Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Star Life Cycle'

The purpose with this thesis was to study user activities in a business system, MediusFlow. The overall objective was to identify user related problems and to analyse which of the usability data gathering methods to use in the future development process of the company Medius.

The outcome of this study indicated that a cognitive related user problem was the most important problem to solve. A Star Life Cycle method was preferred. Two low-fidelity prototypes were developed to exemplify an alternative design solution to the identified cognitive user problem. Furthermore, the two best methods to use when gathering user related requirements were heuristic evaluation and expert review.

In addition a company specific Style Guide was created with generic guidelines as a foundation for development of future applications within Medius.

Life cycle analysis is an appropriate way to clear obscure facts about an element. Gallium is a critical element which is used in many technologies these days and therefore quantification of main global cycles of gallium, production, consumption and end of life products, also investigation about recycled gallium content and potential recycling possibilities are investigated in this paper. First a qualitative substance flow for gallium is designed similar to other metal cycles with regards to exclusive characteristics of gallium flows itself. USGS and World Mining Data are mainly used to get information about gallium production, main gallium consumptions and end of life products. Subsequently a quantitative model in STAN should unlock many uncertainties. Substance flow analysis and material flow analysis give a better understanding of unknown gallium flows with their uncertainties and meanwhile major applications, concentration of gallium in different products, waste flows, landfills and present recycling technologies are detailed. Consequently STAN model asserts that main gallium flows are primary gallium production and refined gallium production in production process, Integrated Circuit board fabrication, Light Emitting Diodes, Photovoltaic and recycled new scrap flow in manufacturing process. A significant amount of gallium is collected as stock in consumption process. Also current gallium recycling facilities are limited as recycling is not economically justified. Moreover main part of recycled gallium content is collected from new scrap which is formed through manufacturing process. Finally gallium consumption in Photovoltaic and Light Emitting Diodes industry increases rapidly and sustainability demand cost efficient methods for gallium recycling from solar cells, diodes and other end of life products.

Purpose This study explores the internationalization pathway of the Born Global, The Company, when entering the Mexican market. Background Companies have recently started realizing the importance of “being green” for their customers. Market demand shifts towards more natural and renewable materials that can prevent damage and enhance the well-being of individuals and societies.  Therefore, the market for biodegradable materials is growing and is full of possibilities. Today, many additives suppliers operate globally. Born Global firms stand out with their approach to the internationalization process. It is interesting to find out the uniqueness of the Born Global firm’s internationalization pathway, their motivation and behavior. Method  Qualitative data was collected through two in-depth semi-structured interviews with two top management team members of The Company behind the case study. Before the two main interviews, 4 pre-interviews took place, which helped the authors to become familiar with the environment and operations of the company.  This data was complemented with secondary data obtained though literature reviews.   Conclusion The authors were able to find several gaps in the Integrative Model of Small Firms Internationalization, by Bell et al. (2003). Firstly, they found that not all Born Global firms have a Home market to return to. Secondly, it was clear that the model was too rigid in its segmentation of types of Born Global firms. According to the research done by the authors, a firm can act as both an innovator and adopter, as a “Knowledge-intensive” and “Knowledge-based” firm, and can target both a niche and a mass market simultaneously.

