Two conceptual approaches which offer promise for improved understanding of biological invasions are conceptualizing the invasion process as a series of distinct stages and explicitly incorporating human actions into analyses. This study explores the utility of these approaches for understanding the invasion of Trifolium (true clover) species in New Zealand. From the published literature, I collected a range of Trifolium species attributes, including aspects of global transport and use by humans, opportunistic association with humans in New Zealand, native range attributes, habitat characteristics, and biological traits. I also searched historical records to estimate the extent to which each species had been planted in New Zealand, a search facilitated by the enormous importance of Trifolium in New Zealand’s pastoral agriculture system. Regression analysis and structural equation modelling were then used to relate these variables to success at each invasion stage. Fifty-four of the 228 species in the genus Trifolium were intentionally introduced to New Zealand. Species introduced for commercial agriculture were characterised by a large number of economic uses and presence in Britain, while species introduced for horticulture or experimental agriculture were characterised by a large native range area. Nine of these 54 intentionally introduced species subsequently naturalised in New Zealand. The species that successfully naturalised were those that had been planted extensively by humans and that were well-matched to the New Zealand climate. A further 16 species (from the pool of 174 species that were never intentionally introduced) arrived and naturalised in New Zealand without any recorded intentional aid of humans. Several attributes appeared to assist species in unintentional introduction-naturalisation, including a good match to the New Zealand climate, a large native range area, presence in human-influenced habitats, a widespread distribution in Britain, and self-pollination capability. The 25 total naturalised species varied greatly in their current distributions and in the rates at which they had spread to achieve those distributions. Species that had spread quickly and are currently more widespread had been frequent contaminants in the pasture seed supply and have a long flowering period in New Zealand. Other biological traits and native range attributes played supporting roles in the spread process. Attributes facilitating success clearly varied among invasion stages. Humans played a dominant role at all stages of this invasion, although biological traits had increasing importance as a species moved through the invasion sequence. My findings suggest that incorporation of human actions and the stage-based framework provide valuable insight into the invasion process. I discuss potential avenues by which these approaches might be integrated into predictive invasion models.

The study explored whether or not to delay introducing Chinese characters as part of first year Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) courses in post-secondary institutions in the U.S. Topics investigated: a) timing structures of current CFL programs in the U.S.; b) CFL teachers’ and students’ beliefs and rationales of an appropriate timing to introduce characters; c) CFL teachers’ and students’ beliefs about the importance and difficulty of different Chinese language skills; and d) CFL teachers’ and students’ beliefs about the requirement of handwriting in beginning-level CFL courses. Data were collected through a large-scale online student survey with 914 students and a large-scale online teacher survey with 192 teachers. At the same time, a total of 21 students and five teachers from a delayed character introduction (DCI) program and an immediate character introduction (ICI) program were interviewed. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the data. Results indicate that the majority of CFL programs did not delay teaching characters; most of teachers and students believed that speaking and listening were the most important skills and reading and especially writing characters were the most difficult skills; and most of teachers and students did not favor alternative methods to replace the handwriting of characters even though they considered handwriting to be the most difficult skill. With few studies carried out to investigate the timing issue of character teaching, results from the study provided foundational knowledge for CFL educators to better understand CFL teaching and learning in general, along with the teaching and learning of written Chinese characters, in particular.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

The thesis "Evaluation of the gains of introduction of management information system (on the selected company)" examines the success of introduction of management information system. Theoretical part is focused on information systems, especially on life cycle, required features, settings and areas of management. Practical part describes complete research: characteristics and analysis of the company, creation of survey and the results. All the gains are identified in the results of the survey. This research extends theoretical area of management information systems and it helps the supplier as evaluation of completed implementation.

