Rational Krylov methods for model order reduction are studied. A dual rational Arnoldi method for model order reduction and a rational Krylov method for model order reduction and eigenvalue computation have been implemented. It is shown how to deflate redundant or unwanted vectors and how to obtain moment matching. Both methods are designed for generalised state space systems---the former for multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems from finite element discretisations and the latter for single-input-single-output (SISO) systems---and applied to relevant test problems. The dual rational Arnoldi method is designed for generating real reduced order systems using complex shift points and stabilising a system that happens to be unstable. For the rational Krylov method, a forward error in the recursion and an estimate of the error in the approximation of the transfer function are studie. A stability analysis of a heat exchanger model is made. The model is a nonlinear partial differential-algebraic equation (PDAE). Its well-posedness and how to prescribe boundary data is investigated through analysis of a linearised PDAE and numerical experiments on a nonlinear DAE. Four methods for generating reduced order models are applied to the nonlinear DAE and compared: a Krylov based moment matching method, balanced truncation, Galerkin projection onto a proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) basis, and a lumping method. / QC 20101013

The purpose of this paper is to study how people without home experience social services and how they experience their space of action when they meet social services. In order to answer these questions, a qualitative approach has been used. The empirical material consists of five interviews with people who have contact with social services because they are homeless. To support my analysis of the space of action for the persons being interviewed, I’ve used two theoretical perspectives, power analysis by Michel Foucault and Rational Choice. The result shows that the interviewed often feel insulted when they meet social services, that they have little or no involvement and that their space of action is small. According to Michel Foucault, the normalising power of the social services oppresses the clients and the clients in their turn are doing different forms of resistance. According to Rational Choice, interaction between people is based on power, exchange and interest. From the clients point of view the only thing they can exchange to get a place to live is to be submissive. Therefore they don’t have many resources to widen their space of action.

<p>Rational Krylov methods for model order reduction are studied. A dual rational Arnoldi method for model order reduction and a rational Krylov method for model order reduction and eigenvalue computation have been implemented. It is shown how to deflate redundant or unwanted vectors and how to obtain moment matching. Both methods are designed for generalised state space systems---the former for multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems from finite element discretisations and the latter for single-input-single-output (SISO) systems---and applied to relevant test problems. The dual rational Arnoldi method is designed for generating real reduced order systems using complex shift points and stabilising a system that happens to be unstable. For the rational Krylov method, a forward error in the recursion and an estimate of the error in the approximation of the transfer function are studie.</p><p>A stability analysis of a heat exchanger model is made. The model is a nonlinear partial differential-algebraic equation (PDAE). Its well-posedness and how to prescribe boundary data is investigated through analysis of a linearised PDAE and numerical experiments on a nonlinear DAE. Four methods for generating reduced order models are applied to the nonlinear DAE and compared: a Krylov based moment matching method, balanced truncation, Galerkin projection onto a proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) basis, and a lumping method.</p>

