Kommunikationsvägar i business-to-business-kommunikation (B2B-kommunikation), så som e-post och telefoni, är idag utsatta för ett ökande hot från cyberattacker. Tidigare forskning har visat att många vanliga kommunikationsvägar är sårbara för hot, inklusive social manipulation och ransomware.  Studien undersökte hur IT-leverantörer arbetar för att säkerställa att deras B2Bkommunikationsvägar är säkrade, vilka sårbarheter de ser i sin befintliga miljö och vilka metoder de använder för att förhindra attacker. För att besvara frågorna genomfördes en kvalitativ fallstudie med en IT-leverantör. Semi-strukturerade intervjuer genomfördes för att ta reda på respondenternas åsikter och erfarenheter i relation till kommunikationsvägarna. Totalt 19 frågor inom olika kategorier ställdes till respondenterna.  Resultaten och analysen av intervjuerna indikerar att e-post och telefoni är de primära kommunikationssätten hos den IT-leverantör som deltog i fallstudien. Det skiljer sig också åt hur olika avdelningar föredrar att kommunicera. Resultaten visar även en oro över den växande hotbilden inom IT-sektorn. Som en följd är respondenterna medvetna om relevanta cyberattacker, så som ransomware eller andra attacker som involverar social manipulation. Respondenterna delar också hur de arbetar för att skydda sina kommunikationsvägar, samt identifierar områden för förbättring i en nära framtid. Slutligen kräver lagar och regler att IT-leverantören förbättrar och stärker sin IT-säkerhet, med framträdande exempel som GDPR och NIS-2-direktiven. / Communication paths in business-to-business communication (B2B-communication), such as email and telephony, are today exposed by an increasing threat of cyber attacks. Previous research has demonstrated that many common communication paths are vulnerable to threats, including social engineering and ransomware.  The study examined how IT-suppliers work to ensure that their B2B-communication paths are secured, what vulnerabilities in their existing environment do they see and what mitigation techniques they are using to prevent attacks. To answer the questions a qualitative case study was conducted with an IT-supplier. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to find out the respondents’ opinions and experiences in relation to the communication paths. A total of 19 questions across various categories were posed to the respondents.  The results and analysis of the interviews indicate that email and telephony are the primary modes of communication at the IT-supplier involved in the case study. It also differs in how different departments prefer to communicate. The results also indicate a concern about the growing threat landscape in the IT sector. As a result, the respondents are aware of relevant cyber attacks, such as ransomware or other attacks involving social engineering. The respondents also share how they work to protect their communication paths, as well as identify areas for improvement in the near future. Finally, laws and regulations requiere the IT-supplier to enhance and improve their IT-security, with prominent examples being GDPR and the NIS-2 directives.

Past studies often find that, upon arrival U.S. immigrants generally have favorable health profiles than native-born persons, but their health deteriorates with prolonged stay. The classical explanations of this phenomenon are healthy immigrant selection and negative acculturation. With the number of foreign-born people living in the United States reaching an all-time high, the health and financial costs of this “negative acculturation” is substantial. Meanwhile, the negative duration effect on health is contradictory to expectations from classic assimilation theory and what has been observed by labor economists. This study aims to empirically study the effect of duration on immigrant health, with particular attention given to how socioeconomic status differentiates the duration-health relationship. Results based on two national datasets confirmed that immigrants, especially recent arrivals, have a considerably lower risk of worse health relative to native-born adults. I also found that socioeconomic status plays an essential role in the varying level of initial health selectivity among immigrants. The analysis of the interaction effect between duration and SES reveals that duration effects on health vary significantly by socioeconomic status. High SES immigrants tend to experience a non-negative duration effect regardless of their length of U.S. residence, while immigrants with lower socioeconomic standing are more likely to experience a negative duration effect on health with longer duration. Moreover, this study also shows that the initial foreign-born advantages in health are typically larger for persons with low SES than for persons with high SES. However, little evidence suggests there is a health convergence between long-term immigrants and their native-born counterparts with similar socioeconomic status. Potential explanations and implications of these findings are also discussed. / text

