| 1. |
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| 2. |
- Netz, Johan, 1984-
(författare)
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First things first - think before you decide : The how, what and who of idea screening
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis investigates decision-making activities leading to the initial selection of which new ideas should be selected for further development or rejected. This process, often referred to as idea screening, is described as being one of the most important, but also challenging, tasks to master during the entire innovation process. There are two main reasons for this: Firstly, not all ideas are good and secondly no firm has the resources to develop every single idea proposed to it. Thus, it is important to be careful when initially deciding which ideas are to be selected and developed into future possible innovations in order to eliminate weak ideas and retain those that have a substantial chance of becoming successful. Two alternative decision-making approaches are explored in the thesis (the intuitive and rational approaches). In the thesis, the concept of intuition during the screening of product and service ideas is demystified. The empirical findings show that decision-makers utilize five main underlying criteria when intuitively assessing ideas. Of these, the findings indicate user-value to be the most important one, or at least the criterion that most assessors emphasize when making intuitive decisions. The findings presented in the thesis increase our understanding of the use of rational and holistic intuitive decision-making when screening ideas during the Front End Innovation phase, as well as questioning the traditional view of intuition, as a decision-making tool that is only reliable if applied by those with a vast amount of experience and expertise. The reported findings indicate that, for example, users with an understanding of the idea context are able to intuitively identify the ideas that decision-making experts identify as the top (best) ones. Hence, managers faced with a situation where they are being inundated with new ideas can turn to non-experts for help.
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| 3. |
- Omer-Salim, Amal, 1964-
(författare)
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Mothers’ Agency in Managing Breastfeeding and Other Work in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and New Delhi, India
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Combining breastfeeding and other forms of work is desirable from both public health and labour productivity perspectives. This is often challenging, especially in low- or middle-income fast-growing urban settings. The aim of this thesis was to gain a deeper understanding of mothers’ perspectives on combining breastfeeding and other work in the urban contexts of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and New Delhi, India. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with community mothers (n=8) and health worker mothers (n=12) in Dar es Salaam, and mothers working in the health (n=10) and education sectors (n=10) in New Delhi. The methods of analysis were: qualitative content analysis, grounded theory approach, and directed and general inductive content analyses. Mothers’ agency manifested in several ways. Striving to integrate or segment the competing domains of home and work was a goal of these mothers to reduce conflicts in managing breastfeeding and other work. Spatial and time constraints led mothers to engage in an array of carefully planned actions and troubleshooting tactics that included ways of ensuring proximity between them and their baby and efficient time managing. The timing of these strategic actions spanned from pregnancy, over maternity leave, to the return to employment. Managing breastfeeding and work triggered emotions such as stress, frustration and guilt, but also satisfaction and joy. Mothers negotiated with family, employers, colleagues and informal networks to gain support for their strategies, displaying both individual, collective and proxy agency. Changing family structures and roles highlight the potentially greater supportive role of the partner/husband. Work/Family Border Theory and Bandura’s agency constructs provided frameworks for a deeper understanding of mothers’ perspectives, but using existing family relationship constructs would better diffentiate between various modes of agency. Workplaces and maternity protection conditions were generally inadequate. Interventions are required: to strengthen the breastfeeding mother’s own agential capacity using an individual approach; to provide information to families and communities; to improve regulatory, structural and attitudinal conditions at workplaces, and to strengthen health and social services to adequately support mothers in managing breastfeeding and other work.
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| 4. |
- Bohman, Hannes
(författare)
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Adolescents with Depression Followed up : Prognostic Significance of Somatic Symptoms and Their Need of In-Patient Care
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A dualist approach that distinguishes between mind and body is still the norm in Western medicine. Although we now know that physical and mental health are related in adults, little is known about if, or with what mechanisms, mental illnesses or depression early in life, will affect future physical and psychological health. In-between mental and somatic disorders there are somatic symptoms without medical explanation. These are symptoms that cause much suffering and impairment which are costly for society. Still little is known what they are, how they should be treated and what consequences they have for adolescents when they grow up. This study aims to investigate the long-term relationship between mental and somatic disease and the outcome of adolescents with functional somatic symptoms.The thesis is based on a 15-year follow-up study of a population-based investigation of adolescent depression. In 1991–1993 first year students in upper secondary school (age 16–17) in Uppsala, Sweden, were screened for depression (n=2300). Adolescents with positive screening and selected peers with negative screening (n=631) were assessed regarding mental health and somatic symptoms. At around age 31, the participants were followed-up in personal interviews (n=369) and national registers (n=609). Outcomes regarding mental DSM-IV diagnosis, in-patient ICD-10 disease diagnosis from the patient register, and blood vessel wall thickness were assessed.The most important finding is the unexpected poor short and long-term outcome in adolescents with somatic symptoms. The result proves the need for better treatment. The strong prediction of functional somatic symptoms for mental disorder, independent of adolescent depression, suggests that somatic symptoms and depression symptoms are different expressions of a common disorder. Female adolescents with depression need more psychiatric and somatic in-patient care but the males do not. Instead, they have considerably more in-patient stays due to alcohol and drug abuse. The males might be taken care of outside the health care system and seem to need special attention. In women with adolescent and recurrent adult depression there is an association with premature aging of the carotid wall. These women are at risk of developing early cardio-vascular disease and need early interventions.
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| 5. |
- Hammare, Ulf, 1961-
(författare)
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Mellan löften om särart och krav på evidens : En studie av kunskap och kunskapssyn i socialt inriktade ideella, privata och offentliga organisationer
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Between the Promise of Specificity and the Demand for Evidence – A study of knowledge and the approach to knowledge in socially oriented non-profit, private and public sector organizationsIn the social work field it is possible to identify two parallel processes in time. On the one hand a qualitative developmental process―even towards a form of standardization―where central concepts are academisation, professionalization, scientifically produced knowledge, expertise and evidence based methods. Simultaneously, there is a drive to create the conditions for increased diversity, where hopes are especially being pinned on the non-profit sector. In spite of representations and expectations concerning the non-profit sector and its so-called specificity, however, much of existing research lacks a comparative perspective, i.e., studies where non-profit organizations are related to comparable activities in the private and public sector.The aim of the study―with special focus on issues concerning evidence based knowledge in social work―is to compare and analyse whether and in that case how employee conceptions differ between the sectors, and whether and in what way non-profit employees and their activities can be said to fulfil the expectations of contributing to increased diversity. Data is from a questionnaire directed to about 1300 social work employees.The results show a greater interest in research and more marked efforts at professionalization in the public sector, while above all in the non-profit sector there was skepticism about science paired with reservations about work carried out in a professional way. In the non-profit, but also in the private sector, issues of ethics, views of humanity and values were paid greater attention. Also stressed here was the importance of creating relationships, the unique human encounter, genuine commitment, and human kindness. However, there was significant uniformity across all sectors in the use of methods, where three dominated: solution focused measures, network support/therapy, and psychosocial work.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Olsson, Mikael, 1966-
(författare)
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Ownership reform and corporate governance : The Slovak privatisation process in 1990-1996
- 1999
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Since 1989, there has been a period of rapid change of the economies of the former Eastern bloc. Within a few years, the majority of the formerly centrally administered economies had begun restructuring their economic systems, including the privatisation. of formerly state-owned enterprises. This process developed differently in different countries, depending among other things on their historical traditions and the momentum of their social, political and economic transformations. This doctoral dissertation examines the privatisation of large-scale industrial enterprises in Slovakia prior to 1997. In particular the thesis analyses the changing political and institutional framework governing the process and method of privatisation; and how the governance of firms was affected by the new markets and ownership- and control-structures that were established. Special attention is paid to the role played by investment funds andinvestment-companies established as a consequence of voucher privatisation. The research problem is approached both from an aggregate national level and from the enterprise level. The thesis includes a number of case studies of enterprises in Slovakia that underwent privatisation, and of investment funds that emerged to take part in the process. In addition, two panel-data sets were constructed for the sake of statistical analysis. The study points to the drastic changes in privatisation policy and its enactment, under different governments. It leads to the conclusion that privatisation is a highly political process, whose economic effects cannot be separated from its distributional effects. This politicised nature of ownership reform is shown to have some negative side-effects with regard to the development of well-functioning governance structures. It is, for example, pointed to that the capital market, as it developed during the period of study, was highly non-transparent,characterised by high transaction costs and insider-trading. The study also documents an increasingly concentrated ownership structure of the Slovak industry and relates it to the changes in privatisation policy. In the final analysis attention is drawn to a recurring theme in the study, namely the issues related to the relative stability and durability of the institutional set-up. In many cases an insecurity about "the rules of the game" led to short-term incentives and opportunism on behalf of the economic and political agents.
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| 8. |
- Olsson, Simon
(författare)
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Approximant Phases in Quasicrystalline AlCuFe Thin Films
- 2012
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Quasicrystalline materials exhibit properties that are very different from conventional metallic materials. They are mostly metallic alloys, and show high hardness and stiffness but low electrical and thermal conductivity. The coefficient of friction and surface energy of the quasicrystalline materials are also very low. Approximants are a family of phases that are related to the quasicrystals. These phases share the local atomic arrangement of quasicrystals and have as a result many similar physical properties. Bulk quasicrystals are too brittle for many of the suggested applications, instead the most important area of applications concerns that of surface coatings. In this work, quasicrystalline and approximant phases have been synthesized in thin films. Multilayered Al/Cu/Fe thin films, with a nominal global composition corresponding to the quasicrystalline phase, have been deposited by magnetron sputtering onto Si and Al2O3 substrates. During isothermal annealing at temperatures up to 700 °C homogeneous thin films were formed. It is found that when using Si as substrate a film-substrate reaction occurs already below 390 °C, where Si diffuses into the film. This changes the composition, promoting the formation of the cubic α-approximant phase. Annealing at 600 °C for 4 h the cubic a-approximant phase forms in a polycrystalline state, with a small amount of a second phase, τ7-Al3Fe2Si3. The film is within 1.5 at.% of the ideal composition of the a-approximant phase, and contains 8 at.% Si. Continued annealing for 64 h provides for more diffusion of Si to 12 at.%, which result in an increase of the t7-phase. The rate of Si in-diffusion was observed to decrease with annealing time, and the lattice parameter of the a-phase was continuously decreasing as diffused Si substituted for Al. No degradation of the crystal quality of the remaining α-phase was observed even after as much as 150 h of treatment. When annealing the same Al/Cu/Fe thin film grown on non-reactant Al2O3 substrates the icosahedral Al62.5Cu25Fe12.5 quasicrystalline phase is formed.