Bakgrund: En bra arbetsmiljö ger förutsättningar för att individer upplever välbefinnande på sin arbetsplats. Onboarding (arbetsplatsintroduktion) innebär den process en medarbetare genomgår från att inte kunna arbetet till att bli en fullärd medarbetare med rätt förmågor och beteenden som överensstämmer med det som arbetsplatsen behöver. Syfte: Att exemplifiera arbetsgivares upplägg och insatser beträffande arbetsplatsintroduktion. Ytterligare syften är att undersöka chefers erfarenheter och upplevelser om innehåll och utförande av erhållen introduktion, samt undersöka om introduktion anses ha betydelse för personals arbetsrelaterade välbefinnande. Metod: Studiens design är en deskriptiv intervjustudie. Tolv intervjuer genomfördes och materialet analyserades enligt kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Intervjuerna resulterade i två innehållsanalyser, en där HR-personal var informanter och en där chefer var informanter. Analysen med HR-informanter resulterade i en kategori; ”Upplägg av företagens introduktionsprogram” med fyra underkategorier och analysen med chefsinformanterna resulterade i tre kategorier, ”Erfarenheter att lära sig chefsrollen”, ”Chefer har olika utgångslägen och behov”, där nio underkategorier identifierades. Slutsats: Liksom tidigare forskning förstärker uppsatsens resultat att sociala relationer är den främsta faktorn för att lära sig en verksamhet och tillägna sig en yrkesroll (chefsrollen) och även den mest betydande faktorn för att uppleva välbefinnande på en arbetsplats. Informanternas erfarenheter och upplevelser urskiljer vissa komponenter som är viktiga att beakta när organisationer ska utforma introduktionsstrategier vilka är; om chefer är externt/internt rekryterade, deras chefsnivå och tidigare chefserfarenhet samt möjligheten att få framföra egna önskemål och behov av introduktion. / Background: A good working environment creates opportunities for individuals to experience well-being at the workplace. Onboarding is the processes through which a new employee goes from being an organizational outsider to become an organizational insider with the right skills and behaviours that are consistent with what the organization needs. Aim: To give examples of set up and efforts of introduction programmes for new employees and to investigate managers´ experiences of onboarding and if onboarding programme is considered to have an effect on well-being at the workplace. Method: A descriptive study was conducted based on twelve interviews and the interview material was analysed according to qualitative content analysis. Result: Two qualitative content analyses were completed, the first one with Human Resources (HR) staff and the second one based on manager interviews. The analysis with HR staff resulted in one category; ”The setup of the companies onboarding programmes”, with four subcategories and the second analysis resulted in three categories; ”Experiences to learn the managerial role”, ”Managers have different needs and starting-points” and ”Factors for successful onboarding”. A total of nine subcategories were identified. Conclusion: Previous researchs show that social relations are the primary factor for new employees to learn their work and managerial role. It is also the foremost factor to experience well-being at the workplace. The knowledge and experiences of the interviewed show similarities for certain components to consider when to establish onboarding processes in an organization. They are; if managers were in-house recruited or externally recruited, their manager level, their previous experience of being a manager and opportunities to express individual wishes and needs in an onboarding programme.

The typical strategy for atmospheric analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), is to collect discrete samples which are then transported to a laboratory for analysis. This method has limited spatial and temporal resolution, and can be both costly and time consuming. To overcome these limitations, a mobile monitoring platform was developed for real-time quantitative chemical analysis. This work describes the development of membrane introduction mass spectrometer and identi es the necessary requirements to make a reliable and e ective instrument for in-situ chemical analysis. These include, the integration of a membrane interface with a miniaturized mass spectrometer, development of a data management strategy, reducing the e ects of isobaric interferences and employing an internal standard for quantitative measurements. Furthermore, the negative e ects of environmental variables, such as the Earth's magnetic eld, were examined and e ectively eliminated. In addition, this work demonstrates quantitative mapping of atmospheric VOCs in real-time, which allows rapid identi cation of chemical plumes and therefore, areas of potential concern. Both lab and eld-based comparisons of iv membrane introduction mass spectrometer data and traditional whole air sampling canister data were undertaken. The primary eld site was near Ft. McMurray, AB where baseline data was collected around a steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) facility and surrounding public roads. Monitoring for fugitive emissions at this facility and surrounding bitumen mining and processing operations is demonstrated. Field data were also obtained, near an industrial site in Ft.Saskatchewan, AB, that demonstrate the e cacy of an adaptive sampling strategy. Finally, chemical ionization was investigated as a soft ionization strategy to improve chemical selectivity for the analysis of complex hydrocarbon mixtures. The development of an in-line liquid chemical ionization reagent delivery system is presented and proposed as an e ective strategy for eliminating interferences arising from biogenic terpenes and alkyl aromatics. In all, this thesis presents the design and implementation of a mobile membrane introduction mass spectrometer for atmospheric chemical analysis. Results that improve performance and demonstrate the novelty of the data-type are provided, along with avenues for future development. / Graduate / 0486 / 0799 / 0608

The aim was to find out the experiences of mentoring and its introduction in social services. The object was achieved by interviewing experienced social worker who had a few years of work experience in social services. Our study was an attempt to understand how mentoring can be seen during the induction period for newly qualified social workers in social services. To get an understanding of the interviewees' perceptions of mentoring, we tooke help of a Human Resources perspective. In the study, we used a qualitative research with data collection based on semi-structured interviews. The sample consisted of a convenience sample of five experienced social workers in department’s financial assistance and child and youth care. According to the study result it is important to have a mentoring and a comprehensive introduction, since it benefits the entire organization. All respondents in the study felt that a mentoring provides security and a check for recent graduates. Based on the results we have seen that even if an organization has an elaborate mentoring program/introduction program it’s not guaranteed to be completed. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka erfarna socialsekreterares uppfattningar kring mentorskap samt den introduktion nyutexaminerade får inom socialtjänsten. Syftet uppnådes genom intervjuer med erfarna socialsekreterare som har arbetslivserfarenheter inom socialtjänsten. Studien kan ses som ett försök till att förstå hur mentorskap kan uppfattas under introduktionsperioden för nyutexaminerade socionomer inom socialtjänsten. För att få en förståelse för intervjupersonernas uppfattningar kring mentorskap har ett Human Resource (HR) perspektiv använts. Studien är kvalitativ och baserad på semistrukturerade intervjuer. Urvalet bestod av ett fem erfarna socialsekreterare inom avdelningarna ekonomiskt bistånd och barn- och ungdomsvården. Resultat påvisade vikten av att tillämpa ett mentorskap och en innehållsrik introduktion. Detta var något som gynnade hela organisationen. Mentorskapet upplevdes bidra till trygghet och kontroll för de nyutexaminerade. Utifrån resultatet har vi kunnat konstatera att även om en organisation har ett utarbetat mentorskapsprogram/introduktionsprogram är det inte garanterat att det fullföljs.

