We prove that any Fourier–Mukai partner of an abelian surface over an algebraically closed field of positive characteristic is isomorphic to a moduli space of Gieseker-stable sheaves. We apply this fact to show that the set of Fourier–Mukai partners of a canonical cover of a hyperelliptic or Enriques surface over an algebraically closed field of characteristic greater than three is trivial. These results extend earlier results of Bridgeland–Maciocia and Sosna to positive characteristic.

Quantum information science, the rapidly developing interdisciplinary field,  gives power to the information and communications technologies (ICT) by  providing secure communication, precision measurements, ultra-powerful simulation and ultimately computation. It is well known that photons are an ideal candidate for encoding the quantum bit, or "qubit", in quantum information and specially for quantum communication. This thesis consists of two main parts. In the first part, realization of quantum security tasks using optical fibers has been implemented. Bell tests are a cornerstone of quantum key distribution and are necessary for device-independent security. Device-independent Bell inequality test must be performed with care to avoid loopholes. Time-energy entanglement has a distinct advantage over polarization as it is easier transmitted over longer distances, therefore, it may be preferable as a quantum resource to perform reliable key distribution. Novel multi-party communication protocols: secret sharing, detectable Byzantine agreement, clock synchronization, and reduction of communication complexity, all these quantum protocols has been realized without compromising on detection efficiency or generating extremely complex many-particle entangled states. These protocols are realized in an optical fiber setup with sequential phase modulation on single photons. In recent years there has been great interest in fabricating ICT optical setups in low scale in glass chips, which would replace the bulk setups on tables used today. In the second part of the thesis, realization of photonic waveguides in glass has been implemented. Using femtosecond laser inscription of waveguides in glass, photonic quantum technologies and integrated optical circuits are becoming more and more important in miniaturization of optical circuits written in different glass samples for the quantum optics and quantum information processing. These platforms offer stability over the time-scales required for multi-photon coincidence based measurements. The study and optimization the different building blocks for integrated photonic quantum circuits, for instance the directional coupler and Mach-Zehnder interferometer is very important. The principal goal is to develop a method for design, fabrication and characterization of integrated optics circuits for further applications in quantum information. Incorporation of photon sources, detectors, and circuits integrating waveguides technology can be used to produce integrated photonics devices.

The number of times an organism reproduces (i.e., its mode of parity) is a fundamental life‐history character, and evolutionary and ecological models that compare the relative fitnesses of different modes of parity are common in life‐history theory and theoretical biology. Despite the success of mathematical models designed to compare intrinsic rates of increase (i.e., density‐independent growth rates) between annual‐semelparous and perennial‐iteroparous reproductive schedules, there is widespread evidence that variation in reproductive allocation among semelparous and iteroparous organisms alike is continuous. This study reviews the ecological and molecular evidence for the continuity and plasticity of modes of parity—that is, the idea that annual‐semelparous and perennial‐iteroparous life histories are better understood as endpoints along a continuum of possible strategies. I conclude that parity should be understood as a continuum of different modes of parity, which differ by the degree to which they disperse or concentrate reproductive effort in time. I further argue that there are three main implications of this conclusion: (1) that seasonality should not be conflated with parity; (2) that mathematical models purporting to explain the general evolution of semelparous life histories from iteroparous ones (or vice versa) should not assume that organisms can only display either an annual‐semelparous life history or a perennial‐iteroparous one; and (3) that evolutionary ecologists should base explanations of how different life‐history strategies evolve on the physiological or molecular basis of traits underlying different modes of parity.

Seed heteromorphism is the reproductive strategy characterized by the simultaneous production of multiple seed types. While comparing heteromorphic to monomorphic strategies is mathematically simple, there is no explicit test for assessing which ratio of seed morphs minimizes fitness variance, and hence offers a basis for comparing different heteromorphic strategies. Such a test may be particularly valuable when more than two distinct morphs are present, since many strategies may have equivalent geometric fitnesses. As noted by Gillespie (1974), in these cases avoiding rare but evolutionarily important instances of severe reductions in fitness involves the minimization of variation in fitness—i.e., risk. Here I compute the optimal proportions of two or more seed morphs for heteromorphic strategies that either: (1) minimize total fitness variance; or (2) maximize the fitness-risk ratio—i.e., the “extra” fitness accrued per unit of “extra” fitness variance. This work thereby provides a testable null hypothesis to estimate the optimal frequencies of seed morphs when multiple heteromorphic strategies have evolved in environments with severe fitness risks. Moreover, it also permits the calculation of expected seed morph frequencies when more than two seed morphs are produced.

Although high levels of self‐fertilization (>85%) are not uncommon in nature, organisms reproducing entirely through selfing are extremely rare. Predominant selfers are expected to have low genetic diversity because genetic variation is distributed among rather than within lineages and is readily lost through genetic drift. We examined genetic diversity at 22 microsatellite loci in 105 individuals from a population of the semelparous herb Lobelia inflata L. and found (i) no evidence of heterozygosity through outcrossing, yet (ii) high rates of genetic polymorphism (2–4 alleles per locus). Furthermore, this genetic variation among lineages was associated with phenotypic traits (e.g. flower colour, size at first flower). Coupled with previous work characterizing the fitness consequences of reproductive timing, our results suggest that temporal genotype‐by‐environment interaction may maintain genetic variation and, because genetic variation occurs only among lineages, this simple system offers a unique opportunity for future tests of this mechanism.

The life cycles of plants are characterized by two major life history transitions—germination and the initiation of flowering—the timing of which are important determinants of fitness. Unlike annuals, which make the transition from the vegetative to reproductive phase only once, perennials iterate reproduction in successive years. The floral repressor PERPETUAL FLOWERING 1 (PEP1), an ortholog of FLOWERING LOCUS C, in the alpine perennial Arabis alpina ensures the continuation of vegetative growth after flowering and thereby restricts the duration of the flowering episode. We performed greenhouse and garden experiments to compare flowering phenology, fecundity and seed traits between A. alpina accessions that have a functional PEP1 allele and flower seasonally and pep1 mutants and accessions that carry lesions in PEP1 and flower perpetually. In the garden, perpetual genotypes flower asynchronously and show higher winter mortality than seasonal ones. PEP1 also pleiotropically regulates seed dormancy and longevity in a way that is functionally divergent from FLC. Seeds from perpetual genotypes have shallow dormancy and reduced longevity regardless of whether they after‐ripened in plants grown in the greenhouse or in the experimental garden. These results suggest that perpetual genotypes have higher mortality during winter but compensate by showing higher seedling establishment. Differences in seed traits between seasonal and perpetual genotypes are also coupled with differences in hormone sensitivity and expression of genes involved in hormonal pathways. Our study highlights the existence of pleiotropic regulation of seed traits by hub developmental regulators such as PEP1, suggesting that seed and flowering traits in perennial plants might be optimized in a coordinated fashion.

The study has examined how change management is carried out and received through various hierarchical levels in an organization. The questions of this study has therefore examined how topmanagement communicated and motivated a change initiative, how the middle managers interpreted this and communicated it to the employees and finally what form of sensegiving and learning has taken place among the employees. Previous research has partially focused on how communication between the superior and subordinate has had a strong connection to how a change is received. The employees’ sensemaking has also had a clear connection to their relationship with the organization and its managers, where employees should feel a safe connection to the organization in order to experience the change in a positive way. What is less clear in earlier research is how these processes practically take place across hierarchical levels and how these can be seen in relation to other types of organizations in different industries. To contribute to this research field, the method used in this study is qualitative interviews as this method gives a broader and deeper picture of the organizational members’ experiences about change. The study's results have shown that the management must create a clear picture of the organization's conditions and that they give room for the middle managers to adopt a meaningful role, thus promoting learning based on reflection. The study has also highlighted how clear communication is crucial in order to create a consensus through the levels and to be able to promote learning within the change. The main contribution of this study to the field of research has been to highlight the importance of the role of different levels within an organization in sensegiving work, which is required to achieve successful change.

