| 1. |
- Mishra, A, et al.
(författare)
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Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents' growth and development
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 615:7954, s. 874-883
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified.
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| 2. |
- Tayamon, Soma, 1985-
(författare)
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Nonlinear System Identification and Control Applied to Selective Catalytic Reduction Systems
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The stringent regulations of emission levels from heavy duty vehicles create a demand for new methods for reducing harmful emissions from diesel engines. This thesis deals with the modelling of the nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from heavy duty vehicles using a selective catalyst as an aftertreatment system, utilising ammonia (NH3) for its reduction. The process of the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is nonlinear, since the result of the chemical reactions involved depends on the load operating point and the temperature.The purpose of this thesis is to investigate different methods for nonlinear system identification of SCR systems with control applications in mind. The main focus of the thesis is on finding suitable techniques for effective NOx reduction without the need of over dosage of ammonia. By using data collected from a simulator together with real measured data, new black-box identification techniques are developed. Scaling and convergence properties of the proposed algorithms are analysed theoretically. Some of the resulting models are used for controller development using e.g. feedback linearisation techniques, followed by validation in a simulator environment. The benefits of nonlinear modelling and control of the SCR system are highlighted in a comparison with control based on linear models of the system. Further, a multiple model approach is investigated for simultaneous control of NOx and tailpipe ammonia. The results indicate an improvement in terms of ammonia slip reduction in comparison with models that do not take the ammonia slip into account. Another approach to NOx reduction is achieved by controlling the SCR temperature using techniques developed for LPV systems. The results indicate a reduction of the accumulated NOx.
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| 3. |
- Baltzopoulos, Apostolos, 1981-
(författare)
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Essays on High-Quality Entrepreneurship : On the Origins and Survival of Start-ups and the Role of Universities in the Location Decision
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis consists of four self-contained essays on the topic of entrepreneurship. [Essay I] uses a unique and detailed Swedish dataset to explore firm, regional, and industry determinants that stimulate spin-offs using the choice of the individuals as the level of analysis. The most important results are that the size of the region and of the local entrepreneurial culture (the relative number of SMEs) has a positive effect on the propensity of the individual to set up a new venture corroborating the results of past firm- and regional-level studies. Industrial specialization is shown to have a positive impact on spin-offs, albeit only in high-tech manufacturing and in knowledge intensive business service sectors. Moreover, using an entropy measure to disentangle unrelated and related variety, it is found that the former has a significantly negative while the latter a significantly positive effect on the propensity of the individual to start a spin-off. [Essay II] asks how localisation (MAR) and diversity (Jacobs) externalities affect opportunity-based entrepreneurship across all industry sectors in Sweden’s private economy in the period 1999-2005. MAR externalities are found to positively affect entrepreneurship across all sectors. Jacobs externalities, measured as related variety using an entropy measure, positively affect entrepreneurship in high-tech manufacturing and in knowledge intensive business services but have no significant effect on low-tech manufacturing and other services. The results suggest that previous studies that find no evidence of entrepreneurship benefiting from a diverse local market composition might be using too broad measures of variety. [Essay III] analyses how different R&D strategies of incumbent firms affect the quantity and quality of their entrepreneurial spawning. By examining entrepreneurial ventures of ex-employees of firms with different R&D strategies three things emerge: First, firms with persistent R&D investments with a general superiority in sales, exports, productivity, profitability and wages are less likely to generate entrepreneurs than firm with temporary or no R&D investments. Second, start-ups from knowledge intensive business service (KIBS) firms with persistent R&D investments have a significantly increased probability of survival. No corresponding association between the R&D strategies of incumbents and survival of entrepreneurial spawns is found for incumbents in manufacturing sectors. Third, spin-outs from KIBS-firms are more likely to survive if they start in the same firm, indicating the importance of inherited related knowledge. The findings suggest that R&D intensive firms spur fewer entrepreneurs, but their entrepreneurial spawns tend to be of higher quality. [Essay IV] investigates how universities may affect regional entrepreneurship through the localisation decisions of entrepreneurial alumni. Empirically, a comprehensive, individual-level dataset from Sweden is used for the period 2003-2005. The results suggest that even when controlling for their spatial history, individuals have an increased propensity to set up in the region where they studied. This effect is found to substitute for both urbanisation economies and localisation economies as drivers of regional-level entrepreneurship. Thus, the analysis provides evidence on how universities affect regional economic development that complements the strong focus on spin-off activities by university researchers in previous studies.
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| 4. |
- Bixby, H., et al.
(författare)
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Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 569:7755, s. 260-4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.
