Current methods of ranking and selecting biomass fuels are based on short lists of factors. The objective of this thesis is to develop and demonstrate a fuel ranking tool. Existing fuel decision methods and bioenergy technology are reviewed. A fuel ranking tool is then developed and demonstrated. Finally, a procedure for evaluating the thermal efficiency of a pellet stove bioenergy system is developed and implemented. The tool is designed to be applied by an engineer working in cooperation with the actual fuel user. The user identifies a list of all available fuels which are compatible with their specific energy system. The ranking tool is suitable for users of any sized bioenergy system used for space heating, processing heating, or electricity generation. Through effective communication the engineer lists the user’s performance requirements. Requirements considered in this thesis are economic cost of fuels, required storage space, combustion equipment cleaning, and air pollutants emitted during biofuel combustion. Performance indicators corresponding to the user’s requirements are then selected or developed by the engineer. Data is then collected by the engineer to be used for the evaluation of these indicators. The indicators are then combined using weighting factors by the engineer to assign a single numerical score to each fuel. These scores allow the fuels to quickly and easily be ranked by the user according to how well they satisfy the user’s requirements. The ranking tool is demonstrated by applying it to a situation of a pellet stove user with 3 available fuel types. The three fuels are ranked in terms of their ability to satisfy the user’s requirements with respect to economic cost, storage space, equipment cleaning, certain air pollutant emissions, and supporting the local economy. A pellet stove thermal efficiency evaluation method is used to determine the percentage of fuel heating value delivered as space heat to the room housing the stove. Natural and forced convection as well as radiation heat transfers are modeled. The procedure results in a thermal efficiency measurement of 62% +/- 1% and 58% +/- 1% for premium wood and wheat straw pellets, respectively.

This study is about to see whether the two models representing the strategies of lean production is to use and apply in different companies. The models are structured in two different ways in which one of them is checking the softer elements of lean production in the form of leadership and strategies. This model is called Lesat and is based on interviewquestions. The second model, called "learning to see" is about identifying flows. This, together shall then give an idea of how mature companies are when it comes to a whole in the concept of lean production, and susceptibility to use these models to their respective companies.   The study is conducted in two companies, SKF couplings systems and AQ parkoprint. SKF is a company that makes connections through a special method called the oil injection method. Parkoprint produces mainly parking meters of all kinds, this is done in close cooperation with customers and their preferences.   The study has been carried out by means of interviews of individuals in leadership positions in each business. We also interviewed operations personnel and has developed facts through observation and computer systems to make the flow surveys.   The results show that the models themselves are useful and functional. However, it became more difficult to use the Lesat showing soft data, rather than "learn to see" that focuses mostly on flows. This is for several reasons. One of the reasons was that the companies examined were not quite at the level existing strategies and leadership that Lesat calls, this makes it difficult to estimate where in the assessment firms ports when the people interviewed do not really are in line or understand how the model or concept works in some areas. In addition to this we experienced it difficult to make a fair assessment when the model in any way based on subjective assessments from companies and then marked in a way that also tends to be of subjective nature. From this perspective, we believe that Lesat model fit better in a study of the companies that has made more of work on lean production and has achieved a higher degree of maturity, and thus become a little easier to rate and provide a more realistic sense.   It appears that the models worked with different conditions and also with different results. However, the two worked so well that it clearly has been able to see the potential strengths, weaknesses and possible improvements in the respective organization. This means that the combination of the two satisfactory to achieve a whole, and that any use, ie organization, can help to improve and lead organizations to more effectively work with and against the lean production.

Introduction: As information technology has been developing so rapidly, it affects all business processes. Project management is also greatly affected, as organizations world-wide constantly strive for competitive advantage, major tools were produced and manage-ment control of project progress throughout their lifecycle is becoming increasingly recog-nized for its importance. Problem: The study of software project management tools has aroused a great deal of in-terest in modern research circles as well as inspired extensive research in the area of mana-gerial science. However, there still seems to be confusion, disagreement and limited re-search regarding these concepts of job performance. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine, how project management tools can af-fect the efficiency in a software development project. Efficiency will be measured by time, from project start to finish, human and financial resources. Method: An electronic qualitative and partly quantitative questionnaires were sent to three sampled companies. In each company one Web programmer, one project manager and one executive level employee had filled out the questionnaires. The acquired data was then ana-lysed in relation to the frame of reference. Frame of Reference: Theoretical framework is build on a literature within software pro-ject management field, Iron/Golden Triangle, Productivity Paradox, Technology Accep-tance Model, and Software Project Management. Conclusion: To conclude the results of the study, after analyzing the data gathered from various companies implementing JIRA has in all cases resulted in increased product quality, more efficient and faster communication, as well as lower product development costs. This means that implementing JIRA can be beneficial for time, money and quality of software development.