A new generation has established itself on the labor market with other characteristics and expectations of leadership than the generations before. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate managers’ experiences of leading employees who belong to Generation Y, i relation to other generations. The research questions covered what managers consider represents Generation Y as employees and how managers experience their leadership in relation to Generation Y. The study's results were analyzed in relation to theory about situational leadership in relation to theory about leaders’ followers. The method consisted of qualitative interviews of managers at organizations within different line of business in a larger city in Sweden. The results show that Generation Y as employees are considered to be self-centered and flexible, also to have demands on development, a personal leadership and to be assigned meaningful tasks. They are also described to have qualities that are suitable for the organization they work for and an uncertainty about whether their characteristics is because of their age or generation is expressed. Managers describe their leadership in relation to Generation Y as that it focuses on the needs of the individual and the context by building up a relationship with Generation Y as an employee.

Föreliggande studie utvärderar talsyntes som digitalt hjälpmedel i nyanlända gymnasieelevers textproduktion. Studien är uppdelad i två frågeställningar, som berör effektiviteten av talsyntes respektive användningen och upplevelsen av talsyntes. Den första frågan besvaras genom kvantitativ felanalys av elevtexter skrivna med respektive utan talsyntes. Den andra frågeställningen besvaras utifrån material som har insamlats genom fokusgruppintervju och observationer. Resultaten talar för att talsyntes kan ha stor potential i andraspråksundervisning. Den statistiska analysen påvisar att elevtexter skrivna med talsyntes innehåller en signifikant lägre felfrekvens än texter skrivna utan hjälpmedlet. Genom intervjun framgår att eleverna har en företrädelsevis positiv upplevelse av talsyntes och att den har en stöttande funktion i skrivarbetet. Resultatet av denna studie visar att talsyntes relativt enkelt kan upptas i en reell undervisningssituation och att elevernas individuella användning varierar.

Syftet med denna studie är att analysera interaktionsmönster i parsamtal under prov på Sfi kurs C. Mer specifikt har användandet av kommunikativa strategier studerats under hela samtalen samt även i stunder då interaktionen riskerar att fallera. Studien har genomförts med hjälp av ljudinspelningar av testsamtal och Conversation Analysis som analysmetod. Resultatet visar på att testdeltagarna överväldigande använder sig av strategier som ger talaren mer betänketid under pågående yttrande. Dessa strategier inkluderar tvekljud och repetitioner, samt responser, det senare bestående till största delen av stöttningssignaler till talaren, även kallat uppbackningar. I situationer där interaktionen riskerade att fallera valde deltagarna att, på liknande sätt, använda sig av respons och uppbackningar. Vidare visar resultaten att testdeltagarna föredrog att inte byta eller förkorta samtalsämnet eller påpeka missar i kommunikationen om hen exempelvis inte förstod vad samtalspartnern sade.

Resultatet öppnar upp för diskussion om hur kommunikativa strategier används, såväl inom som utom skolkontexten och även hur pedagoger och andraspråksinlärare kan samtala om hur man kan använda sig av nämnda strategier i interaktionen.

Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka sju vetenskapliga artiklars framställningar av en lämplig respektive olämplig förskollärare. Studien utgår ifrån ett kritiskt teori- och forskningsperspektiv med en relativistiskt orienterad ontologi och epistemologi. Som metod för evaluering av den textuella empirin tillämpas Norman Faircloughs kritiska diskursanalys. Resultaten visar att ideala förskollärare är välvilliga, sociabla, osjälviska och psykiskt stabila. De förväntas vara flexibla, vaksamma, kommunikativa, ledande och omsorgsfulla. Resultaten visar också att deras kompetenser konstitueras i interaktionen mellan ideologier, kunskaper och värden. Inom studiens diskussioner ifrågasätts den ideale förskollärarens existens. Olika brister med lämplighetsbedömningar av denne framlyfts likaså. Studien konkluderar att lämplighet inom förskollärarprofessionen är en påtaglig angelägenhet för många olika individer inom olika kulturer. Tillsammans med sociala och diskursiva praktiker utmynnar de vetenskapliga texterna i en lämplighetshegemoni i relation till förskolläraryrket. För att utmana denna hegemoni argumenterar studien för ett bejakande av olikheter beträffande förskolläraraspiranter och redan verksamma förskollärare.

Syftet med denna systematiska litteraturstudie är att redogöra för relationen mellan brister i exekutiva funktioner och ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) hos barn i förskoleåldern. Resultatet indikerar en stark relation främst mellan inhibering och ADHD, men även att barn med ADHD överlag har större svårigheter med exekutiva funktioner än andra barn. Resultatet indikerar även att tidiga insatser kan vara gynnsamma för att minska ADHD-symptom. Skattningar och test har i några studier visat olika resultat, och därför rekommenderar studierna mixed method för att få en så rik bild som möjligt. Resultatet är analyserat genom relational developmental system theory. Olika länder och olika forskningsfält har inte skilt sig åt utan samtliga har kommit fram till likvärdiga resultat. Jag menar att det är viktigt att denna kunskap lyfts fram då förskolan enligt skollagen (SFS 2012:109) ska utforma verksamheten så att barn som behöver särskilt stöd ska få den hjälp de behöver. För att kunna göra det på bästa sätt tror jag att kunskap kring relationen mellan bristande exekutiva funktioner och ADHD är väsentlig.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur forskning från olika vetenskapliga fält och länder resonerar kring diagnostiseringen av ADHD hos förskolebarn. Som metod har en systematisk litteraturstudie använts, där de 22 vetenskapliga artiklar som framkommit vid den noggranna systematiska sökningen har granskats och analyserats genom en innehållsanalys. Vidare har the Relational Developmental System theory (RDS) använts som det teoretiska perspektivet för att analysera resultatet ytterligare. Resultatet från studierna visar på att en tidig diagnos med tillhörande behandling kan vara värdefullt för utvecklingen av barnets sociala förmågor och senare akademiska framgångar. Däremot finns det risk för feldiagnostisering och onödig behandling om diagnos ställs i tidig förskoleålder, därför bör noggrann utredning göras och en provisorisk diagnos kan vara att föredra om misstanke finns att symtomen skulle kunna vara åldersrelaterade. Forskningen har även visat att förskollärarnas kunskap om ADHD-relaterad problematik är betydelsefull för bedömningen vid utredning inför diagnostisering, men även att förskollärarnas inställning och utbildning påverkar arbetet med barn som uppvisar ADHD-symtom eller som har diagnosen. Enbart forskning från det senaste decenniet är med i denna studie, detta för ADHD-diagnostisering har ökat kraftigt och forskningen gått snabbt framåt.

