| 1. |
- Aagerup, Ulf, 1969-
(författare)
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The Impact of User Weight on Brands and Business Practices in Mass Market Fashion
- 2010
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Overweight people claim to be mistreated by the fashion industry. If they were, it would be in line with branding theory supporting the idea of rejecting fat consumers to improve user imagery for fashion brands. However, fashion companies do not confess to such practices.To shed some light on the subject, I have conducted two studies.The first attempts to illustrate what effect, if any, user imagery has on fashion brands. It is an experiment designed to show how the weight of users affects consumers’ perceptions of mass market fashion brands. The findings show that consumers’ impressions of mass market fashion brands are significantly affected by the weight of its users. The effect of male user imagery is ambiguous. For women’s fashion on the other hand, slender users are to be preferred.In the second study I examine what effects these effects have on assortments. I compare the sizes of mass market clothes to the body sizes of the population. No evidence of discrimination of overweight or obese consumers was found -quite the contrary.The reasons for these unexpected findings may be explained by the requirements a brand must fulfil to make management of the customer base for user imagery purposes viable. The brand must be sensitive to user imagery; a requirement that mass market fashion fulfils. However, it must also be feasible for a company to exclude customers, and while garment sizes can be restricted to achieve this, the high volume sales strategy of mass market fashion apparently cannot.
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| 2. |
- Bokinge, Mattias, 1984
(författare)
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Evaluating PLM Implementations Using a Guidelines-based Approach
- 2012
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is an information technology-based concept bringing several benefits to product development organizations. However, it has been reported that PLM implementations in industry render unsatisfactory results. Hence, the overall aim of the work presented in this thesis is to develop new tools and methods that can lead to improved outcomes from future PLM implementations.In-depth understanding of the operational aspects of PLM implementations is needed in order to develop methods and tools that can support practitioners. However, most of the existing discussions of characteristics and challenges in PLM implementations are provided without thorough case studies of the implementations from which they are drawn. In particular, the role of requirements management in PLM implementation is argued to be in need of clarification. The problem is approached by presenting an in-depth case study of a recent PLM implementation, focusing on operational requirements management issues.In order to achieve improved outcomes from PLM implementations, being able to evaluate the outcomes is argued as being necessary. Furthermore, it is argued that it would be beneficial to be able to evaluate tentative PLM solutions during development and PLM implementations leading to the development and deployment of PLM solutions, rather than evaluating the effects resulting from having used a PLM solution. It is found that such methods and tools are currently lacking and need to be proposed, developed and evaluated.The problem is approached by utilizing published experiences, in terms of guidelines, from previous PLM implementations. A guideline can be defined as a directional recommendation for what to do (or what not to do) in a specific context. Available guidelines are first summarized in a tool, followed by a discussion of their relevance and application in relation to the in-depth case study. It is found that most of the guidelines, though highly relevant to the case, were not fully applied, and that a better application of more of the guidelines would lead to better outcomes. It is furthermore demonstrated that PLM implementation guidelines can be used to identify weak spots associated with conducted PLM implementations. A subset of the summarized guidelines (those regarding the PLM solution) is then utilized in a proposed method to identify risks associated with a PLM solution. As such, the methods and tool serve as discussion-facilitating support and direct focus on areas in need of improvement. Future work includes developing a guidelines structure and seeking to expand the guidelines set to cover more areas.
