Cultural heritage values in smaller communities are often weakly integrated into planning and building permit processes, leading to challenges in assessing changes to existing buildings in a consistent and predictable way. This study aims to develop a working model for identifying, analyzing and valuing built environments, and to formulate guidelines that can support decision-making in relation to the Swedish Planning and Building Act. The study also examines how such a model can be applied in a municipal context and whether it is transferable to other small communities. 

The work is based on a literature review combined with a case study of Grimslöv, where a building inventory, character analysis, and cultural-historical evaluation were conducted. Based on this, area-specific guidelines were developed. The working model and guidelines were then reviewed through feedback from municipal planning professionals. 

The results show that a structured and place-based approach can clarify cultural values and support more transparent and consistent assessments. At the same time, the application requires a balance between clear guidance and flexibility, particularly in distinguishing between preservation and careful adaptation. The study concludes that the model has practical potential but needs to be adapted to local conditions and integrated into existing planning frameworks to be effectively implemented. 

The aim of the study was to examine the qualities that characterise the Garden City and

how these can be translated into a site-specific design proposal for Fiskesbro in

Hovmantorp. The study was conducted through a literature review, site analysis, studies

of municipal planning documents, and case studies of Gamla Enskede, Tullinge Garden

City and Biskopshagen.

The result is a design proposal comprising approximately 144 dwellings and a floor area

ratio of approximately 0.2. The proposal includes detached houses, semi-detached houses,

linked houses, terraced houses and smaller apartment buildings, mainly ranging from one

to two storeys. The development is mainly located in the eastern and northern parts of the

site, while larger natural areas and parts of the shoreline have been left undeveloped. The

proposal also includes a central park, pedestrian and cycle routes, and preserved natural

and landscape values.

The analysis indicates that several spatial and social principles of the Garden City can be

applied in Fiskesbro, but that they need to be adapted to the scale of Hovmantorp and the

specific conditions of the site. The proposal should therefore be understood as a

contemporary and site-specific interpretation of Garden City principles rather than a

direct application of Howard’s original model.

CI/CD is an industry standard methodology for creating and deploying code efficiently. The use of heterogeneous security tools in CI/CD can cause alert floodingand duplicate findings. Alert aggregation is a method for handling alert floodingand is thoroughly researched in fields such as network security, but less explored foralert handling within CI/CD pipelines. This thesis aimed to explore the effects ofalert aggregation in the CI/CD pipeline, and whether a lightweight aggregation/deduplication tool could reduce alerts, quantify overlap duplication behavior and possibly alleviate review burden produced by alert flooding. The authors explored this byutilizing two methodologies, design science, and comparative analysis. Design science was utilized to create a Python artifact to get alerts from the security tools Trivy,Snyk, Semgrep, and OWASP SCA, which ran on a knowingly vulnerable repositorypublished by OWASP called WebGoat. The results were then subject to a comparative analysis using results from other fields which employ alert aggregation. The artifact results were 361 alerts in total, where 73 duplicates or approximately 20% wereremoved. Approximately 90% of the aggregated alerts were dependency-related vulnerabilities, with low being the most frequent alert severity at approximately 25%.These results provided meaningful reduction of alerts while minimizing the overallattack surface. Another key part of the results was the suggestion that there wasa high significance in tool selection. This was indicated after performing alert aggregation, where the security tool "Trivy" had approximately 94% of its alerts deduplicated. The main limitation in this research paper was the choice of repository,since less consideration was put into an optimal choice of repository for the tests.This resulted in a lack of diverse results pertaining to the security tools overlap between languages and tools. Similar research done with a better choice of repositorycould produce varying results which would benefit further analysis of the effect alertaggregation has on CI/CD alert handling.

Within the U.S. large cap market, stocks exhibiting the greatest idiosyncratic volatility have historically produced lower returns than those with more moderate volatility. This pattern, known as the low-volatility anomaly, was first identified by Ang, Hodrick, Xing and Zhang (2006). In this thesis, we examine whether the same relationship is present among small capstocks by studying the Russell 2000 over the period from January 2018 to March 2026.

The estimation process uses two time scales. For each firm, daily total returns are analyzed using a rolling 504-day GARCH(1,1) model applied to the residuals from the Fama and French five-factor model. This approach provides a daily estimate of conditionali diosyncratic volatility (IVOL) for every firm. These daily estimates are summarized at each month end to produce a set of monthly values. The asset pricing analyses, including both equal and value weighted quintile sorts with controls for size, momentum and Amihud (2002) illiquidity, are all performed using this monthly data.

The sample contains 1,923 Russell 2000 firms and 141,708 monthly GARCH IVOL estimates. The main hypothesis predicted that small cap equities would display the same negative IVOL to return relation that Ang et al. (2006) document in large caps. The data do not support this prediction. When stocks are sorted into quintiles by IVOL, the high minus low FF5 alpha is 1.64 percent per month on an equal weighted basis and 0.73 percent (t =0.99) on a value weighted basis. Neither figure is significantly different from zero. The central finding is therefore a null result: in the Russell 2000 over this window, IVOL does not predict returns in either direction.

The thesis makes two contributions. First, it provides a null finding for small caps that is difficult to reconcile with the negative relation reported in large cap studies. Second, it offers a replicable procedure for future researchers. The procedure estimates idiosyncratic volatility with a GARCH (1,1) model on Fama and French five-factor residuals, sorts stocks into quintiles and then compares the top and bottom portfolios on both an equal and a valueweighted basis. The implications of the sample construction choices for the estimated premium are addressed in the Discussion and Limitations sections.

Background: Budgetary control is central to management control in public organisations and supports planning, resource allocation and accountability. In municipal compulsory schools, financial demands must be balanced with pedagogical responsibility and professional judgement. Research shows that budgetary control is not a neutral technical tool but is interpreted and adapted as it moves across organisational levels.

Purpose: The study aims to develop a deeper understanding of how budgetary control acquires practical meaning as it moves between the municipal level, principals, and teachers, and how this affects teachers’ priorities and room for manoeuvre.The study examines how budgetary control is interpreted and enacted across organisational levels in municipal compulsory schools, focusing on principals and teachers. It aims to clarify how budget-related control signals are communicated, translated and influence everyday practices, teachers’ priorities and their perceived room for manoeuvre. 

Method: The study adopts a qualitative and abductive approach based on semi-structured interviews with principals and teachers and on national and municipal governing documents. Formal control was compared with how it is interpreted and enacted in practice.A qualitative approach is used, based on semi‑structured interviews with principals and teachers, complemented by municipal and school-related documents. The analysis is thematic and informed by theories on management control packages, Levers of Control, translation, and intended versus perceived control.

Conclusion: Budgetary control is not transferred unchanged to the classroom but is translated across organizational levels. Principals translate financial requirements into staffing, organization, and local priorities, while teachers mainly experience the budget through concrete working conditions. Teachers’ room for manoeuvre is therefore conditional, but not absent. Budgetary control does not travel unchanged from the municipal level to the classroom but is translated and reshaped along the way. Principals interpret budget requirements through planning, prioritization, staffing and resource allocation. For teachers, the budget becomes visible through teaching materials, support resources and purchasing routines. This creates tensions between financial control and pedagogical responsibility

This report examines the constructive and architectural significance of timber domes in a Swedish building context. The study is based on five case studies: Mariakyrkan in Växjö, Göteborgs moské, Gustavianum in Uppsala, Fittja moské and Trefaldighetskyrkan in Karlskrona. The aim is to analyse how timber domes function as structural, spatial and visual elements, and how they influence spatial experience, daylighting and architectural expression.

The theoretical framework focuses on dome construction, form and typology, as well as the spatial role of the dome. Concepts such as hemispherical domes, segmented domes, ribbed structures, centrality and daylighting are used to interpret the selected buildings.This makes it possible to understand the dome not only as a technical roof structure, but also as an architectural element that organises space, directs the gaze and creates symbolic or monumental effects.

