Abstract Today, in the industrial circumstance, to increase product¡¦s values are one of the primary sources of increasing competing edge. The product¡¦s value always base on continuous innovation of products and working methods. The findings of product¡¦s research and development (r&d) are the expertise of the business, so-called ¡uknow-how¡v. Whether these knowledge can be effectively spread, shared and reused, has significantly influenced on business. Therefore, effectively managing know-how becomes important issue of business. This paper proposed a framework and methodology for knowledge modeling. By use it to construct the knoweledge access architecture. The results provide a useful basis for reducing the time of r&d and increasing the product¡¦s value.

Thesis (M.S.)--Air Force Institute of Technology, 2006. / AFIT/GIR/ENV/06-01S. "September 2006." Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Nov. 16, 2007). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-111).

I  Sverige  har  antalet  äldre  ökat  de  senaste  årtiondena.  Ju  äldre  människor  blir  desto vanligare blir förekomsten av  sjukdomar och funktionshinder. Vårdplatserna inom  både slutenvård  och  särskilt  boende  har  blivit  färre  och  uppskattningsvis  vårdas  250  000 personer   i   hemvård  idag.   Denna   utveckling   innebär   att   den   närstående,   som   är anhörigvårdare i hemmet har en betydelsefull roll. Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva anhörigvårdarens  erfarenheter  av  kunskapsbehov  för  att  ge  omsorg  och  vård  till  sin make/maka med långvarig sjukdom och/eller funktionshinder i hemmet. Studien baseras på  intervjuer,  som  gjordes  med  anhörigvårdare  dels  genom  en  fokusgrupp  med  fyra deltagare,  dels  genom  fyra  individuella  intervjuer,  det  vill  säga  sammanlagt  åtta informanter.  Intervjumaterialet  har  bearbetats  med  hjälp  av  kvalitativ  innehållsanalys. Studien pågick under åren 2009-2010. I resultatet framkom fem huvudkategorier: Behov av  kunskap  om:  sjukdomen  och  dess  konsekvenser,  hur  man  behärskar  komplexa situationer,  regelverk  och  stödfunktioner,  praktisk  personlig  vård  samt  kunskap  om anhörigvårdarens egen hälsa.  Studien visar också vilka metoder anhörigvårdaren använder för att skaffa sig kunskap. Anhörigvårdaren  efterfrågar  framförallt  individuell  praktisk  handledning  samt  kunskap som  ger  handlingsberedskap  för  att  förstå  behov  av  helhetsvård  och  hantera  nya situationer.  I  diskussionen  har  jag  valt  att  belysa  vilken  slags  kunskap  anhörigvårdaren behöver   för   att   ge   vård   och   omsorg   till   sin   make/maka.   Jag   diskuterar   även anhörigvårdarens syn på sin utsatthet och ensamhet, hur tillvaron kan hanteras samt vilka möjligheter till återhämtning som finns. / In Sweden the number of elderly people has continually increased during the last decades. The older the person grows the more frequent the rate of illness and functional disability. The  number  of  beds  in  both  hospital  care  and  municipality  care  has  been  reduced  and about  250 000  persons  receive  domestic  care  today.  This  means  that  relatives  who  are caregivers play an important role in today’s society. The aim of this study is to describe the caregiver’s experiences and the need for knowledge in order to give care at home to a spouse  suffering  from  a  long-term  illness  and/or  a  disability.  Interviews  with  family caregivers  were  made  partly  through  a  focus  group  with  four  participants  and  partly through  four  individual  interviews  -  in  all  eight  informants.  The  interviews  have  been processed  according to  content  analysis. The study  was  undertaken in the  period  2009-2010.  The  result  can  be  divided  into  five  main  categories.  1.  Need  for  knowledge concerning  the  sick  spouse’s  illness  and  its  consequences.  2.  Need  for  knowledge  in handling complicated situations. 3. Need for knowledge about regulations and care given by  the  municipality.  4.  Need  for  knowledge  in  practical  individual  care.  5.  Need  for knowledge  concerning  the  caregiver’s  own  health.  The  study  also  shows  the  methods used by the caregiver to acquire knowledge. Above all, the caregiver requests individual practical guidance and knowledge in order to understand and cope with new situations. In the discussion I have chosen to illustrate what kind of knowledge the caregiver needs in order  to  care  for  his/her  spouse.  I  also  discuss  the  caregiver’s  view  on  his/her vulnerability  and  loneliness,  how  one  can  cope  with  one’s  life  situation  and  what possibilities there are for recovery.

