Optimizing mechanics and the process of fixing sensor PCB card to optics after active alignment

This report describes the development of a new fixing process when attaching a sensor PCB card to a camera assembly. The thesis focused on cameras which requires calibration to find the optimal position of the sensor PCB card, a process called active alignment. The development process applied for this thesis was derived from the Generic Development Process by Ulrich and Eppinger. Interviewees with project members and experts within Axis Communications AB were the main source of information. From the interviewees’ statements, an interpretation into customer needs was performed. Some of the more important identified needs were to simplify production and minimize the sources of error present with the current solutions. The challenges with the process of fixing the sensor PCB card were broken down to a simpler version, i.e. fixing two arbitrary components. The customer needs were used to evaluate different fixing methods and the most promising methods were selected. A concept generation process was initiated to find possible solutions within each fixing method. The most basic concepts were quickly evaluated through discussion and then later on through a concept scoring, to identify the most promising ideas. Further evaluation of these concepts included more information gathering of the fixing methods and discussions about their implementation into production. Then, the most promising concept was selected. With this concept, the details of the solution were further optimized. Through further testing, new demands of the concept were found and solved, arriving at the final specifications of the concept. The final design solution was validated through more thorough testing. The result is a new general process, which uses UV light curable adhesives. By adding a transparent silicone gasket, control over the adhesive is obtained and results in a simplified as well as significantly improved production chain

The active commuting route environment scale (ACRES): development and evaluation

Background Route environments can be a potentially important factor in influencing people’s behaviours in relation to active commuting. To better understand these possiblerelationships, assessments of route environments are needed. We therefore developed a scale; the Active Commuting Route Environment Scale (ACRES), for the assessment of bicyclists’ and pedestrians’ perceptions of their commuting route environments. Here we will report on the development and the results of validity and reliability assessments thereof. Methods Active commuters (n = 54) were recruited when they bicycled in Stockholm, Sweden. Traffic planning and environmental experts from the Municipality of Stockholm were assembled to form an expert panel (n = 24). The active commuters responded to the scale on two occasions, and the expert panel responded to it once. To test criterion-related validity, differences in ratings of the inner urban and suburban environments of Greater Stockholm were compared between the experts and the commuters. Furthermore, four items were compared with existing objective measures. Test-retest reproducibility was assessed with three types of analysis: order effect, typical error and intraclass correlation. Results There was a concordance in sizes and directions of differences in ratings of inner urban and suburban environments between the experts and the commuters. Furthermore, both groups’ ratings were in line with existing objectively measured differences between the two environmental settings. Order effects between test and retest were observed in 6 of 36 items. The typical errors ranged from 0.93 to 2.54, and the intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from ‘moderate’ (0.42) to ‘almost perfect’ (0.87). Conclusions The ACRES was characterized by considerable criterion-related validity and reasonable test-retest reproducibility.FAA

Sub-grouping and sub-functionalization of the RIFIN multi-copy protein family

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Parasitic protozoans possess many multicopy gene families which have central roles in parasite survival and virulence. The number and variability of members of these gene families often make it difficult to predict possible functions of the encoded proteins. The families of extra-cellular proteins that are exposed to a host immune response have been driven via immune selection to become antigenically variant, and thereby avoid immune recognition while maintaining protein function to establish a chronic infection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have combined phylogenetic and function shift analyses to study the evolution of the RIFIN proteins, which are antigenically variant and are encoded by the largest multicopy gene family in <it>Plasmodium falciparum</it>. We show that this family can be subdivided into two major groups that we named A- and B-RIFIN proteins. This suggested sub-grouping is supported by a recently published study that showed that, despite the presence of the <it>Plasmodium </it>export (PEXEL) motif in all RIFIN variants, proteins from each group have different cellular localizations during the intraerythrocytic life cycle of the parasite. In the present study we show that function shift analysis, a novel technique to predict functional divergence between sub-groups of a protein family, indicates that RIFINs have undergone neo- or sub-functionalization.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results question the general trend of clustering large antigenically variant protein groups into homogenous families. Assigning functions to protein families requires their subdivision into meaningful groups such as we have shown for the RIFIN protein family. Using phylogenetic and function shift analysis methods, we identify new directions for the investigation of this broad and complex group of proteins.</p