Title: Deconvolution fluorescence microscopy of yeast cells Author: Tomáš Štec Department: Institute of Physics of Charles University Supervisor: prof. RNDr. Jarmoír Plášek, CSc., Institute of Physics of Charles Uni- versity Abstract: Fluorescence microscopy presents an fast and cheap alternative to more advanced imaging methods like confocal and electron microscopy, even though it is subject to heavy image distortion. It is possible to recover most of the original distortion-free image using deconvolution in computer image processing. This al- lows reconstruction of 3D structure of studied objects. Deconvolution procedure of NIS Elements AR program undergoes an thorough inspection in this diploma the- sis. It is then applied on restoration of 3D structure of calcofluor stained cell wall of budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Changes of the structure of the cell wall during cell ageing are being examined. Cell wall of aged cells shows increased surface roughness and even ruptures at the end of cell life. Keywords: fluorescence, microscopy, deconvolution, NIS Elements AR, calcofluor, yeast, cell wall, ageing

Class of 2011 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: To assess the role of patient, payer, clinical and disease-related factors in charges and mortality among adult inpatient cases of polycythemia vera in the United States from 2004 to 2008. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study utilized hospital discharge records from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) five consecutive years from 2004 to 2008. RESULTS: There were a total of 156,490 episodes of care involving polycythemia vera between 2004 and 2008. Average age upon admission was 65.94 years (±16.03), with 56% of cases being male (n=87,662). The mean length of stay was 5.14 days (±5.31) and inpatient mortality occurred in 3.1% of cases (n=4,927). The mean number of procedures performed was 1.43 (±2.08) and the mean number of diagnoses on record was 9.56 (±3.86). Charges for each episode of care averaged $32,620 (±42,801), summing to a national bill of $5.02 billion (2010 dollars) over the five-year time horizon. Higher charges were associated with longer length of stay, larger hospital bed size, urban hospital location, teaching status, increased number of diagnoses and procedures, private payer, Western U.S. region, and higher income bracket. Increased mortality was associated with increased age, increased number of diagnoses and procedures, self pay, payer other than Medicare, Medicaid, private or self, and the comorbidities of congestive heart failure, coagulopathy, and fluid/electrolyte disorders. CONCLUSION: Polycythemia vera is associated with considerable burden of illness.

This thesis describes the hospital information system (HIS) CLINICOM, focusing on the department of radiology. It analyses the problems linked with Internet transport of patient image documentation and it provides instructions how to create remote access interface on the department of radiology. It gives also a detailed guide describing installation and components configuration of HIS CLINICOM.

Tato práce se v první části zabývá představením technologií a nástrojů pro centrální správu a přihlašování uživatelů v GNU/Linux. Ukazuje využití adresářových služeb v síťové infrastruktuře, konkrétně služby NIS a její porovnání s dnes pravděpodobně nejrozšířenější adresářovou službou LDAP. Dále práce popisuje proces autentizace na klientských stanicích, konkrétně použití PAM a NSS a možné rozšíření celého systému zavedením cache díky démonu SSSD. Druhá část popisuje návrh a implementaci NIS provideru pro SSSD.