In 1997 and 2002 the Østfold Hospital Trust conducted patient satisfaction surveys. This study presented the results of the 2002 survey and compares them with the 1997 results. This is done to ascertain if there are any changes with regards to the dimensions the hospital scored poorly on in 1997. The purpose of this study is to find out if the patient satisfaction survey conducted at the Østfold Hospital Trust in 1997 was a serious attempt to improve the quality of the health care provided or only a symbolic act. The concepts of innovation, rational choice and institutional theory were used as spectacles to analyse how the Østfold Hospital Trust acted on the results of the 1997 patient satisfaction survey. The choice of study design is not an "either / or" situation between the quantitative and qualitative approach, since both methods can strengthen each other. This study has therefore employed a form of methodological triangulation. The finding of the study showed that the Østfold Hospital Trust can be termed as innovative, when they implemented the patient satisfaction survey in 1997. This because there was no coercive forces from the hospital owners to implement such surveys. There were only signals in the form of strategy documents. In spite of the hospitals innovative action in implementing the non-mandatory survey in 1997, the hospital leadership did not use the results to improve quality. Based on the findings, the study can conclude that the implementation of the patient satisfaction survey in 1997 was more symbolic, rather than a quality improvement act. Looking further than 1997, it’s important to remark that the hospital leadership resolved a number measures to improve quality, based on the 2002 patient survey. At the time of writing the issue of patient feedback as a quality improvement tool is high on the agenda at the Østfold Hospital Trust. The development point in the direction of a paradigm shift / I 1997 og 2002 gjennomførte Sykehuset Østfold to pasienttilfredshetsundersøkelser. Dette studiet har presentert resultatet av undersøkelsen fra 2002 og sammenlignet det med resultatet fra 1997. Dette for å se om det er forskjell på dimensjonene sykehuset har scoret dårlig på i de to forskjellige undersøkelsene. Hensikten med studiet er å undersøke om pasienttilfredshetsundersøkelsen gjennomført ved Sykehuset Østfold i 1997 var et kvalitetsforbedringstiltak eller en symbolskhandling. Fra organisasjonsteori ble begreper som innovasjon, ”Rational Choice” og institusjonsteori brukt som briller for å analysere det som har skjedd. Valg av metode var ikke en enten eller situasjon i forhold til kvantitativ eller kvalitativ metode, siden metodene kan styrke hverandre. Studiet legger vekt på metodetriangulering Funnene fra studiet har vist at Sykehuset Østfold kan betegnes som en innovativ organisasjon da organisasjonen gjennomførte undersøkelsen i 1997. Dette fordi det ikke var krav fra omgivelsene for å gjennomføre undersøkelsen, kun signaler i form av strategidokumenter fra sentrale myndigheter. Selv om organisasjonen er innovativ hva gjelder initiering og implementering av pasienttilfredshetsundersøkelsen, har sykehusledelsen ikke brukt resultatet til kvalitetsforbedringstiltak. Ut fra funnene kan studiet konkludere med at gjennomføringen av pasienttilfredsundersøkelsen i 1997 var mer preget av en symbolskhandling enn et kvalitetsforbedringstiltak.Ser en utover 1997 er det viktig å nevne at sykehusledelsen har vedtatt flere kvalitetsforbedringstiltak basert på undersøkelsen fra 2002. Akkurat nå er pasienttilfredshetsundersøkelser som kvalitetsforbedringstiltak satt høyt på dagsorden av sykehusledelsen. Utviklingen kan betegnes som et paradigmeskifte / <p>ISBN 91-7997-135-0</p>

