Executive Summary Swedish companies have a relatively small domestic market that quickly becomes saturated. For those companies who are dependent on increased sales in order to survive or have the ambition to grow internationalization is the one option. Traditionally companies have ex- panded internationally by first exporting to countries with a short geographical as well as cultural distance. With increased experience the companies have entered markets farther and farther away, culturally as well as geographically. Eventually it might be possible to for example start production abroad. With today’s increasingly internationally competitive market it becomes more frequent that companies establish business in foreign countries at a more rapid pace. The choice was to study PMC Cylinders, a Swedish medium sized company that has been operating internationally for approximately thirty years. This company ́s internationaliza- tion processes have been analyzed in order to understand factors that might bridge these distances to other countries. These distances can be bridged by for instance existing customers, consultants, sister com- panies with complementary resources or employees with host country origin. Further the way of establishing foreign operations can contribute. With shorter distance there is no big issue. For example Norway was perceived almost like selling in Sweden. When the per- ceived distance is medium, here Germany serves as an example, it becomes more compli- cated. Existing British customer relationships made it possible to enter the German market. It was not enough to use an agent which was the case at an earlier failed attempt. Relation- ships with different actors and ways of entering foreign markets become even more impor- tant when this distance is long. Here China can serve as an example; the country is far away geographically as well as culturally. Together with a customer production was established in the Chinese market. This was also seen as an opportunity by a sister company to follow one of their customers. Thus the efforts of the companies were combined. PMC Cylinders also used employees with technical, cultural and language knowledge to bridge the distance. Thus there were a number of factors making the establishment in China possible. By the study of PMC Cylinders internationalization processes certain patterns were found. The outcome of these patterns is a structured model with a number of steps. This model implies that with increased geographical and or cultural distance the importance of connec- tions and ways of entering the market grows. The model is a decision tree which can be seen as an internationalization tool for PMC Cylinders.

Arbetets syfte är att ge en bild av vilka faktorer som påverkar hur studerande inom humaniora, på Linköpings universitet,gör sina val av kläder, idag 2010. Utifrån syftet besvaras frågeställningen. Metoden för arbetet har varit en komparativfallstudie med utgångspunkt från flera kvalitativa intervjuer. En begreppsförklaring, samt en litteraturgenomgång ges förämnesområdena, kläder som kommunikation, kläder som stil, mode och trender. Arbetet visar på faktorer som påverkarstudenternas val av kläder. Påvisade faktorer är vardagliga återkommande situationer för många av studenterna såsom,missade tvättider, föreläsningar och sociala aktiviteter. Kläder blir en faktor som avgör om vi blir accepterade i en specifikgrupp eller om vår individualitet lyser igenom och grupptillhörigheten blir en självklarhet. Arbetet öppnar upp för vidarestudier då kläder och mode är en föränderlig process.

