This diploma thesies is focused on design of a sawing machine for profiles of the aluminium profile system. In the beginning the basic types of sawing maschines are described, followed by the analysis of alternative solutions, selecting the best option, design of the final solution and evaluation. The resulting solution should be ergonomically acceptable, safe, affordable and efficient.

This essay is comparing the different perspectives of the debate on surrogacy in two Swedish Newspapers. The purpose of this study is to contribute with knowledge about the different perspectives of the debate about surrogacy in relation to women's autonomy. The theory is defined by decisional autonomy and practical autonomy, which is written by Jonathan Pugh. Through an idea analysis, the material of the essay is analyzed through an analysis tool created with Pugh’s theory. The delimitation of material is selected from articles from Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet between 2010 and 2020. The result shows that 12 of the arguments in the articles are based on the decisional autonomy perspective, where six of them are based on both decisional and practical autonomy in their arguments. Practical autonomy is the main argument in four of them. The conclusion is that the side of the debate that is against surrogacy argues that the woman does not have enough autonomy to decide to be a surrogacy mother, without pressure or manipulation. The other side of the debate, that is for the altruistic model argues that she has enough autonomy to make her own decision. Another conclusion in this essay is that most of the arguments, even regarding practical autonomy, are based on decisional autonomy, since practical autonomy is mostly a tool for protecting women or helping them to implement their wishes. That's why decisional autonomy is most frequently used in the debate of surrogacy.

L’objectif général de cette thèse est (i) d’examiner l’influence du contexte socio-émotionnel sur la prise de décision à risque, chez l’enfant, l’adolescent et l’adulte (ii) et de s’interroger sur la dynamique développementale des Types 1 (heuristique) et 2 (analytique) de raisonnement envisagés par les théories du double processus et de leur articulation avec la Prospect Theory. Selon nous, cette articulation permettra de mieux rendre compte de l’influence des émotions sur la sensibilité aux gains et aux pertes dans la prise de décision. Dans ce contexte, nous avons d’abord examiné l’influence d’un contexte émotionnel incident sur la sensibilité à un biais décisionnel classique, l’effet du cadre de présentation, chez l’adulte. Nous nous sommes intéressés à l’influence du contexte émotionnel du point de vue de sa valence (positive ou négative), avant d’étudier l’influence d’émotions spécifiques (la colère et la peur). Sur le plan de la valence, nos résultats mettent en évidence l’influence des émotions positives dans la disparition de l’effet du cadre, à travers la réduction de l’aversion aux pertes. Les émotions plus spécifiques ont une influence différenciée sur la prise de risque, la peur tendant à l’augmenter, tandis que la colère tend à la réduire. Puis, nous avons étudié l’influence d’émotions positives sur la sensibilité à l’effet du cadre à l’adolescence, période critique en termes de prise de risque. La sensibilité à l’effet du cadre varie en fonction des sommes en jeu, ce qui conduit à une influence différenciée du contexte émotionnel selon cet enjeu. Nous nous sommes ensuite intéressés au développement de deux émotions intégrales au processus de prise de décision, dites également contrefactuelles (le regret et le soulagement) et à leur influence sur la volonté de reconsidérer un choix. Pour ce faire, nous avons élaboré une tâche de prise de décision induisant du regret ou du soulagement et nous avons mis en évidence un développement progressif du ressenti de ces émotions et de la capacité à les prendre en compte lors de la reconsidération d’un choix antérieur. Enfin, nous avons étudié le développement du regret social et du soulagement social de l’enfance à l’âge adulte, à travers un paradigme de compétition avec un pair. Le contexte de compétition semble biaiser l’évaluation rationnelle du regret et du soulagement à l’adolescence, certaines situations étant perçues comme plus désirables par rapport à un contexte de jeu individuel. Ces résultats sont discutés en lien avec la Prospect Theory, puisque la sensibilité aux gains et aux pertes semble modulée de façon distincte, à différents stades du développement, par le contexte émotionnel. / The general goal of this thesis was to study (i) the influence of different socio-emotional contexts on decision-making under risk, in children, adolescents and adults and (ii) the developmental dynamics of the Types 1 (heuristic) and 2 (analytic) of reasoning within the framework of the Dual Process theories, and their articulation with the Prospect Theory. According to us, a better articulation between these two theories could account more efficiently of the influence of emotions on reward and punishment sensitivity in decision-making. Therefore, we first examined the influence of an incidental emotional context on the framing effect - a classical bias in decision-making - on adult participants. We started by studying the influence of the valence of the emotions (positive or negative) and then the influence of different specific emotions (anger and fear) on this bias. Our results revealed that the participants were no longer affected by the framing effect following an exposure to a positive emotional context, due to a decrease of risk aversion in the loss frame. The two negative emotions we considered had opposite effects on risk taking: fear tended to increase risk taking, whereas anger tended to decrease it. In a follow-up study, we investigated the influence of incidental positive emotions on the framing effect during adolescence, a critical period for risk taking. In adolescents, the framing effect was modulated by the amount of the outcome at stake, and the emotional context had different impact on this bias depending of the amount of the outcome considered. Then, we examined the development of two integral (and counterfactual) emotions, regret and relief, and how these emotions affect our willingness to reconsider a choice. We elaborated a new gambling task and we manipulated the outcome obtained by the participants to induce regret or relief. This study provided evidence that the ability to experience regret and relief and the ability to take them into consideration continue to develop during late childhood and adolescence. We finally studied the development of social regret and relief from late childhood to adulthood, using a situation of social competition (playing against a playmate). This socio-emotional context seems to bias the rational evaluation of regret and relief in adolescence, as some situations are evaluated as more desirable, as compared to the same situations in a context of individual game. These results are discussed in light of the Prospect theory, as reward and punishment sensitivity seems to be differently modulated by socio-emotional context, at each developmental stage.

