abstract: In recent years, with the increasing penetration of solar generation, the uncertainty and variability of the power system generation also have increased. Power systems always require a balance between generation and load. The generation of the conventional generators must be scheduled to meet the total net load of the system with the variability and uncertainty of the solar resources integrated. The ability to match generation to load requires certain flexibility of the conventional generation units as well as a flexible transmission network to deliver the power. In this work, given the generation flexibility primarily reflected in the ramping rates, as well as the minimum and maximum output of the generation units, the transmission network flexibility is assessed using the metric developed in this work. The main topic of this thesis is the examination of the transmission system flexibility using time series power flows (TSPFs). First, a TSPFs program is developed considering the economic dispatch of all the generating stations, as well as the available ramping rate of each generating unit. The time series power flow spans a period of 24 hours with 5-minute time interval and hence includes 288 power flow snapshots. Every power flow snapshot is created based on the power system topology and the previous system state. These power flow snapshots are referred to as the base case power flow below. Sensitivity analysis is then conducted by using the TSPFs program as a primary tool, by fixing all but one of the system changes which include: solar penetration, wires to wires interconnection, expected retirements of coal units and expected participation in the energy imbalance market. The impact of each individual change can be evaluated by the metric developed in the following chapters. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Electrical Engineering 2019

Despite reasonable advances in public policies for housing in the last two decades, Brazil's current housing deficit is 5.6 million housing units. In São Paulo, Brazil's largest city, an estimated one fifth of the population of 17.5 million is currently living in inadequate housing conditions, like the "favelas" (Shanty Towns) (IBGE). The favelas' houses are made from scrap materials such as wood and metal sheeting, they do not have services such as sanitation, water or electricity, and the settlements are usually very overcrowded. The gigantic rate of illegal occupation of urban land has lead to disastrous consequences not only to the people who live in them, but to society as a whole, and to environment sustainability. At most countries, including Brazil, social housing has little to do with diversity and uniqueness of living. Social housing is influenced by functionalism and the economic cost effectiveness of the production process. Unfortunately, new urban areas are still being built using the same traditional ideas, which results largely in a very functionalistic approach of repetitiveness. One unit is repeated into a row of identical blocks. This concept is still used in most of the new Brazilian urban areas. As a result those areas become monotonous and repetitive, lacking identity and uniqueness. This Thesis objective is to expose the negative impacts of the present social housing mass production model, and then to analyze the possibilities of a coherent alternative to housing based on identity, sense of community and uniqueness present at the favelas, which could consistently improve the dwellings and the built environment. The main idea is to find inspiration on the Brazilian favelas to develop a new concept for social housing. In spite of all the physical, environmental, economic and social problems, favelas are an example of coherent housing production processes where dwellers autonomously decide about the design, building and use of their dwellings. They also are usually linked to a strong sense of community no longer found elsewhere. The pattern of these large areas shows an uncontrolled growth of residential units, which leads to a vast, seemingly chaotic, but yet very structured way of living. (Vanderfeesten) The analysis of this pattern of structures is a very strong foundation to develop a modular system of building blocks. The main idea is to create an urban housing environment consisting of modular blocks to provide a "favela-based" pattern. Multiple modules typologies will be designed in order to correspond to each family's needs. The arrangement of the modules will result in open walkways, small streets, larger open areas and a vast amount of balconies, roof terraces, parks, and gardens. As a result there is a great opportunity for social interaction. The main goal is to design a housing neighborhood where each house is unique in its structural composition, providing a way of living in which social interaction is promoted while maintaining each individuals identity through the uniqueness of each unit.

Energy metabolism involves processes of energy intake and energy expenditure, including storage of excessive energy in a form of lipids. White adipose tissue stores energy and plays an important role in maintenance of energy homeostasis. Animals obtain energy by oxidation of substrates from diet. Indirect calorimetry is a method for assessment of energy expenditure based on a measurement of oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production. The VCO2/VO2 ratio (Respiratory Quotient) indicates oxidation of specific metabolic substrates. Metabolic flexibility is the ability of an organism to match substrate oxidation to its availability. The decrease of a metabolic flexibility is linked to inability to adapt to available substrate and with excessive lipid storage in the body. In this thesis we evaluated correlation between the metabolic flexibility defined by indirect calorimetry and the adipose tissue metabolism in two strains of mice, C57Bl/6J and AJ, that differ in their propensity to diet-induced obesity. Increased whole-body metabolic flexibility in A/J mice was connected to higher ability of adipose tissue to release and uptake lipids. The study of reaction to high-fat diet enables us to distinguish "metabolically healthy" and "metabolically unhealthy" adipose tissue. The knowlegde of these...

