The science of psychotherapy is reliant on various research designs to provide evidence for and bolster the efficacy of therapeutic interventions, techniques, and packages. Among the therapeutic orientations with ample evidence of support is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes et al., 1999). The creators of ACT propose targeting psychological flexibility, broadly defined as engaging with personal values with no regard of the presence of unwanted and undesired experiences. The Life Skills Modules protocol was developed to provide graduate student trainees with a simple and accessible tool to provide effective ACT treatment clients from the local community seeking treatment at the Southern Illinois University Clinical Center. The results of the study indicates that the clients improved in psychological flexibility, inflexibility, and symptoms of anxiety and depression, though this improvement is not explained by number of sessions nor completion of the protocol. Additionally, improvement in flexibility and inflexibility accounted for a significant portion of the variance in the improvement in symptoms as well. Flourishing did not improve within the clients. This study, while being marred with significant limitations, supports the ACT model of change of targeting psychological flexibility and inflexibility as being important towards improvement in treatment. The results of the study do not indicate the use of the protocol is the explicit cause of improvement. Discussion of the results and limitations are provided.

The aim of the project is to investigate how a residential area could be more resilient to disasters. I have explored how this could be done by reusing or developing what already exists. The intention is to show how a residential area could be strengthened by such redesign, in collaboration with the residents. The project is located at Kandidatvägen, in the southern parts of Ålidhem in Umeå. In the area, different hubs are designed, with different functions related to our basic needs such as food, water, or sleep. One of these hubs, for food production and storage without electricity, is illustrated in detail within the project. A common room (kvarterslokal) is transformed and equipped with food solutions to function without electricity. Spatially, walls are removed and folding doors are applied to the facade to create a more flexible space. The kitchen is mobile and can be used indoors and outdoors. The space is also provided with foldable furnitures and storage. In the inner courtyard, a greenhouse and a cultivation area for food production are located. The residents could gather in the food hub if an electricity interruption occurs, and in ‘normal’ times, when people can use their apartments as usual, the space could be used in a similar way as today; as a social space for different activities. But with the new design, the space will be more flexible and enhance its usage.

The building of a communitycentre in Gottsunda is part of an uppgrade of the suburb. A main feature of the upgrade will be a city street along the tramway that will run through the area.To give the old and the new inhabitants of the area a chance to meet and form a local identity, the focus of the house will be accessibility and flexibility. The main functions are all situated at ground level. The core of the project is the possibility to link the the different premises to larger continous spatial entitys for bigger events, and still being able to maintain the integrity and function of each premise.The buildingmaterials are PM-wood and glulam to avoid the bigger climatic impact of for example concrete. That the building is modifiable and open to many areas of use and activities will hopefully give it a long life, and avoid the climatic impact of further new building. / Byggandet av ett stadsdelscenter i Gottsunda är en del av en uppgradering av området -ett miljonprogramsområde från 70-talet- som bl a innefattar byggandet av ett stadsstråk längs den spårväg som kommer att löpa genom området. För att ge de gamla och de nya invånarna en möjlighet att mötas och skapa en lokal identitet har tyngdpunkten lagts på att skapa ett tillgängligt och flexibelt hus. De stora offentliga programpunkterna ligger alla i gatuplan. Kärnan i projektet är möjligheten att förena de olika lokalerna till större sammanhängande rumsliga enheter för större evenemang, samtidigt som varje programpunkt får behålla sin integritet och kan bedriva sin specifika verksamhet utan att störa de andra delarna eller störas av de andra delarna. Byggnadsmaterialen är kl-trä och limträ för att undvika den större klimatpåverkan som t ex betong har. Att byggnaden är modifierbar och öppen för flera användningsområden och verksamheter kan förhoppningsvis ge den ett långt den kan få ett långt liv, så att man därigenom undviker den klimatpåverkan som nybyggnation innebär.

Sexual trauma is linked to adverse health outcomes (e.g., D’Andre et al., 2011). Given the negative sequelae of sexual trauma, exploration of factors that influence the relation between sexual trauma and health outcomes is crucial. Current literature suggests that psychological flexibility and inflexibility may be factors in promotion of individuals’ health or pathology (e.g., Gloster et al., 2017). The current study sought to explore the variability in psychological flexibility and inflexibility among participants and the potential moderating effects of psychological flexibility and inflexibility on the relation between sexual trauma and both mental and physical health outcomes. Moderation analyses failed to support significant moderation effect of psychological flexibility on either physical or mental health outcomes. However, psychological inflexibility did significantly moderate the relationship between sexual trauma and emotional wellbeing b = 5.50 t(247) = 2.69 p < 0.01 such that sexual trauma significantly predicts worse emotional wellbeing at high levels of psychological inflexibility. Similarly, in the model examining the potential moderating effect of psychological inflexibility on the relationship between sexual trauma and physical functioning, the interaction was significant, b = 7.51 t(248) = 2.13, p < 0.05, suggesting possible moderation. However, after further probing, psychological inflexibility did not significantly moderate the relationship between sexual trauma and physical functioning at any level. Additionally, t-test results suggest that regardless of a sexual trauma history, participants do not significantly differ in their levels of psychological flexibility or inflexibility. However, within moderation models both psychological flexibility and psychological inflexibility predicted physical and mental health outcomes, further supporting the association between resiliency and psychological flexibility and the link between inflexibility and worsened health outcomes. Findings suggest that interventions that promote psychological flexibility and target inflexibility may be important health promotion factors among both survivors of sexual trauma and non-traumatized populations.