This study aimed to establish a connection, if any, between perceptions of information disclosure about medical treatment and decisional conflict in bereaved parents of children with cancer. Decisional regret was an important theme in this exploration because decisional conflict strongly aligns with the propensity to mentally redo past events, thereby forming counterfactual alternatives to reality. People generate counterfactuals to hypothesize a more favorable outcome subsequent to a negative event or the death of a child as applicable to this study. A secondary objective was to investigate the potential influence of counterfactual processing and regret on the construct of self-acceptance: a phenomenon researchers have rarely studied in the population of interest. Study participants included parents who lost a child to cancer in the United States after participating in medical treatment prescribed by a licensed oncologist. Cluster and convenience sampling were employed to recruit 92 participants. Quantitative methods were used in obtaining data samples through validated instruments for each independent and dependent variable. The responses collected indicate that a perceived lack of information disclosure about treatment risks and efficacy, yield a positive influence on decisional conflict after the death of a child. Similarly, decisional conflict positively correlates with decisional regret, while the latter negatively correlates with self acceptance in the bereavement process. The research implications call for additional studies that further isolate factors that contribute to decisional conflict. This study advocates for decision making tools and collaborative processes that ensure parents are well informed and involved in making medical decisions from diagnosis through palliative care, if a cure is not possible.

