This body of work is tackling some of the challenges in the field of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for electric vehicles through in situ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). In situ NMR allows for the simultaneous monitoring of both liquid and solid components (electrolyte, cathode, anode, separator) and provides timely data acquisition making it a great method to extract real-time information about structural changes, degradation products and failure mechanisms in batteries. A combined in situ 7Li NMR and ex situ 29Si magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR study on silicon and silicon monoxide was used to compare structural differences in these anode materials using a custom-made in situ cell. Some key differences between the two materials were obtained, highlighting the importance of in situ NMR to be used for identifying phases, which are not present under ex situ conditions. In addition, fast charging of silicon anodes was investigated to gain a better understanding of their performance at high current rates. Magnetic resonance imaging was also implemented to localize lithium metal deposition under these conditions, which was made possible by a unique in situ parallel-plate resonator setup. Finally, the successful development of a novel in situ MAS NMR technique is introduced, which for the first time allows for an in situ analysis of a LIB under MAS. This strategy paves the way toward acquisition of valuable in situ data on the formation and transformations of metastable states within the active materials of both electrodes; data that is difficult to obtain from static in situ NMR experiments alone. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Uppsatsen undersöker hur Joel Greenblatts investeringstrategi The Magic Formula presterat på Stockholmsbörsen mellan mars 1993 och mars 2013. Formeln presenteras i Greenblatts bok "The Little Book that Beats the Market" från 2006 och sorterar ut de aktier som har bäst kombinerad ranking av två nyckeltal; Direktavkastning och Avkastning på Kapital. Aktierna bildar en portfölj, vars utveckling jämförs med index. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att The Magic Formula slår index på Stockholmsbörsen och har en högre riskjusterad avkastning. Slutsatsen blir således att Greenblatts investeringstrategi är effektiv på Stockholmsbörsen.

This is a high fantasy novel about Iníon Ríúil, a girl who discovers she has the ability to manipulate magic. Two weeks before Iní­'s seventeenth birthday, thieves attack their home and her grandmother is murdered. After her grandmother's death, Iní­ goes in search of the father she has never met and ends up joining the Magical Alliance, where she learns more about her unique skills. Iní­ is a full conduit, someone who possesses all four of the possible conduit abilities: shielding, absorption, transformation, and amplification. Because someone has been kidnapping other conduits, the Magical Alliance assigns guardians for her protection: a goblin, an elf, and another being whose exact race is unknown. Iní­ and her guardians are assigned to find out more about the bloodstone, an ancient relic made to function the same as conduits, something the Races thought long destroyed. They suspect the dragons to be looking for the bloodstone and worry its discovery could start a war. The culminating challenges in the novel involve Iní­ finding the bloodstone and learning the identity of her father.

This thesis investigates syncretic animal symbolism within medieval European occult systems. The major question that this work seeks to answer is: what does the ubiquity and importance of magical animals and animal magic reveal about overarching medieval perceptions of the world? In response, I utilize the emerging subfield of Animal History as a theoretical framework to draw attention to an understudied yet highly relevant aspect of occult theory and practice. This work argues that medieval Europeans lived in a fundamentally “enchanted” world compared to our modern age, where the permeable boundaries between physical and spiritual planes imbued nature and its creatures with intrinsic power. In addition, with the increasingly pervasive influence of Christianity, animals took on supplementary and often negative symbolic dimensions within evolving magical systems, yet retained their sense of power within a new syncretic context. By surveying classical occult inheritance, the pervasive influence of Christian doctrine, the use of animals in medical magic, and their rich symbolic potential within medieval literature, this interdisciplinary work highlights the multifaceted medley of Christian and pagan elements that became intertwined in daily life despite seeming doctrinal opposition. Although further scholarly research has yet to be done, analyzing understandings of a world filled with intrinsic occult power offers a valuable and revealing contrast to an age of increasingly sharpened boundaries between animals, human beings, the cosmic realm, and nature.

Magical usage plays a significant role in William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. However, who gets to use magic and in what ways? Why is Prospero painted the protagonist while Sycorax gets labeled a witch though both use magic? This thesis looks at how early modern English pedagogy shapes the use of magic in The Tempest. When magic is read as knowledge, then the pedagogy influencing early modern education dictates whose knowledge counts and is seen as correct and whose is erased and vilified. The epistemological formation happening in early modern England is apparent in The Tempest as Prospero uses magic as a means of control to puppeteer the outcome of the play, while Sycorax is both absent and voiceless. In this thesis I examine how the pedagogy present in early modern English schools and homes shapes the magical usage in The Tempest along gendered and racialized lines that ultimately creates an epistemology of empire.

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