Den här litteraturstudien syftar till att undersöka hur förskolepersonalens känsloreglering och strategier för att arbeta med känslor kommer till uttryck i aktuell forskning. Litteraturstudien ämnar även att ta reda på hur forskningen kan användas i förskolepersonalens yrkesroll. Genom att framhäva neuroplasticitetens potential, visar resultatet på omgivningens, interaktioners och tidiga erfarenheters påverkan på emotionell utveckling. Detta blir alltså en möjlighet för förskolans personal att ta tillvara i verksamheten. Förskolepersonalens egna emotionella kompetens och känsloreglering får konsekvenser för bemötandet av barn i förskolan, vilket leder till att de är viktiga förebilder för emotionell utveckling. Resultatet visar också att ett samarbete mellan förskolepersonal och familjer är relevant för att gynna barns emotionella utveckling. Ytterligare ett resultat är vikten av att förskolepersonalen har en förmåga att hantera motgångar, stress och negativa känslor i sin yrkesroll. Emotionell kompetens hos förskolepersonalen och en medvetenhet kring känslor och neuroplasticitet är förutsättningen som växer fram i den här studien. Behovet av mer utbildning och kompetensutveckling kring emotionell kompetens syns också i studiens resultat.

År 2019 träder en reviderad läroplan för förskolan i kraft där kroppslig integritet specificeras som målområde. Tidigare forskning har visat att barns kroppsliga integritet ofta är villkorat, och att det finns behov av mer kunskap om diskurser gällande barns kroppsliga integritet i nutida förskolekontext. Utifrån glappet i forskningsfältet är syftet med studien att undersöka diskurser som kommer till uttryck i förskollärares språkliga handlingar i intervjuer om barns kroppsliga integritet i förskolan. I och med detta undersöks också hur barns kroppsliga integritet villkoras diskursivt. Empirin utgörs av sex semistrukturerade intervjuer. Med diskursanalys och poststrukturalistiska begrepp bringas ett resultat som tyder på att förskollärare påverkas av motstridiga diskursiva innebörder som villkorar barns kroppsliga integritet. Diskurserna rymmer idéer om relationer, förskollärares förhållningssätt och förskolan som institution. När dessa möts ger det upphov till förhandling om barns kroppsliga integritet. I denna förhandling framkommer förhandlingsstrategier som hjälper förskollärare att förhålla sig till konträra aspekter av sitt uppdrag. Slutligen konkluderas att integritetsarbete i förskolan kräver situerade, reflexiva avvägningar. Arbetet skapar svårigheter, men också möjligheter för verksamhets- och professionsutveckling.

This study departs from a cleavage-theory by Kriesi et al. in which the globalization and the European integration divides Europeans in winners and losers through a political, a cultural and an economic mechanism (2012). It examines the connection between the polarization following the integration and the support for political systems using Norris’ framework from Democratic deficit (2012) which differs on five levels of support. The main findings show that the polarization has an impact on four out of five levels through the cultural mechanism and that it thus not only may generate support for right-wing populism as shown by Kriesi with more, but for right-wing extremism as well. Even though the effect is limited the results also suggests that the decreasing trust in political institutions in Europe is not to be reduced to normal a fluctuation.

” You don’t talk about politics or football around the dining table” is a Chilean expression that well describes how the dictatorship (1973–1990) is attached to the societal soul, with people’s diversifiedrelationships to its legacy. For the outside world, Chile is a thriving democracy that got out of Pinochet’s iron grip, but for many Chileans, the transition to democracy has excluded demands for justice and a real influence. How is it to be born into democracy and grow up in a society where the struggle for memory is a struggle for the future? Where you did not live the terrible years but live with its consequences? This study is interested in how the younger generation breaks a generational silence and actively participates in politicizing memory. With a political-ethnographic approach and a customized discourse analytical tool, these processes are captured through an extensive case study of the memory site Londres 38, espacio de memorias. In conversations about impunity with the memory site’s young representatives and the school and university class’s diversified reflections on the subject during participating visits, present research shows how the place becomes a democratic deliberative platform, in contrast to prevailing power relations, giving voice and perspective to a new generation.

Comedy is an inherently pleasurable phenomenon with beneficial psychological functions, but its potential to bring on undesirable and socially destabilizing consequences is less intuitively obvious. In this essay, I argue that one of the hitherto under-recognized features of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is its covert problematization of the phenomenon of comedy itself, and that the play invites its audience to become more aware of in what situations laughter is constructive and appropriate. I apply psychological and cultural-historical theories of humor— specifically, Freudian relief theory and Bakhtinian thought on laughter and festivity—as a framework for interpreting the play, with a particular emphasis on the secondary protagonist called Gratiano. I argue that Gratiano serves as a personification of comedy, whose function is to problematize it and demonstrate its positive as well as negative attributes in relation to seriousness and restraint. Gratiano’s laughter-inducing antics compel audience members to sympathize with him in the dialectic which Shakespeare sets up between him and other characters, but the play also portrays his jovial behavior as concomitant with less desirable traits which his comedy successfully obscures. While the character presents comedy as attractive and instinctively preferable to propriety and decorum, he also shows how the allure of laughter and comedy may be used by disingenuous actors to provide an attractive veneer for immoral or abhorrent behavior.

A growing concern in educational institutions is the lack of a unified collegial effort

to address issues pertaining to discrimination. The Swedish National Agency of

Education (SNAE) has released several reports and articles this past decade (2009,

2010, 2016), in which no significant improvement has been observed in schools with

regard to discrimination pertaining to race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and

disability. An important finding illustrated in all reports is that norms are the cardinal

reason behind all discriminating conduct. Consequently, to address this problem,

SNAE suggests that a norm-critical perspective should be implemented in order to

hamper and change such behaviours (101). A core problem, however, is that not all

syllabi provide specific examples of how teachers can work with norms in the

classroom. Significantly, however, literature has shown to be a valuable gateway to

norm-criticism as it provides students with the opportunity to critically assess

problems presented in novels with a certain detachment; promoting a more objective

attitude and thus a deeper understanding of their own real-life situations (Rosenblatt

47). Thus, the aim of this thesis is to provide English teachers with a more concrete

point of departure in the discussion of norms by the use of literature, namely Charlotte

Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre (1847). More specifically, this essay critically examines the

notions of heteronormativity, gender and ableism to illustrate how hetero-norms,

gender-norms and disability-norms are both subverted and challenged in Jane Eyre,

often in unexpected ways. The concepts of the ‘male gaze’ and the ‘Other’ are

introduced, to demonstrate how this novel may be approached norm-critically in the

ambition to avert discriminatory behaviour. To exemplify how the reading of each

concept may have positive implications in teaching, I demonstrate how a fusion of

norm-critical pedagogy, critical literacy pedagogy and reader-response theory can be

fruitful to foster critical thinking.

Madness has long been a popular theme for literature, featuring as a trope of horror, mystery, tragedy and comedy genres in varying degrees of amplitude. The topic has provided a significant access point for analysing historical, socio-political and cultural issues as it addresses controversial themes of alienation and criminality as well as philosophical theories of perception and consciousness. As a result, studies on the representation of madness in literature have been dominated by historical approaches that focus directly on social, political, philosophical and psychoanalytical interpretive models. Comparatively little has been done to analyse madness in literature from a narratological perspective. It is for this reason that I will conduct a narratological study on the impact of madness on narrative and fictional world structures. I am specifically interested in the way in which madness can be embedded across multiple levels of the narrative and the effect that this has on readers’ imaginative and interpretive processes. Close readings of Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club (1996) Bret Easton-Ellis’ American Psycho (1991) and John Banville’s The Book of Evidence (1989) will uncover some of the techniques that are used to embed madness into the textual and imaginative structures of a narrative, and will demonstrate how this works to deceive and challenge the reader. I will demonstrate the need for an expansion of terms within the narratological model that can cope specifically with the theme of madness.

