This project presents a comprehensive study on the design and implementationof an Internet of Things (IoT)-based system for monitoring and alerting salinevolumes in healthcare environments.Background: In healthcare settings, the accurate monitoring of saline volumesin Intravenous (IV) drip systems is crucial for ensuring patient safety and effectivetreatment. Traditional monitoring methods are labour-intensive and prone to human error. The IoT offers promising solutions for automating and enhancing themonitoring process.Objectives: This thesis aims to develop an IoT-based saline volume monitoring and alert system using NodeMCU, a load sensor, an amplifier, the ThingSpeakcloud platform, and the Massachusets Insitute of Technology (MIT) App Inventor.The system is designed to improve the accuracy and efficiency of saline volumemonitoring while reducing the burden on healthcare professionals.Methods: The proposal system employs a Node MicroController Unit (NodeMCU)microcontroller for data processing and communication, a load sensor for monitoring the saline volume, and a buzzer alarm and amplifier for alerting healthcareprofessionals when the saline volume reaches a critical threshold. The system connects to the ThingSpeak cloud platform for data storage and analysis, facilitatingremote monitoring and control through a custom mobile application developedusing MIT App Inventor.Results: The implementation and testing of the system showed accurate and reliable monitoring of saline volumes in real-time, with efficient alerting mechanisms.The user-friendly mobile application enabled healthcare professionals to monitormultiple IV drip systems simultaneously, receiving timely alerts when interventionwas required.Conclusions: The IoT-based saline volume monitoring and alert system demonstrates the potential to improve patient safety and healthcare efficiency. Furtherresearch and development can explore the integration of additional sensors, the refinement of the alert system, and the assessment of the system’s impact on clinicaloutcomes..

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Problem: A Major challenge for healthcare providers is the non-adherence of patients to prescrip- tions. One important area is hypertension treatment through medication. A treatment often starts with multiple adjustment cycles of medication type or dosage, which are based on regular at-home blood pressure measurements. Patients therefore need to adhere to regular medication intake and blood pressure measurements. Research Aim: The project first explored whether or not it is possible to develop a medication reminder system that checks patient adherence based on vital parameters. The project goal was adapted to the design and development of a reminder and data logging system for hypertension patients, based on the following research questions: 1) What are functional and non- functional requirements for the proposed artefact? 2) How can these requirements be implemented? Method: The project makes use of Design Science Research to create the system. The problem and requirement explication for the new artefact was achieved by working closely with a general prac- titioner who deals with hypertension patients. The artefact was evaluated by presenting it ex-post to a focus group of a hypertension patient, developers and founders in digital health. Results: The results of expert interviews concluded that the initial project aim is not feasible due to continuous vital monitoring being invasive and intrusive, lack of applicability for health conditions and medica- tions and other potential negative consequences. These insights led to the new research aim. The results address the question: ”What are functional and non-functional requirements for the proposed artefact?”. The envisioned product is a cross-platform application, illustrating the frequent medica- tion adjustments for hypertension patients. The treating doctor should configure all patient-specific parameters and the app should guide patients through daily tasks like measurements and medication intake. The patient should also be reminded of their tasks. The app should record, display, and export data for the doctor’s review, and ensure easy input of measurements. Future remote data exchange capabilities via servers were also considered. To address the research question ”How can these requirements be implemented?”, the researcher developed a cross-platform mobile application for iOS and Android with .NET Multi-Platform App UI (MAUI) that implements the desired features. A concept for remote data exchange and a system for scanning measured values of blood pressure devices were developed. The evaluation partially validated the problem area and discussed future implementations, such as remote data exchange, usage of patient data for research and adoption to other medication. The perceived high usability of the application was emphasized. Conclusions: The researcher concludes that the developed artefact addresses a relevant problem and extends existing solutions in the problem space. It is acknowledged that future research has to be conducted to prove the effectiveness of the tool as well as assess its usability and accuracy. Difficulties for accepting the artefact in real life settings are discussed.

Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka hur ux-design i appar kommunicerar energibesparing i hemmet. Det finns en uppsjö appar på den svenska marknaden vars ändamål är att skapa och styra ett smart hem. I denna uppsats gjordes ett strategiskt urval på ett antal appar som var populärast mars 2023 och en visuell research samt ett antal kundresor utfördes på dessa. Genom den visuella researchen som metod och tjänstedesign och ux som teorier gick det att svara på frågeställning ett; Vilka appar inriktade på smarta hem har funktionalitet för att spara energi? Utöver denna och för att skapa en helhetbild bekräftades den visuella researchen genom att ett antal kundresor utfördes för att se om respondenterna kunde svara på första frågeställningen. Kundresorna tillsammans med teorierna ux, nudge och triggers var också den metod och terorier som svarade på frågeställning två; Hur används ux-design som triggers i appar för smarta hem? I min vetenskapliga uppsats kom jag fram till att det saknades tydliga funktioner för att spara energi genom ett smart hem. Genom att kombinera AI och mjukvara i form av en app, tillsammans med en specifik hårdvara, skulle jag kunna skapa en produkt som inte bara möter behoven som min uppsats uppmärksammade, utan också erbjuder något nytt och unikt på marknaden. Det unika med mitt projekt är att det sammanför två olika världar – AI och mjukvara samt fysisk hårdvara. Genom att kombinera dessa två områden skulle projektet kunna erbjuda en produkt som är både innovativ och användarvänlig. Där det sista har varit en kritiskt och viktig del från dag ett.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the most common form of dementia. AD is characterized clinically by cognitive, behavioral, and learning and memory impairments and neuropathologically by amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques, neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), neuroinflammation, and synaptic and neuronal loss. Although AD was first described over a century ago, there is no cure and the limited treatment options do little to slow the progression of the devastating disease. Because of these reasons, there has been a significant interest in preventative strategies for AD. Previous studies have shown that perinatal choline supplementation can improve learning and memory, dampen neuroinflammation, diminish cholinergic deficits, reduce brain amyloidosis, and increase neurogenesis in AD model mice. In these studies, we investigated the roles of perinatal choline supplementation on anxiety and exploratory behavior, spatial and fearful learning and memory, brain Aβ42 deposition, and gene expression in the AppNL-G-F AD mouse model. We found that there were slight anxiety-related behavior changes in AppNL-G-F mice compared to wildtype mice. AppNL-G-F mice had impaired spatial learning that could be prevented by perinatal choline supplementation at early ages (3- and 6-months-old) but not a later age (12-months-old). Fearful learning and memory deficits were found in AppNL-G-F mice at 9- and 12-months of age and could be abolished by perinatal choline supplementation. Perinatal choline supplementation significantly reduced Aβ42 deposition across the brain in AppNL-G-F mice. The AppNL-G-F transcriptome was characterized by changes in genes related to inflammatory, neuronal and synaptic, energy, and metabolic pathways and led to a distinct transcriptional signature from wildtype mice. Perinatal choline supplementation was able to significantly reduce the transcriptional deficits found in AppNL-G-F mice and led to the identification of choline responsive AD-pathology-associated genes (CRADPAGs). Lastly, some of the CRADPAGs identified using AppNL-G-F AD model mice correlated significantly with AD diagnosis, clinical dementia rating, and AD pathologies in a human data set. Together, the results from these studies and the previously published data suggest that adequate choline intake during development may serve as a strategy to prevent or reduce AD dementia and pathologies. / 2025-01-24T00:00:00Z