The method consists of a comparative case study analysis. Each building is examined through the same categories: construction, form and typology, spatial formation and daylighting. The study is based on available drawings, photographs, documentation and visual observations. Since the level of documentation differs between the case studies, some constructive interpretations are discussed with caution, especially where detailed structural drawings are not available.

The analysis shows that the role of the timber dome varies depending on scale, function and spatial context. In Mariakyrkan, the dome appears as a low and integrated part of the roof structure, creating a calm and enclosing atmosphere. In Göteborgs moské, the dome has a stronger central and monumental role through its scale, position and daylighting. Fittja moské shows how timber panelling, light and central composition can strengthen the dome as a visual focus. Gustavianum differs through its polygonal and segmented form, which creates a more ordered spatial character. Trefaldighetskyrkan connects the timber dome to a historical central-plan tradition where the dome marks the centre of the church space and reinforces symmetry, height and spatial order.

The findings show that Swedish timber domes should be understood through the interaction between construction, material, form, light and function. The same basic dome principle can create different architectural expressions, ranging from calm enclosure to monumentality and symbolic centrality.

This thesis examines the relationship between media trust and newsconsumption in digital information environments from a sociologicalperspective. It addresses the problem of how individuals orient themselves ina digitised media landscape where news flows are increasingly shaped byplatform logics, algorithmic curation, and social circulation. The aim of thestudy is to problematise the commonly assumed linear relationship betweenmedia trust and news use. The study is guided by the following researchquestions: how the relationship between media trust and news consumptioncan be understood in digital environments.; how media trust is shapedthrough individuals’ handling of uncertainty and orientation; and what thisrelationship reveals about the interplay between individuals, platformstructures, and curated information flows. The empirical material consists ofsurvey data combined with netnographic observations of digital newsenvironments. The analysis is informed by sociological theory on curatedflows, alongside phenomenological perspectives on uncertainty managementand suspension of doubt. The findings show that media trust does notfunction as a stable precondition for news consumption. Instead, trustemerges as a situational and continuously negotiated process shaped bysocial interaction, digital curation, and individual strategies for navigatinguncertainty. News consumption is therefore better understood as anorientational practice rather than a direct outcome of trust. Individuals maycontinue to engage with news sources despite skepticism, as news use alsoserves a function in managing complexity and making sense of everydayinformation environments. Overall, the study contributes to sociologicalresearch by challenging linear assumptions about the relationship betweenmedia trust and news consumption, highlighting instead its dynamic andcontext-dependent character.

Background: Digitalization has created new opportunities for data collection and digital surveillance through social media, applications and smart devices. While technological advancements contribute to increased efficiency and personalization, they also involve growing privacy risks and extensive collection of personal data. Despite increasing concerns regarding data privacy, many individuals continue to use digital services without fully understanding how their data is collected and used. Previous research has mainly focused on privacy in relation to specific social media platforms or different ethnic groups, while qualitative research examining how different generations perceive digital surveillance and privacy remain limited.

Purpose: This study investigates how perceptions toward digital privacy and surveillance vary across different age groups.

Method: Because this study explores how varying age groups perceive digital privacy and surveillance on a deeper level, a qualitative study was deemed suitable for that purpose. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, which ensured that the data was more descriptive and richer in nature. After the data was collected, it was analyzed using thematic coding techniques, as described by Braun & Clarke.

Findings: The results show that all informants were aware that digital services collect data, but that the degree of acceptance and concern varied between generations. Younger participants more frequently tended to accept data collection as a natural part of using digital services, particularly when it contributed to convenience and personalization. Older participants generally expressed greater concern regarding surveillance, privacy violations and a lack of transparency from companies and organizations.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine individuals’ perceptions of client-side scanning (CSS) in terms of risks and benefits, the factors associated with acceptance of the technology, and the relationship between perceived risks and expected behavioural adaptation in the event of a potential implementation of CSS.

Method: The study employed a quantitative approach using a web-based survey conducted among university students. A total of 127 respondents participated. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analyses.

Results: The results showed that perceived benefits (M = 3.75) and perceived risks (M =3.51) had relatively similar mean values, with perceived benefits rated slightly higher. Perceived risks were negatively associated with acceptance of CSS, whereas perceived benefits and trust in the EU as the implementing actor were positively associated with acceptance. No significant association was identified between privacy-conscious digital behaviour and acceptance. In the regression analysis, perceived benefits were the strongest predictor of acceptance. Perceived risks were positively associated with expected behavioural adaptation and were the strongest predictor of this variable.

Conclusion: The study shows that individuals’ acceptance of CSS is associated with perceived risks and benefits of the technology, as well as trust in the implementing actor. The results also show that perceived risks are associated with individuals’ expected change in digital behaviour in the event of a potential implementation of CSS.

A prerequisite for digital services within the public sector is that everyone should be able to use them. This motivates a high degree of digital and cognitive accessibility. If accessibility is lacking, certain user groups may risk being excluded. The purpose of the study is to investigate which aspects of visual information design and interface design that can increase the cognitive accessibility of public digital services, and how these affect the perceived usability. The study was conducted using a mixed method approach consisting of semi-structured interviews and tests. Seven participants with varying reasons that affect their cognitive ability participated in the study. The results show that aspects such as structure, clarity and overview are essential for increasing cognitive accessibility. At the same time, the results of the study indicate that the perceived usability based on these aspects and how they affect the cognitive load can be individual. The study contributes with a deeper understanding of which aspects of visual information design and interface design that are essential and how these can be used to influence the cognitive accessibility and the perceived usability of public digital services.

Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) appear at a considerably high frequency in primary care. Patients who suffer from MUS tend to also have suffered from childhood trauma and concurrent relationship problems. Previous research suggests that MUS in adulthood appears to be closely related to childhood trauma.

This study aimed to systematically investigate the emotional problems of the participants who suffer from MUS by trying to answer the following questions: What emotional and relational patterns, from a psychoanalytically informed perspective, can be identified in participants who suffer from medically unexplained symptoms? To what extent can the emotional and relational patterns identified be interpreted as expressions of alexithymic functioning? To answer these questions the study used reflexive thematic analysis, conceptualized by Braun & Clarke (2021), utilizing a deductive approach. These patterns were interpreted through a psychoanalytic lens. The study found that the participants’ descriptions of their emotional and relational problems were characterized by prioritizing the needs of other people over their personal issues, often reporting that their somatic problems worsen after emotionally challenging events, suggesting a possible connection with defense processes such as introjection and somatization. Furthermore, alexithymia was systematically investigated in relation to the observed patterns. There was no consistent pattern of alexithymia found among the participants, but Bucci’s (1997) multiple code theory was found to be a useful tool in examining the emotional and relational patterns among the participants.

This thesis research if the Japanese wood joinery method Kigumi or Tsugite-Shiguchi can be implemented in Swedish building practice. The focus of the study is on demountability, reuse capability and circular construction. A theoretical study and comparison between the Japanese joints Watari-ago and Nuki-joint, the Swedish traditional joinery methods knuttimring and skiftesverk and modern methods such as screws, spikes, metal brackets and glued wood components. Results show that Kigumi has advantages in demountability, material efficiency and reuse potential by being constructed completely out of wood and relying on its own weight and the fitting of its design. Knuttimring and skiftesverk have some reversible qualities but they don’t reach the quality of Kigumi. The modern methods have superior mechanics but perform much worse with circular building and waste management in mind. The study concludes that Kigumi has good potential for circular timber construction in Sweden, but it needs to be modified and updated to fulfill the Swedish standards with better resistance against different elements and more efficient production.

Previously, school attacks were considered to be very rare in Sweden, but the threat picture has changed, and violent incidents have become more common, which has increased the focus on school safety and preventive measures. At the same time, there is a lack of clear and practical knowledge about how the physical design of schools affects safety during violent incidents, including ongoing deadly violence. The study analyzes how primary schools, upper secondary schools, and universities are physically designed in relation to school safety, with a focus on floor plans, entrances, alarm systems, and glass panels.