News values are used by journalists to construct events and news actors as newsworthy.The present study investigates the use of news values in the reporting on two territorial disputes, one between China and Japan (Diaoyu/Senkaku) and one between Japan and South Korea (Dokdo/Takeshima), in the US news outlets CNN, FOX News and the Washington Post. In addition, it also examines what news values tend to be associated with the involved parties, US-allies Japan and South Korea, and US non-allies China, as well as to what extent the news values associated with Japan differ between the reporting on the two disputes. This is done through a Discursive News Values Analysis (DNVA) which examines how news values are construed using linguistic resources. The aim is to produce new insights into how international conflicts are reported on, and how certain nations are made newsworthy in US media. The results suggest that the news values of Eliteness, Negativity, Superlativeness and Timeliness were foregrounded in the reporting on both disputes, while Proximity was far more common in the Diaoyu/Senkaku dispute articles. Eliteness and Personalisation were commonly associated with US allies while a combination of Superlativeness and Negativity was more common with US non-allies, which resulted in Negativity being further emphasised. Finally, Proximity was far more commonly associated with Japan in the Diaoyu/Senkaku dispute articles compared to the Dokdo/Takeshima dispute articles. Thus, the analysis shows that US allies tend to be constructed as newsworthy in a more positive light than non-allies, and it also indicates that nations defending a contested area in a territorial dispute appear to be framed more positively than their counterparts.

Frank Herbert’s Dune is generally recognized as the best-selling science fiction novel of all time. While it is commonly referred to as a novel of environmental characteristics, this essay investigates the depiction of society and how the power dynamics in this far future setting are presented. I argue that Dune’s portrayal of power within the state apparatuses of the ideological and repressive kind are to be related to issues and concerns that were observable within the state powers of America and the west during the decades of 1950 and 60. By using the concepts and theories of Louis Althusser and Michel Foucault, I claim that the centralized ideology found within the whole state apparatus of Dune endangers the freedoms of the individual in ways that can be related to its contemporary real-world setting. The first part of the essay is an exploratory investigation in how power is being expressed within the two institutions of the military and the church, as well as how the protagonist deals with the burden of authority. This is analyzed in terms of Althusser’s arguments on the reproduction of ideology and the Foucauldian concepts of biopolitics and disciplinary expressions. The second part revolves around a historicist approach, namely how these expressions within the novel are related to the contemporary setting of the United States and its western neighbours. This latter analysis addresses the foreign and domestic policy of the western powers and how, I argue, these are exemplified to an extent within the pages of the novel. This discussion shows how centralized power is presented as an issue due to the influence of ideology, how the different institutions that we perceive as secular and independent become tools for social injustice. Such instances revolve around the subtle insertion of religious values in state affairs and how imperialist intervention is legitimized by the defense of economic and cultural interests, but also how societies are prone to react in the presence of charismatic leaders. Apart from this I also emphasize how the status and subsequent influential significance of Dune have come to play an important part in the development of its genre and how its capabilities of social commentary have been vital to the emergence of “soft” science fiction.

About fifty out of approximately 250 irregular English verbs have regular alternatives in the past tense and/or the past participle. There are often marked preferences for using the irregular or the regular form of the verbs, influenced by several factors. The present corpus-based study investigates the distributions in contemporary British (BrE) and American English (AmE) of the two alternative past tense forms for the two verbs “light”, and “speed” as well as the two past participle variants for the verb “prove”. The factors which are considered in the study are (1) language variety, (2) past tense vs. past participle, and (3) transitive vs. intransitive use of the verbs. It is demonstrated that there are (verb specific) significant differences in frequencies across the factors. Some issues for the study are discussed, in particular unreliable tagging in the corpora used as well as potential sources for random or systematic errors. Some avenues for additional research are proposed.

Teachers struggle to design teaching that that will promote students’ social science knowledge in accordance with the citizenship education purpose of the subject. This study aims to expand the knowledge base of social science education by exploring the meaning of, and teaching for, the ability to critically analyse essentially contested value issues, specifically fairness and justice issues, in social science.

The project concludes results from three studies containing five empirical intervention sub-studies of social science teaching, conducted at upper secondary, middle and lower primary school level. All studies were based on the educational design-based research approach learning study,where teaching interventions are designed, analysed and evaluated in collaboration with practising teachers. For the intervention design and the analysis of empirical data, phenomenography, variation theory and activity theory were used.

The results comprise descriptions of what it is means to know how to reason critically about fairness and justice issues in social science, what the critical aspects for learning how to do this are, how this knowing can be related to different teaching practices and design principles, and what indications of an emerging ability to critically analyse these issues can be. The results can be used as tools when designing, implementing and evaluating teaching and as empirically grounded additions to a theoretical description of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. 

Based on the results, the progression of the ability is discussed and a model for social science analytical reasoning (samhällsanalytiskt tänkande) is proposed. The model expresses analytical reasoning in social science as the development of a critical judgement in relation to contested societal issues with the purpose of reaching an agency-directed citizenship education.

Phenology, or the seasonal timing life-history events such as emergence, reproduction and senescence will determine the outcome of interactions between plants and both abiotic and biotic aspects of the environment. Such timing is therefore of utmost importance for plants in seasonal environments. In this thesis, I first investigated the factors determining the start, end and length of the growing season for a perennial herb. Secondly, I estimated phenotypic selection on flowering time and investigated to which extent it corresponded to genotypic selection in a natural field setting. Thirdly, I estimated population differentiation in flowering time in a common garden and in the field. Lastly, I experimentally manipulated the synchrony of a perennial herb and its main herbivore to investigate the effects of herbivore phenological preference and plant-herbivore synchrony on the direction of selection on flowering time.

I found that flowering individuals emerged earlier in spring than non-flowering individuals and that large individuals senesced later in autumn, suggesting that the length of the growing season is linked to individual condition and resource demands. Phenotypic selection favoured early-flowering individuals, but there was no genotypic selection. I found evidence for genetic population differentiation in flowering time in a common garden but not in the field. This suggests that, although flowering time has a genetic component, the observed variation in flowering time was mainly plastic under natural field conditions. Lastly, I show that constant herbivore preferences of plant phenology, in combination with environmentally driven variation in relative synchrony of the plant and the herbivore, leads to among-year variation in natural selection on flowering time. With this thesis, I contribute to identifying the factors affecting plant phenology as well as of the mechanisms shaping selection on flowering time in perennial plants. Such knowledge is essential for predicting species responses to climate change.

UNICEF and WWF are leading nonprofit organizations in their field. They work globally with different projects and programs, trying to make a change for the better. This study examines and discusses the communication strategies used by nonprofit organizations in their Facebook posts by answering following questions: What communication strategies can be identified in UNICEF and WWF's Facebook posts in their aim to attract followers? Are there any linguistic patterns associated with those strategies? Are there any differences/similarities between the two organizations? The method used is based on corpus linguistics and discourse analysis, categorizing messages into the categories Information, Community and Action. The results show that both organizations mainly produce messages that are information based. They use less of the Community building and Action strategies. Some linguistic patterns were found to be associated with these strategies. These patterns were mostly connected to the communication strategy of Information. 