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The growth of connected, or so called smart home appliances, leads to the search for interaction methods for IoT devices including various forms of smartphone app solutions. Previous research has investigated how complex systems, with multiple options and configurations, can be set up through end-user programming and how app widgets can be an interactive solution. This approach has been adopted by few providers, however, there is little feedback from users on their experiences, in particular on the ease of configuration and customization of app widgets, the ease of use and expectations. To address these questions, I developed a novel app widget as a complement to an existing IoT smartphone app, along with three evaluations: one in-volving 8 experts including designers, developers and product managers; followed by a test session with 10 end users; and finally a field trial in which 3 users lived with the ability to use the widget for two weeks. Feedback and insights about how app widgets affected the user experience were gathered during the process confirming that widgets is a promising solution for controlling smart devices and, depending on the scenario and type of users, there are considerations that could limit or enhance their functionality. / Framväxten av sammankopplade hushållsapparater, eller så kallade ”smart home appliances”,aktualiserar sökandet efter interaktionsmetoder för IoT-produkter, t.ex. smartphone-appar. Tidigare forskning har undersökt hur komplexa system, med flera alternativ och konfigurationer, kan anpassas genom ”end-user-programmering”, och hur app-widgetar kan möjliggöra interaktiva lösningar. Ett fåtal leverantörer har annamat dessa tillvägagångssätt, men det saknas fortfarandefeedback fån användare, särskilt gällande konfigurering och specialanpassning av app-widgetar, lättanvändhet, och förväntningar. För att ta itu med dessa frågor utvecklade jag en ny app-widget som komplement till en etablerad IoT-app för smartphones, samt tre utvärderingar: en med åtta experter, inklusive designers, produktutvecklare, och produktchefer; följt av ett test med tio slutanvändare; och slutligen ett fältförsök där tre anvädare kunda använda app-widgeten i hemmet under två veckor. Under processen samlades feedback och insikter om app-widgetars inverkan på användarupplevelsen, vilka bekräftade att app-widgetar är en lovande metod för att kontrollera ”smart home appliances” och att det, beroende på scenario och användartyp, finns säskilda punkter som kan begränsa eller förhöja deras användbarhet. Framväxten av samman-kopplade hushållsapparater, eller så kallade ”smart home appliances”, aktualiserar sökandet efterinteraktionsmetoder för IoT-produkter, t.ex. smartphone-appar. Tidigare forskning har undersökt hur komplexa system, med flera alternativ och konfigurationer, kan anpassas genom ”end-user-programmering”, och hur app-widgetar kan möjliggöra interaktiva lösningar. Ett fåtal leverantörer har annamat dessa tillvägagångssätt, men det saknas fortfarande feedback från användare, särskilt gällande konfigurering och specialanpassning av app-widgetar, lättanvändhet, och förväntningar. För att ta itu med dessa frågor utvecklade jag en ny app-widget som komplement till en etablerad IoT-app för smartphones, samt tre utvärderingar: en med åtta experter, inklusive designers ,produktutvecklare, och produktchefer; följt av ett test med tio slutanvändare; och slutligen ett fältförsök där tre anvädare kunde använda app-widgeten i hemmet under två veckor. Under processen samlades feedback och insikter om app-widgetars inverkan på användarupplevelsen, vilka bekräftade att app-widgetar är en lovande metod för att kontrollera ”smart home appliances” och att det, beroende på scenario och användartyp, finns säskilda punkter som kan begränsa eller förhöja deras användbarhet.

Regular savings behavior is critical for low-income Americans to achieve financial mobility. New technology tools are being used to improve personal awareness and attention to financial goals. This thesis reviews mobile learning (mLearning) research and leading commercial personal finance smartphone apps, both of which inform the design of Financial Forest, a savings app. Participants in the 4-week Financial Forest savings study are found to have a statistically significant improved perception of the difficulty of building an emergency fund.

Despite its benefits to both physical and mental health, physical activity levels worldwide remain low and new solutions for behaviour change must be sought. Smartphone apps are extremely popular and prevalent across the population, however their quality is still questionable. Physical activity produces an acute ‘feel good’ effect and intervention designers should consider the role that affect (mood) plays in uptake and maintenance of behaviours. It is timely to examine the use of affect as a motivator for physical activity, using new tools that allow real-time capture of both affect and physical activity (smartphones). The existence, characteristics and quality of physical activity apps that provide feedback on affect were explored in this thesis A mixed methods approach, comprising a systematic review (study 1) and a systematic evaluation (study 2) was taken. Data collection methods included both quantitative and qualitative assessments, using pre-existing and fit-for purpose tools. Twenty-two physical activity apps that provided feedback on affect were identified. Apps often failed to target groups most at risk of poor physical activity levels. Feedback on affect was performed in a variety of ways. Quality of apps, based on 13 criteria, was mixed. Recommendations are made for researchers, app developers and funders, including the need for development of high quality physical activity apps incorporating and emphasising affective benefits, consideration of archiving processes for developed apps once development ceases, and collaboration between researchers, developers and users when designing apps.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka om personalen på förskolor har de kunskaper i olika digitala appar som behövs för att uppfylla läroplanens mål. Metoden som användes i studien är kvalitativ analys utifrån intervjuerna som utgjorts av totalt åtta förskollärare från två olika kommuner. Att intervjua enbart förskollärare gör det lättare att sammanställa och analysera materialet. Bearbetning och tematisk analys av det insamlade materialet skedde med socialkonstruktivism som teoretisk utgångspunkt. Resultaten visar att förskollärares förhållningssätt och upplevelse till digitala verktyg och digitala appar, är en viktig faktor för att lära barn om digitala appar och digital kompetens. Förskollärares kompetens av användningen av digitala appar i verksamheten är varierad. Förskollärare använder de digital appar de behöver och känner sig trygga med och hjälper varandra om de känner sig osäkra.