Background. People use the Internet for communication, work, online banking and more. Public-key cryptography enables this use to be secure by providing confidentiality and trust online. Though these algorithms may be secure from attacks from classical computers, future quantum computers may break them using Shor’s algorithm. Post-quantum algorithms are therefore being developed to mitigate this issue. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has started a standardization process for these algorithms. Objectives. In this work, we analyze what specialized features applicable for post-quantum algorithms are available in the mainframe architecture IBM Z. Furthermore, we study the performance of these algorithms on various hardware in order to understand what techniques may increase their performance. Methods. We apply a literature study to identify the performance characteristics of post-quantum algorithms as well as what features of IBM Z may accommodate and accelerate these. We further apply an experimental study to analyze the practical performance of the two prominent finalists NTRU and Classic McEliece on consumer, cloud and mainframe hardware. Results. IBM Z was found to be able to accelerate several key symmetric primitives such as SHA-3 and AES via the Central Processor Assist for Cryptographic Functions (CPACF). Though the available Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) did not support any of the studied algorithms, they were found to be able to accelerate them via a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Based on our experimental study, we found that computers with support for the Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) were able to significantly accelerate the execution of post-quantum algorithms. Lastly, we identified that vector extensions, Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) and FPGAs are key techniques for accelerating these algorithms. Conclusions. When considering the readiness of hardware for the transition to post-quantum algorithms, we find that the proposed algorithms do not perform nearly as well as classical algorithms. Though the algorithms are likely to improve until the post-quantum transition occurs, improved hardware support via faster vector instructions, increased cache sizes and the addition of polynomial instructions may significantly help reduce the impact of the transition. / Bakgrund. Människor använder internet för bland annat kommunikation, arbete och bankärenden. Asymmetrisk kryptering möjliggör att detta sker säkert genom att erbjuda sekretess och tillit online. Även om dessa algoritmer förväntas vara säkra från attacker med klassiska datorer, riskerar framtida kvantdatorer att knäcka dem med Shors algoritm. Därför utvecklas kvantsäkra krypton för att mitigera detta problem. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) har påbörjat en standardiseringsprocess för dessa algoritmer. Syfte. I detta arbete analyserar vi vilka specialiserade funktioner för kvantsäkra algoritmer som finns i stordator-arkitekturen IBM Z. Vidare studerar vi prestandan av dessa algoritmer på olika hårdvara för att förstå vilka tekniker som kan öka deras prestanda. Metod. Vi utför en litteraturstudie för att identifiera vad som är karaktäristiskt för kvantsäkra algoritmers prestanda samt vilka funktioner i IBM Z som kan möta och accelerera dessa. Vidare applicerar vi en experimentell studie för att analysera den praktiska prestandan av de två framträdande finalisterna NTRU och Classic McEliece på konsument-, moln- och stordatormiljöer. Resultat. Vi fann att IBM Z kunde accelerera flera centrala symmetriska primitiver så som SHA-3 och AES via en hjälpprocessor för kryptografiska funktioner (CPACF). Även om befintliga hårdvarusäkerhetsmoduler inte stödde några av de undersökta algoritmerna, fann vi att de kan accelerera dem via en på-plats-programmerbar grind-matris (FPGA). Baserat på vår experimentella studie, fann vi att datorer med stöd för avancerade vektorfunktioner (AVX) möjlggjorde en signifikant acceleration av kvantsäkra algoritmer. Slutligen identifierade vi att vektorfunktioner, applikationsspecifika integrerade kretsar (ASICs) och FPGAs är centrala tekniker som kan nyttjas för att accelerera dessa algortmer. Slutsatser. Gällande beredskapen hos hårdvara för en övergång till kvantsäkra krypton, finner vi att de föreslagna algoritmerna inte presterar närmelsevis lika bra som klassiska algoritmer. Trots att det är sannolikt att de kvantsäkra kryptona fortsatt förbättras innan övergången sker, kan förbättrat hårdvarustöd för snabbare vektorfunktioner, ökade cachestorlekar och tillägget av polynomoperationer signifikant bidra till att minska påverkan av övergången till kvantsäkra krypton.