Introduction: Adolescence is associated with an increased inclination for risk behaviors, like gambling and heavy episodic drinking (HED). While impulsivity is a well-documented risk factor, the purpose of this study is to explore if there are variables modulating this association. The study examined the effects of impulsivity and psychological health on riskgambling andHED, and whetherpsychological healthfunctions as amoderator, i.e., protective factor. Methods: Data was extracted from the Stockholm School Survey, collected in 2014 and 2016 among students in the ninth grade of primary school (15–16years) and second grade of upper secondary school (17–18years) in Stockholm (n=21,886). Impulsivity, psychological problems, risk gambling, HED, and a number of sociodemographic control variables were measured using self-report data. The statistical method was binary logistic regression. Results: Results showed that risk gambling (3.4%) and HED (22.8%) were prevalent among Swedish pupils. Impulsivity and—to a weaker extent—psychological problems as well as several sociodemographic variables were risk factors for risk gambling and HED. Furthermore, psychological problems negatively moderated the association between impulsivity and HED among girls. Conclusions: This study supports evidence that impulsivity represents a risk factor for risk behaviors, and—contrary to the a priori hypothesis—indicates that the association between impulsivity and HED in female students might be attenuated by the presence of psychological problems. Prevention measures should particularly address adolescents exhibiting the mentioned risk factors and aim at reducing psychological problems, but not necessarily target the adolescents showing impulsivity and psychological problems simultaneously.

Laboratory work in science education gives students opportunity to have a conversation and share knowledge with other classmates, which have a positive effect on students learning. To be able to communicate by writing in science education, has also been proven to have an enhanced the learning process by helping students to organized and challenged their thoughts. Therefore, this study objective is to explore how students’ knowledge about chemical bonding and their scientific language develops with laboratory work and laboratory report writing. To explore this, the communication of four students in their first year of high school, studying chemistry were recorded and later transcribed, while they performed and afterwards presented a lab. This material together with the students’ final laboratory report has been analyzed with regards to PEA and the language used by students. The study indicates that the use of laboratory report writing has helped students to develop their knowledge about chemical bonding, but also their scientific language.

I den här texten presenteras en studie av matematiklärares erfarenheter av att arbetamed formativ bedömning och i synnerhet när det arbetet sker med hjälp av teknik.Uppsatsen innehåller ett moment vars syfte är att intervjua några lärare. Studien inledsmed en kort beskrivning av bakgrunden till att uppsatsen riktar fokus just på detområdet. I avsnittet bakgrund uttrycks lite kort varför dessa lärare är intressanta för enfallstudie avseende hur teknik används för formativ bedömning.

I den allmänna debatten om skolan ser vi ofta att lärare utrycker att de upplever att dehar ont om tid för att bedriva relevant undervisning. Behovet av lösningar som kanöka elevers lärande framträder som eftertraktat bland många lärare. I ljuset av denverkligheten blir det intressant att undersöka hur några verksamma lärare i matematikarbetar inom området.

Jag märker att skolverket också efterlyser mer forskning på området. ”Vidare lyftsbehovet av forskning kring IKT-lösningar i relation till formativ bedömning liksombedömningsundervisning vid lärarhögskolor.” (Skolverket, 2016)

The Azores is situated in the North Atlantic Ocean and is one of the most active volcanicregions in the Northern Hemisphere. The volcanic history of the islands is fairly wellknown and several explosive trachytic eruptions have been reported but the geochemicalcompositions of the glass component of the tephra as well as the dispersal oftephras to distal areas are less well known. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) topresent major element geochemistry of the glass component from several historic aswell as prehistoric tephras, including the trachybasaltic Capelinhos AD 1957‐58eruption on the island of Faial, and the trachytic explosive eruptions of Sete Cidades(c. AD 1440), Fogo A (c. 5000 BP), Fogo AD 1563 and Furnas AD 1630 on the island ofSão Miguel; (2) to present a refined tephrostratigraphy for the island of Pico. Analyses ofmajor element geochemistry suggest that tephras from the three active stratovolcanoeson São Miguel can be separated in biplots showing e.g. FeOtot vs.TiO2 and FeOtot vs. CaO.The tephrostratigraphy of Caveiro bog on the island of Pico is based on a radiocarbondated core with eight tephra layers extending back to c. 7000 BP. All tephras are oftrachybasaltic/basaltic trachyandesitic composition except the oldest layer, which is ofbasanitic composition. An attempt was made to correlate the tephra record of Caveirobog with the previously investigated Lake Caveiro. A tephra‐based correlation betweenthe Caveiro bog and Lake Caveiro is not straightforward and only three tephras inCaveiro bog can possibly be correlated with tephras found in the sediments of LakeCaveiro.Proximal glass data from the Furnas volcano on São Miguel suggest that distal cryptotephrasfound in Ireland may have an origin in the Azores and not on Jan Mayen aspreviously has been suggested. The similarity of the proximal tephras on São Miguel anddistal tephras in Ireland is demonstrated by high similarity coefficients (>0.95) andbiplots showing major element composition also support a correlation between Azoreaneruptions and distal tephras in Ireland. Thus, trachytic tephras erupted from explosiveeruptions on the island of São Miguel may have a potential to contribute to theconstruction of a European‐wide tephrochronology framework.Trachytic tephras erupted from explosive eruptions on the Azores may be more widelydispersed than previously thought and may provide useful isochrones for correlation ofpaleoclimate archives in the north‐central Atlantic, North Africa and the Iberian regions.The trachybasaltic/basaltic trachyandesitic tephras erupted from cinder cones on PicoIsland are probably only useful for a local tephrochronology in the Azores region, andnot for a wider Atlantic or European framework.

Immigration policies and border control in the US were hardened significantly more ever since the new government’s immigration executive order in 2017. A series of massive raids and immigrant detentions were carried out which got the attention of both human rights activists and the news media. How these immigration detention events are portrayed in the news media reflect, moreover, a series of discourses which seem to attract audiences from either left-wing or right-wing political ideologies, specifically to read CNN and Fox news respectively, according to previous survey-based research. This paper aims to identify through Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) how those in detention are represented in the news headlines of Fox News and CNN, and secondly, identify what possible left-wing and right-wing political ideologies about immigration are expressed in the news outlets. Reference strategies and transitivity will encompass the micro-level analysis, which focuses on language construction. For the macro-level analysis, on the one hand, discourse practices like process of production and consumption will be considered, and on the other hand, American foreign policy viewed from the left-wing and right-wing perspectives will be discussed to consider differences in style, tone, and perspective in CNN and Fox News’ headlines in relation to immigration detention events. Results show that CNN, tied to left-wing audiences, portray the immigration detention events from the perspective of immigrants who are in a vulnerable position since they are detained with their families. Moreover, Fox News, tied to right-wing audiences, show the events more from the viewpoint of the government and the public entities in charge of the immigration policies, who are in need to restrain, detain, and deport immigrants for the sake of the country’s security. This paper aims to contribute further to the research on political ideologies as a relevant factor to understand differences in discourse in the news media for future research.

Democracy and democratic values have stagnated and are under attack. Current criticism of democracy points towards problems with efficiency, leniency towards undemocratic elements, collective problem-solving, and a suspension of the rule of law for public good. One solution to these problems could be to focus on teaching democratic values through literature in school. A suitable novel for this endeavor is the science-fiction novel Starship Troopers, written by Robert A. Heinlein in 1959, since it functions as fictional criticism and an alternative to democracy. However, most of the previous research conducted on Starship Troopers have focused on aspects regarding militarism and fascism. This research paper differs because it focuses specifically on how democracy is critiqued in the novel and how this critique could be used to teach democratic values. Teaching democratic values should be conducted since democracy and democratic values are arguably the most essential aspects of the fundamental values of the Swedish school system. Still, the relevant school policy documents do not define how these fundamental values are connected to the system of democracy and how they could be taught in a classroom. In order to fill that gap, this paper aims to use the theories and methods of didactic potential, Socratic pedagogy, and the politics of advocacy, attack, and assent to help students become more self-aware of their fundamental democratic values. The analysis demonstrates that Starship Troopers criticizes essential elements of democracy and complements those elements with its own alternative fundamental elements and values. The analysis also demonstrates how this critique can be used as a complement in a philosophical discussion that helps students become more self-aware of their fundamental democratic values.       

