Dynamics of optically excited electronic states have been studied in solid films and solutions of semiconducting polymers and model compounds. Transient absorption, monitored in the spectral range from 0.9 eV to 2.5 eV with a time resolution of about 100 fs, was the main experimental technique. Transient anisotropy, obtained from different polarizations of light, was employed to trace the dipole m

Female religious communities, and later also convents, accompanied the return of the Catholic Church to the Nordic countries in the middle of the nineteenth century. These religious communities were mostly so-called active orders or congregations, who helped in parishes or ran private schools, orphanages or nursing homes. In the 1930s there were nearly 1,400 Catholic sisters working in Scandinavia

Braided convolutional codes (BCCs) are a class of spatially coupled turbo-like codes with a structure that is similar to product codes or generalized LDPC codes. We derive explicit input/output transfer functions of the component convolutional decoders for the binary erasure channel (BEC). These are then used to formulate exact density evolution equations for blockwise BCCs under belief propagatio

This dissertation discusses how actors within the state act during a crisis of democracy. This issue is examined from two angles: 1 . How can actors within the state act during democratic crises? 2. How have actors within the state acted during democratic crises? The structure of this book is guided by both of these issues. In the first part of the book, an analytical model is developed. With the

Distributed Decision Making and Control is a mathematical treatment of relevant problems in distributed control, decision and multi-agent systems, The research reported was prompted by the recent rapid development in large-scale networked and embedded systems and communications. One of the main reasons for the growing complexity in such systems is the dynamics introduced by computation and communi

The simultaneous localization and mapping problem is approached by using an ultrasound sensor and wheel encoders. To be able to account for the low precision inherent in ultrasound sensors, the occupancy grid notion is extended. The extension takes into consideration with which angle the sensor is pointing, to compensate for the issue that an object is not necessarily detectable from all position

Conflicts between project stakeholders can stop or damage a construction project as well as technical problems. It is not uncommon that projects are stopped or changed late in the process with the effect that large amounts of already made investments becomes obsolete. One explanation of this phenomena is the escalation of project decisions, where project managers persist with a course of actions l

Abstract This paper aims to gain a better understanding of the impact different micro-geometries has on stress distribution in cutting tools. Both principal and effective stress distribution are studied since these quantities have a major impact on the occurrence of damages in the cutting tool such as crack formation, flaking, chipping, breakage and plastic deformation. The development of a stagna

This thesis takes as its point of departure an elective course in English: 'Drama in Practice - Shakespeare on Stage'. The course combines theory and practice in that it contains (on the one hand) lectures and written work about one of Shakespeare’s comedies, and (on the other hand) an on-stage part with rehearsals of the same play, culminating in a performance, in costume, before an audience. The

The aim of this thesis was mainly to find out the conditions under which a modernisation of the standardisation process could realistically take place, in order to allow the inclusion of parameters that are currently ignored. The necessary balance between private interests and public good issues, and the need to take into the discussions leading to the adoption of standards, their generally heavy

The catalyst layer (CL) in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells is one of the key components regulating the overall performance of the cell. In PEM fuel cells, there are two CLs having identical composition for hydrogen oxidation (HO) and oxygen reduction (OR) reactions. There are four phases inside the CL, namely: carbon, Pt particles, ionomer and voids. In this work, a micro-model of th