Description Logics (DLs) are increasingly successful knowledge representation formalisms, useful for any application requiring implicit derivation of knowledge from explicitly known facts. A prominent example domain benefiting from these formalisms since the 1990s is the biomedical field. This area contributes an intangible amount of facts and relations between low- and high-level concepts such as the constitution of cells or interactions between studied illnesses, their symptoms and remedies. DLs are well-suited for handling large formal knowledge repositories and computing inferable coherences throughout such data, relying on their well-founded first-order semantics. In particular, DLs of reduced expressivity have proven a tremendous worth for handling large ontologies due to their computational tractability. In spite of these assets and prevailing influence, classical DLs are not well-suited to adequately model some of the most intuitive forms of reasoning. The capability for abductive reasoning is imperative for any field subjected to incomplete knowledge and the motivation to complete it with typical expectations. When such default expectations receive contradicting evidence, an abductive formalism is able to retract previously drawn, conflicting conclusions. Common examples often include human reasoning or a default characterisation of properties in biology, such as the normal arrangement of organs in the human body. Treatment of such defeasible knowledge must be aware of exceptional cases - such as a human suffering from the congenital condition situs inversus - and therefore accommodate for the ability to retract defeasible conclusions in a non-monotonic fashion. Specifically tailored non-monotonic semantics have been continuously investigated for DLs in the past 30 years. A particularly promising approach, is rooted in the research by Kraus, Lehmann and Magidor for preferential (propositional) logics and Rational Closure (RC). The biggest advantages of RC are its well-behaviour in terms of formal inference postulates and the efficient computation of defeasible entailments, by relying on a tractable reduction to classical reasoning in the underlying formalism. A major contribution of this work is a reorganisation of the core of this reasoning method, into an abstract framework formalisation. This framework is then easily instantiated to provide the reduction method for RC in DLs as well as more advanced closure operators, such as Relevant or Lexicographic Closure. In spite of their practical aptitude, we discovered that all reduction approaches fail to provide any defeasible conclusions for elements that only occur in the relational neighbourhood of the inspected elements. More explicitly, a distinguishing advantage of DLs over propositional logic is the capability to model binary relations and describe aspects of a related concept in terms of existential and universal quantification. Previous approaches to RC (and more advanced closures) are not able to derive typical behaviour for the concepts that occur within such quantification. The main contribution of this work is to introduce stronger semantics for the lightweight DL EL_bot with the capability to infer the expected entailments, while maintaining a close relation to the reduction method. We achieve this by introducing a new kind of first-order interpretation that allocates defeasible information on its elements directly. This allows to compare the level of typicality of such interpretations in terms of defeasible information satisfied at elements in the relational neighbourhood. A typicality preference relation then provides the means to single out those sets of models with maximal typicality. Based on this notion, we introduce two types of nested rational semantics, a sceptical and a selective variant, each capable of deriving the missing entailments under RC for arbitrarily nested quantified concepts. As a proof of versatility for our new semantics, we also show that the stronger Relevant Closure, can be imbued with typical information in the successors of binary relations. An extensive investigation into the computational complexity of our new semantics shows that the sceptical nested variant comes at considerable additional effort, while the selective semantics reside in the complexity of classical reasoning in the underlying DL, which remains tractable in our case.

A set of forecast survey data is analyzed in this paper for properties consistent with the Rational Expectations Hypothesis. Standard statistical tests for "rational expectations" are employed utilizing consensus forecasts generated by an interest rate newsletter. Four selected variables (Fed Funds rate, M1 rate of growth, rate of change in CPI, and real GNP growth rate) are analyzed over multiple time horizons. Results tend to reject "rational expectations" for most variables and time horizons. Forecasts are more likely to meet "rationality" criteria the shorter the forecast horizon, with the notable exception of forecasts of real GNP growth.

Bakgrund och problem  Det har blivit mer vanligt att räkna på de mänskliga resurserna i organisationer, vilket har lett till att HR-avdelningen har fått en mer strategisk roll och tagit avstånd från att bara varit en administrativ stödfunktion. Människor är de som organiserar beslutsfattning och agerar utefter beslutsproblem varav det behövs kompetent personal, regler och struktur. Beslutsprocesserna genomgås ofta med en vision av vad önskat resultat ska bli vilket ofta går i enlighet med organisationens mål. Personalnyckeltal används av alla organisationer i någon mening. Vanligtvis i ett jämförande syfte från tidigare år, till andra konkurrenter eller för att se trender. De bidrar till att föra organisationen framåt mot de uppsatta målen. Det mänskliga kapitalet är svårare att räkna på än andra immateriella tillgångar, men att ändå kunna använda sig av personalnyckeltalen i beslutsprocesser bör därför kunna resultera i en mer tydlig process. Syfte och metod  Syftet med studien var att utöka den teoretiska och praktiska kunskapen om betydelsen personalnyckeltal har i organisationers beslutsprocesser. För att undersöka detta tillämpades därför en kvalitativ metod där fem semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med intervjupersoner från både privat och offentlig sektor.  Resultat och slutsats Studien resulterade i en ökad teoretisk och praktisk kunskap då personalnyckeltal har en betydelse för organisationers beslutsprocesser i de faser där de agerar som underlag. Det är ytterst viktigt att använda sig av siffror som personalnyckeltal när en organisation identifierar ett problem, samlar in information till beslut och sedan utvärderar den process som genomförts och det beslut som implementerats. / Background and problem Accounting for the human resources within organizations have become more common which have led to a more strategic role for the HR-department and a departure from its original role as a supportive administrative part of the organization. Humans are the ones who organize decision making and therefore act along the problems of the decision where competent personnel, rules and structure are needed. The decision-making processes are often undergoing with a vision of what the wanted result is which often is in conjunction with the goal of the organization. All organizations have use of key performance indicators in some capacity. It´s commonly used with a comparative purpose in contrast of previous years, comparing key performance indictors to other competitors or to spot trends. They contribute to bring the organization towards its goals. The human capital is harder to account for than other intangible assets, but to be able to use key performance indicators in decision-making processes should therefore result in a more distinct process.  Purpose and method  The purpose of this study was to expand the theoretical and practical knowledge of the significance that key performance indicators have in organizational decision-making processes. A qualitative method was therefore used where five semi structured interviews were conducted with interviewing persons from both the private and public sector. Results and conclusion  This study resulted in an increased theoretical and practical knowledge in that key performance indicators have a significant matter in organizational decision-making processes in those phases where they act as a groundwork. It is of utmost importance to use digits like key performance indicators when an organization identifies a problem, collects information to be used for the decision and later evaluates the previous process and the decision that has been implemented.

