Most studies of emerging Swedish parties and politics have mainly focused on the Swedish Social Democrats and their struggle for democracy and political power, most as a prelude  to the so called ”Swedish Model”. Competing parties have received attention from historians on the national level, but their local origin remains to large extent an open field. The aim of this study is to investigate how local political factors shaped the emerging liberal party organizations in two small Swedish towns. By a case-oriented comparison two towns are contrasted, Skövde in Skaraborg county and Filipstad in Värmland. This thesis suggests that the distinction between national politics and municipal government, based on the interests of economic elites, was transformed during the period 1880-1920. During this period local elections and local government became increasingly sites for political struggle between different parties, with new agendas. With a framework that considered parties in light of their functions rather than organizational types and theoretical concepts borrowed from the sociology of social movements, the thesis main results suggest that political mobilization and liberal party-formation was depending on the local political traditions. The theoretical framework made it possible to pinpoint both similarities and differences between the cases. The results of the study indicate that the historical tradition is central to parties to emerge and flourish. This suggests that it is more meaningful to focus attention on local and regional processes to understand the historical development than has previously been done. / De svenska partiernas historia är relativt väl känd på nationell nivå, men deras lokala ursprung är mindre utforskat och inte minst gäller det borgerliga partier. I den här avhandlingen undersöks hur lokalpolitiska faktorer formade de framväxande frisinnade, eller liberala, lokalorganisationerna i Filipstad och Skövde. Avhandlingen visar att politisk mobilisering och politisk organisering i städerna i hög grad formades av lokala och regionala politiska traditioner. Den visar också att kommunerna var politiserade långt före att de nationella partierna tog hand om valen och kommunala frågor.   Studien visar att det fanns en kontinuitet mellan äldre lokala partier och de lokalavdelningar av nationella partier som etablerades efter sekelskiftet 1900. Det var en kontinuitet som återspeglades såväl ideologiskt som organisatoriskt.     Avhandlingens resultat pekar på att det är mer meningsfullt att fokusera uppmärksamheten mot lokala och regionala politiseringsprocesser för att förstå den generella politiska utvecklingen i Sveriges historia än vad som tidigare har gjorts. Anders Forsell är doktorand i historia inom Forskarskolan i regionalt samhällsbyggande. Det här är hans doktorsavhandling.

The book summarises the results of the DFG-funded coordinated priority programme \"Fast Algorithms for Material Specific Process Chain Design and Analysis in Metal Forming\". In the first part it includes articles which provide a general introduction and overview on the field of process modeling in metal forming. The second part collates the reports from all projects included in the priority programme.

No cenário atual, nota-se a constante busca das organizações para que se mantenham competitivas no mercado. Para apoiar a organização, tanto no nível operacional quanto no nível não operacional, a Tecnologia da Informação (TI) é usada. Com intuito de apoiar as estratégias, as organizações usam a Gestão de Processos de Negócio (BPM Business Process Management) para identificar, definir e evoluir seus processos de negócio. Usando estes recursos, o framework Strategic Alignment with BPM (StrAli-BPM) foi desenvolvido para contribuir na melhoria do alinhamento entre os níveis estratégicos e operacionais da organização, por meio do tratamento dos requisitos não funcionais nos processos de negócio. Este projeto de pesquisa propõe estender o framework StrAli-BPM com a criação de um novo componente para fazer a extração de informações de metas estratégicas organizacionais a serem usadas na modelagem de requisitos não funcionais de processos de negócio. Para auxiliar na melhoria do alinhamento estratégico, a versão antiga do framework StrAli-BPM usa os Acordos em Nível de Negócio (BLA Business Level Agreement) para tratar os requisitos não funcionais. Além de tratar os requisitos não funcionais por meio de BLAs, a versão antiga do framework StrAli-BPM define que o BLA deve dar origem aos Acordos em Nível de Serviço (SLA Service Level Agreement), ou seja, os SLAs devem ser derivados dos BLAs. No entanto, esta versão antiga não define quais informações das metas estratégicas organizacionais devem ser usadas para compor BLAs. O novo componente proposto neste projeto de pesquisa, chamado Indicador Chave de Desempenho para Acordo em Nível de Negócio (KPI2BLA Key Performance Indicator to Business Level Agreements), se propõe a identificar quais informações relevantes das metas estratégicas organizacionais devem ser usadas na criação dos requisitos não funcionais, que, posteriormente, devem servir para criação de BLAs / In the present scenario, there is the constant search for organizations to remain competitive in the market. And to support the organization, both at the operational level and in the non-operational level, the Information Technology (IT) is used. In order to support the strategies organizations use the Business Process Management (BPM) to identify, define and evolve their business processes. Using these features, the framework Strategic Alignment with BPM (StrAli-BPM) is designed to contribute to improving the strategic alignment between the strategic and operational levels of the organization, through the treatment of non-functional requirements in the business process. This research project proposes to extend the StrAli-BPM framework with the creation of a new component to the extraction of organizational strategic goals information to be used in the modeling of non-functional requirements of business processes. To assist in improving the strategic alignment, the old version of StrAli-BPM framework uses the Agreements in Business Level (BLA) to treat the non-functional requirements. In addition to treating non-functional requirements through BLAs, the old version of StrAli-BPM framework defines the BLA should lead to agreements on service level (SLA), its mean, the SLAs should be derived from BLAs. However, this old version does not define what information the organizational strategic goals should be used to compose BLAs. The new component proposed in this research project, called Key Performance Indicator to Agreement on Business Level (KPI2BLA) aims to identify relevant information from organizational strategic goals should be used in the creation of requirements nonfunctional, which later must be used to create BLAs

