Oxycodone has been one of the most common opioids found in drug-induced poisoning deaths in Swedensince 2020. A better understanding of oxycodone’s metabolism could allow us to develop new tools thatcould prevent oxycodone related deaths. One way to improve understanding of oxycodone metabolism isto develop a mathematical model of its pharmacokinetics. A pharmacokinetic model describes the concentrations of oxycodone and its metabolites in a person’s blood or urine over time. The concentration ofoxycodone and its metabolites can provide information if, for example, a person acquires dangerous concentrations of oxycodone in their body. What is troubling is that current pharmacokinetic models of oxycodone metabolism have shortcomings in describing all relevant metabolites, accounting for the CYP2D6phenotype, and incorporating individual anthropometric measurements. To address these problems, a mathematical model of oxycodone metabolism was developed by using iterative model-based hypothesis testing. The developed model could describe the three main metabolic pathways: O-demethylation,N-demethylation, and 6-keto-reduction, over 24 hours for oxycodone and its metabolites in the blood.The model could do this with respect to anthropometric measurements and the CYP2D6 phenotype.During model development and implementation of CYP2D6 phenotype consideration, model evaluationrevealed that CYP2D6 metabolisers exhibited overall poorer oxycodone metabolism not only in the Odemethylation pathway but also in the reduction and N-demethylation pathways. This behaviour wascontrary to what the literature suggested about how the poor metabolisers should behave.Continuing, when attempting to describe both blood and urine dynamics simultaneously, the modelfailed to explain the urinary dynamics. However, because the model accurately described oxycodonedynamics in the blood, it could potentially be used by forensics in the future to predict the time ofintake, dose size, and route of administration from a single sample collected from living patients. Beingable to determine the time of intake, dose size, and route of administration could be useful in futureforensic cases where such information is scarce. The model could also be used in the future to createpatient-specific dosing plans to prevent accidental overdosing cases.

Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) is a Layer-2 VPN technology used to connect geographically separated sites as if they were on the same local network. With the introduction of security mechanisms like Host Identity Protocol (HIP), it becomes possible to securely connect distributed networks with identity-based communication, which gives a robust way of connecting and protecting business networks.

This thesis evaluates how HIP-based secure VPLS scales and how the performance compares to plain IP-based communication. The study is performed with the help of Airwall for the HIP-based communication, which is a technology that enables users to create secure overlay networks with similar characteristics to VPLS. By using the SLICES-RI research platform, multiple virtual machines were spawned across geographically dispersed sites, and by generating both tunneled HIP-traffic and normal IP traffic, a performance comparison could be performed. Scenarios with different geographical setups and number of sites were tested and metrics such as throughput, latency, and jitter were collected and analyzed.

The results indicate a noticeable performance overhead of using HIP-based VPLS in both throughput and latency. In the test scenarios, HIP-based traffic adds on average 1-5 ms in latency compared to IP and is limited to a maximum of 200 Mbps. The reason for this behavior is theorized to be the cryptographic and control-plane overhead introduced by HIP and VPLS, which is supported by theory. The results provide insights into HIP-based VPLS performance and the potential trade-offs when used in business networks.

Steatotic liver disease (SLD), which includes metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), metabolic dysfunction and alcohol-associated liver disease (MetALD), and alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD), affects up to 40% of the global population. Advanced fibrosis in SLD is more common in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and is associated with a poorer prognosis. SLD is associated with other ectopic fat depositions and cardiac remodelling. Although MASLD is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide, evidence from Swedish primary care remains limited. 

The relationship between MASLD and microvascular complications of T2D remains uncertain. Activin A has been linked to fibrogenesis, but its value as a biomarker for advanced fibrosis is unclear. Although interest in SLD screening among patients with T2D is increasing, its optimal design and cost-effectiveness remain unresolved. 

This thesis examines the prevalence, clinical correlates, and management of MASLD, with or without advanced fibrosis, among patients with T2D in primary care. It also evaluates activin A as a biomarker for advanced fibrosis and assesses the cost-effectiveness of a screening and management algorithm for SLD. 

Paper I was a retrospective primary care cohort study of patients with T2D, using medical record review and non-invasive algorithms to assess steatosis and advanced fibrosis risk. Papers II and IV analysed baseline data from a prospective primary care cohort in which patients with T2D underwent magnetic resonance imaging/spectroscopy and transient elastography to assess MASLD, with or without advanced fibrosis; Paper II also included medical record review of microvascular complications. Paper III used follow-up data from a cohort of participants with biopsy-proven MASLD to assess activin A levels and PNPLA3 I148M genotype. Paper V used a lifetime microsimulation model to evaluate the costs and health outcomes of a SLD screening and management algorithm in primary care for patients with T2D. 

In Paper I, 350 participants were included. Most had increased steatosis risk, 29–65% had increased risk of advanced fibrosis, and few had known steatosis. In Paper II, which included 308 participants with T2D, MASLD was not associated with a higher overall prevalence of microvascular complications. In Paper III, 41 participants were included; higher activin A levels were associated with advanced fibrosis and the PNPLA3 I148M G/G genotype. In Paper IV, 59% of 308 participants had MASLD and 7% had suspected advanced fibrosis. MASLD was associated with obesity, ectopic fat deposition and distinct left ventricular characteristics. In Paper V, the ICER for screening and management compared with standard of care was EUR 128,072/QALY overall, ranging from EUR 5,168/QALY for ALD to EUR 157,489/QALY for MASLD. 

In conclusion, MASLD is common among patients with T2D in Swedish primary care, although advanced disease appears uncommon and awareness of MASLD has historically been low. MASLD was not associated with an overall increase in microvascular complications, whereas obesity was associated with both MASLD and advanced fibrosis. Activin A showed potential as a biomarker for advanced fibrosis. The SLD screening and management algorithm were unlikely to be cost-effective overall, despite substantial variation between SLD subtypes. 

Background Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common yet poorly understood disorder of gut-brain interaction. The gut microbiome along with neurological, genetic, and immunological factors are suspected to be involved in the aetiology of IBS. An elevated number of mast cells and eosinophils occupying the colonic mucosa has been observed, but their respective roles remain undefined.

Purpose The aim of this study is to examine if colonic mast cell and eosinophil densities correlate with symptoms of IBS.

Method Twenty-one women with severe IBS, aged 18–51 years, underwent a year-long, multimodal treatment including interventions by physiotherapists, physicians, psychologists, and dieticians. Colonic biopsies and the IBS Symptom Severity Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, IBS Quality of Life Instrument, Visceral Sensitivity Index, and Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale for IBS questionnaires were collected before and after treatment. The biopsies were analysed for mucosal mast cell and eosinophil densities by means of immunofluorescence microscopy utilising antibodies targeting mast cell tryptase and eosinophil cationic protein.

Results Eosinophil density (p = 0.013), but not mast cell density (p = 0.126), had increased after treatment, and all included questionnaires had lower mean scores post-treatment (p = 0.025). Negative correlations were found at baseline between eosinophils and the Visceral Sensitivity Index (p = 0.018), and at follow-up between mast cells and eosinophils (p = 0.012), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (p = 0.008), and Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale for IBS (p = 0.019). Changes in mast cell density, but not eosinophil density, was found to strongly inversely correlate with the IBS Symptom Severity Scale (p = 0.003), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (p = 0.005), IBS Quality of Life Instrument (p = 0.009), Visceral Sensitivity Index (p = 0.025), and Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale for IBS (p = 0.031).

Conclusion The results indicate that, for patients with severe IBS, an increase in colonic mast cell density translates into a relieved burden of IBS. Furthermore, while eosinophil count did not correlate with symptoms, their increased density after treatment indicates that eosinophils facilitate tissue-repair in IBS.