If a fault occurs in a technical system, for example in an airplane, it is important to beable to detect that there is a fault and to find what in the system that is faulty. Theprocedure of determining, given certain observations, if faults are present and if so thelocation of faults is called a diagnosis. For achieving diagnosis we can use computersoftware that takes observations of a system as input and that generates a diagnosis asoutput. This is called a diagnostic system. To build a diagnostic system we needanother piece of computer software which is called a diagnostic tool. This thesis willpresent a market survey for diagnostic tools as well as an analysis of three of the toolsfound in the survey. The analysis can be seen as constituted by two different aspects,one focusing on the diagnostic methods with which each tool creates diagnosticsystems, the other focusing on practical details that determine the usability of eachtool. The analysis found that the largest differences were between the methods used increating the diagnostic systems.

A decade of heightened awareness concerning safety issues in healthcare since the Institute of Medicine’s awakening call has resulted in a string of counteroffensive measures. The pace of improvement has been slow and not altogether clear. Rates of patient harm are in general now measured by voluntary reporting and indicator measurements. The use of triggers or clues in random nurse-based reviews to enable identification of patient harm is a more effective method for measuring the overall rate of harm in a health care organisation. Measured actual overall rates of patient harm, their variations and patterns during delivery in the south-east health-care region of Sweden are not previously known. Measurement is important to patient safety improvement, as a foundation for accountability, effort selection and keeping track of results. The patient’s voice must also be much clearer in quality and safety improvement efforts in healthcare. The Institute of Healthcare Improvements Global Trigger Tool for measuring adverse events was used to review 1137 deliveries during 2011 in the seven departments (10% of all cases). Mother and new-born were both evaluated. Thirty eight patient harm events per 1000 patient days were identified, correlating to 13% of admissions. Presupposed rates among staff were double this value. Current patient safety indicators are half this value. One third of patient harm events at birth affected the new-born. Twenty different categories of harm were found. This study shows significantly higher rates of patient harm than previously reported. The nurse reviewers defined the method as valuable and a useful method for measuring harm at delivery. Limitations at this stage are no observed changes in health care delivery or clinical outcomes and that value assessment is based entirely on the judgement of the data-abstractors.

Current methods of ranking and selecting biomass fuels are based on short lists of factors. The objective of this thesis is to develop and demonstrate a fuel ranking tool. Existing fuel decision methods and bioenergy technology are reviewed. A fuel ranking tool is then developed and demonstrated. Finally, a procedure for evaluating the thermal efficiency of a pellet stove bioenergy system is developed and implemented. The tool is designed to be applied by an engineer working in cooperation with the actual fuel user. The user identifies a list of all available fuels which are compatible with their specific energy system. The ranking tool is suitable for users of any sized bioenergy system used for space heating, processing heating, or electricity generation. Through effective communication the engineer lists the user’s performance requirements. Requirements considered in this thesis are economic cost of fuels, required storage space, combustion equipment cleaning, and air pollutants emitted during biofuel combustion. Performance indicators corresponding to the user’s requirements are then selected or developed by the engineer. Data is then collected by the engineer to be used for the evaluation of these indicators. The indicators are then combined using weighting factors by the engineer to assign a single numerical score to each fuel. These scores allow the fuels to quickly and easily be ranked by the user according to how well they satisfy the user’s requirements. The ranking tool is demonstrated by applying it to a situation of a pellet stove user with 3 available fuel types. The three fuels are ranked in terms of their ability to satisfy the user’s requirements with respect to economic cost, storage space, equipment cleaning, certain air pollutant emissions, and supporting the local economy. A pellet stove thermal efficiency evaluation method is used to determine the percentage of fuel heating value delivered as space heat to the room housing the stove. Natural and forced convection as well as radiation heat transfers are modeled. The procedure results in a thermal efficiency measurement of 62% +/- 1% and 58% +/- 1% for premium wood and wheat straw pellets, respectively.

