Wood-polymer composite is a relatively new type of material that combines shattered wood mass and a thermoplastic polymer. This material is utilized especially as an alternative to hard wood in the area of non-bearing exterior elements, as it reaches better properties in terms of the basic durability and low maintenance. Raw material composition and processing of the composite enable to provide a significant modification with further matters leading to an improvement of the end-product properties. Research and development in this field focuses predominantly on the utilization of such modifying additives that either enhance the resistance to weathering or are of the recycled nature, as a significant part of the raw material mixture comprises the constituent obtained from non-renewable resources. The aim of the thesis is the evaluation of the influence of the wood-polymer composite modification separately at two levels. First of them is the modification to matrix by using a recycled polymer, the second one comprises the modification of the wood flour with a secondary spherical filler. Both types of modified composites have been assessed in terms pf the prime characteristics and the resistance to adverse ambient.

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Soil is one of the largest ecosystems being ignored by human activities. Our farming practices and urban constructions have contributed to its degradation, with far-reaching consequences for the water cycle’s equi- librium.Reconnect with nature and learn the methods to assist in its recovery are essential for the survival of all inhabitants on this planet.  My degree project consists of a large research into the water cycle of urban areas, studying the particular case of Stockholm, that leads to the problems of degraded soil. The aim is to understand the relation- ship between water cycle and soil ecosystems and explore potential solutions.  As a result, I have designed KURITA, a learning tool founded upon the ecofeminism values of care, that serves as a learning method for citi- zens to reconnect with soil values and actively participate in its restor- ative process.

Stockholm Vatten has decided to close down the Bromma waste water treatment plantand manage the waste water from Bromma together with the waste water from the formerEolshällsverket to Henriksdal’s waste water treatment plant. Henriksdals wastewater treatment plant will be expanded for higher purification requirements and loads,estimated to be finished until 2040. This entails extensive renovations and additionsto the existing treatment plant in and on Henriksdalsberget, as well as a major expansionof the Sickla plant.The purpose of the study is to investigate an environmentally friendly alternative tothe standard concrete that will be used for the expansion of the Sickla plant. The largestenvironmental villain in concrete is the cement. The aim of this study has beento replace the cement with environmentally friendly additives in the largest possibleamount, thus reducing the negative impact of the cement on the environment.In the present study, a review was made of obtained data with exposure classes, then aliterature study was performed to gain knowledge in the area. With help from experts,two fictitious recipes for each exposure class have been calculated for the standardconcrete and the green concrete. In this way, a careful comparison between the concretetypes was made of the cement’s impact on global warming. Thereafter, a study wascarried out on existing EPDs, which were incorporated into the One Click LCA (2015)software. An LCA in the mentioned software was carried out, which enabled data to becompiled and a comparison of the climate impact between the four different fictitiousrecipes has been done.Compiled and compared data from LCA and analysis of EPDs show that 70% of thestructure with exposure class XD2 gets a 47% reduction in global warming when usinggreen concrete instead of standard concrete. Furthermore, the results show that theremaining 30% of the structure with exposure class XF3/XC4 gets a 20% reductionwhen using green concrete instead of standard concrete. The total reduction in globalwarming when using green concrete instead of standard concrete for the expansion ofSickla treatment plant was calculated to be 40%. / Stockholm Vatten har beslutat att lägga ned Bromma reningsverk och leda avloppsvattnetfrån Bromma tillsammans med avloppsvattnet från det forna Eolshällsverkettill Henriksdals reningsverk. Henriksdals reningsverk ska byggas ut för högre reningskravoch belastningar beräknade till år 2040. Detta medför omfattande om- och tillbyggnationeri det befintliga reningsverket i och på Henriksdalsberget samt en storutbyggnad av Sicklaanläggningen.Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka ett miljövänligare alternativ till standardbetongensom ska användas vid utbyggnaden av Sicklaanläggningen. Då den främsta”miljöboven” i betongen är cementet har målet med denna studie varit att ersätta cementetmed miljövänliga tillsatsmaterial i största möjliga mängd, i syfte att minskacementets negativa inverkan på miljön.I föreliggande arbete har en genomgång utförts på erhållna data med exponeringsklasser,därefter påbörjades en litteraturstudie i syfte att inhämta kunskaper inomområdet. Med hjälp av experter har två fiktiva recept för respektive exponeringsklassräknats fram för standardbetongen och den gröna betongen. Med denna metod genomfördesen noggrann jämförelse mellan de olika recepten avseende cementets inverkanpå den globala uppvärmningen. Därefter undersöktes existerande EPD:er, vilka infogadesin i programvaran One Click LCA (2015). En LCA i den nämnda programvaranutfördes, vilket möjliggjorde att data kunde sammanställas och en jämförelse av klimatpåverkanmellan de fyra olika fiktiva recepten kunde genomföras.Sammanställd och jämförd data från LCA och analys av EPD:er visar att 70% av konstruktionenmed exponeringsklass XD2 får en reducering på 47% på den globala uppvärmningenvid användning av grön betong istället för standardbetong. Vidare visarresultatet att resterande 30% av konstruktionen med exponeringsklass XF3/XC4 fåren reduktion på 20% vid användning av grön betong istället för standardbetong. Dentotala reduktionen på den globala uppvärmningen vid användning av grön betongistället för standardbetong för utbyggnaden av Sickla reningsverk beräknades till 40%.