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| 5. |
- Carlsson, Lena, 1947-
(författare)
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Medborgarskap som demokratins praktiska uttryck : - diskursiva konstruktioner av gymnasieskolans elever som medborgare
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Abstract Carlsson, Lena (2006). ). Medborgarskap som demokratins praktiska uttryck i skolan. Diskursiva konstruktioner av gymnasieelever som medborgare. Citizenship as the practical expression of democracy at school. Discursive constructions of upper secondary pupils as citizens. School and education have a specific status owing to their task to educate young citizens and further their development. It is thus possible to regard schools as a type of public sphere, where individual and private matters are transcended. According to the curriculum for the secondary school system, the professional school staff´s task is two-fold insofar as they should mediate both knowledge and democracy. In this doctoral thesis the focus is placed on how and by what means education can contribute to young members of society finding their place and coping with their roles as citizens in a democratic society. The overall aim of this thesis is to present a deeper interpretation of the meanings and consequences of teachers´ speech concerning upper secondary pupils as citizens. More specifically, the aim is to empirically problematise and theoretically reconstruct pedagogical discourses on citizenship as practical expressions of demoracy in the context of education. Two central terms, which are thus highlighted are democracy and citizenship. Both Durkheim and Dewey provide significant theoretical points of departure, which are drawn upon in this thesis. Bourdieu contributes with perspectives on the ideological role, which institutions of education play in legitimising already existing societal orders. Foucault poses questions about power and knowledge. Habermas’ emphasis is placed on the discursive rationality expressed in verbal communication, which serves as an overall perspective for this thesis. Thus, in terms of methodology language constitutes the most central tool. Analyses are made in three stages. Reforms and policy are supposed to have been created within a central discursive framework and are therefore examined by way of analytical perusal of a) post-war education policy texts and b) current national policy documents concerning the Business and Administration Programme in upper secondary education. The third stage involves analysis of c) eight conversations from the professional school staff’s discursive practice by applying critical discourse analysis as a methodological tool. Four separate discourses have evolved, each pointing to different perspectives on human beings, knowledge and society: a discursive perception which is directed towards traditional values, a second perception which has communication and democracy as its superior ideal, and yet another discourse is directed towards trade and industry while, finally, one more discourse which is mainly characterised by a protective attitude towards pupils. Finally, how these contradictory as well as concordant discourses dictate the conditions and frameworks for the sort of citizenship which is constructed and constituted in the pedagogical practice is discussed, and thus how school as a public sphere may be understood in a more profound way. Key words: democracy, citizenship, critical discourse analysis, discursive constructions, reforms, policy, communication.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Ohlson, John, 1964-
(författare)
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Broadening Horizons : The FMECA-NETEP model, offshore wind farms and the permit application process
- 2013
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Abstract The permit application process for offshore wind farms (OWF) in Sweden conceivably requires a comprehensive and transparent complement within risk management. The NETEP framework (covering risks concerning navigation, economics, technology, environment and politics), based on a futures planning mechanism (STEEP) has consequently been brought forward as a structure for the application of FMECA (Failure Mode, Effects, and Criticality Analysis) methodology to the permit application process of the Swedish offshore wind farm sector. FMECA, originating from the aeronautical and automobile industries, presents a systematic method for the prediction of future failure in a product, part or process, to evaluate the consequences of that failure and to suggest possible measures for its mitigation or eradication. Its application to attitude and acceptance, safety and environmental effect remains, however, limited which creates the research gap for this thesis. Three Swedish offshore wind farm (OWF) projects in the Baltic Sea area (Lillgrund, Taggen and Trolleboda) were put forward as case studies for use in the evaluation of the proposed FMECA-NETEP methodology, which was approached in two stages. The first evaluation stage results showed that the model accommodates the precautionary principle, the consideration of stakeholder viewpoints, the mitigation of negative effects, the analysis of alternative sites, the observation of relevant legislation and the utilisation of contemporary research. In the subsequent stage of evaluation, the factor for incorporation into the adapted model was intra- and inter-sector cumulative impact. Results showed that positive cumulative impact cannot be illustrated by the model whereas neutral and negative cumulative impact can. The model’s added value is that it facilitates decision making by providing a rigorous, transparent and structured methodology, the holistic approach of which provides a sound basis for the incorporation of contemporary research.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Thiborg, Jesper, 1979-
(författare)
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Att göra (e)sport : om datorspel och sportifiering
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Competitive computer gaming, under the name e-sport, have become a popular activity inSweden and worldwide. Within the e-sport community the question about the relationbetween the e-sport and sport has been discussed. Despite of this, very few sport scientistshave studied e-sport. The aim of this licentiate thesis is to create an understanding of thephenomenon e-sport. As a theoretical framework the concept of sportification was used. Inthree articles aspects of sportification in e-sport was studied. E-sport as a concept evolvedin the late 1990 and is used by many people and organizations. The reasons why theconcept of e-sport is used are probably manifold. In the thesis three reasons are presented,namely higher legitimacy, social recognition and autonomy. Furthermore, the results showsimilarities between e-sport and contemporary sport. E-sport has, in contrast tocontemporary sports, developed from commerce around computer games to sport, and notonly from spontaneous play. In conclusion, e-sport is e-sport. By that I mean that e-sport issomething that goes beyond contemporary sport. Probably, it is due to the fact that e-sportevolved in a time when industrial society was transformed into an information- andcommunication society.
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| 10. |
- Andersson, Bo
(författare)
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Harnessing Handheld Computing - Framework, Toolkit and Design Propositions
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The rapid development of handheld technologies such as smartphones and personal digital assistants in recent years has created opportunities for the mobile workforce to take advantage of computerised information systems. To apprehend and harness the opportunities of computerised information systems implemented on handheld devices it is crucial to fully understand the user group and the handheld technology. However, there is a lack of comprehensive frameworks and toolkits supporting designers of computerised handheld information systems for the mobile workforce. The aim of this dissertation is to address this issue by developing both a framework and a toolkit for use early in the design process. To develop and evaluate the framework and the toolkit, various qualitative methods such as interviews, artefact studies, and experiments were applied for assessing both users’ and designers’ views on handheld computing. The analysis is made from a designers’ perspective and based on the entities, user, application, context and technologies. The proposed accentuated factors framework is a comprehensive framework of fifteen factors, evaluated and approved by experienced practitioners. The HISD Toolkit presented is based on the accentuated factors framework and supported by the design propositions Least Common Denominator, Flexible Forms, Tune-In and Defensive Design, which are also presented in this dissertation. The main implication for research is the use of the accentuated factors framework in analysis of handheld computing. The main implications in practice are the use of the HISD Toolkit in the design of handheld information systems, in the teaching of handheld computing, and in the evaluation of existing systems as in the procurement of computerised handheld information systems. The study has been supported by the Swedish Research School of Management and Information Technology (MIT)
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