With the rapid growth of Internet-of-Things (IoT), billions of devices are expected to be interconnected to provide various services appealing to users. Many devices will get an access to valuable information which is likely to increase the number of malicious attacks on these devices in the future. Therefore, security is considered as one of the most critical challenges in the development of IoT. In order to secure resource-constrained devices such as sensors or radio frequency identification (RFID) tags which form the backbone of IoT, lightweight cryptographic algorithms are required. This thesis focuses on the problem of message authentication. To authenticate a message means to verify that the message: (1) comes from the right sender (i.e. its authenticity), and (2) has not been modified (i.e. its integrity). It is challenging to use traditional message authentication methods in resource-constrained devices because typically they can allocate only a few hundred gates for implementing security due to their limited computing, storage and energy resources. To address these needs, a new message authentication algorithm based on a Cryptographic Cyclic Redundancy Check (C-CRC) was developed by KTH in collaboration with Ericsson. In this thesis, we implemented C-CRC and compared it with KECCAK Message Authentication Code (KMAC) standardized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2016. First, MATLAB and Verilog versions were developed for both algorithms. The comparison of these two versions allowed us to verify the correctness of algorithms functionality. After that, the Verilog descriptions were simulated in ModelSim and synthesized using Synopsys design compiler. Finally, placement and routing was performed using Cadence SoC Encounter. The evaluation results show that C-CRC outperforms KMAC in terms of area, power, throughput per area, and energy per bit. However, C-CRC is worse than KMAC in terms of latency. We have also investigated several different options of implementing C-CRC, including producing more than one bit of output per clock cycle. We found that such a technique improves throughput of C-CRC with the minimal penalty in area and power consumption

Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Nigeria / The full text will be available at the end of the embargo period: 21st March 2026

This is a qualitative study based on semi-structured, open interviews with three social workers whose tasks involve taking decisive decisions regarding children. The purpose of the study is to investigate social workers' experiences of the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) into Swedish law and how it affects their work after the incorporation of 2020. The purpose of the incorporation was that all the changes should be in benefit for children's participation. And that the CRC should focus on the workof social workers, with demands and responsibilities. The incorporation has so far proven tobe positive. The social workers have presented various programs and support materials forthe social workers in order to facilitate full use of the Convention on the Rights of the Childin children's investigations. Overall, my findings suggest that the incorporation of CRC into Swedish law has affected social workers' practices due to the fact that children’s human rights are taking a more prominent position.

This essay is about children's rights in one African country namely Kenya. It includesinternational documents like the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) andthe regional African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC). The thesis alsoanalyzes the differences between these documents and also the Sustainable development goals arediscussed and how they directly touch children's rights.This thesis also deals with the topic of how children's rights are protected by the Kenyanconstitution . It will mention the international laws and conventions that Kenya is obligated toimplement and follow in order to guarantee the kenyan children their rights. During the work wewill take a look at legislations and policies that Kenya has established to promote and protect therights of the children in Kenya.I will analyze some of the violations of the rights of children in Kenya and will be mainly focusingon laws and policies that the country established. The thesis also includes an investigation ofwhich children's rights are violated in Kenya. It consists of statistics and what the laws in Kenyasay about these violations.

