Whole body vibration training (WBVT) has gained a lot of interest for its proposed benefits across a range of populations both active and injured. The purpose of the present thesis was to test the efficacy of WBVT in terms of injury rehabilitation and performance enhancement amongst professional and amateur athletes. The five papers submitted for the degree of PhD by publication are grouped into two key themes relevant to the development of knowledge and evidence to advance a better understanding of the chronic and acute effects of WBVT. The themes encompass the efficacy of WBVT (Chronic) as a rehabilitation tool and as an addition to a warm-up routine (acute). The explanatory narrative provides a brief background to WBVT, a summary of each paper and what the paper has contributed to the field both in terms of knowledge and methodological development. The papers presented provide evidence that chronic WBVT is an effective method of improving balance and stability in athletes suffering functional ankle instability (FAI) (Paper 1). Even when compared to traditional methods of rehabilitation for FAI, the addition of WBVT enhances the benefits of traditional rehabilitation protocols (Paper 2). The use of acute WBVT enhances reactive strength, again showing a significant benefit as an addition to a more traditional warm-up (FIFA 11+) amongst amateur soccer players (Paper 3). When training status was considered (amateur vs. professional), high frequency acute WBVT stimulus significantly improved landing stability (DPSI) amongst professional players only (Paper 4). These differences between groups were also identified when examining knee extensor potentiation and force output with significant improvements amongst professional but not amateur soccer players. Professional players also reported significantly greater beliefs in the effectiveness of WBVT (Paper 5). In conclusion the body of work presented discusses the practical and methodological implications of the new knowledge presented and identifies a series of future lines of research.

Thesis (M.A.)--California Polytechnic State University, 2009. / Mode of access: Internet. Title from PDF title page; viewed on Jan. 8, 2010. Major professor: Thomas Trice, Ph.D. "Presented to the faculty of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo." "In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree [of] Master of Arts in History." "December 2009." Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-59).

This thesis presents the magnetic fields of the COMPASS tokamak and work done during the COMPASS reinstallation in the Czech Republic. The geometry, vacuum magnetic fields and Power Supplies for the poloidal field coils circuits are described in the technical part of the thesis. The design of Power Supplies filters and improvements in the controller algorithm are also introduced. The MHD equilibrium reconstruction code EFIT++ and implementation of the induced currents model are described in the physical part of the thesis. The EFIT++ code was adapted for COMPASS. The utilization of the EFIT++ code for the COMPASS operation is shown. The global power balance in the non-stationary phases of the tokamak discharge is explained and examples are shown. The attached articles describe Power Supplies and tokamak feedback system developed for the COMPASS plasma control. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

International Relations theory has paid bare attention to the dynamics of results of crisis between powers operating in different regions. Existing literature shows that when a power is predominant in a region, major war is less likely to take place in that specific region. However, it is not clear whether the rule of predominant stability applies to situations where a major crisis arises between a local power and a geographically distant power. This project argues that two variables, Local Distribution of Power and Dyadic interregional Distribution of Power, determine the Result of Major interregional Crisis (war onset or peaceful resolution). Local Distribution of Power refers to distribution of power among local players and takes on two values: preponderance and non-preponderance. Dyadic interregional Distribution of Power refers to the power balance between the local power and the geographically outside power that confront each other in a major interregional crisis. It takes on three values: outside superiority, local-outside balance and local superiority. A large N analysis is used to test the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable. And three longitudinal case studies are used to reveal the causal mechanism between the Dyadic interregional Distribution of Power and the Result of Major interregional Crisis. It is observed that when a major interregional crisis breaks out, a predominant local power distribution and power superiority of the outside power is more likely to end up in war, while a predominant local power distribution and a balanced dyadic interregional power distribution is more likely to lead to peaceful resolution of the crisis. In the former case, the complacent outside power tend to refuse to make concessions, while the local power, dominated by determination, opportunism and perceptions of local advantage, tends to opt for war. Other local players are also motivated to rely on the outside power to challenge the local power, which might entangle the outside power into war. In the latter case, the outside power, given its disadvantage of locality, tend to be cautious and refuse to be entangled by third parties into conflict, while the local power, being confident and aware of the high cost of a war, tend to be assertive but cautious, which contributes to peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Both the solar photovoltaic (PV) installation and electric vehicles (EVs) deployment are increasing significantly in Sweden. With the large-scale integration of PV and EVs, problems such as the voltage deviations and overloading of components can arise, since the existing distribution grids are not designed to host the large shares of new EV loads and the intermittent PV power feed-in. This thesis investigates a C2V2C (i.e., Community to EV to Community) energy flow concept and evaluates how it can improve the power balance performances in communities with both PV and EV integrated in Sweden. Community refers to a group of buildings (i.e., two or more) connected within the same microgrid. It aims to develop a C2V2C model, which utilizes smart charging of electric vehicles to deliver electricity between different communities, for improving the performances at multiple-community-level. A coordinated control of EV smart charging is developed using the genetic algorithm, and its performance is compared with an existing individual control. Two control strategies are considered: (i) minimizing the peak energy exchanges with the grid and (ii) minimizing the electricity costs. Case studies are conducted considering a residential community and workplace community, as well as one EV commuting between them. The study results show that the advanced control achieves a cost reduction of up to 280 % in a summer week compared to the individual control. In a winter week, a performance improvement of up to 13 % can be achieved using advanced control. The advanced control can also reduce the energy exchange peaks with the power grid of the multiple communities. This study has proven the effectiveness of the C2V2C model in enhancing the local power balance at multiple-community-level. It will enhance the resilience and grid-friendliness of building communities, thus paving way for the large PV and EV penetration in the future.

