| 1. |
- Axelsson, Karl, 1976-
(författare)
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The Sublime : Precursors and British Eighteenth-Century Conceptions
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation studies the attraction of the sublime in British criticism during the eighteenth century, with particular emphasis on the arguments that served as precursors to the interest in the experience of the sublime. The first part explores Samuel H. Monk’s standard work on the British eighteenth-century sublime, along with more recent studies. In order to expand the contextual features of Monk’s established account, and to be able to connect the sublime with the impact of the criticism of intellectual literature during the second half of the seventeenth century, this study needs to begin by considering the arguments put forth by Longinus in his treatise Peri Hupsous, a work that exerted considerable influence on eighteenth-century critics. Thus, the second part addresses the relevance of the arguments made by Longinus, who reflected on the significance of the concentrated exercise of the imagination and drew attention to the inner carriage required to bring about the experience of the sublime. The third part, then, demonstrates the importance assigned by critics of the sublime to the intense exercise of the imagination. However, to fully understand the attraction of the Longinian sublime, this demonstration also needs to take into account the attention given to the exercise of the imagination in criticism of intellectual literature during the second half of the seventeenth century. Finally, I illustrate the relevance of including such criticism in the interpretation of the attraction of the sublime during the eighteenth century by considering Thomas Hobbes’ claims on the subject of the imagination.
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| 2. |
- Eckeskog, Linn, 1984-
(författare)
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Kommunikation i förskolan : förskollärares och barnskötares kommunikation med föräldrar i ett digitaliserat medielandskap
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of this doctoral thesis is to study communication work among personnel in Swedish pre-schools, with a particular focus on mediated communication with parents. The purpose is also to analyse what roles are given to the professionals in this communication, to identify what subject positions are constructed and to identify how boundaries are managed within the communication practices.The primary theoretical framework of the thesis is social constructivism and symbolic interactionism. The pre-school organisation and identities are regarded as in a perpetual state of becoming and changes in the media landscape are viewed as rearranging the preconditions for communication practices. Technical innovations are regarded as social products at both ends. Results build upon observations in five pre-schools, interviews with 32 pre-school employees and multimodal analysis of communication material directed to parents. Additional interviews and document studies were conducted in the form of a case study, in order to gain knowledge of the implementation of a digital learning platform.The study shows that the communication environments differ between pre-schools, e.g. concerning how and which mediums are used. Several obstacles to communication are identified, of which many (but not all) are related to the socioeconomic status of parents. Within the mediated communication, pre-school personnel to some extent position themselves as experts concerning practical and pedagogical questions, whilst parents are positioned as actors in need of guidance. A major function of mediated communication is assigning parents’ responsibilities in relation to the pre-school, along with norms regarding what constitutes the “good” (pre-school) parent. Boundary work in relation to parents is conducted using different modalities, used for hedging but also for establishing professional positions. Digitalisation appears as a negative force when introduced top-down, without regards to the needs, previous practices and preconditions within a particular pre- school; but as a positive force when initiated by the professionals themselves and when responding to particular needs within specific pre-schools. As expectations on digitalisation in pre-schools increase, questions of preconditions and communication skills grow in prominence.Although expectations on pre-school professionals’ communication skills are high, communication with parents is not sufficiently acknowledged as part of the actual work in pre-schools. A sign of (and reasons for) the under prioritisation of communication work is the uneven and arbitrary preconditions for communicating, in the forms of relevant education, time and technical equipment. The lack of resources can be connected to three issues: A working environment issue (discrepancy between expectations and preconditions), a democratic issue (communication being random rather than planned/ considered) and a professional issue (multimodal communication not reflecting the professional identity that informants strive towards).Communication with parents (and surrounding society) needs to be acknowledged as part of the work in pre-school, and the personnel need to be given the necessary skills and conditions for communication, in order to provide equality of ac- cess to the parents, but also to give personnel the possibilities of communicating about and reflecting the pre-school organisation as they know it.