Ett bra introduktionsprogram är grundläggande för en lång framgångsrik karriär och gör det lättare för den nyexaminerade att lära sig, då övergången från studier till att börja arbeta som en legitimerad röntgensjuksköterska kan vara en stressig period. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka nyexaminerade röntgensjuksköterskors upplevelse av introduktionen på en ny arbetsplats. Data samlades in till denna studie genom att intervjua nio röntgensjuksköterskor som tagit examen sommaren 2014. Dessa röntgensjuksköterskor arbetar på röntgenkliniker i mellan- och södra Sverige. All insamlad data analyserades med hjälp av innehållsanalys och det resulterade i tre kategorier: Introduktionsprogrammet, Handledarnas kunskap och egenskaper och Sociala relationers betydelse och påverkan. De nyexaminerade röntgensjuksköterskorna upplevde att introduktionen var tillräcklig och bra. Det fanns vissa delar som var mindre bra, till exempel att de blev räknade som en av den ordinarie personalen medan de hade introduktion. Alla informanter ansåg att det blir bäst ifall de har en specifik handledare i början av introduktionen, då det lätt kan bli förvirrande med flera handledare. / A good introduction program is essential for a long successful career and makes it easier for new graduates to learn. As the transition from studies to beginning working as a licensed radiographer can be a stressful period. The purpose of this study was to investigate the new graduate radiographers experience of the introduction at a new workplace. Data was collected for this study by interviewing nine new graduate radiographers who graduated in the summer of 2014. These radiographers are working on radiology departments in central and southern Sweden. All collected data was analyzed using content analysis and it resulted in three categories: Introduction program, The preceptors knowledge and qualities and Social relationships importance and impact. The new graduate radiographers felt that the introduction was sufficient and good. There were some parts that were less good, for example, they were counted as one of the regular staff while they still had the introduction. All the informants believed that it will be best if they have a specific preceptor in the beginning of the introduction, as it can easily become confusing with several preceptors.

Energy saving and fuel consumption reduction techniques are among the principal interests for both academic institutions and industries, in particular, system optimization and hybridization. This paper presents a new hydraulic hybrid system layout for mobile machinery implemented on a middle size excavator. The hybridization procedure took advantage of a dynamic programming (DP) algorithm, which was also utilized for the hybrid components dimensioning and control strategy definition. A dedicated experimental activity on test bench was performed on the main components of the energy recovery system (ERS). The JCMAS working cycle was considered as the reference test for a fuel consumption comparison between the standard and the hybrid excavator. A fuel saving up to 8% on the JCMAS cycle, and up to 11% during the digging cycle, has been allowed by the proposed hybrid system.

Syftet med studien är att skapa en djupare förståelse för nytillträdda chefers upplevelse av introduktionsprocessen och vilka aspekter som är av relevans ur chefers perspektiv. Studien utfördes på en fabrik med omkring 1500 anställda. Studien är av kvalitativ art med empiri hämtad genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med tio nytillträdda produktionsledare. Analysen av data genomfördes med inspiration utifrån en fenomenologisk forskningsansats. I resultatet urskiljs produktionsledarnas olika erfarenheter av introduktionsprocessen. Introduktionen har inte varit standardiserad och haft frånvarande tidsramar, vilket har resulterat i att processen har upplevts ostrukturerad och otydlig. Flera av de nytillträdda cheferna upplevde bland annat att organisationen inte skapat goda förutsättningar för dem att lyckas i sin roll som produktionsledare. Vidare aspekter som belystes viktiga under introduktionsprocessen innefattade bland annat fadderskapet och stödet från kollegorna. Avslutningsvis är vår slutsats att genom en god struktur och tydlig information hade organisationen kunnat utveckla en mer givande introduktion för deras produktionsledare. / This study aims to create a deeper understanding of how newly employed managers experiences of the orientation program and furthermore what aspects that was of relevance from a manager point of view. The study was conducted at a factory with approximately 1500 employees. A qualitative research design was used in the study with empirical data retrieved from semi-structured interviews with ten newly employed production leaders. The analysis of data has been conducted with inspiration by a phenomenological research approach. The results portray the production leaders different experiences of their work orientation. The result shows that the work orientations have not been standardized and furthermore lacked time frames, with the result that the process has been experienced unstructured and vague. Several of the newly employed mangers, for instance, experienced that the organization did not create useful conditions for them to succeed in their role as production leaders.  Further aspects that were highlighted as important during the work orientation included a mentor and the support from colleagues. In conclusion, we believe that through a distinct structure and clear information from the organization, they would been able to develop a more productive work orientation for their production leaders.