This master thesis investigates the possibility of using a concrete recipe with only 70 % cement clinker for a building project named Gretas Glänta, regarding the demands of cracking for a suspended slab. The requirement to fulfill was a maximum crack width of 0.2 mm due to drying shrinkage and long- term loading. The purpose of using a lower amount of cement clinker in the concrete mix is to reduce the climate impact from the concrete. The thesis considers material testing and modelling of different concrete recipes with variation of the amount of cement clinker. Fly ash was used as the alternative binder. A total of five concrete mixes was tested. One mix with 100% cement clinker was through laboratory testing compared to mixes with 85 % and 70 % cement clinker content. A concrete mix with only 50 % cement clinker was also tested, but this mix is today not allowed according to the concrete standards, but was included in the study to test different material properties of the fresh and hardened concrete. All concrete mixes were tested with the effectivity factor 1, except for the recipe with 70 % cement clinker, which was tested for effectivity factors of 1 and 0.4. The performed study showed that the concrete mix 4 with 70 % cement clinker and with the effectivity factor 0.4 reached the strength class C35/45 after 28 days and also fulfilled the specified requirement of a maximum crack width of 0.2 mm due to drying shrinkage and long-term loading. Water permeability test showed that the concrete mix with 70 % cement clinker and an effectivity factor of 0.4 was waterproof. The concrete mix 3 with 70 % cement clinker and the effectivity factor 1 reached a strength class C30/37. The concrete mix 1 with 100 % cement clinker obtained the highest strength class C50/60 and the mix 2 with 85 % cement clinker reached strength class C45/55. The concrete mix 5 with 50 % cement clinker reached the strength class C20/25 which is the lowest strength class among the tested recipes. All the concrete recipes seemed to be waterproof according to the water permeability test. A background description of carbon dioxide emission from concrete and cement production is presented in the report. Research about ongoing methods to minimize the emission from concrete and cement industry is also summarized. FE-modelling with the software FEM-design and analytical calculations were performed to investigate the crack width due to drying shrinkage and long-term loading for the slab, for concrete mix 2 with 85 % cement clinker with effectivity factor 1 and mixes 3 and 4 with 70 % cement clinker and effectivity factors of 1 and 0.4. The properties obtained from the laboratory tests were used in the modelling and analytical calculations. Results from FEM-design and analytical calculations showed that concrete mixes 3 and 4 with 70 % cement clinker and effectivity factors of 1 and 0.4, and the concrete mix 2 with 85 % cement clinker with effectivity factor 1, fulfilled the demand on crack width. The calculation was not performed for concrete mixes 1 and 5 with 100 % and 50 % cement clinker, respectively, because they were not to be used in the building project. The results from the performed study showed that concrete mix 4 with 70 % cement clinker and an effectivity factor of 0.4 can be used in the building project