The U.S. has enjoyed global hegemonic power for over 70 years and even more so after the fall of the Soviet Union. However, some political scientists argue that it is descending and the evidence lies in the increasing power of China. An imbalance of power in the international structure has the ability to result in different outcomes. The realist theory suggests that a conflict between the U.S. and China is unavoidable, the liberal theory suggests that the economic dependency between the two makes conflict less possible, while the constructivist theory suggests that the outcome depends on the reaction of the leaders and social change. This study asks what the reaction of the President of the U.S. is to the rise of China to find out the result of this hegemonic power imbalance. By using discourse analysis, this study has analyzed the remarks of President Trump from the period of January 2017 to November 2017 in search of his reaction to the rise of China. The results of this study show that President Trump divides the world in two parts making the U.S. the protagonist and the rest of the world, including China, the antagonist in his discourse as his reaction. Due to this reaction, Trump takes nationalistic and protectionist measures against China.

Over the last decades there have been a shift in the power balance between the transnational corporation and the state. This shift is due to the transnational corporation’s power has increased. Therefore, this thesis will examine the impact of the power balance between the state and the transnational corporation on the enforcement of law concerning human right abuses by transnational corporations. It will focus primary on the state’s possibility to enforce its international human rights obligations. In order to find out the impact the power balance has on the enforcement, I will discuss different challenges that could stand in the way for the state due to the power of the transnational corporation or that the state is powerless over the transnational corporation. The result is that the state only has a small possibility of enforcing human rights regulation on the transnational corporation.  The reason for this is because the state is relying on the economic opportunities from the transnational corporation and the system is constructed in a manner which made the state powerless in relation to the transnational corporation. The result was therefore that the state has difficulties in enforcing the law concerning human right abuses by transnational corporations. After this conclusion it is quite clear that the power balance between the state and the transnational corporation plays a crucial role in the enforcement of the law concerning human rights abuses by transnational corporations. However, it is possible to make changes in the system so that the power balance between the state and the transnational corporation do not have the same negative effect on human rights and therefore strengthening the protection of human rights.

This is a master thesis performed on behalf of WSP, aiming to investigate scenarios for future energy balances in bidding zone 3 in Sweden during year 2040, based on different production alternatives and consumption scenarios. This report aims to highlight the challenges of transitioning to a more electrified energy system where a greater proportion of renewable sources, mainly from hydro, wind, solar and bioenergy, are integrated into the energy system. Increasing the share of weather-dependent electricity production, such as solar- and wind power, set higher standard on the ability to maintain system balance and guaranteeing sufficient power when consumption is high. Higher consumption will be caused by increased electrification of different sectors, and urbanization, which will be necessary in order to achieve climate goals. Production from other power sources, import of electricity from other bidding zones, and flexibility will have to be considered when the demand for electricity cannot be met by solely the production that takes place in bidding zone 3. In this study, EXCEL is used to build a model that calculates future energy balances and presents the extent that future imports of electricity and flexibility, that will be needed to supply enough electricity to bidding zone 3 in the year 2040. With four different production alternatives and three consumption scenarios, 12 different cases of future energy balances are presented.

Two neutral beam injectors (NBIs) were installed on the COMPASS tokamak as a main upgrade after its move from the UK to Prague. The thesis deals with general experimental specifications of additionally heated plasmas by the NBI under the wide range of conditions on the COMPASS tokamak. The geometrical parameters of the beams are determined from the spectro- scopic measurements. Consequently, the NBI power passing through the narrow duct connecting NBI and tokamak chamber is investigated. The passing fraction of the NBI power is confirmed by the power balance analysis, which provides information about the delivered power into the plasma based on the plasma parameters. Once the delivered power is well known a description of beams interaction with plasma via global parameters such as the plasma temperatures, the plasma density, the energy confinement time and neutron yield is given. It is shown, that the NBIs heat mostly ions, which can reach ∼ 1 keV in the plasma core. Moreover, the impact of the fast ions presence on the commonly observed MHD activities, the sawtooth instability and the edge localized modes (ELMs), is discussed and compared with results from other tokamaks. The sawtooth period is prolonged by the influence of the NBI from 2 ms up to 4.5 ms. The knowledge of the NBI passing power into...

Electric vehicles, which have both energy storage capability and mobility capability, can provide a new solution for electricity sharing between different building communities (i.e., a group of buildings connected with a microgrid). This comes to the community-to-community (C2C) energy sharing network. The C2C energy sharing networks have the potential to not only minimize the effects of electric vehicle integration into the energy grid, but also improve the electricity grid efficiency as a whole. In this thesis, a coordinated smart charging method of electric vehicles (EVs) is proposed for the C2C model. The proposed method considers the power regulation needs in both the present parking community and the next destination community. Then, based on the needs of both communities, the control method will decide the optimal amount of electricity that can be delivered by EV, so that the energy performances in both communities can be the best. The developed coordinated control has been compared with a base case (without any smart charging) and an uncoordinated control case under two control strategies: minimizing the peak energy exchanges with the grid and maximizing the renewable self-utilization. The genetic algorithm tools in MATLAB software are used for the optimization of the model. Meanwhile, to test the robustness of this C2C model, different combinations of building communities have been studied, namely residential-workplace, residential-university, and residential-workshop communities. The case study reveals that the C2C model is effective in improving energy performance under both control strategies. Peak reduction control strategies work most effectively for smaller systems with lower electricity demand and production. With C2C energy sharing, the annual mean peak reduction ranged from 39 % at the smallest community and 20 % at the largest community. Self-consumption maximization strategies work best for systems with a larger surplus of electricity production. With C2C energy sharing, the annual self-consumption increase ranged from 50 % at the community with the largest production surplus, to 7 % at the community with the smallest production surplus. The residential-workshop community studied in this thesis benefited the most from C2C charging control due to its production surplus and the relatively low electricity demands of the communities.