Cette thèse aborde le problème de l'estimation de la probabilité de défaillance d'un système à partir de simulations informatiques. Lorsqu'on dispose seulement d'un modèle du système coûteux à simuler, le budget de simulations est généralement très limité, ce qui est incompatible avec l’utilisation de méthodes Monte Carlo classiques. En fait, l’estimation d’une petite probabilité de défaillance à partir de simulations très coûteuses, comme on peut rencontrer dans certains problèmes industriels complexes, est un sujet particulièrement difficile. Une approche classique consiste à remplacer le modèle coûteux à simuler par un modèle de substitution nécessitant de faibles ressources informatiques. A partir d’un tel modèle de substitution, deux opérations peuvent être réalisées. La première opération consiste à choisir des simulations, en nombre aussi petit que possible, pour apprendre les régions de l’espace des paramètres du système qui construire de bons estimateurs de la probabilité de défaillance. Cette thèse propose deux contributions. Premièrement, nous proposons des stratégies de type SUR (Stepwise Uncertainty Reduction) à partir d’une formulation bayésienne du problème d’estimation d’une probabilité de défaillance. Deuxièmement, nous proposons un nouvel algorithme, appelé Bayesian Subset Simulation, qui prend le meilleur de l’algorithme Subset Simulation et des approches séquentielles bayésiennes utilisant la modélisation du système par processus gaussiens. Ces nouveaux algorithmes sont illustrés par des résultats numériques concernant plusieurs exemples de référence dans la littérature de la fiabilité. Les méthodes proposées montrent de bonnes performances par rapport aux méthodes concurrentes. / This thesis deals with the problem of estimating the probability of failure of a system from computer simulations. When only an expensive-to-simulate model of the system is available, the budget for simulations is usually severely limited, which is incompatible with the use of classical Monte Carlo methods. In fact, estimating a small probability of failure with very few simulations, as required in some complex industrial problems, is a particularly difficult topic. A classical approach consists in replacing the expensive-to-simulate model with a surrogate model that will use little computer resources. Using such a surrogate model, two operations can be achieved. The first operation consists in choosing a number, as small as possible, of simulations to learn the regions in the parameter space of the system that will lead to a failure of the system. The second operation is about constructing good estimators of the probability of failure. The contributions in this thesis consist of two parts. First, we derive SUR (stepwise uncertainty reduction) strategies from a Bayesian-theoretic formulation of the problem of estimating a probability of failure. Second, we propose a new algorithm, called Bayesian Subset Simulation, that takes the best from the Subset Simulation algorithm and from sequential Bayesian methods based on Gaussian process modeling. The new strategies are supported by numerical results from several benchmark examples in reliability analysis. The methods proposed show good performances compared to methods of the literature.

