This work conducted market research on the use of smartphones and smartphone applications in the forest products industry and academia. This research also attempted to project how likely the industry would be to use an app that measures stiffness of wood. After the review of scholarly literature and existing apps, data was collected via an online survey. Participants were individuals who work with wood or wood-based products. Out of 1,221 invitations, 311 were returned at the response rate of 27.2 percent. Data was analyzed using SPSS statistics. Nearly all of the respondents (95.7%) had smartphones, and over half of them were iOS users (52.3%). More respondents had paid apps experiences (45.2%) than in-app purchases (28.5%). Regarding responses’ perceptions toward the app, the respondents expressed that the app could be useful, and were interested in the app. Millennials showed a higher interest level in the app than other generations.

Mobile applications are a critical part of everyday life. Animations in mobile applications demand optimized performance, which developers are persistently striving to achieve. This study examines the performance of mobile applications developed using native approaches for iOS and Android, as well as the Flutter framework for cross-platform approach, while executing animations. This was motivated by the fact that while cross-platform development offers advantages in terms of development efficiency, it often results in decreased performance. Since the field of mobile development is continuously evolving, it is important to explore new capabilities of mobile technologies. The purpose of this study is to understand the differences in CPU and RAM usage between native and cross-platform applications by examining two types of animation implementations, thereby aiming to identify the causes of the performance gap and propose solutions to decrease the performance gap. This study involved experiments, a literature study and an analysis of the results to address the research questions and fulfill the purpose. The findings of this study showed that the cross-platform approach resulted in higher CPU and RAM usage than the native approaches. However, the performance gap was less noticeable in one of the animation implementations. Thus indicating that the performance of mobile applications can be significantly influenced by the choice of animation implementation. Therefore, a strategic approach to mitigating the performance gap could involve careful selection of Flutter widgets or the incorporation of efficient libraries.

This paper examines the issue of our over-consuming society and its consequences using the example of the fashion industry. As the fashion industry alone is one of the biggest culprits in the global environmental deterioration and overexploitation of resources, the paper mainly focuses on the environmental impact. As a solution, the paper presents the application “Lessly”, which can help individual consumers to change their shopping behaviour and become more sustainable in their choices. In particular, the paper outlines the development of the app and the design decisions. The main token of the app is a mascot which also shares the name of the app, “Lessly”. The name originates from the saying “less is more” – the slogan of the app, which intends to describe the counter-movement of the ever-accelerating fashion consumption. Thus, the Lessly app represents a convenient tool for positive consumer change and the potential for a better environment and future.

Am 20. Oktober 2020 veranstaltete die mFUND-Begleitforschung des WIK den mFUND-Fachaustausch „App-gestützte Datenerhebung“. Rund 40 Fachleute, darunter Vertreterinnen und Vertreter aus zahlreichen mFUND-Projekten, nahmen an dem Fachaustausch teil. Die Projekte werden durch die Förderinitiative mFUND des Bundesministeriums für Verkehr und digitale Infrastruktur (BMVI) gefördert. Aufgrund der Corona-Krise wurde die Veranstaltung als Online- Konferenz durchgeführt.