This dissertation contributed three main areas to flexibility testing and biomechanical characterization of human spinal segments. The first was a literature review of existing testing methodology, the second examined common spine fixation procedures, and the third developed an improved fixation method. Spine biomechanical characterization is the primary technique for assessing the healthy, diseased, and surgically treated response of spinal tissues. However, despite decades of use, no standard testing protocol or reporting methodology for flexibility testing conditions has been established. As part of the present work, a comprehensive, systematic literature review was performed, and the methods sections of 242 relevant journal articles provided key information regarding preparation processes, fixation methods, testing temperatures, loading rates, loading magnitudes, and pre-conditioning procedures. The collated information was utilized to recommend best practices for testing and reporting flexibility testing methodology. Exothermic cementing processes were the dominant spinal fixation method from the reviewed articles. In these cases, fixation occurred when the most superior and inferior vertebrae of a functional spinal unit (FSU) were embedded into a cementing material that bound tightly to the cortical surface of the vertebrae, yielding a strong and geometrically favorable attachment point. The four most common fixation materials are highly exothermic and were tested to quantify the temperature rise in the adjacent intervertebral disc (IVD), as well as any associated thermal iatrogenic damage. Three thermocouples, inserted into three distinct locations of the IVD, measured temperatures throughout the cementing process. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), the most frequently used cementing material, resulted in the greatest temperature increases, with a mean temperature rise up to 57°C above room temperature. Visible macro- and microscopic changes occurred in each of the cemented FSU IVDs. Changes included morphological changes, tissue desiccation, cracks, a breakdown in striations in the annulus fibrosus (AF), and denaturation and cell migration in the nucleus pulposus (NP). Based on these results, alternative vertebral attachment methods were considered and investigated. A structured design process was followed, and a mechanical ex vivo spinal fixation device which comprised a compliant vertebral clamp was designed. The geometry of the vertebral clamp was optimized based on pseudo-rigid body and finite element analyses. The final design was fabricated in titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) using a 3D laser sintering process. Three clamps were manufactured and functionally validated. The opening/deployment and physiological loads of ± 7.5 N•m were cyclically tested on each clamp. The clamps showed no signs of failure and remained securely attached to the vertebrae. The resultant device/vertebrae interface stiffnesses were 4 to 10x greater than their corresponding FSU stiffnesses. The clamp design eliminated thermal iatrogenic damage, had minimal structural iatrogenic damage, was reusable, adjustable, and resulted in less than 10% of the previous preparation time.

Using a dataset of 7757 firms in Brazil, China, India, and Russia from 2009 to 2014, this article examines the effect of political risk variables on financial flexibility and the effects of financial flexibility on future firm value, capital investment, cash holdings and the probability of default while controlling for firm-level effects and political variables. Effective representation of the majority is found to be associated with a higher level of financial flexibility. In terms of the effects of financial flexibility on firm value, results that are much stronger than previously reported are found. However, unlike previous work, the current research does not find that increased financial flexibility leads to increased capital expenditures. It is found that financially flexible firms in these countries lower their probability of default on average by about 0.6 %. It is also found that giving greater voice to the majority and greater adherence to the rule of law adds to the value of firms.