Mainframes has been used for well over 50 years and are built for processing demanding workloads fast, with the latest models using IBM’s z/Architecture processors. In the time of writing, the mainframes are a central unit of the world’s largest corporations in banking, finance and health care. Performing, for example, heavy loads of transaction processing. When IBM bought RedHat and acquired the container orchestration platform OpenShift, the IBM lab in Poughkeepsie figured that a new opportunity for the mainframe might have opened. A media streaming server built with OpenShift, running on a mainframe. This is interesting because a media streaming solution built with OpenShift might perform better on a mainframe than on a traditional server. The initial question they proposed was ’Is it worth running streaming solutions on OpenShift on a Mainframe?’. First, the solution has to be built and tested on a mainframe to confirm that such a solution actually works. Later, IBM will perform a benchmark to see if the solution is viable to sell. The authors method includes finding the best suitable streaming software according to some criterias that has to be met. Nginx was the winner, being the only tested software that was open-source, scalable, runnable in a container and supported adaptive streaming. With the software selected, configuration with Nginx, Docker and OpenShift resulted in a fully functional proof-of-concept. Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the authors never got access to a mainframe, as promised, to test the solution, however, OpenShift is platform agnostic and should, theoretically, run on a mainframe. The authors built a base solution that can easily be expanded with functionality, the functionality left to be built by IBM engineers is included in the future works section, it includes for example, live streaming, and mainframe benchmarking. / Stordatorer har använts i över 50 år och är byggda för att snabbt kunna bearbeta krävande arbetsbelastningar, med de senaste modellerna som använder IBMs z/Architecture processorer. I skrivande stund är stordatorerna en central enhet i världens största företag inom bank, finans och hälsovård. De utför, till exempel, väldigt stora mängder transaktionsbehandling. När IBM köpte RedHat och förvärvade container-hanteringsplattformen OpenShift, tänkte laboratoriet i Poughkeepsie att en ny möjlighet för stordatorn kanske hade öppnats. En mediaströmningsserver byggd med OpenShift, som körs på en stordator. Detta är intressant eftersom en mediaströmningslösning byggd med OpenShift kan fungera bättre på en stordator än på en traditionell server. Den initiala frågan som ställdes var ’Är det värt att köra strömningslösningar på Openshift på en Mainframe?’. Först måste lösningen byggas och testas på en stordator för att bekräfta att en sådan lösning faktiskt fungerar. Senare kommer IBM att utföra ett riktmärke för att se om lösningen är lämplig att sälja.    Författarnas metod inkluderar att hitta den bästa strömningsprogramvaran enligt vissa kriterier som måste uppfyllas. Nginx var vinnaren samt den enda testade programvaran som var öppen källkod, skalbar, körbar i en container och stödde adaptiv strömning. Med den valda programvaran resulterade konfigurationen av Nginx, Docker och OpenShift i en fullt funktionell konceptlösning. På grund av Covid-19-pandemin, fick författarna aldrig tillgång till en stordator, som utlovat, för att testa lösningen. OpenShift är dock plattformsagnostisk och ska teoretiskt sett kunna köras på en stordator. Det som författarna lämnade åt framtida ingenjörer att utforska är en studie som inkluderar fler mjukvaror, även betalversioner, eftersom den här studien endast innehåller öppen källkod. Samt en utvidgning av den befintliga lösningens funktionensuppsättning.

L'organisation des systèmes d'entrées sorties. Les entrées sorties dans le système IBM 360. Présentation de l'UCB. Une application de l'UCB : le module interface-canal du système PIAR. Un logiciel de test pour l'UCB. Améliorations et perspectives.