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| 9. |
- Sandström, Agneta, 1959-
(författare)
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Neurocognitive and endocrine dysfunction in women with exhaustion syndrome
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Stress has emerged as one of the most important factors to consider in psychiatric diagnoses and has become a common reason for long-term sick leave (LTSL). Roughly 50% of LTSL due to psychiatric diseases are thought to be associated with work-related stress. The demarcation towards major depression is disputed, and no international consensus exists for how to diagnose and rehabilitate these individuals. The Swedish National Board of Health has suggested the term “exhaustion syndrome” to integrate these individuals into stress-related disorders. Prominent features of this syndrome are fatigue, sleeping disorders, and cognitive dysfunction. The cognitive dysfunction may be due to an interaction between personality features, environmental factors, the biological effects of stress hormones, and dysfunction in key brain areas, notably the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. A consistent feature of chronic stress is activation of the cortisol, or hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, axis, which may be linked to cognitive dysfunction. Increased glucocorticoid levels, mainly cortisol in humans, are known to impair memory performance. The aim of this thesis was to investigate whether patients with exhaustion syndrome exhibit specific alterations in an extensive set of biological, psychological and immunological variables. Patients in Study 1 had significant cognitive impairment for specific tasks assumed to tap frontal lobe functioning. In Study 2 anxiety prone, worrying, pessimistic individuals with low executive drive and a persistent personality type were more likely to develop exhaustion syndrome. Decreased reactivity was found on the pituitary level after corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) in exhaustion syndrome patients. The cortisol/adrenocorticotropic hormone response to CRH was slightly higher in patients compared to controls, indicating increased sensitivity at the adrenal cortex level. No differences were found in hippocampal volume. In Study 3, functional imaging revealed a different pattern of brain activation in working memory tests in patients with exhaustion syndrome compared to healthy individuals and patients with depression. In summary, our data suggests an intimate link between personality and wellbeing, cognitive performance and neuroendocrine dysfunction, in exhaustion syndrome. We thus find similarities with major depression but also distinct differences between the exhaustion syndrome and major depression.
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| 10. |
- Sundström, Johan, Professor, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Risk factors for subarachnoid haemorrhage : a nationwide cohort of 950 000 adults
- 2019
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Ingår i: International Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press. - 0300-5771 .- 1464-3685. ; 48:6, s. 2018-2025
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) is a devastating disease, with high mortality rate and substantial disability among survivors. Its causes are poorly understood. We aimed to investigate risk factors for SAH using a novel nationwide cohort consortium.METHODS: We obtained individual participant data of 949 683 persons (330 334 women) between 25 and 90 years old, with no history of SAH at baseline, from 21 population-based cohorts. Outcomes were obtained from the Swedish Patient and Causes of Death Registries.RESULTS: During 13 704 959 person-years of follow-up, 2659 cases of first-ever fatal or non-fatal SAH occurred, with an age-standardized incidence rate of 9.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) (7.4-10.6)/100 000 person-years] in men and 13.8 [(11.4-16.2)/100 000 person-years] in women. The incidence rate increased exponentially with higher age. In multivariable-adjusted Poisson models, marked sex interactions for current smoking and body mass index (BMI) were observed. Current smoking conferred a rate ratio (RR) of 2.24 (95% CI 1.95-2.57) in women and 1.62 (1.47-1.79) in men. One standard deviation higher BMI was associated with an RR of 0.86 (0.81-0.92) in women and 1.02 (0.96-1.08) in men. Higher blood pressure and lower education level were also associated with higher risk of SAH.CONCLUSIONS: The risk of SAH is 45% higher in women than in men, with substantial sex differences in risk factor strengths. In particular, a markedly stronger adverse effect of smoking in women may motivate targeted public health initiatives.
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| 11. |
- Berglund, Lars, 1986-
(författare)
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Deadlift training for patients with mechanical low back pain : a comparison of the effects of a high-load lifting exercise and individualized low-load motor control exercises
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Disability due to low back pain is common. While evidence exist that exercise is effective in reducing pain and disability, it is still largely undetermined which kind of exercises that are most effective. The overall aim of this thesis was to evaluate and compare the effects of a high-load lifting exercise and individualized low-load motor control exercises for patients with nociceptive mechanical low back pain. A secondary aim was to evaluate which patients benefit from training with a high-load lifting exercise.All four papers in this thesis were based on a randomized controlled trial including 70 participants with nociceptive mechanical low back pain as their dominating pain pattern. Participants were randomized into training with either a high-load lifting exercise (HLL), the deadlift, (n=35) or individualized low-load motor control exercises (LMC) (n=35). Both interventions included aspects of pain education. All participants were offered twelve sessions during an eight week period. The effects of the interventions were evaluated directly after and twelve months after the end of the intervention period. Outcome measures were pain intensity, activity, disability, physical performance, lumbo-pelvic alignment and lumbar multifidus muscle thickness.There was a significant between-group effect in favour of the LMC intervention regarding improvements in activity, movement control tests and some tests of trunk muscle endurance. For pain intensity there were no significant differences between groups. A majority of participants in both intervention groups showed clinically meaningful improvements from baseline to two and twelve month follow-up regarding pain intensity and activity. There were no significant differences between HLL and LMC regarding the effect on lumbo-pelvic alignment or lumbar multifidus thickness. The participants who benefit the most from the HLL intervention were those with a low pain intensity and high performance in the Biering-Sørensen test at baseline.The results of this thesis showed that the HLL intervention was not more effective than the LMC intervention. The LMC was in fact more effective in improving activity, performance in movement control tests and some tests of trunk muscle endurance, compared to the HLL intervention.The results imply that the deadlift, when combined with education, could be considered as an exercise to produce clinically relevant improvements on pain intensity in patients who prefer a high-load exercise. However, before considering deadlift training, the results suggest that pain intensity and performance in the Biering-Sørensen test should be evaluated.
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| 12. |
- Bogatic, Wirginia, 1969-
(författare)
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Exilens dilemma: att stanna eller att återvända : Beslut i Sverige av polska kvinnor som överlevde KZ-lägret Ravensbrück och räddades till Sverige 1945-1947
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is about the intersection of great narratives and individual decisions. In the intersection, the dilemma of exile is discussed: to remain in exile or return to one’s homeland. The decision to remain or return was made by the surviving Polish female concentration camp prisoners that were brought back to Sweden in 1945 with the Red Cross rescue operation.The women’s decisions have been contextualized by being placed against the political, social and economic upheavals that took place primarily in Poland, but also partly in Sweden, as well as in the international environment with which the new Poland had to form a relationship following the Second World War.The thesis moves between three levels: the micro level, comprising the individuals, their choices and experiences; the macro level, including the surrounding social, economic and political structures; the meso level, which merges the individual, her network and the state. The theoretical framework is on the one hand based on Reinhart Koselleck’s concepts of “realm of experience” and “expectations” that structure the time horizon and refer to the universal, and on the other hand, the sociological concept of generations and Svante Lundberg's model of exile with the concepts of Circumstance, Frame and Meaning. Both Koselleck and Lundberg focus on the individual / group and structural context. Sources used have been material from the Swedish Government and the two Polish governments and their agencies. In addition, a number of Polish and Swedish newspapers published during the period 1945-1947 as well as material from the Polish Source Institute in Lund (PIZ) have been studied. Thirteen in-depth interviews with the surviving women (both in Poland and Sweden) have been carried out, resulting in so-called life stories, with the objective of providing an answer to the question of why some of them remained in Sweden after the war while others returned to Poland. In the women's life stories, some themes can be distinguished: the common realm of experience, being adherent to the same sociological generation with a manifest collective memory (which in part developed differently depending on their decisions to remain or return), a link between war and captivity and expectations for the future. Otherwise, the life stories highlight the women's construction of identity, which is affected by growing up in the between-war Poland, the time during World War II and the occupation. It also reveals that these experiences influenced their decision: remaining and returning.
