The determination of the optical properties of biological tissue is an important issue in laser medicine. The optical properties define the tissue´s absorption and scattering behaviour, and can be expressed by quantities such as the albedo, the optical thickness and the anisotropy coefficient. During this project, a measurement system for the determination of the optical properties was built up. The system consists of a double integrating sphere set-up to perform the necessary reflection and transmission measurements, and a computer algorithm to calculate the optical properties from the measured data. This algorithm is called Inverse Adding Doubling method, and is based on a one-dimensional transport model. First measurements were conducted with the system, including measurements with phantom media (Intralipid-ink solutions) and with cartilage samples taken from the human knee joint. This work also includes an investigation about the preparation of tissue samples for optical measurements.

A propriedade suinícola encontra-se hoje numa fase que, dificilmente poderá fugir ao processo integrador, disponibilizado pelas empresas detentoras de recursos financeiros e tecnológicos. No entanto, o produtor sujeita-se a margens estreitas de lucratividade pelas facilidades que o processo em si lhe oferece. A presente pesquisa consiste num estudo exploratório com o objetivo de analisar o desempenho dos produtores, no sistema integrado de suínos, a partir da caracterização da cadeia de valor adaptada à atividade suinícola. Para isso, foram realizadas entrevistas com técnicos da área e aplicados questionários junto a doze suinocultores, — divididos em três categorias: pequenos, médios e grandes produtores — da Região Centro Oriental do Estado, participantes do sistema de integração da Cooperativa Agropecuária Languiru Ltda., em Teotônia — RS. A análise diagnóstico foi realizada com base no referencial teórico, envolvendo aspectos ligados à suinocultura, à cadeia produtiva, com ênfase no sistema de produção, e à cadeia de valores que ofereceu a melhor alternativa para identificar o desempenho dos suinocultores. Nesse contexto, observou-se estar o desempenho dos produtores condicionado à conversão alimentar e o período de engorda, associado ao processo de gestão da propriedade suinícola. / Rural properties devoted to pig breeding are currently in a situation in which they will hardly be able to avoid taking part in the integrating process made available by financially and technologically privileged companies. However, producers have to face low profit rates due to the features inherent to such process. This paper is a study which has as a goal to analyze the producers' performance in the pig breeding integrated system, departing from the chain of values adaptad to the pig breeding environment. To do so, interviews with technicians have been done, as well as questionnaires have been submitted to twelve pig breeders - split into three categories: small, medium and big producers - from the west central region of the state, that participate of the Cooperativa Agropecuária Languiru Ltda. integrating system, in Teutônia, RS. A diagnostic analysis was done based upon the theory related to pig breeding, the productive chain focused in this production system, and the chain of values that offered the best alternative to identify the producers' performances. In such context, it has been observed that the producers' performance is conditioned by food conversion and the fatten period, associated with the property mangement process.

Controle preditivo baseado em modelo (MPC) recebeu ampla aceitação na indústria química nos últimos 30 anos. O funcionamento básico dessa técnica é a utilização de um modelo para calcular o comportamento de uma planta em função das entradas que ela receberia nos próximos instantes. Define-se um objetivo, cuja principal contribuição é dada por uma medida da distância entre a condição predita da planta e um valor desejado previamente estipulado. Esse objetivo pode incluir ainda, por exemplo, penalizações sobre o esforço de controle necessário para levar a planta a uma condição mais próxima do desejável. São incorporadas restrições como limites físicos da planta e dos atuadores e formula-se um problema de otimização, buscando o ponto ótimo dessa função objetivo e respeitando as restrições. Neste trabalho é abordado o problema de controle preditivo baseado em modelo para sistemas que apresentem integradores e/ou tempos mortos. Estes elementos tornam mais difícil o controle de processos baseado apenas em técnicas clássicas. Apresenta-se aqui um modelo em espaço de estados que permite a representação dessas dinâmicas de modo suficientemente preciso. A formulação de modelo apresentada permite ainda a incorporação de informações sobre distúrbios medidos. É feita uma demonstração da estabilidade desse controlador quando o modelo por ele utilizado é idêntico ao comportamento real da planta. Numa aplicação real do controlador proposto, seria necessário estimar os estados da planta a partir das medidas das saídas. Em geral, utiliza-se um Filtro de Kalman para realizar esta tarefa. São estudados aqui os efeitos que a presença desse filtro teria sobre o desempenho do sistema em malha fechada. É proposto um observador baseado numa mudança heurística feita sobre o Filtro de Kalman e que permite, em certos casos, uma melhoria de desempenho. São apresentados os resultados de simulações de uma planta de óxido de etileno com o intuito de ilustrar a atuação do controlador estável desenvolvido e do observador proposto. / Model Predictive Control (MPC) has gained wide acceptance in chemical industry in the last 30 years. The basic principle of this technique is to use a model to calculate plants future behavior based on the inputs it would receive in the next sampling periods. It must be set an objective, mainly composed of some measure of the distance between plants predicted state and a previously specified condition. Objective value may also include, for example, penalty on control effort necessary to drive the plant closer to the desired state. It is possible to include constraints, such as physical limits of the plant or of the actuators and therefore to pose an optimization problem, searching the best value of the objective function that satisfies all constraints. This work addresses the problem of MPC applied to integrating systems and/or processes with dead-time. These kinds of plants are often difficult to control using only classical techniques. It is presented here a state space model to represent both cases accurately. Measured disturbances may also be incorporated to the model. Finally, it is shown that the proposed controller is stable when its internal model represents exactly plants dynamics. In any real application of this controller, it would be necessary to estimate plants states from outputs measures. In general, Kalman Filter solves this problem. It is studied in this work the effects caused by filters inclusion on closed loop performance. A new observer is proposed, based on a heuristic improvement over Kalman Filter which induces, for some systems, improved performance. Numerical simulation has been performed over a model of an ethylene oxide plant, illustrating the use of this stable controller and the proposed observer.

