| 1. |
- Funke, Michael, 1966-
(författare)
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Regulating a Controversy : Inside Stakeholder Strategies and Regime Transition in the Self-Regulation of Swedish Advertising 1950–1971
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis concerns the development of the self-regulation of advertising in Sweden from 1950 until 1971. Self-regulation was initiated in the 1930s due to a business desire to regulate fair competition in marketing, and while it initially was a minor operation, the 1950s and 1960s were characterized by extensive development. When self-regulation was overtaken by state policies in 1971, it included several interlocking systems, of which parts survived the introduction of the state regime. The thesis’ aim has been to analyze how the rapid regime transitions in the self-regulation regime can be understood.The existing literature identifies four major transitions that occurred during the studied time period. To understand them, the thesis has studied the policy processes leading up to these transitions. Focus has been on the business interest organizations that controlled the regime and their regulatory strategies. Theoretically, the analysis has departed from the hypothesis that tensions between these organizations, due to their members’ different market interests and varying levels of exposure to regulation and public badwill, to a significant degree informed their strategic choices as well as policy outcomes.The results show that the policy processes preceding the regime transitions were characterized by internal tensions, whereby organizations representing advertisers, and to a lesser degree media carriers, due to their members’ higher level of exposure to regulation and public badwill, successfully supported stronger market policing, while ad agencies, being less exposed, as well as a peak industry organization for the proliferation of marketing largely opposed such measures, preferring a more lenient regulation. However, due to increased exposure to regulation and bad will, the ad agencies finally abandoned their opposition and took the lead in regulatory innovation through the introduction of an extensive clearance program that survived the launch of the state regime, becoming a key component in the co-regulatory structure that followed.
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| 2. |
- Lü, Bo, 1986-
(författare)
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Nano- and mesoscale morphology evolution of metal films on weakly-interacting surfaces
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Thin films are structures consisting of one or several nanoscale atomic layers of material that are used to either functionalize a surface or constitute components in more complex devices. Many properties of a film are closely related to its microstructure, which allows films to be tailored to meet specific technological requirements. Atom-by-atom film growth from the vapor phase involves a multitude of atomic processes that may not be easily studied experimentally in real-time because they occur in small length- (≤ Å) and timescales (≤ ns). Therefore, different types of computer simulation methods have been developed in order to test theoretical models of thin film growth and unravel what experiments cannot show. In order to compare simulated and experimental results, the simulations must be able to model events on experimental time-scales, i.e. on the order of microseconds to seconds. This is achievable with the kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) method.In this work, the initial growth stages of metal deposition on weakly-interacting substrates is studied using both kMC simulations as well as experiments whereby growth was monitored using in situ probes. Such film/substrate material combinations are widely encountered in technological applications including low-emissivity window coatings to parts of microelectronics components. In the first part of this work, a kMC algorithm was developed to model the growth processes of island nucleation, growth and coalescence when these are functions of deposition parameters such as the vapor deposition rate and substrate temperature. The dynamic interplay between these growth processes was studied in terms of the scaling behavior of the film thickness at the elongation transition, for both continuous and pulsed deposition fluxes, and revealed in both cases two distinct growth regimes in which coalescence is either active or frozen out during deposition. These growth regimes were subsequently confirmed in growth experiments of Ag on SiO2, again for both pulsed and continuous deposition, by measuring the percolation thickness as well as the continuous film formation thickness. However, quantitative agreement with regards to scaling exponents in the two growth regimes was not found between simulations and experiments, and this prompted the development of a method to determine the elongation transition thickness experimentally. Using this method, the elongation transition of Ag on SiO2 was measured, with scaling exponents found in much better agreement with the simulation results. Further, these measurement data also allowed the calculation of surface properties such as the terrace diffusion barrier of Ag on SiO2 and the average island coalescence rate.In the second part of this thesis, pioneering work is done to develop a fully atomistic, on-lattice model which describes the growth of Ag on weakly-interacting substrates. Simulations performed using this model revealed several key atomic-scale processes occurring at the film/substrate interface and on islands which govern island shape evolution, thereby contributing to a better understanding of how 3D island growth occurs at the atomic scale for a wide class of materials. The latter provides insights into the directed growth of metal nanostructures with controlled shapes on weakly-interacting substrates, including twodimensional crystals for use in catalytic and nano-electronic applications.