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| 13. |
- Bogatic, Wirginia, 1969-
(författare)
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Stanna eller återvända : Flyktingskap, återvändande och kvarstannande bland polska kvinnliga överlevande från koncentrationslägret Ravensbrück 1945-1946
- 2006
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Avhandlingen handlar om beslutsprocessen i fråga om återvändande till sitt hemland eller kvarstannande i flyktingskap, hos de överlevande polska kvinnliga koncentrationslägerfångar som räddades till Sverige 1945 med räddningsaktionen De vita bussarna. Räddningsaktionens namn till trots, lämnade kvinnorna koncentrationslägret Ravensbrück ombord på ett tåg. Den bygger på tretton djupintervjuer med de överlevande kvinnorna med målsättning att få ett svar på frågan varför vissa av dem efter krigets slut stannade kvar i Sverige, medan andra återvände till Polen. Intervjuerna genomfördes både med dem som stannade kvar och dem som återvände. Analysen utgår ifrån Svante Lundbergs analytiska modell kring flyktingskap med begreppen Bakgrund, Ram och Mening samt från det teoretiska begreppet sociologisk generation vid analysen av kvinnornas beslutsprocess. Innehållet i begreppet Bakgrund kan förenklat beskrivas som det ”bagage” som flyktingarna har med sig från sitt hemland, som de känner väl och längtar efter. På samma sätt kan innehållet i begreppet Ram definieras som allt nytt och okänt flyktingarna möter vid ankomsten till det nya landet. I båda begreppen ingår även flyktingarnas position i den rådande klasstrukturen samt möjligheter och erbjudanden om hur deras liv kan gestaltas i framtiden. Det har konstaterats att upplevelsen av traumatiserande, våldsamma och känslosamma händelser (significant historical experiences) såsom krig eller ockupation leder ofta till att en sociologisk generation uppstår. Vid analysen av både de kvarstannande och återvändande kvinnornas, som står i centrum för den här avhandlingen, uppväxt- och levnadsförhållanden framgår det att de har genomlevt ett antal signifikanta historiska erfarenheter: andra världskriget, ockupationen, förlusten av nära och kära, Warszawaupproret, fängelser, misshandel och koncentrationsläger, vilka sammanlagt (markerar förändringar i deras liv och som) även resulterade i att kvinnorna blev en del av en sociologisk generation. Världen som de kände den upphörde att existera. Därefter följde migration, flyktingskap och frågan om återvändandet till Polen eller kvarstannandet i Sverige. I kapitlet ”Bakgrund” har visats att den dominerade historieskrivningen i Polen under mellankrigstiden, som var en del av det polska kollektiva minnet, var den idealiserade och romantiskt-patriotiska synen med vilken resultat av förfädernas handlingar betraktades. Under sin tidiga uppväxt formades kvinnorna av föräldrarnas och mor- och farföräldrars berättelser om tiden då Polen som självständig stat inte fanns, om motståndet mot delningsmakterna, när fäder blev inkallade till den ryska eller preussiska armén och fick slåss mot sina ”bröder”, och om tiden då polska legioner bildades och därefter den polska staten. Utanför familjen utsattes de för den andra republikens medvetet nationalistiska politik som syftade till att skapa en stark polsk identitet. De var även åskådare till det polska samhällets radikalisering och nationalismens uppgång, samtidigt som de matades med den dominerande, romantiserade bilden av den återuppståndna polska staten, vilken förmedlades till dem genom familjen, skolan och det omgivande samhället med målsättning att skapa en gemensam identitet. Den förändrings- och utvecklingsprocess de genomgick som enskilda individer, delade de med andra som befann sig i samma situation, och processen resulterade i en känsla av grupptillhörighet, gemensamma värderingar, tolkningar och ideal, vilka låg som bakgrund för deras reaktioner på senare traumatiska erfarenheter. Sex av tretton av de intervjuade kvinnorna fattade ett medvetet beslut om att delta i motståndskampen mot ockupanten, tre gav sitt passiva stöd till kämparna i Warszawaupproret och betalade senare för det med att bli fångar i koncentrationsläger. I kapitlet ”Ram” har det visats på ett samband mellan transporterna för återvändande som startade på hösten 1945 och de svenska myndigheters önskan om handelsavtal med Polen samt Warszawaregeringens starka vil-ja att bli erkänd som den enda legitima polska regeringen. Samtidigt har det framkommit att kvinnorna kände en osäkerhet i fråga om återvändan-de både pga. de förändringar som höll på att inträffa i Polen i fråga om gränser och politisk orientering, och kvinnornas möjligheter till en okänd och kanske trygg och lugn framtid i Sverige. På flyktingförläggningarna började kvinnorna fundera huruvida de kunde stanna och vad det skulle innebära i fråga om arbete och boende. De erbjöds främst anställningar som hembiträden, lantarbetare eller inom industrin - inte alltid de yrken som kvinnorna hade drömt om före kriget eller önskat arbeta inom. För flertalet av dem innebar det ”abandonment of expectations”, då yrken/utbildningar som de hade med sig från hemlandet inte var möjliga att utöva/få användning för i mottagarlandet. Kvinnorna upptäckte också skillnader mellan det svenska och polska samhället, men de blev även uppmärksammade på förändringar som skedde i det polska samhället medan de hade varit borta. Olika grupper försökte påverka dem till att antingen stanna (som en möjlig protest mot det sovjetiska inflytandet i Polen och bevis på den polska Londonregeringens inflytande) eller återvända (för att Landet behövde dem). Den svenska regeringen underrättades om den polska Warszawaregeringens missnöje med Storbritanniens beslut att inte sända tillbaka de polska trupperna till Polen. De uppmärksammades även på att Warszawaregeringen inte accepterade omröstningen som genomfördes bland polska soldater i fråga om huruvida de ville återvända till Polen eller stanna i exil. Men de svenska myndigheterna insåg också den potential som fanns inom gruppen som en möjlig arbetskraft för att fylla den stora efterfrågan på arbeterskor som fanns vid den tiden. Därmed beslutade de också att inte skicka någon mot sin vilja och därmed öppnade sig en möjlighet för kvinnorna att stanna. Istället fick kvinnorna presentera sina individuella skäl till varför de ville stanna kvar i Sverige i ett brev till Svenska Utlänninsgkommissionen (SUK), som utredde frågan och efteråt meddelade beslutet. Inför brevskrivningen kände många repatriandi osäkerhet om uppgifterna i breven skulle föras vidare till den polska legationen, som representerade Warszawaregeringen och i förlängningen leda till problem för familjen/släkten i Polen. Ett flertal trotsade rädslan och uttalade oro för att återvända pga. den nya regeringen och faran för förföljelser. När de fick tillstånd att stanna kvar förvandlades repatriandi på en formell, politiskt–strukturell nivå från flyktingar i exil till nya medborgare/arbetstagare i Sverige och myndigheterna förväntade sig inte längre att de skulle återvända. Svante Lundberg definierar begreppet Mening som flyktingarnas avsikt att återvända till sitt hemland som medvetna subjekt. Under tiden flyktingarna väntar på att återvända till sitt hemland strävar de efter att förvärva kunskaper som kan vara till nytta för dem och hemlandet. De lever i diaspora och ägnar sin tid åt att försöka påverka hemlandets makthavare och politik på avstånd genom att anordna demonstrationer, studiecirklar m.m. för att uppmärksamma mottagarlandet på förhållanden i hemlandet och få dem att agera. Undersökningsperioden för den här avhandlingen omfattar nio måna-der under vilka de polska överlevande kvinnliga fångar från koncentra-tionslägret Ravensbrück fick fatta beslut om huruvida de skulle återvända till hemlandet Polen eller stanna kvar i mottagarlandet Sverige. Fokus ligger på kvinnornas egna berättelser och förklaringar. Kvarstannarna framhäver delvis innehållet i begreppet Ram som en kontext i vilken beslutet fattades, nämligen möjligheten att få anställning och möjligheten att få ett bättre liv i Sverige. De pekar också på bristerna i det som kvalificeras som Bakgrund, nämligen att ingen familj fanns kvar i hemlandet eller familjens uppmuntran att stanna i exil, samt den nya Polens förändringar. Det nya landet verkade inte så skrämmande. Kvinnorna lärde sig svenska genom sitt arbete, hade få kontakter med myndigheter, bildade familj och/eller engagerade sig i kulturell/idrottslig verksamhet. Återvändarna inser att kvarstannande i exil erbjöd dem möjligheter till ett tryggt liv (Ram), men de uppger i första hand att anledningen till deras återvändande var deras längtan till Landet som behövde dem. Först senare konstaterar de att även familjens brev hade inflytande på deras beslut (Bakgrund). De följde utvecklingen i Polen och i Europa men trots den osäkerhet som fanns ville de återvända. Kvinnorna vittnar om att de inte visste hur situationen i Polen skulle utvecklas och det dröjde innan de förstod vad som hände samt antyder om vilka konsekvenserna var av deras beslut. I sina levnadsberättelser placerar kvinnorna, i synnerhet återvändarna, sig själva i ett större sammanhang, i den polska nationens strävande för en fri polsk stat. De uppvisar likheter som kan hänföras till innebörden i generationsbegreppet och ger uttryck för ett generationsmedvetande. Dessa är mer framträdande i gruppen återvändarna som fortsatte den romantiskt-patriotiska traditionen efter kriget i större utsträckning än gruppen kvarstannarna. Kvinnorna pekar på att de i barndomen uppfostrades i patriotisk anda, både inom familjen och i skolan samt samhället i övrigt. Den polska mellankrigsstatens projekt och konnotationer av en stark moralisk förpliktelse gentemot familj och faderslandet uppvisas i kvinnornas egna liv. Andra världskrigets utbrott utgör en markering (significant historical experiences) då deras världsbild förändrades. Kriget och ockupation fick
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| 14. |
- Böcker, Lars, et al.
(författare)
-
Pandemic impacts on public transport safety and stress perceptions in Nordic cities
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Transportation Research Part D. - : Elsevier. - 1361-9209 .- 1879-2340. ; 114
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- COVID-19 has brought severe disruption and demand suppression to mobility, especially to public transport (PT). A key challenge now is to restore trust that PT is safe again. This paper investigates pandemic impacts on PT safety and stress perceptions in three Nordic cities, drawing on 2018 and 2020 survey data analysed in structural equation models. While finding modest pandemic effects on safety and stress perceptions overall, strong heterogeneities exist across gender, age and geographic categories. Women perceive less PT safety and more stress, especially during the pandemic. Older adults reduced PT more during the pandemic and perceived no stress reduction like younger adults. Stockholm travellers feel less safe and more stressed than in Oslo and Bergen, whilst pandemic PT use and perceived safety reductions are least in Bergen. The paper discusses the long-term implications for theory and policy across multiple mobility scenarios accounting for modal change and travel demand uncertainties.
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| 15. |
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| 16. |
- Engren, Jimmy, 1971-
(författare)
-
Railroading and Labor Migration : Class and Ethnicity in Expanding Capitalism in Northern Minnesote, the 1880s to the mid 1920s
- 2007
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the 1880s, capitalism as a social and economic system integrated new geographic areas of the American continent. The construction of the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad (D&IR), financed by a group of Philadelphia investors led by Charlemagne Tower and later owned by the US Steel was part of this emerging political economy based on the exploitation of human and material resources. Migrant labor was in demand as it came cheap and, generally, floated between various construction-sites on the “frontier” of capitalism. The Swedish immigrants were one part of this group of “floaters” during the late 1800s and made up a significant part of the force that constructed and worked on the D&IR between the 1880s and the 1920s. This book deals with power relations between groups based on class and ethnic differences by analyzing the relationship between the Anglo-American bourgeois establishment and the Swedish and other immigrant workers and their children on the D&IR and in the railroad town of Two Harbors, Minnesota. The Anglo-American bourgeois hegemony in Minnesota, to a large extent, dictated the conditions under which Swedish immigrants and others toiled and were allowed access to American society. I have therefore analyzed the structural subordination and gradual integration of workers and, in particular, immigrant workers, in an emerging class society. The book also deals with the political and the cultural opposition to Anglo-American bourgeois hegemony that emerged in Two Harbors and that constructed a radical public sphere during the 1910s. In this process, new group identities based on class and ethnicity emerged in the working class neighborhoods in the wake of the capitalist expansion and exploitation, and as a result of worker agency. Building on traditions of political insurgency an alliance of immigrant workers, particularly Swedes, Anglo skilled workers and parts of the local petty bourgeoisie rose to a position of political and cultural power in the local community. This coalition was held together by the language of class that became the basis of a local multi-ethnic working class identity laying claim to its own version of Americanism. The period of preparedness leading up to the Great War, the war itself, and its aftermath, produced a reaction from the Anglo American bourgeoisie which resulted in a profound change in the public sphere as a coalition between “meliorist middle class reformers”, represented primarily by the YMCA and local church leaders and the D&IR and its program of welfare capitalism launched a broad program to counter socialism locally, and to forge new social bonds that would cut across class lines and ethnic boundaries. By this process, the ethnic working class in Two Harbors was offered entry into American society by acquiring citizenship and by their inclusion in a broader civic community undifferentiated by class. But this could only be realized by the workers’ adoption of an Anglo-American national identity based on identification with corporate interests, a new local solidarity that cut across class lines and a white racial identity that diminished the significance of ethnic boundaries. By these means the Swedish immigrants, or at least a portion of them, became Americans on terms established by the D&IR and its class allies.