The supply of new individuals into a population is one of the most important factors impacting species distributions and ecological interactions within a community. For marine invertebrates with complex life cycles, the supply of new individuals into a population can be influenced by factors experienced throughout their life history—before, during, or after metamorphosis. In recent years, scientists have begun to take a more holistic approach to understanding marine population assemblages by considering links between early life stages. When experiences in the pre-metamorphic life stages impact post-metamorphic life stages, this is known as carry-over effects. Because carry-over effects impact fitness of individuals, they could determine which individuals are recruited into the population and ultimately influence adult population structure. Using the keystone sea star Asterias forbesi, I tested how carry-over effects of larval food environment influence post-metamorphic performance in juveniles. I also tested whether carry-over effects could be compensated for if juvenile sea stars are fed juvenile mussels. Larvae were reared to metamorphosis under high larval food concentration and low larval food concentration. to test for carry-over effects of larval food concentration, my response variables at metamorphosis were survival, age, juvenile area, and juvenile spine number. to test if carry-over effects could be compensated for, each juvenile sea star was reared for 2-3 weeks on a juvenile feeding treatment of unfed, 1 juvenile mussel week-1, 3 juvenile mussels week-1, or 6 juvenile mussels week-1. My main response variables for the juvenile feeding experiment were mussel mass consumed and juvenile growth rate. I predicted that juveniles that settled early would experience the most severe carry-over effects, so I conducted the juvenile feeding experiment on the first settlers (“early”) and settlers that delayed their metamorphosis relative to the first settlers (“late”). Overall, I found that A. forbesi larvae reared under low food concentration took longer to reach metamorphosis and settled as smaller juveniles with fewer spines compared to those juveniles reared on high larval food concentration. For early settlers, juveniles from low larval food background metamorphosed at smaller sizes, so they reduced feeding and had lower mean growth rates compared to juveniles from high larval food background. Therefore, carry-over effects significantly impacted early settler performance, and this could not be overcome through juvenile feeding. However for late settlers, there was no significant difference in area at settlement between juveniles reared from high versus low larval food background. Therefore, carry-over effects of larval food environment were not present among late settlers, and thus there were no differences observed in juvenile performance. The differences observed between early and late settlers suggest that there may be a trade-off between larval duration time (i.e. delaying metamorphosis) and post-metamorphic performance.

The purpose of this thesis is to identify what motivational changes occur while a lifestyle entrepreneur moves through three different organizational stages. The focus will however be on stage one and three. The problem of an under-researched field is addressed and how the motivation of specific lifestyle entrepreneurs, in these cases hairdressing salon owners, has changed. This thesis has been conducted with an interpretivistic viewpoint, an inductive approach and with a qualitative research method. The authors have selected to analyze the data through pattern matching and dividing the interviewees into two different case studies, one for each of the two chosen organizational stages in focus. In conclusion the authors found that intrinsic and extrinsic motivations have had different effects within all stages in the organizational life cycle. The authors have discovered that during stage one the intrinsic motivations play a large role. During stage one where the organization is small and young the lifestyle entrepreneurs are motivated by factors such as independence and self-efficacy. Stage two is a more extrinsic dominated phase with the factors integrated regulations and identified regulation as motivators. The third stage is a return to the intrinsic motivations with factors such as locus of control and egoistic passion. This is further explained within the chapter with help of the analysis and empirical findings. A figure has been presented to show the different phases and their motivational change.

The origin of voluntary organizations has not been studied much in sociology. This study develops a three-phase model of a voluntary organization origin and three case studies are conducted to try out the model. The aim of the study is to describe and analyze the birth of a voluntary organization and its development. The empiric material has been gathered in three voluntary organizations from the mid-80'ies. The organizations are Noaks Ark (working with HIV), 5i12-rörelsen (working with refugees) and Farsor och Morsor på Stan (working with teenagers in Stockholm city). All three organizations still exist. The empiric material has been collected though interviews and other written materials. The theoretical model is divided into three phases, the preorigin phase, the phase of origin and the maturity phase. Each phase has its special character and there is no automatic transference to the next phase. In the first phase - the preorigin phase - the key notion is the entrepreneur or the agitator. The entrepreneur or the agitator sees a problem in society. Often this is coupled with a personal experience of the problem and a desire to do something about it. They gather more knowledge in the area, meet other people and develop an idea of how to solve the problem. In the phase of origin the key notion is the organizer. The leader has to have knowledge of organizing; how to organize people and how to mobilize resources. The organizers are often charismatic and use their charisma to gather people around their idea. In the maturity phase all the distinctive marks of a voluntary organizations can be seen. The key notion is the members' need for security and continuity. The members can also develop a personal need for the organization. The dependence on the founder or the leader decreases in significance, and bureaucracy is developed. Forces outside and inside the organization influence the voluntary organization and it is shaped by its history and surrounding. It is argued that the emergence of a voluntary organization is dependent on three things that has to coincide, discontent and an idea how to relieve it, resources and an organizer. The empiric findings support the three-phase model. In theory the phases are distinctive but in the case studies the phases could overlap.