During the Covid-19-pandemic, many organizations have reorganized into teleworking to reduce the spread of the virus. The work is moved to the home, which requires the individual to carry out the same work remotely. The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate whether, and if so how, a transition to full-time teleworking can affect the traditional managerial role based on managers and employees’ experiences. Central questions that are asked are whether the managers control and support of employees change during telework. This study is based on responses from six interviewees in white-collar work in the technology, banking, finance and insurance industries. The study's theoretical framework consists of Allvin's concept of flexibility through empowerment and Snell's theory of control systems. The results of the study indicate that teleworking does not have to lead to major changes in the managerial role. On the other hand, relationship-oriented leadership becomes of great importance in teleworking, as employees become isolated and experience feelings of not belonging to the workgroup. The flexibility that can arise in teleworking means that employees have increased control and independence over the work which means that they make their own decisions to a greater extent. Finally, it emerges that the managers play a more supportive role in teleworking and that communication between managers and employees becomes more open. / Under Covid-19-pandemin har många organisationer varit tvungna att göra en omorganisering till distansarbete för att minska smittspridningen. Arbetet har förflyttats till hemmet vilket ställt krav på individen att fortfarande genomföra samma arbete, men nu på distans. Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie är att undersöka om, och i så fall hur, en övergång till distansarbete på heltid har påverkat den traditionella chefsrollen utifrån chefers och anställdas upplevelser. Centrala frågor som ställts är om chefers kontroll och stöttning av anställda förändras vid distansarbete. Studien baseras på svar från sex intervjupersoner inom tjänstemannayrken i teknik-, bank-, finans- och försäkringsbranschen. Studiens teoretiska ramverk består av Allvins begrepp flexibilitet genom förtroende samt Snells teori om kontrollsystem. Studiens resultat har visat att distansarbete inte behöver leda till större förändringar av chefsrollen. Däremot har det visat sig att relationsorienterat ledarskap är av stor betydelse vid distansarbete, när de anställda blir isolerade och upplever känslor av bristande samhörighet till arbetsgruppen. Det har också framkommit att flexibiliteten som kommer av distansarbetet gör att anställda får en större kontroll över arbetsuppgifterna och upplever en högre grad av eget beslutsfattande än tidigare. Slutligen visar studien att cheferna intar en mer stöttande roll vid distansarbete och att kommunikationen mellan chefer och anställda därmed blir öppnare.

Enhanced Cooperation in the EU Abstract Enhanced cooperation has been a widely discussed in the context of the further possible development of the European integration and its direction. It represents a mechanism which introduces elements of flexible integration into the EU law. This thesis aims to provide a complete view of the process of enhanced cooperation. The first part focuses on the definition of flexibility and its theoretical concepts. The following parts of the thesis are then fully focused on enhanced cooperation as a specific legal instrument regulated by the Treaties. First of all, it mentions its historical development from the Treaty of Amsterdam to the Treaty of Lisbon and the changes it has undergone. After that there is the analysis of the legal provisions on enhanced cooperation itself. It discusses the whole process of establishing enhanced cooperation and the conditions necessary for that. There are also discussed special rules for activation of enhanced cooperation in the area of the common foreign and security policy and the police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. Furthermore, a substantial part of the work is devoted to the application of enhanced cooperation in practice. Five cases of enhanced cooperation established so far are analysed in that part. In each case, the...

TITLE: Effect of lenght of stretching on the strength and flexibility of kickboxers AUTHOR: Bc. Alexandra Nižníková DEPARTMENT: Department of physical education SUPERVISOR: Mgr. Lucie Kainová ABSTRACT: The main aim of the diploma thesis was to examine the effect of lenght of stretching on strength ability, and flexibility of kickboxers. The research lasted 12 weeks and was conducted in two research groups. People in the 19-40 age range did kick-boxing three times a week. The experimental group consisted of 25 kick-boxers who did 15 minutes stretching before and 30 minutes stretching after the training. The control group also consisted of 25 kick-boxers, but they did stretching only for 5 minutes before and after the training. In the research we used our own stretching program, that was applied before and after the training. Based on the results, we noticed an improvement in the experimental group in all tests. The control group showed an improvement in strength tests, but on the contrary, we noticed a deterioration in the flexibility tests. KEYWORDS: Stretching, kickbox, flexibility, strength ability

The swedish labour market has gone through an increasing flexiblization in part through an increase in insecure employment such as on-call employment. Research shows that these forms of employment have a number of negative consequences for example in the form of family life issues, economic worry, health issues and reduced life satisfaction. This essay investigates which sources of insecurity on-call employees experience and which strategies they use to feel safe. Six semi-structured interviews were performed with individuals using on-call employment as their primary source of income. This way the respondents own experiences and stories were explored. The analysis was primarily done through the terms ontological security with Anthony Giddens, the precariat from Guy Standing, The psychological contract and Lazarus and Folkman’s coping strategies. The result shows sources of insecurity primarily in the form of employment insecurity, economic insecurity and demand on availability. The respondents used strategies such as saving, adaptable routines, workplace participation and action aiming to achieve future safety such as continuous job searching and applying to education.