Att planera sitt liv och att alltid ha en överblick över alla dess delar kan vara svårt- inte minst om man ska göra det tillsammans med någon man bor med. Det finns idag en mängd olika alternativ för att strukturera och planera sin vardag, både digitalt och analogt, som kalendrar, post-it lappar, inköpslistor och anteckningar. Det saknas dock en plattform som på ett enkelt sätt samlar alla dessa och som alltid är delad med den man bor med. Syftet med arbetet som presenteras i denna forskningsrapport är därför att förenkla strukturen och planeringen kring angelägenheter som aktiviteter, händelser, måltider, inköp och utgifter i vardagen för personer som bor tillsammans med hjälp av kalender, påminnelser, att göra-listor, måltidsplanering samt ekonomisk översikt. Denna studie undersöker därmed hur en mobilapplikation kan utformas som kan förenkla angelägenheter i vardagen mellan minst två vuxna personer i ett hushåll samt hur den kan utformas för att upplevas ha en god användbarhet av målgruppen. Metoden bestod av fyra faser: förstudie, konceptfas, bearbetningsfas och detaljeringsfas där de tre sistnämnda utgör designprocessen. Metoderna grundades i teori kring ämnet och under processens gång har mobilapplikationen utvecklats genom bland annat användbarhetstester som har resulterat i en interaktiv datorprototyp. Mobilapplikationen heter Hembo och är hjälpredan för planering och strukturering av angelägenheter i ett hushåll. I designprocessen har bland annat Hembos funktioner, layout, gränssnitt och navigationsvägar testats genom användbarhetstester. Vidare har semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts om användarnas upplevelse och intryck av Hembo. Arbetet i denna forskningsrapport har resulterat i att målgruppen önskar en ny metod för bättre planering och struktur i hushållet och att den nya metoden kan vara en mobilapplikation som samlar alla funktioner för ett planerat hushåll. Slutsatsen har dragits att Hembo upplevs ha en god användbarhet samt underlättar planering för sammanboende. / To plan your life and always have a perspective of all its parts can be difficult- not least if you are to do it together with someone you live with. Today there are multiple options available on how to structure and plan your everyday life. Both digital and analog options, like calendars, post-it notes, shopping lists and notes are available. However, a platform bringing all these activities together in a simple way while being shared with the one you are living with is missing. The aim of this research report is therefore to simplify structures and planning around matters such as activities, events, meals, purchases and expenses in everyday life for people who live together by using calendars, reminders, to-do lists, meal planning and a financial overview. This study thus examines how a mobile application can be designed that could simplify matters in everyday life between at least two adults in a household and how it can be designed to be perceived as having a good usability by the target group.   The method consisted of four phases: pilot study, concept phase, processing phase and detail phase where the latter three constitute the design process. The methods were theoretically based on the subject. During the process, the mobile application has been developed partly through usability tests that have resulted in an interactive digital prototype. The mobile application is called Hembo. Hembo provides a helping hand for planning and structuring activities in a household. During the design process, the functions of Hembo, its layout and interface, have been tested. It has been concluded that Hembo is perceived to have a good usability and facilitates planning for people living together. / <p>Examensarbetet är utfört vid Institutionen för teknik och naturvetenskap (ITN) vid Tekniska fakulteten, Linköpings universitet</p>

Healthcare expenditure has been on a steep rise in the past decade. Through preventive measures, the company Qinematic tries to assist the healthcare system through 3D scanning and assessing people with the help of a Kinect. The goal is to detect dysfunction in human movement and fix these issues, improving individual mobility, and with that lessen the burden on the healthcare system. The goal of this study is to develop a working web-based portal for physiotherapists and occupational therapists to analyze the 3D scans and derived measures. Simultaneously this portal should aid the therapists in their assessment of the person, allowing the therapists to improve and speed up the assessment. Interviews, observations, literature, and a state-of-theart is used to explore what is necessary to assist physiotherapists and occupational therapists in their assessment. Based on these requirements, a prototype is developed to explore how these requirements might function. Finally, the prototype is tested with therapists to validate the new functionality. During the prototype evaluation, five out of the six therapists expressed that the prototype was definitely an improvement, while the other one was unsure about the overall improvement. The evaluation of the prototype also produced additional requirements and alterations to existing requirements, which can be used for future work. / Hälsovårdskostnaderna har ökat dramatiskt under det senaste decenniet. Genom förebyggande åtgärder försöker företaget Qinematic att förbättra hälsovårdssystemet via 3D-skanning och mätning av mänsklig rörelse med hjälp av en Kinect-sensor. Målet är att upptäcka bristande funktioner i människans rörelsemönster och förbättra och förbättra individuell mobilitet. samt därigenom minska belastningen på vårdsystemet. Målet med denna studie är att utveckla en webbaserad portal för fysioterapeuter och ergoterapeuter för att analysera 3D-skanningar och åtgärder. Samtidigt bör denna portal hjälpa terapeuterna i sin bedömning av personen, så att terapeuterna kan förbättra och påskynda bedömningen. Intervjuer, observationer, litteratur och en bedömning används för att undersöka vad som är nödvändigt för att hjälpa fysioterapeuter och arbetsterapeuter. Baserat på dessa krav utvecklas en prototyp för att undersöka hur dessa krav kan fungera. Slutligen testas prototypen av terapeuter för att validera den nya funktionaliteten. Under prototyputvärderingen uttryckte fem av de sex terapeuten att prototypen definitivt var en förbättring, medan en var osäker på den övergripande förbättringen. Utvärderingen av prototypen skapade också ytterligare kravspecifikationer och ändringar av befintliga kravspecifikationer som kan användas för framtida arbete.