Syfte: År 2016 blev det lagstadgat i Sverige att större företag måste inkludera uppgifter om hållbarhet i sin årsredovisning. Eftersom större organisationer från trävaruindustrin i Sverige generellt sett publicerar omfattande och presentabla hållbarhetsrapporter, hade det varit intressant att undersöka incitamenten till detta med utgångspunkt i NIS. Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka isomorfa faktorer som påverkar hur ett större företag inom den svenska trävaruindustrin utformar sin hållbarhetsrapport.  Metod: Studien genomfördes som en kvalitativ fallstudie med ett induktivt angreppssätt. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med 10 personer i ett företag inom den svenska trävaruindustrin. Det insamlade materialet har kodats tematiskt för att sedan kunna analysera den tillsammans med analysmodellen från teoretiska referensramen.  Resultat & slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att det undersökta företaget blir påverkade av två isomorfa faktorer. Tvingande isomorfism påverkar företaget i högre grad medan den normativa isomorfismen påverkar företaget till viss del. Den härmande isomorfismen påverkar inte företaget i lika hög utsträckning. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studiens teoretiska bidrag är att öka förståelsen för vilka isomorfa faktorer som påverkar hur ett företag inom trävarubranschen upprättar sin hållbarhetsrapport. Det praktiska bidraget är att företag måste ta hänsyn till vad omgivningen efterfrågar ur hållbarhetsrapporten för att undvika att förlora sin legitimitet. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Utföra studier på fler företag inom samma bransch och jämföra resultatet. Även inkludera fler kontextuella teorier för att undersöka andra faktorer som påverkar rapportens utseende. Det hade även varit intressant att studera hållbarhetsrapporter över tid för att undersöka om det finns en förändring. Till sist hade det varit till stor hjälp att ta fram ett jämförelseinstrument för hållbarhetsrapporter. / Aim: In 2016, it became statutory in Sweden that larger companies must include information on sustainability in their annual report. Since larger organizations from the lumber industry in Sweden generally publish comprehensive and presentable reports, it would have been interesting to examine the incentives for this based on NIS. The purpose of the study is to investigate which isomorphic factors affect how a major company in the Swedish lumber industry designs its sustainability report.  Method: The study was conducted as a qualitative case study using an inductive approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 employees in a company in the Swedish lumber industry. The empirical material has been coded thematically in order to then be able to analyze it together with the analysis model from the theoretical framework. Result & Conclusions: The results of the study show that the examined company is affected by two isomorphic factors. Coercive isomorphism affects the company to a greater extent, while normative isomorphism affects the company to some extent. The mimetic isomorphism does not affect the company to the same extent. Contribution of the thesis: The theoretical contribution of the study is to increase the understanding of which isomorphic factors affect how a company in the lumber industry establish their sustainability report. The practical contribution is that companies must consider what the environment demands from the sustainability report in order to avoid losing their legitimacy. Suggestions for future research: Perform studies on several companies in the same industry and compare the results. Also include more contextual theories to investigate other factors that affect the appearance of the report. It would also have been interesting to study sustainability reports over time to investigate whether there is a change or not. Finally, it would be helpful to develop a comparison instrument for sustainability reports.

I detta examensarbete är syftet att undersöka svenska verksamheters utmaningar i att uppnå en ISO 27001-certifiering med sitt arbete inom informationssäkerhet. Digitala medier och verktyg är numera en stor del av samhällsviktiga verksamheters tjänster samt operationer och det har bidragit till stora möjligheter såväl som stora sårbarheter. ISO 27001-certifieringar är den standard som ligger till grund för säkerhetsskyddslagen såväl som NIS-direktivet vilket gör att det är en standard som svenska verksamheter kan applicera. Genom bakgrunden ges en inblick i vad informationssäkerhet är och hur det står i relation med cybersäkerhet. Bakgrunden innehåller även en introduktion till den svenska lagstiftningen inom informationssäkerhet såväl som ISO 27001-standarden för att belysa vad svenska verksamheter har att förhålla sig till när det kommer till sitt arbete med informationssäkerhet. I problemformuleringen lyfts de aktuella hoten och myndigheters uttalanden inom informationssäkerhet i Sverige och hur svenska verksamheter brister i dessa. Detta i kombination med den tidigare forskningen om hur utmaningar inom ISO 27001-certifieringar har tagit sitt uttryck för andra verksamheter. Metoden redovisar hur kvalitativa intervjuer använts som verktyg för datainsamling till fallstudien men även hur det tagit sitt uttryck och beskriver processen – från förberedelse till läsbar produkt, vilket är detta examensarbete. I analysen ställs den insamlade datan i relation till tidigare forskning samt aktuella händelser för att se vilka utmaningar svenska verksamheter har för att uppnå en ISO 27001-certifiering. Resultatet baseras på den insamlade datan då det är svenska verksamheters utmaningar som är aktuellt för fallstudien. Det resulterade i fyra utmaningar: motivation, tid och ekonomi, bransch samt komplexitet. Dessa utmaningar och dess bidragande faktorer redovisas i text såväl som figurer. Somliga av dessa utmaningar är utmaningar som lyfts i tidigare forskning, vilket gör att de även kan appliceras som utmaningar för svenska verksamheter. Uppsatsen avslutas med en diskussion där fallstudiens resultat diskuteras i olika perspektiv – samhälleliga, etiska samt vetenskapliga. Diskussion om val av metod, studiens resultat samt förslag på framtida forskning lyfts, där det diskuteras om hur lagar samt standarder inom informationssäkerhet är svåra att implementera samt förstå och om det ens är möjligt att göra det lättare.