Gretas Glänta in order to lower the climate impact from the concrete. / Examensarbetet undersöker möjligheten att använda ett betongrecept med endast 70 % cementklinker för ett husbyggnadsprojekt kallat Gretas Glänta med hänsyn till krav på sprickbildning i en fribärande platta. Kravet som ska uppfyllas är en sprickvidd på max 0.2 mm med hänsyn till krympning och långtidsbelastning. Syftet med att använda en lägre andel cementklinker i betongblandningen är att minska klimatpåverkan från betongen. Examensarbetet består av materialförsök och konstruktionsteknisk modellering för olika betongrecept, där andelen cementklinker varieras. Flygaska användes som alternativt bindemedel. Totalt undersöktes fem betongmixer. En mix med 100 % cementklinker jämfördes genom laboratorietestning med motsvarigheter med 85 % och 70 % cementklinkerinnehåll. Ett betongrecept med 50 % cementklinker undersöktes också i detta examensarbete, trots att detta idag inte tillåts enligt betongstandarderna, men inkluderades i studien för att testa olika materialegenskaper i färskt och hårdnat tillstånd. Alla betongmixerna testades med effektivitetsfaktorn 1 förutom receptet med 70 % cementklinkerandel som testades för både 1 och 0.4 i effektivitetsfaktor. Den genomförda studien visade att betongmix 4 med 70 % cementklinker och med effektiviseringsfaktor 0.4 uppnådde hållfasthetsklass C35/45 efter 28 dagar och uppfyllde också angivet krav på maximal sprickbredd 0,2 mm med hänsyn till krympning och långtidslast. Vattenpermeabilitetstest visade att betongmixen med 70 % cementklinker och effektiviseringsfaktor 0.4 var vattentätt. Betongmix 3 med 70 % cementklinker och effektivitetsfaktor 1 uppnådde hållfasthetsklass C30/37. Betongmix 1 med 100 % cementklinker erhöll den högsta hållfasthetsklassen C50/60 och betongmix 2 med 85 % cementklinker gav hållfasthetsklass C45/55. Betongmix 5 med 50 % cementklinker uppnådde hållfasthetsklass C20/25 vilket var den lägsta av de testade betongrecepten. Alla betongrecepten verkade ge vattentät betong enligt vattenpermeabilitetstest. En bakgrundsbeskrivning av koldioxidutsläpp från betong- och cementproduktion genomförs i rapporten. Forskning om pågående metoder för att minimera utsläppen från betong- och cementindustrin sammanfattas också. FE-modellering med programmet FEM-design och analytiska beräkningar utfördes för att undersöka sprickbredden med hänsyn till krympning och långtidslast för betongplattan för betongmix 2 med 85 % cementklinker och effektiviseringsfaktor 1 och betongmixerna 3 och 4 med 70 % cementklinker och effektiviseringsfaktorerna 1 och 0.4. Egenskaperna som erhölls i laboratorietesterna användes i modellerings och de analytiska beräkningarna. Resultat från FEM-design och analytiska beräkningarna visade att betongmixerna 3 och 4 med 70 % cementklinker med effektiviseringsfaktorerna 1 och 0.4 och betongmix 2 med 85 % cementklinker och effektiviseringsfaktor 1 uppfyllde kravet på sprickbredd. Beräkningen utfördes inte för betongmixerna 1 och 5 med 100 % cementklinker och 50 % cementklinker då de inte var aktuella för att användas i bostadsprojektet. Resultaten från den genomförda studien visade att betongmix 4 med 70% cementklinker och med en effektivitetsfaktor 0.4 kan användas i husbyggnadsprojektet Gretas Glänta för att sänka klimatpåverkan från betongen.