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| 3. |
- Hartung, Kerstin, 1989-
(författare)
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Paths to improving atmospheric models across scales : The importance of the unresolved scales
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Correct representation of physical processes, the parametrizations, and their interaction with the resolved circulation is crucial for the performance of numerical models. Here, focus is put on understanding model biases and developing tools to alleviate existing biases. Atmospheric blocking can divert the typical atmospheric flow for several days up to weeks and thereby impacts the mean climate of the region experiencing blocking. Models typically underestimate the frequency of atmospheric blocking. Based on results from the global climate model EC-Earth, it is found that the atmospheric model resolution is not strongly influencing the representation of atmospheric blocking once the grid reaches about 80 km grid length in the horizontal. Updating several physical parametrizations, and thereby the model version, is the largest contributor to advancements in simulating atmospheric blocking. The importance of the topography for the large-scale atmospheric flow is further investigated with the reanalysis ERA-Interim by applying a simplified theoretical analysis. It is found that the idealized topographic forcing theory can explain some part of the observed large-scale properties of the flow, though the method does mainly produce relative results. The explained part of the large-scale structure is increased during periods of northwesterly flow and when the flow impinges the mountain ridge almost orthogonally.Small-scale processes acting in air masses transported from midlatitudes to the Arctic are also discussed. Numerical models often struggle with representing the stable conditions in the Arctic and tend to underestimate the downward longwave impact during cloudy conditions. A comparison of single-column models (SCMs) indicates that most models can capture the bimodal longwave distribution which develops from alternating cloudy and clear-sky conditions. SCMs are often used for model development as they allow to decouple the parametrized physical processes from the large-scale environment and enable many parameter sensitivity tests. A new tool is presented which can be used for the development of physical parametrizations in marine and polar conditions. It combines one-dimensional models of the atmosphere and ocean, including sea-ice, into a coupled atmosphere-ocean SCM (AOSCM). The presented setup constitutes an advantage compared to SCMs of one component because the coupling is directly modelled and the interaction between the respective boundary layers does not dependent on prescribed boundary conditions.
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| 4. |
- Jormfeldt, Henrika
(författare)
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Dimensions of Health among Patients in Mental Health Services
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Empirical studies focusing on the subjective experience of health among patients in contact with the mental health services are rare and most questionnaires are based on a medical model that emphasizes objectively observed disease-oriented health indicators. In studies I and II perceptions of the concept of health among patients and nurses in mental health services were explored and described using a phenomenographic approach. The perceptions and description categories that emerged from these studies were transformed into a number of items forming a questionnaire intended to measure subjectively experienced health among patients in mental health services. In study III, a randomly selected sample was used to test the psychometric properties of the new Health Questionnaire. A factor analysis revealed three factors labelled Autonomy, Social Involvement and Comprehensibility. The purpose of study IV was to examine the construct validity of the Health Questionnaire. The hypothesis was that subjectively experienced health would be positively associated to self-esteem, empowerment and quality of life, and negatively associated to psychiatric symptoms, perceived stigmatization experiences and perceived attitudes of devaluation and discrimination. This hypothesis was mainly confirmed insofar that overall health was positively correlated to self-esteem, empowerment and quality of life and negatively correlated to symptoms, attitudes of devaluation and discrimination and rejection experiences. The results of this thesis show that health is more than just an absence of disease and support a focus on health promotion interventions in mental health care.
