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This thesis is based on the Internet experiences of people with significant mobility/physical impairments who are proficient and experienced computer users in their computer world but have limitations in mobility that severely restrict their functioning in the physical world. The Internet functioning of this group is analysed by means of the factors attitude, control and enabling, with the m
As the tridentate chelate complexes referred to as pincer complexes have expanded their scope as homogeneous catalysts, there is an increased interest in electronic and steric fine-tuning of such complexes. One accessible variable in this aspect is the hybridisation of any coordinated carbon atoms. This thesis describes the synthesis of bis(phosphine) and bis(phosphinite) PCP pincer complexes with
This dissertation studies Wallace Stevens? ideas and practice of poetic language with a focus on the 1930s, an era in which Stevens persistently thematized a keenly felt pressure for the possible social involvement and political utility of poetic language. The argument suggests how mutually implicated elements of his poetry such as diction, prosody and metaphor are relied on to signify or enact ae
This thesis describes basic models for thermo-fluid systems and the implementation of the models using a flexible object-oriented structure in the ThermoFluid library. Model libraries provide an excellent way to package engineering knowledge of systems to be reused by non-experts. Many commercial simulation packages provide good model libraries, but they are usually domain specific and closed. Mod
This thesis purports to prove the logical necessity of the psychic energy concept discarded by modern psychoanalysis by linking the "evolutionistic argument" against epiphenomenalism to Brillouin´s negentropy principle. If our conscious awareness of affects and other psychological events should be attributed a signal value at all, they must necessarily exercise effect on the soma. This presupposes
The purpose of this thesis is to study the computer using practice within pre-school activity, or more specifically, to study aspects of meaning-making as afforded when the computer is in use in pre-school. In the study a socio-cultural perspective is used as the point of departure combined with an Ecological approach to visual perception and Positioning theory. Data was collected in three pre-sch
State policy intervention in the economy has been a ubiquitous phenomenon in history. Varying in form and intensity, it has had a profound impact on trade, welfare, international relations, and political and economic thinking. This thesis provides an inclusive analysis of policy action in the European car industry. It details its development, processes, nature, and content and presents the story a
Biotechnical processes are often integrated to increase productivity and yield. It is difficult to predict the effects of process integration and to find optimum conditions for the process. A valuable tool for the evaluation of a complete process is mathematical modelling. In this thesis, a computer program developed for simulation and optimisation of integrated biotechnical processes is presented
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited disorder and the leading cause of visual impairment in the working age population. It is caused by a number of different genetic mutations, all of which cause the rod photoreceptors to degenerate. As the rods become few in numbers, the cones will also begin to die, resulting in total blindness. Since the genetic defects leading to RP are numerous, it would
This thesis describes the preparation of heterogeneous latexes, which may serve as binders in coating applications, and the characterization of these. The latexes were prepared in two-stage seeded emulsion polymerization. The seed latexes used were polystyrene, whose properties had been changed by copolymerization with methacrylic acid (MAA) or divinyl benzene. The second-stage polymers were copol
The composition of the vascular extracellular matrix (ECM) is altered during remodeling conditions such as atherosclerosis. The changed ECM regulates events that are important for the progression of disease including smooth muscle cell (SMC) behaviour and collagen fiber formation. The overall aim of this project was to relate changes in the composition of ECM in the arterial wall to processes duri
Flowers use different cues to attract pollinators including colour and odour. How do hawkmoths use these cues to find the flowers? This question was investigated in two species of hawkmoth, the diurnal species, Macroglossum stellatarum, and the nocturnal species, Deilephila elpenor. Both species have colour vision and D. elpenor can discriminate colours under very dim light intensities. Both speci
This thesis consists of three separate papers. They are all empirical papers that examine how fragmentation of production processes and global value chains have affected international trade patterns. The first paper focuses on how private standards in the increasingly geographically fragmented food sector affect firm-import behaviour. By providing a quality insurance for the imported good, certif
Property-oriented systems are a new kind of information systems that are based on concepts of properties instead of concepts of things or classes of things. By focusing on properties, the property-oriented systems become more flexible and more suited to the dynamic early stages of design than the traditional class-oriented systems can be. The theoretical framework for property-oriented systems de
The dissertation considers welfare with regard to international mobility and immobility. It addresses a tension between two different conceptualisations of the organisation of everyday life with regard to nation-states: one that views everyday life as relatively mobile across nation-state borders and boundaries, and another that treats everyday life as relatively confined within such limits. The o
This dissertation critically examines the tension between mainstream and counterpoint perspectives on sustainability on the basis of analyses of four approaches to this issue: environmental economics, ecological economics, adaptive management, and bioregionalism, which are presented as successive attempts to challenge mainstream, modernist perspectives on socio-ecological relationships. The differ
This dissertation is about the role of visual context information in communication. All accounts of language processing and communication agree that visual context is beneficial for understanding. Despite this, it is not clear through which mechanisms visual context works and whether these mechanisms also work in communication outside the lab setting. This dissertation aims to provide answers to t
This thesis consists of four papers. The first two papers, which comprise the main part of the thesis, deal with an unexpected connection between kernel density estimators and dimension spectra for multifractal measures. The third paper presents a fully automated expert system for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism from ventilation/perfusion scintigraphy. The final paper concerns statistical prop
The ability to plan for future, not currently experienced, mental or physiological states has been regarded as unique to humans. When humans plan for such states it has been hypothesized that they make use of what has been known as episodic foresight. Episodic foresight is a part of the episodic cognitive system, which also includes episodic memory. The defining feature of this system is so-called