Detta kandidatarbete undersöker de estetiska uttrycksmöjligheter som värmebehandling av faner ger upphov till, samt hur en replikerbar och kontrollerbar tonpalett kan tas fram för bruk i möbelgestaltning. Bakgrunden är intarsiatraditionens teknik att med hjälp av varm sand mörka ned bitar av faner, här utvidgad till en systematisk metod för att skapa en sammanhållen nyanspalett ur ett enda träslag. Fyra träslag undersöktes, björk, ask, bok och päronträ. Provbitar värmdes i en konsumentugn vid temperaturer mellan 180° och 240° C i steg om tio grader, under 30 minuter per steg. Färgförändringen dokumenterades fotografiskt under kontrollerade ljusförhållanden och analyserades i HSB-skala med hjälp av Photoshops färgmedelvärdesfunktion (Average filter), med ljushet (Brightness) som primärt mätvärde. Resultaten visar att samtliga träslag mörknar med ökad temperatur, men med en icke-linjär kurva. Ask uppvisade det mest oregelbundna förloppet medan björk och päron gav de jämnare övergångarna. Björk valdes för den slutliga intarsian på grund av sitt breda tonomfång och sin ströporiga, jämna fiberstruktur. Intarsian skars med laser med hjälp av karbontekniken och demonstrerar palettens uttrycksmöjligheter i ett bildmotiv med åtta nyanssteg. Studien visar att det är fullt möjligt att med enkel utrustning ta fram en replikerbar tonpalett i värmebehandlat faner, och att metoden erbjuder estetiska kvaliteter som bets och ytfärg inte kan ersätta vid bearbetning och slipning efter montering.

Magnetic navigation is a promising alternative for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), as they cannot rely on Global Navigation Satellite Systems underwater and commonly use Doppler Velocity Logs for navigation, whose acoustic emissions may be detectable during covert operations. One of the main challenges of magnetic navigation is the corruption of magnetic measurements by disturbances originating from the platform.

This thesis investigates whether map-less magnetic compensation using a magnetometer array is feasible for an AUV operating in regions with large magnetic anomalies, and whether reliable speed estimation can be achieved from the compensated magnetic measurements. The study evaluates the traditional aeromagnetic Tolles-Lawson (TL) compensation model and an extended model incorporating measurements from onboard electronics (OBE). A linear magnetic speed-estimation method was also investigated. The methods were evaluated using data collected as part of the Vinnova ENOK project during sea trials outside Askö in the summer of 2025. The dataset includes measurements from a three-sensor magnetometer array mounted on the AUV.

The results show that a significant portion of the platform-induced magnetic disturbances can be compensated and that the inclusion of OBE measurements further improves the compensation performance.  However, compensation remains challenging during certain diving maneuvers, likely due to changes in the platform's magnetic signature caused by thruster activation. No reliable speed estimates could be achieved using the compensated magnetometer measurements and the investigated linear speed-estimation method.

ervical cancer is in most cases caused by an HPV infection, where cell changes risk developing into a cancerous tumour. Screening for cell changes aims to detect early signs of cancer in order to reduce the risk of the progressing of the disease. In Sweden, women aged 23 to 64 receive free screening, either through a home test or via a gynecological examination. Despite this, almost one in five women do not participate. The purpose of this study is to examine how graphic campaign material can be designed to increase the willingness to undergo cervical screening. The target group consists of women/people with a uterus aged 23–40 living in Sweden. This includes both those who have recently been invited to their first screening and those in age groups where the risk of cervical cancer is highest. The study began with a preliminary pilot survey sent to the target group, in which participants answered general questions about their experiences and visual associations related to cervical screening, as well as the structure of the questionnaire. The work continued in three parts: a visual analysis of existing campaigns, a main survey directed at the target group based on insights from the preliminary study, and a design process where these insights were translated into a visual concept. The design work generated three visual concepts, and the final concept was selected through a form sent to participants who had agreed to take part in the next step. The majority chose the concept “Skip the chair, the top (swab) choice for you”, which highlights home testing as a simple and reassuring alternative. The campaign material was designed using soft colours, rounded shapes, and an illustrated home environment to reduce barriers and negative associations. The design emphasises simplicity through minimal information and clear instructions. The visual approach is based on the theoretical framework, where nudging and the Health Belief Model were combined with defined effect goals to reduce perceived barriers, reinforce benefits, and act as a visual cue to action. The study shows that graphic design can be a tool for influencing motivation to implement cervical screening by reducing anxiety, increasing feelings of safety, and visualising the home test option. For future research, it is recommended that the campaign material be tested in practice to evaluate its actual behavioural impact.

This thesis examines how practising interaction designers experience working with large language models in their design work. Six qualitative semi-structured interviews with senior and mid-career designers were analysed using codebook thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2021), with a theoretical frame drawn from Schön's reflective practice, Polanyi's tacit knowledge, Hutchins's distributed cognition, and Dingemanse et al.'s figure-ground reframing of the cognitive sciences. Three themes were developed in the analysis: judgement and tacit knowledge; agency and control; artefacts, documentation and role identity. Across all three themes the central finding is one of spread rather than convergence. The designers articulate six distinct positions on control, six distinct positions on professional identity, and several different framings of the human–AI relation. The variation indicates that AI use does not determine designer experience; what is experienced depends on how the designer configures the work, allocates attention across human and AI activity, and maintains the practices through which professional expertise is built. The study contributes a relational reading of AI in design practice; AI as a relational medium-partner — that names a relation the existing vocabulary of tool and colleague does not adequately capture. A more precise terminological framing is identified as a direction for further work. Implications are discussed for design education, for the reproduction of tacit professional knowledge, and for further empirical work on AI-mediated practice.

Detta examensarbete är en systematisk litteraturstudie med syfte att sammanställa forskningsresultat som har undersökt elevers uppfattning av teknik samt faktorer som påverkar intresse och motivation för ämnet utifrån ett genusperspektiv. På grund av den begränsade mängd forskning som finns om teknikundervisningen i yngre åldrar, har vi inkluderat studier som undersöker dessa aspekter i målgruppen 6 till14 år. Metoden som används för att analysera och sammanställa artiklarnas resultat är tematisk analys och PICO-metoden. Resultatet visar att elevers uppfattning har en relation till motivation och intresse som i sin tur påverkas av personliga faktorer såsom självförtroende, lärarens sätt att undervisa och skolböcker som inte är könsneutrala. Enligt forskning begränsas många elevers uppfattningar om vad teknik är till att vara elektriska artefakter och någonting som inte har funnits tidigare i historien. Det framgår även av resultatet att flickor har en tendens att uppfatta teknik som maskulint.

After a long period of low interest rates, Swedish households have faced a rapid increase in interest rates, making it relevant to examine how monetary policy changes affect households' economic assessments. This thesis aims to examine how Swedish consumer confidence is affected by expansionary and contractionary interest rate shocks, and whether the response differs between younger and older households. The study also analyses how media coverage of economic policy uncertainty affects sentiment, as well as whether interest rate shocks are reflected in households' actual consumption. The analysis is based on monthly data for the period 2004–2025 and is estimated using local projections (LP), where one-month SEK overnight index swap (STINA) is used as an instrument to identify unexpected monetary policy shocks. The results show that contractionary interest rate shocks initially affect consumer confidence more strongly than expansionary shocks. This may indicate a short-term asymmetry in households' responses, which can be related to assumption of loss aversion in prospect theory. At the same time, only limited differences are found between younger and older households, although younger households display a somewhat more volatile response over time. 

The study also finds that media coverage, measured by the economic policy uncertainty index (EPU), has relatively limited effects on consumer confidence compared with the interest rate shocks. This suggests that households' economic assessments are influenced more by actual monetary policy changes than by reporting on economic and political uncertainty. The results for consumption further show that responses vary across consumption categories. Motor vehicle and restaurant sales display clearer response patterns than more necessary consumption, such as food. This indicates that the effects of interest rate shocks differ across consumption categories and are more pronounced for more interest-sensitive consumption. 

The study contributes to the literature on the transmission of monetary policy by analysing asymmetric effects on consumer confidence. By also considering age differences, media coverage and actual consumption, the study provides a broader understanding of how monetary policy affects Swedish households' economic assessments and behaviour.

Graphene-coated textiles are attracting increasing interest due to their electrical conductivity, flexibility, and durability, making them promising materials for wearable electronics, energy storage, and smart fabrics. However, the influence of graphene loading on the overall performance of textile substrates remains insufficiently explored. In this study, flax textiles were coated with controlled amounts of graphene using a sustainable process and systematically characterized. Raman spectroscopy and FE-SEM analyses confirmed uniform graphene deposition, while TGA enabled quantification of the graphene loading. FTIR results indicated that the chemical structure of the flax fibers remained preserved after coating. The graphene layer modified the surface properties, transforming the textile from hydrophilic to hydrophobic and slowing its natural biodegradation. Electrical conductivity increased with graphene content, with a sharp transition occurring above 2 wt%, where the fabric became conductive. At approximately 3 wt% graphene, the textile exhibited excellent electrothermal heating performance, reaching 180 °C under an applied voltage of 20 V. Photothermal experiments showed that the temperature increased to about 70 °C after 5 minutes of solar exposure. This temperature rise was sufficient to induce a bactericidal effect under sunlight, effectively inhibiting bacterial growth. These results demonstrate that controlled graphene deposition can effectively tailor the multifunctional properties of flax textiles, combining flexibility, environmental sustainability, and efficient thermal management. Such materials show strong potential for applications in solar-heated garments, self-disinfecting fabrics, and solar-driven water purification.