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| 3. |
- Borghei, Benny Behbood, 1980-
(författare)
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Incumbent Actors in Sectoral Transformations Towards Sustainability : A sociotechnical study of the European heavy commercial vehicles sector
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Industrial sectors need to be transformed in response to the increasing demands for environmental sustainability as one of the greatest challenges in the modern times. In social science research, extensive efforts have been made over the recent decades to formulate comprehensive theories about transformation of various sectors such as energy, manufacturing, agriculture, food and transportation. Accordingly, ‘sustainability transitions’ have emerged as a research field dedicated to the study of far-reaching sociotechnical transformations.Understanding sectoral transformations and how different actors can get involved in sustainability transitions are in the heart of these efforts. Of particular importance is the involvement of industry incumbents that hold established positions and considerable amounts of knowledge, resources, and technological competence built upon vigorous structures of the existing industrial setup. This in turn calls for more attention to the role of incumbents to actively participate in the transformation of established sectors towards sustainability.However, despite the potentials to get involved in processes of transformative change, incumbents are often neglected in transition theories, and their role is predetermined to resist the change. Incumbents are widely black-boxed as a homogenous group of actors to the extent that they are conceived as a single entity whose predefined role is to act as the guardians of the existing structures and defenders of the status-quo. While there are legitimate concerns about the power of incumbent firms, such one-sided views do not offer an inclusive approach in formulating multi-actor processes for sustainability transitions. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to contribute to a more comprehensive theorization on the role of incumbent actors in sectoral transformations. The main research question is formulated as follows: how can incumbents act to facilitate sectoral transformations towards environmental sustainability?In answering this research question, the thesis offers an alternative perspective to the dominant view about incumbents in sustainability transition theories. It challenges prevailing assumptions by providing empirical evidence from the heavy commercial vehicles sector in Europe. The research findings show that incumbents are able to adopt various technological strategies ranging from incremental innovations with highly coordinated actions for reducing emission levels based on the established technologies, to the adoption of radical technological choices for introducing alternative propulsion technologies in the market. In fact, the strong position of incumbents can sometimes enable them to introduce radical innovations in established markets. The research findings also indicate that incumbents can act as learning agents or knowledge repositories to overcome the problem of isolation for new technological innovations by transferring knowledge and technologies over the boundaries of time and space. Moreover, incumbents can facilitate diffusion of radical innovations and ramp up the adoption of new technologies through standardization at the industry level. In addition, incumbents from a range of different sectors have been recognized as integrators for the development of new technological solutions that span over traditional boundaries. Hence, new industrial sectors can emerge through the integration of knowledge and technologies from various established sectors, and incumbents are at the heart of the integration processes due to their knowledge and familiarity of the established sectors.Finally, the theoretical implications from the thesis invite transition scholars to reconsider the role of incumbent actors in sustainability transitions, while the practical implications suggest that policy-makers need to pay more attention to the diversity of technology strategies of incumbent firms and their alignments for sectoral transformations towards sustainability.
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| 4. |
- Geng, Ting, 1987-
(författare)
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Excited-state dynamics of small organic molecules studied by time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ultra-violet and visible light induced processes in small organic molecules play very important roles in many fields, e.g., environmental sciences, biology, material development, chemistry, astrophysics and many others. Thus it is of great importance to better understand the mechanisms behind these processes. To achieve this, a bottom-up approach is most effective, where the photo-induced dynamics occurring in the simplest organic molecule (ethylene) are used as a starting point. Simple substituents and functional groups are added in a controlled manner to ethylene, and changes in the dynamics are investigated as a function of these modifications. In this manner, the dynamics occurring in more complex systems can be explored from a known base.In this thesis, the excited state dynamics of small organic molecules are studied by a combination of time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and various computational methods in order to determine the basic rules necessary to help understand and predict the dynamics of photo-induced processes.The dynamics occurring in ethylene involve a double bond torsion on the ππ* excited state, followed by the decay to the ground state coupled with pyramidalization and hydrogen migration. Several different routes of chemical modification are used as the basis to probe these dynamics as the molecular complexity is increased. (i) When ethylene is modified by the addition of an alkoxyl group (-OCnH2n+1), a new bond cleavage reaction is observed on the πσ* state. When modified by a cyano (-CN) group, a significant change in the carbon atom involved in pyramidalization is observed. (ii) When ethylene used to build up small cyclic polyenes, it is observed that the motifs of the ethylene dynamics persist, expressed as ring puckering and ring opening. (iii) In small heteroaromatic systems, i.e., an aromatic ring containing an ethylene-like sub-structure and one or two non-carbon atoms, the type of heteroatom (N: pyrrole, pyrazole O: furan) gives rise to different bond cleavage and ring puckering channels. Furthermore, adding an aldehyde group (-C=O) onto furan, as a way to lengthen the delocalised ring electron system, opens up additional reaction channels via a nπ* state.The results presented here are used to build up a more complete picture of the dynamics that occur in small molecular systems after they are excited by a visible or UV photon, and are used as a basis to motivate further investigations.
