| 1. |
- Andersson, Peter
(författare)
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Modalitet och förändring : En studie av må och kunna i fornsvenska
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis investigates the development of root and non-root meanings of modal verbs through an empirical study of the verbs må and kunna in Old Swedish. Modality is taken to refer domains in which possibility contrasts with necessity. In Old Swedish, må (magha) and kunna 'may' and kunna 'can' have the potential to express most of the meanings relating to possibility and necessity, as well as lexical meanings. The two verbs are investigated in an Old Swedish corpus consisting of legal and religious texts. Certain default correlations between type of modal and semantic and syntatic enviroments, which have been proposed in the litterature, are investigated. The result shows that må frequently expresses participant-internal possibility, 'ability' and deonic possibility, 'permission', whereas kunna is mainly associated with participant-internal and general external possibility. Of particular interest is the use of må in conditions, which provides evidence that this construction type may have played a bridging role in the development on non-root modality. Using the framework of force dynamics, the development of modal meaning is analysed as a metamorphical transfer of one consistent image-schema between different conceptual domains. the schematic components are described in terms of forces and barriers. The proposed transfer from a physical to a social domain and further on to a mental and a conversional domain provides a good account of the diachronic development.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Brusk, Jenny, 1968-
(författare)
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Steps Towards Creating Socially Competent Game Characters
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis investigates and presents approaches towards creating more socially competent NPCs by means of natural language dialogues. The aim is to provide hands-on solutions for game developers who want to offer interactions with the NPCs in the game that are socially driven rather than functionally motivated and that encourage the player to build and maintain relationships between the character they control and the other game characters. By means of gameplay design patterns (GDPs), i.e. a semi-formal means of describing, sharing and expanding knowledge about game design, a selection of games have been analysed in order to identify existing and hypothetical GDPs for game dialogues. The analysis resulted in a number of GDPs that support, or could support, social interaction among game characters. A selection of the identified patterns has then been modelled using Harel statecharts and implemented in State Chart XML, a candidate to become a W3C standard.
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| 5. |
- Eriksson, Nomie, 1955
(författare)
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Friska vindar i sjukvården. Stöd och hinder vid förändringar i professionella organisationer
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Implementation of decisions in professional organisations is characterized by the board making decisions for the professions to perform. In this thesis a decision concerning how process directed method of working in medical service is studied. The implementation was studied at two hospitals and units with similar medical alignment. Earlier research shows that medical service is hard to change. The aim with this study is to identify what supports and what hinders the professions’ implementation of a new working method and to explain why. The professions are registered nurses and physicians. They have good knowledge of the medical service and a great interest in good performance for patients as well as themselves. Characteristic is that they carry out decisions if they correspond with their norms and values which describe how medical service is to be performed, i.e. the institutions of medical service. Process directed method of working diverts from the traditional working methods in medical service. The activities in medical service are synchronized into a logical chain without repetitions. It gives a standardized medical service for all the patients included in one group of patients or one diagnosis. The new way of working changes what medical service is offered, where it is performed and by whom. The working method gives medical, as well as administrative, changes. Medically, questioning and changing alters the contents of medical service. Administratively, the medical service directing and organisation is changed. The overall view on medical service is developed with this working method, whether it is performed in one or several units. Established facts for the implementation of the working method is development of the dialogue, which is held between the professions, by real enthusiasts and offers from each hospital management respectively about education and stimuli. The professions’ satisfaction with the new working method also supports the change. Hindering the implementation of the method are activities such as rounds, reports and documentation and they are hard to adapt into the processes since they have developed into ceremonies that could wear traces of path dependence. On top of this there is a general expressed conception of lack of time, which also has developed into a ceremony. Despite that the study showed that existing institutions agree with the decided working method and the implementation is strong when it comes to available bases, the grade of implementation varies and problems of implementation are identified. If the organisation is marked by contentment, the existing working method will be preserved. If the decision is forced upon the professions they will re-form it or re-interpret it. If path dependent activities exist, only parts of the working method are changed which the professions’ experience as frustrating. However, if the professions participate in the implementation of process directed working method through dialogue, real enthusiasts and education and stimuli, the traditional working method will change.