The results show that the physical design of school buildings has a direct impact on school safety. Corridor-based floor plan layouts with possibilities for sectioning are identified as a strength, while large glass panels and open areas without physical barriers constitute vulnerabilities through increased visual exposure. The study emphasizes the importance of a strategically placed staffed reception, robust doors, and manual locking systems to enable effective lockdowns, as well as the fact that analog alarm systems appear to be more reliable for issuing warnings.

The conclusion establishes that physical barriers and technical systems can make a violent incident more difficult and limit its consequences, but that safety is to a high degree dependent on human ability to manage risks. Architecture and technical solutions should therefore function as support in the preventive work. 

This study examines how the design of dental clinic environments affects work Environment, patient experience, and operational efficiency. The focus is on spatial layout, circulation, accessibility, and environmental factors in dental care settings. 

The study is based on a combination of methods, including a literature review, interviews with dental staff, a survey with patients, and on-site observations. Five dental clinics with varying conditions were analyzed. 

The results show that most patients perceive the clinics as functional, safe, and easy to navigate. However, some limitations were identified, particularly related to cramped spaces, noise levels, and orientation in certain areas. 

The interviews indicate that the original design of the clinic has a significant impact on daily operations. Clinics designed specifically for dental care demonstrate more efficient workflows, while older or converted facilities require adaptations in routines and working methods. 

The study also highlights the importance of environmental factors such as sound, light, and spatial organization for patient comfort and perceived safety. Clear layouts and well-designed environments contribute to reduced stress and improved patient experience. 

Based om the findings, key design principles are identified, including clear spatial organization, short distances between functions, good accessibility, and separation of flows. 

This thesis presents numerical, and semi-analytical approaches for the analysis of laterally loaded piles based on the Matlock p–y formulation for soft clay, following the recommendations of the Swedish Pile Commission.

A comparative analysis was first conducted, benchmarking three solution approaches: Numerical p-y formulations in RFEM 6 integrated with a Python-based application programming interface (API), the finite element (FE) toolbox CALFEM and a semi-analytical solution. The different approaches adopts different level of complexity, and produced stable results. The semi-analytical solution provides a practical and conservative solution for small load levels where linear elastic soil behaviour can be assumed, but is not recommended for larger loads where the soil response enters the nonlinear range. The iterative secant solution procedure implemented in CALFEM, captures both nonlinear soil behaviour and second-order effects, proved to be computationally efficient, providing stable results while maintaining good agreement with the RFEM 6 results across various loading levels .

An automated numerical framework has been developed in Python using the RFEM 6 API for the analysis of laterally loaded piles. The framework implements the p–y method and accounts for nonlinear soil behaviour through lateral springs, second-order effects, and geometric imperfections derived from the first buckling mode of the interacting pile–soil system. Using the framework, a parametric study was conducted to investigate the influence of soil conditions, axial and lateral loading, and pile-head boundary conditions on second-order effects and the load-carrying capacity of a standard concrete and steel pile section. The resulting bending moments were assessed using normal force–bending moment (N–M) interaction diagrams based on Eurocode provisions. The results demonstrate that second-order effects on the bending moment distribution and section load-bearing capacity for both pile types are strongly affected by pile and soil strength and stiffness characteristics, pile-head boundary conditions, the magnitude of the applied lateral load, and the level of axial compression. In particular, free pile-head conditions, weak soil conditions, and high lateral loads increase pile deflections and amplify second-order bending moments, leading to reduced mobilized soil resistance and a subsequent decrease in the overall load-bearing capacity of the pile–soil system. Once the limiting lateral soil resistance is reached, further pile movement occurs with limited additional soil support, resulting in increasing displacements until structural failure, either through the formation of a mechanism or through loss of equilibrium of the system.

The pile–soil interaction problem is highly complex, and careful evaluation of the actual soil conditions, pile-head rotational restraint, and applied load levels is essential for reliable assessment. Furthermore, nonlinear soil behaviour, second-order effects, and initial imperfections should be explicitly considered when analysing slender piles subjected to lateral loading. These factors can significantly influence the predicted analysis outcome compared with simplified approaches that neglect their effects.

Bakgrund: ADHD är en neuropsykiatrisk funktionsnedsättning som påverkar uppmärksamhet, impulskontroll och exekutiva funktioner. Kvinnor diagnostiseras ofta senare än män, då symtomen ofta internaliseras eller maskeras. Sen diagnostisering kan innebära oupptäckta svårigheter, vilket kan påverka psykisk hälsa, självbild och upplevelsen av vården. Detta gör ämnet relevant för allmänsjuksköterskan som har en viktig roll i personcentrerad vård. Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva kvinnors upplevelser av att erhålla en ADHD-diagnos i vuxen ålder. Metod: Studien genomfördes som en litteraturöversikt med induktiv ansats baserad på kvalitativa vetenskapliga artiklar. Datainsamlingen genomfördes genom litteratursökningar i databaserna CINAHL och PubMed. Artiklarna valdes utifrån inklusions- och exklusionskriterier och kvalitetsgranskades. Analysen genomfördes som en integrerande sammanställning inspirerad av metasyntes enligt Fribergs analysmodell. Totalt inkluderades 15 artiklar i uppsatsen. Resultat: Resultatet visade att en ADHD-diagnos i vuxen ålder ofta upplevdes som en vändpunkt i kvinnornas liv. Diagnosen bidrog till ökad självförståelse och möjliggjorde en omtolkning av tidigare upplevelser av otillräcklighet och utanförskap. Samtidigt väckte diagnosen känslor av lättnad, sorg, ilska och frustration över uteblivet stöd tidigare i livet. Kvinnorna beskrev även kvarstående vardagliga svårigheter och psykisk ohälsa. Vidare framkom upplevelser av stigma, bristande förståelse och otillräckligt stöd från vård och omgivning. Slutsats: Kvinnors upplevelser av att erhålla en ADHD-diagnos i vuxen ålder präglas av ökad självförståelse och en omtolkning av tidigare upplevelser. Diagnosen kan bidra till ökad självacceptans, men behovet av stöd kvarstår. Resultatet belyser vikten av ökad kunskap om ADHD hos kvinnor samt behovet av personcentrerad och individanpassad omvårdnad.

 Bakgrund: Psykisk ohälsa bland unga vuxna är vanligt globalt och påverkar miljontals individer. Vårdpersonalens kompetens, personcentrerade arbetssätt och tillitsfulla relationer är avgörande för patientsäkerhet, delaktighet och välbefinnande. Sjuksköterskor inom primärvården möter ofta unga vuxna med psykisk ohälsa. Däremot finns brister i utbildning och evidensbaserade metoder för relationsskapande och tidiga interventioner.Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva unga vuxna personers erfarenheter av vårdpersonalens bemötande vid kontakt med primärvården i samband med psykisk ohälsa.Metod: Denna allmänna litteraturöversikt baseras på en systematisk genomgång av befintlig forskning om unga vuxnas erfarenheter av vårdpersonalens bemötande i primärvården. Artikelsökning genomfördes i databaserna CINAHL och PubMed och tio artiklar inkluderades. Data analyserades genom sammanfattning, jämförelse av likheter och skillnader samt kategorisering för att skapa en översikt. Resultat: Resultatet visar att vårdrelationen har en avgörande betydelse för unga vuxnas erfarenheter av primärvården vid psykisk ohälsa. Kontinuitet och personcentrerat förhållningssätt främjar trygghet, tillit och benägenhet att söka vård och när detta brister kan det leda till frustration och undvikande av vårdkontakt. Ett holistiskt synsätt, upplevs som centralt för ett adekvat bemötande. Barriärer i kontakten inkluderar maktobalans, stigmatisering och bristande information inom vårdsystemet, vilket påverkar möjligheten till kontinuerligt stöd och adekvat behandling. Slutsats: Litteraturöversikten visar att unga vuxna med psykisk ohälsa ofta upplever att de inte blir tagna på allvar, förbisedda eller stigmatiserade. Trygga, kontinuerliga vårdrelationer och lyhörd vårdpersonal är avgörande för positiva vårdupplevelser. God samverkan inom vårdteam och vårdsystemet stärker delaktighet och känslan av att bli sedd och förstådd.

