| 1. |
- Blad, Karin, 1982-
(författare)
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Styrelseledamöters skyldigheter och ansvar vid risk för obestånd och liknande situationer
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Styrelseledamöter har ett antal skyldigheter när ett aktiebolag får ekonomiska svårigheter. Vilka regler som aktualiserar bolagsledningens ansvar beror på om ett aktiebolag har betalningsproblem eller balansproblem. Avseende balansproblemet finns regler om så kallat medansvar för styrelseledamöter och andra företrädare i 25 kap. aktiebolagslagen (2005:551). Syftet med kapitalbristreglerna är att tillse en snabb avveckling av ett kapitalsvagt aktiebolag och därvid skydda borgenärskollektivet. Utöver medansvarsreglerna finns det regler om skadeståndsansvar för bland andra styrelseledamöter för skador de åsamkar bolaget, aktieägare eller andra, exempelvis borgenärer. Vid ett aktiebolags betalningsproblem aktualiseras obeståndsrelaterade ansvarsregler i de fall betalningsoförmågan inte bedöms vara endast tillfällig. Härvid kan särskilt nämnas borgenärsbrotten i 11 kap. brottsbalken (1962:700), vilka förutsätter gäldenärens obestånd eller att påtaglig fara för obestånd föreligger. Därtill aktualiserar den särskilda oförmågan att betala förfallna skatteskulder det skatterättsliga företrädaransvaret i 59 kap. skatteförfarandelagen (2011:1244) (SFL) och för det räcker att betalningsoförmågan är endast tillfällig. Avhandlingen syftet är att systematisera och utvärdera reglerna om skyldigheter och personligt ansvar för styrelseledamöter när bolaget befinner sig i insolvenszonen, det vill säga när det är risk för obestånd eller obestånd är ett faktum. I syftet ingår att undersöka regleringens ändamålsenlighet.
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| 2. |
- Aid, Graham, 1980-
(författare)
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Operationalizing Industrial Ecology in the Waste Sector : Roles and tactics for circular value innovation
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The take-make-waste approach to resource management in human production and consumption systems is contributing to a variety of environmental and social problems worldwide. Additionally, as the world’s population and affluence increase, so do the negative impacts of poor resource management. Lifting the waste management (WM) sector into a new phase of development, which takes its lead from the ideals of Industrial Ecology and circular economy, is seen by many scholars and practitioners as one potential to assist in alleviating these impacts. While there are many studies on how more efficient inter-organizational resource management is (or could be) constructed, there are relatively few business development studies which have explored novel approaches (from roles to tactics) that WM organizations might operationalize toward more efficient resource management.The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the development of knowledge and understanding of how the waste management sector can operationalize more effective and efficient resource management. In approaching this aim, two research questions guided the exploration of: 1) novel roles for WM and 2) support tactics for such roles. Grounded in the broader context of Industrial Ecology (IE) and Business Development, five studies were performed. Two studies, focused on the novel roles of inter-organizational resource management and high value secondary resource extraction, were performed through literature review and interviews, and market driver analysis respectively. In exploring support tactics, two design and proof of concept studies were carried out to investigate data analysis tools for inter-organizational resource management, and one long-term action research engagement project was coordinated to study hands-on inter-organizational collaboration tactics.The studies highlighted that the Swedish WM sector holds some key capacities for operationalizing (and in some cases, is already developing) the novel resource management roles identified: industrial symbiosis facilitator, eco-industrial park manager, holistic facility management, and high value resource extractor. However, depending on the portfolio of services to be performed in such roles, several capacities may need to be developed or strengthened. Main opportunities seen for these roles were – staying ahead of market developments, and aligning activities with organizational goals. The main general risk related to these roles was insufficient returns on investment. Looking forward, the main enablers identified were policy leadership for more balanced market mechanisms, increasing use of external knowledge, developing long term partnerships, lobbying, stockpiling resources, and carefully crafting new business models.The tools developed for strategically applying external information toward the identification of opportunities within new roles showed tactical potential. However, their implementation in broader development processes has yet to be fully validated. The hands-on exploration of change oriented collaboration, highlighted collective system framing and goal setting and face-to-face interaction as key activities for inter-organizational approaches within roles such as industrial symbiosis facilitator.Throughout the studies, several novel roles were investigated. Each of these roles will need to be individually evaluated by directing bodies of WM organizations, and evaluated from the organization’s vision and strategy. If certain roles are chosen to be explored in more detail, they will need to be developed within full business models - addressing issues such as income structure, internal processes and capacities to be developed, and key customers. Through applying IE and business development concepts and findings, WM organizations have possibilities to translate ambitious visions into novel offerings.