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| 6. |
- Gadolin, Christian
(författare)
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The Logics of Healthcare - In Quality Improvement Work
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Quality improvement (QI) has become a cornerstone in contemporary healthcare organizations with the aim of enabling management that facilitates efficiency and effectiveness, while providing a consistent correlation between health spending and indicators of access to and quality of care. However, despite years of reform which have attempted to change healthcare professionals’ practice, traditional professional modes of working remain relatively stable and entrenched. Previous research has highlighted the fact that healthcare professionals’ active involvement in quality improvement work (QIW) is often lacking. Such a lack is often explained by professionals’ scepticism towards management, managers, and organizationally related improvement initiatives. Yet, there is a shortage of studies which focus on analysis at the level of the actor when studying healthcare professionals’ involvement in QIW.This dissertation presents a qualitative case study of the QIW undertaken by a multi-professional diabetes care team. It enables a description and analysis of healthcare professionals’ involvement in QIW at the actor level of analysis. A theoretical framework, consisting of the combination of institutional logics and institutional work, is applied in order to focus on varied and complementary aspects of institutional dynamics while simultaneously emphasizing the embeddedness of actors’ actions and interactions.The study shows that healthcare professionals’ identification with and adherence to the professional logic in general impairs their involvement in QIW. Adherence entails perceiving professional judgments and discretion as legitimate in guiding practice and work. However, the study emphasizes that adherence to the professional logic varies amongst professionals representing different professions. This means that healthcare professionals’ acceptance of the bureaucratic control of work as legitimate differs - enabling diverse approaches and practices in QIW. Furthermore, the study illustrates that the physicians’ relative dominance hinders the utilization of multiple perspectives in the multi-professional team. This finding elucidates how dominance and hierarchization of logics enable healthcare professionals’ practice to remain relatively stable, despite managerial attempts to change and alter it. Finally, the study delineates the interactions needed in order to bridge institutional logics at the actor level of analysis. Such interactions are characterized by reciprocal acts of claiming and granting influence that constitute creative/disruptive institutional work, enabling actors to find new approaches to each other and further facilitate healthcare professionals’ involvement in QIW.
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| 7. |
- Gellerstedt, Martin, 1966-
(författare)
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Interpretation of diagnostic information given patient characteristics
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim with this thesis was to describe, exemplify and develop theory for reference values and diagnostic tests, especially focusing on the variability between individuals. To facilitate interpretation of medical information it is common to establish some kind of limit. There are several different rationales for the choice of such a limit. Reference values are intended to be solely descriptive, while medical decision limits are used for identification of a present or future disorder. The frequently used bimodal model can be used not only for discrimination between healthy vs diseased but for separation of other conditions as well. Reference values for amplitude of accommodation among school children were suggested based on a bimodal model discriminating between children with vs without symptoms occurring at near work. If the variability between individuals is high compared to the variability found within an individual or if the diagnostic information is subjective, it may be favorable to use the individual as its own reference. The diagnosis of food-hypersensitivity for patients with subjective symptoms was used as an illustration. A pre-defined approach for interpretation of case records gave high inter-observer reliability, and gave different diagnoses than a previously used approach. To harmonize the sensitivity and specificity of reference values across subpopulations, partitioning of reference values is one possibility. Existing criteria are limited to the consideration of only two subpopulations. A computer assisted procedure for considering partitioning of several subpopulations was developed. The potential relationship between diagnostic accuracy of a test and other factors are highlighted in diagnostic theory. However, there is no advice regarding how to adjust for this relationship. Two possibilities have been presented; to use a multivariate model including interactions or to use different thresholds for different subpopulations. Diagnostic information could be individually adjusted by using a prevalence function which estimate probability of target disorder, given patient characteristics. A computer based decision support system including such a prevalence function was shown to have potential benefits for assisting medical decisions.
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| 8. |
- Gerafi, Joel
(författare)
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Visuospatial inattention and processing speed : Predictors of long-term outcome and patterns of change after ischemic stroke
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Impairments of visuospatial attention, language, and processing speed (PS) are common early after stroke and have been associated with unfavorable short-term functional outcomes but little is known about this relationship in the long-term. This thesis investigates 1) the potential importance of visuospatial inattention (VSI) and language impairments (LI) as predictors of functional outcomes 7 years after an ischemic stroke (studies I-II) and 2) presence of lateralized inattention 7 years after stroke and potential predictors of this phenomenon (study III). Study IV gives a detailed description of the long-term course of PS across 3 months and 7 years after an ischemic stroke. A cohort of 375 consecutive stroke patients was assessed early after stroke for the occurrence (studies I–II and IV) and severity (studies III-IV) of VSI using the Star Cancellation Test (SCT, studies I-IV) and Letter Cancellation Test (LCT, studies III-IV). Language impairments were investigated (studies I-II) by the language item from the Scandinavian Stroke Scale (SSS). At the 7-year follow-up, functional outcomes were measured by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), the Frenchay Activities Index (FAI) (studies I-II and IV), and the recovery item of Stroke Impact Scale (SIS) (study IV). Patients with a recurrent stroke during the follow-up period were excluded (all studies). The presence of lateralized inattention at the 7-year follow-up (study III) was assessed with the SCT, the LCT, and the neglect item from the NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS). The long-term course of PS (study IV) was measured by a mirrored copy of the SCT with a time limit of 30 seconds, follow-up assessments of SCT, LCT, and NIHSS were also included in this study. In study I, 235 stroke survivors were included at the follow-up and VSI and stroke severity (SSS) were identified as the significant independent predictors of unfavorable outcomes in mRS and FAI. The early screening of LI did not provide independent prognostic information beyond the information provided by VSI and stroke severity. In study II, 105 individuals with left hemispheric stroke were included at the 7-year follow-up. It was found that the presence of VSI was rather common observed in about one of five patients. VSI was the most important independent predictor of unfavorable outcomes in mRS and FAI. Individuals with both VSI and LI had increased risk of poor outcome compared to those with signs of one of these symptoms. In study III, 188 stroke survivors were included at the 7-year follow-up and about one of ten had signs of lateralized inattention. Independent baseline predictors for these long-term signs were total omissions in target cancellations and inferior performance on visual processing speed. In study IV, 148 subjects were included at follow-up and impaired PS was observed in about one of three individuals at baseline with significant improvement in scores at 3 months followed by a clear decline at 7 years. It was also found that slow PS was related with inferior functional outcome at the 7-year follow-up, also after adjusting for age. Age was related with scores in PS but did not explain the scores of PS for those with lowest speed. Conclusions: Studies I-II emphasize the importance of identifying early symptoms of VSI not only after right hemispheric stroke but also after left hemispheric stroke and particularly for individuals with severe symptoms of LI. A combination of attention and language deficits at the acute phase seems to be rather common among patients with left hemispheric stroke and indicates an increased risk of unfavorable outcomes. Studies III-IV are the first studies to recognize PS as a significant predictor of long-term lateralized inattention and to describe changes in speed across two follow-ups up to 7 years in a stroke cohort. The results from these two studies emphasize the importance of further long-term studies of PS after stroke.