During the last decades, fashion brands and retailers in Sweden have experienced the effects of technological advancement and changes in customer behaviour, which have opened up new ways of doing business. Customers expect online and offline marketing and sales channels to be integrated through instant interaction, which have made the concept of omnichannel retailing, gain momentum. This thesis explores this concept in relation to four small Swedish fashion brands based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Using a qualitative method, in-depth interviews have been made with the companies in order to understand what these companies are focused on and in what way omnichannel strategies are encouraged in their business. A solid theoretical framework was collected in the early stage of the process and has worked as a foundation for relating previous studies to current developments. This research presents a literature review that is based on topics such as brand identity, omnichannel marketing and customer experience in order to investigate this topic further. The findings in this research  shows that these small fashion brands are integrating channels through working with a few media channels and do not put significant attention on data analyses. Their focus has proved to be on finding a few, right channels and enforce the brand values in all activates, which creates a connection between channels, rather than on creating technologically advanced solutions between online and offline channels.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study investigated the effect of an Argumentation Instructional Model (AIM) on the preservice teachers‘ ability to implement a Science-IK Curriculum in selected South African schools. I examined what instructional practices the pre-service teachers engage in when they introduce scientific explanation and whether those practices influence learners‘ ability to construct scientific explanations during a natural science unit of a South African school curriculum. My study began with a pilot study of 16 pre-service science teachers who completed a B.Ed university module, Science for Teaching, which included an IK component. Data collection for main study took place from 2010 to 2011, and used questionnaires, face-to-face and reflective interview protocols, case studies, lesson plans and classroom observation schedules. I took videos and audios of each of the pre-service teacher‘s enactment of the focal lesson on argumentation and then coded the videotape for different instructional practices. The study investigated firstly, what currently informed teachers‘ thinking, knowledge and action of IK. Secondly, the research questioned how teachers interpreted and implemented IK in the science classroom. A sample of the three pre-service teachers were followed into their classrooms to investigate how they specifically implemented Learning Outcome Three using argumentation instruction as a mode of instruction and what approaches relevant to the inclusion of IK were developed. The study found that the three pre-service teachers used three very different approaches through which IK was brought in the science curriculum. An assimilationist approach, that brings IK into science by seeking how best IK fits into science. A segregationist approach that holds IK side-by-side with scientific knowledge. Lastly, an integrationist approach makes connections between IK and science. The approaches developed by the pre-service teachers were found to be informed by their biographies, values, cultural backgrounds and worldviews. Meticulously, the study explored how shifts were being made from a theoretical phase at the university where the pre-service teachers engaged IK to an actual phase of implementation in their school science classrooms. Finally, I attempted to explain why the pre-service teachers interpreted and implemented IK in the way they did. / South Africa

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study investigated the effect of an Argumentation Instructional Model (AIM) on the preservice teachers‘ ability to implement a Science-IK Curriculum in selected South Africanschools. I examined what instructional practices the pre-service teachers engage in when they introduce scientific explanation and whether those practices influence learners‘ ability to construct scientific explanations during a natural science unit of a South African school curriculum. My study began with a pilot study of 16 pre-service science teachers who completed a B.Ed university module, Science for Teaching, which included an IK component. Data collection for main study took place from 2010 to 2011, and used questionnaires, face-to-face and reflective interview protocols, case studies, lesson plans and classroom observation schedules. I took videos and audios of each of the pre-service teacher‘s enactment of the focal lesson on argumentation and then coded the videotape for different instructional practices. The study investigated firstly, what currently informed teachers‘ thinking, knowledge and action of IK. Secondly, the research questioned how teachers interpreted and implemented IK in the science classroom. A sample of the three pre-service teachers were followed into their classrooms to investigate how they specifically implemented Learning Outcome Three using argumentation instruction as a mode of instruction and what approaches relevant to the inclusion of IK were developed. The study found that the three pre-service teachers used three very different approaches through which IK was brought in the science curriculum. An assimilationist approach, that brings IK into science by seeking how best IK fits into science. A segregationist approach that holds IK side-by-side with scientific knowledge. Lastly, an integrationist approach makes connections between IK and science. The approaches developed by the pre-service teachers were found to be informed by their biographies, values, cultural backgrounds and worldviews. Meticulously, the study explored how shifts were being made from a theoretical phase at the university where the pre-service teachers engaged IK to an actual phase of implementation in their school science classrooms. Finally, I attempted to explain why the pre-service teachers interpreted and implemented IK in the way they did.