<p>Each year, over 13,000 people in the United States die from a primary malignant brain tumor. Currently, primary BTs are treated most commonly by surgery, radiotherapy, and systemic chemotherapy, though each of these methods carries a risk of complications or acute side effects.</p><p>Ultrasound hyperthermia has been investigated as way to open the blood-brain barrier for improved chemotherapeutic drug delivery, but previous methods have involved either invasively removing skull bone via surgery or non-invasively dealing with the high ultrasound attenuation, reflection, and phase aberration resulting from the skull and its variable thickness. Dual-mode ultrasound transducers for image-guided therapy have also been investigated for several applications; in some instances, phased arrays are ideal, allowing control over the ultrasound energy deposition pattern and inherent spatial registration between imaging, treatment, and monitoring.</p><p>Additionally, thermosensitive liposomes can be configured to encapsulate drugs and actively target regions of tumor angiogenesis. When used in combination with localized hyperthermia, thermosensitive liposomes can provide targeted control of drug release that may enhance chemotherapeutic efficacy in many clinical settings. Meanwhile, catheter devices and endovascular techniques are used by interventional neuroradiologists to treat various intracranial diseases, including intracranial aneurysm and dural venous sinus thrombosis. These procedures can be extended to the treatment of intracranial tumors (advancement of a 5 Fr catheter as far as the frontal portion of the superior sagittal sinus has been demonstrated).</p><p>The objective of the work presented in this dissertation was the realization of a dual-mode catheter transducer for a minimally-invasive, vascular approach to deliver localized, image-guided ultrasound hyperthermia to an intracranial tumor target. Toward this end, a series of prototype ultrasound transducers were designed, simulated, built, and tested for imaging and therapeutic potential.</p><p>Two 14-Fr phased-array prototypes were built with PZT-5H ceramic and tested for real-time 3D intracranial imaging and focused-beam hyperthermia capability. These were able to visualize the lateral ventricles and Circle of Willis in a canine model, and generate a temperature rise over 4&deg;C at a 2-cm focal distance in excised tissue.</p><p>Single-channel intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) coronary imaging catheters as small as 3.5 Fr were then considered as a construction template; several possible transducer apertures were simulated before fabricating prototypes with PZT-4. The transducers exhibited a dual-frequency response, due to the presence of thickness-mode and width-mode resonances. A thermal model was developed to estimate the +4&deg;C thermal penetration depth for a given transducer aperture, predicting an effective therapeutic range of up to 12 mm with a 5 × 0.5 mm aperture.</p><p>A 3.5-Fr commercial mechanical IVUS catheter was retrofitted with a PZT-4 transducer and tested for 9-MHz imaging performance in several animal studies, successfully visualizing anatomical structures in the brain and navigating a minimally-invasive vascular pathway toward the brain. An identical PZT-4 transducer was used to build a 3.3-MHz therapy prototype, which produced a temperature rise of +13.5&deg;C at a depth of 1.5 mm in live xenograft brain tumor tissue in the mouse model.</p><p>These studies indicate that a minimally-invasive catheter transducer can be made capable of visualizing brain structures and generating localized hyperthermia to trigger drug release from thermosensitive liposomes in brain tumor tissue.</p> / Dissertation

This thesis reports on the use of sputter-deposited zinc-oxide as a transduction mechanism to actuate and sense single crystal silicon (SCS) microelectromechanical (MEMS) resonators. Low frequency prototypes of piezo-on-silicon resonators with operating frequencies in the range of hundreds of kHz were implemented using micromechanical single crystal silicon clamped-clamped beam resonators. The resonators reported here extend the frequency of this technology into very high frequency (VHF range) by using in-plane length extensional bulk resonant modes. This thesis outlines the design, implementation and characterization of high-frequency single crystal silicon (SCS) block resonators with piezoelectric electromechanical transducers. The resonators are fabricated on 4m thick SOI substrates and use sputtered ZnO as the piezo material. The centrally supported block resonators operate in their first and higher order length extensional bulk modes with high quality factor (Q). Measurement results are in good agreement with the developed ANSYS simulations.

Recent observational and modeling studies indicate a robust dynamical coupling between the stratosphere and troposphere during boreal winter. This coupling occurs in association with the Northern Annular Mode (NAM), which itself accounts for a significant fraction of the variability of the extratropical circulation. While monthly NAM dynamics have been studied previously, the mechanisms that give rise to NAM variability on short intraseasonal timescale are still unclear. We perform regression analyses, case studies, and composites based on periods of dynamical growth/decay to investigate the roles of the different proposed mechanisms in driving the atmospheric variability observed in association with the NAM on short intraseasonal timescales. More specifically, lag-regression analyses are used to identify the mean canonical structures present during the evolution of a typical NAM event. Illustrative case studies of robust stratospheric NAM events but with different tropospheric signals are contrasted in order to identify the underlying dynamical reasons for the observed differences. Finally, composite analyses of NAM tendencies are performed to isolate the structural and dynamical evolution of NAM events. Zonal-mean and three-dimensional eddy-flux diagnoses are used to examine the role of eddy-mean flow interaction in driving the wind tendencies characteristic of the NAM. In particular, Plumb flux analyses are employed to quantify the contribution of regional stationary wave anomalies toward the zonal mean wind tendency field. Potential vorticity inversions are also used to determine the role of stratospheric anomalies in inducing tropospheric circulations. The case study analyses indicate that preexisting tropospheric PV anomalies can mask the downward penetration of an initial stratospheric NAM signal into the troposphere. PV inversions further suggest that a minimum requirement for a direct downward stratospheric influence is that the stratospheric NAM signal be robust in the lower stratosphere. The dynamical composites show a remarkable degree of reverse symmetry between the zonal-mean dynamical evolution of positive and negative NAM events. Anomalous Eliassen-Palm fluxes are observed in the troposphere and stratosphere, consistent with index of refraction considerations and an indirect downward influence of the stratosphere on the troposphere. The patterns of anomalous wave driving, primarily due to low-frequency planetary scale waves, provide the main forcing of the zonal mean wind tendency field. Regional wave activity fluxes indicate that the wave driving pattern represents the manifestation of planetary scale anomalies over the North Atlantic.

