Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur en hastig övergång till fjärrundervisning upplevdes av och påverkade några kemilärare och deras undervisning. Undersökningen lyfter också elevperspektivet, men har inte fokus på det. Genom kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer av tre kemilärare samt undersökning av nio elevers svar på några enkätfrågor har deras upplevelse undersökts och rapporterats. Data har analyserats genom att i ett första steg identifiera koder kopplade till frågeställning och sedan gruppering och samling av koder under gemensamma kategorier i en iterativ process. Dessa kategorier har sedan formulerats till teman. Sex teman identifierades som separata, men sammankopplade områden för att redogöra för hur den plötsliga digitaliseringen har påverkat respondenterna. De teman som diskuteras är didaktiska svårigheter och utmaningar, de digitala verktygen, kommunikation, avstämning och kommunikation samt så väl lärarens som elevernas situation. Resultat visar att det finns skillnader i hur lärarna bedrev sin undervisning på distans och även hur stor förändringen blev för de enskilda lärarna. Samtliga lärare uttryckte svårigheter med kommunikationen i stort. Lärarnas upplevelser och uppfattningar om framtida nytta av de nya digitala verktygen är varierande. Studien fördjupar sig inte i anledningarna till dessa skillnader men har funnit att distansundervisningen har bidragit till en viss ökning av användandet av digitala verktyg hos samtliga intervjuade lärare. Resultaten tyder också på att eleverna har påverkats av situationen olika, men det går inte att dra några slutsatser om hur distansundervisningen har påverkat elevernas lärande. Resultaten visar också att lärarna valde bort laborationer i stor utsträckning, men det går inte att dra några slutsatser om vilken påverkan det har haft på elevernas lärande. Elevsvaren tyder på att de laborativa momenten är de som eleverna minns bäst även om det fanns utmaningar med dem på distans.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur innehållet i läromedel i kemi för årskurs 4-6 framställs och på vilket sätt detta kan skapa möjligheter eller svårigheter för elevers förståelse och intresse. Studien är en kvalitativ textanalys, som med utgångspunkt i läroplansteori tar hjälp av analysverktygen representationsnivåer och ämnesfokus för att analysera innehållet i kapitlet om vatten i fyra kemiläromedel för årskurs 4-6. Resultaten visar att det, gällande representationsnivåer, finns stora skillnader mellan läromedlens framställning av innehåll. Framförallt den abstrakta submikronivån står för variationen och förekommer inte alls i ett av läromedlen medan den i de övriga läromedlen varierar stort i både omfattning och på vilket sätt den används. Gällande ämnesfokus visar resultatet att syftet med det innehåll som framställs framförallt har ett akademiskt ämnesfokus medan de skillnader som finns mellan läromedel är i vilken utsträckning övriga ämnesfokus förekommer. Sammantaget visar studiens resultat att beroende på vilket läromedel som väljs får eleverna olika möjligheter och förutsättningar för att skapa förståelse och intresse för kemiämnet.

For this master thesis, two methods to apply a pattern with a controlled amount of moisture to hand sheets were evaluated. The two methods evaluated were spraying and pressing. Spraying moisture onto the sheets was deemed the easiest method to control and was chosen for further studies. The sheets were sprayed with four spray times and patterns to create different moisture content variations (4.2, 8.0, 14.2 and 26.9 pp moisture content difference). The moisture patterns were designed so the sheets had either moist spots with drier surroundings or reversibly, drier spots with moist surroundings. The sprayed sheets were dried unrestrained or fully restrained to study how in-plane moisture variations could affect paper properties and out-of-plane deformation. Unrestrained drying resulted in out-of-plane deformation around the areas where moisture had been applied. Restrained drying resulted in no out-of-plane deformation but instead changes in opacity, permeance, grammage and thickness occurred. The severity of cockling and difference in paper properties after drying were found to increase with greater moisture content variation before drying. However all effects could be obtained even at the lowest moisture content variation. The resulting out-of-plane deformation varied between ±100 μm for 4.2 pp moisture content difference and ±250 μm for 14.2 pp moisture content difference

The aim of the project was to synthesize α1,2-linked and α1,6-linked dimannosides linked through either an oxygen-atom or a sulphur-atom, and subsequently test the binding properties of the dimannosides to lectins with known specificity towards mannose-containing glycans. Thedimannosides were prepared by a glycosylation reaction using selectively protected monosaccharides containing a thiol or alcohol nucleophilic glycosyl acceptor and a series of different glycosyl donors. The synthetic routes to the different building blocks were designed to efficiently make use of common intermediate compounds to streamline the synthesis. The glycosyl acceptors used forthe synthesis of α1,2-linked as well as α1,6-linked dimannosides were synthesized in few steps and diversified only in the last steps of the synthesis. The glycosyl donors used in the study were synthesized from commercially available starting material in a straightforward and convenientsynthesis in 7 to 8 steps.