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Criticism of the public school system tends to be aimed squarely at teachers in the classroom (Karpinski, 2012). As school principals lead in this current educational climate, it is incumbent upon them to provide their teachers an environment that is conducive to job satisfaction, emphasizing teacher retention, and mitigating the deleterious effects of teacher turnover on students’ academic achievement. To understand the practices of the principal, this study investigated teachers’ perceptions of their principals’ practice, asking the following questions: What is the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of their principal’s practice of building professional capital and teachers’ job satisfaction? What are the experiences of teachers in relation to their perception of their principal’s practice of building professional capital and job satisfaction? Research was conducted employing an explanatory sequential mixed-methods correlational study; utilizing a researcher-created on-line survey and semistructured interviews. The results of this study indicate that teachers’ job satisfaction is independent of principals’ practice of building professional capital. The quantitative findings found no correlation between teachers’ perceptions of their principal’s practice of building professional capital and teacher job satisfaction. The qualitative data indicate that teachers attributed their job satisfaction to factors that are independent of their relationship with their principal; commitment to their students and colleagues and sense of purpose were cited as sources of job satisfaction.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States with over 60% of cases diagnosed as early stage disease. For those women without prohibiting clinical or cosmetic concerns, a choice between breast-conserving surgery and mastectomy can be made. Either choice confers equivalent survival. The decision-making process also involves consideration of recurrence risk as well as management of the unaffected, contralateral breast for both future surveillance and risk reduction. In recent years, increasing rates of mastectomy with contralateral prophylactic mastectomy have been reported among women with unilateral, early stage breast cancer. If eligible for a choice among surgical options, a woman’s decision becomes one of personal preference. The decision-making process is complex and involves consideration of potential benefits and harms with each option. The purpose of this dissertation was to: 1) analyze the psychometric properties of the Anxiety Subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, 2) critically review Decisional Conflict Scales and 3) prospectively identify demographic, clinical, cognitive and affective factors influencing a woman’s decision to choose either breast conserving surgery or mastectomy with contralateral prophylactic mastectomy and to identify self-reported sources of information in the surgical decision-making process. Three manuscripts make up the dissertation. A secondary data analysis was conducted to test the psychometric properties of the Anxiety Subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS). The results of this analysis supported the reliability and validity of the DASS anxiety subscale. A critical review of decisional conflict measures for use with early stage breast cancer patients making surgical treatment decisions was conducted. The results of this review supported the use of Decisional Conflict Scales from a clinical and research perspective. Existing Decisional Conflict Scales show moderate to acceptable reliability. The first two manuscripts provided background and support for the use of scales included in the research study described in the third manuscript. This study was a prospective, exploratory, cross-sectional, mixed-methods study describing factors influencing preference for surgical choice among women with early stage breast cancer. A sample of 78 participants enrolled in the study, 47 who chose breast conserving surgery and 31 who chose mastectomy with contralateral prophylactic mastectomy. Differences were tested between the groups. Women who chose mastectomy with contralateral prophylactic mastectomy were younger, more likely to work full or part-time, had larger tumors and participated in preoperative genetic counselling. Women who chose breast conserving surgery were more likely to have participated in preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging. Overall, women choosing either surgery were not experiencing severe levels of distress, depression, anxiety or stress although there were individual variations. Women choosing mastectomy with contralateral prophylactic mastectomy were more anxious and had more frequent intrusive thoughts about the diagnosis. They also had less decisional conflict as compared to women choosing breast conserving surgery. Information sources were similar but the most influential information source differed among the two groups. In both groups, intention for surgical choice was matched by the final decision. There are many factors influencing surgical choice among women with early stage breast cancer. Previous work has focused on clinical, demographic and diagnostic processes influencing the decision. With this study, evidence regarding the influence of cognitive and affective factors is described.

Are decision-makers, and public ones in particular, considering the spatial characteristics of territories when they are making decisions? Which elements should be included in computer-based systems supporting such decisions? These two questions summarise the issues geographic information system scientists are addressing. They also constitute the starting point of this investigation on the theme of errors and uncertainty in spatial decision support systems. While decision theories, methodologies and techniques abound, none are peculiar to spatial issues. At best, they are using spatial data and in a few cases they are applied to helping solve spatial problems. It has been recognised that spatial data need distinct management systems. Should it be the same for spatial decisions? By postulating that spatial decision is a specific field requiring its own treatise, this author initiates an original reflexion. Following a holistic approach, this theoretical work develops a conceptual decision model: the 'decisional fountain'. This model gives a coherent and integrated view on the various fields of decision-making. Based on the postulate and on the model developed, several theories and techniques are revisited in a truly spatial perspective. The ontology of spatial decision has been enriched by a variety of experiences. Dealing with drought at the European level, allocating water resources from the field scale to the country scale, regional spatial planning, performing strategic environmental assessment, conceptualising the parking of a vehicle, developing the spatial abilities of children, all have fed this conceptual research. Some of them are illustrating this manuscript. Taking a spatial information science perspective, this manuscript leads you towards a 'spatial decision' theory.