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Flutists have reported musculoskeletal pain from practicing and performing their instrument. This study was a statistical approach to investigate potential causal risk factors for flute related pain among high school and college students. The study focused on the relationship between flute related pain and musical background or anthropometric measurements including size, strength and flexibility. Subjects included thirty high school and college-aged flutists who were assessed using a questionnaire, bi-lateral anthropometric measurements of the upper-extremities, upper-extremity performance tests for range of motion, isometric strength and rotation speed, and instrument specific questions. Four questions regarding pain associated with flute playing were treated as dependent variables and used for correlation and regression analyses with other independent variables. A six-factor regression model was created and each model was statistically significant. Results of this study show that strength, flexibility, pain spots, and exposure are risk factors for flute related pain. Both left and right pinch strength and right isometric pronation strength were significantly correlated to flutists experiencing pain while playing. Knowledge of these factors in relationship to pain is needed in flute pedagogy to help teachers and performers understand why flutists report pain during and after playing. Additional studies are warranted for replication of this study and for determining the clinical and pedagogical relevance of these findings.

Although the Rorschach is one of the most widely used psychological assessment techniques, its empirical support has been equivocal. One possible explanation for this lack of empirical support is the tendency for researchers to study only the assessment tool with little regard for the clinician using it. In order to examine the relationship between accurate Rorschach interpretation and attributes of the clinicians employing the technique, 46 psychology graduate students were tested in terms of cognitive flexibility. Torrance's Thinking Creatively with Pictures and Cattell's 16-Personality Factor Questionnaire were used to derive various measures of cognitive flexibility. A two-stage multiple linear regression analysis was done. The most statistically reliable result was that flexibility of thought was found to be the single best mediator of accuracy of Rorschach interpretation. Other individual findings were noted and interpreted.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to examine households attitudes and commitment to demand side flexibility as well as the various actors perceptions of the division of responsibilities in the electricity market and the information available to households. Research questions:                   – What are the main factors for private electricity customers to be able to contribute with demand side flexibility to the electricity system? – What challenges and opportunities can be identified with increased demand side flexibility? Method: The study was based on an abductive approach, where the collection of primary data is of a quantitative and qualitative nature. The qualitative part was collected through 9 semi-structured interviews with actors linked to the electricity market. Collection of quantitative data was done through a survey aimed at households with a total of 110 respondents. The results of the data collection have been analyzed thematically together with the theoretical framework. Conclusions: The main factors for increased demand flexibility are, firstly, a clear division of responsibilities between authorities, households and other players in the electricity market. Secondly, well-developed information channels are required that can be made possible through new technology. Finally, an electricity market is required that allows new actors such as an aggregator. The challenges include engaging households, currently low profitability for demand side flexibility and a set of regulations and tariffs that are lagging behind in development. The opportunities are future changes in the electricity price that speak in favor of increased profitability for demand side flexibility and a change to more dynamic and flexible electricity network tariffs.

This study investigates why some firms have no debt in their capital structure despite the potential benefits of leverage. A logistic regression analysis is used to examine the impact of firm-specific characteristics on a firm’s propensity to have zero leverage. The validity of five theoretical explanations for the zero-leverage phenomenon are examined based on how the theories predict characteristics to affect a firm’s propensity to be unlevered. Analysing a new sample of Swedish firms listed on Nasdaq Stockholm in 2005-2018, I show that on average 14.2% of all firms are unlevered. The regression results suggest that the phenomenon of zero-leverage firms can be explained by a combination of several theories. Some firms seem forced to follow zero-leverage policies due to credit rationing by lenders. Others appear to be deliberately debt-free either because they have low needs of external financing or because they strategically want to avoid debt. The study’s main findings for zero-leverage firms are also robust to firms with very low debt (book leverage less than 5%).

The content of the diploma thesis deals with the study of the flexibility and adhesion of cement tile adhesives, which are modified by a polymeric additive. The effects of the quantity and type of redispersible polymer powder used on the properties of the adhesives, in particular on the deformability of adhesives and their adhesion, are monitored. The theoretical part summarizes the basic data concerning classification of the ceramic tiles, information about the adhesives, the processed part concerning the polymer modified adhesives and the effects of the polymeric additives on their properties. The practical part deals primarily with the study of adhesion and flexibility of polymer modified adhesives and study of microstructure of selected materials.

This diploma thesis deals with flexible and innovative forms of employment and the form of cooperation in a selected company. Flexibility is becoming more and more important, as employees are less willing to spend their entire day of work and prefer more personal life. The thesis is divided into three parts - the theoretical, the analytical and the part dealing with own solutions. The theoretical part is based on a comprehensive overview of flexible forms of employment that make it possible to reconcile work and personal life. The analytical part examines and evaluates the current state of the selected company with best practices of similar companies in the Czech Republic and abroad and in the final part proposes the optimal solution of flexible forms of employment or cooperation in the context of possible changes in the provision of legal services for selected organization.