The objective of this research is to investigate low-complexity, efficient electronic equalizers to increase the data rate and possibly extend the reach of multi-mode fiber (MMF) links. Specifically, we begin by baselining the performance limits of conventional receivers. A robust, in-house mode solver was developed as part of this research and is currently being used by one of the largest fiber manufacturers in their internal R &D work. A detailed performance assessment of the impact of decision feedback equalizers has been conducted using an extensive model of the installed fiber base. The finite-length DFE results were instrumental in influencing the IEEE 802.3aq standardization effort. In particular, we were able to achieve a reach of 220m but the original goal of 300m was unattainable on 99% of the installed fiber base using DFEs of moderate complexity. A low-cost equalizer that has excellent performance, the bi-directional DFE, was applied to the MMF channel for the first time. The performance of the infinite-length BiDFE was characterized without any constraints on the signal-to-noise ratio and on the receiver front-end, as has been previously done in the literature. A new joint optimization technique that helps the finite-length BiDFE perform significantly better than the infinite-length DFE was developed. It was shown that given a finite number of filter coefficients, the BiDFE utilizes them better than the conventional DFE. Furthermore, a reach of 350-400m at a data rate of 10 Gbps was shown to be feasible with equalizers of complexity similar to that currently available. A multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) characterization of the MMF channel was developed through the simultaneous use of both center and offset launch together with the two-segment photo-detector. The potential benefit of MIMO processing for MMF links was demonstrated by computing Shannon capacity bounds. It was established that the 2x2 MIMO channel performs about 1.4 dBo better than the conventional 1x1 link at 10 Gbps with practical joint launch. The MIMO scheme still has a performance improvement of 1dBo at 20 Gbps thereby indicating that 20 Gbps transmission is feasible. Performance evaluation of multi-km MMF links was conducted using a comprehensive model that accounts for mode coupling effects. It was determined that ignoring mode coupling can result in under-estimation of the optimum DFE penalty by as much as 1~dBo for 1km links.

In this work a new current-sweep stress methodology for quantitatively assessing the mixed-mode reliability (simultaneous application of high current and high voltage) of advanced SiGe HBTs is presented. This stress methodology allows one to quickly obtain the complete damage spectrum of a given device from a particular technology platform, enabling better understanding of the complex voltage, current, and temperature interdependence associated with electrical stress and burn-in of advanced transistors. We consistently observed three distinct regions of mixed-mode damage in SiGe HBTs, and find that hot carrier induced damage can be introduced into SiGe HBTs under surprisingly modest mixed-mode stress conditions. For more aggressively scaled silicon-germanium technology generations, a larger percentage of hot carriers generated in the collector-base junction are able to travel to and hence damage the EB spacer, leading to enhanced forward-mode base current leakage under stress. A new self-heating induced mixed-mode annealing effect was observed for the first time under fairly high voltage and current stress conditions, and a new damage mechanism was observed under very high voltage and current conditions. Finally, as an example of the utility of our stress methodology, we quantified the composite mixed-mode damage spectrum of a commercial third-generation (200 GHz) generation SiGe HBT. It is found that if devices are stressed with either voltage or current alone during burn-in, they can easily withstand extreme over-stress conditions. Unfortunately, devices were easily damaged when stressed with a combination of stress voltage and current, and this has significant implications for the device and circuit lifetime prediction under realistic mixed-signal operating conditions.

Based on the Lyapunov stability theorem, a modified stability analysis as well as a modified observer is proposed in this thesis for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with an existent high gain observer. By assuming that the first two state variables are indirectly measurable, reanalyzing the stability of the error dynamics is presented first. The advantage of this modified analytic method is that the upper bound of the disturbance distribution functions is not required to be known in advance, and the asymptotic stability is still guaranteed. Next, based on this existent observer, a slightly modified observer is presented for systems with disturbances whose upper bound is unknown. An adaptive mechanism is embedded in the proposed observer, so that the upper bound of perturbations is not required to be known beforehand. The resultant dynamics of estimation errors can be driven into the sliding surface in a finite time, and guarantee asymptotic stability. A numerical example and a practical example are given to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed observer.