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| 17. |
- Eriksson, Staffan, 1969-
(författare)
-
Falls in people with dementia
- 2007
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Falls and concomitant injuries are common problems among large groups of the elderly population, leading to immobility and mortality. These problems are even more pronounced among people suffering from dementia. This thesis targets fall risk factors for people with dementia in institutions. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate risk factors for falls, predisposing as well as related to circumstances surrounding falls, and to do this as efficiently as possible. In a prospective cohort study including residents of residential care facilities with and without dementia, the fall rate was higher for those with dementia, the crude incidence rate ratio (IRR) was 2.55 (95% CI 1.60–4.08) and the adjusted IRR was 3.79 (95% CI 1.95–7.36). In the group of people suffering from dementia, including 103 residents, a total of 197 falls resulted in 11 fractures during the 6-months follow-up period. From the same baseline measurements 26% and 55%, respectively, of the variation in falls could be explained in the group of residents with and without dementia. Fall predictors significantly and independently associated with an increased risk of falls in the group of people suffering from dementia were the category “man walking with an aid” and the use of more than four drugs. In a prospective cohort study, including 204 patients in a psychogeriatric ward, a total of 244 falls resulted in 14 fractures. Fall predictors significantly and independently associated with an increased risk of falls were male sex, failure to copy a design, use of clomethiazole, and walking difficulties. Treatment with statins was associated with a reduced risk of falls. With these fall predictors in the negative binomial regression (Nbreg) model, 48% of the variation in falls was explained. The data from the psychogeriatric ward were also analysed with the use of partial least squares regression (PLS) and regression tree to be compared with the results of the Nbreg analysis. PLS and regression tree are techniques based on combinations of variables. They both showed similar patterns, that a combination of a more severe level of dementia, behavioral complications and medication related to these complications is associated with an increased fall rate. Thirty-two percent and 38%, respectively, of the variation in fall rate were explained in the PLS and regression tree analysis. The circumstances surrounding the falls in the psychogeriatric ward were analysed. It was found that the fall rate was equally high during the night and the day. A large proportion of the falls was sustained in the patients’ own room and a small proportion of the falls was witnessed by the staff. This pattern was even more pronounced during the night. The proportion of diurnal rhythm disturbances and activity disturbances was higher for falls at night than for falls during the day. Circumstances associated with an increased risk of falls, as shown by a short time to first fall, were anxiety, darkness, not wearing any shoes and, for women, urinary tract infection. The proportion of urinary tract infection was also higher in connection to falls sustained by women than to falls sustained by men. This thesis confirms that people suffering from dementia are prone to fall. Walking difficulties, male sex and impaired visual perception are factors that should be considered in the work of reducing falls among people suffering from dementia. Furthermore, falls at night, behavioral complications and medication related to these complications should also be considered in this work, especially as the dementia disease progresses. A larger portion of the variation of the outcome variable was explained by the Nbreg model than the regression tree and PLS. However, these statistical methods, based on combinations of variables, gave a complementary perspective on how the fall predictors were related to falls.
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| 18. |
- Estvall, Martin, 1968-
(författare)
-
Sjöfart på stormigt hav : Sjömannen och Svensk Sjöfarts tidning inför den nazistiska utmaningen 1932-1945
- 2009
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this study is to discuss German Nazism and Nazi Germany from the point of view of two specific representatives, namely, labour and capital. This has been facilitated by analysing the content of the Swedish Seamen’s Union’s newspaper, The Seafarer [Sjömannen] and its union counterpart, the Swedish Shipowners Association’s periodical, Scandinavian Shipping Gazette [Svensk Sjöfarts Tidning], from November 1932 up to and including 1945. The shipping industry was chosen because trade was of central importance to the Swedish economy and to relations with Nazi Germany. Direct contact with Nazi Germany meant that the organisations were kept up-to-date about what was happening there.A qualitative analysis of texts and images constitutes the major part of the study. This is complemented by a quantitative examination of the intensity of reporting on Nazi Germany.There were enormous differences between the two papers, both in terms of intensity and bias, with regard to the Nazi challenge. While The Seafarer described both Nazism and Nazis in strongly negative terms, the Scandinavian Shipping Gazette chose to remain silent. The Seafarer encouraged counteractions like demonstrations, strikes, boycotts and sanctions, whereas the Scandinavian Shipping Gazette considered such measures to be “undemocratic” and argued against them. The material in The Seafarer is strongly propagandist and always keenly opposed to Nazism and anti-Semitism. The paper served as an anti-Nazi mouth-piece. The means of expression range from poems, drawings and illustrations via highly factual and biased reports to weightier multi-page ideological analyses. All in all, the Nazi regime is described as one of violence and terror that is bent on stifling both the working class and people of other “races”. In sharp contrast, the study shows that the Scandinavian Shipping Gazette dedicates itself to describing events and developments taking place in Nazi Germany.There was no class-transgressing national ideology or policy within the shipping industry with which to facilitate an understanding of the Nazi challenge. In the study, class affinity has proved to be an important, and clearly distinct, factor in the approach to Nazism.
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| 19. |
- Hansson, Lars
(författare)
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Slakt i takt : Klassformering vid de bondekooperativa slakterierna i Skåne 1908-1946
- 2004
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- From the begiining of the 20th century producer co-operative bacon factories were established in the south of Sweden. In his thesis Lars Hansson studies how class relations were shaped and transformed within this rural industry. The producer co-operative slaughter associations consisted of a large number of members from smallholders to large scale agrarian producers. The power of the associations was concentrated in the hands of the big producers, but the manangers also had a considerable power, due to their expert knowledge of the buisness and the bacon markets in U.K. The workers of the producer co-operative slaughter houses were mostly unskilled workers, with little or no knowledge of butchering. From the 1910’s the workers unionized but their organisation was not accepted by the employers and harsh labour disputes took place during the 1920’s. From the 1930’s the farmers producer co-operative movement grew all over Sweden and they formed a political alliance with the Social democratic Party. The Swedish labour market became more peaceful as the employers and the unions began to co-operate to a greater extent. The Food Workers Union was more and more integrated in the Swedish society and thereby lost its earlier antisystemic character and were more and more transformed into a systemic movement. The slaughter house workers union had a distinct patriarchal characters from its start and its attitude towards women workers was ambivalent. During WWII, however, the attitude changed and more women were active in class practice in order to improve their situation.
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| 20. |
- Holmberg, Lars
(författare)
-
Neural networks in context: challenges and opportunities : a critical inquiry into prerequisites for user trust in decisions promoted by neural networks
- 2023
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) in particular increasingly impact human life by creating value from collected data. This assetisation affects all aspectsof human life, from choosing a significant other to recommending a product for us to consume. This type of ML-based system thrives because it predicts human behaviour based on average case performance metrics (like accuracy). However, its usefulnessis more limited when it comes to being transparent about its internal knowledge representations for singular decisions, for example, it is not good at explaining why ithas suggested a particular decision in a specific context.The goal of this work is to let end users be in command of how ML systems are used and thereby combine the strengths of humans and machines – machines which can propose transparent decisions. Artificial neural networks are an interesting candidate for a setting of this type, given that this technology has been successful in building knowledge representations from raw data. A neural network can be trained by exposing it to data from the target domain. It can then internalise knowledge representations from the domain and perform contextual tasks. In these situations, the fragment of the actual world internalised in an ML system has to be contextualised by a human to beuseful and trustworthy in non-static settings.This setting is explored through the overarching research question: What challenges and opportunities can emerge when an end user uses neural networks in context to support singular decision-making? To address this question, Research through Design is used as the central methodology, as this research approach matches the openness of the research question. Through six design experiments, I explore and expand on challenges and opportunities in settings where singular contextual decisions matter. The initial design experiments focus on opportunities in settings that augment human cognitive abilities. Thereafter, the experiments explore challenges related to settings where neural networks can enhance human cognitive abilities. This part concerns approaches intended to explain promoted decisions.This work contributes in three ways: 1) exploring learning related to neural networks in context to put forward a core terminology for contextual decision-making using ML systems, wherein the terminology includes the generative notions of true-to-the-domain, concept, out-of-distribution and generalisation; 2) presenting a number of design guidelines; and 3) showing the need to align internal knowledge representations with concepts if neural networks are to produce explainable decisions. I also argue that training neural networks to generalise basic concepts like shapes and colours, concepts easily understandable by humans, is a path forward. This research direction leads towards neural network-based systems that can produce more complex explanations that build on basic generalisable concepts.
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| 21. |
- Holmér, Gunnel, 1955-
(författare)
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Kosta glasbruk - en etnisk smältdegel? : Arbete och arbetskraftsinvandring 1943-1973
- 2009
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Avhandlingen fokuserar på arbetskraftsinvandringen till Kosta glasbruk under perioden 1943-1973. Den övergripande frågan är om svenskar och invandrare tilldelades likvärdiga arbetsuppgifter eller om diskriminering kopplad till arbetet förekommit. Vidare undersöks varför företaget rekryterade utländsk arbetskraft, vilka nationaliteter som var representerade, orsakerna bakom migrationen, invandrarnas kvalifikationer samt den lokala fackföreningens inställning till immigranterna. Studien bygger på arkivmaterial kompletterat med ett 40-tal intervjuer med såväl svenska som invandrade glasarbetare samt med tjänstemän.
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| 22. |
- Håkansson, Fredrik
(författare)
-
Standing up to a Multinational Giant : The Saint-Gobain World Council and the American Window Glass Workers' Strike in the American Saint Gobain Corporation in 1969
- 2011
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the 1960s, a large number of World Councils were founded in a number of industrial branches. One of the most recognized World Councils was established in the multinational glass manufacturer Compagnie de Saint-Gobain in 1969, in connection to an international trade union action against the company. The purpose of this study is to investigate and understand the origin and character of this World Council and international action.The study places great emphasis on the American participation in the Saint-Gobain World Council and the international action, but explores, in addition, the work and function of the World Council, the international action’s outcome in terms of wages and working conditions, the so-called vertical implementation of the trade union action, i.e. the integration of several trade union-organizational levels in a single action, as well as the wider contexts beyond the purely economic to which the World Council and the action can be linked.An essential point of departure is retrieved from the historical materialist tradition in order to understand the conflicts of interests and the ability to realize interests on the labor market, in the production, and within politics. An in-depth discussion on the structuring of overt conflicts and international trade union actions is undertaken based on four specific theories that are based on the assumption that trade unions and employers are rational actors.The survey consists of three main parts. The first empirical section identifies the action itself—its parties, origins, course of events, and aftermath. The second empirical section interprets the parties’ perspectives and interests in the long run. The third, and final empirical section examines the structural conditions in the United States for conflictual sentiments and international action.The study provides new perspectives on the structural background to the American union’s mobilization and international strategies. It also helps to explain why the World Councils were short-lived and, in the end, did not meet the high expectations placed on them. At the same time, the study displays the main achievements and shortcomings of the international campaign against Saint-Gobain and the postwar political context to which the action can be linked.