Kunskap är som mest användbar när den har inflytande och delas med andra varför medarbetarna inom en organisation bör ha möjlighet att lära av varandra. Då en individ delar eller sprider sin kunskap och erfarenhet till någon annan benämns det som kunskapsöverföring. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om och hur kunskapsöverföring mellan utvecklare möjliggörs när en organisation inom mjukvaruindustrin använder Scrum som arbetsmetod. Studien avser även undersöka huruvida metoden på något sätt hindrar kunskapsöverföring. För att besvara syftet ställs följande huvudfråga: Hur möjliggör Scrum kunskapsöverföring mellan utvecklare? vilken består av tre delfrågor: (i) Var sker kunskapsöverföring i Scrum? (ii) Vilken typ av kunskap sprids i Scrum? (iii) Vad kan hindra kunskapsöverföringen då Scrum används som arbetsmetod? Med utgångspunkt i teorier om kunskap, kunskapsöverföring och kontexten för kunskapsöverföring samt den teoretiska beskrivningen av Scrum utformades en analysmodell som visar Scrums förväntade stöd för kunskapsöverföring. Den insamlade empirin består av observationer och intervjuer vilka genomfördes under en tio veckor lång praktik på ett mjukvaruföretag som nyligen tillämpat Scrum som arbetsmetod. På fallföretaget har Scrum anpassats till verksamhetens behov med hjälp av tre scrumteam, till skillnad från teorin som beskriver Scrum utifrån endast ett scrumteam. Av resultatet framgår att två av Scrums ceremonier samt co-location utgör ett direkt stöd för kunskapsöverföring och tre av ceremonierna utgör ett indirekt stöd. En av ceremonierna utgör både ett direkt och indirekt stöd. Vidare visar studien att flera scrumteam kan hindra kunskapsöverföring mellan utvecklare i olika scrumteam. Sammanfattningsvis indikerar studien att Scrum till viss del bidrar med en kontext som möjliggör för viss typ av kunskapsöverföring. / Knowledge is most useful when it has influence and is shared with others. Therefore, employees of an organization should have the opportunity to learn from each other. When an individual share his or her knowledge to another, this is termed knowledge transfer. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether and how knowledge transfer between software developers is made possible when an organization in the software industry is using Scrum as a working method. The study also intends to examine whether the method in any way prevents knowledge transfer. In order to answer the purpose the following main questions were addressed: How does Scrum enable knowledge transfer between developers? This question further consists of three parts: (i) Where does knowledge transfer take place? (ii) What type of knowledge is transferred in Scrum? (iii) What can prevent the knowledge transfer when Scrum is used as a working method? Based on theories of knowledge, knowledge transfer, the context for knowledge transfer, and the theoretical description of Scrum, a specific framework was designed. The framework shows the expected support for knowledge transfer by Scrum. The collected empirical data consists of observations and interviews, which were conducted during a ten-week case study at a software company that recently implemented Scrum as a working method. The company has adapted Scrum to business needs with the help of three scrum teams, as opposed to the theory that describes Scrum based on only one scrum team. The results show that two of Scrum ceremonies and co-location constitutes direct support for knowledge transfer, and three ceremonies constitute an indirect support. One ceremony constitutes both direct and indirect support. The study also shows that several scrum teams can prevent knowledge transfer between developers in different scrum teams. In conclusion, the study indicates that Scrum partly contributes a context that allows for certain types of knowledge transfer.

Talking about sexuality -Medical staffs´ experiences of conversations about sexuality with patients at a cardiology unit The background of this essay is the taboo to talk about sexuality among people who suffer from some kind of illness. When a person gets ill and need medical attention, his or her life changes dramatically. The patients get treatment for their symptoms. The illness and treatment have often an influence on the patient’s sexuality. This study has taken place on a special medical unit for patients with cardiovascular diseases. The patients get treatment for eight weeks at the unit. It is very unusual that a patient is treated by a small team of medical staff during such a long time. This situation gives patients the opportunity to develop a trust and confidence that could lead to discussions about sexuality. But how do the doctors and nurses deal with patients regarding sexual problems? The purpose of this study was to examine the medical staffs´ experience of conversations about sexuality with patients at a cardiovascular unit. A total of 13 medical staff was interviewed about their experiences concerning sexual problems in patients with cardiac disorders. The data was analyzed using latent content analysis. A number of categories were identified. Some staff have conversations with the patients about sexuality and some staff mean they do not have enough knowledge in the matter. Sometimes the staff is well prepared and sometimes they feel there is a lack of knowledge in dealing with problems concerning sexuality among patients. The staff had a wish for guidelines and more in-depth knowledge about sexuality, in order to be better prepared to deal with patient questions concerning sexuality.