Let K be a field containing Q, let Γ be the ring of all functions N⁺ → K under Dirichlet convolution, and let Γ_n be its truncation to functions supported on [1, n]. In [9] it was shown that Γ_n is a polynomial ring modulo a monomial ideal In which is stable after reversing the order of the variables, and the Poincaré–Betti series of Γ_n was computed in terms of the numbers C_n,v of minimal generators of I_n of least support v.

We prove that C_n,v = Φ(n, p_v), Legendre’s sifting function: the number of integers in [1, n] free of prime factors ≤ p_v. This identifies an invariant of a minimal free resolution with a classical object of sieve theory. As consequences we obtain: a proof of Conjecture 4.6 of [9], which was left open there; the average order C_n ∼ π(n)²/2 of the total number of minimal generators, showing that the lower bound C_n ≥ of [9] is asymptotically sharp, together with the exact order C_n − ∼ (16/3) n^3/2 / log³n of the error; and the identification of C_n with the OEIS sequence A182843. We also record errata for [9]: one stated result is false, and two proofs are incomplete. Corrected statements and complete proofs are given.

Academic integrity depends on the accuracy of scholarly references. When referencesare fabricated, the credibility of a paper cannot be established, and the chain of knowledgethat connects new work to existing research breaks down. This creates a growing crisis oftrust, particularly as it becomes harder to distinguish carefully researched bibliographiesfrom those that were generated automatically.Students are increasingly using AI writing tools to assist with editing, cleaning updrafts, and finishing background sections. During this process, it can easily happen thatthe AI hallucinates inventing references that look real but point to publications that do notexist. In other cases, students rely on AI entirely for background research. Given the largenumber of references such tools can generate in a short time, it becomes practically impossible for supervisors and reviewers to verify them manually. Each reference must includethe author names, title, year, publication venue, and Digital Object Identifier (DOI), and allof these details must be correct. A single fabricated or corrupted entry can pass unnoticedthrough standard checks yet undermine the reliability of the entire work.We present BIBVERIFY, a fully automated agentic system that addresses this challenge.BIBVERIFY reads reference files in BibTeX format, verifies each entry against authoritativedatabases through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), and classifies them as valid, partiallyvalid, or invalid. It primarily uses the DBLP Computer Science Bibliography, with GoogleScholar as a fallback for references not covered by DBLP. For partially valid entries, it applies conservative, evidence-based corrections without any human involvement. Unlike aplain MCP agent that simply retrieves database records, BIBVERIFY combines structuredretrieval with LLM-based reasoning to detect subtle field-level errors such as misspelledauthor names, wrong years, or invalid DOIs that a lookup alone would miss.To assess the effectiveness of this approach, performance is evaluated across classification accuracy, issue detection, correction success rate, field-level accuracy for attributessuch as author names, titles, and DOIs, and overall runtime. Three prompting strategies zero-shot, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and chain-of-thought, are comparedacross different language models.

This thesis investigates the practical challenges and benefits of introducing Nix as an environment layer in a large, Bazel-based industrial C++ codebase. Using an Ericsson migration as the primary case study, supplemented by smaller controlled open-source experiments, the work evaluates migration cost, reproducibility gains, and interoperabilityfailures that arise when declarative environment management meets legacy build infrastructure. Empirical results show that Nix improves reproducibility and dependency transparency in controlled settings, but that hybrid industrial environments reveal recurrent boundary problems: Bazel sandbox visibility, interactions with rules_foreign_cc and Autotools, ABI mismatches with host libraries, and wrapper scripts that reset the environment. The thesis presents a taxonomy of migration barriers, a reproducibility baseline from controlled experiments, and practical guidance for mitigation. The findings highlight that migration difficulty is driven less by repository size and more by architectural boundary entanglement, and they provide actionable recommendations for teams aiming to adopt Nix in large, long-lived software projects.

Drawing on interviews with ten preschool principals who recruit, mentor, and evaluatepreschool teachers, this study examines how playfulness is conceptualized as a professionalcompetence within early childhood education and care (ECEC) practice. In SwedishECEC, play and teaching are conceptualized as intertwined processes, and co-play ispositioned as a central pedagogical approach that requires both personal dispositions andongoing professional development. The study highlights the importance of integratingplayfulness into ECEC teacher education in order to strengthen future teachers’ capacityto co-play with children and engage in play-based teaching practices on children’s terms.The findings also suggest that professional playfulness emerges as a multifaceted andcontext-dependent competence, shaped by institutional conditions as well as individualorientations towards play and teaching. By foregrounding leadership perspectives, thestudy contributes to ongoing discussions on the role of play in ECEC and emphasizes theneed for deliberate efforts to support the development of professional playfulness in bothpractice and teacher education.

The dog has been domesticated in close contact with humans and shaped by artificial selection to meet human needs. Today the dog is often left at home alone, which has contributed to separation-related problems in many dogs. One of many ways to decrease a dogs’ stress-related behavior during separation is sound enrichment. This study investigated if nature sounds during separation could lead to a calmer dog. A total of 20 dogs were examined in the hallway of their own home, where they were left alone once in silence and once while nature sounds were playing. The owners completed Canine Behavioral Assessment & Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), a validated form about their dogs behaviors. The behavioral results showed no significant changes in behavior between sound enrichment and silence treatment, even if a visual inspection indicated improvements with nature sounds. However, we did find a significant correlation between stress-related behaviors and the dog's age, where a higher age led to less stress-related behaviors. In addition, dogs with higher C-BARQ scores for attachment and attention-seeking towards their owners showed a significant decrease in stress-related behaviours following exposure to sound enrichment. Thus, these findings suggest that nature sound enrichment may be a promising way of decreasing separation-related behaviors in dogs that do not suffer from separation anxiety or severe separation problems, especially for dogs with a higher degree of attachment and attention-seeking. Sound enrichment can be a great addition to decrease discomfort with separation and increase a general calmness, but should not be seen as a cure to separation-related problems.

Lanthanide ions exhibit characteristic emission originating from intra-4⁢𝑓 transitions. Among them, hypersensitive transitions (HSTs) are distinguished by their pronounced spectral tunability. Conventional HST emitters typically rely on dilute doping and host-to-4⁢𝑓 charge transfer, which are often limited by defect-induced quenching and transfer losses. Here, we observe a highly efficient HST channel independent of a host-to-4⁢𝑓 transfer in undoped, intrinsically luminescent europium-based double perovskites, and we identify the mechanisms that govern both the enhancement and loss of HST efficiency. In this system, a thermally activated doubly degenerate phonon mode of the Eu−Cl6 octahedra relaxes the parity selection rule, thereby strengthening the HST emission. The HST oscillator strength is enhanced by a factor of 2–3 relative to that of the magnetic-dipole transition. Direct excitation into the 5𝐿𝐽 level bypasses reverse energy transfer and yields a maximum quantum efficiency of nearly 70%. These findings provide insights into the design of efficient and spectrally tunable emission in lanthanide systems.

The purpose of this study was to examine how teachers describe the mathematical knowledge from primary school that is important for students' success in secondary school mathematics. The study was conducted using a qualitative method and is based on semi-structured interviews with six mathematics teachers from primary and secondary school. The results show that conceptual understanding, number sense, and an understanding of algebraic relationships are particularly important for students’ continued learning in mathematics. The teachers also described that students may encounter difficulties when mathematics becomes more abstract and when gaps in fundamental mathematical knowledge carry over into secondary school. The study also shows that collaboration between teachers, early identification of learning difficulties, and a clear progression in teaching are important factors in providing students with a strong foundation in mathematics and facilitating the transition from primary to secondary school.