Bakgrund: Stamcellstransplantation används främst vid hematologiska sjukdomar och innebär att patientens blodstamceller ersätts. Tiden efter transplantationen präglas av hög infektionskänslighet och isolering, vilket kan påverka patientens välbefinnande.

Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva hur patienter med hematologisk sjukdom upplever tiden efter en stamcellstransplantation.

Metod: En litteraturöversikt baserad på kvalitativa artiklar genomfördes med en allmän litteraturöversikt som analysmetod.

Resultat: Resultatet visade att tiden efter stamcellstransplantationen präglades av psykiskt och fysiskt lidande samt en lång återhämtningsprocess. Patienterna beskrev oro, rädsla, trötthet och smärta. Det krävdes olika strategier för att hantera situationen, såsom stöd från anhöriga, religion och positivt tänkande. Bemötande och delaktighet i vården framkom som betydelsefulla faktorer. Vidare beskrev patienterna att erfarenheterna efter transplantationen hade påverkat deras syn på livet och framtiden.

Slutsats: Tiden efter stamcellstransplantationen innebar omfattande fysiska och psykiska påfrestningar för patienterna. Resultatet belyser vikten av personcentrerad omvårdnad och individanpassat stöd för att främja återhämtning och välbefinnande efter transplantationen.

This dissertation examines how principals in Swedish schools interpret and develop strategies for action within the tension between the ideal of inclusion and the demands of organizational and pedagogical differentiation. Grounded in a systems and neo-institutional perspective, the dissertation conceptualizes principals' leadership as a meaning-making and institutionally embedded process, in which interpretation, negotiation, and action are shaped in the encounter between structural conditions and professional values.

The dissertation draws on five sub-studies that illuminate how principals' leadership is constituted across different levels of the education system: policy and text analyses, conceptual-historical policy analysis, systematic literature reviews, and interviews with principals and other actors within governance arenas. Students with autism serve as an analytical example, foregrounding how the tension between inclusion and differentiation takes concrete shape in practice and why both school leadership and special education perspectives must be held together.

The cover essay applies institutional logics and sensemaking as analytical lenses to examine how policy signals and governance expectations are interpreted and made meaningful in principals' everyday leadership. The findings show that leadership can be understood as a continuous process in which policy and governance are translated within local contexts, forming the basis for developing strategies for action. These strategies constitute ways of managing competing institutional demands while simultaneously reshaping the conditions and scope for principal agency. Leadership thus emerges not as individual choice, but as an ongoing process of interpretation and negotiation within, and in response to, institutional frameworks.

The dissertation makes two interconnected contributions. First, it advances understanding of how systemic and institutional conditions shape principals' interpretive work and strategic action. Second, it bridges school leadership research and special education research, two fields that have largely developed in parallel despite addressing the same organizational challenges. By analyzing inclusion and differentiation as questions of leadership as much as pedagogy, the study demonstrates that decisions about placement, resource allocation, and school organization cannot be adequately understood without attending to the institutional logics and governance conditions within which they are made.

This bachelor’s thesis investigates and optimizes the logistics and administrative workflows within the bulk export process at The Absolut Company in Åhus, Sweden. Global market growth and increasing product variety have placed higher demands on supply chain efficiency. While previous research emphasizes production line efficiency, this case study addresses a distinct research gap by exploring the administrative dependencies and coordination delays that can create bottlenecks in export logistics. 

Using a mixed-methods approach, this study combines qualitative semi-structured interviews and direct observations with quantitative lead-time measurements. Lean production principles and Theory of Constraints (TOC) were applied alongside Value Stream Mapping to analyze the current state of the bulk export process. The empirical findings revealed significant inefficiencies, primarily driven by waiting times, a lack of authority for documentation, reliance on weighing and loading equipment, and manual document and signing processes. 

Based on these findings, several optimization proposals were developed, including decentralized document handling, integration of digital signatures, and investing in a new flow meter. A future state Value Stream Map was constructed to evaluate the impact of the proposed changes. The theoretical verification demonstrated a potential 19.4% reduction in lead time, decreasing processing time from 103 minutes to 83 minutes. In conclusion, this study highlights the critical importance of aligning administrative workflows with physical material flows to allow for competitiveness and ensure resource efficiency. 

Hur välfärdssamhället ska hantera unga som inte går i gymnasiet är en återkommande utmaning. Ansvarsfördelningen har skiftat över tid mellan olika aktörer, och sedan 2015 är kommunerna ansvariga genom det kommunala aktivitetsansvaret (KAA). KAA saknar en tydlig organisatorisk hemvist och organiseras olika i olika kommuner, ofta av koordinatorer med varierande utbildnings- och yrkesbakgrund. Ungdomarna utgör en heterogen grupp med olika behov, vilket kräver samordning mellan flera välfärdsaktörer i ett fragmenterat system. 

Avhandlingen undersöker KAA som ett icke-institutionaliserat policyområde inom aktiveringspolitiken, där frontlinjearbetare översätter nationella direktiv till lokal praktik. Det övergripande syftet är att förstå hur lokal organisering och samverkansrelationer påverkar översättningen av policy till praktik, och därmed hur stödet till en mångfacetterad ungdomsgrupp formas i olika lokala kontexter. 

I en tidigare artikel analyseras hur nationella policytexter och problemformuleringar översätts till lokal nivå. En annan artikel fokuserar på hur koordinatorer definierar sitt verksamhetsområde i relation till andra välfärdsaktörer. Denna artikel jämför organiseringen av KAA i tre svenska kommuner. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and Copilot are increasingly present in education, raising questions about their potential for both learning and bias reproduction. Building on a previous pre-study by the authors, this research explores how AI-generated storytelling can be used to foster critical thinking in technology teacher education.

In a university course, pre-service teachers were asked to generate children’s stories using Copilot and then analyse the technological content using a framework derived from an earlier study by one of the authors. The students were instructed to use an identical prompt (i.e., create a technology story for primary school children), and common narratives in the Copilot-generated stories involved a child and a robot discovering the wonders of coding or saving the world through new technologies (that they had developed together).

To interpret the students’ reflections, we draw on Langdon Winner’s critical philosophy of technology, using his perspectives as an analytical lens to identify how notions of neutrality, determinism, and the politics of artefacts appear in the students’ reasoning. Our analysis of the students’ written reflections shows that most of them present an uncritical view of technology. Few of the students demonstrated deeper critique of technological implications, ethical dilemmas, or socio-political dimensions. These findings suggest that without explicit scaffolding, AI-based storytelling risks reinforcing techno-optimistic perspectives rather than challenging them. We argue that integrating structured critical analysis – supported by frameworks such as Winner’s – is essential for developing reflective and responsible approaches to technology in teacher education.