The following research investigates the use of computation during the academic life of students enrolled in the undegraduate courses of education and special education at the School of Education, Federal University of Santa Maria. Its main goal was to analyse the wishes and hopes expressed by those students about the use of computation. In order to attain the above mentioned target we tried to understand the reasons which were driving students to use the resources of the School of Education Computation Laboratory (LINCE). By so doing we would know which applications and Internet tools students most utilize during their academic course. In the sequence we tried to identify the possible influences computation may exert in the future student's professional life in order to verify how they are searching for knowledge through the Internet. In this way the investigation can be labeled as a descriptive study with qualitative approach, of phenomenologic nature, and being typified as a case study. This methodologic proposal turned it possible for us to participate, undestand and interpret the attitudes and the activities developed by students at the Computation Lab. Took part of the present research six pupils of the sixth, seventh and eighth semesters of the undergaduate courses located at the School of Education. It was verified that all of them have very poor experiences respecting computing resources but even though these are enough to supply their academic needs, such as processing texts and do searchs through the Internet. Thus it was possible to ascertain, throughout the research, that students have a significant interest in exploring the technical resources of computation at their disposal in the Computation Lab but ignore the literature about this subject. At the same time they show a striking hope to insert these instruments in classroom work, even if they are conscious of not being ready to develop activities together with their future pupils at the schools computation laboratories. Given this reality, it is necessary to change curricula of teachers' educating courses in their own structure: a change that gives a new definition to the role of a teacher facing computing resources and helps in driving the teaching-learning process to emphasize the use of computers within the school environment. We believe that this lack lived by students of licensing courses during their academic life does not have its sources in the pure utilization of a technical resource but in actions not preceded by the necessary discussion of all the community of the School of Education about limits and possibilities for education of information technology / A presente investigação versa sobre a utilização da informática durante a trajetória acadêmica dos alunos dos Cursos de Licenciatura em Educação Especial e Pedagogia do Centro de Educação da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. Esta pesquisa teve o intuito de analisar os anseios e as expectativas que os alunos apresentam em relação à utilização da informática. Para alcançar este objetivo, buscamos compreender as razões que levaram os alunos a utilizar o Laboratório de Informática do Centro de Educação/LINCE, de modo a conhecer quais os programas, aplicativos e recursos da Internet que estão utilizando durante sua caminhada acadêmica. Tentamos, a partir disso, identificar as possíveis influências que a Informática pode exercer na vida profissional desses alunos, a fim de verificar como eles estão buscando o conhecimento a partir da Internet. Neste sentido, esta investigação caracterizou-se como um estudo descritivo de abordagem qualitativa, de natureza fenomenológica e do tipo estudo de caso. Esta proposta metodológica nos possibilitou participar, compreender e interpretar as atitudes e as atividades realizadas pelos alunos nas dependências do Laboratório. Os sujeitos que fizeram parte deste estudo foram seis alunos do sexto, sétimo e oitavo semestres dos cursos de licenciatura do Centro de Educação. Verificamos que esses sujeitos possuem uma trajetória acadêmica bastante carente em termos de vivências e experiências com os recursos tecnológicos informáticos, mas que vêm desempenhando suas necessidades acadêmicas básicas, como a digitação de trabalhos e pesquisas na Internet. Assim, foi possível constatar, ao longo desta investigação, que os alunos têm um interesse muito grande em explorar os recursos tecnológicos informáticos no Laboratório de Informática, mas desconhecem as literaturas a respeito desta temática. Ao mesmo tempo, revelam uma expectativa bastante acentuada em trabalhar com esses recursos em sala de aula, ao passo que grande parte dos sujeitos consideram-se despreparados para desenvolver atividades com seus futuros alunos no Laboratório de Informática da escola. Frente a essa realidade, faz-se necessário uma modificação estrutural nos currículos dos cursos de formação de professores, necessitando-se redefinir o papel do professor frente aos recursos informáticos, de forma que passe a auxiliar e conduzir o processo de ensino e aprendizagem dos alunos em formação no que tange à utilização do computador no ambiente escolar. Acreditamos que esta carência vivenciada pelos alunos de licenciatura durante sua trajetória acadêmica não seja proveniente da utilização dos recursos tecnológicos informáticos, mas sim, fruto de ações não precedidas de uma discussão com a comunidade do Centro de Educação sobre seus limites e possibilidades, para a área educacional, dos recursos acima mencionados