This thesis consists of a close reading and meta-analysis of themes and patterns in the works that comprise the fictional world of “Middle-Earth” created by J. R. R. Tolkien, in specific relation to the culturally prevalent views of the decadence of modernity and the ideological dynamics of fascism. This thesis explores the ideological dynamics of the fictional world constructed by Tolkien’s texts, and argues that his work contains demonstrable similarities to the ideological dynamics of fascism in its response to the existential challenges of modernity. To clarify, this thesis does not argue that Tolkien’s fiction can be read as “fascist,” tout court, but rather to give a comprehensive outline of how the fictional world created within his texts relate to discourses critical of modernisation and to what extent the aesthetic and ideological dynamics of this world present what I will call a fascist utopia. Tolkien’s work will be approached using the arguments and theories from canonical texts and authors regarding discourses on modernity, including works from the fields of philosophy (Nietzsche), political economy (Marx and Engels), literary studies, sociology (Durkheim, Weber and Simmel) and psychology (Freud). Alongside this I will use relevant studies of fascism to analyse how Tolkien fits within and relates to the aforementioned discourses. I assert the findings that Tolkien creates a world which, in its attempts to renew the values of the past through the presentation of mythology, rootedness, community, agrarianism and hierarchy, demonstrates a semi-fascistic utopia. This is not to cast aspersions or make claims about Tolkien’s creative intentions or personal ideology, rather an observation as to the content and themes of his fictional world. I will argue this fictional world aligns with fascist concepts of identity, nationhood, heritage, mythology and renewal; however, at the same time finding it non-aligned with the central thrust of fascism, in its overt condemnation of industrialism and technology. This contradictory combination produces a fictional world which presents the renewal of what Roger Griffin terms the “shields against ontological terror” (75) now lost or delegitimised in the modern age.

This dissertation contains four articles that in different ways inform on investor behavior in international financial markets, their impact on the underlying market, and the trading strategies that they pursue.

Article I studies how hedge funds herd in currency future contracts and how it is affecting the underlying market. The results indicate that hedge funds herd, and that they herd in a pattern that is consistent with them following the carry trade strategy. Hedge fund herding has an impact on the underlying market, in the direction of the herd, and the results give no indication that their herding in destabilizing.

Article II examines if limits to arbitrage can help explain the returns to technical analysis strategies in the foreign exchange market. The findings show that returns to technical analysis strategies are higher when limits to arbitrage are more severe, supporting the argument that profit opportunities can persist as arbitrage activity is costly and risky. However, investor sentiment seem to be unrelated to technical analysis returns. The main takeaway is that limits to arbitrage are an important determinant of technical analysis profitability.

Article III investigates whether the trading activity of speculators is beneficial for the speed of information diffusion in the foreign exchange market. The findings show that predictive ability of the equity market on foreign exchange strategies dissipates when speculator activity is high. However, the same results are not found for the commodity markets ability to predict foreign exchange strategies. Overall, the results indicate that speculators play a vital role for informational efficiency in the foreign exchange market.

Article IV examines the impact of investor attention on stock and foreign exchange market volatility in emerging economies using a newly constructed innovative attention proxies that capture the full spectrum of the dynamics of the information processing stages. The results show that investor attention significantly effects emerging stock market volatility, but not FX market volatility.

The purpose of this study is to compare socioeconomic segregation patterns and levels in Brussels, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Oslo, and Stockholm with uniform measurements. Socioeconomic segregation is a persistent reality in European cities that may have negative effects on social cohesion and individual outcomes. Previous research has been hampered by conceptual and methodological shortcomings, preventing comparable studies of segregation. We use harmonized datasets from 2011 containing geocoded indicators based on a nearest-neighbors approach, allowing for comparable measures of socio-economic segregation at multiple scales. Our analyses offer an unprecedented comparison of patterns and levels of socio-spatial inequalities in European capitals. Using maps, segregation indices and percentile plots, we find that for all cities, the level of segregation by affluence is much larger than that of poverty. Macro-scale poverty segregation is most prominent in Stockholm and Brussels, and quite low in Amsterdam. At micro- scales, Brussels and Stockholm stand out with very high concentrations of poverty at the local level. In such poor neighborhoods, there are hardly any non-poor, indicating high levels of polarization. Macro-scale segregation by affluence is most pronounced in Oslo. Differences in levels and patterns are interpreted in the light of their particular welfare regimes, housing systems, area-based policies and migration dynamics.

Mistrust between conflict parties after civil war is a major hurdle to sustainable peace. However, existing research focuses on elite interactions and has not examined the trust relationship between government and rank-and-file members of armed groups, despite their importance for postconflict stability. We use the unexpected decision of the Colombian government to extradite top-level former paramilitary leaders to the United States in 2008 to identify how a peace deal reversal influences ex-combatants’ trust in government. In theory, they may lose trust for instrumental reasons, if they suffer personal costs, or for normative reasons, if they think the government is failing its commitments. Using quasi-experimental survey evidence, we find that extradition decreases trust substantially among ex-paramilitaries, but not in a comparison group of ex-guerrillas not part of the same peace deal. Even though paramilitaries are seen as particularly opportunistic, our evidence suggests that normative rather than instrumentalist considerations led to trust erosion.

Abstract

We live in an increasingly digitized world where technology can help solve many societal challenges. For example, the interest in advanced AI technology in healthcare is increasingly in demand. AI technology has great potential to support healthcare professionals as well as individuals, shorten queues and improve healthcare. The technology is based on the collection of large amounts of data to be programmed to mimic intelligent behaviour. A great number of sensitive personal data are processed when such data is collected. Within the framework of the ongoing debate on personal integrity, a potential conflict area arises at the same time, where trade secrets risk being disclosed while information is provided as individual data protection rights are exercised. 

The conflict area is raised, for instance, in cases where the register extract includes parts of the company’s business plans, work methodology and the structure of the technology. Another example concerns systematic disclosure of personal data upon request from a great number of registered persons, where the compilation itself can be regarded as trade secrets. What will the boundaries of these opposing interests be like? How does one relate to the balance between the protection of privacy and the protection of trade secrets? 

An adequate balance of interests enables companies to protect trade secrets while not compromising individual privacy. However, how this balance of interests should be framed is still unclear, which has given rise to this thesis.