Deep Brain Stimulation of Caudal Zona Incerta and Subthalamic Nucleus in Patients with Parkinson's Disease: Effects on Diadochokinetic Rate

The hypokinetic dysarthria observed in Parkinson's disease (PD) affects the range, speed, and accuracy of articulatory gestures in patients, reducing the perceived quality of speech acoustic output in continuous speech. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) and of the caudal zona incerta (cZi-DBS) are current surgical treatment options for PD. This study aimed at investigating the outcome of STN-DBS (7 patients) and cZi-DBS (7 patients) in two articulatory diadochokinesis tasks (AMR and SMR) using measurements of articulation rate and quality of the plosive consonants (using the percent measurable VOT metric). The results indicate that patients receiving STN-DBS increased in articulation rate in the Stim-ON condition in the AMR task only, with no effect on production quality. Patients receiving cZi-DBS decreased in articulation rate in the Stim-ON condition and further showed a reduction in production quality. The data therefore suggest that cZi-DBS is more detrimental for extended articulatory movements than STN-DBS

Adaptation of VOD services to wide children audiences : A USABILITY EVALUATION OF BARNPLAY BASED ON THE TARGET GROUP 3-11

This thesis contains a usability evaluation of “Barnplay”, a Swedish video-on-demand service targeted at children. The objective of the study was to identify usability issues in the video service and to develop measures on improving the user interface, with special focus on adaptation to the broad target group of 3-11 year olds. The study was conducted by first mapping established practices in designs of VOD-services targeted at children, followed by interviews and usability tests with children between 2-11 concerning their use of “Barnplay”. Based on the initial data collection, a prototype was developed and then evaluated by usability testing and A/B-testing. The main conclusion of the study is the need of better individual adjustment of the video content selection to better appeal to different age segments within the target group. A design proposal, for a list of personal viewing history, was produced for displaying what the user recently had watched.Detta examensarbete är en användbarhetsutvärdering av SVTs barnanpassade videotjänst, Barnplay. Arbetets mål är att identifiera användbarhetsproblem i videotjänsten och att ta fram åtgärder för att förbättra användargränssnittet, med särskilt fokus på anpassning till den breda målgruppen 3-11 år. Studien utfördes genom kartläggning av praxis vid design av VOD-tjänster riktade till barn, intervjuer och tester med barn mellan 2-11år kring deras användande av Barnplay. Utifrån den inledande datainsamlingen utarbetades en prototyp som utvärderades med användningstest samt A/B-test. Den viktigaste slutsatsen i studien var behovet av individuell anpassning av utbudet i videotjänsten för att bättre tilltala de olika ålderssegmenten inom målgruppen. Designförslaget som togs fram var en personlig historik-lista som visar de senast “tittade” titlarna