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly integrated into critical decision-making processes, serving as assistants for education, writing, and professional support. This widespread adoption places questions of bias and trust at the center of their responsible deployment. However, much of the existing research on LLM bias focuses on evaluating the internal mechanics and probabilities of models, rather than exploring how users perceive and interact with generated text in real-world scenarios. The core research problem addressed in this thesis is the misalignment between true model capabilities and human perception, often termed the calibration gap. Prior research establishes that state-of-the-art LLMs exhibit persistent social identity and cognitive biases despite rigorous value alignment [1, 2, 3]. Furthermore, users often systematically overestimate LLM accuracy when presented with confident or detailed explanations [4]. Parallel work demonstrates that superficial presentation cues, such as attribution or subtle framing, can systematically shift how information is evaluated [5]. Building upon this theoretical foundation, this thesis investigates how observable bias cues embedded in LLM responses, specifically operationalized as subtle positive or negative framing relative to a neutral baseline, influence readers’ perceived trustworthiness and related judgments. To examine this, we conducted an online survey experiment (N = 42) wherein participants evaluated five realistic AI assistant scenarios. For each scenario, participants were randomized to read one of three response variants and subsequently rated the output on four multidimensional Likert items: trustworthiness, objectivity, decision comfort, and appropriateness of tone. Our quantitative and qualitative analysis reveals that framing cues primarily affected perceptions of objectivity and tone, with both positively and negatively framed variants being rated as less objective and less appropriate than their neutral counterparts. Interestingly, the direct effects on overall factual trustworthiness were highlyscenario-dependent, yielding statistically significant differences in only two out of the five scenarios. Additionally, we found that a user’s baseline trust in AI correlated strongly and positively with their trustworthiness ratings across all scenarios(r = 0.51, p = 0.001). Taken together, the findings suggest that users often decouple factual trustworthiness from perceived appropriateness. Even when an LLM employs promotional or restrictive language, users may still trust the underlying information, particularly if their baseline confidence in AI is high. These results emphasize that trust is a complex, multidimensional construct influenced as much by stable individual predispositions as by the generated text itself. The study contributes to the ongoing discourse on LLM trust calibration by providing empirical, user-centered evidence on cue sensitivity, highlighting the necessity of designing systems that prioritize neutral presentation to mitigate the insidious effects of framing biases.

Data pipelines are a core component of distributed systems, where large volumes of data must be processed efficiently, reliably, and at scale. The two commonly used paradigms are batch processing, which handles data in bounded jobs, and stream processing, which handles data continuously as it arrives. Despite both being widely used, little empirical research compares them as deployed pipelines under controlled and comparable conditions. This thesis addresses the gap by implementing a batch pipeline using Apache Spark, and a streaming pipeline with Apache Flink and Apache Kafka, then comparing their performance in a controlled experiment. The pipelines run an identical hourly aggregation over NYC Yellow Taxi records across three dataset sizes and three parallelism levels, with each condition repeated five times on two machines. The evaluation measures throughput, latency, CPU utilisa tion, memory usage, and duration. The batch pipeline reached higher throughput at every dataset size, and the gap widened as the data grew. The streaming pipeline held stable throughput and resource utilisation, at the cost of longer duration. The results also challenge two common assumptions, implying that under this workload batch scaled with the available cores, while streaming throughput remained limited by its single-threaded producer rather than by Flink, and batch was not generally the heavier paradigm.Therefore, the choice between the architectures is conditional. Batch is more suitable for workloads where high throughput is the priority, while streaming is preferable where continuous processing and timely reactions to incoming data are required. The final decision depends on the workload, the latency requirements, and the operational constraints.

Essay 1: “Self-employment experience and labor market integration of young immigrants: A field experiment in Sweden.” In many countries, immigrants turn to self-employment to enter the labor market, and policymakers often present it as a stepping stone to regular employment. However, credible evidence on whether self-employment improves employment prospects remains scarce. This paper tests the stepping-stone hypothesis using a correspondence experiment in which fictitious applications were randomly assigned to signal self-employment, wage employment, or unemployment. Applicants with self-employment experience were more than twice as likely to receive interview requests as otherwise identical unemployed applicants. Interview callback rates for self-employed and wage-employed were similar, suggesting that when wage employment is hard to find, self-employment can serve as an alternative route into regular employment for young immigrants.

Essay 2: “Equal Pay Laws and the Gender Earnings Gap: Evidence from Swedish Administrative Data.” (co-authored with Lina Aldén,  Anne Boschini and Samuel Mann). Gender-based equal pay laws are intended to narrow earnings disparities, yet evidence on their effectiveness remains mixed. We study Sweden’s 1979 Equal Pay Act using population-wide administrative data and a propensity-score matched event-study that compares women’s annual earnings to those of observably similar men within narrowly defined job cells. We find that the reform modestly reduced the within–job-cell gender earnings gap. The gains are concentrated among workers who change jobs, with little evidence of changes in relative earnings growth among job stayers. We also find that women’s job mobility declined relative to men’s over this period, and that women who moved were less likely than comparable men to enter male-dominated job cells, where relative earnings gains were largest. Taken together, the results suggest that equal pay laws can improve within-job pay equity, but that limited access to higher-paying job transitions may constrain their broader effects on gender earnings convergence.

 Essay 3: “Work Training for Disadvantaged Job Seekers: Evidence from Sweden.” Work integration social enterprises (WISEs) provide work training for job seekers with disabilities or long-term unemployment, groups who often struggle to reach the regular labor market. This study examines a unique Swedish work training program launched in 2022 as a nationwide reserved procurement mainly delivered by WISEs. Participation is not random; participants are matched to similar non-participants using linked population registers. The study uses a stacked regression model in a difference-in-differences framework to estimate the effect on positive labor income over a two-year period. The estimated intention-to-treat effect is negative and statistically significant: a gap of 7-10 percentage points relative to the matched control group persists over this period.

This study examines how respondents to the consultation on Ds 2024:26 frame the need for reform of compulsory youth care provided by the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care (SiS). The study focuses on how problems, causes and solutions are formulated and what similarities and differences emerge between public bodies and professional and knowledge-based organisations on the one hand, and civil-society and child-rights organisations on the other.

The study is based on a qualitative text analysis of 25 consultation responses containing substantive comments. Jönson’s (2010) perspective analysis of social problems is used with a discourse-analytic orientation. The findings are further interpreted through a sociological neo-institutional perspective on institutional demands and legitimacy.

The results show broad agreement that SiS faces problems requiring change, but differences in how these problems are understood and which reforms are considered legitimate. Three recurring problem perspectives emerge: children’s rights and legal safeguards, safety and security, and governance and capacity. The clearest difference concerns expanded coercive powers. Several public bodies and professional and knowledge-based organisations present these as necessary or useful security measures, whereas civil-society and child-rights organisations more often emphasise staffing, relationships, care and preventive work.

The study concludes that reforming SiS concerns not only coercive powers but also competing institutional demands and expectations related to the legitimacy and future direction of compulsory youth care.

Background: According to national clinical guidelines, individuals at very high risk of severe pneumococcal disease are recommended a conjugate vaccine to ensure enhanced protection. Based on these guidelines, Smittskydd Stockholm has developed a clinical decision support tool in the form of a vaccination schedule intended to assist healthcare providers when prescribing vaccines. Previous studies have identified challenges related to the implementation of clinical guidelines in healthcare settings. Clinical decision support tools have shown potential to facilitate the adoption of guidelines, increase adherence to them, and thereby strengthen patient safety.

Aim: The aim of this study is to examine whether a digital clinical decision support, in the form of a notification in the documentation system Vaccinera that alerts the prescriber when an individual is at very high risk of severe pneumococcal disease, can contribute to improved adherence to clinical guidelines for pneumococcal vaccination.

Method: This is a quantitative, quasi‑experimental pre‑ and post‑intervention study based on registry data from the vaccination documentation system Vaccinera. The intervention in this health informatics study is a clinical decision support tool in the form of an automated notification that alerts the prescriber to individuals at very high risk of severe pneumococcal disease. To analyze changes in adherence to the clinical guidelines following the introduction of this notification, logistic regression analysis and Pearson´s chi‑square-tests were used.

Results: Adherence to the clinical guidelines increased significantly after the introduction of the digital notification, by 13.8 percentage points (p < 0.001; OR 1.75). Adherence varied clearly between types of healthcare settings, both before and after the notification was introduced. A significant increase in adherence was seen for primary care and vaccination clinics. In primary care, adherence increased by 7.3 percentage points (p < 0.001; OR 1.88), and in vaccination clinics by 15.4 percentage points (p < 0.001; OR 1.91). No significant differences were observed for the other types of healthcare settings. 