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| 3. |
- Anchev, Stefan, 1986-
(författare)
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Information and financial markets
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The results in this thesis are consistent with the hypotheses that: 1) the incomplete dissemination of information across investors helps in explaining the occurrence and the persistence of cross-sectional stock return anomalies, 2) the properties of the investor base of a stock have implications for the informativeness of the stock's price and 3) a greater quantity of firm disclosure places less sophisticated investors at an information disadvantage. Overall, the thesis provides new empirical evidence about the role of information in financial markets.Investor Base and Stock Return AnomaliesAfter controlling for market capitalization, the predictability of future stock returns associated with each of the earnings-to-price ratio, the book-to-market ratio, the past return, the total volatility of returns and the return on assets is more pronounced among stocks with smaller total and/or institutional investor bases. These results appear even after controlling for several other stock characteristics and potential risk factors and they are both statistically and economically meaningful. Thus, they are consistent with the hypothesis that the incomplete dissemination of information across investors helps in explaining the occurrence and the persistence of cross-sectional stock return anomalies.Investor Base and Stock Price InformativenessThe relative idiosyncratic volatility of future stock returns is: 1) negatively associated with the absolute size of the total and the institutional investor base, 2) positively associated with the institutional ownership, 3) negatively (positively) associated with the average stock portfolio size (Herfindahl index) of the investor base and 4) positively associated with the indirect (i.e., through nominees) ownership. These results appear after controlling for several other stock characteristics and they are both statistically and economically meaningful. Thus, they are consistent with the hypothesis that the properties of the investor base of a stock have implications for the informativeness of the stock's price.Individual Investors and Quantity of Firm DisclosureWhen the amount of information disclosed by a firm is greater (or increases), the stock portfolio weights that individual investors allocate (through trading) to that firm's stock are lower (or decrease) and suboptimal. The former result is less pronounced or nonexistent for more financially competent individuals and for positions in firms with a poorer information environment. When they do allocate greater portfolio weights to the stock of a firm that discloses more, individuals, regardless of their financial competence, earn lower returns. Overall, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that a greater quantity of firm disclosure places less sophisticated investors at an information disadvantage.
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| 4. |
- Lindroos-Moll, Sebastian, 1985-
(författare)
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Värdering vid upprättande av kontrollbalansräkning : En aktiebolagsrättslig och redovisningsrättslig studie
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of the study is to investigate how valuation shall be carried out in drawing up balance sheet for liquidation purposes and whether valuation rules, in particular, and rules on involuntary liquidation due to capital deficiency, in general, need to be changed.It is stated in Ch. 25, sect. 13, Swedish Companies Act (SCA), that the board is under the obligation to draw up a balance sheet for liquidation purposes without delay when there is reason to expect that the company's own capital is less than half of the registered shareholder equity. Balance sheet for liquidation purposes shall be drawn up pursuant to applicable law on annual reports, but in calculating its own assets a number of adjustments may be made. The study focuses on the meaning of valuation consistent with the generally accepted accounting principles (Swedish GAAP), and reporting assets at net realisable value.In the 1970s, it was stated that the Swedish GAAP was an actual existing praxis in a qualitatively representative circle of parties under duty to keep accounts, an identified praxis among the actors. This description is far from the present situation as it is specifically stated in the general guidelines issued by the Swedish Accounting Standards Board (BFN) that private companies must comply with their guidelines.Among other things in this study, the role of the guidelines issued by the BFN are investigated and analysed in terms of their constitutional status regarding norm setting. The study includes a comparison of the Danish, Norwegian and Finnish rules on “serious loss” of the subscribed capital.One conclusion is that, under the current Swedish regulations regarding obligation to liquidate due to capital deficiency, there is room for changes which would reduce the distance between intended functions and the wording of the law. A more long-term solution, however, would require a total review of capital protection rules.
