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For spacecraft development, realizing strong supporting ground segment software is as important as designing the actual hardware component of the spacecraft. This thesis describes the author’s contributions to the ground segment software design and development for nanosatellite space missions at the UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory. Particular emphasis is given to the ground segment software for the CanX-3 and CanX-4/-5 missions. For the CanX-3 mission, several software applications are explored, specifically ground control software for the payload on-board computer and star tracker, and mission planning software. For the CanX-4/-5 mission, its mission monitor and control software, and whole orbit data parser are discussed. For each software application, design considerations and decisions made during the development are explained. Furthermore, detailed discussions on their architectural and graphical user interface design and implementation are presented.

Darbo pavadinimas: UAB „Švyturys-Utenos alus“ marketingo strategija Problema: UAB „Švyturys-Utenos alus“ marketingo strategijos kūrimas Darbo objektas: UAB “Švyturys-Utenos alus” marketingo strategija Darbo tikslas: Sukurti UAB „Švyturys-Utenos alus“ marketingo strategiją Darbo uždaviniai: 1) Atlikti UAB “Švyturys-Utenos alus” veiklos ir finansinių rodiklių analizę 2) Atlikti UAB „Švyturys-Utenos alus“ rinkos segmentavimą 3) Nustatyti UAB „Švyturys-Utenos alus“ tikslinį segmentą 4) Pateikti UAB „Švyturys - Utenos alus“ marketingo strategijas Darbo metodai: 1) mokslinės literatūros analizė, 2) dokumentų analizė, 3) apklausa žodžiu Darbo rezultatai Baigiamojo darbo tikslas pasiektas galutinėje, trečioje darbo dalyje. Darbo eigoje buvo susegmentuota nagrinėjamos kompanijos rinka, remiantis UAB „Švyturys-Utenos alus“ apyvartos analize ir prognoze pasirinktas tikslinis įmonės segmentas, atlikta šio segmento konkurencinė analizė ir pasiūlyta naują prekė, sukurtos konkurencinės, bei marketingo strategijos. Apklausos tyrimo dėka buvo susegmentuota UAB „Švyturys-Utenos alus“ rinka ir nustatytos reikiamos naujo produkto savybės. Darbo struktūra: Darbas susideda iš trijų dalių: pirma dalis – marketingo strategijos teoriniai aspektai, antra dalis – metodologinė ir trečia dalis – marketingo strategijos kūrimas. Sunki šalies ekonominė situacija, naujų konkurentų atsiradimas, neigiamai veikia UAB „Švyturys-Utenos alus“ prekybą. Įmonės pardavimai pradėjo mažėti jau 2008. Padidėjo žmonių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The title of the job – JSC „Švyturys – Utenos alus“ marketing strategy The aim of the job – Create JSC „Švyturys – Utenos alus“ marketing strategy The object of the job – JSC „Švyturys – Utenos alus“ marketing strategy Job tasks: 1) To carry out JSC „Švyturys – Utenos alus“ activity and financial aspects analysis 2) To carry out JSC „Švyturys – Utenos alus“ market segmentation 3) To set target segment of JSC „Švyturys – Utenos alus“ 4) To provide JSC „Švyturys – Utenos alus“ marketing strategies Methods: 1) Analysis of the scientific literature 2) Document analysis 3) Oral survey The aim of the is reached in the final third part. At the final work was carried out the segmentation of the market, selected the target segment of the organization, carried out the competitive analysis. And based by all resarched was offered a new product and designed the marketing strategy for it. During the oral survey was determed the segments of the market and feauteres of new product. The structure of the work. There are three parts in the work: first part – theoretical aspects of the marketing strategy, second part – methodological aspects of the work, third part – creation of marketing strategy. The difficult economic situation in the country, new competitors and another factors impact organization decline of turnover. The company sales decline started in 2008 year. Increased unemployment rate in the country, wages had decreased, people buy only very necessary products and all this... [to full text]

No description available.

No description available.

For spacecraft development, realizing strong supporting ground segment software is as important as designing the actual hardware component of the spacecraft. This thesis describes the author’s contributions to the ground segment software design and development for nanosatellite space missions at the UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory. Particular emphasis is given to the ground segment software for the CanX-3 and CanX-4/-5 missions. For the CanX-3 mission, several software applications are explored, specifically ground control software for the payload on-board computer and star tracker, and mission planning software. For the CanX-4/-5 mission, its mission monitor and control software, and whole orbit data parser are discussed. For each software application, design considerations and decisions made during the development are explained. Furthermore, detailed discussions on their architectural and graphical user interface design and implementation are presented.

Reproductive technology has extended procreative options to infertile, subfertile, unpartnered, and same-sex-partnered individuals, but this technology is sometimes used in circumstances that may be deemed unreasonable or inappropriate by some people. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of five contextual variables—gender, relationship status, age, and sexual orientation of the individual or couple seeking reproductive assistance, as well as the source of gametes—on attitudes toward the procurement of reproductive services. A multiple-segment factorial vignette was administered to a sample of 257 reproductive-aged respondents. Results indicate that ART is generally viewed as an acceptable procedure by reproductive aged individuals, particularly in normative contexts with regard to age and marital status, but differences between single men and single women using ART services were surprising and the effects of sexual orientation were both complex and unexpected. As reproductive norms and medical advances change over time, ethical questions will continue to arise and be discussed by professionals and lay commentators alike. The findings reported here can inform those discussions, while also generating new research to make sense out of the surprising results.

