<p>The aim of the thesis is to identify and investigate central themes in two video artworks, Poliisi and Pink Ball, by Swedish artist Annika Larsson. Moreover it is an investigation of the configurations of violence, and an enquiring whether these works have a social-minded intention.</p><p>Elements in scenery, framing and narration are analysed with the term “crystalline regime” (régim cristallin), described by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, which defines the artificial as opposed to the purely representational. Processes within the narrations of the two works are analysed as rituals, which leads to an investigation of an internal sign-system and to the question whether the rituals in these works have a function. Theory by French philosopher Georges Bataille is used to analyse the ritual with no external purpose, which aims at an intense experience of life. Bataille’s concept “intensity” is used to describe violent as much as erotic themes in the narration as well as in the way the characters are presented, regarding music, camera-angles, etc. Furthermore, the thesis refutes interpretations in which Annika Larssons works are viewed as comments on political matters, such as gender-issues.</p>

A fast simulated annealing algorithm is developed for automatic object recognition. The normalized correlation coefficient is used as a measure of the match between a hypothesized object and an image. Templates are generated on-line during the search by transforming model images. Simulated annealing reduces the search time by orders of magnitude with respect to an exhaustive search. The algorithm is applied to the problem of how landmarks, for example, traffic signs, can be recognized by an autonomous vehicle or a navigating robot. The algorithm works well in noisy, real-world images of complicated scenes for model images with high information content.

This work is an attempt to answer one simple question: What is Hamlet? Based on the material of Hamlet translations into Russian, the dissertation scrutinizes the problems of literary canon formation, translation and textuality proceeding in two parallel directions: the historical analysis of canon formation in translation and the conceptualization of Hamlet’s textuality. The methodological framework is defined in the context of Jurij Lotman’s semiotics of culture, which is invaluable for an understanding of the mechanisms of literary evolution, the theory of translation and literary canon formation. The study examines the history of Hamlet in Russia from 1748 until the present with special attention to analysis of the canonical translations, theater productions of the Shakespearean classic and the phenomenon of Hamletism. The case study of the 1964 film by Grigorij Kozincev focuses on the problem of the cinematographic canon of Hamlet. Further, the work scrutinizes various types of representation of Hamlet in such semiotic systems as the theater, the cinema, and the pictorial arts, and also examines how Hamlet functions as a specific type of sign. The final section returns to the question of canon formation and textuality. The results of the research show that 1) the literary canon appears to be closely associated with the concepts of genre and myth, 2) in order to become canonical it is imperative for a literary text to function on the level of microcanon and to be represented in modes other than the written.

I den digitala världen är elektroniska signaturer motsvarigheten till traditionella namnunderskrifter. Många lagregler innehåller ett krav på egenhändig underskrift. Frågan är om elektroniska signaturer kan anses uppfylla det kravet och på så sätt godtas istället för en namnunderskrift. Om inte, måste lagändringar till för att elektroniska signaturer skall accepteras. I förarbeten och doktrin finns skilda meningar om elektroniska signaturers rättsverkan och vad som krävs för att de skall godtas. Vissa anser att det krävs lagändringar medan några säger att elektroniska signaturer kan godtas redan idag, om man ser till syftena bakom kravet på underskrift i de lagrum där kravet är uppställt. Kan syftena med kravet på underskrift uppfyllas lika väl med en elektronisk signatur? / In the digital world a electronic signature can be compared with a signature written with a pencil on a paper. The problem is that many rules of law say that a signature should be handmade. Can an electronic signatures be seen as handmade? This is being disputed in doctrine, some think that legal changes must take place. Others see no reason why electronic signatures cannotbe used today, having a teleologic point of view. Can the purpose to use a handmade signature be fulfilled with an electronic signature?

<p>In this research paper, guided by Prof Z Groener, I explore the learning barriers experienced by deaf learners in the structured workplace component of a learnership programme. I focus on the learning barriers of deaf learners at work on an Information Technology learnership where the learning environment shapes and are shaped by deaf learners. Twenty deaf learners have entered during 2005 into an Information Technology: Technical Support NQF4 learnership, funded by the Information Systems (IT), Electronics and Telecommunications Technologies Sector Education Training Authority (ISETT Seta). I have determined how deaf learners are faring with work and learning in a technological environment that has experienced rapid and extensive restructuring during the past ten years. The specific difficulties which they experience during their structured workplace component of the learnerships have also been defined. I argue that when deaf learners form part of a community of practice, consisting of both deaf learners and hearing colleagues and who operate in the same area of knowledge and activity, they fare better than those who did not form part of such a community. I conclude this research paper with a link to the situated learning theory where I explain why the learner&rsquo / s situation contributed to their ability to learn.</p>

The aim of the thesis is to identify and investigate central themes in two video artworks, Poliisi and Pink Ball, by Swedish artist Annika Larsson. Moreover it is an investigation of the configurations of violence, and an enquiring whether these works have a social-minded intention. Elements in scenery, framing and narration are analysed with the term “crystalline regime” (régim cristallin), described by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, which defines the artificial as opposed to the purely representational. Processes within the narrations of the two works are analysed as rituals, which leads to an investigation of an internal sign-system and to the question whether the rituals in these works have a function. Theory by French philosopher Georges Bataille is used to analyse the ritual with no external purpose, which aims at an intense experience of life. Bataille’s concept “intensity” is used to describe violent as much as erotic themes in the narration as well as in the way the characters are presented, regarding music, camera-angles, etc. Furthermore, the thesis refutes interpretations in which Annika Larssons works are viewed as comments on political matters, such as gender-issues.