Energisektorn är en av de sektorer som är viktiga för att Sverige ska kunna fungera som land. Därför ställer makthavare extra krav på organisationer som verkar inom energisektorn. I takt med att digitaliseringen utvecklas ökar även hotet av cyberattacker och krav måste då även ställas i den digitala miljön för att undvika att samhällsviktiga tjänster blir utslagna eller att sekretessbelagd data hamnar i fel händer. I denna studie läggs fokuset på hur de organisationer som bedriver verksamhet inom sektorn arbetar med informationssäkerhet.  Studien har tagit reda på hur de som ansvarar för informationssäkerheten förhåller sig till de olika lagar, standarder och riktlinjer som finns inom området. I studien undersöks även hur organisationer inom energisektorn samarbetar med varandra och hur kommunikationen med myndigheter upplevs. Fokus läggs också på att ta reda på vilka utmaningar som finns inom området, och frågeställningarna besvaras med en kvalitativ semistrukturerad intervjustudie och en litteratursökning. Resultatet visar på att de lagar som driver fram informationssäkerhetsarbetet är NIS-direktivet och säkerhetsskyddslagen. Mycket arbete sker även utifrån ISO 27000-serien, men få är certifierade. Intervjuerna visar dessutom på att det samarbete som finns mellan branschkollegor främst bygger på personliga kontakter och personlig tillit. Energiföretagen upplevs som en bra yta för att diskutera säkerhetsfrågor och skapa kontakt med branschkollegor för att på ett öppet sätt diskutera säkerhetsfrågor. Det finns däremot önskemål om en central organisation i stil med Norges KraftCERT för att kunna diskutera säkerhetsfrågor inom sektorn. Vidare visar resultatet på att de utmaningar som upplevs till stor del handlar om brist på resurser för att kunna implementera rätt säkerhetsåtgärder och utbilda personal, men också hur ledningen väljer att prioritera informationssäkerhet inom organisationen.