In recent years, with the advance of liquid crystal display technology, the LCD monitors have been gradually replacing the traditional CRT monitors. From the display of desktop computers to the general home TV screen, the LCD screens become bigger and thinner. It is not only utilized in television and computers but also advertising billboards. It also helps the expansion of digital signage market. In response to the Chi Mei group¡¦s strategy to expand LCD panel development, Chi Lin Technology, a company with 40 years of experience in traditional plastic materials processing are transferring into the electronics manufacturer. Chi Lin Technology is constantly looking for the applicable areas of LCD technology and wants to bring the growth momentum for the company. They believe that the market of the digital signage in the convenience stores is white space. In order to seize this opportunity, Chi Lin Technology starts a series of internal innovation and integrates external resources to come out with a solution of the digital signage market development. This solution integrates the four major components, including hardware, software, services, and content. In addition, it consolidates subsidiary¡¦s advertising agency, content production, and channel management capabilities. This study is to analyze our strategy, which utilizes the existing core R&D strength to develop a complete digital signage solution. We will also research the advantages of Chi Lin Technology and the business model of advertising network operating system of digital signage.

The safety of pipelines distributed in the infrastructure of many industries has become very important since the industrial revolution. The guided ultrasonic wave technique can provide the possibility for rapid screening in long pipelines with corrosion. Especially the torsional mode T(0,1) of guided waves has been used in the cases of the pipe in the hidden region substantially. The ability of evaluating the inaccessible areas of the pipe makes the guided ultrasonic wave technique sit high on the roster of non-destructive testing tool for pipe inspection. However, the problem arises when attempting to detect the corrosions at the welded support bracket or under the bitumen coating on the pipe. The signal reflected from the corrosion will be covered by a large signal induced by the welded support or attenuated by the bitumen coating seriously. Therefore, the effects of welded support and bitumen coating on the T(0,1) mode are investigated by the experimental and the simulative methods. The continuous wavelet transform analysis is the signal processing method to extract the hidden signal of corrosion in this dissertation. There are five test pipes in the experiments. The response of the normal welded support is studied on the #1 test pipe. The #2 test pipe is used for attenuation investigation. The reflected signals of the features on the #3, #4, and #5 test pipes are measured and processed by continuous wavelet transform during defect detection process. In addition, the linear hexahedron elements are used to build the finite element models of the 6-inch steel pipe with support bracket and the pipe with bitumen coating. It is found that the effects of support bracket on the reflection comprise mode conversion, delayed appearance, trailing echoes, and frequency dependent behavior. When the T(0,1) mode impinges on to the support bracket, it will convert into the A0 mode inside the support due to the circumferential disturbance on the pipe surface. The reflection of the support bracket is identified as three parts formed by the direct echo, delayed echo and the trailing echo. The constructive interference of the A0 mode reflecting from the boundaries inside the support causes that the reflection spectrum shows two maxima peak at around 20-22 kHz (frequency regime of 0.0) and 32-34 kHz (frequency regime of 4.0) from both the experimental and simulated results. For the bitumen coating, the data collected from the welds and defects under the bitumen coating on the #2 test pipe show the attenuation effect on guided wave propagation and the difficulty of minor corrosion detection. In the finite element model of coated pipe, the results of predicted attenuation curves of T(0,1) mode indicate that the attenuation effect on guided wave propagation is aggravated with the increased value of the thickness, density or damping factor of the coated layer. Especially, in the case of 5-mm, the predicted attenuation curve shows a maximum point. Before this point, the attenuation increases with the operating frequency. For long range pipe inspection, it is the best way to avoid choosing the operating frequency around the corresponding frequency of the point. The measured data of corrosion affected by the welded support or the coated bitumen layer was processed by continuous wavelet transform to form a time-frequency analysis. The corrosion signals were identified in the contour map of the wavelet coefficient successfully. The understanding of the guided wave propagation on the pipe welded with support or pipe coated with bitumen is helpful to interpret the reflected signals. The use of continuous wavelet transform on signal processing techniques can improve the ability of defect detection on pipe with complex geometries.