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| 23. |
- Liedgren Dobronravoff, Pernilla
(författare)
-
Att bli, att vara och att ha varit : Om ingångar i och utgångar ur Jehovas vittnen
- 2007
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation seeks to describe and investigate the entering and leaving of a highly structured and hierarchical religious community, exemplified in this case by the Jehovah's Witnesses. The respondents in this study were chosen from both active members of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Sweden and those who have left the organisation for personal reasons. Repeated interviews with ten active members of the organisation have been conducted in the course of the study and compared to equal numbers of former members. The interviews have been semi-structured to deal with questions of how a person has come into contact with the organisation; how they retrospectively experienced the process of entry; the reasons for becoming a member. Questions have also been asked about life in the organisation. The group of "exiters" have also been asked about the experience of leaving, why they wanted to leave, and how this process was started and carried out. In addition to this I have analysed a four-year diary describing the time inside and the process of leaving the organisation. This has given me an extra psychological insight into the inner experience of someone who has gone through the whole process. The analysis has been done by categorising the content of the transcribed interviews. The analysis of the diary has involved thorough reading, resulting in a division of it into four different parts, where each part has been given a certain key-word, signifying the author's emotional state when writing it. A person converting as an adult has to pass six phases before being considered a Jehovah's Witness by the organisation. These are: Contact with the Jehovah's Witnesses, studying the bible with members of the organisation, questioning, accepting, being active as publisher (spreading the belief), being baptised. For a person brought up in the organisation, the process to full membership is much shorter: Upbringing in the organisation, taking a stand on the belief, being baptised. The exit process contains of seven phases: Different levels of doubts, testing of doubts, turning points, different kinds of decisions, different steps in executing the decisions, floating, a period of emotional and cognitive consideration of membership and its experiences, relative neutrality.
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| 24. |
- Lättman, Katrin, 1977-
(författare)
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Perceived Accessibility : Living a satisfactory life with help of the transport system
- 2018
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis fills a gap in contemporary transport research and planning as it introduces perceived accessibility as a theoretical and methodological concept for incorporating the individual dimension of accessibility in current practice. Perceived accessibility is defined as “how easy it is to live a satisfactory life with the help of the transport system”, and is proposed as a complement to objective measures and understandings of accessibility.The thesis includes three studies. Study I developed a measure for capturing perceived accessibility with a specific transport mode, based on theories and conceptualizations of accessibility. Study II looked at determinants of perceived accessibility, and Study III further developed the measure of perceived accessibility to include actual travel (combinations of transport modes), and explored the relation between perceived accessibility and objectively measured accessibility for the same geographical area in Sweden. In all, the thesis provides background ideas and theory on perceived accessibility, and a validated quantitative approach to capturing perceived accessibility in day-to-day travel. Empirical findings further support the complementary nature of the approach and results indicate that assessments of perceived accessibility may be helpful in determining where to direct interventions aiming at improving accessibility by evaluating different transport modes or different segments of individuals. The method developed for capturing perceived accessibility shows merit in contributing to further theory development on accessibility by its ability to identify determinants of perceived accessibility and its potential in identifying segments of the population that experience significantly lower accessibility than other groups, and thus are at risk of experiencing social exclusion or suffer from transport disadvantage.
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| 25. |
- Ohlsson Al Fakir, Ida, 1978-
(författare)
-
Nya rum för socialt medborgarskap : Om vetenskap och politik i "Zigenarundersökningen" - en socialmedicinsk studie av svenska romer 1962-1965
- 2015
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis investigates Zigenarundersökningen [the Gypsy study] – a socio-medical study of Swedish Roma conducted in 1962-1965. The Study was financed by the National Labour Market Board, which sought scientific information on every adult Roma citizen in order to plan for targeted authority interventions. The socio-medical team used a number of different medical and social techniques, drawing together different kinds of data – from the molecular to the social level – and adding “objective” records from public institutions, which resulted in the creation of detailed and voluminous individual case files. On the basis of these files, the public health specialist John Takman in charge of the socio-medical examinations formulated a professional opinion on each individual and family. During the execution of the study, new scientific and social questions were articulated, resulting in that the originally limited investigation concerning only a smaller group of Roma citizens evolved into a comprehensive research project covering all people identified as Swedish Roma. In this thesis, this expansion is analysed using methodological tools from Science and Technology Studies that focus on the reflexivity between the goals of scientific actors, and the social conditions and problematisations that surround them. In this way, science and policy mutually influence each other in situated practices, which also involves the drawing of scientific boundaries that serve to establish epistemic authority. Departing from Engin F. Isin’s theory on social citizenship, and its alterities, as constituted in contingent and contextualised social practices, and from Franca Iacovetta’s study of Canadian gatekeepers’ work in cold-war Canada, the thesis investigates how the, with time, increasing and more comprehensive activities of experts and professionals created new dimensions of citizenship. Against this background, the thesis draws the conclusion that the scientific-political examinations of problematised citizenship and citizens in Sweden in the 1960’s, while defining deviance, also defined normality. This implies, furthermore, that scientific measurements and classifications of alterity contributed to constituting those measuring and classifying – the experts and professionals – as virtuous citizens, in accordance with contemporary norms of professionalism and expertise, while the Roma were continually constructed as problematic citizens. Hence, scientific-political activities concerning Swedish Roma in the 1960’s created new spaces of social citizenship, where the contents of both normality and deviance were nuanced and (re)defined.
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| 26. |
- Olsson, Anna-Karin
(författare)
-
Functional Capacity as a Predictor of Everyday Functioning in Patients with Schizophrenia
- 2019
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall purpose of this thesis is to increase knowledge of the concept of functional capacity and how it is related to everyday functioning for adult patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The thesis comprises three papers (Papers I-III) based on empirical data from a clinically representative sample of outpatients. The results in the first study (Paper I) indicated that the Swedish version of University of California San Diego Performance-based Skills Assessment-Brief (UPSA-B) is a reliable instrument, with good psychometric properties in terms of both validity and reliability. UPSA-B is a performance-based instrument used to assess functional capacity, i.e. the patient’s ability to perform certain everyday tasks, necessary for independent functioning, in a controlled setting. In the second study (Paper II), the aim was to investigate if and how demographic variables and illness activities, together with functional capacity, contribute to predicting real-world functioning milestones. Functional capacity was mainly associated with education level and housing situation. In the third study (Paper III), the aim was to investigate how the patient's self-rating ability regarding functional performance relates to neurocognitive performance and real-world functional performance. The results showed that 37% of patients overestimate their functional performance. The results also showed that clinicians seem to have greater difficulty assessing patients who overestimate their functioning. In summary, this thesis states that using UPSA-B to measure functional capacity offers considerable advantages and plays an important role in capturing functional outcomes. The importance of taking control of limited self-rating ability in patients with schizophrenic spectrum disorders is also demonstrated.
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| 27. |
- Olsson, CJ, 1980-
(författare)
-
Imaging imagining actions
- 2008
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Mental training has been studied extensively for the past century but we are still not completely sure how it affects brain and behavior. The aim of this doctoral thesis was to examine one aspect of mental training i.e. motor imagery. In Study I, active high jumpers were trained for 6 weeks using a motor imagery mental training program. We measured behavioral effects in motor parameters such as total height, false attempts, take off angle, and bar clearance. A significant improvement was found on the bar clearance component compared to a control group of high jumpers that did not participate in the mental training program. The results emphasize the importance of using appropriate outcome measures since mental training may affect distinct features of the movement rather than the entire movement. Study II used fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to examine the neural correlates of imagery for active high jumpers, and also how imagery training affects brain activity. Active high jumpers were compared to a control group of high jumping novices and the results showed that high jumpers were able to activate motor regions, whereas controls used parts of the visual system to perform imagery of the high jump. Thus, we were able to show how important well established motor representations are in order to achieve a neural overlap between imagery and action. In study III we examined the effects after motor, mental and combined motor and mental training on a finger tapping task. Behaviorally, even though mental training improved performance, adding mental training to motor training did not improve the results beyond only using motor training. Imaging results showed that motor and mental training engaged different neural systems, with motor training associated with motor activity and mental training with visual activity. The combination of motor and mental training activated both motor and visual systems. Additionally combining motor and mental training resulted in transfer to an untrained motor sequence and neural data indicated that cerebellum mediated the transfer. The overall findings explain how mental training can be used to improve motor performance and motor parameters. Moreover, it also illustrates that the neural processes underlying such improvements may be distinct from motor training and that the brain may react differently during mental training depending on prior physical experience of the action.
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| 28. |
- Olsson, Erik, 1984-
(författare)
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Effects of Citric Acid on Starch-Based Barrier Coatings
- 2013
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With growing environmental concerns, efforts are made to replace petroleum based products with renewable alternatives. This is particularly evident in the packaging industry, where replacing synthetic polymers with renewable materials is of considerable interest. Materials for food packaging need to give protection, acting as a barrier against substances that can adversely affect the food quality such as water and oxygen.In this work, barrier dispersion coatings based on starch were used to produce coated papers which act as barrier against water and oxygen. However, since starch is both a hydrophilic and hygroscopic material, this barrier material becomes problematic to use at high relative humidity. In order to reduce this problem and improve the barrier properties enabling starch based barrier materials to be used in food packaging applications, two approaches were studied.Citric acid was utilized as a cross-linker of the starch and it was found to reduce the moisture sorption, the molecular movement and swelling at high relative humidity. It was seen that cross-linking and hydrolysis due to the low pH both affected the barrier properties significantly, but in opposing directions. By controlling these two reactions it was seen that this could lead to reduced gas permeability. It was also seen that cross-linking of starch by citric acid occurs at low temperatures, 70 °C at pH as high as 6.5.Starch nano-composites were produced by incorporating montmorillonite, to the barrier dispersion to improve the barrier properties. It was seen that the suspension viscosity was reduced by poly(ethylene glycol) and citric acid adsorption on the montmorillonite particles. Also, a tendency for improved barrier properties with reduced aggregate volume fraction and reduced swelling was observed. It was also seen that up scaling this formulation to pilot scale was possible and that promising results were achieved.