The purpose of this study is to examine how people express their beliefs in crystals through the comments section of one of Sweden's largest crystal retailers. The aim of the thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of contemporary religious expressions of crystal users. In total the study material consists of 172 comments collected from the website Ohlamoon.se written between January 2019 and September 2023. The study is conducted using a thematic content analysis and follows an abductive approach. Stark &amp; Finke's Rational Choice Theory (2000) has been employed as the primary theory against which analysis questions are posed, the thesis also utilizes Heelas &amp; Woodhead's (2005) description of The Subjective Turn as a secondary theory against which the results are discussed. The conclusions from the study revealed that crystals are described as possessing positive qualities that in various ways, reinforce, support, or comfort users. In this way crystals can be likened to personal pillars of support that actively contribute to users' lives with their properties and agency. Users form personal relationships and feelings of affection towards the crystals, utilizing their energy and presence in daily life as well as during meditation and rituals to achieve a sense of deeper spiritual states.

Before this study was conducted, there was a research gap in the current field of international relations. The purpose of this study was to examine why the EU has not established a common defence policy and a common defence. In order to address this, a theoretical framework based on realism and liberalism was created. Taken together, this study thus filled that gap and provided new insight on EU’s defence policy. The method that was used to conduct the research was a case study and the material consisted of the Treaty of Lisbon, EU key documents, as well as numerous of theoretical works concerning realism and liberalism. The study is of an explaining nature and the analysis seeks to explain the research question by testing it on the theoretical framework. The study concludes that the theoretical framework is able to explain the research question. Both realism and liberalism contributed with significant insight on why the EU has not established a common defence policy and a common defence. The main result shows that realism answers the research question by pointing out the role that member states play, and that liberalism, in contrast, points at the role EU as a unitary institution plays.

The politics of outer space has in recent years been given attention from political elites and scientist due to increasing usage and reliance on space based assets, and due to increasing numbers of actors trying to utilize the benefits of space. Concerns have been raised if the increasing military usage of space will lead to a future weaponization of space, making some political leaders and scholars claiming the inevitability of space weaponization.  In this thesis I investigate why the United States of America this far has chosen not to weaponize space based on the strategical setting of outer space politics. The research question guiding this thesis reads: What strategic considerations explain the US decision not to weaponize outer space? In order to evaluate the strategic setting and US strategical considerations I apply Game Theory and Non-Formal Rational Choice Theory to highlight what is causing the greatest space faring nation not to weaponize space. I empirically base this study on official space policy documents and one report written by an official commission to asses US national security space management.  Based on the strategic setting of outer space politics and US strategical considerations it is found that the US has not commenced a process leading to the weaponization of space since such development would not increase its national security, but rather in several ways decrease it. I conclude that a process of space weaponization is not likely to be initiated by the US in the current strategical setting.