The demand for sustainability initiatives is increasing by both consumers and organizations (Gittell, et al. 2013). It changes the way businesses are operating and communicating, hence the interest for sustainable marketing has increased. Sustainable marketing should not only be about initiatives to appear more environmental friendly or socially conscious, but rather about a more substantive and meaningful levels of commitments (ibid). Alongside these practical ideas of sustainable marketing, consumers’ requirements for sustainability have sometimes been used as a strategy to create sustainable communication, although companies are lacking initiatives of sustainability. The idea of marketing as a strategy to create desire and needless spending along with sustainability goals has been criticized as being in direct contradictories (Meller & Magaš 2014, Pettie 2001, Pettie & Belz 2010). Thus, the problematics compose of the discussed oxymoron between sustainability and marketing together with the difference between sustainable communication and communicating sustainability.   This qualitative study has been done with a starting position from the idea of addressing how sustainable marketing is practiced, why it is practiced and how the future outlook of the concept is perceived from a company perspective. The chosen theories for this study compose mainly of basic marketing theories and models with a sustainability adaption. A qualitative study addressing this issue from a company perspective has not been discovered in previous researches, which resulted in the idea of highlighting different companies’ opinions and practices of sustainable marketing. The findings have discovered the usage of sustainable marketing today and potentially in the future, together with reasons for why it is practiced. Sustainability has become a well-known concept with a lot of business scandals associated to it, which has been mentioned in this study as one of the reasons for the predictions of a future demand of real sustainable marketing practices.

A ocorrência de distúrbios impacta a diversidade de estratégias de vida em comunidades e a evolução de estratégias de vida em populações. Na Ecologia, o distúrbio é estudado enquanto fator ambiental que altera a disponibilidade de recursos e a abundância das populações, ocasionando a exclusão competitiva de espécies menos favorecidas a depender da intensidade e da frequência de sua ocorrência. Na Biologia Evolutiva, o distúrbio é avaliado enquanto pressão que, dependendo de sua regularidade no ambiente, determina a intensidade da resposta evolutiva das espécies e, assim, a adaptação a estratégias de vida de maior aptidão. Ainda que haja separação entre as duas áreas, a dinâmica ecológica influencia a dinâmica evolutiva e vice-versa. Estudos que integram Ecologia e Evolução têm sido cada vez mais recorrentes, no entanto, poucos ou nenhum consideram o distúrbio. Neste trabalho, utilizamos um modelo baseado em indivíduo para criar cenários nos quais os processos de adaptação e exclusão competitiva de espécies possam ocorrer, tanto conjunta quanto isoladamente, a fim de entender como o distúrbio determina as estratégias de vida presentes em comunidades sob dinâmicas ecológicas, evolutivas e eco-evolutivas. No modelo, as estratégias de vida são atributos herdáveis definidos por um trade-off entre longevidade e fecundidade. O cenário evolutivo foi composto por populações (apenas uma espécie) com mutação; o cenário ecológico, por diversas espécies sem mutação e o cenário eco-evolutivo, por diversas espécies com mutação. Observamos que o distúrbio esteve positivamente relacionado com a predominância de indivíduos fecundos em todos os cenários, mas o efeito do distúrbio sobre a diversidade de estratégias variou. Nos cenários evolutivo e eco-evolutivo, a diversidade de estratégias aumentou com a intensificação do distúrbio, enquanto no cenário ecológico a diversidade caiu. Isso indica a importância da mutação como fonte de novas variantes da estratégia quando há alta renovação de indivíduos da comunidade, condicionada pela mortalidade elevada. Apenas no cenário eco-evolutivo houve um pico de heterogeneidade de estratégias em níveis intermediários de distúrbio. Neste cenário, o isolamento reprodutivo das espécies, em contraposição à pan-mixia que ocorre dentro das populações, permite que as espécies difiram em relação à sua estratégia de vida média. Em paralelo, a entrada constante de variantes de estratégias por mutação previne a extinção definitiva das estratégias do sistema. Assim, quando o nível de distúrbio é intermediário, tanto espécies mais fecundas quanto espécies mais longevas conseguem coexistir na comunidade. Dado que os diferentes cenários resultaram em padrões distintos de frequência relativa de estratégias de vida, este trabalho evidencia a importância de estudarmos o efeito do distúrbio na estrutura e na dinâmica de comunidades unindo processos que são tipicamente estudados de forma isolada pela Ecologia e pela Biologia Evolutiva / Disturbance events impact life strategy diversity in communities and life strategy evolution in populations. In the field of Ecology, disturbance occurrence is studied while an environmental factor that alters resource availability and populations abundance, causing competitive exclusion of less favorable life strategies depending on disturbance frequency and intensity. In the field of Evolutionary Biology, disturbance