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| 29. |
- Olsson, Maria, 1961-
(författare)
-
Lärares ledarskap som möjliggörande och begränsande i mötet med ’alla’ barn : En deltagarorienterad studie
- 2016
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this thesis is to, based on teachers’ experiences, describe and analyse meanings of teachers’ leadership in general, and in relation to children in need of special support in particular. The study was carried out within the tradition of participatory-oriented research, a research circle. The dialogues in the circle were based on the participants’ questions, experiences, interests, and knowledge. The circle included a researcher and nine teachers from the following types of schools: preschool, preschool class, compulsory school, and compulsory school for pupils with learning disabilities.The study is based on an understanding of leadership as a relational practice. Leadership is practised in the interaction between teacher and child. Both parties exert influence over the practice of leadership. A central assumption in the study is that knowledge can develop through and in interactions between people, that knowledge and power are connected, and that knowledge and actions are intertwined. Another central assumption is that learning is a complex phenomenon.In the analysis of the research circle’s dialogues, the following meanings of teachers’ leadership emerge: to facilitate learning and discipline, and to promote different interests. The practice of leadership involves teachers handling complex situations in their interactions with ‘all’ children, i.e. children in need of special support and children without such needs. Leadership is practised between teachers and children, and the teachers have to consider the group of children as a collective in relation to the individual children. At the same time, the teachers have to consider their intentions versus what happens during the interactions. In addition, the teachers have to pay heed to the fact that their own actions and the children’s actions influence one another. Finally, the teachers have to consider the individual child’s ‘best interest’ in relation to the requirements of the policy documents. Furthermore, the results indicate that the practice of leadership is perceived as both unpredictable and, to some extent, predictable at the same time, which adds to the complexity of leadership. The teachers cannot know for sure what the children understand or if the children’s actions facilitate learning. However, the teachers can make certain assumptions about how to practice leadership in order to facilitate learning and discipline in children with different needs. The meanings of leadership were expressed in different ways in the circle’s dialogues; both as enabling and limiting in interactions with children in need of special support. One of the study’s conclusions is that leadership seems to be particularly complex in interactions with children in need of special support.The research circle’s dialogues served to promote a democratic knowledge process. The dialogues were characterised by respect for the participants’ different opinions; however, this does not mean that they were free from power structures.
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| 30. |
- Olsson, Simon, 1983-
(författare)
-
Al-based Thin Film Quasicrystals and Approximants
- 2013
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this work, Al-based quasicrystalline and approximant phases have been synthesized in thin films using magnetron sputter deposition. Quasicrystals are structures having long-range order and rotational symmetries which are inconsistent with periodicity. Due to their unusual structure, quasicrystals show many anomalous and unique physical properties, including; high hardness, wear resistance, low friction, and low electrical and thermal conductivities. Approximants are a family of periodic phases that are related to the quasicrystals. These phases share the local atomic arrangement of quasicrystals and have as a result many similar physical properties. Bulk quasicrystals are too brittle for many of the suggested applications, and instead the most important area of applications concerns that of surface coatings.Multilayered Al/Cu/Fe thin films, with a nominal global composition corresponding to the quasicrystalline phase, have been deposited onto Si and Al2O3 substrates. During isothermal annealing at temperatures up to 700 °C homogeneous thin films were formed. When Si was used as substrate a film-substrate reaction occured already below 390 °C, where Si diffused into the film. This changed the composition, and promoted the formation of the cubic α-approximant phase. Annealing at 600 °C for 4 h the cubic α-approximant phase formed in a polycrystalline state, with a small amount of a second phase, τ7-Al3Fe2Si3. The film was within 1.5 at.% of the ideal composition of the α-approximant phase and contained 8 at.% Si. Continued annealing for 64 h provided for more diffusion of Si to 12 at.%. No degradation of the crystal quality of the remaining α-phase was observed even after as much as 150 h of treatment.Nanomechanical and nanotribological properties, including hardness, elastic modulus, friction and toughness, were investigated for the approximant and quasicrystalline samples. The approximant phase, annealed at 600 °C for 4 h, proved to be harder and had higher elastic modulus values than the quasicrystalline phase, about, 15.6 GPa and 258 GPa, respectively. The fracture toughness of the approximant, on the other hand, <0.1 MPa/m½, was inferior to that of the quasicrystals with 1.5 MPa/m½. Low friction coefficients of about 0.13 were measured for both phases.When annealing multilayered Al/Cu/Co thin films on Al2O3 the decagonal quasicrystal d-Al-Cu-Co was formed at 500 °C. The XRD peak intensities were rather low, but after raising the temperature to 850 °C a large increase in intensity and a complete texturing with the 10-fold periodic axis aligned with the substrate normal occurred. When annealing the same samples on Si, the decagonal quasicrystal was again found, however, TEM and EDX measurements identified 3-6 at.% Si inside the quasicrystalline grains. Also the decagonal d-Al-Cu-Co-Si quasicrystal was textured with the 10-fold periodic axis aligned with the surface normal. The texture was however not complete as in the thin films grown on Al2O3. Raising the temperature to over 700 °C led to the formation of other crystalline phases in favor of the decagonal d-Al-Cu-Co-Si.For the Cu-Al-Sc system quasicrystalline thin films were grown directly from the vapor phase by utilizing ion-assistance during growth at low temperatures, thus eliminating the need for post-annealing. Diffraction experiments revealed that amorphous films were formed at room temperature. The quasicrystalline phase formed at a substrate temperature of 340 °C with an improved quality at higher temperatures up to 460 °C. The quasicrystal film quality was improved by increasing the ion-flux during with ion energies of 26.7 eV. Increasing the ion energy further was however found to cause resputtering and defects in the films. Electron microscopy revealed a polycrystalline microstructure with crystal grains in the shape of thin needles.
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| 31. |
- Roos, Fredrica, 1988-
(författare)
-
Scoring the World: The Musical Imagery of Orchestration in Gustav Mahler's Symphonies no. 4 and 5
- 2023
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Gustav Mahler’s comment to Sibelius in 1907 that a symphony must be like the world is one of classical music’s most cited and has functioned as a crucial springboard for interpretations of the composer’s works. However, these have mostly centred on autobiographical, programmatic, or narrative aspects, with a focus on temporally unfolding plots or generic and semiotic connotations. In this study, I use the ‘world’ concept in exploring Mahler’s music as a ‘sound-world’ and its imaginative production through listening, with a particular focus on the often-bypassed features of timbre and orchestration. This investigation proceeds from the theoretical framework of world-making and narrative, although references to theatre and film are also made. The ‘storyworld’ notion and the related possible worlds theory form the vantage point for examining ‘world’ from various perspectives. Together with the constructional categories of space and temporality, content matters of voice, virtual agency, and gesture are analytically applied to Mahler’s Fourth and Fifth Symphonies, which represent generic worlds of fairy tale and realism, respectively. The results of the study show that it is Mahler’s rich and shifting orchestral combinations that generate the multitude of different worlds and their continuous interrelationships. By means of spatial and temporal mobility, the listener is actively integrated in the sound-world as an actual agent, perceiving it from alternating positions determined by instrumentation. Through his particular treatment of timbre, Mahler expands the symphonic genre into a sort of intermedial drama in sound, while suggesting other approaches to musical narration based on textual simultaneity and expressive mode. Hearing his symphonies as worlds also permits new means of analysing musical works, making analysis a more dynamic process highlighting the imaginative and structural possibilities of sound.
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| 32. |
- Westman, Jessica, 1979-
(författare)
-
Drivers of Children's Travel Satisfaction
- 2017
-
Konstnärligt arbete (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is twofold: Firstly, it explores the reasons parents state for choosing the car to take their children to school; Secondly, it investigates how the characteristics of the journey relate to children’s wellbeing, mood, and cognitive performance. This thesis consists of three papers (Papers I, II, and III). Participating in Paper I were 245 parents of schoolchildren aged between 10 and 15 in Värmland County, Sweden. These parents answered a questionnaire wherein they stated to what degree certain statements correlated with their decision to choose the car. In Paper II, 237 children in grade 4 (aged 10-11), in the City of Staffanstorp, Sweden, recorded all their journeys in a diary over one school week, also reporting on their travel mode, current mood while travelling, activities on arrival, and experiences vis-à-vis those activities. Participating in Paper III was a sample of 345 children aged between 10 and 15 attending five public schools in Värmland County, Sweden. These children rated their current mood, filled out the Satisfaction with Travel Scale (capturing the travel experience), reported details about their journeys, and took a word fluency test.Parents’ wish to accompany their children to school, and the convenience of the car, both impact upon the travel mode decision. In addition, parents also seem to choose the car regardless of the distance between home and school. The findings further reveal that the mood children are in varies with how they travel and where they go, and that there is a difference between boys’ and girls’ experiences. Children who travel by car experience the lowest degree of quality and activation, something which is maintained throughout the school day (especially for girls). Social activities during travel bring a higher degree of quality and excitement, while solitary activities bring more stress. The findings further show that using a smartphone, or doing a combination of activities during the journey, results in better cognitive performance. Thus, it is concluded that the mode choice that parents make for their children correlates with those children’s mood and experience. Specifically, where and how children travel, what they do when they travel, and how long they travel for affect their experiences, mood, and/or cognitive performance.
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| 33. |
- Abdellah, Tebani, et al.
(författare)
-
Integration of molecular profiles in a longitudinal wellness profiling cohort.
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Nature communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 11:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An important aspect of precision medicine is to probe the stability in molecular profiles among healthy individuals over time. Here, we sample a longitudinal wellness cohort with 100 healthy individuals and analyze blood molecular profiles including proteomics, transcriptomics, lipidomics, metabolomics, autoantibodies andimmune cell profiling, complementedwith gut microbiota composition and routine clinical chemistry. Overall, our results show high variation between individuals across different molecular readouts, while the intra-individual baseline variation is low. The analyses show that each individual has a unique and stable plasma protein profile throughout the study period and that many individuals also show distinct profiles with regards to the other omics datasets, with strong underlying connections between the blood proteome and the clinical chemistry parameters. In conclusion, the results support an individual-based definition of health and show that comprehensive omics profiling in a longitudinal manner is a path forward for precision medicine.