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| 3. |
- German Millberg, Lena, 1958-
(författare)
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Akademisering av specialistsjuksköterskans utbildning i Sverige : Spänningsförhållanden med anledning av utbildningsreform i enlighet med Bologna
- 2012
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Licentiatavhandlingens övergripande syfte var att studera konsekvenser av ökad akademisering och akademiskt lärande inom Svensk specialist-sjuksköterskeutbildning efter genomförande av ny utbildningsreform enligt Bologna.Bakgrund: Specialistsjuksköterskor förväntas i dagens hälso– och sjukvård att kunna bedriva en patientsäker och evidensbaserad vård, vilket kräver akademisk kompetens. Utbildningen till specialistsjuksköterska fördes i och med Bolognaprocessens införande i Sverige 2007 till avancerad utbildningsnivå. Både yrkesexamen och akademisk examen (magisterexamen) skulle inkluderas och integreras i samma utbildning. Detta medförde en förändring från en ämnesinriktad (samlingskodsinriktad) läroplan till en läroplan som syftar till att integrera ämnen (integrationskodsinriktad). Förutom ämnesintegrering skulle yrkesspecifika mål integreras med akademiska mål.Metod: Artikel I genomfördes i form av ett didaktiskt aktionsforskningsprojekt som pågick under 2½ år. En projektledningsgrupp (n=15-18) från fem lärosäten bildades. Denna grupp har aktivt deltagit i hela aktionsforskningsprocessen och vid projektmöten. Vid varje lärosäte utsågs en projektansvarig som ansvarade för den lokala aktionsforskningsprocessen. Dessa personer samlande in data i form av kursplaner, utbildningsplaner, studiehandledningar, minnesanteckningar från lärarmöten och möten med vårdverksamheter samt minnesanteckningar från forskargruppensmöten. Analys har gjorts med hjälp av konstant komparativ analysmetod. I artikel II användes konstruktivistisk Grounded Theory för att samla in och analysera data. Datainsamlingen påbörjades utifrån specialistsjuksköterskestudenters svar på en enkäts öppna fråga (n=120) i samband med utbildningens avslutning 2009 och 2010. Enkätsvaren reste frågor om specialistsjuksköterskans akademiska lärande. För att inhämta en djupare förståelse genomfördes intervjuer med specialistsjuksköterskor (n=12) som yrkesarbetat mellan 5 och 12 månader efter sin examen. Intervjuerna genomfördes från juni till oktober 2011. Avslutningsvis jämfördes svaren på den öppna enkätfrågan med analysen av intervjuerna.Resultat: Vid utbildningsreformens införande fanns pedagogiska motsättningar och didaktiska svårigheter som gav upphov till spänningsförhållanden mellan vårdutveckling, forskning, yrkesspecifika mål och akademiska mål. Spänningsförhållanden framkom också när specialistsjuksköterskorna inte erfor att deras akademiska kompetens tillvaratogs och värderades i vårdverksamheten. När stöd inte fanns för akademiskt lärande uppkom villrådighet och specialistsjuksköterskorna blev ambivalenta över om akademiskt lärande var meningsfullt. För att främja meningsfullt akademiskt lärande framhåller deltagarna betydelsen av samverkan och gemensamma arenor mellan lärosäten och vårdverksamhet där nyttoaspekten med akademiskt lärande tydliggörs. De spänningsförhållanden som framkommer var av både positiv och negativ karaktär.
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| 4. |
- Hedenberg, Klas, 1968-
(författare)
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Obstacle Detection for Driverless Trucks in Industrial Environments
- 2014
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With an increased demand on productivity and safety in industry, new issues in terms of automated material handling arise. This results in industries not having a homogenous fleet of trucks and driven and driverless trucks are mixed in a dynamic environment. Driven trucks are more flexible than driverless trucks, but are also involved in more accidents. A transition from driven to driverless trucks can increase safety, but also productivity in terms of fewer accidents and more accurate delivery. Hence, reliable and standardized solutions that avoid accidents are important to achieve high productivity and safety. There are two different safety standards for driverless trucks for Europe (EN1525) and U.S. (B56.5–2012) and they have developed differently. In terms of obstacles, they both consider contact with humans. However, a machinery-shaped object has recently been added to the U.S. standard (B56.5–2012). The U.S. standard also considers different materials for different sensors and non-contact sensors. For obstacle detection, the historical contact-sensitive mechanical bumpers as well as the traditional laser scanner used today both have limitations – they do not detect hanging objects. In this work we have identified several thin objects that are of interest in an industrial environment. A test apparatus with a thin structure is introduced for a more uniform way to evaluate sensors. To detect thin obstacles, we used a standard setup of a stereo system and developed this further to a trinocular system (a stereo system with three cameras). We also propose a method to evaluate 3D sensors based on the information from a 2D range sensor. The 3D model is created by measuring the position of a reflector with known position to an object with a known size. The trinocular system, a 3D TOF camera and a Kinect sensor are evaluated with this method. The results showed that the method can be used to evaluate sensors. It also showed that 3D sensor systems have potential to be used on driverless trucks to detect obstacles, initially as a complement to existing safety classed sensors. To improve safety and productivity, there is a need for harmonization of the European and the U.S. safety standards. Furthermore, parallel development of sensor systems and standards is needed to make use of state-of-the-art technology for sensors.