Som ett hjärtbyte utan facit : Baksidan av personaloptioner

Under 2016 publicerades ett flertal artiklar angående problem som innovativa företagare ansåg fanns kring personaloptioner. Företagarna var framför allt inte nöjda med den beskattning som personaloptioner har samt den utredning som regeringen låtit göra. De problem som nystartade och små företag sa sig ha var framförallt mängden kapital och att hitta personer med rätt kompetens. Dessa problem skulle kunna lösas genom användande av personaloptioner, som ett sätt att locka och behålla kompetens i företag. Genom denna studie har en möjlig förbättringspotential inom ramen för incitamentsprogram i Sverige vad gäller personaloptioner undersökts. Frågor finns om hur de olika problemen kring personaloptioner ser ut samt hur företagare tror att det går att komma runt problemen för att påverka användningen positivt. Syftet är att ge en bild av vilka svårigheter och möjligheter som finns kring personaloptioner enligt mindre företag i Sverige. Metoden för att svara på problemformuleringen var telefonintervjuer och för att avgränsa studien blev urvalet att intervjua företagsledare på olika innovationsföretag i Sverige med mindre än 50 anställda och mindre än 70 miljoner kronor i omsättning. De teorier som används för att analysera svaren från intervjuerna var optionsteori, agent- och kontraktsteori, belöningssystem, värdering av optioner, risker, lagar och skatteregler samt en tidigare studie i form av regeringens utredning. Studien kom fram till att de problem som svenska småföretagare ser är centrerade kring utformningsprocessen av personaloptioner och beskattningssystemet. De risker som företagen i den här studien ser är främst tidpunkten för personaloptionsprogram och om de hamnat rätt i tiden. En mall är vad småföretagarna vill ha som lösning på problemen. En enkel och tydlig mall som innehåller riktlinjer, lagar med tolkningar och teorier som gäller för svenska bolag. Även lägre beskattning är något som respondenterna välkomnar men som samtidigt inte är det viktigaste i deras mening.During 2016 many articles regarding problems that innovative companies have with employee stock options were published. The entrepreneurs were neither happy about the taxes nor the ”investigation” ordered by the government. Recently stated companies (start-ups) have problems with the amount of capital and with finding people with the right competence, these two problems could be solved by using employee stock options since it attracts employees to stay within the companies. Through this study have the possibility of improvements within the area of incentive programs in Sweden and especially employee stock options been investigated. Questions regarding how the problems with employee stock options appear and what the entrepreneurs think are possible solutions. The purpose is to create a picture of difficulties and possibilities regarding employee stock options according to entrepreneurs in Swedish start-ups. The method chosen for answering the questions became interviews by telephone. The ones being interviewed were only CEOs from Swedish innovative companies with less then 50 employees and less then 70 million SEK in revenue. The theories used to analyse the answers given on the questions in the interviews were theories about options, agent-principal relation and contracts, reward systems, valuation of stock options, risks, laws, taxation and the previous study ordered by the Swedish government. The conclusion from this study is that Swedish entrepreneurs see problems when it comes to entering employee stock options and the taxation. The risk that they fear is if they have not done it correctly. To solve this problems they believe a guide on how to do it correct with simplified explanations that contains guidelines, the laws that needs to be followed and some theories that help them to the right time and values. Lower taxation is welcomed but is far from the most important thing to fix according to the entrepreneurs

The Vikings and America /

Includes bibliographical reference and index.Hollevoet, Yan

Mallard or chicken? Comparing the isolation of avian influenza A viruses in embryonated Mallard and chicken eggs

Background: To date, the most efficient and robust method for isolating avian influenza A viruses (IAVs) is using embryonated chicken eggs (ECEs). It is known that low-pathogenic avian IAVs undergo rapid genetic changes when introduced to poultry holdings, but the factors driving mutagenesis are not well understood. Despite this, there is limited data on the effects of the standard method of virus isolation of avian-derived viruses, that is, whether isolation in ECEs causes adaptive changes in avian IAVs. Eggs from a homologous species could potentially offer an isolation vessel less prone to induce adaptive changes. Methods: We performed eight serial passages of two avian IAVs isolated from fecal samples of wild Mallards in both ECEs and embryonated Mallard eggs, and hemagglutination assay titers and hemagglutinin sequences were compared. Results: There was no obvious difference in titers between ECEs and embryonated Mallard eggs. Sequence analyses of the isolates showed no apparent difference in the rate of introduction of amino acid substitutions in the hemagglutinin gene (three substitutions in total in embryonated Mallard eggs and two substitutions in ECEs). Conclusion: Embryonated Mallard eggs seem to be good isolation vessels for avian IAVs but carry some practical problems such as limited availability and short egg-laying season of Mallards. Our study finds isolation of Mallard-derived avian IAVs in ECEs non-inferior to isolation in embryonated Mallard eggs, but more research in the area may be warranted as this is a small-scale study