Smart device applications that allow users to interact with a TV show in some way, so called companion apps, are increasingly common. In this paper, we study how the usage of such apps affect viewer engagement when used in groups of three or more people, a common TV viewing scenario. To study these effects, an experiment was conducted, where two participant groups watched multiple clips from a show of their choice, with varying devices running companion apps present. Qualitative analysis of data gathered during these viewings (video recordings, survey responses, and group interviews) show that the usage of companion apps increases viewer engagement in these scenarios by encouraging users to either work together or compete against each other, and that this effect seems to be more prominent among younger viewers. / Applikationer till smarta enheter som möjliggör för TV-tittare att interagera med TV-program de tittar på, så kallade kompanjonappar, blir allt vanligare. I denna studie ämnar vi att undersöka hur användandet av sådana applikationer påverkar tittarnas engagemang i programmet vid TV-tittande i grupper om tre eller fler personer. För att undersöka detta utfördes ett experiment där två deltagargrupper fick välja, och se på, tre klipp från ett TV-program, med olika smarta enheter med tillhörande kompanjonappar tillgängliga. Kvalitativ analys av data från sessionerna (videoinspelningar, enkätsvar och gruppintervjuer) tyder på att användadet av kompanjonappar ökar tittarnas engagemang genom att uppmuntra till sammarbete eller tävling mellan deltagarna, samt att denna effekt verkar mer framträdande hos yngre TV-tittare.

Almost every application or platform that is developed nowadays includes a user onboarding experience. Onboarding is a process that starts the moment users enter an application and it aims to show the benefits of using the application, teach how the functionality works and motivate users to return. When the target application is considered a complex software, the teaching methodology needs to be carefully studied and designed. Through the example of a complex project management software, this master thesis aims to develop an in-app teaching interface that allows the users to understand the different functionalities and improve their work performance in a complex application. In this work, we developed an integrated learning platform as a result of methodical research-oriented design processes. The outcome of the research is a modular onboarding experience called the Learning Center. It includes a collection of courses based on video tutorials and interactive guided tours. Gamification elements such as progress bars and checklists are included as a way to engage users and encourage them to complete the courses. User tests showed an improvement in functionality understanding and a reduction in error rates. The Learning Center was considered useful and adequately approached. Future research includes making the appropriate learning material directly available from each software feature. / Nästan alla applikationer eller plattformar som är utvecklade idag har en “user onboarding experience”. “Onboarding” är en process som börjar när en användare startar en applikation. Processen ämnar visa fördelar med att använda applikationen, lära användaren funktioner och att motivera vidare användning. När applikationer uppfattas som komplexa behövs noggrann studie och design av potentiella lärometoder. Genom en komplex projektledningsapplikation ämnar detta masterarbete utveckla en “in-app” utbildningsgränssnitt som möjliggör det för användare att förstå diverse funktioner och förbättra deras arbetsprestation i en komplex applikation. I detta arbete utvecklade vi en integrerad utbildningsplattform som ett resultat av metodiska forskningsorienterade designprocesser. Resultatet av forskningen är en modulär “onboarding experience” kallad “the Learning Center”. Den innehåller en uppsättning kurser baserade på videohandledning och interaktiva guidade rundturer. Spelifieringselement så som framstegsmätare och checklistor är inkluderade som ett sätt för att engagera och uppmuntra de att fullfölja kurser. Användare visade en förbättring i förståelsen av funktionalitet och en minskning i antal fel. “The Learning Center” sågs som användbart och adekvat bemött. Framtida forskning bör göra passande läromaterial direkt tillgänglig från varje mjukvarufunktion.

