Chemoreceptor dimers mediate bacterial chemotaxis through receptor arrays that form complexes with CheW and the kinase CheA. Both kinase activity and the rate of receptor methylation have been observed to change with receptor density in the signaling complexes of an assembled system. Receptor dimers play a structural and functional important role during the signaling process. The dimer is an established unit of a functional receptor array, but the exact packing arrangement of dimers in the signaling array is not known in detail. Two different models of the packing arrangement have been proposed, based on crystal structures of receptor cytoplasmic fragments: the trimer of dimers and hedgerow models. Here, we determine the importance of CF dimer organization on density dependence of kinase activity, receptor methylation, and we probe CF trimer organization by site-directed TMEA cross-linking. CF dimers were prepared by site-directed cysteine disulfide bond formation to test for a possible monomer-dimer equilibrium process in the density-dependence of kinase activity in the vesicle-assembled system. We found that density transition observed for CF4E is similar for both reduced and disulfide-linked CF, indicating that the CF is organized as dimers even at lower densities. CheR-catalyzed methylation experiment revealed that disulfide-linked CF dimers in solution are insufficient for efficient methylation, assembly of the CFs on a vesicle surface is required. CF trimers were trapped by the trifunctional crosslinker TMEA, but only with vesicle assembled CFs. TMEA crosslinking occurred between residues that were expected to form trimer, but also those that were not. The results provide evidence that CF behavior is highly dynamic in maleimide crosslinking reaction which conducted on vesicle assembled system.

Intrapreneurship is a phenomenon that differs from entrepreneurship as it is seen as entrepreneurship within an existing organization. The purpose of this qualitative study has been to explore the conditions for the individual’s intrapreneurship and the relationship between intrapreneurship and the individuals learning in organizations. The purpose was achieved by answering the following research questions: “What is employee’s attitudes towards intrapreneurship”, “What opportunities for intrapreneurial activities do employees feel exist in organizations” and “What obstacles for intrapreneurial activities do employees feel exist in organizations”. To investigate the study's purpose semi-structured interviews were chosen as a method and performed with eight informants with different roles, positions and in different organizations. The interviews were conducted remotely based on an interview-guide that allowed for follow-up questions. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed. The results of the study showed that all informants have a positive attitude towards intrapreneurship. We could identify four factors that were considered to enable intrapreneurship: encouragement from managers and colleagues, support from managers, freedom and personal responsibility and communication and collaboration. We could also identify four obstacles for intrapreneurship: time and priorities, hierarchy and organizational politics, employee’s resistance towards change and to motivate your ideas. In conclusion the study shows that for the individual ́s intrapreneurship to be promoted, the organization must contribute with a good innovation climate, support and necessary resources and the individual must be motivated. Therefore, it takes a good collaboration between the individual and the organization for successful intrapreneurship to happen. When these factors are met, it can also contribute to the individual’s personal development and learning.

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Articulate rationale for early assessment Describe process of assessment and feedback sessions List benefits of process based on: Objective data Opinion of interns over past 2 years

Miniature air vehicles (MAVs) are particularly well suited for short-distance, over-the-horizon, low-altitude surveillance and reconnaissance tasks. New camera and battery technologies have greatly increased a MAVs potential for these tasks. This thesis focuses on aerial surveillance of borders and roads, where a strap-down camera is used in-the-loop to track a border or road pathway. It is assumed that quality tracking requires that the pathway always remain in the footprint of the camera. The objective of this thesis is to explore roll-angle and altitude-above-ground-level constraints imposed on a bank-to-turn MAV due to the requirement to keep the pathway in the footprint of a downward-looking strap-down camera. This thesis derives the required altitude to maintain the pathway in the footprint of the camera and associated bank-angle constraints. Constraints are derived for both roads whose geometry is unknown a priori and roads with known geometry obtained from digital elevation map (DEM) data. MAV geometry and camera localization are used to derive these constraints. The thesis also discusses simple computer vision techniques for pathway following and a corresponding guidance law. The pixels of the captured color video are statistically classified into road and non-road components. Standard computer vision functions are used to eliminate classification noise and obtain a road heading direction. The effectiveness of the result is explored using a high fidelity simulator. Flight test results on small UAVs demonstrate the practicality of the road-following method.

Although self-directed marriage and relationship education (MRE) has the potential to reach a larger or different audience than traditional MRE, little has been done to examine the characteristics of those who access self-directed materials. This study examined individual, couple, family, and sociocultural context variables that predicted participation in both self-directed and traditional MRE programs. A series of logistic regressions were conducted using SPSS 19.0. Different factors predicted participation for each intervention. For self-directed programs, those who were older, more educated, more religious, less materialistic, whose partners were more neurotic, who had been dating for a shorter amount of time, and who had poorer relationships with their mothers were more likely to participate, while a wider range of factors predicted participation in traditional programs. Family life educators should consider creating self-directed materials designed to reach a wider audience.