Manual order picking in conveyor-based warehouses is sensitive to flow imbalances: small changes in release sequencing or local congestion can trigger extra handling, increased worker movements, and longer throughput times. This thesis developed a discrete-event simulation model to analyze such a system and to compare alternative control and staffing strategies without disrupting daily operations. The model was implemented in Simio and primarily driven by historical operational data extracted from a warehouse management system, complemented by site observations and interviews. Verification and validation were conducted through logical checks, reasonableness assessments, sensitivity testing, and reviews with domain experts. The validation focus was on supporting reliable comparative scenario analysis rather than predicting an exact time for the staff to finish all the orders that day. Three experiment areas were evaluated: (1) a balanced order-release approach using a Round Robin sequencing principle, (2) staffing logic and flexibility, including how frequently workers may be reassigned between stations and zones and a comparison between model-estimated and observed staffing, and (3) a structural constraint limiting the maximum number of station visits per box. Results indicated that Round Robin sequencing produced small throughput-time differences overall, with occasional reductions in movement- and handling-related measures. Increased staffing flexibility did not consistently improve performance and in several cases coincided with more movement and handling effort. Limiting the number of station visits per box produced the clearest performance changes in the model, generally reducing throughput time and handling-related workload under stricter limits.

Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen och kunskapen om hur personalen på svenska fritidshem säger sig arbeta med utvärdering, bedömning, kvalitetssäkring och systematiskt kvalitetsarbete av fritidshemmet. Syftet med studien är också att undersöka om fritidshemmen säger sig använda någon specifik metod i arbetet runt bedömning och utvärdering av verksamheten. För att undersöka detta och svara på frågeställningarna har det inledningsvis genomförts kvalitativa enkäter med frisvars frågor samt kompletterande kvalitativa uppföljningsintervjuer med fyra av personerna som svarade på enkäten. Datainsamlingen har analyserats utifrån teorin sociokulturella perspektivet och med fokus på sociokulturella begrepp som är relevant för studien. 

Resultatet av studien visar att fritidshemmen i stor utsträckning använder sig av lokala egenutvecklade metoder för bedömningen och utvärderingen av verksamheten. Arbetet kopplat till utvärderingarna sker både i formella sammanhang likt planeringar och fritidsråd men utvärderingarna sker också informellt i den dagliga verksamheten genom aktiva iakttagelser och via samtal med eleverna. Resultatet indikerar att elevinflytandet är en central del av kvalitetsarbetet men resultatet pekar även på att detta genomförs på olika sätt och med det kan utmaningar uppstå i delaktigheten och tryggheten hos eleverna. Resultatet visar också att det finns brister i uppföljningen och återkopplingen av utvärderingarna och dessutom upplevs förutsättningarna som begränsade i tid, planering och reflektion. Detta kan påverka i huruvida resultaten faktiskt används i det systematiska kvalitetsarbetet. I studiens resultat anser de anställda i fritidshemmen att hög kvalitet i fritidshemmet handlar om trygghet, att eleverna ska må bra och att eleverna erbjuds en meningsfull fritid. Faktorer för att uppnå hög kvalitet och bedriva ett kvalitetsarbete enligt de som arbetar i fritidshemmen är struktur, tydliga mål samt organisatoriska förutsättningar. Avslutningsvis visar studien att det systematiska kvalitetsarbetet i fritidshemmen är en komplex fråga och en kontextberoendeprocess som kräver de anställdas professionella omdöme och elevinflytandes funktion. De anställda i fritidshem indikerar på att utvecklade strukturer och förbättrade förutsättningar skulle stärka arbetet med kvalitetssäkringen och arbetet runt det systematiska kvalitetsarbetet.

Studien syftar till att undersöka hur det informeras och undervisas om socialtjänsten och dess arbete i högstadieskolor. Detta för att belysa och få en ökad förståelse för hur skolan kan bidra till elevers kunskap och uppfattning om socialtjänsten. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats med en kombinerad studiedesign utifrån analys av elva läroböcker och intervjuer med fyra lärare inom samhällskunskap i årskurs 7–9. Det empiriska materialet har analyserats utifrån tematisk innehållsanalys och vidare diskuterats utifrån socialkonstruktionism och stigmatisering. Resultatet visar att det förekommer viss undervisning om socialtjänsten i skolan, men för det mesta på en generell och vag nivå eller inom specifika områden som tolkas vara värdeladdade för eleverna. En intressant upptäckt vid analys av allt sammantaget empiriskt material var att undervisningen berör socialtjänsten som en del av den offentliga sektorn och välfärdssystemet i låg bemärkelse, men i större utsträckning i relation till brott. Utmärkande med läroböckerna är att socialtjänsten osynliggörs i relation till välfärden, samt framställs i många avseenden som kontrollerande och bestraffande av individer i kontakt med den. Med intervjuerna belystes att undervisningen om socialtjänsten förhåller sig till hur omtalad myndigheten är på skolan och hur öppna elever är att prata om det. Undervisningen påtalas vara elevstyrd och präglad av deras uppfattningar och fördomar om socialtjänsten, där den uttrycks användas som ett skällsord. Sammantaget synliggörs genom det empiriska materialet att en vinklad och stigmatiserad bild av socialtjänsten förmedlas till elever. Studien lyfter därmed vikten av att informera om myndigheten för att avdramatisera och presentera en motbild, med skolan som en viktig funktion för detta. Skolan uppmärksammas vara en viktig arena för ett förebyggande socialt arbete, där socialtjänsten kan göras mer synlig för barn och därigenom öka deras tillit till myndigheten. 

Kv7 channels are a set of five evolutionarily closely related voltage-gated potassium channels (Kv7.1-Kv7.5) that underpin diverse physiological functions, such as cardiac rhythm (Kv7.1/KCNE1), hearing (Kv7.4) and neuronal excitability (Kv7.2-5). Finding strategies to selectively target these channels provides novel opportunities for drug development. The antiseizure drug cannabidiol (CBD) has been shown to inhibit Kv7.1/KCNE1 but activate Kv7.2/Kv7.3. To investigate how CBD and potentially other phytocannabinoids elicit these effects on the channel and ligand level, electrophysiological and computational methods were employed. For the pharmacological description of phytocannabinoids, the automated planar patch clamp (APC) technique with Kv7-CHO-cell lines, and the two-electrode voltage clamp technique with Xenopus laevis oocytes transiently expressing Kv7 channels, were used. Coarse-grained simulations or Chai-1, an AI-method, predicted possible binding sites; experimental mutagenesis of Kv7 channels in oocytes was used to test these predictions. To determine which moieties were critical for phytocannabinoid effects, APC data was related to phytocannabinoid chemical structures alongside testing of semi-synthetic cannabinoids in oocytes. Our findings showed that CBD’s action on Kv7 channels can be broadly divided into three categories: augmentation (Kv7.4, Kv7.5, Kv7.4/Kv7.5, Kv7.3/Kv7.5), potentiation (Kv7.2, Kv7.3, Kv7.2/Kv7.3) and inhibition (Kv7.1, Kv7.1/KCNE1). Actions of other phytocannabinoids could also be subdivided along these categories, with exceptions. For the inhibited channels, we posited separate CBD binding sites in Kv7.1 and Kv7.1/KCNE1. For the potentiated Kv7.2 and augmented Kv7.4 channels, we proposed a similar binding site which overlapped with that of another antiseizure drug. This site was later confirmed independently for Kv7.2 along with an adjacent site. Our data suggests that this adjacent site might also exist in Kv7.4. On the ligand level, chirality and alkyl-chain length informed how CBD acted on Kv7.2/Kv7.3 and Kv7.4 channels but not Kv7.1/KCNE1. Modifications to the CBD structure as semi-synthetic cannabinoids revealed that CBD is likely already optimal for Kv7.4 activation. In conclusion, this work provides novel insights into how the antiseizure drug CBD and other phytocannabinoids modulate Kv7 channels, and how these insights might be used for the development of Kv7 subtype-selective drugs. It also provides new insights into the putative mechanisms of action underlying both the therapeutic effects and side effects of clinically used phytocannabinoids. 

Modern software development relies on automated testing through CI/CD pipelines that generate large volumes of test data daily. This data is often spread across multiple independent sources, each capturing a different aspect of the testing process, such as raw execution records, failure classifications, commit history, and rerun outcomes. These data sources share no enforced schema and must be connected through shared identifiers, making it difficult to extract insights without manually correlating records across sources, a process that is time consuming and requires deep knowledge of how the sources relate to each other.

Large language models have shown strong capabilities in understanding natural language and reasoning about complex information. However, they lack access to data stored in enterprise systems. Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) addresses this by grounding the model in retrieved context, but the design choices around how retrieval is done significantly affect whether the system can answer the full range of questions that arise in practice.