The prevalent enhancements in technologies alongside with globalization have given rise tomore flexible ways of operating, invoking the phenomena of working virtually. Telework is aform of a virtual workplace, where employees occasionally work on dispersed locations awayfrom the office. Previous research has found a positive correlation between job satisfaction andthe opportunity to telework much due to the flexibility the work arrangement offers. However,when delving deeper into the subject and employees’ understanding of the phenomenon,previous literature has found mixed perceptions among employees. In contrast to solelyexperiencing satisfaction in combination to telework some employees have reported it issuinga negative impact on their private life. Hence, the contradicting findings mentioned opened upfor additional research on the subject. This study aimed to contribute to the discourse by furtherexploring employees’ perceptions of telework; the opportunity to do so, and its impact on jobsatisfaction. The findings indicated that the employees perceived the opportunity to teleworkas providing additional value to the workplace. This as it primarily facilitated a better work andlife balance, as time could be managed more free- and efficiently. In conclusion, telework wassuggested to contribute to a higher level of job satisfaction.

The use of a mobile charger (MC) is a popular method to restore energy in wireless rechargeable sensor networks(WRSN), whose effectiveness depends critically on the recharging strategy employed by the MC. In this thesis, we propose a novel on-line recharging mechanism strategy, called Continuous Local Learning (CLL), which predicts the current energy level of the sensor nodes and dynamically updates the schedule to visit the nodes before their batteries get depleted. The strategy is based on simple computations done by the MC with little memory requirements, and the communication is strictly local (between the MC and neighbouring nodes). In spite of its simplicity, this strategy was experimentally shown to be highly effective in keeping the network perpetually operating, ensuring that the number of sensing holes (i.e., non-operational sensors due to battery depletion) and their duration are very small at any time, and achieving immortality (i.e., no node ever becoming nonoperational) under many settings even in large networks. We also studied the flexibility of CLL under a variety of network parameters, showing its applicability in various contexts. We particularly focused on network size, data rate, sensors’ battery-capacity, and speed of the MC, and studied their impact on operational size and disconnection time under a wide range of values. The experiments indicate the fact that the effectiveness of CLL holds under all considered settings. We then compared the proposed solution with the popular class of static strategies since they share with CLL the features of simplicity, strict local communication and small memory and computational requirements. Experimental results showed that CLL outperforms these strategies in effectiveness. Not only is the number of sensors that are operational at any time higher under CLL, but the average duration of a sensing hole is also significantly lower. Finally, we studied the adaptability of CLL to a network’s sudden changes, in particular changes in data rate, which we call spikes. We studied the impact of spikes parameters on the performance of CLL. Experimental results showed that CLL is capable of reacting and adapting to these sudden changes with only a slight increase in non-operational size and disconnection time.

El Callao cercado es un distrito que ha crecido exponencialmente a nivel poblacional a lo largo de los años. No obstante, la oferta cultural gratuita no fue de la mano con este crecimiento. La biblioteca municipal actual data del año 1943, y desde entonces, no ha sufrido mayor cambio que la adapte a los tiempos presentes. Esta no solo necesitaba de un incremento de área de lectura para atender a la mayor cantidad de población, sino de nuevos usos que la conviertan en un edificio vigente y variado a nivel funcional, características intrínsecas y actuales de la tipología. Era necesario de un edificio flexible espacialmente, que pueda adaptarse a los cambios en el futuro, pero también de un proyecto que, a pesar de su contemporaneidad, se inserte apropiadamente en un marcado contexto histórico. La presente tesis plantea una alternativa de biblioteca municipal actualizada que, desde el uso, es un complemento a la formación y educación en todas sus etapas, y que, desde lo urbano, aporta animación a la zona monumental y al mismo tiempo fortalece sus características morfológicas respetándolas y respetando el patrimonio edificado presente en el terreno, entendiéndolo como parte del proyecto. / The district of Callao, capital of the province of the same name, has had an enormous population growth in recent years. However, the cultural offerings have not increased at a similar rate. The actual municipal library dates from the year 1943, and since then, it hasn’t gone through any transcendent change for it to adapt it to recent times. This building not only needs an increase on square meters, but also on new program that can turn it into a rich mixed-use project. It is necessary for it to be a spatially flexible building that can adapt to future changes, but that is also able, in spite of its contemporaneity, to insert itself as part of a particular historical context. This thesis project presents a potential alternative for a municipal library that, seen from it use, serves as a tool and an aid for education in all of its stages and that, from an urban perspective, generates activity in its immediate context and enhances its morphological characteristics, all while respecting the built heritage that sits on the space, incorporating it as part of the new project. / Tesis