Barnkonventionen instiftades som en ny lag i Sverige i januari år 2020. Syftet med denna studie var att studera den nya lagen och dess eventuella påverkan gällande idrottsledares arbets- och förhållningssätt. Studien tar utgångspunkt utifrån teorier inom ledarskapet som används för underlag till analysen och diskussionen. För att besvara arbetets syfte och frågeställningar genomfördes en kvalitativ intervjustudie med tio ledare från olika föreningar inom både lag- och individuell idrott.    Resultatet i studien visar att Barnkonventionen som lag inte förändrat något i ledarnas arbetssätt eller förhållningssätt i någon större grad. En av anledningarna som framgick till detta skulle kunna vara den pågående pandemin som tagit mycket fokus från både ledare och föreningar. En annan anledning som framkom frekvent var att man redan ansåg lagen som självklar i sitt arbetssätt.  Det framkom däremot tendenser på att olika arbeten förbund genomför i samband med den nya lagen genererat nytänkande hos vissa ledare / The Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) was established as a new law in Sweden in January 2020. The purpose of this paper was to study the new law and its possible impact on the working methods and the approach of sports leaders. The study is based on theories within leadership that are used as a basis for the analysis and discussion. To answer the paper’s purpose, a qualitative interview study was conducted with ten leaders from different associations in both team and individual sports.   The result of the study shows that the CRC as a law has yet had any greater impact on the leaders' working methods or attitudes to any great extent. One of the reasons that emerged for this could be the ongoing pandemic that has taken a lot of focus from both leaders and associations. Another reason that came up frequently was that they already considered the law to be self-evident in their way of working. On the other hand, there were tendencies that the ongoing work from different sportfederations has generated a new approch regarding this issue for some leaders.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer-related death in the UK and Western world. More than 90% of sporadic CRCs harbour mutations in the multi-functional tumour suppressor gene Adenomatous polyposis coli (<i>Apc</i>). The most commonly studied function of APC is its role as a scaffold for the β-catenin destruction complex involved in Wnt signalling. However, APC binds many other proteins. For example, it directly binds to and stabilises microtubules and actin. These non-Wnt related functions of APC are poorly understood. My PhD examines non-Wnt functions of APC. To this end, I created degron-tagged APC in DT40 cells that allowed for the rapid, conditional degradation of endogenous APC. The aim was to identify the immediate effects on cellular processes. Then, to identify the contribution of different APC domains by measuring the ability to rescue any defects when reintroducing fragments of APC. However, creation of these degron-tagged <i>Apc </i>knock-in cell lines resulted in hypomorphic phenotypes and auxin-associated off-target effects. Nonetheless, I compared the response of APC^high, APC^low, and APC^minimal cells to DNA damaging agents and Taxol® but found no significant differences. Subsequently, I focused on the relationship between APC and apoptosis. Previous observations suggested that deficiency in <i>Apc </i>rendered cells less sensitive to low doses of Taxol®. However, <i>Apc </i>deficient cells were more readily killed when Taxol® was combined with the Bcl-2 inhibitor, ABT-737. One possible explanation is the increase in Bcl-2 protein upon <i>Apc </i>depletion. However, I found that ABT-737, Taxol® and <i>Apc </i>depletion each cause activation of the unfolded protein response. This suggests that these treatments elicit a stress response that can stimulate apoptosis. Moreover, the same treatments also cause changes in mitochondria. Importantly, all of these effects do not require an increase in the β-catenin protein. Together, my data reveal novel links between APC and apoptosis that could be exploited clinically.