Condensed matter physics provides us with an opportunity to explore a large variety of systems with diverse properties. Central to the understanding of these systems is a characterization of the nature of their ground states and low energy excitation. Often, such systems show various forms of emergent properties that are absent in the microscopic level. Identification of such emergent phases of condensed matter form an important avenue of research in the field. In this thesis example of such phases and their associated phase transitions have been studied. The work presented here may be broadly divided into two themes: construction of the theoretical framework for understanding materials already studied experimentally, and, trying to provide new theoretical avenues which may be relevant for understanding future experiments. In these studies we shall explore some unconventional phases and phase transitions that may occur in condensed matter systems. A comprehensive understanding of the properties of such unconventional phases and phase transitions is important in the context of the large array of experimentally studied materials that regularly defy conventional wisdom in more than one way. The thesis consists of two distinct parts. In the first part we study three problems in frustrated magnets. The second part consists of studies of the tunnelling spectroscopy of metal-insulator-superconductor junctions in graphene. Studies in frustrated magnets have opened up the possibility of existence of a whole range of phases beyond the already known magnetically ordered ones. Some of these new phases, like the spin nematic or the valence bond solid, display some other conventional order themselves. Others, like the much sort after spin liquid phases displays a whole new kind of order that cannot be captured through the celebrated Landau’s classification of phases on the basis of symmetry breaking and associated order parameters. The phase transitions in these systems are also equally interesting and lead to intriguing possibilities that demand new modes of analysis. In this part of the thesis we shall study the different properties of three magnets with spin-1/2, 1 and 3/2 respectively. We start by providing an introduction to frustrated spin systems in Chapter [1]. The origin of antiferromagnetic interactions in Mott insulators is discussed and the concept of frustration of magnetic interaction is explained. We also point out the causes that may destroy magnetic order in spin systems, particularly the role of quantum fluctuations in presence or absence of magnetic frustration. This is followed with a brief outline of various magnetically ordered and disordered ground states with particular emphasis on the description of the later. We also give a brief outline of various properties of such phases and associated quantum phase transitions particularly noting the influences of quantum interferences encoded in the Berry phase terms. A brief description of the finite temperature properties is also provided. We end an outline of various experimentally relevant compounds that requires comprehensive understanding, some of which have been addressed in this thesis. In Chapter [2] we study the properties of a spin-nematic state in context of the recently discovered spin-1 Mott insulator Nickel Gallium Sulphide (NiGa2S4). This isotropic triangular lattice compound shows no spin ordering till low temperatures. We propose that it may have a particular type of spin-nematic ground state and explain the experimentally observed properties of the compound on the basis of our proposal. Starting from a two band Hubbard model description, relevant for the compound, we derive the Bilinear Biquadratic spin Hamiltonian. We then show, within mean field theory, that this Hamiltonian describes a transition from the spiral state to a ferro-nematic state as a function of the ratio of bilinear and biquadratic couplings. We also study the possible effects of small pinning disorder andmagnetic field and suggest experiments that can possibly distinguish the proposed nematic state from others. In Chapter [3] we explore the effects of the magneto-elastic coupling in the spin-3/2 B-site chromite spinel Cadmium Chromite (CdCr2O4). In this compound the spins form a pyrochlore lattice. Nearest neighbour spins interact antiferromagnetically. Due to frustration the system does not order at low temperatures and instead goes into a classical spin liquid state. Such a cooperative paramagnet is very susceptible to external perturbations which may relieve their frustration. In CdCr2O4, at lower temperatures the magnetic frustration is relieved by distorting the lattice through a first order magnetoelastic transition. Thus the compound presents a case where the relevant perturbation to the frustrated spin interactions is provided by spin-phonon coupling. An effect of such perturbations on a cooperative paramagnet is of general interest and all aspects of this are not understood presently. We take the initial step of characterizing the spin-phonon interaction in detail. Based on recent sound velocity experiments, we construct a microscopic theory for the sound velocity renormalization due to the spin-phonon coupling and explain the recent experimental data obtained by S. Zherlitsyn et al. using our theory we can explain the dependence of the sound velocity on temperature as well as magnetic field. We also construct a Landau theory to explain (qualitatively) the behaviour of sound velocity across the magneto-structural transition. Further, we discuss the effects due to the small Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction that may be present in these compounds. In Chapter [4] we study the possibility of a direct second order quantum phase transition from spiral to dimer phase in two dimensional antiferromagnets. Such transitions between phases with incompatible symmetries are forbidden within conventional Landau Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm of critical phenomena. Early works showed that when the spiral is destroyed by long wavelength fluctuations a fractionalized Z2 spin liquid is obtained. In this work we show an alternative way–the quantum destruction of the spiral magnet. We argue that, when the defects of the spiral phase proliferate and condense, their associated Berry phase automatically leads to dimerization. We apply our theory to study concrete lattice models where such transitions may be observed. This transition is an example of a Landau forbidden deconfined quantum phase transition. The proposed critical theory is naturally written in terms of fractional degrees of freedom which emerge right at the critical point. These fractional particles interact with each other through emergent gauge fields and are deconfined right at the critical point (but are confined in either of the two adjoining phases). We argue, based on existing results, that the monopoles of the gauge field are dangerously irrelevant right at the critical point rendering the later noncompact. The critical point is characterized by an emergent global U (1) conservation law that is absent in the microscopic model, a typical feature of a deconfined quantum critical point. The resultant field theory belongs to the class of anisotropic NCCP3 class which may be studied numerically in future to understand its critical properties. In modern condensed matter physics the emergence of new and novel phases of matter have often been associated with the presence of strong correlations. Indeed, strongly correlated systems seem to harbour in them the potential to realize some of the most unconventional and exotic emergent phases of matter. However in graphene, which is a single layer of graphite, the emergence of novel properties, as present experiments suggest, is due to its unique band structure and not a fallout of intricate correlation effects. Band structure studies of graphene suggest that the material is a zero gap semiconductor with the low energy excitations resembling massless Dirac quasi-particles. The consequence of this is immediate and interesting. It has lead to the possibility of exploring the physics of relativistic fermions in two spatial dimensions and much of this has been studied with great vigour in the last five years. In our studies, presented in Chapter [5], we explore one of the many consequence of this emergent Dirac structure of the low energy quasi-particles, namely the properties of metal-insulator-superconductor junctions of graphene. The twin effect of Klein tunneling of Dirac fermions (and associated transmission resonances) and Andreev reflection (both specular and retro) sets them aside from their conventional counterparts. The graphene normal metal-insulator-superconductor (NIS) junctions show strikingly different properties like oscillations in the sub-gap tunneling conductance as a function of both barrier strength and width. We make a detailed study of this for arbitrary barrier strengths and widths with and without Fermi-surface mismatch between the normal and the superconducting sides. The amplitude of these oscillations are maximum for aligned Fermi surface and vanishes for large Fermi surface mismatch. We provide an understanding for this unconventional behaviour of graphene NIS junctions. We also suggest experimental tests for our theory. Such experimental verification will reveal one more remarkable emergent property in a condensed matter system.