This report gives a general overview on biodiesel production, its motivations, characteristics and recent developments, mainly focused in the Brazilian case. The Brazilian National Program for Production and Use of Biodiesel (PNPB) launched 2003 created a demand of biodiesel and stimulated the biodiesel production. Biodiesel is being produced from soybean oil, followed by animal fats and cottonseed oil, with palm and castor bean oil contributing in small portions. The biodiesel expansion has impacts on environmental and social issues such as deforestation from soya expansion and a decrease of employment levels due to the high degree of mechanization of the soya harvest. Experimental work was developed, using corn oil, ethanol and NaOH as a catalyst. Experiments were made varying significant parameters to find the optimum reaction temperature, reaction time, catalyst amount and molar ratio between ethanol and corn oil. Besides that, another experiment aimed to describe the yield behavior as a function of the reaction time. The produced biodiesel has been characterized by measurements of density, refraction index and viscosity. The amount of 0.4 wt % NaOH, based on the weight of raw oil, was enough to catalyze the reaction of transesterification effectively. A higher amount of alcohol in excess provides a higher yield at mild temperature conditions. But the higher amount of alcohol used, the higher the amount of alcohol in excess presented in the biodiesel phase which has to be eliminated. An increase of the temperature from 40˚C to 50˚C  does not increase the yield in a considerable way. Thus due to the energy saving it is not recommended to increase the temperature to 50˚C. Regarding the evaluation of the conversion as function of time, a high conversion is obtained after 90 min. An extension of the reaction time from 90 to 150min had no significant effect.

This master thesis project was carried out at SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden within the FORMAMP project which goal is to increase the efficiency and stability of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) by exploring and developing a number of innovative formulation strategies for the drug delivery of those systems. In view of the growing problem of bacterial resistance to traditional antibiotics, AMPs represent one of the most promising alternatives as therapeutics against infectious diseases: besides having a fast and non-specific mechanism of action, they are less prone to bacterial resistance. In this project, the goal was to develop an efficient method for the formulation of hexagonal lyotropic phase nanodispersions (called hexosomes) as drug delivery vehicles for the AP114, DPK-060 and LL-37 AMPs. Then, these formulations were characterized through size measurements, zeta potential measurements, SAXS, cryo-TEM and UPLC and their stability was assessed. Lastly, the interaction of these systems with model bacterial membranes was tested through QCM-D and ellipsometry. The relevant samples were found to have a hexagonal structure with the lattice parameter being larger when peptide was loaded. The systems were observed to be sufficiently stable and the peptide loading efficiency was found to be higher than 90% in most cases. The hexosomes loaded with LL-37 were observed to preserve the effectiveness of the peptide when interacting with the model membrane through QCM-D.

Syftet med arbetet var att undersöka effekten av olika kvalitéer av shea-stearin och palmolja med avseende på solid fat content (SFC)-värdet efter att fettet hade genomgått en simulering av en deodoriseringsprocess. Utöver att undersöka olika kvalitéer testades även effekten av två olika grundrecept med stora andelar av shea-stearin och palmolja. Recepten bestod av en mindre andel shea-stearin och resterande var palmolja (recept A) samt högre andel shea-stearin med resterande palmolja (recept B). Andelen diglycerider för samtliga prover studerades för att undersöka dess effekt på SFC-värdet. Metoderna som användes för försöken var en simulator som skulle efterlikna en deodorisör samt så användes externa NMR och HPLC-analyser för att få ut solid fat content respektive andelen diglycerider för proverna. Resultaten visade att andelen av shea-stearin och palmolja i en lösning har en tydlig påverkan på SFC-värdet då skillnader i SFC-värdena observerades för samtliga prov. Beroende på receptet kunde även skillnader ses före och efter deodoriseringen där receptet med störst andel shea-stearin gav störst skillnad i SFC-värden. Andelen diglycerider observerades ha en tydlig omvänd korrelation med både SFC-värdet och kvalitén av en olja. Vid tillsättning av god kvalité med lägre andel diglycerider observerades det att SFC-värdet ökade. Slutsatsen är att receptet har störst påverkan för SFC-värdet men även andelen av god kvalité jämfört med sämre kvalité sågs ha en effekt. Även om tydliga mönster observerades genom att undersöka SFC-kurvor utifrån av andelen diglycerider och dess effekt på SFC-värdet i en fettlösning, så går det inte att fastställa orsaken till detta och mekanismerna utan ytterligare undersökning.