There is no one clear concept of peace in peace education. A large part of peace education recognizes and discusses different forms of violence and how they affect peace. Peace education is a broad field and finds connections to critical peace education, feminism, sustainability, the United Nations, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Using transnational feminist theory and a transnational feminist critical discourse analysis, this thesis problematizes the peace discourse that is created in peace educational material from World’s Largest Lesson. In order to problematize the overall peace discourse, this thesis critically explores the knowledge that is produced through discussions of different forms of violence. The peace education materials were selected based on their relevance to peace education occurring in relation to education for the Sustainable Development Goals.  The materials were also selected based on their aim to produce knowledge specifically related to concepts of peace and violence. The thesis finds that overall, the knowledge produced in the materials deemphasizes the interconnectedness of different forms of violence and, therefore, creates a peace discourse that is decontextualized, dehistoricized, depoliticized, privileges individuals, and maintains the status quo. The thesis also discusses pedagogical implications in relation to Mohanty’s (2003) discussion of different pedagogical strategies. It is argued that the peace discourse in World’s Largest Lesson contributes to a peace as tourist pedagogical model. The thesis also offers insights into a peace as solidarity pedagogical model before calling for change

This study investigates indirect translations translated from Bengali source texts to Swedish target texts via English intermediary texts by comparing Pedersen’s (2011) Extralinguistic Cultural References in coupled pairs from all three languages. The purpose of this study is to examine how indirect translations differ from direct translations and to discern whether there are specific translation strategies that translators use when transferring Extralinguistic Cultural References (ECRs) from a third language. The results were analyzed with a perspective based on translation norms, previous research into indirect translation, and the concept of foreignization/domestication in mind. The results show that an indirect translation can be closer to the original source text than the intermediary text it was based on in the first place. This was demonstrated with the Swedish TTs displaying more source-oriented transfer strategies compared to the English ITs, which displayed a higher amount of target-oriented strategies used by the translators. An unexpected finding was noted in the analysis material, namely that misunderstandings or deviations present in the ITs were not necessarily transferred to the TTs, which goes against previous research into indirect translations (cf. Dollerup 2000; Tegelberg 2011; Ringmar 2016). This supports similar results as found in Adler (2016) and Hekkanen (2014). In conclusion, the results suggest that the tendency of high-prestige literature resulting in adequate translations would be stronger than the tendency of indirect translations resulting in acceptable translations in the context of the Swedish target system. The source-oriented strategies in the TTs could also be seen as resistancy to target norms by the translators to create foreignizing translations.

The overall purpose of this paper was to critically analyze the legal prerequisites for using medical cannabis in Sweden. The legal method and the legal analysis method have been the basis for the analysis of current law, regarding medical use of cannabis and drug abuse. Current law has been analyzed led by a medical approach to clarify the legal and medical meaning of drug abuse.

The Narcotic Drugs Punishment Act makes no distinction between drug abuse and medical use, which means that all forms of use ending up in a drug offence. It ́s not obvious what constitutes narcotics because the cannabis plant is divided into different species and it ́s also available in various forms of preparations. Against this background, the medical usage of cannabis seems to have ended up in a legal grey zone. The cannabis preparation called Bediol includes whole plant parts of cannabis and is treated as drug abuse according to the law, but regarding the legal view of CBD-extract the position is more unclear. The prevailing opinion in law cases of today is that CBD-extracts do not constitute drugs. The question of cannabis for self-medication has been pointed in NJA 2017 s. 872, the Supreme Court considers that the medical motive mitigates the crime classification and that a medical purpose can cause a situation of emer- gency. It ́s still unclear how the prerequisites “addictive properties” and ”euphoric effects” in paragraph 8 in the Narcotic Drugs Punishment Act shall be read regarding the occasion of medical use. As long as cannabis is under extensive international control the uncertainty remains about how the prerequisites in paragraph 8 in the Narcotic Drugs Punishment Act should be treated in relative to the medical motive.

Furthermore, the study based on the Swedish Medical Products Agency’s decision regarding Bediol and Epidiolex shows that the Medical Products Agency has a tolerant attitude towards both cannabis preparations. The study of license decisions has also been relevant to clarify the discrepancy between medical use and how it ́s considered according to the Narcotic Drugs Punishment Act. The study demonstrates how the Swedish Medical Products Agency's attitude does not always interact with the view of the law. Since the decisions about licenses can be seen as an exception to the Narcotic Drugs Punishment Act, there should be some sort of consensus in how the preparations should be viewed from an authority and law point of view. This to not affect the predictability of a drug abuse in respect of the Narcotic Drugs Punishment Act. As the Medical Products Agency considers both the medical rudiments and the medical development this should be taken into account in the Narcotic Drugs Punishment Act in a more extensive way, to reach some sort of consensus. The national law can only be changed in a sharpening direction, which means that a future international reclassification of cannabis may be considered as a guide in how much space the medical motives can be applied in the 8 paragraph in the Narcotic Drugs Punishments Act.

The integration of information technology (IT) into service delivery is currently seen as an innovative strategy to support the modernising of universities worldwide. However, in some institutions in developing countries, including Rwanda, IT has failed to add the intended value to university services, despite huge associated investments in IT. Consequently, IT-organisational alignment continues to be a primary concern for university managers. This alignment is viewed in terms of its strategic, socio-cultural, and technological dimensions. For effective IT-institutional alignment, several antecedents (alignment practices) for creating an appropriate fit between IT and organisations have been suggested in the literature. However, several studies exploring IT alignment focused mainly on general business companies, and similar research with an emphasis on higher education institutions is still scarce. Therefore, the aim of this research was twofold: firstly, it attempted to understand the process of IT integration into universities; and secondly, to propose a contextual model for IT-institutional alignment within a higher education context. A design science research methodology (DSRM) was applied in this research, using surveys and case studies as research strategies. Preliminary findings at the exploration phase of this research indicated a strong misalignment between IT and the university services caused by the lack of clearly defined alignment practices. Furthermore, as the research main outcome, an IT-Institutional Alignment Model (ITIAM) was proposed after reaching an understanding of the current state and challenges related to IT integration into teaching, learning, research and university administration. This model includes 44 alignment practices, related to both technical and non-technical dimensions. These alignment practices were clustered under six categories: (1) Communication, (2) Structure/Governance, (3) Technology Scope, (4) Competence/Value Measurement, (5) Skills, and (6) Partnership. Alignment practices related to institutional structure and governance, skills and communication were found to have a strong positive influence on the institutional performance, as compared to those related to competence and value measurement, partnership, and technology scope. Based on the research findings, the proposed ITIAM, which was iteratively tested and evaluated using case study institutions, was found to be a relevant tool for guiding the implementation of IT systems towards the improvement of institutional performance. Hence, this thesis makes a theoretical contribution by applying the concept of IT alignment within a higher education context and by documenting the empirically tested contextual alignment practices as conveyed in the ITIAM Model. Additionally, as a practical implication, the results can serve as a reference for an effective IT integration process in university services and for how to improve performance through effective use of IT in teaching, learning, research and educational management.

In this PhD thesis we investigate various aspects of particle dark matter. The proper identification of dark matter developed during the second half of the twentieth century to become one of the biggest endeavours in modern physics and astronomy. Although observations currently favour the explanation that dark matter consists of a new form of particle, no experimental search has yet provided unequivocal evidence of such a particle. 

Of particular importance in this thesis is the field of indirect detection of dark matter, where one searches for the particles emerging from annihilations of dark matter particles out in the Universe. Specifically, we consider dark matter annihilations in the centre of the Sun. As the Sun moves through the galaxy, some dark matter particles scatter in the Sun and lose enough energy to become bound to the Sun. They settle in the solar core and begin to annihilate, which leads to an annihilation signal from the solar direction.

The thesis is built on novel research consisting of three papers and a monograph-type chapter. In the first paper we calculate the flux of high energy neutrinos coming from cosmic ray cascades in the solar atmosphere and investigate the role it plays as a background in solar dark matter searches. In the second paper we consider dark matter annihilating into long-lived mediators in the Sun, which leads to interesting new detection possibilities. A third paper explores more generally the fluxes of secondary particles from dark matter annihilations that are searched for in indirect detection. We look at the effects of changing the Monte Carlo event generator that generates the fluxes and of having polarized final states in the annihilations. Finally, we consider in a monograph-type chapter the production of dark matter in the early Universe through the freeze-out mechanism, looking at effects of higher order corrections in the calculation of the relic abundance in the minimal supersymmetric standard model.

