The learning of mathematics covers a variety of skills, such as comparing quantities, counting the number of items in a set, dealing with the numerical systems (i.e., writing and reading numbers), performing simple and complex calculations, or solving word problems. Typically, a majority of children are able to master these abilities, but an appreciable percentage of them does not and are then referenced as having developmental dyscalculia. It is clear that not being able to count efficiently, to understand the meaning of numbers, or to calculate as other children do, rapidly becomes a handicap during the development, not only at school but also in society in general, in the same way as not being able to read is. Despite the growing interest observed over these last few years, research on developmental dyscalculia or more general mathematical disability is actually much less advanced than research on dyslexia. It could be due to the complexity of the mathematics field. Several hypotheses have been proposed to account for this learning deficit, but the origin(s) of developmental dyscalculia remain(s) unclear. Research first focused on the role of the auxiliary cognitive functions not directly related to number processing. In particular, the different components of the working memory were extensively measured in children with mathematical difficulties. Other theories are based on potential weak spatial abilities, low speed of processing, or difficulties in retrieving information from long-term memory. More recently, Butterworth (1999b) proposes that humans are born with a capacity specialised for recognising and mentally manipulating numerosities. Unlike the previous hypotheses, he argues for “a highly selective and specific deficit of a very basic capacity for understanding numbers, which leads to a range of difficulties in learning about number and arithmetic”. In the same vein, Dehaene (1997) speaks about the “number sense” as the ability to represent and manipulate number magnitude nonverbally that could be impaired in developmental dyscalculia. In this thesis, we have focused on four main questions with respect to number development. First, we wanted to test whether or not difficulties encountered by mathematically disabled children are specific to the numerical domain. Children with mathematical disabilities manifesting poor calculation abilities were compared to control children of the same age during various tasks of retrieving information from long-term memory (Experiment 1). The second aim was to examine the integrity of the number magnitude representation in dyscalculia. We analysed potential differences in the slope of the numerical distance effect, which reflects the nature of analog magnitudes, in children with or without mathematical disabilities when they had to select the larger of two quantities presented in different formats (Experiment 2). These experiments are presented in Chapters 4 and 5. The two other questions are dedicated to the analysis of brain areas involved in number development using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Our third objective was to examine age-related changes in frontal and parietal regions between children and adults during number comparison (Experiment 3). Finally, we conducted a second neuroimaging study to explore the potential neural correlates of dyscalculia. Cerebral activity of both children with pure dyscalculia and control children was analysed during a numerical and a non-numerical comparison tasks (Experiment 4). We also investigated whether or not these differences in brain activation were specific to number processing. These experiments are reported in Chapters 6 and 7.

Mobbning kan leda till långvariga psykosociala, psykiatriska och psykosomatiska problem och sker vanligtvis under skoltid. Tidigare studier har visat att elever och lärare kan bedöma mobbning olika beroende på mobbningsform. Hur individen bedömer situationer är beroende av en mängd kognitiva processer och synen på vad som är mobbning bidrar till om man ingriper eller inte. En surveyundersökning genomfördes på 268 högstadieelever och 70 lärare. En enkät beskrivande olika mobbningssituationer utformades i syftet att se om det fanns skillnader i dessa gruppers bedömning av olika former av mobbning. Resultatet visade att lärare, särskilt äldre lärare, bedömde samtliga mobbningsformer mer som mobbning än eleverna. Eleverna bedömde fysisk mobbning mer som mobbning än övriga mobbningsformer. Mobbningssituationer innehållande flera aktiva angripare sågs mer som mobbning än situationer med en aktiv angripare. Kognitiva processer vilar på individens kunskap, föreställningar, förväntningar och mål, något som kan bidra till elevers och lärares olika bedömning av mobbning.