Le sujet de cette thèse concerne l'élaboration de macromonomères, de copolymères greffés et de polymères étoiles de type 'mikto-arm'. De telles architectures macromoléculaires ont été synthétisées par la combinaison de techniques de polymérisation contrôlées/vivantes telles que la polymérisation par ouverture de cycle (par métathèse) (RO(M)P) etde chimie 'click' orthogonales : cycloaddition 1,3-dipolaireazoturealcyne catalysée au cuivre (CuAAC) et thiol-ène.Dans un premier temps, des macromonomères originaux à fonctionnalité polymérisable (oxa)norbornène portant deux chaînes macromoléculaires poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) et/ou poly(oxyde d'éthylène) (POE) ont été synthétisés par combinaison ROP/CuAAC. Les macromonomères à fonctionnalité (oxa)norbornène avec deux chaînes PCL de masse molaire moyenne en nombre (Mn) compris entre 1400 et 5000 g/mol ont été obtenus par ROP organocatalysée. La synthèse des macromonomères POE44-b-PCLn à fonctionnalité norbornène avec un bloc PCL de longueur variable (1100 g/mol
The objective of the present thesis was the preparation of complex macromolecules by the combination of controlled/livingpolymerization methods such as ring-opening (metathesis) polymerization (RO(M)P) and highly efficient orthogonal chemistries: copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne coupling (CuAAC) and thiol-ene reactions.In the first part of this work, a series of well-defined structural (co)polymers containing a cycloolefin (norbornene (NB) oroxanorbornene (ONB)) functionality bearing two polymer chains including poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and/or poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) have been successfully prepared using the combination of ring-opening polymerization (ROP) and CuAAC ‘click’ chemistry. Well-defined (oxa)norbornenyl-functionalized bis-PCL polymers with PCL chain ranging from 1400 to 5000 g/mol were obtained by organocatalyst-mediated ROP. Norbornenyl-functionalized PEO-b-PCL block copolymers with PCL block in the range 1100 to 4100 g/mol were synthesized from commercially available PEO 2000 g/mol by CuAAC followed by ROP of CL. The presence of a hydrophilic PEO chain and a hydrophobic PCL chain in norbornenylfunctionalizedPEO-b-PCL copolymers gives rise to self-assembling properties in water solution. Critical micellar concentrations (CMC)are in the range of 0.08 – 0.006 g/L for copolymers with PCL chain length ranging from 10 to 36 CL units, respectively. Thecorresponding micelles show hydrodynamic diameters in range of 10 – 23 nm with low polydispersities.In the second part of this work, well-defined copolymers were used to prepare bottle-brush and (mikto-arm) star copolymersthrough reactions involving the cycloolefin functionality. On the one hand, high density grafting bottle-brush copolymerspoly(oxa)norbornene-g-bisPCL, polynorbornene-g-PEO/PCL (PNB-g-(PEO/PCL)) and PNB-b-(PNB-g-(PEO/PCL)) were achieved by ROMP according to the ‘grafting through’ strategy using Grubbs’ catalysts. On the other hand, PCL, PEO, PNIPAM-based 3-arms star, 4-arms star copolymers were obtained via radical thiol-ene reactions as demonstrated by 1H NMR, SEC and MALDI-ToF MS analysis.The high reactivity of these copolymers toward ROMP and thiol-ene reactions makes them interesting candidates in order toprepare new well-defined copolymers with controlled structures and properties through highly efficient synthetic strategies