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| 5. |
- Svensson, Maria, 1980-
(författare)
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Assessing the ERG rearrangement for clinincal use in patients with prostrate cancer
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In Sweden, close to 10 000 men are annually diagnosed with prostate cancer (PCa) and approximately 2400 men die of their disease each year. Today there is no reliable marker that can separate patients who will have an aggressive type of disease that requires treatment, from patients who will have a more indolent clinical course and can be left untreated. This further leads to the current problem of over treatment of men with PCa. Hence, there is an urgent need for reliable prognostic markers that can be used at time of diagnosis. With the discovery of recurrent gene rearrangements in PCa, most commonly ERG rearrangements, hope came that this aberration could play a role in diagnosis and/or prognosis of the disease.The aim of this thesis was to investigate the clinical implication of ERG rearrangements in the management of PCa.The work in this thesis supports the findings from previous studies, suggesting that the ERG rearrangement is a sign of a more aggressive type of cancer. The major findings are that in multifocal PCa, the ERG rearranged cancer foci are more prone to metastatic dissemination compared to foci without the ERG rearrangement and that patients harboring the ERG rearrangement have a faster disease progression leading up to earlier start of hormonal treatment. Furthermore, the results add an additional level of complexity in a subset of PCa tumors that harbor multiple gene rearrangements on the cellular level. The result also show that the newly available ERG antibody is highly predictive of ERG rearrangement and is appropriate to use when faced with limitations in tissue amounts.The findings in this thesis indicate that the ERG rearrangement has a potential role in the clinical management of PCa but further studies arerequired.
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| 6. |
- Svensson, Marie, 1972-
(författare)
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The temperature-limited fed-batch technique for control of Escherichia coli cultures
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The objective of this study was to investigate the physiology and productivity in Escherichia colicultures with emphasis on the temperature-limited fed-batch (TLFB) culture. The TLFB techniquecontrols the oxygen consumption rate of the growing culture by a gradually declining temperaturefrom 37-35 °C down to 20-18 °C. The temperature regulated the DOT around a set-point (30 % airsat.), and all nutrients were in excess. Glucose was fed into the culture continuously, however, highacetate formation was avoided by keeping the glucose at a low, yet excessive, concentration. Thebiomass productivity was approximately the same in TLFB as in glucose-limited fed-batch (GLFB)cultures, since the specific growth rate and the oxygen consumption rate are limited by the oxygentransfer capacity of the reactor in both techniques.High concentrations of endotoxins were found in the medium of E. coli fed-batch cultures at lowspecific growth rates (below 0.1 h-1) and severe glucose limitation. In this thesis the TLFB techniquewas found to suppress the endotoxin release even at low specific growth rates. The repressed release of endotoxins in TLFB cultures was due to the high availability of glucose and not to the low growthrate or the lower temperature. The conclusion was drawn from comparing with the GLFB technique performed at 20 °C, which resulted in high endotoxin release.Extensive release of endotoxin, accompanied with high concentrations of soluble proteins was foundin a TLFB culture exposed to a higher energy dissipation rate, 16 kW m-3, instead of 2 kW m-3, due toa higher stirrer speed (1000 instead of 500 rpm). The hypothesis that this is a result of mechanicalstress is discussed in context with the common view that cells like E. coli, which are smaller than the Kolmogoroff’s microscale of turbulence, should not be influenced by the turbulence.TLFB cultured cells exhibited more stable cytoplasmic membranes when treated with osmotic shockas compared to the GLFB cultured cells. The concentrations of DNA and soluble proteins in the periplasmic extracts from the TLFB cultured cells were lower than from GLFB cultured cells. Inaddition, the specific productivity of periplasmic β-lactamase was higher in the TLFB cultures,suggesting that this technique could be an alternative for protein production. The solubility of apartially aggregated recombinant protein increased in the TLFB compared to the GLFB cultures.However some time after induction, in spite of the gradually declining temperature, the solublefraction decreased.For obtaining better understanding of the performance of the process and for identifying criticalparameters, a mathematical model was developed based on the growth, energy and overflowmetabolism at non-limiting nutrient conditions. The temperature-dependent maximum specific glucoseand oxygen uptake rates were determined in pH-auxostat cultures for temperatures ranging from 18 to37 °C. A dynamic simulation model of the TLFB technique was developed and the results were compared to experimental data. The simulation program was also used for sensitivity analysis of some physiological and process parameters to study the impact on biomass concentration and temperatureprofiles. An effect on the biomass concentration profile but not on the temperature profile wasobserved when changing the oxygen transfer coefficient. If the maximum specific glucose uptake ratewas altered, or if the glucose concentration was permitted to assume other values, the temperatureprofile but not the biomass concentration profile was influenced. Cell death affected both the biomassconcentration profile and the temperature profile.