In the construction industry, concrete is the most common material, because of its good properties such as compressive strength and endurance. Concrete is a composition of several different materials where one of the main components is cement. When the hydration process starts, large amount of heat is generated. This leads to temperature rise within the structure. The heat development that takes place can become critical for massive structures such as dams and power plants, where natural cooling is not sufficient. This in combination with internal and external restraint resulting in tensions causing cracks in the structure. By controlling the temperature development, one can reduce the risk of cracking in massive structures. The controlling is divided into pre-cooling and post-cooling. Reduction of the risk for thermal cracking can be done in different ways. Parts of the cement in the concrete can be replaced by a pozzolan material such as silica fume, blast furnace slag or fly ash. Another method is to increase the size of the aggregates which makes it possible to reduce the cement content with remained strength. Cooling the aggregates or use of ice can also be used as a pre-cooling methods. The most common post-cooling method is the installation of cooling pipes. Pipes are installed between the reinforcement bars, in which one then pump through with cold water. This thesis aims at practicing the methods examined by Lagundžija & Thiam (2017). Focusing on those results that proved to be most effective, i.e. the combination of fly ash, ice and large aggregates. The results retrieved during the tests shows a significant increase in the compressive strength when using a combination of fly ash, ice and large aggregates. This gives us the opportunity to reduce the initial cement content. Reducing the cement content is the most effective factor regarding the heat development. When replacing amounts of the water with ice, it can be seen that the initial casting temperature was reduced. Further studies can be done to find the right amount of reduction of the cement that can be done while maintaining the required compressive strength. / Inom byggbranschen är betong det mest förekommande materialet, detta tack vare dess goda egenskaper, som till exempel tryckhållfasthet och uthållighet. Betongen utgörs av flera olika beståndsdelar där den centrala komponenten är cement. När cementets hydratationsprocess startar utvecklas en markant värmeutveckling. Detta leder till temperaturhöjningar inuti den nygjutna konstruktionen. Värmeutvecklingen kan bli kritisk för grövre konstruktioner, som till exempel dammar och kraftverk, där naturlig avkylning inte är tillräcklig. Detta i kombination med att inre och yttre tvång resulterar i dragspänningar som orsakar sprickor i konstruktionen. Genom att styra temperaturutvecklingen kan man minska risken för sprickbildning i massiva konstruktioner. Styrningen delas in i förberedande kylning och efterkylning. Reduktion av risken för termisk sprickbildning kan ske på olika sätt. Delar av cementen i betongen kan ersättas med ett puzzolant material som till exempel silikatstoft, masugnsslagg eller flygaska. En annan metod är att öka ballaststorleken vilket gör det möjligt att minska cementhalten med kvarvarande hållfasthet. Man kan även kyla ballasten alternativt blanda in is i mixen för att sänka den initiala temperaturen. Den mest förekommande efterkylningsmetoden är installation av kylrör. Det monteras in rör mellan armeringsjärnen, vilket man sedan pumpar kallt vatten igenom. Denna uppsats syftar på att praktiskt tillämpa de metoder som undersöktes av Lagundžija & Thiam (2017). Fokus på de resultat som visade sig vara mest effektiva, dvs kombinationen av flygaska, is och grov ballast. Resultaten som uppnåddes under de tester som utfördes visar en markant ökning i tryckhållfastheten vid användning av kombinationen med flygaska, is och grov ballast. Detta ger oss utrymmet att reducera den initiala cementhalten som används. Att minska cementinnehållet är den faktor som ger störst effekt gällande värmeutvecklingen. Fortsatta studier kan göras för att hitta rätt mängd reduktion av cementet som kan göras samtidigt som anvisad tryckhållfasthet bibehålls.

Cement hydration is the result of a series of simultaneous chemical reactions occurring during the production of concrete. An excessive amount of heat is generated, which consequently may give rise to thermal stresses and cause early age cracks in concrete that may affect its structural integrity, and load bearing capacity. Incorporating fly ash into the concrete mixture has shown to be an efficient method to reduce the temperatures developed during early age hydration, especially for massive concrete structures. Fly ash does additionally affect the concrete's development of compressive strength, tensile strength and Young's modulus. The MahanaKhon tower's mat foundation is divided into 14 layers, with fly ash incorporated in the concrete mix. A finite element model was developed of the mat foundation with COMSOL Multiphysics to simulate the developed temperatures and thermal stresses during curing. The simulations were carried out as parametric studies with different strain reference temperatures. The simulated temperatures were compared with existing temperature measurements that were conducted in three different elevations in each concrete layer. The