Les facteurs de transcription STAT3 sont des protéines cytoplasmiques qui induisent l'activation de gènes en réponse à une stimulation de facteurs de croissance ou de cytokines. A la suite d'une phosphorylation sur son résidu tyrosine 705, STAT3 se dimérise et est transloqué dans le noyau afin d'activer ses gènes cibles spécifiques impliqués dans la progression de la phase G1 vers la phase S du cycle cellulaire. Néanmoins, en absence de phosphorylation du résidu tyrosine 705, STAT3 est capable d'induire l'activation de ses gènes cibles, ces observations ont été corrélées avec la phosphorylation du résidu sérine 727 localisée dans le domaine de transactivation. Dans ce cas, il a été montré que les gènes cibles sont différents de ceux activés par STAT3 phosphorylé sur son résidu tyrosine. Ces résultats suggèrent que les modifications post-traductionnelles de STAT3 jouent un rôle important dans la spécificité de son activité transcriptionnelle. Nous avons observé que le facteur de transcription est phosphorylé sur son résidu sérine 727 en réponse à un traitement génotoxique par la kinase Cdk5. Dans ces conditions, cette voie Cdk5- STAT3 permet la diminution de l'expression de gènes impliqués dans la progression de la phase G1 du cycle cellulaire comme la cycline D1 et c-Myc afin de favoriser l'expression des gènes de réparation tel que Eme1. En parallèle, nous avons montré que STAT3 est également phosphorylé sur son résidu sérine 727 lors de la phase G2 et de la mitose. Cette phosphorylation, due à la kinase Cdk1, permet de réguler l'expression de gènes impliqués dans le déroulement des phases G2 et M du cycle cellulaire, tels que PLK1, STIL, RIC8A, FoxM1, NuMa, Cdc25C. Par ailleurs, grâce à une étude immunohistochimique, nous avons remarqué que STAT3 est phosphorylé sur son résidu sérine 727 dès les stades précoces du cancer colorectal. L'ensemble de ces résultats suggère que la sérine 727 est un site de phosphorylation majeur dans le cancer colorectal. Cette phosphorylation lui permet d'activer deux voies distinctes : la réparation des dommages de l'ADN en réponse à un traitement génotoxique et la progression du cycle cellulaire de la phase G2 vers la mitose.

To limit the effects of climate change and keep the global mean temperature increase of below 1.5 °C in the year 2100, the financial markets need to shift investments into low-carbon business and technologies. By integrating sustainability assessments into traditional investment analysis, sustainable investing is in this case a concept that can be used to enable this transition. The EU Taxonomy on sustainable finance is a tool and future mandatory regulation that aims to highlight sustainable investing and to help different companies, investors and project promoters make investment decisions that align with the transition to a low-carbon society. This study aims to describe how the EU taxonomy can be related to sustainable investments, and to examine how companies in different sectors are evaluated using the EU Taxonomy by using companies included in a sustainability fund as a case study. Furthermore, the study aims to examine whether the EU Taxonomy is in line with the Industrial Ecology concepts of Life cycle thinking and weak/strong sustainability. The results of the literature study of the EU Taxonomy together with the case study suggests that the implementation of the EU Taxonomy into EU regulation will lead to a greater integration of sustainable investing within the EU. Furthermore, the EU Taxonomy does in theory integrate Life cycle thinking as well as possess a strong view on sustainability. However, this does not translate into practice as the practical implementation of the EU Taxonomy as it stands right now does not implement these concepts. The results of the case study showed that there are issues associated with accessing company specific information, as the analyzed companies did not disclose how their operations relate to the EU Taxonomy. Moreover, the case study indicated that some sectors have an easier time being considered environmentally sustainable by the EU Taxonomy. The EU Taxonomy is a step in the right direction towards increased integration of environmental sustainability into investments, however, the tool and regulation as it stands right now leaves much to be desired.
För att hålla den globala medeltemperaturen under en ökning på 1.5 °C till år 2100, måste den finansiella marknaden investera i företag och teknologier som bidrar till en minskning av växthusgasutsläpp globalt. Hållbara investeringar är ett koncept som tar hänsyn till b.la utsläpp av växthusgaser i investeringsbeslut, vilket kan möjliggöra denna övergång till hållbarare samhälle. EU:s Taxonomi om hållbara investeringar är ett ramverk och framtida reglemente som ämnar att möjliggöra och hjälpa företag, investerare och projektansvariga att investera mer miljömässig hållbart. Denna studie syftar till att förklara hur EU Taxonomin kan relateras till hållbara investeringar, samt att examinera hur företag i olika sektorer kan utvärderas med hjälp av EU Taxonomin genom att genomföra en casestudie på företag inkludera i en hållbarhetsfond. Vidare ämnar denna studie examinera om EU Taxonomin är i linje med industriell ekologi med koncepten livscykeltänkande (en: Life Cycle Thinking) samt stark och svag hållbarhet. Resultatet indikerar att implementeringen av EU Taxonomin kommer att leda till en ökad integrering av hållbara investering inom EU. Vidare indikerar resultatet att EU Taxonomin har som mål att ta hänsyn till livscykeltänkande och vara i linje med stark hållbarhet, men att denna målsättning inte är inkluderat i det praktiska verktyget som EU Taxonomin använder. Resultatet av casestudien visar att det finns problem kopplade till att bedöma hur väl företag tar hänsyn till kriterierna inkluderade i EU Taxonomin, då företag inte delger den information som behövs för att göra denna bedömning. Vidare så indikerade casestudien att vissa sektorer kommer ha det lättare när det kommer till att vara i linje med EU Taxonomins kriterier. Avslutningsvis så är EU Taxonomin ett steg i rätt riktning när det kommer till att integrera miljöaspekter i investeringar, men det praktiska verktyget och ramverk som det ser ut just nu skulle kunna vara mer utvecklat och mer strikt i praktiken.