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| 5. |
- Hertz, Erik, 1956-
(författare)
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Parabolic Synthesis
- 2011
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Many consumer products, such as within the computer areas, computer graphics, digital signal processing, communication systems, robotics, navigation, astrophysics, fluid physics, etc. are searching for high computational performance as a consequence of increasingly more advanced algorithms in these applications. Until recently the down scaling of the hardware technology has been able to fulfill these higher demands from the more advanced algorithms with higher clock rates on the chips. This that the development of hardware technology performance has stagnated has moved the interest more over to implementation of algorithms in hardware. Especially within wireless communication the desire for higher transmission rates has increased the interest for algorithm implementation methodologies. The scope of this thesis is mainly on the developed methodology of parabolic synthesis. The parabolic synthesis methodology is a methodology for implementing approximations of unary functions in hardware. The methodology is described with the criteria's that have to be fulfilled to perform an approximation on a unary function. The hardware architecture of the methodology is described and to this a special hardware that performs the squaring operation. The outcome of the presented research is a novel methodology for implementing approximations of unary functions such as trigonometric functions, logarithmic functions, as well as square root and division functions etc. The architecture of the processing part automatically gives a high degree of parallelism. The methodology is founded on operations that are simple to implement in hardware such as addition, shifts, multiplication, contributes to that the implementation in hardware is simple to perform. The hardware architecture is characterized by a high degree of parallelism that gives a short critical path and fast computation. The structure of the methodology will also assure an area efficient hardware implementation.
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| 6. |
- Johannesson, Karin, 1982-
(författare)
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Analysis of phosphorus retention variations in constructed wetlands receiving variable loads from arable land
- 2011
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Seven wetlands, constructed on agricultural land in the south of Sweden, were investigated with respect to phosphorus (P) retention. The overall aim was to increase the understanding of P retention and find possible explanations for the variations in retention that have been observed in previous studies. This was done by i) investigating P retention in wetlands receiving various water and P loads, ii) investigating the effect of variations in water flow on P transport, iii) comparing how well retention estimates based on water quality data agreed with measurements of the amount of P accumulated in the sediment.Results showed that P retention was positive in all wetlands, but it was variable (1–58 kg ha-1 yr-1) and months with negative retention were observed in nearly all wetlands. Such monthly negative retention coincided with i) high flow periods, when particulate P was either flushed straight through the wetlands or resuspended from the bottoms, and ii) warm low flow periods, in which case dissolved P was probably released from wetland sediments due to anoxic conditions.The results from the two methods for estimating P retention differed. Based on water quality data, the total P load during four years was 65 kg ha-1 and the mean P retention 2.8 kg ha-1 yr-1, or 17% of the total P load. In contrast, the amount of P accumulated in the inlet zone alone amounted to 78% of the P load, and the P content in the upper sediment of the whole wetland area exceeded the P load with a factor four. This discrepancy showed the need to add studies of sediment accumulation to inflow-outflow estimates for an improved understanding of wetland P retention.