is evaluated as a pressure, depending on its spatial and temporal regularity, that determines the intensity of species\' evolutionary response and, as a consequence, the adaptation towards the fittest life strategy. Although there is a separation between these two fields of knowledge, ecological dynamics influence evolutionary dynamics and the other way around. Studies that mix Ecology and Evolution are becoming more common, but few or none of them takes disturbance in consideration. Here, we use an individual-based model to generate contexts in which adaptation and competitive exclusion might act apart and together in order to understand how disturbance determines life strategies that occur in communities under ecological, evolutionary and eco-evolutionary dynamics. In the model, life strategy is an inheritable character defined for a trade-off between longevity and fecundity. Simulations from the evolutionary context were composed by one population under mutation acting, simulations from the ecological context by various species without mutation and simulations from the eco-evolutionary context by various species with mutation occurrence. We observed that disturbance was positively correlated with fecund individuals preponderance in all contexts but that disturbance effect on life strategy diversity varied between the different contexts. In the evolutionary and the eco-evolutionary contexts, life strategy diversity increased with disturbance raise, while in the ecological context diversity decreased. This result evidences the mutation role as a source of new life strategy variants when there is a high renovation of individuals given by raised mortality. Only in the eco-evolutionary context there was an interspecific heterogeneity peak on intermediate levels of disturbance. In this scenario, species reproductive isolation, in contrast to populations panmixy, allows species to differ in relation to its life strategies. In parallel to this, the constant input of new life strategy variants by mutation prevents the definite extinction of life strategies from the system. Therefore, when disturbance level is intermediate, productive species as well as long-lived ones are able to coexist. Given that the different contexts resulted in varied patterns of life strategies\' relative frequency, this study evidences the importance of studying disturbance effect on communities structure and dynamics unifying processes that are typically separated between Ecology and Evolution fields

Automatisering av kundtjänster genom implementering av chatbotar blir allt vanligare för att kunna erbjuda kunder en mer tillgänglig och effektiv service. Vid implementering av chatbotar i kundtjänster lämnas den mänskliga kontrollen och kundens upplevelse delvis över till ett digitalt system, vilket ställer krav på utformning av chatbotars dialoger. Syftet med arbetet är att ta fram en artefakt i form av en chatbot och utveckla dess dialog för en framtida implementation i en kundtjänst. Arbetet ämnar att ta fram designprinciper för utformning och utveckling av chatbotar och deras dialoger i en kundtjänstmiljö. Den forskningsmetod som tillämpades vid utvecklingen av artefakten var Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM). En litteraturstudie genomfördes och data samlades in genom möten samt en intervju med det företag som varit uppdragsgivare till arbetet. Arbetet resulterade i en demosida innehållande en chatbot, samt en sida för administratörer där de har en översikt av chatbotens genomförda interaktioner. Tre designprinciper togs även fram för utveckling av chatbotars dialog inom kundtjänst, vilka blev arbetets bidrag. De slutsatser som identifierades var att en chatbot bör kontrollera att användaren fått svar på sitt kundtjänstärende, en chatbot bör erbjuda mänsklig service vid missförstånd, en chatbot kan inte ersätta mänsklig service fullt ut samt att en chatbot bör ha en strukturerad datainsamling av genomförda interaktioner för att kunna utveckla och förbättra chatbotens dialog. / Automation of customer service through implementation of chatbots is becoming increasingly common in order to provide customers with a more accessible and efficient service. When implementing chatbots in customer services, human control and the customer experience are partially shifted to a digital system, which puts requirement on the chatbot’s dialogue. The purpose of this report is to develop an artifact for a client. The artifact is a web page containing a chatbot. The report aims to develop design principles for development of chatbots and their dialogues in a customer service. The research method used in the development of the artifact was Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM). A literature study was conducted, and data was collected through meetings and an interview with the client. The report resulted in a demo page containing a chatbot and a page for administrators with an overview of saved chats. Three design principles were also formulated for developing chatbots in customer service, which is the contribution of the report. The conclusions identified were that a chatbot should check that the user got the correct answer, a chatbot should offer human service in case of misunderstanding, a chatbot cannot fully replace human service and a chatbot should have a structured data collection of completed interactions for developing and improvement of the chatbot’s dialogue.