Text-to-SQL has been the dominant paradigm for structured data retrieval in existing research, while semantic RAG has been applied primarily to unstructured text or single source structured data. This thesis evaluates semantic RAG on structured CI data distributed across multiple independent sources, where answering a question may require evidence from several sources that were not designed to be queried together.

Evaluating such a system requires a benchmark that reflects the actual structure of the data. Current public CI/CD test datasets tend to cover one source type in isolation, such as execution logs or flaky test records, and do not include questions that require evidence from multiple independent sources jointly, which is the setting targeted by this thesis. A custom benchmark of 500 questions across 11 types was therefore constructed. The types range from simple point lookups and aggregate counts to multi-hop questions where the second query can only be formed after the first result is known.

Four RAG configurations were evaluated in a stepwise ablation across metrics covering correctness, retrieval quality, reliability, and latency. The Baseline is a naive RAG system that embeds the raw question and retrieves the top matching chunks. C1 adds hypothetical document generation to close the vocabulary gap between natural language questions and structured records. C2 adds scope constraint extraction to constrain retrieval to the correct scope before retrieval. C3 adds iterative retrieval for questions that require more than one retrieval pass. Baseline reached 10.3\% accuracy. C1 reached 33.9\%, C2 67.8\%, and C3 72.0\%. Scope constraint extraction produced the largest single gain at 33.9 percentage points and is the most cost-effective addition. Overall accuracy however masks important differences across types, some types score near 100\% while others remain largely unsolved.

In automated planning, faceted reasoning is an approach for interactively navigating the solution space of a planning task. This thesis explores the use of faceted reasoning in two settings: explaining learned symbolic action policies and supporting robust observation planning. The first use case addresses the explanation and analysis of learned symbolic action policies, a learning-based approach to solving classical planning problems. While policies are in principle human readable, understanding how exactly they solve all planning tasks of a domain, or more importantly, explaining the reasons why they fail is challenging as the logic expressions are often complex. We introduce a framework that allows us to analyze policies learned over description-logic features. Each policy rule consists of a set of conditions that have to hold in a state and a set of effects that must occur along the respective transition for the rule to fire. We encode the policy rules in answer-set programming (ASP), extending an established ASP formalism for classical planning. Using faceted reasoning, we analyze how individual policy rules affect the space of possible plans and identify issues in the policy when it fails to solve a task. Our analysis is feasible on tasks that can be solved optimally by strong classical planners. The second use case addresses robust observation planning. As an example, we consider the task of scheduling the operations of a satellite constellation to take pictures of a set of regions of interest and send these observations down to Earth. With large constellations, uncertain observation conditions, e.g., due to clouds and limited availability of downlink capacity, it becomes increasingly hard to coordinate the operations. We address the setting where satellites have limited memory and pictures need to be sent through the constellation to a satellite that can transmit them to a ground station. A key challenge in this problem is the highly dynamic environment, which requires a planning system that can quickly adapt to changes. Here, faceted reasoning allows the current solution to be dynamically updated as conditions change and avoids replanning from scratch. We show empirically that facets offer a scalable approach for constellation planning and illustrate the robustness in a case study.

Workplace conflict is widely recognized as an important organizational issue, yet limited attention has been paid to the actors involved in conflict management processes. This study addresses the gap by examining key actors in workplace conflict management. Specifically, this study investigates: What are the roles and responsibilities of employees, managers, and HR practitioners in organizational conflict management? How do these actors apply conflict resolution strategies to different conflict types? Adopting a qualitative approach, the study draws on interviews conducted across industries in Sweden. The findings show that managers acted as the first layer of conflict resolution across all conflict types by clarifying structures, seeking relational support, and reallocating employees in severe cases. HR practitioners mainly supported relationship conflicts by ensuring accountability and compliance. Employees most often address task conflicts through sensemaking, de-escalation, and relational support. The study highlights the importance of clear responsibilities, managerial capabilities, and psychologically safe work environments.

This thesis studies malware scanning in secure USB transfer systems for high-assurance or air-gapped environments. In such settings, cloud-based multi-engine scanning services are unavailable or disallowed, while individual antivirus engines remain imperfect and often disagree on scan outcomes. The thesis therefore designs and evaluates a locally deployed, containerized multi-engine scanning system for secure USB file transfers. By implementing a proof-of-concept prototype with a Rust-based orchestration backend and Dockerized scanner plugins, and by evaluating it on controlled benign corpora and a MalwareBazaar-derived malware corpus, the thesis examines throughput, engine disagreement, decision policies, and architectural deployability. The results show that the backend metric concurrency_efficiency can be used to distinguish real file-level overlap from downstream engine saturation: across the benchmark sweeps, the metric followed the expected inverse concurrency trend even when throughput plateaued, indicating that the backend applied file concurrency correctly and that the observed knees were caused by engine-side limits rather than by missing orchestration parallelism. The results also show substantial verdict disagreement across ClamAV, AV1, and AV2 on the malware corpus. Based on these findings, the thesis proposes a review-aware quorum heuristic and a cascade any-hit execution strategy. In the direct comparison reported here, the cascade any-hit mode preserved the same aggregate outcomes as full parallel scanning while reducing batch duration by 27% and total engine scans by 58%. The study also shows that a plugin-based container design can support local multi-engine scanning and improve modularity and maintainability, but that this is achieved by front-loading adapter, configuration, and observability work. These findings are intended to support the design of local scanning systems for offline or security-critical environments and to clarify the trade-offs between performance, policy sensitivity, and deployability rather than to make a universal claim about malware-detection accuracy.

In this dissertation, I focus on what has long been culturally and theoretically pushed to the margins of autism research, namely autistic embodiment: the sensing and moving body, as embedded and taking shape in a social and material world. Historically, autistic people tended to be portrayed in a disembodied manner, as having retreated into the mind and away from the social. This portrayal does not provide a good lens for examining autistic lived experience. It misses, for instance, the role of sensory wellbeing in our relations with others. Many autistic people describe regularly finding themselves in situations where the world overburdens their senses, making it difficult to think or react, or where they barely perceive some sensory stimuli, thus missing cues or experiencing a need for more. At times, this can be difficult to handle or become a barrier to social wellbeing. However, differences in sensory sensitivity can also lead to joyful sensory experiences and potentially form a basis for community. To foreground how autistic people make sense of their own experiences, I carried out a diary-interview study with fifteen autistic adults in the Netherlands. On this basis, I explore autistic sensory experience as formed in relation between body and world. In dialogue with perspectives from critical phenomenology, neurodiversity studies and disability studies, I examine how autistic people inhabit the world in moments of sensory joy, overstimulation and understimulation. In doing so, I aim to study autistic sensory experience and social experience as mutually constitutive: what one senses is shaped by the social, cultural, ethical and political world one inhabits, and ways of relating and interacting are themselves embodied and habitually learned.

Within the communities of embedded software development, early hardware booting software is often tightly coupled to hardware specific logic. This implies that when developing a new product using, e.g. a microcontroller unit, the developer may need to develop a full new booting program.This thesis investigates whether a bootloader for embedded systems can be designed with a modular and portable architecture without compromising performance or hardware control. A Modular Bootloader (MBL) was developed in C for bare-metal environments using a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) to separate platform specific code from portable boot logic. The architecture consists of four layers: platform specific code, HAL, a portable boot core, and self sustaining modules.

Three modules were implemented: RAM-based application loading, CRC32 validation, and reprogramming using channels such as UART and SD memory unit. The architecture was evaluated on two targeted platforms: the Beaglebone Black (AM335x) and the STM32F401RE.

The results show that the architecture design provides an effective separation between hardware dependent and hardware independent code and enables code reusability. However, code reviews identified questionable breaches in the modular contract. The results of the performance measurements show a predictable performance overhead.

The study concludes that a lightweight bare metal bootloader can be made both modular and portable through HAL-based abstraction.

This study examines how multinational firms balance tax compliance requirements andperformance control requirements in transfer pricing practices. Previous research hasmainly focused on either tax compliance or transfer pricing as a performance control tool,while less attention has been given to how companies manage the interaction betweenthese objectives in practice.

The study is based on agency theory, institutional theory, and upper echelons theory.These theories are used to understand how compliance pressures, managerial incentives,and decision-makers influence transfer pricing practices. The theoretical framework alsoincludes the arm’s-length principle, OECD transfer pricing methods, and prior researchon performance evaluation, incentives, and single or dual system transfer pricing.