Conclusion: In an increasingly pressured healthcare environment with rising demands for efficiency, digital clinical decision support tools may contribute to more efficient workflows and improved patient safety. However, although this study demonstrates that a digital clinical decision support tool can increase overall adherence to clinical guidelines, the substantial variation in effect across different healthcare settings indicates that digitalization and decision support tools alone are not sufficient solutions for the continued development of healthcare services.

The transition toward a Circular Economy (CE) demands a systemic transformation of production systems, requiring the simultaneous evolution of organizational structures and technology, often framed as socio-technical alignment. In Sweden, regional counties act as major public customers for the domestic furniture industry, and their procurement routines strongly influence how circular material flows are enabled—or constrained—in practice. Grounded in the Socio-Technical Systems Theory (STST) framework, this study investigates how sociotechnical misalignments limit the development of circular furniture production systems. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining a quantitative survey administered to managers across Sweden’s regional counties (47.6% response rate, N=10) with thematic analysis of expert focus group interviews. The results reveal persistent fragmentation across the socio-technical system. On the social side, responsibility for furniture strategy is often unclear or absent, with 40% of respondents reporting no assigned ownership. On the technical side, existing digital procurement systems remain poorly suited to circular practices, lacking basic functionality for asset tracking, reuse coordination, and reverse logistics. The study concludes that industrial-scale circularity cannot be achieved through isolated interventions. Instead, it requires joint optimization of procurement governance, digital infrastructure, and manufacturing systems. Particular attention must be given to the everyday user journey of ordering furniture, where circular options currently remain difficult to identify, evaluate, and choose in practice.

Modern computing systems exhibit increasing heterogeneity and often require runtime self-management and adaptation to cope with their structural and operational complexity, as well as changes in their environment and requirements. Self-Adaptive Software Systems (SASS) represent a class of context-aware and autonomous systems designed to manage such complexity. However, designing such systems remains challenging due to their complexity, runtime variability, and the continuous need to ensure functional and quality requirements. Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI (Gen AI) offer promising capabilities, yet their use in the architectural design of SASS remains poorly understood. To that end, this study reports a work in progress systematic review. The review findings reveal that the use of LLMs and other Gen AI approaches for the architectural design of SASS remains nascent, with only four relevant studies identified. Across these studies, LLMs act as augmentative reasoning components, concentrated in the monitoring, analysis, planning, and knowledge phases of the MAPE-K loop and are only partially present in execution. Characteristics such as hybrid architectures, multi-agent reasoning, and retrieval-augmented grounding recur across the reviewed studies; however, given the small and heterogeneous evidence base, these are best viewed as preliminary observations rather than established trends, and trustworthiness and runtime assurance remain underexplored.  As a work in progress, this paper contributes an initial characterization of LLM-supported design in self-adaptive systems, outlines research directions, and aims to stimulate discussion within the community on advancing LLM-supported architectural design for self-adaptive and autonomous software systems.

Modern web and distributed systems rely heavily on Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), with Representational State Transfer (REST) and GraphQL serving as the primary architectural styles. While performance metrics such as latency and throughput are crucial for user experience and system efficiency, existing research often lacks a detailed analysis of how these APIs perform under varying levels of query complexity. This thesis investigates the performance differences between REST and GraphQL APIs by examining their behavior under comparable workloads and evaluating the impact of increasing query complexity on scalability. Using a design science methodology, a controlled experimental environment was developed with Python, Flask, and SQLite, while performance was evaluated using the Locust load testing tool. Measurements were conducted across three levels of query complexity, ranging from simple lookups to deeply nested relational data, under workloads of 50, 200, and 500 concurrent users. The results indicate that REST consistently delivers lower latency and higher throughput across all test scenarios, demonstrating superior scalability under high concurrency. While both architectures perform similarly for simple queries, GraphQL performance degrades more substantially as query complexity increases due to the additional server-side overhead associated with query parsing and resolver execution. However, GraphQL offers advantages when retrieving deeply nested relational data, where equivalent functionality in REST may require multiple client requests.  The findings suggest that REST is better suited for high-volume, performance-critical systems, whereas GraphQL is more appropriate for applications requiring flexible and efficient retrieval of complex, interconnected data.

During the 2000s, Swedish police training has undergone organizational change. One significant development is the integration of police training into the university's faculty organization, indicating an ongoing process of academization of the Swedish police training. 

In this project, I investigate this academization process, and its implications for students, lecturers, and the Swedish police training program. Special attention is given the relation between theory and practice, and how different actors influence and interpret the educational content. Empirically, the study is based on interviews with a student panel consisting of 14 police students, and interviews with teachers and administrative staff in leadership roles. In addition to these methods, observations of teaching moments are also being conducted, and a document study is done to contextualize the changes. 

The preliminary analysis presented in this paper, focus on the students and their expectations. Firstly, the results show that students expect the education to contain a significant practical component, with theoretical aspects closely tied to professional relevance. Secondly, two preliminary categories of theory have been identified: utility theory and abstraction theory – of which the former is seen as the one of relevance. Thirdly, the educational framework with multiple parallel courses poses a potential source of friction, but also contributes to bridging the gap between theory and practical elements. To manage the diversity and ambiguity arising from the education's structure, students develop various strategies. Lastly, analysis indicates the presence of an anticipated professional culture carried by the police students, primarily conveyed by the practice-focused instructors. 

Old skiftesverk buildings in the Swedish countryside are currently at risk of decay, as their original agricultural functions have declined over time and been replaced by larger and more multifunctional farm buildings. At the same time, growing interest in sustainability, reuse and circular construction has increased the focus on adapting existing buildings rather than constructing new ones.

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential for converting existing skiftesverk buildings into residential housing and to identify the technical, functional and cultural heritage aspects affecting such conversions. The study was carried out through a literature review and a case study of nine existing skiftesverk buildings. Particular focus was placed on thermal insulation, window openings and the preservation of cultural heritage values. 

The results indicate that internally insulated wall constructions can be adapted to skiftesverk buildings and that new window openings may be introduced while largely preserving the buildings' architectural and cultural heritage values. Furthermore, the findings suggest that many existing skiftesverk buildings have the potential to be converted into residential housing, provided that each building’s condition, dimensions, construction, and cultural heritage significance are carefully assessed. 

The study concludes that skiftesverk buildings can contribute to a more sustainable and resource-efficient use of the existing building stock. However, successful conversion requires a careful balance between technical requirements and preservation interests. 

Approximately one-third of an average individual's lifetime is spent working, highlighting the importance of working conditions and how the work is performed. Although the COVID-19 pandemic did not introduce hybrid work, it has become increasingly common today, to the extent that office-based work without it is almost impossible to imagine.

There are several benefits to hybrid work, especially when working from home, such as greater flexibility and better focus. However, insights from this project indicated that work-life boundaries may become blurred, making it more challenging to maintain routines and keep good posture throughout the workday, among other factors. From the survey, semi-structured interviews and home visits, it was found that regardless of how well-equipped a workspace is, it is ultimately work behaviours and habits that determine how work is performed. Sitting or standing while working on the computer without regular breaks can lead to health issues, negatively affecting our well-being through sleep disturbances, fatigue, and musculoskeletal discomfort. To prevent this from happening, the final solution was developed through human-centered design and behavioural design to explore how design can influence behaviours and decision-making to improve well-being.

The final solution resulted in a light-based system that uses light to promote healthier work behaviours and habits, particularly related to breaks, movement, and ergonomics, to improve well-being, with a focus on hybrid workers working from home. Nomi, the lamp, is illuminated in different colours to signal different meanings. For instance, green light signals taking a walk, and blue light encourages stretching. This solution has the potential to enhance the well-being of hybrid workers, benefiting companies and society in the long term from both economic and social perspectives.