Character education has been viewed by many educators as having significant historical, academic, and social value. Many stakeholders in education argue for character development as a curricular experience. While understanding the degree to which character education is of worth to stakeholders of institutions is important, understanding students, teachers, and administrators perspectives from their lived experiences is likewise significant. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain a deeper understanding of character education within a Biblical framework environment by examining the lived experiences of students, administrators, and teachers of a Seventh-day Adventist School. Phenomenology describes individuals’ daily experiences of phenomena, the manner in which these experiences are structured, and focuses analysis on the perspectives of the persons having the experience (Moustakas, 1994). ). This inquiry was undertaken to answer the question: What are the perceptions of students, teachers, and an administrator toward character education in a Seventh-day Adventist school setting? Ten participants (seven students and three adults) formed the homogeneous purposive sample, and the major data collection tool was semi-structured interviews (Patton, 1990; Seidman, 2006). Three 90-minute open-ended interviews were conducted with each of the participants. Data analysis included a three-phase process of description, reduction and interpretation. The findings from this study revealed that participants perceived that their involvement in the school’s character education program decreased the tendency to violence, improved their conduct and ethical sensibility, enhanced their ability to engage in decision-making concerning social relationships and their impact on others, brought to their attention the emerging global awareness of moral deficiency, and fostered incremental progress from practice and recognition of vices to their acquisition of virtues. The findings, therefore, provide a model for teaching character education from a Seventh-day Adventist perspective. The model is also relevant for non-Seventh day Adventists who aspire to teach character education as a means to improving social and moral conditions in schools.

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Inledning: Studien har sin utgångspunkt i ett praktisk problem på Södra Skogsägarna angående en upplevd svårighet att bedöma hållbara investeringar. Att göra investeringar med hållbarhetshänsyn har blivit allt vanligare vilket kan bero på den ökade uppmärksamheten kring ämnet. Södras verksamhet präglas av en mängd investeringar vilka är betydelsefulla för företagets framtid och överlevnad. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att definiera och kartlägga vad hållbara investeringar är. Författarna ska även analysera Södras investeringsbedömning och hur de hanterar hållbarhetsaspekter i den. Studien ska bidra till att ge ett förslag på hur företag kan anpassa sin investeringsbedömning för att bättre ta hänsyn till hållbarhetsaspekter. Metod: Denna studien är en empiriskt driven fallstudie av kvalitativ karaktär. Det teoretiska materialet baseras på vetenskapliga artiklar och litteratur från Linnéunivesitets bibliotek. Det empiriska materialet grundar sig på semistrukturerade intervjuer och dokument. För att studien ska anses vara trovärdig har vi beaktat ett antal kvalitetskriterier och forskningsetiska överväganden.  Slutsats: Slutligen ges rekommendationer på hur Södra Skogsägarna kan anpassa sin inventeringshandbok och investeringsrutin för att beakta hållbara investeringar. Huvudsakligen handlar det om hur företaget ska hantera klassindelning, kalkylmetoder, kalkylränta och kvalitativ information. / Introduction: The study is based on a practical problem at Södra Skogsägarna regarding a perceived difficulty in consider sustainable investments. Making investments with sustainability considerations has become increasingly common, which may be due to the increased attention to the subject. Södra's operations are characterized by a large number of investments which are important for the company's future and survival. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to define and map what sustainable investments are. The authors will also analyze Södra's investment appraisal and how they handle sustainability aspects in it. The study will help to give a suggestion on how companies can adapt their investment assessment to better take into account sustainability aspects. Method: This study is an empirically driven case study of qualitative character. The theoretical material is based on scientific articles and literature from the library at Linnaeus University. The empirical material is based on semi-structured interviews and documents. For the study to be considered credible, we have considered a number of quality criteria and research ethical considerations. Conclusion: Finally recommendations are made on how Södra Skogsägarna can adapt their investment manual and investment routine to consider sustainable investments. It is mainly about how the company should handle class division, calculation methods, interest rate and qualitative information.

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