Abstract When the covid virus spread and took a major grip on society around the world, it was classified as a pandemic and the Swedish Public Health Agency gave society advice and recommendations that those who could work from home should do so as much as possible. When advice and recommendations ceased, employees must return to the workplace again. Many employers today offer new distance contracts so that they can offer employees continued flexible forms of work, such as working remotely. The purpose of this study is to create a deeper understanding of how women who work in an authority experience the return to the workplace after working remotely for over a year. To achieve the purpose of the following questions: How do female administrators feel about partially returning to the workplace after full-time distance work for a longer period of time? What challenges and opportunities are experienced by partially returning to the workplace?For this qualitative interview study, six semi-structured interviews were conducted where the interviewees would: (1) work at the authority, (2) have worked remotely for a total of at least one year during the pandemic and (3) be women. The collected empirical data has been further analyzed with the help of Karasek & Theorell's Requirements - control and support model, previous research on the balance between private and working life and previous research on flexibility. The results of the study show that the interviewees experience both challenges such as adjusting their days and returning to their old (and new) routines, the logistics in the form of travel time to and from the workplace and the work requirements that are added in the workplace and opportunities such as missing social interactions and continue to be able to use telework, which is seen as the best of both worlds where it is possible to combine working from home and being in the office.

As covid-19 spread, it quickly forced work from home into many organizations. When the restrictions then eased, organizations chose to deal with the decline in offices in various ways. In this study, representatives of organizations that to varying degrees have opened up for work from home are interviewed. The purpose of the study is to investigate how organizations promote gender equality or reproduce the gender power order, based on work from home in the new hybrid working life after the covid-19 pandemic. Central to the study is to examine how organizations have handled the transition from work in the office to work from home and whether the gender equality perspective has been taken into account. The theoretical framework used includes Acker, Hirdman, Moss Kanter and Walby, which describe patriarchal structures, gender contracts, gender structuring and various processes for gender-based structures in organizations. The method that has been used is qualitative interviews with a semi-structured interview guide. The informants, who all work within HR, have all in one way or another been involved in how the new hybrid working life is to be handled within each organization. The results of the study show a varying degree of awareness of how the new hybrid working life affects men and women differently, but the majority of the organizations have not had a gender equality perspective at work. Several informants experience that women are more positive about working from home than men. The results also show to some extent that organizations with a larger proportion of men among employees seem to be less aware of the gender equality perspective or place less emphasis on it. / När smittspridningen av covid-19 tog fart tvingade det snabbt fram arbete hemifrån i många organisationer. När restriktionerna sedan lättade valde organisationer att hantera tillbakagången till kontoren på olika sätt. I denna studie intervjuas representanter för organisationer som i olika grad öppnat upp för arbete hemifrån även fortsatt. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur organisationer främjar jämställdhet eller reproducerar könsmaktsordningen, detta utifrån arbete hemifrån i det nya hybrida arbetslivet efter covid-19-pandemin. Centralt för studien är att undersöka hur organisationer hanterat omställningen från arbete på kontor till arbete i hemmet och huruvida jämställdhetsperspektivet har tagits hänsyn till. Det teoretiska ramverk som använts är bland andra Acker, Hirdman, Moss Kanter och Walby vilka beskriver patriarkala strukturer, genuskontrakt, genusstrukturering och olika processer för könsbaserade strukturer i organisationer. Metoden som har använts är kvalitativa intervjuer med semi-strukturerad intervjuguide. Informanterna, som alla arbetar inom HR, har alla på ett eller annat sätt varit involverade i hur det nya hybrida arbetslivet ska hanteras inom respektive organisation. Studiens resultat visar på en varierande grad av medvetenhet om hur det nya hybrida arbetslivet påverkar män respektive kvinnor olika, men majoriteten av organisationerna har inte haft ett jämställdhetsperspektiv i arbetet. Flera informanterna upplever att kvinnor är mer positiva till arbete hemifrån än vad män är. Resultaten visar också till viss del att organisationer med större andel män bland medarbetarna tycks vara mindre medvetna om jämställdhetsperspektivet eller lägger mindre vikt vid det.

Acute static vibration-induced stretching enhanced muscle viscoelasticity but did not affect maximal voluntary contractions in footballers. J Strength Cond Res 28(11): 3105-3114, 2014-The aim of this study was to compare the effects of acute vibration-enhanced static stretching and/or static stretching alone on the strength and flexibility of the hamstrings and quadriceps muscles. Twenty-one male footballers participated in this study (21.9 ± 1.8 years; 75.54 ± 7.3 kg; 178.7 ± 6.5 cm). The experiment started with 5 minutes standardized warm-up followed by (a) baseline flexibility pretest (Split Test); (b) maximal voluntary flexion and extension (isokinetic strength) of the knee; (c) Treatment or Sham involving 45-second stretch with or without vibration for the hamstring and quadriceps muscle groups with 10-second rest between; and (d) posttest repeating the measures of the pretest. Each player randomly performed both trials on separate occasions. The vibration device operated at 35 Hz with 2 mm amplitude. Stretching with vibration statistically increased hamstring flexibility by 7.8% (p ≥ 0.05) when compared with stretching without vibration. No statistical differences for hamstring or quadriceps strength were noted between treatment conditions. There was no statistical correlation between flexibility and strength measurements. In conclusion, flexibility increased with vibration-enhanced static stretching; however, no change was evident in the maximal voluntary contractions of the knee flexors and extensors.