Comparing protein sequences is an essential procedure that has many applications in the field of bioinformatics. The recent advances in computational capabilities and algorithm design, simplified the comparison procedure of protein sequences from several databases. Various algorithms have emerged using state of the art approaches to match protein sequences based on structural and functional properties of the amino acids. The matching involves structural alignment, and this alignment may be global; comprising of the whole length of the protein, or local; comprising of the sub-sequences of the proteins. Families of related proteins are found by clustering sequence alignments. The frequency distributions of the amino acids within these different clusters define the sequence profile. The best alignment algorithm uses these profiles. In this thesis, we have studied different profile alignment algorithms where the cost function for comparing two profiles is changed. These are compared to the FFAS3 (Fold and Function Assignment) algorithm.

This thesis examines web-server architectures for static workloads on both uniprocessor and multiprocessor systems to determine the key factors affecting their performance. The architectures examined are event-driven (userver) and pipeline (WatPipe). As well, a thread-per-connection (Knot) architecture is examined for the uniprocessor system. Various workloads are tested to determine their effect on the performance of the servers. Significant effort is made to ensure a fair comparison among the servers. For example, all the servers are implemented in C or C++, and support sendfile and edge-triggered epoll. The existing servers, Knot and userver, are extended as necessary, and the new pipeline-server, WatPipe, is implemented using userver as its initial code base. Each web server is also tuned to determine its best configuration for a specific workload, which is shown to be critical to achieve best server performance. Finally, the server experiments are verified to ensure each is performing within reasonable standards. The performance of the various architectures is examined on a uniprocessor system. Three workloads are examined: no disk-I/O, moderate disk-I/O and heavy disk-I/O. These three workloads highlight the differences among the architectures. As expected, the experiments show the amount of disk I/O is the most significant factor in determining throughput, and once there is memory pressure, the memory footprint of the server is the crucial performance factor. The peak throughput differs by only 9-13% among the best servers of each architecture across the various workloads. Furthermore, the appropriate configuration parameters for best performance varied based on workload, and no single server performed the best for all workloads. The results show the event-driven and pipeline servers have equivalent throughput when there is moderate or no disk-I/O. The only difference is during the heavy disk-I/O experiments where WatPipe's smaller memory footprint for its blocking server gave it a performance advantage. The Knot server has 9% lower throughput for no disk-I/O and moderate disk-I/O and 13% lower for heavy disk-I/O, showing the extra overheads incurred by thread-per-connection servers, but still having performance close to the other server architectures. An unexpected result is that blocking sockets with sendfile outperforms non-blocking sockets with sendfile when there is heavy disk-I/O because of more efficient disk access. Next, the performance of the various architectures is examined on a multiprocessor system. Knot is excluded from the experiments as its underlying thread library, Capriccio, only supports uniprocessor execution. For these experiments, it is shown that partitioning the system so that server processes, subnets and requests are handled by the same CPU is necessary to achieve high throughput. Both N-copy and new hybrid versions of the uniprocessor servers, extended to support partitioning, are tested. While the N-copy servers performed the best, new hybrid versions of the servers also performed well. These hybrid servers have throughput within 2% of the N-copy servers but offer benefits over N-copy such as a smaller memory footprint and a shared address-space. For multiprocessor systems, it is shown that once the system becomes disk bound, the throughput of the servers is drastically reduced. To maximize performance on a multiprocessor, high disk throughput and lots of memory are essential.

ZW3D 2011 is a very young CAD-system that Pär Nobring at r.a.p.s asked us to put againstone of the world leading CAD-systems today, Catia V5. Since we are going through aneducation that centers round engineering and technical facts, this comparison had to be in tunewith that.After discussion with both Pär Nobring, and our mentor Johan Wretborn, we came to anunderstanding regarding what should be done. We performed a technical comparison of thefollowing main features:· KBE tools (Knowledge Based Engineering)· Curvature and Continuity Analysis· File Format Translation Verification· NC MachiningWe are very happy with all our result, if you don't count the failure with the NC machiningsection. However none of the tests we did turned out unnecessary. It lead to a greaterunderstanding than we already had, and gave us very useful experience.