”Jag tror ju att det mesta är vilja, vill du tillräckligt mycket då kan du alltid lära dig” - En kvalitativ studie om kunskapsdelningens förutsättningar i svensk tillverkningsindustri. Vår kandidatuppsats syftar till att bidra med ökad kunskap och förståelse om vilka förutsättningar och hinder som påverkar kunskapsdelningsprocessen.    Studiens teoretiska referensram baseras på teorier och tidigare forskning gällande kunskap som begrepp, förutsättningar och faktorer som påverkar kunskapsdelning samt Knowledge Management. Den teoretiska referensramen har utvecklats och omarbetats under studiens gång baserat på det empiriska materialet likt det abduktiva förhållningssättet. Metoden för studien var av kvalitativ karaktär med semi-strukturerande intervjuer som insamlingsmetod, där sex (6) av elva (11) anställda från en avdelning i den undersökta verksamheten deltog.   Studiens resultat visar att organisatoriska förutsättningar,  relationer samt organisationskulturen har påtaglig inverkan på möjligheterna att dela kunskap och i de fall förutsättningarna inte är gynnsamma hindras processen avsevärt. Studien visar på att kunskapsdelning tydligt påverkas av sociala faktorer kopplade till medarbetarnas relationer och att den interpersonella kontexten är av central betydelse. Vidare framkommer att avsaknad av Knowledge Management är ett tydligt hinder för kunskapsdelning vilket synliggör behovet av att kunskapsdelning leds genom ett aktivt Knowledge Management. / "I think most of it are will, if you want enough then you can always learn" - A qualitative study on the conditions of knowledge sharing in the Swedish manufacturing industry. Our bachelor's thesis aims to contribute with increased knowledge and understanding about the conditions and obstacles that affect the knowledge sharing process.  The theoretical frame of reference of the study is based on theories and previous research regarding knowledge as a concepts, conditions and factors that influence knowledge sharing and Knowledge Management. The theoretical frame of reference has been developed and revised during the study based on the empirical material similar to the abductive approach. The method of the study was of a qualitative nature with semi-structured interviews as a method of data-collection in which six (6) out of eleven (11) respondents from a department in the studied organization participated.  The results of the study show that organizational conditions, relationships, and organizational culture have a strong impact on the ability to share knowledge and in cases where the conditions are not favorable, the process is significantly hindered. The study shows that knowledge sharing is strongly influenced by social factors linked to employees' relationships and that the interpersonal context is of central importance. Furthermore, it emerges that the absence of Knowledge Management is a clear barrier to knowledge sharing, which highlights the need for knowledge sharing to be led through active Knowledge Management.

Enbart en liten del av forskningen berör kunskapsdelning i syfte att möta kompetensförsörjningsutmaningar utifrån en förändrad demografi, till följd av en åldrande befolkning. Således har denna kvalitativa studie syftat till att bidra med kunskap om hur en organisation, genom kunskapsdelning, kan ta vara på äldre medarbetares kunskap. För att besvara studiens syfte genomfördes sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med anställda inom en statlig organisation. Studiens titel belyser utmaningar för äldre medarbetare att dela kunskap och förmågor som förvärvats genom tidigare erfarenheter. Med inslag från empirisk fenomenologi, ett abduktivt tillvägagångssätt, tematisk analys samt inspiration från Ipes (2003) förutsättningar för kunskapsdelning, synliggjordes ytterligare en förutsättning för äldre medarbetare att dela kunskap; kartläggning av erfarenheter. Genom att kartlägga tidigare erfarenheter kan äldre medarbetares kunskap synliggöras, vilket kan bidra till upplevelsen av att deras kunskap tas vara på inom organisation. / Only a small part of the research concerns knowledge sharing to meet skills supply challenges based on a changing demographic, because of an aging population. Thus, this qualitative study has aimed to contribute with knowledge about how an organization, through knowledge sharing, can seize older employees’ knowledge. To answer the purpose of this study, seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with employees within state owned organization. The title of this study highlights challenges for older employees to share knowledge and abilities acquired through previous experiences. With influence of empirical phenomenology, an abductive approach, thematic analysis and inspiration from Ipe’s (2003) presuppositions for knowledge sharing, another presupposition for older employees to share knowledge was made visible, mapping of experiences. By mapping experiences, older employees’ knowledge can be made visible, which can contribute to the experience that their knowledge is being seized within the organization.