result of the temperature analyses showed that the measured temperatures were generally larger than the simulated ones, which may have been the result of the numerical model's heat conductivity and convective heat transfer coeffcient not reflecting the actual case. Furthermore, the numerical model did not take into account the effects of solar radiation, which would most likely have increased the temperature of the concrete. The maximum simulated temperatures were mostly found in the center level of the concrete, followed by the lower level, and the lowest at the top. It was also observed that the maximum temperatures in some of the mat foundation layers could exceed 70 °C, which is generally considered high since the risk of delayed ettringite formation may arise. The large temperature is partially a result of not using cooling methods, such as cooling pipes, but also due to the high initial and ambient temperatures. The result of the thermal stress analyses showed that no tensile stresses arose when the strain reference temperature, Tref, was specified to 30 °C, corresponding to the mean ambient temperature. This is due to the concrete temperature not falling below Tref, and the concrete will therefore be in expansion and only be subject to compressive stresses. Increasing Tref to 50 °C, which was considered a reasonable estimation, resulted in developed tensile stresses in all mat foundation layers, where the majority of the mat foundation layers showed a risk of superficial surface cracks. The maximum tensile stresses were found at the final time of the simulations, which was expected, since the temperatures were at their lowest as a result of removing the curing insulation. Finally, setting Tref to 70 °C, corresponding to the maximum temperature during hardening, increased the induced tensile stresses considerably, due to the large temperature gradient between Tref and the concrete temperature. The maximum stresses were, as expected, located at the top level and caused by internal restraint. The second largest tensile stresses were found in the center level, also subject to internal restraint. The lowest tensile stresses were located in the lower level, subject to external restraint. / Cementhydratation är resultatet av en serie kemiska reaktioner som sker under tillverkningen av betong. Stora mängder värme genereras, vilket följaktligen kan ge upphov till termiska spänningar och orsaka tidig sprickbildning som påverkar betongens hållfasthet, och bärförmåga. Inkludering av flygaska i betongblandningen har visat sig vara en effektiv metod avsedd att minska temperaturerna som utvecklas under hydratationen i ung betong, särskilt i massiva betongkonstruktioner. Flygaska påverkar också betongens utveckling av tryckhållfasthet, draghållfasthet och elasticitetsmodul. MahanaKhon towers bottenplatta är uppdelad i 14 lager, där flygaska inkluderades i bottenplattans betong. En finit elementmodell av bottenplattan skapades i COMSOL Multiphysics, där de utvecklade temperaturerna och termiska spänningarna i den unga betongen simulerades under bottenplattans härdningsfas. Simuleringarna genomfördes som parameterstudier med olika referenstemperaturer. De simulerade temperaturerna jämfördes vidare med befintliga temperaturmätningar som utfördes i tre olika elevationer i varje gjutetapp. Resultaten av temperaturerna visade att de uppmätta temperaturerna var generellt högre än de simulerade, vilket bland annat kan bero på att betongens värmeledningsförmåga, samt konvektiva värmeöverföringskoefficient inte återspeglade det aktuella fallet. Den numeriska modellen tog inte heller hänsyn till effekten av solinstrålning, som sannolikt skulle ökat betongens temperatur. De maximala temperaturerna hittades mestadels i betongens mittnivå, följt av den lägre nivån och slutligen lägsta nivåerna vid toppen. Det observerades även att de maximala temperaturerna i bottenplattan kunde överstiga 70 °C, vilket generellt anses vara högt då risken för fördröjd ettringitbildning kan uppstå. De höga temperaturerna beror delvis på avsaknad av kylmetoder, såsom kylrör, men även på den höga initialtemperaturen och omgivningstemperaturen. Resultaten av spänningsanalysen påvisade att inga dragspänningar uppstod när referenstemperaturen Tref denierades till 30 °C, som motsvarar den genomsnittliga omgivningstemperaturen. Detta förklaras av att betongen kommer att vara i expansion och följaktligen endast utsättas för tryckspänningar. Efter att Tref ökats till 50 °C, vilken ansågs vara en rimlig estimering i denna studie, uppstod dragspänningar i alla lager i bottenplattan, där vissa utsattes för risk för ytsprickor. De maximala dragspänningarna uppstod vid simuleringarnas slut, vilket var förväntat då temperaturerna var som lägst vid den tidpunkten till följd av att isoleringen avlägsnades. Slutligen höjdes Tref till 70 °C, vilket motsvarar den maximala temperaturen i bottenplattan under härdning. De inducerade dragspänningarna ökade avsevärt på grund av den stora temperaturgradienten mellan Tref och betongtemperaturen. Samtliga lager utsattes i detta fall för risk för genomgående sprickor. De maximala dragspänningarna påträffades på toppnivån och orsakades av inre tvång. De näst största dragspänningarna fanns i mitten av plattan och var också resultatet av inre tvång. De lägsta dragspänningarna påträffades vid plattans lägre nivå, som utsattes för yttre tvång.