Although Icelandic and Norwegian killer whales are thought to have been in contact prior to the collapse of the herring stock in the 1960s, the Northeast Atlantic killer whales currently seem to show high site fidelity. So far, photoidentification data have suggested movement of a few individuals between East Iceland and North Scotland, and two calls have been shown to be shared by the Icelandic and Norwegian populations. Based on previous and newly analysed call samples, the aim of this study was to describe the geographic variation in the vocal repertoire of the Northeast Atlantic killer whales. Recordings have been conducted off Southwest Iceland in the summers 2004, 2008 and 2009 using sound recording tags attached using suction cups (Dtags), a 4-element vertical hydrophone array and a 2-element towed hydrophone array. From the 57 hours of recording analysed, 1742 calls were classified. In total, 56 distinct call categories composed of 35 call types and 31 subtypes were identified. This discrete call repertoire contained less biphonic calls but more calls composed of buzzes and/or clicks than the Norwegian repertoire. The reasons for these differences remain unknown. One Icelandic call subtype was defined as a compound call, a type of call that is common in the Norwegian population. The comparison of the different vocal repertoires of Northeast Atlantic showed four good or likely call matches in herring-eating killer whales (one between Southwest Iceland and Shetland, one between East Iceland and Norway, and two between Shetland and Norway). No matches were found between Southwest Iceland and East Iceland. I suggest that the four shared calls are most likely to have come from a common ancestral pod and have been transmitted through vocal learning. Over time, geographic isolation of the groups induced by changes in the migratory patterns of the herring might have been accompanied by divergence in their call repertoires.

This thesis examines web-server architectures for static workloads on both uniprocessor and multiprocessor systems to determine the key factors affecting their performance. The architectures examined are event-driven (userver) and pipeline (WatPipe). As well, a thread-per-connection (Knot) architecture is examined for the uniprocessor system. Various workloads are tested to determine their effect on the performance of the servers. Significant effort is made to ensure a fair comparison among the servers. For example, all the servers are implemented in C or C++, and support sendfile and edge-triggered epoll. The existing servers, Knot and userver, are extended as necessary, and the new pipeline-server, WatPipe, is implemented using userver as its initial code base. Each web server is also tuned to determine its best configuration for a specific workload, which is shown to be critical to achieve best server performance. Finally, the server experiments are verified to ensure each is performing within reasonable standards. The performance of the various architectures is examined on a uniprocessor system. Three workloads are examined: no disk-I/O, moderate disk-I/O and heavy disk-I/O. These three workloads highlight the differences among the architectures. As expected, the experiments show the amount of disk I/O is the most significant factor in determining throughput, and once there is memory pressure, the memory footprint of the server is the crucial performance factor. The peak throughput differs by only 9-13% among the best servers of each architecture across the various workloads. Furthermore, the appropriate configuration parameters for best performance varied based on workload, and no single server performed the best for all workloads. The results show the event-driven and pipeline servers have equivalent throughput when there is moderate or no disk-I/O. The only difference is during the heavy disk-I/O experiments where WatPipe's smaller memory footprint for its blocking server gave it a performance advantage. The Knot server has 9% lower throughput for no disk-I/O and moderate disk-I/O and 13% lower for heavy disk-I/O, showing the extra overheads incurred by thread-per-connection servers, but still having performance close to the other server architectures. An unexpected result is that blocking sockets with sendfile outperforms non-blocking sockets with sendfile when there is heavy disk-I/O because of more efficient disk access. Next, the performance of the various architectures is examined on a multiprocessor system. Knot is excluded from the experiments as its underlying thread library, Capriccio, only supports uniprocessor execution. For these experiments, it is shown that partitioning the system so that server processes, subnets and requests are handled by the same CPU is necessary to achieve high throughput. Both N-copy and new hybrid versions of the uniprocessor servers, extended to support partitioning, are tested. While the N-copy servers performed the best, new hybrid versions of the servers also performed well. These hybrid servers have throughput within 2% of the N-copy servers but offer benefits over N-copy such as a smaller memory footprint and a shared address-space. For multiprocessor systems, it is shown that once the system becomes disk bound, the throughput of the servers is drastically reduced. To maximize performance on a multiprocessor, high disk throughput and lots of memory are essential.