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| 5. |
- Melander, Catharina
(författare)
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Piecing together a fragmented world : Structures to promote the understanding of people with advanced dementia
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Understanding people with dementia whose verbal ability has been impaired is a complex and challenging task, even for professional nursing staff. The aim of this PhD thesis was to explore structures that may promote the understanding of people with advanced dementia living in nursing homes. It focusses specifically on (I) the clinical reasoning employed by assistant nurses when utilizing the NPI-NH (Neuropsychiatric Inventory Nursing Home version) as a tool to assess frequency and severity of BPSD (behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia, i.e. problematic behaviours) in people with advanced dementia, (II) whether a sensor measuring electrodermal activity (EDA) can improve the identification of agitation in individuals with dementia, (III) how an EDA sensor impacts assistant nurses’ structured assessments of problematic behaviours amongst people with dementia and their choices of care interventions, and (IV) how Martha Nussbaum’s approach to human capabilities can apply to dignity in the lives of people with advanced dementia living in nursing homes. Study I used a method of discourse analysis that focussed on clinical reasoning utilized by assistant nurses when assessing problematic behaviours. In study II, a nonexperimental and correlational observation of the relationship between a sensor measuring EDA and assistant nurses’ structured observations of agitation in people with advanced dementia was applied. Study III used both quantitative and qualitative approaches; data were collected during structured assessments of problematic behaviours conducted by assistant nurses, as well as by focus group interviews with assistant nurses. Study IV took an ethnographic approach with participatory observations that were analyzed with a recursive analysis using a theoretical framework for the conditions necessary for a dignified human life. The structure of the NPI-NH provided a supportive framework that encouraged assistant nurses to discuss and broaden their understanding of the person with dementia (I). The EDA sensor provided continuous information regardless of staff presence and the potential to identify EDA prior to observing these behaviours (II, III), which supported the understanding of the person and when to introduce timely interventions to prevent the onset of problematic behaviours (III). The structure of Nussbaum’s approach to human capabilities illuminated that people with advanced dementia were at risk of living a life in which their opportunities for human capabilities were limited, and hence, the possibility to live a dignified life (IV). An overview of the findings in this thesis indicates that the studied structures were used to piece together fragments of information to create a comprehensive understanding of the needs of the person with dementia. For the structures to support the understanding of the person with dementia, it was crucial that nursing staff were present, attentive and engaged in each person’s situation in order for them to figure out how to piece together and integrate the structures into the overall understanding of the person and, based on that, formulate caring actions in daily life that are meaningful from the perspective of the person with advanced dementia.
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| 6. |
- Nilsson, Åsa, 1967-
(författare)
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Towards a shared understanding : Exploring encounters in hospital care from the perspectives of nurses and patients
- 2017
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of this licentiate thesis was to describe encounters in hospital care from the perspectives of nurses and patients. It focuses specifically on nurses’ views of shortcomings in patient-care encounters in one hospital (I) and the meanings of participation in hospital care as narrated by patients (II). Three focus group discussions with 15 registered nurses were conducted, and data were analyzed using thematic content analysis (I). Narrative interviews were conducted with 15 patients in hospital care, and the interviews were analyzed with a phenomenological hermeneutic interpretation (II). This licentiate thesis shows that a shared understanding is considered as central for both the nurses and the patients in the hospital-care encounter. The nurses demonstrate the need to understand, to create space, and also to be available for vulnerable patients. The patients describe the need to be understood and to understand their own situations. This thesis suggests that positive encounters in hospital care imply that nurses need to take responsibility for creating a mutual dialogue where the patient experiences himself or herself as a co-creator in a trustful context. When nurses acknowledge and confirm the vulnerability of their patients, it becomes possible to support them to participate in an active manner. A well-functioning team, as well as a coherent environment, is, in this thesis, understood as a precondition for positive hospitalcare encounters.