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| 34. |
- Al-Naqshabandy, Mohammed Salim
(författare)
-
Strength variability in lime-cement columns and its effect on the reliability of embankments
- 2011
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ground improvement by deep mixing (DM) is a generic term used for a number of methods in which a binding agent, often lime and/or cement, is mechanically mixed with the soil to increase its engineering properties. The inherent variability with respect to the engineering properties of the improved soil is high due to the variations in geology and the complex mixing process. High variability introduces uncertainty in estimating improved soil properties and the performance of the structure.Current design methodology deals with soil properties deterministically and the uncertainties involved are incorporated in a single value represented by a total factor of safety (FS). The chosen FS is highly dependent on the engineer’s judgment and past experience, in which both of these factors vary between different geotechnical designers. Therefore, current design methodology used in practice for DM does not deal with uncertainties in a rational way. In order to design a geotechnical system with the desired level of confidence, the uncertainties involved must be integrated in the DM design. This can be achieved by using reliability-based design (RBD) methods.The research work in this thesis is presented as a collection of three papers. In the first paper, a comprehensive statistical analysis of cone penetration test (CPT) data is described. The objective was to make a contribution to empirical knowledge by evaluating the strength variability of lime-cement columns within the group of tested columns. In the second paper, the effect of the spatial variability and statistical uncertainty with regard to the embankment’s reliability was investigated within the framework of RBD. The study in the third paper investigated the strength variability in lime-cement columns based on two test methods, namely CPT and column penetration test (KPS). In this study, the effect of different test methods on the evaluation of the design value was addressed.The main conclusions from this study can be summarized as follows. First, the probability distribution function (PDF) for the undrained shear strength of lime-cement columns can be modeled in RBD as normal or log-normal distributions. However, the use of log-normal distribution is recommended for RBD analyses. Second, the evaluated scales of fluctuation indicate ranges of 2 to 4 m and 0.2 to 0.8 m in the horizontal and the vertical directions respectively. This means that in order to fulfill the requirements of independent/uncorrelated samples for assessment of the design value, the spacing between samples must exceed the horizontal scale of fluctuation. It is therefore proposed that the spacing between individual samples should be at least 4 meters. Third, the design values evaluated using CPT and KPS were approximately the same. However, the inherent variability evaluated differs due to the larger volume tested with the KPS probe than with the CPT probe. However, this difference was not significant between the two tests. Fourthly, due to the limitation in the deterministic design in terms of dealing with uncertainties, it is recommended that RBD design should be used in parallel with the deterministic design of lime-cement column.
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| 35. |
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| 36. |
- Axelsson, Cecilia, 1973-
(författare)
-
En Meningsfull Historia? : Didaktiska perspektiv på historieförmedlande museiutställningar om migration och kulturmöten
- 2009
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis concerns the mediation of history in a public arena in society, namely in historical exhibitions in museums. The foci of the thesis are exhibitions on migration history, cultural encounters, “Us” and “the Others”, and in particular how relations based on the principles of class, gender and ethnicity are mediated. The research concerns two exhibitions – "Afrikafararna" (The Travellers to Africa) and "Kongospår" (Traces of Congo).In this thesis museums are viewed as arenas for public education and meaning-making. It explores how the historical contents as well as the forms of mediation in the exhibitions correspond to the task of promoting democracy that has been assigned to Swedish museums. This task is expressed in the intentions of the respective museums, in the general policies on culture and also in the policy documents for schools. Therefore the thesis also explores how pupils and teachers understand the mediation of history and use the museum as a source for learning.Exhibitions are regarded in this thesis as mediation processes of history. Three distinct phases can be seen in this process – the phase of production, the phase of mediation and the phase of reception. People connected to the different phases, such as curators, producers, museum educators, and pupils, have been interviewed. These interviews show how conditions, convictions and scope for action influence how the stories of migration and cultural encounters are told and understood. The contents of the exhibitions are analysed from a perspective of class, gender and ethnicity. Furthermore, the limitations and possibilities for the visitors to intensify their historical consciousness are discussed.The study shows how economic conditions and access to historical source material influence the way history is mediated, but also, and to a very large extent, convictions on pedagogy and concepts of history among museum staff. The latter two are determining factors when it is made clear that the way the historical source material is used results in the fact that history is mediated in a way that does not correspond to the intentions and goals to promote democratic values, such as equality, and active democratic readiness for action.The study shows that the exhibitions in question mediate patterns of subordination and asymmetrical relations between women and men and between Swedes/Scandinavians and Africans in their mediation of history. There are sometimes very distinct lines between “Us” and “the Others”. One of the exhibitions offers more space for individual meaning-making and reflection than the other, however, because of its problematization of the occurrence of African artefacts in Scandinavia and because there are more stories and more voices in the exhibition.The interviews with teachers and pupils show that the visits to the exhibitions are often isolated events that are rarely incorporated into the students’ education in a prolonged theme or perspective. Several students uncritically accepted the mediation in the exhibition, others were provoked and challenged, but the students had little opportunity to discuss these experiences in either the museum or in school. In summing up, several of the results of the analysis show that the mediation of history in the exhibitions cannot be described as corresponding to the demands of a democratic conception of education.
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| 37. |
- Bengtsson, Olof, 1969-
(författare)
-
Design and Characterization of RF-Power LDMOS Transistors
- 2008
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In mobile communication new applications like wireless internet and mobile video have increased the demand of data-rates. Therefore, new more wideband systems are being implemented. Power amplifiers in the base-stations that simultaneously handle these wideband signals for many terminals (handhelds) need to be highly linear with a considerable band-width. In the past decade LDMOS has been the dominating technology for use in these RF-power amplifiers. In this work LDMOS transistors possible to fabricate in a normal CMOS process have been optimized and analyzed for RF-power applications. Their non-linear behavior has been explored using load-pull measurements. The mechanisms of the non-linear input capacitance have been analyzed using 2D TCAD simulations. The investigation shows that the input capacitance is a large contributor to phase distortion in the transistor. Computational load-pull TCAD methods have been developed for analysis of RF-power devices in high-efficiency operation. Methods have been developed for class-F with harmonic loading and for bias-modulation. Load-pull measurements with drain-bias modulation in a novel measurement setup have also been conducted. The investigation shows that the combination of computational load-pull of physical transistor structures and direct measurement evaluation with modified load-pull is a viable alternative for future design of RF-power devices. Simulations and measurements on the designed LDMOS shows a 10 to 15 % increase in drain efficiency in mid-power range both in simulations and measurements. The computational load-pull method has also been used to investigate the power capability of LDMOS transistors on SOI. This study indicates that either a low-resistivity or high-resistivity substrate should be used in manufacturing of RF-power LDMOS transistors on SOI to achieve optimum efficiency. Based on a proper substrate selection these devices exhibit a 10 % higher drain-efficiency mainly due to lower dissipated power in the devices.
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| 38. |
- Bengtsson, Staffan
(författare)
-
Herders hieroglyf : Om den okända metoden i hans författarskap
- 2004
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The dissertation addresses the problem if Johann Gottfried Herder had a method when he composed his works. The overwhelming majority of scholars says no and describes him as a restless author who reworks manuscripts; digressing and repeating himself; leaning on others rather than writing a monographic work on his own – someone who does not write complete and structured works, and therefore is seen as a precursor in history rather than occupying a place in it.This thesis claim that Herder’s work is structured in minutest detail, and demonstrates how Herder uses typographic marks to guide the reader through his dialectical text-structure.Herder uses a four-step dialectic. It starts from a center-position with a confused issue, which is analyzed and put together again. The second position analyses one aspect of the issue at hand in one direction and the third in an opposite direction. These consecutive steps in the reading process could be regarded as simultaneous parts of an image. The fourth fuses and simultaneously changes them into a new center-position, which presents the issue in a new form.This four-step movemen can be repeated in a series of such movements. The fourth position turns then into a new starting-point. The issue is further analyzed. Positions two and three continues the perspective of foregoing two and three. The fourth position brings together.The first part gives a representive overview of the research on Herder. Special attention is givien to editions, and how they leave out typographic marks important for understanding the text’s structure. Research is characterized as a turning away from Herder’s works, either to handwriting or to a tradition which Herder only partly belongs to. Herder is instead situated in aesthetics – his “human philosophy”. The second part analyzes The Oldest Document of the human race.
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| 39. |
- Carlsen, Hanne Krage, et al.
(författare)
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Birch pollen, air pollution and their interactive effects on airway symptoms and peak expiratory flow in allergic asthma during pollen season - a panel study in Northern and Southern Sweden
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Environmental health. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-069X. ; 21:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Evidence of the role of interactions between air pollution and pollen exposure in subjects with allergic asthma is limited and need further exploration to promote adequate preventive measures. The objective of this study was to assess effects of exposure to ambient air pollution and birch pollen on exacerbation of respiratory symptoms in subjects with asthma and allergy to birch. Methods: Thirty-seven subjects from two Swedish cities (Gothenburg and Umea) with large variation in exposure to both birch-pollen and air pollutants, participated in the study. All subjects had confirmed allergy to birch and self-reported physician-diagnosed asthma. The subjects recorded respiratory symptoms such as rhinitis or eye irritation, dry cough, dyspnoea, the use of any asthma or allergy medication and peak respiratory flow (PEF), daily for five consecutive weeks during two separate pollen seasons and a control season without pollen. Nitrogen oxides -(NOx), ozone -(O-3), particulate matter -(PM2.5), birch pollen counts, and meteorological data were obtained from an urban background monitoring stations in the study city centres. The data were analysed using linear mixed effects models. Results: During pollen seasons all symptoms and medication use were higher, and PEF was reduced in the subjects. In regression analysis, exposure to pollen at lags 0 to 2 days, and lags 0 to 6 days was associated with increased ORs of symptoms and decreased RRs for PEF. Pollen and air pollution interacted in some cases; during low pollen exposure, there were no associations between air pollution and symptoms, but during high pollen exposure, -O-3 concentrations were associated with increased OR of rhinitis or eye irritation, and -PM2.5 concentrations were associated with increased ORs of rhinitis or eye irritation, dyspnea and increased use of allergy medication. Conclusions: Pollen and air pollutants interacted to increase the effect of air pollution on respiratory symptoms in allergic asthma. Implementing the results from this study, advisories for individuals with allergic asthma could be improved, minimizing the morbidities associated with the condition.
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| 40. |
- Dufwa, Sune
(författare)
-
Kön, lön och karriär : Sjuksköterskeyrkets omvandling under 1900-talet
- 2004
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In a Swedish context this thesis deals with male integration in the profession of nursing during the last 50 years of the twentieth century.I focus on four different topics.At first the pioneer era is discussed, that is in the beginning of the 50s, when men were allowed to enter the nursing profession and become nurses. Here I discuss on the Swedish Society of Nursings (Svensk Sjuksköterskeförening, SSF)) standpoint on the matter of men’s ability to participate in a sphere so closely connected with professional values as well as feminine values of caring and support.The second topic deals with the question of using the concept ‘sjuksköterska’ (nurse), in Sweden a feminine marked word, as a title for both men and women. The result of a long and keen debate is that a lot of imaginative titles were refused and that still today both women and men use the female title ‘sjuksköterska’. This might be one reason for men not seeking the profession of nursing.In the third place I look at the pecuniary result for nurses especially after 1986 when a new individual oriented wage determination was launched. The local investigation comprises four different clinics at the University hospital in Malmö (Universitetssjukhuset Malmö allmänna sjukshus, UMAS) and takes a special interest in earnings between male and female nurses. In countries with long experience of individual wage systems male nurses usually earn more than their female counterparts. The question I ask is if the same tendency is about to happen in Sweden.Finally, the possibilities of making a career in the profession of nursing is analyzed. The local investigation stresses that female nurses seem to prefer an administrative career in an increasing extent than men do. Male nurses, on the other hand, made union careers in the 70s and 80s and especially the post as ombudsman is popular. In the mid 90s the male appointment to union position is growing weaker probably connected to an increasing feminine consciousness among female nurses. Also the professionalisation process of the nurse corps is shortly examined.