No cenário atual, nota-se a constante busca das organizações para que se mantenham competitivas no mercado. Para apoiar a organização, tanto no nível operacional quanto no nível não operacional, a Tecnologia da Informação (TI) é usada. Com intuito de apoiar as estratégias, as organizações usam a Gestão de Processos de Negócio (BPM Business Process Management) para identificar, definir e evoluir seus processos de negócio. Usando estes recursos, o framework Strategic Alignment with BPM (StrAli-BPM) foi desenvolvido para contribuir na melhoria do alinhamento entre os níveis estratégicos e operacionais da organização, por meio do tratamento dos requisitos não funcionais nos processos de negócio. Este projeto de pesquisa propõe estender o framework StrAli-BPM com a criação de um novo componente para fazer a extração de informações de metas estratégicas organizacionais a serem usadas na modelagem de requisitos não funcionais de processos de negócio. Para auxiliar na melhoria do alinhamento estratégico, a versão antiga do framework StrAli-BPM usa os Acordos em Nível de Negócio (BLA Business Level Agreement) para tratar os requisitos não funcionais. Além de tratar os requisitos não funcionais por meio de BLAs, a versão antiga do framework StrAli-BPM define que o BLA deve dar origem aos Acordos em Nível de Serviço (SLA Service Level Agreement), ou seja, os SLAs devem ser derivados dos BLAs. No entanto, esta versão antiga não define quais informações das metas estratégicas organizacionais devem ser usadas para compor BLAs. O novo componente proposto neste projeto de pesquisa, chamado Indicador Chave de Desempenho para Acordo em Nível de Negócio (KPI2BLA Key Performance Indicator to Business Level Agreements), se propõe a identificar quais informações relevantes das metas estratégicas organizacionais devem ser usadas na criação dos requisitos não funcionais, que, posteriormente, devem servir para criação de BLAs / In the present scenario, there is the constant search for organizations to remain competitive in the market. And to support the organization, both at the operational level and in the non-operational level, the Information Technology (IT) is used. In order to support the strategies organizations use the Business Process Management (BPM) to identify, define and evolve their business processes. Using these features, the framework Strategic Alignment with BPM (StrAli-BPM) is designed to contribute to improving the strategic alignment between the strategic and operational levels of the organization, through the treatment of non-functional requirements in the business process. This research project proposes to extend the StrAli-BPM framework with the creation of a new component to the extraction of organizational strategic goals information to be used in the modeling of non-functional requirements of business processes. To assist in improving the strategic alignment, the old version of StrAli-BPM framework uses the Agreements in Business Level (BLA) to treat the non-functional requirements. In addition to treating non-functional requirements through BLAs, the old version of StrAli-BPM framework defines the BLA should lead to agreements on service level (SLA), its mean, the SLAs should be derived from BLAs. However, this old version does not define what information the organizational strategic goals should be used to compose BLAs. The new component proposed in this research project, called Key Performance Indicator to Agreement on Business Level (KPI2BLA) aims to identify relevant information from organizational strategic goals should be used in the creation of requirements nonfunctional, which later must be used to create BLAs

The mental health of healthcare workers during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was a serious concern for healthcare professionals and the mental health field. One area in West Africa where healthcare workers played a significant role during the Ebola outbreak of 2014 and 2015 was Sierra Leone. This qualitative research study was designed to explore the perceptions of Sierra Leoneans healthcare workers' mental health, how they coped, and treatment they received while providing care for Ebola virus patients. This study, with a phenomenological research approach, used purposeful sampling to recruit 10 healthcare workers to participate in semi structured, open-ended interviews. The stress theory model and a hermeneutic phenomenology conceptual framework were used as a lens of analysis to understand the views of healthcare workers who worked directly with Ebola virus patients in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The results of the analysis of the collected data produced 9 major themes. The major themes suggest that healthcare workers experienced mental health symptoms such as depression and anxiety, personal thoughts and feelings such as insomnia, and suicidal ideation. Strategies for coping included using the Bible; and the detrimental impact included facing discrimination after the Ebola outbreak. Most of the healthcare workers blame the government for not providing adequate coping resources, which led to the personal consequence of hopelessness. This study may benefit mental health professionals working in an epidemic. Additionally, this study may contribute to social change by providing a deeper understanding of the mental health system and healthcare workers in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Political blogs have emerged as a new journalistic format that has gained influence on the political discourse in the United States. Previous research has shown that this influence stems mainly from attention given to blogs by traditional news media. Based on the concepts of intermedia agenda setting and agenda building, this study explored the source interaction between 10 elite traditional news media and 10 political filter blogs during the 2006 Congressional Midterm Elections. An analysis of 2587 sources used in the election context found that traditional news media frequently cited blogs in their election coverage, but that the source attributions to the blogs were vague. Blogs, on the other hand, heavily cited traditional news media, but the analysis revealed that conservative blogs cited elite traditional news media less than did liberal blogs. Conservative blogs relied more on conservative media outlets in their election coverage. A case study of the dominant election topic, the Mark Foley scandal, showed that the daily interaction between the two media formats was driven by the use of breaking news elements as well as controversial opinions. The findings of this study show that the blog agenda is strongly influenced by traditional news media sources and that blogs at the same time have become part of the routine newsgathering process of traditional news media journalists. However, the findings also raise questions about changes in the standard journalistic research and attribution procedures as both media formats often rely on each other as sources rather than on original reporting.