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| 7. |
- Söderström Malmborg, Julia, 1988-
(författare)
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Pain and health in adolescents and young adults – pieces of a puzzle
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Musculoskeletal pain is a burden for the individual and for society, and it has a negative impact on overall health. The biological, psychological, and social factors that govern pain and health form a complex puzzle to put together. Musculoskeletal pain conditions may be alleviated by physical activity, but a too high level of physical activity may also increase the risk of pain. Youth athletes may be especially vulnerable to developing pain due to factors related to training load and physical maturity. Being physically active and maintaining a healthy diet is associated with better health, but if carried out to excess these health behaviours may become unhealthy. Our understanding of musculoskeletal pain and health in adolescents and young adults needs to be developed, both in individuals involved in sports and exercise and in the general population.Aim: The overall aim was to study musculoskeletal pain and its relationship to various health-related factors in adolescents and young adults enrolled in sport or general education programmes.Methods: Study I was a cross-sectional study on university students (aged 19–29) from an exercise science programme (n = 118) and a business programme (n = 89), assessing health status, physical activity, and orthorexia nervosa (an exaggerated fixation on healthy food). Study II was a cross-sectional study (n = 178), and Study III a 2-year longitudinal (n = 131) study on sport school students (aged 14 at baseline), assessing musculoskeletal pain, health status, physical maturity, and sports performance. Study IV was a 3-year longitudinal study on students from a general upper secondary school (n = 256, aged 16 at baseline), assessing chronic musculoskeletal pain, health status, physical activity, sleep, stress, anxiety, and depression.Results: In Study I, compared to business students, exercise science students reported more pain, but better general health. A high level of physical activity in combination with orthorexia nervosa was most prevalent in men from the exercise science programme. In Studies II and III, pain was common in sport school students. At baseline, boys with constant pain were not as physically mature as boys with infrequent pain. Students with constant pain reported a worse health status than students with infrequent pain. At follow-up, frequent pain, frequent pain in two or more body regions, and a worse health status at baseline were identified as risk factors for having frequent pain at follow-up in girls. For boys, late physical maturation at baseline was a risk factor. Involvement in non-contact sports was also an identified risk factor over time in both sexes. Pain was associated with a worse sports performance in boys at both baseline and follow-up. In Study IV, chronic musculoskeletal pain was common in students from a general upper secondary school. A worse health status, severe sleeping problems, anxiety, and chronic musculoskeletal pain at baseline were associated with reporting chronic musculoskeletal pain at follow-up.Conclusions: Pain was prevalent, and also persistent, in adolescents and young adults, irrespective of attending sport or general education programmes. Pain is a biopsychosocial phenomenon and must be treated as such. Pain should be frequently monitored, and treatment should be introduced early on to prevent pain from becoming persistent.
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| 8. |
- Andersson, Jonas, 1969-
(författare)
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Adipose tissue as an active organ : blood flow regulation and tissue-specific glucocorticoid metabolism
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Despite advances in the treatment of atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. With the population getting older and more obese, the burden of cardiovascular disease may further increase. Premenopausal women are relatively protected against cardiovascular disease compared to men, but the reasons for this sex difference are partly unknown. Redistribution of body fat from peripheral to central depots may be a contributing factor. Central fat is associated with hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, hypertension, and insulin resistance. Two possible mediators of these metabolic disturbances are tissue-specific production of the stress hormone cortisol and adipose tissue blood flow (ATBF). The aim of this thesis was to determine the adipose tissue production of cortisol by the enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) and to investigate the regulation of ATBF. Materials and Methods: Cortisol release was estimated by labeled cortisol infusions and tissue-specific catheterizations of subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in men. We investigated ATBF by 133Xe-washout and its relation to autonomic activity, endothelial function, adipose tissue distribution, and adipokines in different groups of women. We further investigated the effect of two diets and of weight loss on ATBF in women. Results: We demonstrated significant cortisol release from subcutaneous adipose tissue in humans. Splanchnic cortisol release was accounted for entirely by the liver. Cortisol release from VAT (to the portal vein) was not detected. ATBF decreased according to increasing weight and postmenopausal status, and the level of blood flow was associated with nitric oxide (NO) activity and autonomic activity. ATBF was also highly associated with leptin levels and both subcutaneous adipose tissue and VAT areas. After 6 months of diet and weight reduction, a significant difference in ATBF was observed between diet groups. Conclusions: Our data for the first time demonstrate the contributions of cortisol generated from subcutaneous adipose tissue, visceral tissues, and liver by 11β-HSD1. ATBF is linked to autonomic activity, NO activity, and the amount of adipose tissue (independent of fat depot). Postmenopausal overweight women exhibited a loss of ATBF flexibility, which may contribute to the metabolic dysfunction seen in this group. Weight loss in a diet program could not increase the ATBF, although there were ATBF differences between diet groups. The results will increase understanding of adipose tissue biology and contribute to the development of treatment strategies targeting obesity and obesity-related disorders.