Malgré les diagnostics précoces et les avancées thérapeutiques, le taux de mortalité chez les patients diagnostiqués d’un CCR au stade métastatique reste très élevé. L’objectif de ce travail a été d’étudier le rôle de la chimiokine CXCL12 et ses deux récepteurs CXCR4 et CXCR7 dans processus métastatique. J’ai comparé l’expression de la chimiokine CXCL12 dans des tumeurs coliques humaines avec les tissus sains associés puis je me suis intéressée aux mécanismes de régulation de cette expression et plus particulièrement la régulation épigénétique. J’ai montré que le promoteur de CXCL12 est méthylé dans 35% des CCR et qu’un défaut d’acétylation des histones du promoteur entraîne la perte d’expression de CXCL12. Des enzymes impliquées dans la régulation des mécanismes épigénétiques, potentiellement liées à ce défaut d’acétylation ont été identifiées par l’analyse des tumeurs par PCR Array et parmi ces facteurs, j’ai identifié l’histone acétyl-transférase PCAF dont l’expression est diminuée dans les tumeurs. Enfin, pour comprendre le rôle respectif de CXCR4 et de CXCR7 dans la dissémination métastatique, j’ai invalidé l’expression du gène des récepteurs dans la lignée colique humaine SW480 par Crispr-Cas9, puis j’ai comparé la capacité migratoire des cellules in vitro et leur potentiel métastatique in vivo. L’induction d’une perte d’expression du récepteur CXCR7 n’a pas eu d’impact sur le développement des métastases pulmonaire et hépatique in vivo, mais a entraîné une baisse de la migration in vitro. / Despite early cancer detection and therapeutic advances, the mortality rate in patients diagnosed with CRC at the metastatic stage remains very high. The aim of this work was to study the role of the chemokine CXCL12 and its two receptors CXCR4 and CXCR7 in the metastatic process. I compared the expression of the chemokine CXCL12 in human colon tumors with the associated healthy tissues, then I focused on the mechanisms regulating this expression and more particularly the epigenetic regulation. I have shown that the CXCL12 promoter is methylated in 35% of the CCR and that a lack of histone acetylation of the CXCL12 promoter causes the loss of its expression. Enzymes involved in the regulation of epigenetic mechanisms, potentially related to this acetylation defect, were identified by Array PCR on tumors and among these factors, the histone acetyl transferase PCAF, whose expression is decreased in tumors, was identified. Finally, to understand the respective role of CXCR4 and CXCR7 in metastatic spread, I invalidated the expression of both receptor genes in the human colonic line SW480 by Crispr-Cas9, and then compared the migratory capacity of the cells in vitro and their metastatic potential in vivo. Inducing a loss of expression of CXCR7 receptor did not have an impact on the development of pulmonary and hepatic metastases in vivo, but resulted in a decrease in in vitro migration.

Carcinogenesis is a progressive process involving multiple genetic alterations in tumor cells and complex interactions in the tumor-host microenvironment. To better understand the contribution of molecular alterations in tumor cells and stromal variables to the development of colorectal cancer (CRC) and identify prognostic factors, in this study we examined the clinicopathological and biological significance of stromal variables, including particularly interesting new cysteine-histidine rich protein (PINCH), inflammatory infiltration, angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, as well as hRAD50/hMRE11/hNBS1 proteins and hRAD50 mutation in tumor cell in CRC. PINCH protein expression in the stroma was increased from normal mucosa to primary tumors and further to lymph node metastases. In particular, PINCH expression was most intense at the tumor invasive margin, which was related to low inflammatory infiltration and independently related to an unfavorable prognosis. Low inflammatory infiltration at the tumor invasive margin was related to advanced tumor stage, worse differentiation and microsatellite instability (MSI). Further, it was independently related to an unfavorable prognosis. Increased blood and lymphatic vessel density was observed in the primary tumors compared with the corresponding normal mucosa. However, neither angiogenesis nor lymphangiogenesis was associated with tumor stage and patients’ survival. Moreover, PINCH was present in a proportion of endothelial cells of the tumor vasculature, and PINCH expression in tumor-associated stroma was positively related to blood vessel density. In primary tumor cells of CRC, strong expression of hRAD50, hMRE11 or hNBS1 was related to microsatellite stability (MSS). A high percentage of hMRE11 expression was associated with less local recurrence and high apoptotic activity. Further, we observed that the expression of hRAD50, hMRE11 or hNBS1 among normal mucosa, primary tumors and metastases in MSS CRC differed from that in MSI CRC. In MSS CRC, the expression intensity of hRAD50, hMRE11 and hNBS1 was consistently increased with respect to normal mucosa, but there was no difference between the primary tumors and metastases. In the primary MSS tumors, the expression of individual or combination of hRAD50/hMRE11/hNBS1 was associated with a favorable prognosis in the same series of the CRCs. Moreover, strong/high hRAD50 in MSS primary tumors was related to earlier tumor stage, better differentiation and high inflammatory infiltration, whereas strong hNBS1 expression tended to be independently related to a favorable prognosis in MSS CRC with earlier tumor stage. However, in MSI CRC, there were neither differences in the expression of hRAD50/hMRE11/hNBS1 among normal mucosa, primary tumors and metastases, nor any association of the protein expressions with clinicopathological variables. On the other hand, frameshift mutations of (A)9 at coding region of hRAD50 were only found in MSI CRC. Our study indicates that 1) PINCH is likely a regulator of angiogenesis, and PINCH expression at the tumor invasive margin is an independent prognostic indicator in CRC. 2) Inflammatory infiltration at the tumor invasive margin is also an independent prognostic indicator in CRC. The lack of association between high inflammatory infiltration and MSI may help to explain the non-association of MSI with survival in CRC patients. 3) Angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis occur in the early stage of CRC development, but do not associate with CRC progression and patients’ prognosis. 4) hRAD50/hMRE11/hNBS1 may act dependently and independently, playing different roles in MSS and MSI CRC development. In MSS CRC, the strong expression of the three proteins, associated with a favorable prognosis, may present the cellular response against tumor progression. Expression of hNBS1 may be a prognostic indicator for MSS CRC patients in the earlier tumor stage. In MSI CRC, the frameshift mutations at the coding region of hRAD50 may contribute to tumor development.