Structural Change and Intergenerational Mobility: Evidence from the Finnish War Reparations

This paper presents evidence that government industrial policy can promote new industries, move labor out of agriculture into manufacturing, and have long-term effects via increased human capital accumulation and upward mobility. I use plausibly exogenous variation generated by the Finnish war reparations (1944-1952) that forced the largely agrarian Finland to give 5% of its yearly GDP to the Soviet Union in the form of industrial products. To meet these terms, the Finnish government provided short-term industrial support that persistently raised the employment and production of treated, skill-intensive industries. I trace the impact of the policy using individual-level registry data and show that the likelihood of leaving agriculture for manufacturing and services increased substantially in municipalities more strongly affected by the war reparations shock. These effects were persistent: 20 years after the intervention, the reallocated workers remained in their new sectors and had higher wages. Younger cohorts affected by the new skill-intensive opportunities obtained higher education and were more likely to work in white-collar occupations by 1970. This result is consistent with higher returns to education. Finally, I link parents to children to study how the policy affected upward mobility. I show that mobility in both income and education increased in the exposed locations, as people in lower socioeconomic groups benefited from the structural change.

Tracing Out the Finnish Kuznets Curve: Famine, Threat of Revolution, and Democratization

We study the long-run development of Finland with a particular focus on some causes and consequences of inequality broadly defined. We show that the Finnish famine of 1866-1868 led to increased inequality in the long-run and tighter coercion in the labor markets of the early 1900s. Economic inequality at the time meant political exclusion, as voting rights and vote counts in municipal elections were tied to taxable income. We provide evidence consistent with discontent theories of conflict that these factors contributed to the emergence of the Finnish Civil War in 1918. The threat of revolution became real with the civil war and further led to the successful extension of the franchise. Municipalities with higher levels of inequality and more insurgents experienced a more drastic shift towards equality and higher levels of redistribution after the conflict.

Can You Make an American? Compulsory Patriotism and Assimilation of Immigrants

This paper investigates the success of assimilation efforts in the U.S. during the Age of Mass Migration. I focus on a largely overlooked case of American nation-building, the introduction of compulsory patriotic acts, such as the Pledge of Allegiance, to American schools in the late 19th century. Using a legislative change in the State of New York as an experiment, I show that immigrant children exposed to compulsory patriotism in school were more assimilated as adults, measured by naturalization, the naming of children, military service, and intermarriage. These positive effects on assimilation hold for immigrants from all the large origin countries. Overall, this paper provides evidence that even softer, hearts and minds types of interventions that do not provide any new information can have long-lasting effects.

Life-histories commonly evolve along a continuum from short-lived and fecund, to long-lived and less fecund. Because life-history traits are mostly components of reproduction and survival, understanding the causes and consequences of life-history variation is at the core of evolutionary biology. This thesis aims to identify what other key traits (e.g. behavioural, physiological and morphological traits) covary with life-history, and why. Numerous hypotheses describe how life-history might be associated with other traits, with life-history trade-offs often considered to be a primary driver of any such relationships. For example, since resources are limited, increased investment in one trait must lead to decreased investment in one or several other traits, all else equal. Hypotheses on the relationship between life-history and other traits have been tested in many studies, but empirical studies in controlled experimental settings are rare. In this thesis I explore how behaviour, physiology and morphology relate to variation along the life-history continuum from fast to slow, in a system with substantial variation in life-history traits - the killifishes.

I began by exploring the patterns of egg to body size allometry in killifishes (Paper I), where species with faster life-histories showed indications of constraints on the independent evolution of egg size and body size. Furthermore, I found evidence of differences in variance and in the rates of evolution of egg size and body size across species, potentially caused by the colonisation of ephemeral habitats, which could have selected for adaptations that lead to differences in size.

I then performed a comparative common garden study (Paper II) of the pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis, which predicts that species with fast life-histories should take larger risks in order to maintain their increased reproductive rate. I obtained data on risk taking behaviours, including movement, tendency to enter an open environment, and aggressiveness, in addition to metabolic rate, for 20 species of killifish, with multiple replicates per species. The results indicated trait dependent associations with life-history, where aggression seemed to correlate positively with speed of life-history, in congruence with our prediction.

Next, my colleagues and I assessed the association between life-history and sexual selection (Paper III), in order to determine if investment in secondary sexual traits might be traded off against survival in killifish. Fin size was found to be negatively associated with escape performance in a simulated predator attack, suggesting survival costs for individuals with large fins. Importantly, fin size was also positively associated with the speed of life-history, supporting the hypothesis that costs to survival probability is lower in fast-living species.

Lastly, I tested the hypothesized negative covariation between relative brain size and speed of life-history, by collecting and analysing brain size measurements for 21 species of killifish (Paper IV). Surprisingly, a positive relationship between speed of life-history and relative brain size was found for adults, although juveniles did not differ in relative brain size. This implies at least one of two things: either there is no need to trade off brain size with life-history since resource acquisition is higher, or brain size and life-history are traded-off with other traits.

In conclusion, I show that previously found trade-offs between life-history and investment in other costly traits are only sometimes present, when tested in a system with substantial divergences in the speed of life-history. I also provide evidence for a trait dependent association between life-history and among species differences in risk-taking and metabolic rate.

Syftet med uppsatsen Den ”bråkiga” skolfotbollsplanen är att synliggöra och skapa kunskap om skolans fotbollsplan som plats och vilken roll den har i det sociala livet på skolgården. Uppsatsen visar att fotbollsplanen kan förstås som en pluralistisk och föränderlig plats. Vid olika tider möjliggörs eller begränsas konflikt, exkludering, hierarkier och identiteter bland barnen. Skola, pedagoger och barn är medskapare till vad planen ges för mening, där den mest framträdande uppfattningen är att den är bråkig. När platsen används som att den har en singulär fixerad mening är den som mest konfliktfylld och exkluderande. I kontrast kan olika aktiviteter pågå parallellt utan konflikt under perioder då fotbollsplanen ”stängs” och omskapas till ett mellanrum. Identiteter bland barnen förhandlas, skapas och omskapas i relation till fotbollsplanen och de sociala relationer och förväntningar som omger den. Genom hur fotbollsplanen organiseras av skolan regleras utrymme och umgänge på skolgården, vilket skapar säsonger i barnens sociala geografier.

Drömforskning indikerar att emotionsbearbetning är en central drömfunktion. Forskningen på hur denna bearbetning skulle kunna gå till är dock begränsad, särskilt med fokus på emotionen ilska. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur ilska och irritation visar sig och bearbetas i drömmar. Totalt har 70 drömberättelser analyserats med tre separata metoder, innehållsanalys, gradering av känslomässig intensitet och processanalys. Drömberättelserna har samlats in från databasen www.dreambank.net utifrån sökorden “angry” och “irritated”. Inomgrupps- och mellangruppjämförelser för innehållsanalys och processanalys har gjorts med icke-parametrisk testning. Drömmar med tydligare, mer levande och mer dramatiska uttryck av ilska tenderade att placera ilskan hos subjektet snarare än ett objekt. De hade även färre karaktärer, interaktioner mellan objekt/subjekt, rörelse mot interaktion och avbrott i form av kognitiva processer innan ilskan eller irritationen explicit benämndes, jämfört med drömmar utan särskilt tydligt, levande och dramatiskt uttryck av ilska. Denna studie bör dock ses som en pilotstudie med en deskriptiv ansats, dessutom finns det vissa metodologiska begränsningar att ta hänsyn till som kan ha påverkat resultaten.