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| 5. |
- Ingo, Elisabeth, 1987-
(författare)
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Climbing up the hearing rehabilitation ladder
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Hearing impairment is a major public health problem, affecting communication and participation, and is associated with a range of health problems. Most individuals with perceived hearing impairment do not seek help, do not opt for rehabilitation (hearing aids), and do not use prescribed hearing aids adequately. Reducing the impact of hearing impairment and supporting healthy aging are important public health goals. Motivation, access to hearing health care, and poor societal awareness about hearing impairment, consequences, and rehabilitation options influence help-seeking. Offering online hearing screening has been proposed to improve hearing help-seeking, access to hearing health care, and to increase public knowledge about hearing and hearing impairment. Applying theories from health psychology (i.e. the Stages of change model) could help audiologists and other hearing health care professionals understand the psychological barriers that prevent people with hearing problems to seek help and take up rehabilitation. The overarching aim of this thesis was to investigate behaviors related to hearing rehabilitation (help-seeking, hearing aid uptake, and hearing aid use) in adults who fail an online hearing screening. A second aim was to explore the usefulness of the Stages of change model in predicting hearing rehabilitation related behavior in a self-selected online hearing screening sample. Studies I–IV show tentative support for offering online hearing screening and for supplementary interventions for increasing help-seeking and provide tentative support for Stages of change as a useful classification tool to indicate individual needs for further information and guidance. Future studies should contemplate integrating screening for multiple health-related factors associated with hearing impairment and to provide a clear and tailored pathway for each participant (e.g. referral to adequate health care or equivalent online intervention).
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| 6. |
- Kawde, Anurag Y., 1984-
(författare)
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Advanced silicon photoelectrodes for water splitting devices : design, preparation and functional characterization by photo-electrochemistry and high-energy X-ray spectroscopy
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- For the last century, mankind has been hugely dependent on fossil fuels to meet its energy needs. Harnessing energy from fossil fuels led to the emission of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases such as CO2 are a major contributor to global warming. Since the last decade, the global annual average temperature has increased by almost 1 oC, while the annual average temperature of Europe has increased by almost 1.7 oC. It is high time to find an alternative source of energy. Such an energy source must be renewable, sustainable, robust and free of greenhouse gases. Our earth has a non-stop supply of solar energy and water in oceans, harvesting energies from such resources will not only be clean but also inexpensive. Solar fuels such as H2 generated from sunlight and seawater using earth-abundant materials are expected to be a crucial component of a next generation renewable energy mix.My PhD research was thus focused on the use of solar energy to split water into molecular hydrogen and oxygen, a process that is referred to as ‘artificial photosynthesis’. This can be achieved with the help of semiconductor photocatalysts. As most of the earth crust has a high abundance of silicon (Si), I prepared my semiconductor photoelectrodes using Si. However, Si tends to degrade in an aqueous environment. Thus, my PhD research comprises the synthesis of microstructured Si photoelectrodes and their protection with a TiO2 inter layer followed by functionalization with various earth abundant co-catalysts. The study on the synthesis, morphology and elemental characterization of the photoelectrodes was carried out under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Johannes Messinger at the Chemistry Department of Umeå University. Deep insight on the electronic and atomic structure of the functionalized Si photoelectrodes was obtained by careful experiments at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) under the supervision of Dr. Pieter Glatzel. I investigated the electronic and geometric structural properties of my photocatalysts using inner shell electron spectroscopy, which is also referred to as ‘X-ray spectroscopy’. Thus, my PhD thesis falls under the broad title of “Artificial Photosynthesis and X-Ray Spectroscopy”. With the motivation of developing a bias free photoelectrochemical device for overall water splitting, I first developed cost effective earth abundant photocathodes. The experimental data and detailed analysis of the photocathodes are presented in Paper I. The best photocathode obtained in Paper I (p-Si/TiO2/NiOx) was