Metabolically versatile bacteria have evolved diverse strategies to adapt to different environmental niches and respond to fluctuating physico-chemical parameters. In order to survive in soil and water habitats, they employ specific and global regulatory circuits to integrate external and internal signals to counteract stress and optimise their energy status. One strategic endurance mechanism is the ability to choose the most energetically favourable carbon source amongst a number on offer. Pseudomonas putida strains possess large genomes that underlie much of their ability to use diverse carbon sources as growth substrates. Their metabolic potential is frequently expanded by possession of catabolic plasmids to include the ability to grow at the expense of seemingly obnoxious carbon sources such as phenols. However, this ability comes with a metabolic price tag. Carbon source repression is one of the main regulatory networks employed to subvert use of these expensive pathways in favour of alternative sources that provide a higher metabolic gain. This thesis identifies some of the key regulatory elements and factors used by P. putida to supress expression of plasmid-encoded enzymes for degradation of phenols until they are beneficial. I first present evidence for a newly identified DNA and RNA motif within the regulatory region of the gene encoding the master regulator of phenol catabolism – DmpR. The former of these motifs functions to decrease the number of transcripts originating from the dmpR promoter, while the latter mediates a regulatory checkpoint for translational repression by Crc – the carbon repression control protein of P. putida. The ability of Crc to form repressive riboprotein complexes with RNA is shown to be dependent on the RNA chaperone protein Hfq – a co-partnership demonstrated to be required for many previously identified Crc-targets implicated in hierarchical assimilation of different carbon sources in P. putida. Finally, I present evidence for a model in which Crc and Hfq co-target multiple RNA motifs to bring about a two-tiered regulation to subvert catabolism of phenols in the face of preferred substrates – one at the level of the regulator DmpR and another at the level of translation of the catabolic enzymes.

Detta är en kvalitativ studie vars syfte är att synliggöra barns uppfostran på ett barnhem i Ghana ur ett utomkulturellt perspektiv. Studien tar ansats i globaliserings- och socialiseringsbegrepp. Den fysiska disciplineringen är en del av socialiseringsprocessen i Ghana, vilket strider mot Barnkonventionen. I denna studie uppmärksammas de motsättningar som kan uppkomma när Barnkonventionen ska implementeras i ett utvecklingsland samt den omedvetenhet som finns kring barns rättigheter. Genom kvalitativ forskning får ni ta del av en volontärs och det inhemska folkets perspektiv på barnuppfostran på ett barnhem i Ghana. / This is a qualitative study whose aim is to highlight the children's upbringing in an orphanage in Ghana from a different cultural perspective. The study’s approach is based on globalization and socialization theories. The physical disciplining is part of the socialization process in Ghana, which is contrary to the CRC. This study highlights the contradictions that might arise from the CRC when implemented in a non-Western country and the unconsciousness of childrens rights in a country as Ghana. Through interviews and observations, you will benefit from both my, the volunteer, and the indigenous people's perspective on raising children in an orphanage in Ghana.