<p>Across the tree of life, novel genes are thought to be a source of much of the unique behaviors and adaptions between the different taxa. This is especially true in the social insects where novel genes are proposed to contribute to novel social behaviors. In the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.), a group of novel genes called the major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs) are proposed to be important to the expression of novel social behaviors, particularly those related to nursing versus foraging tasks. Unfortunately, identifying the functional role of novel genes is often not possible due to a lack of functional genomic tools in non-model species such as the honey bee. Here I have developed a novel ectopic expression system in Drosophila melanogaster and used it to elucidate how the MRJPs contribute to behavioral and transcriptional changes in the insect brain. I found that the MRJPs regulated the expression of hundreds of genes in Drosophila, and these overlap with genes regulated differentially between nursing and foraging honey bees. Furthermore, I found that MRJP expression impairs or negatively regulated phototaxis. My results demonstrate the MRJPs play a role in behavioral plasticity and highlight that the MRJPs may have a much larger role in the nurse-forager transition than previously thought.</p>

<p>The need to carry out Uncertainty quantification (UQ) is ubiquitous in science and engineering. However, carrying out UQ for real-world problems is not straightforward and they require a lot of computational budget and resources. The objective of this thesis is to develop computationally efficient approaches based on machine learning to carry out UQ. Specifically, we addressed two problems.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The first problem is, it is difficult to carry out Uncertainty propagation (UP) in systems governed by elliptic PDEs with spatially varying uncertain fields in coefficients and boundary conditions. Here as we have functional uncertainties, the number of uncertain parameters is large. Unfortunately, in these situations to carry out UP we need to solve the PDE a large number of times to obtain convergent statistics of the quantity governed by the PDE. However, solving the PDE by a numerical solver repeatedly leads to a computational burden. To address this we proposed to learn the surrogate of the solution of the PDE in a data-free manner by utilizing the physics available in the form of the PDE. We represented the solution of the PDE as a deep neural network parameterized function in space and uncertain parameters. We introduced a physics-informed loss function derived from variational principles to learn the parameters of the network. The accuracy of the learned surrogate is validated against the corresponding ground truth estimate from the numerical solver. We demonstrated the merit of using our approach by solving UP problems and inverse problems faster than by using a standard numerical solver.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The second problem we focused on in this thesis is related to inverse problems. State of the art approach to solving inverse problems involves posing the inverse problem as a Bayesian inference task and estimating the distribution of input parameters conditioned on the observed data (posterior). Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods and variational inference methods provides us ways to estimate the posterior. However, these inference techniques need to be re-run whenever a new set of observed data is given leading to a computational burden. To address this, we proposed to learn a Bayesian inverse map i.e., the map from the observed data to the posterior. This map enables us to do on-the-fly inference. We demonstrated our approach by solving various examples and we validated the posteriors learned from our approach against corresponding ground truth posteriors from the MCMC method.</p>

ABSTRACT Although Cotton Mather, as the official chronicler of the 1692 Salem witch trials, is infamously associated with those events, and excerpts from his apologia on Salem, Wonders of the Invisible World, are widely anthologized today, no annotated critical edition of the entire work has appeared in print since the nineteenth century. This present edition of Wonders seeks to remedy this lacuna in modern scholarship. In Wonders, Mather applies both his views on witchcraft and on millennialism to events at Salem. This edition to Mather's Wonders presents this seventeenth-century text beside an integrated theory of the initial causes of the Salem witch panic. The juxtaposition of the probable natural causes of Salem's bewitchment with Mather's implausible explanations exposes the disingenuousness of his writing about Salem. My theory of what happened at Salem includes the probability that a group of conspirators led by the Rev. Samuel Parris deliberately orchestrated the "witchcraft" and that a plant, the thorn apple, used in Algonquian initiation rites, caused the initial symptoms of bewitchment (39-189). Furthermore, key spectral evidence used at the Salem witch trials and recorded by Mather in Wonders appears to have been generated by intense nightmares, commonly thought at the time to be witch visitations, resulting from what is today termed sleep paralysis (215-310). This dissertation provides a detailed look at some of the testimony given in the Salem court records and in Wonders of the Invisible World as it relates to the interpretation in folklore of the phenomenology of nightmares associated with sleep paralysis. The third chapter of this dissertation focuses extensively on Mather's text as a disingenuous response to the Salem witch trials (320-456). The final section of chapter three posits a "Scythian" or Eurasian connection between Swedish and Salem witchcraft. Similarities in shamanic practices among respective indigenous populations of Lapland, Eurasia, Asia, and New England, caused the devil's involvement in both the visible and invisible worlds to appear more than theoretical to writers like Jose Acosta, Johannes Scheffer, Nicholas Fuller, Joseph Mede, Anthony Horneck, and Cotton Mather, inducing Mather to include a lengthy abstract of the Swedish account in Wonders (404-449).