This dissertation consists of two essays studying economic agents who choose menus, or opportunity sets from which they will make a choice at a later date. The common theme is that the utility of a menu can be affected by inclusion of alternatives that are not subsequently chosen. This effect can create either a preference for commitment or a preference for flexibility. The first essay models an agent who experiences temptation when choosing from a menu of lotteries, and who is self-aware and anticipates her future behavior when choosing between menus. Her desire to eliminate tempting alternatives from a menu creates a preference for commitment. When studying menus of lotteries, the literature has typically assumed that preferences satisfy the Independence axiom. Independence requires that the ranking of two menus is not affected if each is mixed (probabilistically) with a common third menu. In particular, the preference for commitment is invariant under Independence. This essay argues that intuitive behavior may require that the preference for commitment be affected by such mixing, and hence be mixture-dependent. To capture such behavior, a generalization of the temptation and self-control model of Gul and Pesendorfer (2001) is provided. The model generalizes Gul and Pesendorfer (2001) by replacing their Independence axiom with a suitably adapted version of the Mixture-Betweenness axiom of Chew (1989) and Dekel (1986). The result is an implicit utility model in which utility is defined as the unique solution of an equation that depends on the agent's commitment and temptation rankings, neither of which needs to satisfy the Independence axiom. Axiomatic characterization of the model exploits a novel extension of the Mixture Space Theorem to preferences that satisfy Mixture-Betweenness. Since the Mixture Space Theorem is central to decision theory, this extension is potentially useful for addressing issues in economics other than temptation and self-control. The second essay explores the testable implications of the linear representations considered in Dekel et al. (2001). Dekel et al. (2001) extends the seminal model of preference for flexibility due to Kreps (1979) by considering menus of lotteries rather than deterministic alternatives. They show that a simple set of axioms characterizes a representation that can be interpreted as if the agent is uncertain about her future tastes. This taste uncertainty is summarized by the “subjective state space”, consisting of the set of possible future preferences over lotteries. Their approach is axiomatic, thus testability requires that the entire preference order be observable. This essay provides a corresponding revealed preference analysis and assumes that only finitely many choices are observed. It is shown that for a particular class of data sets, the characterizing conditions can be reformulated as nonlinear systems of inequalities for which the existence of solutions can be verified using numerical methods. Hence, for this type of data, the analysis provides a test for the subjective state space hypothesis that is, in principle, implementable. In addition, the analysis covers the case where available data involves only menus of alternatives (and not lotteries). Hence, it also provides revealed preference characterizations for Kreps (1979).

Autophagy is a lysosomal degradation pathway wherein cytoplasmic components not needed by or harmful to the cell are degraded and recycled. BECN homologs are key autophagy proteins consisting of an intrinsically disordered region (IDR), flexible helical domain (FHD), coiled-coil domain (CCD) and β-α repeated, autophagy-specific domain (BARAD). Diverse proteins modulate autophagy by binding BECN1. Understanding the mechanisms by which these proteins regulate BECN1-mediated autophagy is important for developing therapeutics targeting these proteins. Toward this goal, we have developed purification protocols for multi-domain BECN1 fragments to explore the conformational flexibility and interactions. We show that a BECN1 helix transitions between mutually exclusive packing states, wherein it either forms part of the CCD homodimer or packs against the BARAD, but predominantly packs against the BARAD. The same set of residues on this helix contribute to the CCD homodimer or packing with the BARAD, and mutation of these residues abrogates starvation-induced up-regulation of autophagy. Next, we show the equatorial groove of GAPR-1 may be responsible for binding BECN1. The five conserved residues lining the GAPR-1 equatorial groove are essential for the interaction, as mutation of these residues disrupts GAPR-1:BECN1 interaction. We also solved the structure of this pentad mutant, which indicates the changes in the equatorial groove and the improved dimerization of pentad mutant likely abrogates BECN1-binding. We then show that BH3D is not required for BECN1 to up-regulate autophagy, though it is required for binding BCL2 homologs. Therefore, we investigated the interactions between BH3D-containing BECN1 fragments and the BCL2 homolog, M11. BECN1 regions outside the BH3D increase binding to M11 by 5-10 fold. In addition, M11-binding increases flexibility of the nuclear export sequence (NES). Further, homodimerization and thermostability of BECN1 BH3D-FHD-CCD increases upon M11-binding. Lastly, the M11:BH3D-FHD-CCD complex appears to fluctuate between two major types of conformations, which may be mediated by the increased flexibility of BECN1 NES upon binding M11. Lastly, we investigated the interactions between BH3D-containing BECN1 fragments and Bcl-XL. Our results indicate that BECN1 regions outside the BH3D do not affect BECN1 interaction with Bcl-XL. Together, these studies are important for better understanding how proteins down-regulate BECN1-mediate autophagy. / NIH: RO3 NS090939, R15 GM122035, P20 RR015566, and R21 AI078198 (S.S). R15 GM113227, P30 GM103332-01, P41 GM103622, and P41 GM103403.; NSF: MCB-1413525 (S.S.); ND Dept. of Commerce: Award #14-11-J1-73 (S.S.)

Fackförbund och kollektivavtal har länge varit stora institutioner på arbetsmarknaden med stort inflytande i företag och organisationer. De syftar till att representera arbetstagarnas intresse gentemot arbetsgivarna och strävar därför ständigt efter ökat inflytande över besluten inom organisationen. Studier där kollektivavtalet undersöks som institutionell faktor för beslutsprocessen i organisationer är svåra att hitta. / Trade unions and collective agreement have been powerful institutions for a long time in the labor market with great influence over companies and organizations. They aim to represent the laborers interest towards their employers and to increase their influence over the decisions within the organization. It’s hard to find any studies where the collective agreement has been studied as an institutional factor within the decision-making process.

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