A ocorrência de distúrbios impacta a diversidade de estratégias de vida em comunidades e a evolução de estratégias de vida em populações. Na Ecologia, o distúrbio é estudado enquanto fator ambiental que altera a disponibilidade de recursos e a abundância das populações, ocasionando a exclusão competitiva de espécies menos favorecidas a depender da intensidade e da frequência de sua ocorrência. Na Biologia Evolutiva, o distúrbio é avaliado enquanto pressão que, dependendo de sua regularidade no ambiente, determina a intensidade da resposta evolutiva das espécies e, assim, a adaptação a estratégias de vida de maior aptidão. Ainda que haja separação entre as duas áreas, a dinâmica ecológica influencia a dinâmica evolutiva e vice-versa. Estudos que integram Ecologia e Evolução têm sido cada vez mais recorrentes, no entanto, poucos ou nenhum consideram o distúrbio. Neste trabalho, utilizamos um modelo baseado em indivíduo para criar cenários nos quais os processos de adaptação e exclusão competitiva de espécies possam ocorrer, tanto conjunta quanto isoladamente, a fim de entender como o distúrbio determina as estratégias de vida presentes em comunidades sob dinâmicas ecológicas, evolutivas e eco-evolutivas. No modelo, as estratégias de vida são atributos herdáveis definidos por um trade-off entre longevidade e fecundidade. O cenário evolutivo foi composto por populações (apenas uma espécie) com mutação; o cenário ecológico, por diversas espécies sem mutação e o cenário eco-evolutivo, por diversas espécies com mutação. Observamos que o distúrbio esteve positivamente relacionado com a predominância de indivíduos fecundos em todos os cenários, mas o efeito do distúrbio sobre a diversidade de estratégias variou. Nos cenários evolutivo e eco-evolutivo, a diversidade de estratégias aumentou com a intensificação do distúrbio, enquanto no cenário ecológico a diversidade caiu. Isso indica a importância da mutação como fonte de novas variantes da estratégia quando há alta renovação de indivíduos da comunidade, condicionada pela mortalidade elevada. Apenas no cenário eco-evolutivo houve um pico de heterogeneidade de estratégias em níveis intermediários de distúrbio. Neste cenário, o isolamento reprodutivo das espécies, em contraposição à pan-mixia que ocorre dentro das populações, permite que as espécies difiram em relação à sua estratégia de vida média. Em paralelo, a entrada constante de variantes de estratégias por mutação previne a extinção definitiva das estratégias do sistema. Assim, quando o nível de distúrbio é intermediário, tanto espécies mais fecundas quanto espécies mais longevas conseguem coexistir na comunidade. Dado que os diferentes cenários resultaram em padrões distintos de frequência relativa de estratégias de vida, este trabalho evidencia a importância de estudarmos o efeito do distúrbio na estrutura e na dinâmica de comunidades unindo processos que são tipicamente estudados de forma isolada pela Ecologia e pela Biologia Evolutiva / Disturbance events impact life strategy diversity in communities and life strategy evolution in populations. In the field of Ecology, disturbance occurrence is studied while an environmental factor that alters resource availability and populations abundance, causing competitive exclusion of less favorable life strategies depending on disturbance frequency and intensity. In the field of Evolutionary Biology, disturbance is evaluated as a pressure, depending on its spatial and temporal regularity, that determines the intensity of species\' evolutionary response and, as a consequence, the adaptation towards the fittest life strategy. Although there is a separation between these two fields of knowledge, ecological dynamics influence evolutionary dynamics and the other way around. Studies that mix Ecology and Evolution are becoming more common, but few or none of them takes disturbance in consideration. Here, we use an individual-based model to generate contexts in which adaptation and competitive exclusion might act apart and together in order to understand how disturbance determines life strategies that occur in communities under ecological, evolutionary and eco-evolutionary dynamics. In the model, life strategy is an inheritable character defined for a trade-off between longevity and fecundity. Simulations from the