No description available.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka expressiv fonologisk förmåga hos barn i åldrarna 3;5-4;9 år som följer en atypisk tal- och språkutveckling och jämföra den med en åldersmatchad kontrollgrupp.  Ytterligare ett syfte är att undersöka huruvida det föreligger ett samband mellan expressiv fonologisk förmåga och impressiv lexikal förmåga. Elva barn med konstaterade uttalssvårigheter rekryterades från logopedmottagningar och språkförskolor i Stockholm och i Östergötland. Barnen testades i en för dem välkänd miljö med bedömningsmaterialet LINUS. Barnens svar audioinspelades och transkriberades och utifrån transkriptionerna gjordes en analys med utgångspunkt från icke-linjär fonologi samt beräkning av Percentage Phonemes Correct och Word Complexity Measure. Resultatet jämfördes sedan med kontrollgruppen. Åtta av barnen i studiegruppen testades även med PPVT-IV för att undersöka eventuella samband mellan expressiv fonologisk förmåga och impressiv lexikal förmåga. Resultatet visade att barnen i de båda grupperna uppvisade uttalsavvikelser från vuxet målordsuttal på ord-, stavelse och segmentnivå, stavelsenivån var den nivå där flest avvikelser förekom i båda grupperna, men att avvikelserna förekom i högre grad hos barnen i studiegruppen. På stavelse- och segmentnivå kunde signifikanta skillnader ses men inte på ordnivå mellan grupperna. På stavelsenivå förekom klusterreduktioner i större utsträckning än uteslutning av enskilda segment för båda grupperna. På segmentnivå uppvisade barnen i studiegruppen problem med samtliga särdrag (sätt, plats och ton), till skillnad från barnen i kontrollgruppen som endast uppvisade problem med särdraget plats. Barnen i studiegruppen fick lägre värden på såväl PPC och WCM. En signifikant skillnad sågs mellan PPC och WCM i studiegruppen men inte i kontrollgruppen. Inget samband mellan expressiv fonologisk förmåga och impressiv lexikal förmåga kunde påvisas i följande studie. Studiens resultat indikerar att det är viktigt att ta hänsyn till alla fonologiska nivåer vid en bedömning och resultatet motiverar att ett icke-linjärt perspektiv kan vara till fördel vid planering av intervention. Då stavelsenivån ger upphov till störst svårigheter är det viktigt att ta hänsyn till detta vid fonologisk intervention. Studiens resultat kan ligga till grund för hur en icke-linjär analys kan användas inom klinisk verksamhet. / The aim of the study is to investigate the expressive phonological ability in children aged 3;5-4;9 following an atypical speech and language development and make a comparison to an age-matched control group following a typical speech and language development. A further purpose is to investigate whether there is a relation between expressive phonological ability and receptive lexical ability. Eleven children with speech sound difficulties were recruited from Speech-Language Pathology clinics and preschool language units in Stockholm and Östergötland. The children were tested in a familiar environment, with the swedish phonological assessment material LINUS. The children's responses were audio-recorded and transcribed and based on the transcriptions, a non-linear phonology analysis and calculations of Percentage Phonemes Correct and Word Complexity Measure were made. The results were then compared to the control group. Eight of the children were also tested with PPVT-IV to investigate a possible correlation between expressive phonological ability and receptive lexical ability. The results showed that the children in both groups had deviations at word-, syllable- and segmental levels, the syllable level appeared to be the most affected level in both groups, but that the deviations were more frequent in the study group. The differences on syllable- and segmental levels were significant, whereas the difference at word level was not significant between the groups. At the level of syllable, cluster reductions occurred to a greater extent than the exclusion of individual segments for both groups. At the segmental level, the study group showed problems with all features (manner, place and tone), whereas the children in the control group only had problems with the feature place. The study group had lower PPC and WCM than the control group. A significant difference was seen between PPC and WCM in the study group but not in the control group. No correlation between expressive phonological ability and receptive lexical ability was found. The results of the study indicate that it’s important to address all phonological levels in assessment and motivate that a non-linear approach could be beneficial as basis for planning of treatment. Since the syllable-level is the most affected it is important to address it in intervention. The report could serve as a guide for clinicians when applying a non-linear analysis.

In Sweden, prefabrication in the construction industry is a very common system. In prefabricated structures, there are various kinds of connections and generally many hinged connections. Therefore, it is of high interest to study the behavior of the prefabricated buildings in relation to the connections. Two main theories that can be used to evaluate our structures are the non-linear finite element analysis (NLFEA) and the second order effects. These two theories help to study the real behavior of the structures. Software that can apply these two theories is the ATENA-GiD. Therefore, it was very interesting to explore this software and find out how it can be used for prefabricated buildings. For this reason, a simplified ten-storey building was studied which had been also used in Lindwall’s and Wester’s (2016) master thesis. Various cases were chosen for this building. The building was studied either with monolithic walls or with vertical slip connection between the prefabricated walls. Also, the hollow core (HC) slabs were modelled in two ways and the supports of the columns were modelled in three ways. Even when each slab was modelled with two materials (solid concrete for the upper and lower layer with smeared reinforcement for the lower layer and modified concrete in order to compensate for the voids), the increase in the time for analysis was not important. Also, the cracking was not extensive thanks to the relatively low wind load. The slip joint between the walls didn’t lead to the different displacement between the walls. It was found that the hinged support in the columns was modelled by using the upwind line of the base. In non-linear analysis cases, the model of the structure gave 20% larger displacements than in linear analysis cases which means that the cracking had an important influence on the second order effects despite that the cracking was not extensive. The reduction of the stiffness of the walls to 40% accounting for cracked sections in additional linear analyses to according to the Eurocode 2 was a conservative choice for this building. The most remarkable result was that when the supports of the columns were modelled with hinges there was smaller displacement than when the supports were fixed. The reason for this was the negative displacements due to the buckling of the columns of the first storey. Moreover, for the linear cases, there was a much smaller displacement (5mm) than Lindwall and Wester (2016) (17mm) and this was possibly due to the way that the hinges were modelled in my building. It is interesting to investigate other ways to model the hinges in ATENA-GiD as well as other ways to model the connections between the HC slabs and the perimetric beams. Also, the effect of creep through the modulus of elasticity could be analyzed. Finally, it would be interesting to include foundations in the model to study the possible need for anchorages.