This thesis is about a generalization of permutation theory. The concept of pattern avoidance in permutation matrices is investigated in a larger class of matrices - the alternating sign matrices. The main result is that the set of alternating sign matrices avoiding the pattern 132, is counted by the large Schröder numbers. An algebraic and a bijective proof is presented. Another class is shown to be counted by every second Fibonacci number. Further research in this new area of combinatorics is discussed.

My thesis aims to show that Wittgensteins view of rule-following involves a misleading picture of the rule. Since he saw the rule as something fundamentally independent of the rule-follower and something with which the rule-follower must comply, he inevitably became entangled in the paradox of compliance: that is, the idea that there must be something other than the rule-follower for rule-following to exist, even though he knew that there was really nothing there to guide the rule-follower or to measure his action. This paradox, dimly expressed within key Wittgensteinian problems relating to how one is able to follow a rule and whether one can follow a rule privately, eventually gave rise to the question over the social nature of rules. In that debate, Wittgensteins commentators vigorously argued, and continue to argue, whether the concept of rule-following presupposes a community of practitioners or not. I argue that this debate itself is misguided, since both sides in this debate take as their starting point a picture of compliance which sees rule and rule-follower as essentially different. In contrast to a compliant picture, I offer a different picture of the rule, which I will call the pliant picture of the rule. I will show that rule and rule-follower are fundamentally the same, and are related to one another, not socially or grammatically, but genealogically. This relationship of identity is in fact exhibited in the relationship between teacher and pupil, when the pupil becomes what his teacher already is through following his teacher. Although compliance can be said to define this relationship initially, it ends with the pupil learning, or becoming, the rule. To conceive of the rule in this way is to avoid the paradox of compliance; that is, it is to go beyond Wittgensteins picture of a paradox.

American political culture has virtually precluded public discussion about the fundamental weaknesses of capitalism, forcing media reformers to argue defensively that commercial broadcasting is a special case of market failure. This investigation questions the historical inevitability of commercialized mass media structure by examining how the ideology of media professionalism is deployed in public debate over noncommercial uses of mass media resources. The work of John Dewey and Walter Lippmann frame a theoretical understanding of how professional autonomy works in opposition to community, and thus how professionalization works in opposition to a shared democratic sphere. Relying on the fundamental concepts of discursive formations studied in depth by Michel Foucault, three case studies analyze historic moments (the invention of listener support by Lewis Hill, the rise of news reporting by community television volunteers, and the introduction of media literacy in K-12 public education) that offer evidence of discursive breaks within the constructions of professionalism that support commercialization, and what those breaks suggest about the re-instantiation of the historical inevitability of the commercial regime. The conclusion discusses how conditions have led us to a point of deprofessionalization, a state in which media consumers disarm the notion of professionalism before it can be deployed as a governing relation, and how deproduction of authoritative texts effectively contains the power of professionalized norms. INDEX WORDS: Professionalism, Professionalization, Media reform, Commercialization, Noncommercial media, Dewey-Lippmann debate, Lewis Hill, Community television, Media literacy, Deproduction, Deprofessionalization

Detta projekt har haft som mål att utveckla produktdisplayer för användning i butiker i syfte att exponera produkter som smycken, solglasögon eller liknande. Projektet är utfört som ett examensarbete vid Mälardalens Högskola inom produktutveckling med inriktning formgivning. Bakgrunden till projektet är att företaget X-ponent vill utforska en ny marknad. Det vill säga konsumentmarknaden istället för sin vanliga inriktning på industri. X-ponent har fått förfrågningar om produktdisplayer av mindre tillverkare av smycken och säljer idag en enkel variant till dessa. Uppdraget har gått ut på att ta fram tre koncept på produktdisplayer ett med ett eget användningsområde; en väggdisplay, för att kunna användas vid vägg; en golv display, för användning på golvet i butiken; och en bordsdisplay, att kunna ställa på bord eller disk. Displayens syfte skulle vara att exponera produkten och locka folk att köpa varför konsument psykologi och marknadsföring i butik studerades. Även semiotik spelade stor roll i konceptens formgivning och studerades noga. För att ta reda på marknadens krav och egenskaper användarna ansåg vara bra och dåligt med dagens produkter utfördes en marknadsundersökning i butikerna i Tuna Park i Eskilstuna och på Dustins Elektronikmässa i Annexet i Stockholm. Även en utförlig konkurrensanalys utfördes på konkurrerande produkter. Under projektets gång har ett flertal produktutvecklings verktyg används som, funktionsanalys, FEMA och CAD (genom SolidWorks). Arbetsmetoden har varit att ta fram en mängd olika koncept för att sedan metodiskt sålla bort, förbättra och tillslut välja ut slutgilltliga koncept. För att göra bästa möjliga val använde jag mig av flera beprövade verktyg. Som Beslutsmatriser, PUGH och QFD. Utöver dessa verktyg hade jag flera diskussioner med uppdragsgivare och handledare. En viktig del har varit att presentera koncept som både uppfyller marknadens och uppdragsgivarens krav samtidigt som det är så hållbart för miljön som möjligt. för att göra detta möjligt studerades "sustainable design" (hållbar design). De slutgiltiga koncepten presenterades som renderade bilder. Dessa renderades i programmet 3D-Studio max. En säljande produktfolder skapades för att ge koncepten extra tyngd. Även en modell av väggkonceptet togs fram.