Overlap explores how a city map can become a tool for encouraging spon-

taneous connection between strangers. Through visual communication

the project examines how everyday urban spaces can support more

open and meaningful social interactions. By deconstructing the fa-

miliar format of the city map, I aim to transform it from a simple

tool for navigation, into a medium for conversation and human con-

tact. The project is grounded on research, testing, and reflection

on how people approach new social situations, and how design can

make these moments feel a bit more easier.

As a visual communicator, I want to challenge the idea that maps

only guide movement through a city. Instead, I use maps to guide

people toward each other. Ultimately, the thesis argues that de-

sign can do more than convey information: it can shape behavior,

support social engagement, and strengthen the experience of urban

life through meaningful human connection.

Interpersonal metadiscourse, through engagement markers, attitude markers, and epistemic markers, determines how writers position themselves in relation to their readers, influencing both the strength of their authorial voice and the perceived reliability of their claims. Through engagement markers, the reader becomes involved in the text, through attitude markers, the writer signals her evaluation of given statements and advice, and through epistemic markers, she expresses her degree of certainty. Together with the graduation of evaluative meanings, these resources determine how confident, persuasive, or cautious a text appears, ultimately affecting whether the advice offered is perceived as trustworthy.

The primary source in this paper was a handbook about buying a property in Spain, which was translated and contrastively analysed for interpersonal metadiscourse. This paper found that the frequency of interpersonal metadiscourse differs widely among cultures. A higher degree of interpersonal metadiscourse in the English source text, particularly attitude markers and boosters, contributes to a more informal text, illustrating the writer’s perspectives and stance. By contrast, the translated text, with a lower degree of attitude markers combined with a higher degree of engagement markers, particularly imperatives, appears more formal and potentially more trustworthy to the reader. The question is: can you trust the advice? These differences may be partly culturally determined. English texts in this genre tend to favour a more personal and informal style, whereas Swedish texts tend to favour a more restrained and formal one. These differences do not necessarily indicate that the advice is better or worse; rather, they reflect different ways of using interpersonal metadiscourse to convey trustworthy guidance.

This thesis studies the construction of female subjectivity in The Sea Wall (1950) and The Lover (1984) by Marguerite Duras, articulating feminist theories with a narratological analysis. The research question asks to what extent the construction the articulation of feminist theories and narratological tools makes it possible to reveal the construction of a female subjectivity shaped by patriarchal oppression, colonial domination and class relations.

The theoretical frame of reference cumulatively rather than additively mobilizes six feminist approaches: Simone de Beauvoir’s idea of the woman as Other, Kimberlé Crenshaw’s intersectionality of class and gender, Colette Guillaumin’s notion of sexage and the idea of nature, Christine Delphy’s analysis of the domestic mode of production, Chandra Talpade Mohanty’s criticism of Western feminist perspective, Camille Froidevaux-Metterie’s phenomenology of the lived and seen body and Françoise Vergès’s decolonial feminism. Gérard Genette’s narratology is used as a tool serving this ideological analysis.

The analysis shows that the external focalization on the mother, pronominal changes between “I” and “she”, syntactic fragmentation, silences, repetitions and ellipsis and the unsaid are the formal translation of a dispossessed feminine condition. No single framework is sufficient to account for this condition. It’s by their cumulative articulation, comparable to the blocks of a pyramid, that makes it possible to understand the complexity of the mother’s and the young girl’s subjectivity in colonial Indochina.

Background: Body weight and body composition are commonly monitored in both sports and fitness settings using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Previous research suggests that hormonal fluctuations throughout the menstrual cycle may influence fluid balance and body water distribution, potentially affecting body weight and body composition measurements. However, findings remain inconsistent, and the practical significance of these variations is not fully understood. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate whether body weight and body composition variables measured by BIA differ across the menstrual cycle in physically active women. Methods: Six physically active women participated in this repeated-measures study. Body weight and body composition were assessed using an InBody 770 analyzer during four phases of the menstrual cycle: menstruation, follicular phase, ovulation, and luteal phase. Variables analyzed included body weight, fat mass, fat-free mass, total body water (TBW), intracellular water (ICW), and extracellular water (ECW). Due to the small sample size and results from an a priori power analysis, non-parametric statistics were applied. Differences between menstrual cycle phases were analysed using the Friedman test, complemented by descriptive analyses. Results: No statistically significant differences were observed in body weight or body composition variables across the menstrual cycle phases. However, individual variations were identified, with body weight fluctuations ranging from approximately 0.4 to 1.3 kg between phases. The most pronounced trend was observed for extracellular water (ECW), which tended to be higher during menstruation and the luteal phase compared with the follicular and ovulatory phases. These findings are consistent with previous research suggesting that menstrual cycle-related changes are primarily associated with alterations in fluid balance rather than changes in fat mass or fat-free mass. Conclusion: The results indicate that body weight and body composition showed only minor variations across menstrual cycle phases. No statistically significant differences were observed, although extracellular water (ECW) demonstrated the most notable tendency for variation. These findings suggest that the menstrual cycle may be a factor to consider when interpreting repeated BIA measurements in women. Further research with larger sample sizes and more precise methods for menstrual cycle phase determination is warranted.

Introduction: Social media has become a central source of training-related information, while the quality of the content varies. For individuals training for hypertrophy, the choice of information source may influence how training-related decisions are made. Aim: The aim was to investigate which information sources are used by individuals training for hypertrophy, how credible these sources are perceived to be, and which sources influence their training practices. The study also examined differences according to sex, training level, education, and age. Method: The study employed quantitative cross-sectional design. Data was collected through a web-based questionnaire comprising 147 participants. Frequency of use and perceived credibility were rated on five-point Likert scales and examined in relation to sex, training level, education, and age. Results: Instagram, coaches, and YouTube were the most frequently used information sources. Scientific articles were perceived as the most credible source. Coaches were most frequently reported to have influenced participants’ training practices. A significant association was identified between training level and the most frequently used information source. Advanced-level participants more often identified YouTube and scientific articles as their primary sources, whereas participants at lower training levels more often identified Instagram. Differences according to sex, training level, and education were found for only a limited number of information sources. Older age was associated with lower use and perceived credibility of several digital and interpersonal sources. Conclusion: The information sources perceived as most credible were not necessarily those used most frequently or those with the greatest practical influence. This may indicate that other potential factors also influence the choice of information sources. Coaches stood out through their high frequency of use, high perceived credibility, and substantial influence on training practices. Differences related to participants’ backgrounds were primarily source-specific and should be interpreted with caution.

Background: State self-control has been proposed to influence sport and exercise performance, but the literature varies considerably in participant populations, experimental manipulations, and performance outcomes.

Aim: This scoping review aimed to map how state self-control exertion has been investigated in healthy adults and summarize its reported effects on subsequent sport and exercise performance.

Methods: Systematic searches were conducted in PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, PubMed, and Scopus. Studies were included if they experimentally manipulated state self-control within a sequential-task paradigm and assessed a subsequent sport or exercise performance outcome. Data were extracted on study characteristics, manipulations, regulatory processes, performance tasks, and findings.

Results: Twenty-six studies published between 2010 and 2024 were included. Most used modified Stroop or transcription tasks and primarily examined response inhibition. Prior self-control exertion was generally associated with impaired endurance, resistance, and sport-specific performance, although several studies reported mixed, context-dependent, or null effects. No single psychological mechanism consistently explained the observed impairments.

Conclusion: Prior state self-control exertion was generally associated with impaired subsequent sport and exercise performance, although the effects varied across studies and were not consistently explained by a single underlying mechanism.

This thesis examines digital gender disinformation as a phenomenon that is gaining increasing strength due to the use of social media and its affordances, as well as the growing use of artificial intelligence, which facilitates the alteration or creation of false content. The study is situated within the context of electoral campaigns in Sweden and Bolivia, with the aim of understanding how this phenomenon operates in different settings and contributing to the field of knowledge, given that most existing scholarship comes from the Global North. Research on digital gender disinformation is still developing, particularly in the Global South.