then coupled with a well-studied FTO/α-Fe2O3 photoanode in parallel-illumination mode. The two most significant information obtained in Paper II were: 1) p-Si/TiO2/NiOx outcompetes Pt as a counter electrode and 2) a space charge region in the pristine hematite can be enhanced using p-Si/TiO2/NiOx as photocathode without bias or using any dopant. The proof of concept device studied in Paper II was further optimized in Paper III by replacing the FTO substrate with the n-Si MW to a obtain n-Si MW/TiO2/α-Fe2O3 photoanode. A record high photocurrent density of 5.6 mA/cm2 was achieved for the undoped hematite photoanode. I also found out that the TiO2 inter layer plays a crucial role in enhancing the overall device performance. The role of TiO2 was thus further studied using valence to core X-ray emission spectroscopy, which opened a new avenue for identifying and investigating the prime components in such devices. Paper I to III discuss the role of TiO2 and of the co-catalysts towards solar water splitting and thus the only material left to study was the Si substrate. For paper IV, a detailed analysis on Si substrate was performed. The electronic structural changes on Si LII, III edge was studied using X-ray Raman spectroscopy. The X-ray spectroscopic studies presented in papers I to III were performed at the ID-26 beamline at ESRF, while the X-ray Raman Spectroscopy presented in Paper IV was performed at the ID-20 beamline at ESRF. The data presented in Paper IV is preliminary and needs to be processed and analyzed further.
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| 7. |
- Lehmann, Manuela, 1986-
(författare)
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SOD1 misfolding and aggregation in ALS : in the light of conformation-specific antibodies
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Mutations in the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) gene are linked to the progressive neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS-associated mutations affect the stability of the SOD1 protein and promote its unfolding. As a consequence, disordered SOD1 species can misfold and accumulate into insoluble aggregates. Cytoplasmic inclusions containing misfolded SOD1 are a hallmark of ALS pathology in patients as well as transgenic mouse models. However, it remains unclear, which SOD1 species are pathogenic and how they arise and contribute to the disease.The aim of this thesis was to use antibodies as tools to study the role of disordered and aggregated SOD1 species in ALS. These antibodies recognize epitopes exposed in disordered SOD1 species and hence, discriminate between natively folded SOD1 and the disordered or misfolded protein.SOD1 is expressed in all cell types, but aggregates of misfolded SOD1 are predominantly found in motor neurons and associated glial cells in the spinal cord of ALS patients. To understand why misfolded SOD1 targets the motor system, we used ELISA and immunocapture methods to quantify soluble SOD1 species in patient-derived cell models of ALS. The highest levels of soluble disordered SOD1 were detected in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived motor neuron and astrocytes cultures (MNACs) compared to fibroblasts, iPSCs and sensory neuron cultures. These results suggest that the selective vulnerability of motor areas to SOD1-ALS could derive from an enhanced burden of disordered SOD1.To understand factors that might promote SOD1 unfolding, we focussed on the disulfide bond that is required for the stability of natively folded SOD1. Formation of the bond is oxygen-dependent and reduction of the bond promotes SOD1 unfolding. We studied the stability of SOD1 in patient-derived cells exposed to lowered oxygen tensions. This induced increases in disulfide-reduced, disordered mutant and wild-type SOD1. The response was time- and concentration-dependent and more pronounced in MNACs, where even increased aggregation of mutant SOD1 was observed. These results are consistent with the enhanced vulnerability of the motor system in ALS and suggest that conditions causing impaired oxygen perfusion could contribute to the initiation and progression of the disease.Inclusions containing aggregated misfolded wild-type SOD1 have been found in sporadic ALS (sALS) patients without SOD1 mutations and those carrying mutations in genes other than SOD1. However, other groups have reported contrasting results and the contribution of misfolded wild-type SOD1 to ALS pathology is controversial. Guidelines for preservation, storage, and analysis of tissues under standardized conditions would facilitate the comparison of results between different laboratories. We established an optimized immunohistochemistry protocol to detect misfolded wild-type SOD1 in paraffin-embedded spinal cord samples from sALS patients. We also developed a method to immunocapture disordered SOD1 from frozen post-mortem tissue. High, but variable, levels of disordered SOD1 were detected in spinal cords from sALS patients. Our data support a possible pathological role of misfolded wild-type SOD1 in sALS.Recent evidence suggests that SOD1 aggregates can induce