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| 7. |
- Svensson, Nils-Olof
(författare)
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Late Weichselian and early Holocene shore displacement in the central Baltic, based on stratigraphical and morphological records from eastern Småland and Gotland, Sweden
- 1989
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The glacial unloading and resulting isostatic land uplift have together with hydro-isostasy, eustatic rise of sea-level and geoidal changes, ruled the shore displacement of Fennoscandia. Within the Baltic basin, periods of damming and shifts of outlet further complicated the shore displacement during the period studied, c. 12,200-8400 BP. Information on the Baltic history was derived from shoreline observations and studies on sediment cores from lakes formerly directly affected by the Baltic. These cores were analysed with respect to pollen, diatoms, and lithology to determine sequences of Baltic sediments, and dated by a combination of radiocarbon dates and biostratigraphy. The studied areas of southeastern Sweden, mainly central Gotland and the Oskarshamn area, eastern Småland, display a similar course of shore displacement. The Late Weichselian period shows a regression of a slightly decreasing rate between c. 12,200 and 10,300 BP. Then followed a fast drop (25 m) of the Baltic's water level; the final drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake. During the next c. 700 yr, the Yoldia stage, a regression of c. 17 m occurred. This period is mainly characterized by fresh-water diatoms in the Baltic, but at c. 10,000 BP there is evidence of a shortlasting (100-150 yr) period with brackish water. The Ancylus transgression, of c. 11 m, began c. 9600 BP and culminated c. 9300 BP. It was followed by a fast regression of 5-10 m, thereafter the rate of regression decreased. Shoreline gradients shows that the fastest shoreline tilting occurred around 10,000 BP, thus c. 2000 years after deglaciation.
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| 8. |
- Svensson, Olof
(författare)
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Interactions of Mucins with Biopolymers and Drug Delivery Particles
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The main components in the mucous gels apart from water are mucins, which are proteins with high molecular weights and an abundance of negatively charged oligosaccharide side chains. The aim of the investigations was to characterize interactions between mucins and other proteins that are present in the mucous gel, and also between mucins and components used in pharmaceutical formulations. More specifically, the main objectives were (I) to investigate the possibility to assemble multilayer films with mucins and oppositely charged polymers or proteins on solid substrates; (II) to evaluate mucoadhesive proper-ties of drug delivery particles by examination of their interactions with mucins. The construction of multilayer films was performed on silica and hydrophobized silica surfaces by alternate adsorption, and the adsorbed amount and thickness of the films were measured in situ by time resolved ellipsometry. It was demonstrated that films could be assembled using mucins in combination with both chitosan and lactoperoxidase. The build-up was characterized by adsorption and redissolution processes, and the extent of redissolution could be explained by taking the charge densities and concentrations of the components into account. It was also demonstrated that the nature of the substrate can be crucial for the possibilities to assemble multilayer films, and from the results it may be concluded that a high amount of mucin in the first step is important for successful layer-by-layer assembly. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that lactoperoxidase is catalytically active when adsorbed to mucin layers, and it may thereby exert its antimicrobial action. The evaluation of mucoadhesive properties of drug delivery particles was performed with lipid nanoparticles stabilized by a poly(ethylene oxide) based polymer and with particles modified by chitosan. Both types of model particles (unmodified and chitosan modified) were investigated by measuring their adsorption to mucin-coated silica surfaces by ellipsometry. It was shown that the binding of unmodified particles to mucin-coated silica surfaces was weak and pH-dependent. Based on the pH and electrolyte dependence of the adsorption, it was proposed that the interaction is mediated by hydrogen bonding between protonated carboxyl groups in the mucin molecule and oxygen atoms in poly(ethylene oxide). Chitosan modified particles, on the other hand, showed a substantial and strong binding to mucin-coated surfaces, which can probably be attributed to interactions between amino groups in chitosan and negatively charged groups in the mucin layer. The findings from the present investigations are in agreement with previous reports on the interaction of mucins with poly(ethylene oxide) and chitosan. It can therefore be concluded that the methodology applied is useful for evaluating mucoadhesive properties of nanoparticles.