Increased production of amyloid beta (A-beta) peptide, via altered proteolytic cleavage of amyloid protein precursor (APP), and abnormalities in neuronal calcium homeostasis play central roles in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Notch1, a membrane receptor that controls cell fate decisions during development of the nervous system, has been linked to AD because it is a substrate for the gamma-secretase protein complex in which mutations cause early-onset inherited AD. Numb is an evolutionarily conserved endocytic adapter involved in the internalization of transmembrane receptors. Mammals produce four Numb isoforms that differ in two functional domains, a phosphotyrosine-binding domain (PTB) and a proline-rich region (PRR). Recent studies showed that the PTB domain of Numb interacts with the cytoplasmic tails of APP and Notch but the functional relevance of these interactions with respect to AD pathogenesis is not clear. In the current studies, we proposed to investigate the biological consequences of the interaction of the Numb proteins with APP and Notch in neural cells stably overexpressing each of the four human Numb proteins. In the first part of our studies, we found that expression of the Numb isoforms lacking the insert in the PTB (SPTB-Numb) caused the abnormal accumulation of cellular APP in the early endosomes, and increased the levels of C-terminal APP fragments and A-beta. By contrast, expression of the Numb isoforms with the insert in PTB (LPTB-Numb) leads to the depletion of cellular APP and coincides with significantly lower production of APP derivatives and A-beta. The contrasting effects of the Numb isoforms on APP metabolism were not attributed to differences in the expression of APP nor the activities of the various APP-processing secretases. In the second part of our studies, we found that expression of SPTB-Numb protein enhances neuronal vulnerability to serum deprivation-induced cell death by a mechanism involving the dysregulation of cellular calcium homeostasis. Neural cells expressing SPTB-Numb exhibited enhanced Notch activity, which markedly upregulated the expression of transient receptor potential canonical 6 (TRPC6) channels enhancing calcium entry in response to store depletion. We also found that serum deprivation increased TRPC6 expression, mediating the serum deprivation-induced death in neural cells. Interestingly, expression of LPTB-Numb protein suppressed serum deprivation-induced activation of Notch and the subsequent upregulation of TRPC6 and cell death. Finally, we showed that the Numb proteins differentially impact Notch activation by altering the endocytic trafficking and processing of Notch. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that aberrant expression of the Numb proteins may influence APP metabolism and Notch-mediated cellular responses to injury by altering their endocytic trafficking and processing.

Neuroprogenitor cells are an important resource because of their potential to replace damaged cells in the brain caused by trauma and disease. It is of great importance to better understand which factors influence the differentiation and migration of these cells. Previously it has been reported that neuroprogenitor cells undergoing apoptotic stress have increased levels of Amyloid precursor protein (APP) and increased APP expression results in glial differentiation. APP activity was also shown to be required for staurosporine induced glial differentiation of neuroprogenitor cells. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a chemokine that is expressed during inflammatory. The binding of MCP-1 to its chemokine receptor induces expression of novel transcription factor MCP-1 induced protein (MCPIP). MCPIP expression subsequently leads to cell death. Previous studies have shown that pro apoptotic factors have the ability to induce neural differentiation. Therefore, we investigated if MCPIP expression leads to differentiation of NT2 neuroprogenitor cells. Results showed that MCPIP expression increased glial fibrillary acid protein expression and also caused distinct morphological changes, both indicative of glial differentiation. Similar results were observed with MCP-1 treatment. Interestingly, APP expression decreased in response to MCPIP. Instead, we found APP activity regulates expression of both MCP-1 and MCPIP. Furthermore, inhibition of either p38 MAPK or JAK signaling pathways significantly reduced APP's effect on MCP-1 and MCPIP. These data demonstrate the role APP has in glial differentiation of NT2 cells through MCP-1/MCPIP signaling. It is possible that increased APP expression after CNS injury could play a ii role in MCP-1 production, possibly promoting astrocyte activation at injured site. We next investigated the effect that MCP-1 has on NT2 cell migration. Studies have shown that when neuroprogenitor cells are transplanted into the brain they migrate towards damaged areas, suggesting that these areas express factors that recruit migrating cells. Generally, after neuronal injury there is a neuroinflammatory response that results in increased chemokine production. We demonstrate that MCP-1 significantly induces the migration of NT2 neuroprogenitor cells. Activation of intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) or protein kinase C with forskolin and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), respectively, was able to completely abolish the MCP-1 induced migration. Contrarily, neither extracellular signal-regulated kinase or p38 mitogen activated protein kinase was required for NT2 cells to respond to MCP-1. Interestingly, APP's ability to activate MCP-1 expression was shown to play a role in NT2 cell migration. We showed that NT2 cells expressing APP were capable of inducing migration of other neuroprogenitor cells. Utilizing a MCP-1 neutralizing antibody we discovered that APP induced migration was not caused solely by increased MCP-1 production. Interestingly, APP increased expression of several C-C chemokines: MCP-1, Regulated upon Activation, Normal T-cell Expressed, and Secreted (RANTES), and macrophage inflammatory protein alpha (MIP-1 alpha). This demonstrates the unique role APP has in regulating chemokine production, which directly affects cell migration. Taken together, this study provides us with a greater understanding of the mechanisms involved in both glial differentiation and migration of NT2 neuroprogenitor cells.