Inspection of solder joint interconnection has been a crucial process in the electronics manufacturing industry to reduce manufacturing cost, improve yield, and ensure product quality and reliability. New inspection techniques are urgently needed to fill in the gap between available inspection capabilities and industry requirement of low-cost, fast-speed, and highly reliable inspection systems. The laser ultrasound inspection system under development aims to provide a solution that can overcome some of the limitations of current inspection techniques. Specifically, the fully developed system will be an automated system that is capable of inspecting hidden solder joints with multiple defect types. This research work includes the following aspects: 1) Inspection system integration and automation to improve system throughput and capability, system performance characterization by stability study and gage repeatability and reproducibility study , 2) Development and implementation of signal processing methods, including time-domain correlation coefficient analysis, auto-comparison method, and frequency-domain spectral estimation, to allow for fast and accurate interpretation of vibration signals, 3) Development of a finite element modal model followed by experimental validation. The modal analysis results indicate there are unique mode frequencies and mode shapes associated with certain solder joint defects, and 4) Study of the systems unique capability in detecting solder joint fatigue cracks.

Childhood cancer has obvious impacts on the children themselves, but also has impacts on their families and siblings. While studies have been conducted on the impacts of cancer on children and their parents, there has been limited consideration of the impacts of cancer on healthy siblings. Some studies have suggested that siblings of children with cancer are the most emotionally disregarded and distressed of all family members as a result of their sibling having cancer. Exposure to stress has a negative impact on the immune system and places siblings at risk for health problems. Thus, finding mechanisms to ameliorate stress are critical. Early intervention and treatment may serve as protective factors against risky behavior and lead to more normative child development and well-being. One method of improving the psychosocial adjustment of siblings of children with cancer has been through interventions such as camp experiences that include opportunities for campers to experience social support. There is a need to better understand the efficacy of intervention programs designed to reduce stress across a variety of settings. The focus of this study was if campers experience social support (emotional, informational, and instrumental) at a three and one-half day residential camp, and the elements of camp campers’ identified as leading to social support. Participant observations of camp and semi-structured interviews with selected campers were used to help gain insights concerning the impact of the camp experience on siblings of children with cancer. Coding of responses was undertaken, which led to the identification of themes and subthemes. Findings provided a narrative description of how campers perceived social support. In addition, social comparison was identified as a critical mechanism for meeting camper’s biological, physiological and behavioral needs. Overarching perceptions of campers were that people at camp were nice and staff was instrumental in facilitating universality and a cycle of reciprocity. Implications of this study suggest intentionally designed camps have the ability to impact a broad range of attitudes and behaviors. The study also supports theory of how structures and processes of social relationships work in relation to good health; and can be applied to a camp setting.

The current study examined the subjective and physiological reactivity to body image stimuli among females engaging in a social comparison task. Study I was conducted to select images of thin and average size models and neutral objects for Study II. For Study II, fifty-six female undergraduate students had their skin conductance and startle reflex responses recorded while comparing themselves to images featuring thin models, average size models, and neutral objects. Following the visual presentation, participants rated every image using the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) rating scale. Analysis from the SAM ratings scale revealed a significant picture type effect for arousal, dominance, and body satisfaction, indicating that participants reported greater arousal, more body dissatisfaction, and less control after viewing images of thin models than after viewing images of normal models and neutral objects. With regards to the psychophysiological data, results indicated that startle reflex responses were inhibited during the presentation of thin models in comparison to average size models and neutral objects. Moreover, startle reflex responses were inhibited for average size models in comparison to neutral objects. The finding that startle reactivity to model images was inhibited with respect to neutral images suggests pictures of models were processed affectively as pleasant, positive stimuli. The finding that startle reactivity to thin models was inhibited with respect to average size models suggests that thin model images elicited differentially greater positive affect than average size models. For skin conductance, analysis revealed no significant picture type effect. Taken together, the results of this study highlight the influence of social comparison processes on affectivity reactivity to body image. Future research directions are discussed.