A common way of organizing Windows, Icons, Menus, and Pointers (WIMP) interfaces is to group tools into tool containers, providing one visual representation. Common tool containers include toolbars and menus, as well as more complex tool containers, like Microsoft Offices Ribbon, Toolglasses, and marking menus. The location of tool containers has been studied extensively in the past using Fittss Law, which governs selection time; however, selection time is only one aspect of user performance. In this thesis, I show that tool container location affects other aspects of user performance, specifically attention and awareness. The problem investigated in this thesis is that designers lack an understanding of the effects of tool container location on two important user performance factors: attention and group awareness. My solution is to provide an initial understanding of the effects of tool container location on these factors. In solving this problem, I developed a taxonomy of tool container location, and carried out two research studies. The two research studies investigated tool container location in two contexts: single-user performance with desktop interfaces, and group performance in tabletop interfaces. Through the two studies, I was able to show that tool container location does affect attention and group awareness, and to provide new recommendations for interface designers.

This work demonstrates specific ways that the design of computer user interfaces can influence how individuals structure the problem solving process. In particular, an observational study of expert users of an image manipulation application indicates that current user interfaces make it difficult to explore sets of alternatives in parallel, despite this being a common problem solving practice. As a consequence, individuals tend to engage in highly linear problem solving processes. To address this problem, this work introduces the concept of a set-based interface, or an interface that facilitates the generation, manipulation, evaluation, and management of sets of alternative solutions. The concepts of a set-based interface are demonstrated in two tools, Side Views and Parallel Pies, both designed for use in the domain of image manipulation. Side Views automatically generates sets of previews for one or more commands and their parameters, enabling side-by-side comparison of alternatives. Parallel Pies streamlines the process of forking, or the act of creating new, standalone alternatives, and provides a visualization to evaluate results. Two controlled laboratory studies and a third think-aloud study reveal that these tools lead to users more broadly exploring the solution space and developing more optimal solutions for some types of tasks. These studies also show that the ability to broadly explore can initially be overused, adversely affecting solution quality if not enough time is spent maturing a single solution instance. This enthusiastic use of exploration tools is especially notable because such features are entirely optional to developing a solution. As such, these results suggest the need to further research ways user interfaces can support individuals in rapidly generating sets of alternative solutions. To support future research in this direction, this work contributes a set of metrics for quantifying breadth and depth of exploration; backtracking; and dead-ends in the problem solving process. A visualization called a process diagram aids in communicating these concepts.

The primary barrier to the production of better machined parts is machine tool error. Present day applications are requiring closer machine part tolerances. The errors in dimensional part accuracy derive from the machine, in this case, a vertical two axis CNC lathe. A two axis vertical lathe can be utilized to produce a variety of parts ranging from cylindrical features to spherical features. A vertical lathe requires a spindle to rotate the work at speeds reaching 3000rpm, while simultaneously requiring the machine tool to be positioned in such a manner to remove material and produce an accurate part. For this to be possible, the machine tool must be precisely controlled in order to produce the correct contours on the part. There are many sources of errors to be considered in the two axis vertical lathe. Each axis of importance contains six degrees of freedom. The machine has linear displacement, angular, spindle thermal drift, straightness, parallelism, orthogonal, machine tool offset and roundness error. These error components must be measured in order to determine the resultant error. The characterization of the machine addresses thermal behavior and geometric errors. This thesis presents the approach of determining the machine tool errors and using these errors to transform the actual tool path closer to the nominal tool path via compensation schemes. One of these schemes uses a laser interferometer in conjunction with a homogenous transformation matrix to construct the compensated path for a circular arc, facing and turning. The other scheme uses a ball bar system to directly construct the compensated tool path for a circular arc. Test parts were created to verify the improvement of the part accuracy using the compensated tool paths.

The objective of this study is to develop a methodology to analyze the air quality and tool performance in turning process under near-dry condition. Near dry machining refers to the use of a very small amount of cutting fluid in the machining process. In order to implement the near dry machining technology, this dissertation develops the analytical models for both tool life and aerosol generation prediction. This research includes predictive models of cutting temperatures, cutting forces, tool wear progressions, and aerosol generation. The comparison of air quality and tool performance among dry machining process, near dry machining process, and flood cooling machining process is also presented. It is found that according to the selected cutting conditions in the model-based comparisons, the predicted cutting forces, cutting temperature and power consumption under near dry lubrication are reduced as high as about 30% compared with those in dry cutting but these predicted values are higher than those in wet cutting by about 10% under the same cutting conditions while the predicted tool wear land lengths are reduced by 60% compared with those in dry cutting but these values are higher than those in wet cutting about 1% under the same cutting conditions. However, the air quality for near dry machining with 12.5 ml/hr oil flow rate is worse than that for wet cutting due to different aerosol generation mechanisms.