In this thesis a study of discourse segmenting is carried out, which investigates both segment boundaries and segment content. The results are related to discourse theory. We study the questions of how the prosody and the text structure influence subjects' annotations of discourse boundaries and discourse prominence. The hypothesis was that the annotations would be influenced by the discourse type. Two studies were carried out. 1) a study of boundary annotation, 2) a study of prominence annotation. All studies were made on four different discourse types, scripted and spontaneous monologue and scripted and spontaneous dialogue. In addition the annotations were carried out under two different conditions 1) based on transcripts alone and 2) based on transcripts together with access to the speech signal. The results indicate that the boundary annotations were less dependent on the speech signal than the prominence annotations. It seems that subjects have segmented on the basis of the text structure, while prominence to a great extent was annotated on the basis of the prosody. In the case of boundary markings the boundary context in terms of parts of speech differs across speaking styles, which is not the case for the prominences. A separate study of segment intentions was also made, and it was found that the interpretation of a specific intention, questions, seems to be arrived at primarily on the basis of the text structure. However, in some cases also the prosody affects the annotations. The picture that emerges indicates a distribution of labour between text structure and prosody, governed by the principle of economy. In cases where the boundaries were less well definied, as in e.g. spontaneous monologue, the pattern of the prominences was clearer. In cases where the boundaries were more clearly indicated, as in read aloud text, the prominences were less clearly communicated. The findings were interpreted within Grosz and Sidner's (1986) discourse theory. It is suggested that differences in the segmenting strategy originating from the interaction of text structure and prosody can be expressed as differences in the contributions from the different components of discourse suggested in the framework of Grosz and Sidner (1986). / <p>För att köpa boken skicka en beställning till exp@ling.su.se/ To order the book send an e-mail to exp@ling.su.se</p>

Aim: To assess the ability of critical flicker frequency (CFF) and optimal reading speed (ORS) to predict the potential vision in patients with cataract with and without ocular comorbidity. Methods: The two novel tests were compared with two well established potential vision tests (PVTs), the potential acuity meter (PAM) and the laser interferometer (LI). Measurements were made preoperatively in 1 eye of 88 subjects using the battery of 4 PVTs. Postoperative measurements were made with the CFF and the ORS. The subjects studied were consecutive cases over a 12-month period who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and agreed to participate in this study. Results: CFF was the PVT most resistant to the presence of cataract. Both CFF and ORS give a similar predictive precision in the presence of cataract and ocular comorbidity, although CFF seems more precise when the cataract is dense. Conclusions: The PAM and the LI showed a limited clinical capability in predicting postoperative visual acuity, particularly with dense opacities. The CFF shows the most promise as a PVT, particularly with dense cataract. Further evaluation is required for both CFF and ORS.

<p>Rod photoreceptors are specialized neurons responsible for capturing photons and translating visual information into electrical signals. Visual signal transduction in rods is confined to the unique outer segment organelle, a modified primary cilium consisting of a stack of hundreds of flattened disc membranes enveloped by a single plasma membrane. By concentrating important signaling molecules on disc membranes, the outer segment provides an ideal biochemical environment for the production of vision with high sensitivity and temporal resolution.</p><p>This dissertation focuses primarily on a molecular dissection of two multifunctional outer segment proteins, R9AP and rhodopsin, and also reassesses the localization of Glut1, a third protein formerly believed to reside in the outer segment. All three experimental lines relied on in vivo expression of novel protein constructs in vertebrate rods using several gene delivery strategies: conventional transgenics, retinal electroporation, and retinal infection with recombinant adeno-associated virus.</p><p>The tail-anchored protein R9AP, in conjunction with RGS9-1 and G-beta5, comprises the transducin GTPase activating complex, which catalyzes the rate-limiting step in rod photoresponse recovery. In addition to maximizing the enzymatic activity of the complex, R9AP is responsible for both the post-translational stability and outer segment targeting of RGS9-1-G-beta5. We investigated the mechanism behind R9AP's poorly understood function in protecting RGS9-1-G-beta5 from proteolysis and found that it is performed simply by recruiting the complex to cellular membranes and can be entirely dissociated from R9AP's outer segment targeting function. Furthermore, we demonstrated that replacement of R9AP's transmembrane domain with a lipid anchor preserves the ability of the GTPase activating complex to function in outer segments.</p><p>Rhodopsin, the visual pigment of rods, has a second important, yet poorly defined, function as a rod outer segment building block: outer segments disc membranes fail to form in the absence of rhodopsin. Our goal was to identify the molecular features of rhodopsin mechanistically involved in outer segment morphogenesis by designing artificial membrane proteins that could fully substitute for rhodopsin in performing this function. We observed that rhodopsin's C-terminal VXPX outer segment targeting motif is unnecessary for outer segment disc formation since it could be replaced with a targeting motif from an unrelated protein, peripherin. Furthermore, we obtained surprising evidence that rhodopsin's role in this process is limited to providing an abundance of transmembrane protein material to disc membranes.</p><p>Finally, while attempting to find a targeting motif to substitute for the VXPX motif of rhodopsin, we made an unexpected observation that the facilitative glucose transporter Glut1, long thought to reside in the outer segment, is actively excluded from this organelle. This revises our understanding of the energy flow in rods by showing that the outer segment is entirely dependent on the inner segment for its energy supply.</p> / Dissertation