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Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka om mental trötthet leder till ökad diskriminering av överviktiga. Genom att använda en dual process-modell, inleddes undersökningen med en bedömningsuppgift som deltagarna fick utföra i labbmiljö. Vid ett senare tillfälle fick var och en ombesörja att de genomförde ett implicit associationstest (IAT), följt av en explicit graderingsfråga, där deltagarna uppskattade en eventuell skillnad i normal- kontra överviktigas mentala prestation. Syftet med dessa tester var att ta reda på om diskriminering mot överviktiga existerade inom gruppen i sin helhet på såväl implicit som explicit nivå. Hälften av gruppen hade genomgått en kraftig mental trötthetsbelastning före bedömningsuppgiften, med avsikt att se om bias mot överviktiga ökade vid mental trötthet. Resultatet för alla testningar var för sig visade på diskriminering mot överviktiga, men inte att det förekom någon högre diskriminering vid mental trötthet. Möjliga förbättringar i undersökningsdesignen diskuteras, liksom praktiska implikationer. / This study examined whether mental fatigue leads to increased discrimination against the obese. Using a dual process model, participants took part in an assessment task in a controlled laboratory setting, and thereafter completed an implicit association test (IAT), followed by an explicit question, where participants were asked to grade variances in the mental capacity between normal- versus overweight individuals. The intention was to explore possible obesity discrimination. Half of the group previously completed a strenuous memory task, with the purpose of achieving severe fatigue, in order to explore whether the bias increases with mental fatigue. Although the results revealed discrimination in all tests, there was no evidence of increased discrimination in mental fatigue. Possible improvement in the research design is discussed, as well as practical implications.

Business process models are abstractions of concrete operational procedures that occur in the daily business of organizations. To cope with the complexity of these models, business process model abstraction has been introduced recently. Its goal is to derive from a detailed process model several abstract models that provide a high-level understanding of the process. While techniques for constructing abstract models are reported in the literature, little is known about the relationships between process instances and abstract models. In this paper we show how the state of an abstract activity can be calculated from the states of related, detailed process activities as they happen. The approach uses activity state propagation. With state uniqueness and state transition correctness we introduce formal properties that improve the understanding of state propagation. Algorithms to check these properties are devised. Finally, we use behavioral profiles to identify and classify behavioral inconsistencies in abstract process models that might occur, once activity state propagation is used. / Geschäftsprozessmodelle sind Abstraktionen konkreter operationaler Vorgänge, die im täglichen Geschäftsablauf von Organisationen auftreten. Um die Komplexität solcher Modelle zu bewältigen, wurde die Geschäftsprozessmodelabstraktion eingeführt. Ziel ist dabei, von einem detaillierten Prozessmodel mehrere abstrakte Modelle abzuleiten, um so auf einer höheren Abstraktionsstufe ein Verständnis für den Prozess zu bekommen. Während viel in der Literatur über Techniken zur Konstruktion abstrakter Modelle berichtet wurde, ist wenig über die Beziehungen zwischen Prozessinstanzen und abstrakten Modellen bekannt. In dieser Arbeit zeigen wir, wie der Zustand einer abstrakten Aktivität aus den Zuständen ihrer entsprechenden detaillierten Prozessaktivitäten zur Laufzeit berechnet werden kann. Der Ansatz basiert dabei auf der Übertragung des Aktivitätszustands. Mit der Zustandseindeutigkeit und der Korrektheit der Zustandstransitionen führen wir formale Kriterien ein, die das Verständnis der Zustandsübertragung erleichtern. Zudem sind Algorithmen entwickelt worden, um diese Kriterien zu überprüfen. Außerdem nutzen wir Verhaltensprofile um Inkonsistenzen im Verhalten abstrakter Prozessmodelle zu identifizieren und zu klassifizieren, die auftreten können, wenn die Aktivitätszustände gemäß den Regeln abgebildet werden.