In Sweden, the railway sector currently faces the challenge of developing its first high-speed railway line, in response to the need to provide faster domestic and international transport alternatives. High-speed train passages on railway bridges can cause resonance in the bridge superstructure, which induce high accelerations that should not exceed the limits stipulated in the current design code. The most common bridge type adopted in Sweden is the portal frame bridge, an integral abutment bridge confined by surrounding soil. The soil possesses inherent material damping and radiation damping that allows energy dissipation of train-induced vibrations. Both the damping and the natural frequency of the soil-structure system influence the acceleration response of the bridge superstructure. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the effect of soil-structure interaction on portal frame bridges. Within this thesis, a numerical parametric study was performed to gain knowledge of the dynamic effect of the relative deck-abutment stiffness on the soil-structure interaction of portal frame bridges. For four span lengths, three different boundary conditions were analyzed in the form of i) no soil, ii) backfill, and iii) half-space. The analysis was performed on two- and three-dimensional finite element models. The backfill and subsoil were modeled with both direct finite element approach, and with a simplified approach using Kelvin-Voigt models and frequency-dependent impedance functions. Furthermore, time was devoted to investigating the nonlinear compression-only behavior of the interaction between the backfill and the abutments to allow separation. The results presented in the thesis illuminate the essence of including soil-structure interaction in the dynamic analysis as both the modal damping ratio and the natural frequency increased drastically. The effect of backfill on short span bridges has shown to be more prominent on the reduction of the train-induced vibrations. For longer spans, the subsoil proved to be more significant. For the simplified models the modal damping ratios of the different span lengths have been quantified as a logarithmic trend of the first vertical bending mode. Two-dimensional models have been problematic when using plane stress elements due to the sensitivity of the element thickness on the response. Thus, such models are only recommended if validation with corresponding three-dimensional models and/or field measurements are possible. By allowing separation of the soil-structure interface, the effect of contact nonlinearity on the acceleration response has been more suitable with direct finite element approach - in which static effects of the soil are accounted for - contrary to the simplified nonlinear models with compression springs. / Järnvägssektorn i Sverige står inför utmaningen att utveckla den första höghastighetsbanan med syftet att erbjuda snabbare inhemska och internationella transportalternativ. Passager av höghastighetståg på järnvägsbroar kan orsaka resonans i brons överbyggnad vilket resulterar i höga accelerationer som inte får överskrida begränsningarna i dimensioneringsnormen. I plattrambroar, vilka är främst förekommande i Sverige, utförs broplattan inspänt i rambenen omslutna av jord. Jorden bidrar utöver styvhet, även med material- och strålningsdämpning där vibrationer i jorden inducerade av tågpassager tillåts dissipera. Accelerationerna i brons överbyggnad påverkas av dämpningen och egenfrekvensen av jord-struktur systemet. Med anledning av detta är det väsentligt att undersöka effeken av jord-struktur interaktionen på plattrambroar. I detta examensarbete har en numerisk parametrisk studie utförts för att erhålla kunskap om effekten av den relativa styvheten av broplattan och rambenen på jord-struktur interaktionen av plattrambroar. Fyra spännvidder har undersökts för tre olika randvillkor där i) ingen jord, ii) motfyllning samt iii) halvrymd har beaktats. Analysen utfördes på två- och tredimensionella finita element modeller. Motfyllningen respektive underliggande jord modellerades med finita element på ett direkt- samt förenklat tillvägagångssätt där Kelvin-Voigt modeller och frekvensberoende impedansfunktioner användes. Mellan motfyllningen och rambenen har separation tillåtits där det icke-linjära förhållandet av interaktionen undersöktes med tryckbeteenden för fjädrarna. Resultaten belyser vikten av att inkludera jord-struktur interaktionen i dynamiska analyser p.g.a. ökningen den medför för den modala dämpningen och egenfrekvensen. För korta spännvidder, påvisades det att effekten av motfyllningen var mer framstående för reduktionen av vibrationerna orsakade av tåg. För längre spännvidder framgick det däremot att underjorden hade en större påverkan. Effekten av jord-struktur interaktionen på spännvidderna kvantifierades som ett logaritmiskt samband för den modala dämpningen av första vertikala böjmoden. Tvådimensionella modeller har varit problematiska när plana spänningselement användes p.g.a. känsligheten i responsen orsakad av variationer i elementtjockleken. Därav rekommenderas tvådimensionella modeller endast om validering mot tredimensionella eller fältmätningar är möjliga. När separation tilläts i gränsytan av jord-struktur interaktionen, visade det sig att direkt tillvägagångssätt med finita element var mer lämplig med hänsyn till det icke-linjära kontaktbeteendet. Detta eftersom de statiska effekterna av jorden påverkade accelerationsresponsen markant. De statiska effekterna har inte varit möjliga att simulera i dem förenklade icke-linjära modeller med tryckfjädrar.