A qualitative research design was applied, using semi-structured interviews with CFOs,controllers, transfer pricing specialists, consultants, and tax auditors. The empiricalmaterial was analyzed using an abductive approach, in which theory and empiricalfindings were continuously compared throughout the analysis.

The findings show that tax compliance is the main priority in transfer pricing systems,with companies either separating tax reporting from internal performance evaluation orusing a unified system to simplify compliance and reduce regulatory risk. Opinions alsodiffer by professional background.

The results suggest that transfer pricing is not widely regarded as a performance controltool in practice. Furthermore, the tension between tax compliance and performancecontrol appears to be more decoupled and less interactive than previous research hassuggested, with tax compliance being the dominant priority.

Bakgrund: Entreprenörskapsutbildning har fått en allt mer central roll inom den svenska gymnasieskolan, där UF fungerar som ett verktyg att utveckla entreprenöriella förmågor hos elever. Trots gemensamma riktlinjer uppvisar skolor variation i hur utbildningen organiseras och genomförs. Dessa skillnader kan kopplas till organisatoriska förutsättningar, vilket skapar behov att förstå hur skolors organisatoriska arbete påverkar entreprenörskapsutbildningens framgång.

Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att bidra med ökad kunskap om entreprenörskapsutbildning ur ett organisatoriskt perspektiv genom att analysera hur organisatoriska förutsättningar formar hur utbildningen organiseras och prioriteras. Uppsatsen syftar vidare till att undersöka hur dessa organisatoriska förutsättningar kan relateras till variation i framgång genom en komparativ analys av olika skolorganisationer.

Metod: Denna kvalitativa uppsats genomförs utifrån det realistiska perspektivet med en abduktiv ansats. En komparativ flerfallsstudie har genomförts på fyra olika skolor där semistrukturerade intervjuer har utförts med två respondenter från varje skola. Insamling av data har även kompletterats med dokumentet.

Slutsats: Uppsatsens resultat visar att entreprenörskapsutbildningens framgång inte beror på en enskild faktor, utan på hur verksamheten samordnas och integreras inom skolorganisationen. Särskilt betydelsefullt är tydlig struktur, samverkan mellan skolledning och lärare samt hur verksamheten prioriteras och synliggörs. Vidare indikerar resultaten att skolor med en mer integrerad organisering uppvisar högre grad av framgång, medan en mer individdriven organisering tenderar att begränsa verksamhetens utveckling.

Background: Car financing represents a complex financial decision, where the choice of financing methods affects both household liquidity and long-term cost structures. At the same time, behavioral economics research shows that financial decisions are not always made fully rationally but are often influenced by cognitive biases and limited consideration of opportunity costs. Although car loans are a common form of financing, previous research remains limited regarding how cognitive biases co-vary with individuals who have taken car loans.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine whether there are differences within the sample between individuals who have previously taken a car loan and those who have not, in terms of the presence of cognitive biases, consideration of opportunity costs, and certain demographic factors.

Methodology: The study applied a quantitative research design with a deductive approach, where empirical data in the form of survey responses were analyzed. To examine co-variation, logistic regression was used as the main model, and a linear probability model (OLS) was applied as a robustness test. In addition, t-tests were conducted to identify statistically significant differences in the mean average of points from survey measurements between respondents who had previously taken a car loan and those who had not.

Conclusion: The results show that hyperbolic discounting and age emerge as the study’s most robust findings, as they are associated with previous car loan uptake. Framing and consideration of opportunity costs show certain group differences in the t-tests. At the same time, the results indicate certain methodological limitations, which provide a basis for further research.

Bakgrund: Equity research utgör en central roll inom kapitalmarknader. Tidigare forskning fokuserar i stor grad på hur värderingen används som ett verktyg för att beräkna ett företags värde. Det finns däremot mindre forskning gjord kring hur värderingsantaganden motiveras och hur det skiljer sig mellan olika inflationskontexter.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att analysera hur värderingsantaganden, såsom diskonteringsräntor, riskpremier, multiplar och tillväxtprognoser kommuniceras och motiveras i equity research i olika inflationskontexter, samt att undersöka mönster av likhet och variation i hur dessa antaganden görs trovärdiga mellan hög- och låginflationsmiljöer.

Metod: Studien bygger på en kvalitativ komparativ forskningsdesign. Det empiriska materialet utgår ifrån 60 stycken offentligt tillgängliga equity research rapporter ifrån Sverige och Turkiet. En tematisk analys har sedan gjorts på det insamlade materialet utifrån teorier om osäkerhet, informationasymmetri, kvantifiering och legitimitet.

Slutsats: Studiens resultat indikerar att värderingsantaganden främst legitimeras genom två sammanhängande mekanismer: dels genom att osäkerhet integreras i centrala värderingsparametrar, såsom diskonteringsräntor och tillväxtantaganden, dels genom användningen av etablerade värderingsmodeller såsom DCF och relativvärdering.Resultaten indikerar även tydliga skillnader mellan marknaderna. Svenska rapporter präglas generellt av högre transparens och mer explicita modellbaserade resonemang, medan turkiska rapporter i större utsträckning använder narrativa resonemang kopplade till framtida ekonomisk normalisering och långsiktig återhämtning. Studien visar därmed att equity research inte enbart fungerar som ett tekniskt värderingsverktyg, utan även som ett kommunikativt verktyg för att skapa legitimitet kring osäkra värderingsantaganden.

This thesis examines how the Netflix series Adolescence was received in r/MensRights, a prominent subreddit within the manosphere associated with antifeminist discourse. The study explores how users engaged with representations of masculinity and how their responses reflect broader ideological patterns of victimhood, hostility towards feminism, and mistrust of mainstream institutions.

Using thematic analysis, 24 posts and nearly 1,000 comments published between 13 March and 12 April 2025 were collected and analysed following Braun & Clarke’s (2006) framework, complemented by trustworthiness criteria outlined by Nowell et al. (2017). Three key themes were identified: Perceived Narrative Threats, Alternative Readings and Tensions, and Exclusion, Mistrust, and Affect. These themes illustrate how the series was reinterpreted as cultural propaganda, a reflection of institutional failure, and evidence of systemic bias against men.

The theoretical framework draws on Connell, Butler, Ahmed, Ging, Hall, Mathiesen, Massanari, Ortega Soto, Haase, Johnson and Botto & Gottzén. The findings indicate that r/MensRights functions as a discursive arena where masculinity is both defended and contested through hybrid positions of dominance and victimhood. The study concludes that such spaces play a significant role in shaping digital masculinities, with implications for media producers, educators, and policymakers.

Background: Histopathological assessment of lymph nodes is essential in breast cancer care. Artificial intelligence(AI) has shown promise in supporting this process, yet successful clinical adoption requires attention to humanAI interaction and user interface design. This study explored the user experience of an AI-based clinical decisionsupport tool assisting pathologists in diagnosing breast cancer metastases.Methods: We conducted a within-subjects mixed-methods study in which ten pathologists evaluated two AI-basedclinical decision support user interface prototypes for breast cancer metastasis detection in sentinel nodes. ANNOdisplayed threshold based on-image annotations with minimal automation, whereas RAVS presented four likelihood regions of interest (ROI) per slide with automated measurement and case summaries. Quantitativemeasures included review time, diagnostic outcomes, and System Usability Scale (SUS) scores. Qualitative datawere gathered via semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically.Results: ANNO achieved higher usability scores (mean SUS 90.3) and was associated with a sense of control andresembled current diagnostic workflow, whereas RAVS (mean SUS 80.0) was preferred by participants valuingrapid navigation and automated measurements. Interview findings highlighted trade-offs: ANNO preserveddiagnostic overview and autonomy, while RAVS improved navigational efficiency but reduced whole-slidecontext. ROI presentation strategy seemed to influence preference. Trust in AI was generally cautious andlinked to needs for transparency and long-term clinical exposure.Conclusion: Both interfaces were perceived as potentially clinically valuable but differed in their usability andworkflow integration. Our exploratory findings indicates that for future development of AI-based decision aidingtools for this diagnostic task, a combination of high human control with targeted automation is advisable,combined with visual clarity, and an effective ROI presentation strategy.

The remodelling of extracellular matrix (ECM) in tissues plays a pivotal role in many chronic diseases. Two conditions that share the ECM remodelling as an important determinant are coronary artery disease (CAD) and ascending aortic (AA) dilation, together accounting for a significant amount of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Through atherosclerosis and medial degeneration, respectively, these diseases advance slowly but with a varying risk of sudden and sometimes fatal complications. Thus, there is an ongoing and intensive search for tools that could predict the risk of disease progression and ultimately events. With recent advancements, it is now possible to quantify circulating biomarkers reflecting tissue ECM remodelling, that could hopefully become such tools. The thesis, comprised of four studies, investigates these ECM biomarkers and their role in CAD and AA dilation.