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| 41. |
- Enström, Johanna
(författare)
-
A Systems View of Advancements in Biomass Supply Chains
- 2022
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Forest fuel is an important source of energy with potential for increased use in the Nordic countries. Profitable forest operations are dependent on logistics as the forest is a natural resource with varying conditions over widespread areas. In comparison to saw log and pulp wood supply, forest fuel supply has to face challenges like low product value, seasonality and irregularity of customer demand, low bulk density and the need to process the biomass prior to delivery. In order to utilize both the economic potential and societal benefits from replacing fossil-based fuels with renewable forest fuels these challenges must be managed. This requires efficient long distance transports, with changes of transport mode typically required.This thesis examines preconditions necessary for logistic planning to achieve cost and energy efficient long distance transports within supply chains for forest fuel. The thesis has an explorative approach, including both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Paper I provides a review of the development within forestry logistics in Sweden and Finland since the beginning of the century, with focus on transports, terminal usage and storage related aspects. Paper II uses qualitative interviews to deepen the understanding of a specific forest fuel supply chain by focusing on communications and relations between the actors. Paper III is a study of the influence of a terminal before maritime transport of wood chips using simulation. Paper I shows that forestry logistics faces challenges, primarily related to increased variations in field conditions caused by climate change. The importance of terminal storage for the supply of forest products will likely increase as an effect. Also the entrepreneurs interviewed in Paper II stressed the benefits of terminals in the supply chain, e.g. enhanced planning opportunities and a more even workflow over the year. Paper III puts cost for extra terminal handling in relation to storage costs in a port and demonstrates the importance of including variation in logistic planning. The terminal flows were not profitable in the case of a small port. In order to make a well-founded decision gains in other parts of the supply chain must also be considered, even when they are harder to quantify. This deserves attention in future research.
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| 42. |
- Fernández Abenoza, Roberto
(författare)
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Improving Travel Satisfaction with Public Transport
- 2017
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The existing link between PT travelers’ satisfaction, ridership and loyalty prove the relevance of improving overall trip satisfaction. The thesis present an array of approaches and methodologies aiming at increasing overall satisfaction with PT door-to-door trips while covering important issues that previous research has failed to address. These knowledge gaps include: disregarding the different needs and priorities of different type of travelers; overlooking the evolution over time and across geographical areas that overall satisfaction and satisfaction with specific service attributes may experience; and, neglecting the importance of access and egress legs.Based on the Swedish customer satisfaction barometer (2001-2013), an investigation of the determinants of PT satisfaction and their evolution over time (I) shows that: a) the deterioration of overall satisfaction with PT in Sweden in recent years is driven by a decrease in satisfaction with customer interface and length of trip time; b) these two service aspects as well as operation are found as key determinants of overall satisfaction which users consistently rate among the least satisfactory.The diversity of needs and priorities of SKT travelers was reduced into 5 distinctive multi-modal travelers’ groups (II). These travelers’ groups exhibited geographical disparities and an in between-groups overall similarity in the importance attached to the service attributes. Nevertheless, some noticeable differences could be observed. The service attributes’ importance levels reveal overall changes in appreciations and consumption goals over time.A number of both normative and heuristic satisfaction aggregation rules are tested on METPEX dataset for different types of trip configurations (III). The results show that normative rules can better reproduce overall travel satisfaction than heuristic rules, indicating that all trip legs need to be considered when evaluating the overall travel experience.
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| 43. |
- Friman, Margareta, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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Are we leaving some people behind? Travel autonomy, perceived accessibility, and well-being among people experiencing mental and physical difficulties
- 2023
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Ingår i: Transportation Research Part F. - : Elsevier. - 1369-8478 .- 1873-5517. ; 98, s. 243-253
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study focuses on the association between cognitive, medical, and physical difficulties; mental illness; travel autonomy; and perceptions of the possibilities of participating in desired daily activities; further, we examine their association with happiness and life satisfaction. We present and empirically test an integrated framework with travel autonomy, defined as the prerequisites, freedom, and possibility to travel the way one wants, at its core. We use web survey data (n = 1041) collected in Sweden in 2021. Using partial least squares structural equations, we find a valid and reliable model with travel autonomy as a distinct and reliable latent construct. Furthermore, travel autonomy yields significant paths to perceived accessibility, happiness, and life satisfaction, highlighting the importance of capabilities, independent travel, freedom, and possibilities in the overall construct of travel autonomy. Finally, mental illness plays an important role in how people rate their travel autonomy.
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| 44. |
- Friman, Margareta, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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Carpoolers' perceived accessibility of carpooling
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 12:21
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In order to constitute a realistic option to existing travel modes, carpooling needs to be able to offer adequate levels of accessibility. Insights into how carpooling services affect perceived accessibility up until now remain unexplored. In this study we explore carpooling experiences of 122 users in Sweden and examine a number of possible determinants of the perceived accessibility of carpooling. Results show that carpooling is not perceived by the users as particularly accessible with low levels across the sample. Moreover, multiple linear hierarchical regression analyses show that simplicity of travel, population density, years of education, and school and work-trips appear to affect perceptions of accessibility of carpooling, whereas travel time and cost appear not to. The final model explains a third of the variance in perceived accessibility of carpooling, thus nearly two thirds of the variation is still unaccounted for. Future research should explore further possible determinants of perceived accessibility of carpooling in order to explain, understand, and counteract the low levels of accessibility that appear to be linked to this specific travel mode.
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| 45. |
- Friman, Margareta, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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Collaborative capacity as an institutionalized practice for sustainable travel
- 2023
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Ingår i: Case Studies on Transport Policy. - : Elsevier. - 2213-624X .- 2213-6258. ; 11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Collaboration between different stakeholders is argued to increase the efficiency and quality of the transition to sustainable mobility by supporting the diffusion of knowledge and fostering innovation. In this paper, we examine the important role of collaborative capacity as an institutionalized practice in public transport by providing a 10-year collaborative academic and non-academic partnership case study from Sweden, including interviews with key non-academics. Three different collaboration working-forms are identified, exemplified, and discussed: joint efforts, parallel projects, and collaboration loops. It is shown that collaboration and research communication can be a very valuable asset that benefits all parties if it is done systematically and responsibly. However, if the translation from research to managerial implications does not materialize, the benefits of collaboration may get lost. Building upon Commitment-Trust theory, it is shown that even if dialogue between academics and non-academics may be exposed to pressure and challenged in different ways, if carried out responsibly it builds trust and respect for different knowledge horizons, problem formulations, time logics, and working methods. Over time goodwill trust may evolve. Although collaboration loops may be the most promising method to aim to develop collaborative capacity, general learnings are that small projects are equally important, especially if clustered, to provide benefits to both non-academic and academic partners. It is concluded that developing a collaborative capacity among both non-academic and academic partners can create new collaborative practices, increasing the possibility of contributing to difficult societal challenges, such as achieving a sustainable future.
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| 46. |
- Friman, Margareta, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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Public Transport Quality, Safety, and Perceived Accessibility
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI. - 2071-1050. ; 12:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Service quality in public transport is proposed as a key determinant of perceived accessibility, the ease to live the life one wants with the help of the transport system, as low service quality may be a barrier for use, decreasing the ease to participate in daily activities. The first aim was to validate the direct relationship between public transport quality and perceived accessibility. Secondly, we analyzed the mediating role of safety perceptions to better explain the link between service quality and perceived accessibility. Public transport travelers (n = 4944) from five northern European cities were surveyed. Results from PLS-SEM modeling show that service quality has a significant and direct relationship with perceived accessibility, especially regarding functionality. An indirect relationship through travel safety perceptions was also observed, highlighting information and comfort as main drivers. High car use, low public transport use, increasing age, and being a woman were also associated with greater perceived accessibility. City comparisons yielded a number of significant differences. Our results contribute to the research literature by highlighting the importance of service quality in public transport for perceptions of accessibility in daily travel. In particular, we argue that functionality is the core attribute to focus on, and that attributes related to travel safety perceptions should be carefully considered when planning for sustainable transport.
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| 47. |
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| 48. |
- Friman, Margareta, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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Travel and Wellbeing : Future Prospects
- 2018. - 1
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Ingår i: Quality of Life and Daily Travel. - : Springer. - 9783319766232 ; , s. 255-265
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 49. |
- Guyader, Hugo, 1990-, et al.
(författare)
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Shared Mobility : Evolving Practices for Sustainability
- 2021
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI. - 2071-1050. ; 13:21
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This introductory paper to the Special Issue “Shared Mobility” aims (1) to present and differentiate the diversity of practices and services that constitute the shared mobility sector; (2) to emphasize the contribution of each published article; and (3) to identify knowledge gaps of knowledge and provide further research avenues. With the contribution from 29 authors affiliated to social sciences and transportation research institutions in seven countries (Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Belgium, Norway, and Australia), new understandings of the potential, drivers, barriers, and limitations of diverse shared mobility solutions for a more sustainable society are presented. The common message across the special issue is that the shared mobility sector is constantly evolving, while aiming to attain sustainability goals. Several papers have taken a psychological approach to explain the adoption of shared mobility practices (e.g., carsharing), yet these findings may be context-dependent, which future research should further investigate (e.g., differences between platform-based and self-service modes). We also call for researchers to pay attention to how traditional transit services can be combined with newer shared mobility services (e.g., micro-mobility), but also to informal public transport systems, as we identify these as important developing areas.
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| 50. |
- Guyader, Hugo, 1990-, et al.
(författare)
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Sharing economy platforms as mainstream : balancing pro-social and economic tensions
- 2023
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Ingår i: Total Quality Management and Business Excellence. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1478-3363 .- 1478-3371. ; 34:10, s. 1257-1276
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, this study explains sharing economy platform usage intention. Our results based on PLS-SEM estimations with survey data (N = 655) from the carpooling context show that sharing orientation (i.e. sharing usage instead of owning/buying), grassroots engagement (i.e. non-profit organisation driven by volunteers), and platform authenticity (i.e. loyalty to the original carpooling practice) are strong determinants of people's attitudes towards the carpooling platform, while trend orientation (e.g. the 'sharing economy' paradigm) is not significant. This implies that while digitalisation can optimise older practices (e.g. hitchhiking), online platforms facilitating contemporary sharing practices need to be embedded in the original sharing ethos and values to raise usage intention - even though the sharing economy has become mainstream.
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