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| 9. |
- Svensson, Olof, 1965
(författare)
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Time-Resolved and High-Energy Synchrotron Radiation Crystallography using X-ray Area Detectors: Calibration and Applications
- 1996
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis relates to characterisation and calibration techniques for X-ray area detectors with applications in time-resolved and high-energy X-ray crystallography. X-ray crystallography is an interdisciplinary science with important applications in many fields, e.g. chemistry, physics, biology, geology and materials science. With the advent of third generation synchrotron radiation (SR) sources, which offer X-ray beams of high flux, brilliance and energy, new areas of time-resolved crystallography (e.g. in-situ studies of phase transitions, chemical reactions and excited states) and high-energy crystallography (e.g. accurate structural studies) have become accessible. X-ray area detectors can simultaneously record a large solid angle of scattered X-ray photons. This is an important advantage, compared to point or one-dimensional detectors. However, X-ray area detectors are complicated, and can, due to various reasons (e.g. detector geometry), introduce distortions (i.e. systematic errors) into the acquired data. Given that these distortions are reproducible, they can be characterised and very largely corrected. In this thesis are developed techniques for characterisation and calibration of spatial distortion, non-uniformity of response and intensity non-linearity of X-ray area detectors, which were successfully used in a number of time-resolved and high-energy studies: Time-resolved in-situ study of the solid-state polymerisation of S2N2 to (SN)x using high-energy monochromatic X-ray powder diffraction. Apart from reaction kinetics, the experiment also yielded information relating to the polymerisation mechanism on both the macroscopic (bulk) and microscopic (atomic) level. Time-resolved study of the conversion of .alfa.-(ET)2I31 to .alfa.T-(ET)2I3 using high-energy monochromatic single-crystal diffraction: A metal-superconductor transition. The conversion was found to be of non-diffusive nature, and the structure of .alfa.T-(ET)2I3 was elucidated for the first time. Time-resolved single-crystal diffraction study of a phase transition in Ni3Sb. The transition was followed by recording the time evolution of individual peaks, and was found to be a diffusionless displacive transition. This thesis demonstrates the usefulness of the combination of X-ray area detectors and high-energy synchrotron radiation in general, and in particular the high data quality obtained after applying calibration techniques. 1 (where ET is bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene, C10S8H8)
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| 10. |
- Svensson, Peter, 1974-
(författare)
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The Dynamics of Innovation and Knowledge-Based Regional Development
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Geographical regions as diverse as Silicon Valley, California and Linköping, Sweden have been the sources of new technology and endogenously created innovations. Scholars and policymakers recognise that specific regions or clusters of businesses have the capability to engage in more innovative activities and new business formation and to experience higher employment growth than others. This dissertation uses qualitative methods to study various aspects of regional development and innovation. It is based on five papers by the author and colleagues with levels of analysis ranging from regional to firms’ first sales in order to capture the dynamics of both the top and bottom levels of regional development. It then uses these papers’ empirical material to address the research questions of (a) how a new scientific knowledge base becomes established and exploited in a spatial context, and (b) how people create and diffuse innovations in a social and spatial context. This dissertation’s main findings are that (a) regional leadership involving the building of alliances with triple-helix actors is crucial for initiating a knowledge-based regional development process, (b) a consensus space is a catalytic mechanism for ensuring the speed and effectiveness of regional development, (c) lowering the barriers for the actors involved boosts participation and the rate of innovation, and (d) users’ perspectives are essential for social, institutional and commercial innovation. This dissertation’s main implications are that knowledge-based regional development’s initial stages require leadership that (a) builds alliances and establish an arena for the triple-helix actors, (b) analyses the regional barriers to the commercialisation of knowledge, and (c) utilises both endogenous and exogenous resources.
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