Study 1 and 2 build upon a recent finding showing that circulating pro-α1 chain in type I collagen (COL1α1) was inversely associated with incident CAD in the general population. Due to the novelty of the finding, our goal with Study 1 was to replicate these results and further explore temporal patterns of COL1α1 after a myocardial infarction. The results affirmed that COL1α1 indeed was inversely related to incident CAD but that levels were stable right after and up to 6 months after an acute myocardial infarction. We also found that women exhibited significantly higher levels of the protein compared to men and that COL1α1 was associated with a biomarker of type I collagen synthesis but not to the corresponding degradation biomarker nor to inflammation or troponins. In Study 2, we examined the relationship between COL1α1 levels and coronary atherosclerosis cross-sectionally using coronary computed tomography angiography data from the Swedish general population showing an inverse association to different measures of coronary atherosclerosis. Interestingly, the strongest associations were with high-risk features such as presence of non-calcified plaques and high-grade coronary stenosis. Several correlations to clinical characteristics were replicated from Study 1, condensing into an inverse association between COL1α1 levels and components of the metabolic syndrome.

In Study 3 and 4, middle-aged individuals with mild-to-moderate AA dilation from the general population were examined. These patients are often less studied compared to patients with more severe disease, although they constitute the majority of AA dilations. It is also a population that is believed to increase as the growing usage of imaging finds these incidentally. Study 3 aimed to find potential biomarker candidates in this type of population. Both recognized ECM biomarkers and exploratory biomarkers were quantified in plasma through multiplex systems. From these efforts, tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-4 (TIMP-4) was brought forward as a biomarker inversely related to AA growth rate. In the exploratory biomarker panel, several other biomarker candidates and biological pathways were identified. Study 4 tried to expand the biological understanding of AA dilation through the combination of biomarkers and 4D magnetic resonance imaging. Intriguingly, both COL1α1 and interleukin-6 showed significant correlations to important parameters of AA hemodynamic patterns pertaining to aspects of wall shear stress in cases with AA dilation.

On a broader scale, this thesis emphasizes the importance of ECM remodelling in cardiovascular disease and also underlines the potential of measuring these processes through circulating biomarkers. It identifies COL1α1 as a potentially useful biomarker in CAD. In mild-to-moderate AA dilation, TIMP-4 emerged as a biomarker candidate and COL1α1 together with interleukin-6 might represent pathological processes from adverse hemodynamics on the aortic wall. At the same time, the studies were subject to several limitations that spur the need for larger and methodologically more robust studies in the future.

 Letting the Soft Carry explores textile as a form-bearing element within furniture design

through a practical and material-driven approach. The project originates from a critique of

how hard materials are traditionally assigned the role of structure and form, while textiles

are often reduced to surface or decoration.

The experimental phase of the investigation is carried out through a step-by-step analysis of

how seams generate folds and gathers, and how these create three-dimensionality, tactility

and drape that contribute to corporeality and spatiality. The work is based on a practice-led

methodology inspired by Vivienne Westwood’s design practice, where form develops

directly in response to the material rather than from a predetermined idea. Through

manipulation, the textile is allowed to rise from the surface, swell, drape and respond to

body, weight and movement.

The resulting object consists of reclaimed hotel sheets and surplus materials. The study

demonstrates how textiles, when their shifting and bodily qualities are allowed to guide the

development of form, can take on a more active and structural role within furniture design.

The energy matrix corresponds to all sources of energy necessary to supply electricity, heat, and fuel for industrial and human activities. It is fundamental for the economic development of a country or region and highly impacts on sustainability, as it is related to available resources, energetic efficiency, and potential environmental impact of each source (fossil fuels, wind, solar, biofuels). The world’s energy matrix should be diversified and depend as little as possible on fossil fuels, to guarantee energy security, reduce emissions and promote sustainability.

A sustainable energetic society also depends on finding ways of storing the energy safely and efficiently and searching for alternative ways of harvesting energy. Thermoelectric devices are attractive because they can directly convert a heat flux into electricity due to the so-called Seebeck effect. Thermoelectric generators that convert low-grade waste heat (typically below 100°C) into electricity are of particular interest, because such heat sources are easily available on Earth, from data centres, industry, solar radiation, and the human body.

Thermogalvanic cells (TGCs) are unique thermal energy harvesters that can be operated at room temperature, suitable for low-grade heat harvesting. They typically have relatively high Seebeck coefficient values and can generate continuous power output under temperature gradient. This thesis’ purpose was to develop novel thermogalvanic cells towards practical applications, including improving Seebeck coefficient and power output, and establishing manufacture protypes for thermogalvanic modules.

The works presented in this PhD thesis consist in (i) the understanding and improving the functioning of activated carbon electrodes in a potassium ferro/ferricyanide based thermogalvanic cell. (ii) Large scale manufacturing of fully printed thermogalvanic modules. (iii) Investigating the impact of polyelectrolyte on improving the Seebeck coefficient, power output and charge transfer in TGCs. (iv) Proposing a TGC based on non-volatile organic electrolyte based on copper and TEMPO active redox species. (v) Developing a redox reaction enabled ionic thermoelectric generator, with constant power generation and high thermovoltage.

The master’s thesis examines how relational conditions (trust, collaboration, and role clarity) influence perceived project success in a municipal change project within Norrköping Municipality. Project success is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct consisting of goal fulfillment, effectiveness, and legitimacy. Through a mixed-method case study, the thesis combines survey data, qualitative interviews, and document analysis to analyze how trust, collaboration, and role clarity relate to variations in perceived project success across four stakeholder groups, ranging from project operatives to politicians. The results show that collaboration is the primary driver of perceived success, while trust and role clarity act as reinforcing conditions that shape collaborative quality over time. A key finding is the proximity bias, revealing that operational stakeholders evaluate success through a process-oriented lens, whereas peripheral stakeholders use an outcome-oriented lens. The thesis contributes to project management literature by demonstrating that public-sector success is socially constructed through structural proximity and relational processes rather than traditional metrics. Practically, it suggests municipal managers can improve alignment by treating these perception gaps as predictable risks and tailoring communication to bridge information asymmetries.

Inledning: Kapitalmarknadsdagar utgör en central kanal för bolagens frivilligaframåtblickande kommunikation, där kvantitativa prognoser kommuniceras direkt tillanalytiker och investerare. Dessa prognoser används aktivt i värderingsmodeller. Trots det saknas empirisk forskning om hur prognoser av ROCE, EBIT och omsättningstillväxtkommunicerade av svenska Large-Cap-bolag förhåller sig till faktiskt utfall.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka avvikelser i svenska noterade Large-Capbolagsprognoser som offentliggörs på kapitalmarknadsdagar, samt att analysera omdessa prognoser uppvisar en särskild riktning i relation till faktiskt utfall.

Metod: Studien antar en kvantitativ och deduktiv ansats med 226 manuellt insamladeobservationer från 48 bolag noterade på Nasdaq Stockholm Large-Cap under 2015–2024.Avvikelsernas storlek analyseras med OLS-regression av APF_W och riktningen prövasmed Wilcoxon signed-rank test av RPF_W. En pandemiexkluderande analys exkluderarutfallsåren 2020–2021 för att särskilja pandemi-betingad avvikelse från strukturellavvikelse.

Resultat: Avvikelsernas storlek kan inte förklaras av bolagsspecifika faktorer. De endasignifikanta förklaringsvariablerna är branschdummyerna d_Material för ROCE och d_IT för EBIT. Hypotesprövningen visar att ROCE och EBIT uppvisar statistisktsignifikant optimistisk riktning med medianer om 0,313 respektive 0,081, ett resultat somkvarstår i den pandemiexkluderande analysen. För omsättningstillväxt försvinnerriktningen när pandemiåren exkluderas, vilket indikerar att resultaten är pandemibetingadesnarare än strukturella. Den finansiella hierarkin utgör inte en kausalkedja avavvikelse utan en förstärkningsstruktur, där marginaloptimism i EBIT multiplicerasmatematiskt i ROCE kvoten.

