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Soft power and public diplomacy compose the new reality shaping the dynamics of contemporary international relations. Strategic narratives represent an essential means for political actors to extend their influence, gain the public opinion’s support for their actions and fulfill their foreign policy goals. The thesis focused on the Chinese Party state’s construction of strategic narratives targete
As New Public Management reforms began to be implemented in Sweden in the 1990s, a greater degree of private involvement was introduced in the provision of services in the welfare sector, and some of the companies operating in the sector soon came to be acquired by private equity firms known for their aggressive strategies to increase profits. This study examines the extent to which two major pr
This master’s thesis aims to support product-centered companies in their transition to a circular economy (CE) by developing a digital self-assessment and decision support tool. Circularity is a complex field that demands collaboration across multiple system levels. Although a wide range of frameworks, regulations and guidelines exist, the transition remains difficult for companies to navigate. Ex
One measure required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is changed consumption behaviours in affluent contexts. This might be motivated by sufficiency, and while the concept is often related to reduced material consumption, its practical implications regarding food consumption have not been explored to the same extent. To investigate how the literature on sufficient consumption may offer new insig
Head-mounted mixed reality devices are making their way into airline pilot training. Devices that use passthrough video hold much promise but come with caveats. Because current generation passthrough video devices occlude natural light, users rely entirely on a digital video feed that lacks the visual fidelity and field of view of the unaided human eye. The application of head-mounted extended rea
This thesis analyzes Socialstyrelsens (Swedish Social Services) guidelines for endometriosis healthcare, with the aim of understanding the social aspects of the medicalized field of endometriosis. Former research on transnational and Swedish endometriosis experience, studies on endometriosis guidelines and Socialstyrelsens’ guidelines for healthcare, is presented to contextualize the project. The
Our thesis investigates the effects that strategies aligned with resonance theory have on organisations when they are used to adapt to technical acceleration. To do so, we use retrospective case studies and qualitative interviews to understand how organisations adapted to the rapid implementation of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. We analyse internal methods of adapt
Bragg Coherent Diffraction Imaging (Bragg CDI) is an X-ray imaging technique used to recover the internal strain information of nano-scale crystalline particles. A particle, illuminated by X-ray beams, is rocked along a direction θ and the entire diffraction volume is sampled by a series of 2-D diffraction patterns. From the diffraction volume, the internal structure of the particle can be recover
The global industrial sector is a highly polluting and greenhouse gas-emitting sector. As industries increasingly explore Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance operational efficiency and drive innovation, questions emerge regarding its alignment with sustainability objectives. While AI is often positioned as a key enabler of digital transformation, its sustainable integration into industrial ope
Emergency department (ED) wait times can be long, and not all patients can safely wait for treatment. Therefore, an effective emergency triage system is required to prioritize patients according to the urgency of their condition upon arrival at the ED. Assessing a patient’s level of urgency without access to complete physiological measurements is a complex task that is currently performed by nurse
The tea sector is one of Kenya's most important industries, with a big impact on the country's economy and socio-economic development. At the same time, tea manufacturing is highly energy-intensive and strongly affected by electricity tariffs and high production costs. Due to the favorable weather conditions and growing renewable energy ambitions in Kenya, Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems p
Milk protein compositions play a pivotal role in physicochemical and technological properties of milk, particularly in rennet coagulation in cheese production. Conventional analytical methods such as sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and liquid chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) provide detailed protein characterization but require long an
Large companies in today’s business environment are to a great extent depending on their credit score by rating institutes like Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. There is however indications that these big institutes are not always rating companies accurately. This is why this thesis aims at developing a new credit rating model, CRITA-Score, with the objective of determining a company’s financial
Intranasal drug delivery is a practical and accessible method for treating localized symptoms as well as achieving systemic drug absorption. The approach takes advantage of the permeability, vascularization, and limited enzymatic activity of nasal tissue, leading to enhanced drug absorption. Moreover, drugs can bypass the blood-brain barrier and directly reach the brain through the olfactory route
Objective: The European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) is used to identify patients at high risk for aortic valve replacement (AVR) in whom alternative procedures, such as trans-catheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), may be appropriate. The aim of the present study was to calibrate and validate the EuroSCORE for different cardiac surgery procedures to improve patient
This study describes and validates a new method for automatic segmentation of left ventricular mass (LVM) in myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS) images. This is important for estimating the size of a perfusion defect as percentage of the left ventricle. METHODS: A total of 101 patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease underwent both rest and stress MPS and MRI. A new automated algorith
The natural radiative lifetime of the 3s 4p 1P1 level of neutral magnesium was measured by pulsed level-crossing spectroscopy at the short excitation wavelength of 202.6 nm. We obtained tau = 13.4(5) ns for this state, strongly deviating from a previous beam-foil result, but in good agreement with a multi-configuration Hartree-Fock calculation. A discussion of the applicability of the pulsed Hanle