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| 9. |
- Eriksson, Maria, 1965-
(författare)
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Adipocyte-derived hormones and cardiovascular disease
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Obesity is increasing globally and related to major changes in lifestyle. This increase is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Knowledge about adipose tissue as a metabolic-endocrine organ has increased during the last few decades. Adipose tissue produces a number of proteins with increased body weight, many of which are important for food intake and satiety, insulin sensitivity, and vessel integrity, and aberrations have been related to atherosclerosis. Notably, the risk for developing CVD over the course of a lifetime differs between men and women. In Northern Sweden, men have a higher risk for myocardial infarction (MI). However, the incidence is declining in men but not in women. These sex differences could be due to functional and anatomical differences in the fat mass and its functions. The primary aim of this thesis was to evaluate associations between the adipocyte-derived hormones leptin and adiponectin, and fibrinolysis and other variables associated with the metabolic syndrome, and particularly whether these associations differ between men and women. Another aim was to evaluate these associations during physical exercise and pharmacological intervention (i.e. enalapril). Finally, whether leptin and adiponectin predict a first MI or sudden cardiac death with putative sex differences was also investigated. The first study used a cross-sectional design and included 72 men and women recruited from the WHO MONICA project. We found pronounced sex differences in the associations with fibrinolytic variables. Leptin was associated with fibrinolytic factors in men, whereas insulin resistance was strongly associated with all fibrinolytic factors in women. The second study was an experimental observational study with 20 men exposed to strenuous physical exercise. During exercise, leptin levels decreased and adiponectin levels increased, and both were strongly associated with an improved fibrinolytic capacity measured as decreased PAI-1 activity. Changes in insulin sensitivity were not associated with changing adiponectin levels. The third study was a randomised, double-blind, single centre clinical trial including 46 men and 37 women who had an earlier MI. The study duration was one year, and participating subjects were randomised to either placebo or ACE inhibitor (i.e. enalapril). Circulating leptin levels were not associated with enalapril treatment. During the one-year study, changes in leptin levels were associated with changes in circulating levels of tPA mass, PAI-1 mass, and tPA-PAI complex in men, but not vWF. These associations were found in all men and men on placebo treatment. In women on enalapril treatment there was an association between changes in leptin and changes in vWF. In the fourth study, the impact of leptin, adiponectin, and their ratio on future MI risk or sudden cardiac death was tested in a prospective nested casecontrol study within the framework of the WHO MONICA, Västerbotten Intervention Project (VIP), and Västerbotten Mammary Screening Program (MSP). A total 564 cases (first-ever MI or sudden cardiac death) and 1082 matched controls were selected. High leptin, low adiponectin, and a high leptin/adiponectin ratio independently predicted a first-ever MI, possibly with higher risk in men in regards to leptin. The association was found for non-fatal cases with ST-elevation MI. Subjects with low adiponectin levels had their MI earlier than those with high levels. In conclusion, the adipocyte-derived hormones leptin and adiponectin are related to the development of CVD with a sex difference, and fibrinolytic mechanisms could be possible contributors to CVD risk.
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| 10. |
- Perdahl, Anna-Lena, 1971-
(författare)
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Verksamhetsutveckling i socialt arbete : konstruktion och utprovning av en interaktiv modell
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The main focus of this thesis has been the activity development of social work practice. The thesis presents the construction of a theoretical frame for developing social work practice; namely, Interactive Activity-Documentation model (IAD), and includes the process of testing and reviewing the model. The thesis was based on an interactive research design, which involved the researcher and the practitioners in the development and testing of the model. The researcher constructed the IAD model based on theoretical considerations concerning the characteristics of social work, the practice’s knowledge requirements, learning processes, reflexivity in relation to actions, the systematic documentation of actions and reflections and the need for an interactive process to enhance the usage of the model. The setting in which the testing and the development of the model took place was a family centre, an organization in which a social worker, a midwife, paediatric nurses and preschool staff work together to coordinate services for families with children. The material that was used during the testing and for the review of the model consisted of descriptions of the family center’s aims, goals and objectives in a foundation document, continuous descriptions and reflections of the practitioners’ actions, descriptions and reflections of how the families understand the practice, documents in which the content of the foundation document and the continuous descriptions and reflections from the practitioners and families are compared and notes from the practitioners’ discussions about the comparison. The study showed that the use of a model for activity development in social work practice provides the practitioners with the possibility to systematize their documentation and the tools that they use in the development process. Another finding in the study was the importance of dealing with explicit assumptions in the construction process. Explicit assumptions provide the opportunity to discuss the possibilities of the model and potential problems. The staff’s critical discussions concerning the resources of the organization revealed that, for example, time spent together with other staff members had a positive impact on the development process. The review also shows that development achieved by learning through reflection enhances critical thinking in social work practice.
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