Today there exist no standardized payment solution for performing micropayments between Internet of Things (IoT) devices. This study was conducted to examine whether Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) could be suitable as a micropayment solution for IoT. Also, a more general demand for a scalable micropayment solution was examined, along with its potential. A qualitative study was performed by first conducting eight unstructured interviews regarding the subjects DLT and IoT, to be used as a complement to the literature research. Then, one unstructured and five semi-structured interviews were held to answer the research questions. The Bitcoin blockchain does not work as a micropayment solution, due to scalability issues. This study identified a positive outlook on the idea of Lightning Network, solving the scalability problems with off-chain transactions. However, since a fully functioning network is yet to be implemented, there exist uncertainties, for example regarding how decentralized it will really become. Also, issues considering the usage of DLT:s on small IoT devices arose, stemming from CPU and storage constraints. A demand of a sustainable micropayment solution was identified, possibly being a catalyst of the emergence of pay-per-use business models. Considering more powerful IoT devices, the Lightning Network could function as a micropayment solution. Such a technology is sought after, and its applicability will only increase as IoT devices evolve. / Det finns idag ingen standardiserad betalningslösning för att genomföra mikrobetalningar mellan Internet of Things (IoT) enheter. Denna studie genomfördes för att undersöka huruvida Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) skulle kunna användas som en mikrobetalningslösning för IoT. En mer generell eterfrågan för en skalbar mikrobetalningslösning, och effekterna av en sådan, undersöktes. En kvalitativ studie genofördes, där åtta ostrukturerade intervjuer gällande ämnena DLT och IoT, hölls för att komplementera litteraturstudierna. Sedan genomfördes en ostrukturerad och fem semi-strukturerade intervjuer för att kunna besvara de frågeställningar som definierats. Bitcoin blockkedjan funderar inte som en mikrobetalningslösning på grund utav dess skalbarhetsproblem. Studien identifierar en positiv syn på Lightning Network, som löserskalbarhetsproblemen genom att använda sig av transaktioner utanför kedjan. Denna lösning är dock inte fullständigt implementerad, vilket leder till flera osäkerheter angående exempelvis hur decentraliserat nätverket verkligen kommer att bli. Utöver detta finns även svårigheter med användandet av DLT:s för små IoT-enheter, vilket härstämmar ifrån deras CPU- och lagringsbegränsningar. En efterfrågan på en hållbar mikrobetalningslösning identifieras, och denna skulle kunna fungera som en katalysator för etablerandet av pay-per-use affärsmodeller. Tittar vi på mer kraftfulla IoT-enheter skulle Lightning Network fungera som en mikrobetalningslösning. En sådan teknologi är eftertraktad och dess användbarhet kommer bara att växa i och med utvecklingen av IoT-enheter.

Proteases have a fundamental role in regulating diverse biological processes and are important in the biotechnological and medical fields. Therapeutic proteases have great potential but have been limited due to the lack of high throughput protein engineering methods. In this thesis, a method was developed for high throughput screening of protease libraries based on competitive growth in selective media. A proof-of-principle method using the Tobacco Etch Virus protease (TEVp) was developed. TEVp and the reporter consisting of an aggregation-prone peptide amyloidbeta42 (Aβ42) genetically fused to the antibiotic resistance enzyme chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT), were co-expressed in Escherichia coli. The CAT enzyme makes the cells resistant to Chloramphenicol (Cml). Two different reporters containing different cleavage sites situated between the Aβ42 and CAT were used for which TEVp has distinguishable proteolysis efficiencies. Cleavage of the fusion protein would give the cell a growth advantage in media with Cml since the CAT enzyme would avoid misfolding due to Aβ42. The method demonstrates that cells with different substrates can be differentiated based on their survival. A 100-fold enrichment of clones expressing the efficient substrate was also demonstrated from a background of 1:1000 of clones expressing the inefficiently cleaved substrate. Moreover, a semi-rational TEVp library was successfully cloned and co-electroporated with the reporter into E. coli for future selection.

Early Goal Directed Therapy (EGDT) has been thoroughly researched and clinically supported to be effective at lowering morbidity and mortality associated with severe sepsis and septic shock. Due to the strengths of its efficacy, it has been integrated as an essential component of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign. However, very few studies have explored the barriers that affect compliance of the protocol in actual practice. The purpose of this study was to synthesize current research findings regarding nursing barriers associated with EGDT. This research was limited to studies performed in the United States between 2003-2012, with patients at least 18 years old, and with data obtained from studies conducted within emergency departments (EDs) only. These findings may serve to help increase the compliance rate with the protocol among nurses in the ED. Findings indicated that compliance rates were mostly affected by two major barriers: 1) Lack of knowledge regarding the presentation and management of sepsis and septic shock, and 2)Lack of resources in the ED to perform the protocol to its full potential. Limitations of the review noted were that most research studies used were in major academic hospitals which limited the generalizability of the findings to other hospital settings. Nursing education should emphasize early recognition and aggressive treatment of sepsis. Future research should focus on addressing the most efficient ways to educate nurses on sepsis presentation and management and the ways these can be implemented in practice.