We have observed the nearest ultraluminous infrared galaxy Arp 220 with a 13 month near-infrared observing program using the Canada France Hawaii Telescope to search for obscured supernovae in this extreme star forming environment. This monitoring program was aimed as a feasibility study to determine the practicality of a large scale near-IR LIRG/ULIRG imaging survey. Establishing the supernova rate in these dusty galaxies is an important step toward confirming theorized star formation rates and settling the debate between the dominant energy source in LIRGs: star formation or AGN activity. Both the deduced high star formation rate and far-IR luminosity of Arp 220 suggest an atypically high supernova rate of 1-4 per year, two orders of magnitude greater than that of the Milky Way. We attempt the first direct observation of this rate which to date has been probed primarily through radio measurements of supernovae and remnants. Through a point-spread function matching and image subtraction procedure we find no supernovae outside the galactic nucleus, consistent with the paradigm of a strong nuclear-contained starburst. Image subtraction residuals prevent the discovery of supernovae in the central regions of the galaxy. Using differential photometry we find evidence for a statistically significant brightening in the Arp 220 nucleus with a K-band peak of approximately $\Delta m_K=0.16$ magnitudes. To find the true peak magnitude we use Hubble Space Telescope archival data to subtract off the nuclear background and find an absolute magnitude of $M_K = -22.19 \pm 0.16$ (non-absorbed). This exceeds the luminosity of a typical core collapse supernova by roughly 3.5 magnitudes; rather, the observed variations in nuclear brightness are most likely the signature of an active galactic nucleus embedded in the dusty nuclei of Arp 220 or the superposition of light from several supernovae. This method is not sensitive to the detection of individual supernovae and we cannot rule out the occurrence of any nuclear SNe during the observing period. The brightening event is dimmer in the H and J bands, appearing to be affected by extinction. Interpreting this as a supernova-related event we estimate the extinction in the nuclear regions of Arp 220 to lie between $2.01 \le A_K \le 3.40$ or $17.95 \le A_V \le 30.36$ in the optical, in agreement with several other estimates. Improved resolution is required in order to detect supernovae in the extremely bright nuclear environments of LIRGs. Alternatively, infrared spectroscopy would reveal the telltale spectral features of nuclear supernovae. Spectroscopic observations of the Arp 220 nuclei were conducted using Keck in July 2013 for this very purpose; results are pending. We also explore the hypothesis that type Ia supernovae are produced primarily from young stellar populations. We model elliptical galaxies as two component stellar systems using PEGASE stellar templates: a fixed older underlying population coupled with a younger, less massive population. Varying the age and mass ratio of the young component, we examine its effect on I) the colours and II) the supernova rate of the single underlying population. We explore the effect with redshift and employ both theoretical and observational forms of the type Ia delay-time distribution. We then apply our models to the MENeaCS supernova survey and find that the number and distribution of red sequence SN Ia hosts agrees with theoretical expectations. The lack of evidence for a type Ia rate cutoff argues for a continuous delay-time distribution in support of the double degenerate model as the primary SN Ia progenitor channel. We conclude that it is not possible for all type Ia events in ellipticals to originate from a young frosting of stars.
Graduate
0606
jkezwer@uvic.ca