evolutionary context were composed by one population under mutation acting, simulations from the ecological context by various species without mutation and simulations from the eco-evolutionary context by various species with mutation occurrence. We observed that disturbance was positively correlated with fecund individuals preponderance in all contexts but that disturbance effect on life strategy diversity varied between the different contexts. In the evolutionary and the eco-evolutionary contexts, life strategy diversity increased with disturbance raise, while in the ecological context diversity decreased. This result evidences the mutation role as a source of new life strategy variants when there is a high renovation of individuals given by raised mortality. Only in the eco-evolutionary context there was an interspecific heterogeneity peak on intermediate levels of disturbance. In this scenario, species reproductive isolation, in contrast to populations panmixy, allows species to differ in relation to its life strategies. In parallel to this, the constant input of new life strategy variants by mutation prevents the definite extinction of life strategies from the system. Therefore, when disturbance level is intermediate, productive species as well as long-lived ones are able to coexist. Given that the different contexts resulted in varied patterns of life strategies\' relative frequency, this study evidences the importance of studying disturbance effect on communities structure and dynamics unifying processes that are typically separated between Ecology and Evolution fields

Over the last few years, there has been a growing interest for social robots withhuman-like behavior and their application in healthcare and education. However,there are still plenty of issues that needs to be resolved. One of these challenges isto enable the social robots to fill its role effectively, by creating engagement. In this report the study, that was conducted at IBM Sweden, aims to understandhow IBM Watson can be utilized in the Pepper robot; to engage and supportchildren from the Ronald McDonald House in Uppsala. This is a place for childrenwith health problems and their families to live temporarily. Furthermore, supportivebehaviors are investigated since such behaviors are suggested to be important toincrease the engagement. An initial prototype that used Watson's natural languageprocessing and Pepper, was developed based on user requirements gatheredthrough interviews using a User Centered Design methodology. The prototype wasiteratively developed, and a final evaluation was conducted that examined both theperception of the robot as well as the engagement it created. The evaluation showed that the children wanted to interact with the robot again andhighlighted that they were highly engaged. They perceived the robot as a friend andthe supportive behaviors such as giving praise, responding quickly and maintainingeye contact were most important. The main support the children wanted were tohelp them feel less lonely and the conclusion of this study is that this is a suitablegoal for a robot system.

The content of the thesis is analysing current tools for building a positive image which IBM is trying to make in relationship with students. Related research helped to find out how the company influences students and if the activities of the IBM are effective. Theoretical part analyses the field of University Relations as a piece of Public Relation and connected company image. The next section describes the IBM company, especially the areas which are connected with the main topic of the thesis. The consequent own research discovered how IBM effect on university students, if students know about the possibilities which IBM offer them and which experiences students have with IBM. Based on the results of the research I have made few recommendations for company. The work was elaborated especially for employees of Communication and Marketing department in IBM to show them the possibilites of further improving of the company's image. The thesis may also be profitable for students. It can help them expand their awareness of the possibilities of cooperation with a prestigious company during their studies.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1985 E34 / Master of Science