seja necessário o conhecimento de um modelo da planta. O Iterative Feedback Tuning (IFT) é um destes métodos, utilizando dados obtidos da operação da planta em malha fechada para gerar uma estimativa não-polarizada do gradiente do critério de desempenho, que é então minimizado através de algum variante do método de Newton. Alguns resultados da literatura tratam da aplicação do IFT em sistemas não-lineares, sempre sob a condição de diferenciabilidade da não-linearidade (linearização em torno do ponto de operação). Um exemplo prático da aplicação do método na sintonia do controlador de um servomotor com folga é o único resultado encontrado. Este trabalho investiga, através de casos simulados e práticos, a aplicabilidade do método IFT em sistemas com não-linearidades não-diferenciáveis comumente encontradas em sistemas mecânicos, como a folga e a zona-morta, e a saturação, presente em todo e qualquer sistema físico. / Data based control methods use data collected from a plant’s “regular” operation to minimize a performance criterion, typically in quadratic form, without any information about a system’s model. Iterative Feedback Tuning (IFT) is one such method that uses closed-loop operating data to generate an unbiased estimate of the cost criterion gradient, which is then minimized with some form of the Newton method. Results in the literature for IFT applied to non-linear systems require that the non-linearity is differentiable (basically, linearizing the system around an operating point). One practical application of the algorithm to tune a controller for a servomotor system with backlash is the only result found. This work investigates, using simulated and practical examples, the suitability of the use of IFT in systems with non-differentiable non-linearities commonly found in mechanical systems, such as backlash and dead-zone, and saturation, found in every physical system.