Balanced Scorecard (the BSC) is recognized as one of the most powerful strategic management tools due to its ability to translate the long-term strategy into short-term goals and in financial and non-financial indicators. Considering the Portuguese business context in which the number of start-ups has increased significantly, this constitute a relevant study universe to relate the BSC with companies in the initial phase of the business life-cycle. For this, it was applied an interview to 9 start-ups to determine the level of willingness to adopt the BSC by considering their organizational characteristics. The main conclusion is that it seems to be a pattern that relates the business life-cycle stage in which a company is, with the willingness to adopt the BSC. Indeed, 8 over the 9 start-ups studied revealed not being willing to adopt the BSC in their companies due to their organizational characteristics that are inherent to the birth stage of the business life-cycle to which they belong and that constitute themselves obstacles to implement this tool. These start-ups attribute several advantages to the BSC by considering it is a very well designed tool but those are lessened by the obstacles found such as the scarcity of resources and the need to constantly change. Furthermore, the strategic management practices seem to be related to the willingness to adopt the BSC because this tool requires a long-term strategy and start-ups are short-term focused. To finalize, the willingness to adopt the BSC is higher from the birth stage to the growth stage as a result of the need to adapt internally to the increasing complexity of the company.
O Balanced Scorecard (BSC) é reconhecido como uma das mais poderosas ferramentas de gestão estratégica devido à sua habilidade em traduzir a estratégia de longo-prazo em objetivos de curto-prazo e em indicadores financeiros e não-financeiros. Considerando o contexto empresarial português onde o número de start-ups tem aumentado significativamente, é este o universo de estudo encontrado como relevante para relacionar o BSC com empresas que estão na fase inicial do ciclo-de-vida empresarial. Neste sentido, foi aplicada uma entrevista a 9 start-ups para averiguar a sua vontade em adotar o BSC considerando as suas características organizacionais. A principal conclusão é a de que parece existir um padrão que relaciona a fase do ciclo-de-vida empresarial, na qual a empresa se encontra, com a vontade em adotar o BSC. De facto, 8 das 9 start-ups estudadas revelaram não ter vontade de adotar o BSC devido às suas características organizacionais que são inerentes à fase inicial do ciclo-de-vida empresarial à qual estas pertencem, e que constituem por si só obstáculos à implementação desta ferramenta. Estas start-ups atribuem várias vantagens ao BSC considerando-o uma ferramenta muito bem desenhada, mas que são minimizadas pelos obstáculos encontrados como a escassez de recursos e a necessidade constante de mudança. Além disto, foi verificado que as práticas de gestão estratégica parecem estar relacionadas com a vontade em adotar o BSC porque esta ferramenta requere uma estratégia a longo-prazo e as start-ups são focadas no curto-prazo. Para finalizar, a vontade em adotar o BSC é maior da fase inicial para a fase de crescimento, sendo este o resultado da necessidade da empresa em se adaptar internamente à crescente complexidade da organização.