The spin of an electron often misleadingly interpreted as the classical rotationof a particle. The quantum spin distinguishes itself from classicalrotation by possessing quantized states and can be detected by its magneticmoment. The properties of spin and its collective behavior with otherfundamental properties are fascinating in basic sciences. In many aspectsit offers scope for designing new materials by manipulating the ensemblesof spin. In recent years attention towards high density storage devices hasdriven the attention to the fundamental level were quantum physics rules.To understand better design of molecule based storage materials, studies onspin degrees of freedom and their coupling properties can not be neglected. To account for many body effect of two or more electrons consistent withrelativity, an approximation like the Breit Hamiltonian(BH) is used in modernquantum chemical calculations, which is successful in explaining the splitin the spectra and corresponding properties associated with it. Often differenttactics are involved for a specific level of computations. For example themulti-configurational practice is different from the functional based calculations,and it depends on the size of the system to choose between resourcesand accuracy. As the coupling terms offers extra burden of calculating theintegrals it is literally challenging. One can readily employ approximations as it suits best for the applicationoriented device computations. The possible methods available in the literatureare presented in chapter 2. The theoretical implementations of couplingfor the multi-reference and density functional method are discussed in detail.The multi-reference method precedes the density functional methodin terms of accuracy and generalizations, however it is inefficient in dealingvery large systems involving many transition elements, which is vital formolecule based magnets as they often possess open shell manifolds. On theother hand existing density functional method exercise perturbations techniqueswhich is extremely specialized for a specific system - highly coupledspins. The importance of spin-spin coupling(SSC) in organic radical-Oxyallyl(OXA)was systematically studied with different basis sets and compared with asimilar isoelectronic radical(TMM). The method of spin-spin coupling implementationsare also emphasized. Similar coupling studies were carriedivout for the species HCP and NCN along with spin-orbit coupling(SOC).The splitting of the triplet states are in good agreement with experiments / QC 20110210

Sample preparation as the first step in an analytical procedure has an important role, particularly in bioanalysis, because of the complexity of biological samples (blood plasma and urine). Biological matrix such as plasma and blood contains proteins, organic and inorganic salts, acids, bases and various organic compounds with similar chemistry to the analytes of interest. Thus the basic concept of a sample preparation method is to convert a real matrix into a format that is suitable for analysis by an analytical technique. Therefore the choice of an appropriate sample preparation method greatly influences the reliability and accuracy of the analysis results. The aim of this thesis was to develop and validate of microextraction by packed syringe (MEPS) as a fast, selective, accurate and fully automated sample preparation technique for determination of BAM peptides in human plasma and local anaesthtics in human plasma and urine samples using silica and polymer sorbents. First work presents use of MEPS technique online with LC-MS/MS as a tool for the quantification of BAM peptide in plasma samples. MEPS technique provides significant advantages such as the speed and the simplicity of the sample-preparation process. Compared with other extraction techniques, such as protein precipitation and ultrafiltration, MEPS gave cleaner samples and higher recovery. In the second work, MEPS technique was developed by using synthesized molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) as a sorbent for selective quantification of a homologous series of local anaesthetics, containing lidocaine, ropivacaine, mepivacaine, and bupivacaine in human plasma and urine samples. Compared with other conventional sorbent, the use of MIP provides high selectivity of the extraction and decrease the matrix effect.

At Nouryon Stockvik the Expancel production site is located. Expandable microspheres areused in for many types of applications and is a technically challenging product. At ExpancelStockvik they are constantly striving to improve product properties in line with customerexpectations. To be able to do this, it is important to understand the properties of themicrospheres such as crystallinity and crystallite size.Films was prepared from microspheres dissolved in DMA and analyzed with High-resolutionSEM, Powder X-Ray Diffraction and Raman Spectroscopy. The aim was to develop a methodto investigate and determine crystalline ratios and crystallite size within the microsphere filmsand the microspheres before film preparation. The eventual correlation between morphologyand crystallinity was also studied. An attempt of finding an amorphous reference sample wasalso performed, this was done by grinding microspheres in liquid nitrogen, unfortunately, nosuccess was reached. Gauss-fitting was therefore performed to be able to find the amorphousregions of the XRD Diffractogram for the calculations of crystallinity and crystallite size. TheGauss-fitting was successfully performed with good R-square values.During the Raman analysis some fluorescence problems occurred, this problem will probablybe solved if a laser source with higher excitation frequency is used in future analysis. Evenwith fluorescence problems, Raman analysis could successfully be performed and giveinformation of the composition. The crystallite size was in general larger for the microspheresbefore they were prepared from dissolving them to make films. Generally, it seems as there isa correlation between the morphology, crystallinity, and crystallite size.