The motivation behind this study was the observation that women were stepping down from leadership roles during political campaigns in both Bolivia and Sweden in 2025. Consequently, this study adopts a comparative qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with eight female politicians –four in each country– at both the local and national levels. The aim is to understand their perceptions of this phenomenon, compare their experiences and interpret them through the lens of existing gender disinformation theory.

A systematic thematic analysis with an inductive orientation is applied to develop themes and a conceptual model that emerges from the empirical material and explains digital gender disinformation through a dialogue between this material and the theoretical contributions of scholars working in this field. The study explores the mechanisms, gendered narratives and public-facing dynamics of disinformation in digital political contexts, as well as its broader democratic implications for political participation, representation and public debate.

The systematic thematic analysis results in four themes: The structural production and circulation of digital gender disinformation; gender disinformation narratives as instruments of political delegitimization; navigating gender disinformation in political practice; and the democratic consequences and limits of institutional responses. These themes are further developed in the theoretical discussion, which concludes with a conceptual model. The findings indicate that digital gender disinformation functions as a strategy aligned with broader structural mechanisms, enabling misleading content and false gender narratives to circulate online, cause harm, and contribute to democratic erosion. The results also underscore the need to prioritize and address gender disinformation both as a threat to democratic integrity and as a barrier to gender equality.

Background: Public sector management control is characterized by formal requirements for objectives, follow-up and results, while work must also be carried out in accordance with norms concerning legal certainty, quality and service. Previous research emphasizes that management control should be understood as a package of interacting forms of control, but the relationship between cultural and cybernetic control remains less developed.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of the relational dynamics between cultural and cybernetic control within public sector management control by examining how these forms of control relate to each other in case handling processes within a government agency.

Method: The study is a qualitative single-case study of the Swedish Tax Agency. The method describes how the empirical material was collected through semistructured interviews, recurring observations and a document study, and how these were used together to examine the relationship between the forms of control in practice.

Conclusion: The study shows that cultural and cybernetic control are closely intertwined in everyday case handling work. Cybernetic control signals, such as objectives, follow-up and feedback, become practically meaningful through cultural norms concerning quality, responsibility and legal certainty. At the same time, cultural control is reinforced through meetings, documentation and local work practices. The relational dynamics are expressed through complementarity, substitution,imbalance and invisibility, where the forms of control may reinforce each other, compensate for each other’s limitations, create friction in daily work or operate without ever becoming visible to those who carry out the work.

Predictive maintenance is an important application area for data-driven systems, especially when unexpected machine failures can cause downtime, repair costs, and safety-related risks. A central task in this area is Remaining Useful Life (RUL) prediction, which estimates how long a system is expected to operate before failure. This task is challenging because degradation is usually observed through multivariate sensor signals, and complete run-to-failure data may be limited in practical settings.

This thesis studies RUL prediction for turbofan engines using the NASA C-MAPSS degradation dataset. The aim is to compare selected feature-engineered machine learning models with sequence-based deep learning models under a controlled experimental setup. Random Forest, XGBoost, and Support Vector Regression are evaluated using statistical features created from sensor windows. LSTM, GRU, and 1D-CNN are evaluated using ordered sensor sequences. The study also investigates how prediction performance changes when the available training data is reduced.

The results show that recurrent deep learning models provide the strongest overall performance in the tested setup. In the direct 30-cycle comparison, GRU achieved the lowest MAE, while LSTM achieved the highest R². In the deep learning window-size experiment, LSTM with a 50-cycle window achieved the lowest MAE. The reduced data results show that LSTM remained the strongest model across all tested training data sizes, although performance varied between different selected engine subsets.

The thesis contributes a controlled empirical comparison of RUL prediction approaches and shows how model type, sequence length, and training data availability influence prediction performance.

Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks are increasingly important for tactical and disaster-relief operations, but remain highly vulnerable to Electronic Warfare attacks on the shared electromagnetic spectrum. The proprietary protocols that defend against this (Beechat’s HopSync being the contemporary example) require specialised FPGA radios and are not available for independent study, leaving open the question of whether the same architectural pattern is implementable on commodity hardware at all.

This thesis presents and empirically evaluates an Adaptive Frequency Hopping protocol that combines three mechanisms: an HMAC-SHA256 Time-based One-Time Password for stateless channel rendezvous between nodes, kernel-evidence-driven blacklist learning to suppress repeat visits to compromised channels, and a dual-radio “ping-pong” handover that masks the radio re-tune cost. The implementation runs on two Raspberry Pi 5s with off-the-shelf AR9271 USB Wi-Fi adapters; jamming is simulated via the Linux tc/netem traffic-control facility.

Across a 30-run campaign (six experimental configurations × five simulated time windows, ~720,000 packets per direction), the full design delivers 92.17 ±0.32 % packet delivery ratio under continuous-wave jamming against 54.90 ±0.13 % for the worst-case static baseline while maintaining consistent improvement over all baselines. The +37.27 percentage-point improvement decomposes additively into a +22.84 pp contribution from time-based hopping and a further +14.43 pp from the adaptive blacklist, with the dual-radio architecture contributing to a ~1 s reduction in 95th-percentile latency. Per-event recovery medians sit at one bucket (2 s) on both algorithmic and end-to-end axes, approximately two orders of magnitude faster than the static baseline. The reference implementation and analysis pipeline are released as the principal open-source artefact of the project.

This study examines how public librarians role health- promoting actors take shape through the reading promoting activity known as Silent book club. Based on qualitative,semi-structured interviews with public librarians and field observations, the study analyses how the activity is constructed, justifield and understood in relation to bothreading promotion and health promotion work. The results show that the silent book club is characterized by low thresholds for participation, with a non-demanding and flexible format in which participants themselves choose the litterature and the degree of social interaction. By applying social capital as a theoretical lense, the study suggests that thelibrary can function as an inclusive meeting place that can foster social community, reduce loneliness and offer respite in a performance-oriented society. Reading emerges both as an individual activity with potential well-being effects and as part of social contexts where meaning is created through human interaction. At the same time, it emerges that librarians often do not explicitly define their work as health-promoting, even though the activities may in practice have such effects.

Public sector organizations struggle to address today’s complex challenges through traditional institutional structures. Innovation labs have emerged as an organizational response, yet their potential depends on the organization cultural and the quality of the infrastructure connecting the stakeholders and processes. This thesis is situated at the intersection of systemic design, service ecosystem design, and public sector innovation, and examines how design practice can strengthen the process infrastructure of a newly established e-health innovation lab. 

The Innovation Environment (IE) is a collaborative innovation lab between Region Kalmar Län and Linnaeus University, set up to develop need-driven digital health solutions at the intersection of public healthcare, academia, and private technology partners. Despite its clear mission and committed actors, the IE lacks the shared structures that allow clinical needs to travel reliably from the healthcare floor to technical development. This thesis asks: what structural gaps exist in the IE's current process, and how can systemic design strengthen its infrastructure to support need-driven collaboration between clinical and technical actors? 

Research through Design guided the methodology for this project. Data was gathered through twelve semi-structured interviews, three field visits, desk research, visual system mapping, and benchmarking of comparable frameworks. Three facilitated workshops translated findings into a validated design direction. 

The result is the Kalmar Innovation Oak, a conceptual ecosystem framework that maps the IE's innovation process onto the architecture of a living oak tree. The framework provides a shared language across the IE's fragmented actor groups, formalizes existing regional practices and introduces three operational canvases to guide actors through need-finding, operationalization, and co-creation. The first and foundational Canvas was co-created and validated with IE actors in the final workshop. 

The study concludes that addressing the structural conditions and processes of innovation is a form of innovation in and of itself, as it impacts how actors view the system, understand their roles, and relate to one another, with long-term implications for the quality of health services in the Kalmar region.