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| 7. |
- Jonasson, Kalle, Fil. Dr. Idrottsvetenskap, 1976-
(författare)
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Klungan och barndomens sociala rum : Socialt gränsarbete och figurationer i rastfotbollen
- 2010
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Denna licentiatavhandling, Klungan och barndomens sociala rum, diskuterar den samtida heterogena barndomen utifrån analyser av barns informella fotbollsspel på rasten i skolan. Det empiriska exemplet rastfotboll analyseras med begrepp som rum, genus och gränsöverskridande. Rumsanalys av rastfotbollen ger exempel på hur traditionella könshierarkier reproduceras, omformas och utmanas i löst organiserade former av idrott. Perspektiven i studien hämtas från barndomssociologi, idrottsvetenskap, kulturgeografi, filosofi och genusforskning. Barndomens komplexitet skapas av att logiker från olika sociala rum – t.ex. familj, skola och idrott – samexisterar och motsägs. Det tvärvetenskapliga angreppssättet och tillhörigheten till det flerdisciplinära forskningsprojektet Mångkontextuell barndom gör studien till ett exempel på det den avser att beskriva: gränsöverskridanden och flöden i en heterogen verklighet.
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| 8. |
- Karlsson, Göran, 1954-
(författare)
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Learning science by digital technology : Students’ understanding of computer animated learning material
- 2010
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Digital learning material is associated with grand expectations among educational policy makers. Several attempts to introduce this new technology with the purpose of enhancing learning have been made in recent years. The schooling system has, however, been rather hesitant and not so ready to adopt this kind of teaching aid. The aim of this thesis is to probe into students‘ practical problems of understanding computerised science learning material involving animated sequences and educational text. For the purpose of this investigation an application describing the different events in the carbon cycle was developed. Two studies present analyses of students‘ reasoning and actions when working collaboratively with the task of making a written account of what is illustrated in the learning material. Both studies present examples of identified phenomena that were observed in more extensive empirical materials. The data is represented by video recordings of students‘ interaction with each other and the interface. Results from the studies reveal students‘ propensity for concentrating their attention to prominent characteristics of the animated display and to describe the animated models in correspondence to their resemblance of objects and occurrences in everyday life. In study II it is revealed how students, when constructing a written report of the described events, derive noun phrases from attentionally detected objects in the animation and from the educational text. In their effort to express themselves in colloquial language, when preparing their report, they deliberately select verbs that differ from the educational text. These courses of action together, contribute to give the report on what happens in the process a non-scientific explanation. It is concluded that students, lacking definite access to the relevant subject matter knowledge, consequently, cannot judge whether they have given an approvable account or not. Findings from the studies show that the school context with its explicit stipulations of assignments and implicit request for expressing oneself in your own words frames the learning and creates conditions for how the technology is used and understood. The results indicate that animated models of scientific concepts risk inferring misconceptions if students are left on their own with interpreting information from the learning material. Despite the detected problems of students‘ interpretations of the described phenomena, the results indicate that animated learning material can proffer an exploitable resource in science education. Such a prospect is the ability of animation to engage students in discussions of the subject and to make them recognise otherwise unobservable phenomena.