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| 9. |
- Holm, Louise
(författare)
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A Non-Stationary perspective on the European and Swedish Business Cycle
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Business cycles, the ups and downs observed somewhat simultaneously in numerous macroeconomic variables in an economy and often measured using real GDP, are important and, despite much economic research, still incom- pletely understood. Dating the business cycle has always been of interest in macroeconomic research. The dating might help to find the causes of a recession and this understanding could help to prevent or limit the duration of recessions in the future. A non-stationary, non-parametric smoothing- technique is proposed here to make business cycles simpler to analyse and interpret. The method is applied to the Euro area and to the Swedish econ- omy. For the Euro area the method finds two deeper and two milder reces- sions and one stagnation period since 1970. The dating is close to that of the CEPR. The same method is then used to date recessions in Sweden for the period 1969-2006. Four recessions were found. One research area of interest related to the dating of business cycles is forecasting of an upcoming recession. If an upcoming recession is detected, monetary policy could respond and avoid an output gap or a fall in inflation. We use a probit model to examine the in-sample performance of various financial variables as a predictor of Swedish recessions. The results show that the slope of the yield curve appears to perform better than other variables, but also that the spread is not a reliable indicator for detecting recessions in Sweden since there are many false warnings.
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| 10. |
- Jagudina, Zaira, 1959
(författare)
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Social Movements and Gender in Post-Soviet Russia. The Case of the Soldier's Mothers NGOs
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation provides a study of gender processes in the maternal human rights movement of the Soldiers’ Mothers NGOs, which were created in the arena of the military draft politics in post-Soviet Russia. It also includes an analysis of the depoliticized and gendered civil society of the formalized NGOs, which provides a broader social context for the soldiers’ mothers’ movement. The dissertation is founded on a combination of ideas borrowed from three theoretical perspectives. First, the concept ‘woman’ is approached as an analytical and political category constructed through the social locations by gender, class, region and culture within the framework of a military nation-state. The conventional maternal femininity, ‘naturally’ linked with caring labor, is produced as a part of the modern nation-states’ ideologies of militarism and patriotic duty. Second, participants in social movements create an oppositional sub-universe of meaning and try to deintegrate from the dominant beliefs, social norms, and rules of feeling. Finally, gender processes affect the political opportunities, mobilizing structures and collective identity construction in social movements. The case study´s primary empirical material is 22 semi-structural qualitative interviews conducted in 2000-2005 with 17 members of two organizations of the Soldiers’ Mothers, located in two different large cities. In addition, a participant observation of these two organizations and a discourse analysis of 35 articles in the Russian press were carried out, as well as 36 interviews with members of other human rights NGOs in Russia. The impact of gender processes upon the Soldiers’ Mothers movement is analyzed in relation to three dimensions: institutional and ideological structures, mobilizing social and organizational resources, and collective identity framing. In the context of the ongoing military operations and the depoliticizing trends in civil society, mothers of soldiers were supposed to work in the social serviceoriented NGOs as a helpmate to the military officials. Through the rituals of storytelling and interactions with their allies and their constituency, the Soldiers’ Mothers activists have deintegrated from the mainstream norms of women’s civic duty. The goals of the Soldiers’ Mothers NGOs have been reframed by connecting the maternal frame with the counter-discursive rhetoric of human rights, rooted in the Soviet legacy of political dissent. The feelings of fear, shame and anxiety are managed, and solidarity, pride and hope are instilled among the activists and parts of their constituency. Challenging the post-Soviet traditionalist gender ideology, the activists create a more critical identity of soldier’s mothers based on an anti-draft/military ideology. This ideology varies among local civic groups, depending on their access to material, human and symbolic resources. Relying on informal social networks, the activists sustain the autonomous status of their groups. From the viewpoints of the local grassroots’, the Soldiers’ Mothers activists reframe the concept ‘gender’ in the elitist feminism imported by Western donors in the NGO sector. The key findings in this dissertation suggest different revisions and expansions of earlier empirical research of the Soldiers’ Mothers NGOs and development of theories of gendered social movements.
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