templated aggregation of disordered SOD1 and spread from cell-to-cell via a prion-like mechanism. To test if antibodies could block this process in vivo, we conducted an immunotherapy study in a model of prion-like spread, where SOD1 aggregate seeds are inoculated into the lumbar spinal cord of SOD1G85R transgenic mice and lead to accelerated disease onset and progression. Novel monoclonal antibodies (mAb) against disordered domains of SOD1 aggregates were developed and validated for their reactivity to disordered and aggregated SOD1 species in vitro and in vivo. Immunotherapy using a mAb against the C-terminal end of SOD1 attenuated the onset and progression of prion-like SOD1 spread. However, no effect was seen on onset, duration or progression of the underlying disease. This suggests that, under the conditions tested, immunotherapy against disordered domains of SOD1 does not affect intracellular aggregation and additional strategies might be needed to reduce intracellular accumulation of misfolded SOD1 aggregation.In conclusion, we show that conformation-specific antibodies are powerful tools to investigate disordered and potentially pathogenic species of SOD1 in various biochemical, cellular and in vivo contexts. The development of the novel immunocapture strategy could facilitate future research on characterizing SOD1 aggregates from mouse tissues, patient-derived cells or post-mortem tissues with the goal of determining their role in ALS disease pathogenesis.
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| 8. |
- Mukwaya, Anthony
(författare)
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Regulation of inflammation and angiogenesis in the cornea
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Inflammation and angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones, are involved in tumor growth, ocular diseases and wound healing. In ocular angiogenesis, new pathological vessels grow into a specific eye tissue, leak fluid, and disrupt vision. The development of safe and effective therapies for ocular angiogenesis is of great importance for preventing blindness, given that current treatments have limited efficacy or are associated with undesirable side effects. The search for alternative treatment targets requires a deeper understanding of inflammation and how it can lead to angiogenesis in the eye in pathologic situations. This thesis provides new insights into the regulation of inflammation and angiogenesis, particularly at the gene expression and phenotypic levels, in different situations characterized by angiogenesis of the cornea, often called corneal neovascularization. For instance, specific genes and pathways are either endogenously activated or suppressed during active inflammation, wound healing, and during resolution of inflammation and angiogenesis, serving as potential targets to modulate the inflammatory and angiogenic response. In addition, as part of the healing response to restore corneal transparency, inflammation and angiogenesis subside with time in the cornea. In this context, LXR/RXR signaling was found to be activated in a time-dependent manner, to potentially regulate resolution of inflammation and angiogenesis. During regression of new angiogenic capillaries, ghost vessels and empty basement membrane sleeves are formed, which can persist in the cornea for a long time. Here, ghost vessels were found to facilitate subsequent revascularization of the cornea, while empty basement membrane sleeves did not revascularize. The revascularization response observed here was characterised by vasodilation, increased inflammatory cell infiltration and by sprouting at the front of the reperfused vessels. Importantly, reactive oxygen species and nitrous oxide signaling among other pro-inflammatory pathways were activated, and at the same time anti-inflammatory LXR/RXR signaling was inhibited. The interplay between activation and inhibition of these pathways highlights potential mechanisms that regulate corneal revascularization. When treating corneal neovascularization clinically, corticosteroids are in widespread use due to their effectiveness. To minimize the many undesirable side effects associated with corticosteroid use, however, identifying new and more selective agents is of great importance. Here, it was observed that corticosteroids not only suppressed pro-inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, but also activated the classical complement pathway. Classical complement may represent a candidate for further selective therapeutic manipulation to investigate its effect on treatment of corneal neovascularization.In summary, this thesis identifies genes, pathways, and phenotypic responses involved in sprouting and remodeling of corneal capillaries, highlights novel pathways and factors that may regulate inflammation and angiogenesis in the cornea, and provides insights into regulation of capillary regression and reactivation. Further investigation of these regulatory mechanisms may offer alternative and effective treatment targets for the treatment of corneal inflammation and angiogenesis.
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