Corals require calcium to grow a healthy skeleton by dissolving CO2 and calcium in the water using a calcium reactor. Bubbles calculate the flow of CO2 added to a coral cultiva- tion aquarium. A Bubble counting device was created. Bubble detection was tested using capacitive sensing. Observing the changes in capacitance between air and water to sense the bubbles passing by the sensor. An embedded system was built using an Arduino UNO, and capacitance was measured with a capacitive-to-digital converter IC. With warnings if CO2 flow deviates. The signal from the bubbles was weak and overpowered by noise. The system was not sufficient for detecting air bubbles in water. Instead, it proved more useful as an object detector rather than a bubble detector.

Corals require calcium to grow a healthy skeleton by dissolving CO2 and calcium in the water using a calcium reactor. Bubbles calculate the flow of CO2 added to a coral cultiva- tion aquarium. A Bubble counting device was created. Bubble detection was tested using capacitive sensing. Observing the changes in capacitance between air and water to sense the bubbles passing by the sensor. An embedded system was built using an Arduino UNO, and capacitance was measured with a capacitive-to-digital converter IC. With warnings if CO2 flow deviates. The signal from the bubbles was weak and overpowered by noise. The system was not sufficient for detecting air bubbles in water. Instead, it proved more useful as an object detector rather than a bubble detector.

In this report survey data from the South region of Sweden regarding perceived insecurity in the localneighborhood are applied in structural equation modeling. The data were collected from municipalities in thecounties of Skåne, Blekinge, and Kronoberg. The dataset is used to estimate three multigroup models inwhich year, gender, and municipality type are used as grouping factors. Prior to the modeling processExploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis are used to identify latent factors laterincluded in the models. The identified factors were social disorder, experience of crime, fear of crime, andrestrictions in daily activities. The factor structure derived from the EFA was also compared with thesurvey’s predefined factor structure where different fit indices were examined to determine which structureshould be used for the continued modeling.The results from the structural equation modeling show that social disorder had the strongest direct effect onfear of crime. Factors such as vandalism, littering and public disturbances therefore contributed to increasedperceived insecurity. Actual victimization also showed a clear impact on individuals limitations in everydaylife. Once the models met the desired criteria it was possible to conclude that differences in perceivedinsecurity exist over time, between different municipality types and between genders.The analysis also indicates a downward trend in perceived insecurity during the studied period. At the sametime differences between municipalities were identified. Fear of crime was higher in small and medium-sizedmunicipalities while actual victimization was more common in larger municipalities.

Introduction: As second-hand consumption continues to grow in popularity, digital consumer-to-consumer platforms (C2C platforms) have transformed the way used clothing is bought and sold. However, transactions on second-hand markets can be hindered by valuation asymmetries, where buyers and sellers do not necessarily assign the same value to a given item, a phenomenon that previous research has primarily explained through the endowment effect. Simultaneously, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated to support decision-making and personalize customer experiences. Despite this, it remains unclear how AI as a pricing actor, compared to a human actor, influences trust and satisfaction in a context where such valuation asymmetries may occur, and whether the degree of endowment effect moderates the relationship between pricing actor and trust. 

Purpose: This study examines how AI as a pricing actor, compared to a human actor, influences buyers’ and sellers’ perceived trust and satisfaction on C2C platforms for second-hand goods, thereby affecting transaction- and relationship-based outcomes. Furthermore, the study examines whether and to what extent, the degree of endowment effect moderates the relationship between pricing actor and trust. 

Methodology: The study applies a quantitative research strategy with a deductive research approach. Data collection was conducted through an online survey using a 2x2 vignette-based experimental design within a C2C context for second-hand clothing. The vignettes included four conditions varying by participants' role (buyer versus seller) and pricing actor (AI versus human). The study measured willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to accept (WTA), trust, satisfaction, loyalty, word-of-mouth (WOM), perceived AI competence, and comfort in assessing second-hand prices. 

Findings: The findings show that a human pricing actor generates higher levels of trust and satisfaction compared to an AI-based pricing actor on C2C platforms for second-hand. The findings indicate that perceived comprehensibility, control, and emotional security outweigh the perceived objectivity and analytical capability of AI. Furthermore, sellers are more negatively affected by AI as a pricing actor than buyers, indicating role-based asymmetries in perceived involvement in the pricing decision, as well as lower willingness to return to and recommend the second-hand platform. The expected endowment effect was not observed. Instead, an inverse effect was identified, where buyers' willingness to pay exceeds sellers' willingness to accept. However, the degree of this inverse endowment effect had no significant moderating effect on the relationship between the pricing actor and trust. Overall, the findings suggest that social and psychological factors may outweigh technological rationality in second-hand pricing contexts.

Accrual-based earnings management (AEM) refers to management’s use of discretion in financial reporting through discretionary accruals. Since accruals tend to reverse in subsequent periods, there are theoretical reasons to expect AEM to affect future earnings volatility. However, this relationship has been studied to a limited extent in a Swedish context, and the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to examine the relationship during economic uncertainty. 

The purpose of this study is to explain the relationship between accrual-based earnings management and future earnings volatility among Swedish listed companies, and to analyse whether this relationship was stronger during the COVID-19 period (2020–2021) and whether it was affected by the quality of corporate governance. 

The study adopts a deductive approach and a quantitative, longitudinal design based on panel data. AEM is measured as the absolute value of discretionary accruals using the Modified Jones model, estimated with the cash flow approach. Three regression models with industry and year fixed effects and clustered standard errors are estimated using Refinitiv data for 188 companies listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Large Cap and Mid Cap during the fiscal years 2014–2021. The results are validated through robustness tests and a dropout analysis. 

All three hypotheses are rejected. No statistically significant relationship can be established between AEM and future earnings volatility, neither in general nor during the COVID-19 period, and board independence has no identifiable moderating effect. Future earnings volatility is instead mainly explained by cash flow volatility, profitability and leverage. 

The study nuances the implications of the reversal mechanism by showing that the relationship is not confirmed in a Swedish context after controlling for underlying operating volatility. The study also contributes methodologically through a more rigorous research design than prior Swedish research.

Background: Sustainability reporting within the EU has recently sparked intense discussions following the launch of the Omnibus package, which simplifies the rules for the recently implemented CSRD reporting. A central purpose of CSRD reporting is for it to be decision-useful for the capital market, which consequently raises the question of whether the framework fulfills this purpose.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine whether mandatory CSRD reports contain decision-useful information and how the accounting quality of mandatory sustainability reports affects market reactions.

Methodology: This event study adopts a deductive approach with an eclectic focus. The empirical data consists of secondary data collected from databases and annual reports.

Findings: It is indicated that the mandatory CSRD reports are perceived as decision-useful by the Swedish capital market, but we find – based on our applied proxy variables – no evidence that the accounting quality in the reports affects market reactions.

Contributions: The study contributes to the understanding of whether information disclosed in CSRD reports is incorporated into market prices. Furthermore, it provides empirical insights that are relevant within the frameworks of legitimacy theory, stakeholdertheory, and the efficient market hypothesis.

Bakgrund: Tidigare forskning indikerar att IFRS 15 har påverkat hur företag intäktsredovisar, vilket kan påverka kapitalmarknadens värdering av redovisningsinformationen. Trots detta är forskningen kring IFRS 15:s påverkan på värderelevansen fortfarande begränsad, särskilt avseende de långsiktiga effekterna och de institutionella skillnaderna mellan länder.  Syfte: Studien syftar till att förklara om implementeringen av IFRS 15 har påverkat värderelevansen över tid och om denna effekt skiljer sig mellan länder på grund av institutionella skillnader. Metod: Studien tillämpar Ohlsons prismodell och bygger på kvantitativ paneldata från börsnoterade företag inom Europa.  Resultat: Resultatet indikerar att IFRS 15 ökade värderelevansen i de finansiella rapporterna på kort sikt, men att effekterna inte  bestod på lång sikt. Studiens resultat indikerar även att värderelevansen i de finansiella rapporterna inte har ökat mer i länder med sedvanerättslig rättstradition än länder med kodifierad rättstradition, varken på kort eller lång sikt.  Kunskapsbidrag: Studien bidrar till den befintliga forskningen genom att öka förståelsen för hur implementeringen av IFRS 15 påverkar värderelevansen i de finansiella rapporterna över tid samt huruvida effekterna varierar mellan länder med olika institutionella rättstraditioner. Avslutningsvis bidrar studien till den befintliga kvantitativa forskningen, som sedan tidigare avgränsats till ett land, genom dess inkludering av 15 olika europeiska länder.