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| 9. |
- Lundgren, Lina, 1982-
(författare)
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System analysis of kitesurfing : Understanding performance and injury risk for on-water board sports
- 2011
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Board sports are examples of sports where the interaction of the task, environment and the athlete are essential. As for other sports, there are injuries and other issues associated with these sports, which affect performance and that can be avoided by proper preparation and well- designed equipment. By focusing on kitesurfing as a system structure the complex interactions between factors can help reveal which variables that are of interest to study to increase the level of performance and safety. Lack of research on the board sport kitesurfing makes this area interesting to study regarding performance and musculoskeletal problems. The purpose of this licentiate thesis was to further the understanding of on-water board sports, and specifically study kitesurfing by using a system analysis to structure factors that influence performance and injury risk for this board sport. The specific aims were:To reveal the most common self-reported injuries related to kitesurfing and their causes (Paper I).To evaluate in which body parts participants perceive musculoskeletal stress, pain and discomfort related to the performance of kitesurfing (Paper II).To identify usability problems related to the preparation of kitesurfing equipment (Paper III).To provide a system analysis to describe the relations between and identify characteristics that influence performance and injury risk of kitesurfing.Methods used for these studies were hierarchical task analysis, observations (n=8), web- questionnaires (n=206), interviews (n=17) and a focus group (n=7). The system analysis was executed in six steps and based on ideas adopted from general systems theory, dynamical systems and ecological task analysis. Tasks performed in freestyle kitesurfing consist of riding a board and performing jumps and tricks, whereof the latter have sub-tasks involving take-off, acrobatic air movements and landings. Within the system of kitesurfing, there are the sub-systems athlete, kite system, board system and harness/protection. There are also external factors acting upon the system. All sub- systems have characteristics that are less changeable during execution of the task and which effect on the athlete can be represented by identified output measures, i.e. harness line force, board reaction force, steering force, pressure distribution, movement patterns, body temperature, fatigue level, comfort and pain, choice of sub-task, mood, stress level, concentration, motivation, experience and usability. The results show that the most frequent locations for injury are in the lower extremities, i.e. knee and ankle, and that about 50% of the injuries reported were associated with jumps and tricks. Equipment and environmental factors also contribute to injuries, as well as to musculoskeletal stress, pain and discomfort. The abdominal muscles were most frequently reported as exposed to high musculoskeletal stress, but also thighs and lower back were perceived as highly stressed throughout the tasks. Knees and feet were areas described as sometimes painful, especially in combination with landings from tricks or strong winds.Furthermore, the lower back was reported painful when kitesurfing in strong winds. When hooking out from the harness for performing tricks, the shoulders were perceived as highly stressed. Before the execution of on-water kitesurfing starts, the preparation of the kite system must be accomplished. The results from Study III showed that there are usability problems related to this kitesurfing task, meaning risk for use error to arise. If use errors occur, serious consequences can follow later in the process. The results emphasize improvement of the products from a usability perspective. Some of the identified output measures were partly answered from the results of Papers I-III, where numbers of injuries, perceived musculoskeletal stress, pain and discomfort, and usability issues were evaluated for kitesurfing. The structure motives the need for further research within the area of on-water board sports and reveals variables that are affecting the system.
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| 10. |
- Norrström, Heidi
(författare)
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Energy Efficiency and Preservation in Our Cultural Heritage : EEPOCH
- 2011
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The project EEPOCH concerns our built heritage and the complex set of problems that exist between energy efficiency and preservation perspectives. New legislation demanding efficient energy use is predicated on the documented potential of energy efficiency on both national and international levels. Due to the severe environmental impact of energy consumption and diminishing fossil energy sources, energy efficiency is considered a key action. Concerns have been raised, however, as to whether the historic value of our built heritage will be lost, to the advantage of energy efficiency actions. There is a need for models directed towards the application of an integrated balancing of energy and preservation demands. The aim of this study is to find a way to design such theoretical models. Three cases with objects restored in the 1990s have been studied by analysing and comparing their energy performance and their different historic and architectural values. In doing so, a case study methodology of pattern-matching has been used for literal and theoretical replications. Transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches have been used in the research. The multiple case study and issues concerning both energy performance and conservation have been discussed in workshops. Academics and practitioners participated, some of them providing facts on the cases and all of them contributing with their knowledge, expertise, experience and advice to root the study in approved practice and theory. The results show that some energy efficiency actions may be carried out without diminishing their different historic values, but these have low impact on the energy consumption. The results also show that energy efficiency actions that are too small may result in a poor indoor climate. This study also highlights unforeseen issues. The impact of a new legal and regulatory framework on alterations in existing buildings had to become an embedded unit of analysis, showing that concerns for lost heritage values are justified. The traditional way of assessing the different historic values proved to be insufficient from an architect’s point of view and a complementary way is presented. Moreover, new ways of assessing historic value are currently being tested by the Swedish National Heritage Board and the National Property Board. The case where energy efficiency actions and preserved historic value can be balanced is dependent on this assessment. A thorough evaluation is recommended.
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