Measuring knowledge management performance was one of, if not the most challenging knowledge management activities. This study suggested using intellectual capital as a proxy for knowledge management performance in evaluating its impact on organizational performance. The Value Added Intellectual Coefficient model was employed to measure intellectual capital. Although being used widely in research, the model had its limitations. Also, for intellectual capital measurement, there was a lack of guidelines supported by empirical evidence or best practices. The present study aimed to test the classic and a modified version of this model, and based on the results, shed light on whether the classic version was good enough or the modified one should be highly recommended. The financial fundamental and market data of 425 randomly selected publicly listed firms were collected, and the structural equation modeling technique was employed to test the models. Chi-square difference test was performed to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between these two models. The results of the tests indicated that the difference between them was insignificant. Therefore, it was concluded that the classic model is adequate, and it can be used effectively to measure intellectual capital. Adding two new efficiency elements – research and development efficiency and relational capital efficiency – in the model did not provide any significant benefit.

Σκοπός αυτής της διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι να ερευνηθούν μέθοδοι μηχανικής μάθησης για την ταξινόμηση διαφόρων τύπων καρκινικών όγκων εγκεφάλου με χρήση δεδομένων μαγνητικής τομογραφίας. Η διάγνωση του τύπου του καρκίνου είναι σημαντική για τον κατάλληλο σχεδιασμό της θεραπείας. Γενικά η ταξινόμηση καρκινικών όγκων αποτελείται από επιμέρους βήματα, όπως καθορισμός των περιοχών ενδιαφέροντος (ROIs), εξαγωγή χαρακτηριστικών, επιλογή χαρακτηριστικών, ταξινόμηση. Η εργασία αυτή εστιάζει στα δύο τελευταία βήματα ώστε να εξαχθεί μια γενική επισκόπηση της επίδρασης των εκάστοτε μεθόδων όσον αφορά την ταξινόμηση των διαφόρων όγκων. Τα εξαγόμενα χαρακτηριστικά περιλαμβάνουν χαρακτηριστικά φωτεινότητας και περιγράμματος από συμβατικές τεχνικές απεικόνισης μαγνητικής τομογραφίας (Τ2, Τ1 με έγχυση σκιαγραφικού, Flair,Τ1) καθώς και μη συμβατικές τεχνικές (Μαγνητική τομογραφία αιματικής διήθησης ). Για την επιλογή των χαρακτηριστικών χρησιμοποιήθηκαν διάφορες μέθοδοι φιλτραρίσματος, όπως CFSsubset, wrapper, consistency σε συνδυασμό με μεθόδους αναζήτησης, όπως scatter, best first, greedy stepwise, με τη βοήθεια του πακέτου Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA). Οι μέθοδοι εφαρμόστηκαν σε 101 ασθενείς με καρκινικούς όγκους εγκεφάλου οι οποίοι είχαν διαγνωστεί ως μετάσταση (24), μηνιγγίωμα (4), γλοίωμα βαθμού 2 (22), γλοίωμα βαθμού 3 (17) ή γλοίωμα βαθμού 4 (34) και επαληθεύτηκαν με τη στρατηγική του αχρησιμοποίητου παραδείγματος (Leave One Out-LOO) / The objective of this study is to investigate the use of pattern classification methods for distinguishing different types of brain tumors, such as primary gliomas from metastases, and also for grading of gliomas. A computer-assisted classification method combining conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and perfusion MRI is developed and used for differential diagnosis. The characterization and accurate determination of brain tumor grade and type is very important because it influences and specifies patient's treatment planning. The proposed scheme consists of several steps including ROI definition, feature extraction, feature selection and classification. The extracted features include tumor shape and intensity characteristics. Features subset selection is performed using two filtering methods, correlation-based feature selection method and consistency method, and a wrapper approach in combination with three different search algorithms (best first, greedy stepwise and scatter). These methods are implemented using the assistance of the WEKA software [20]. The highest binary classification accuracy assessed by leave-one-out (LOO) cross-validation on 102 brain tumors, is 94.1% for discrimination of metastases from gliomas, and 91.3% for discrimination of high grade from low grade neoplasms. Multi-class classification is also performed and 76.29% accuracy achieved.