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Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is characterized by valve dysfunction and venous hypertension, leading to erythrocytes’ extravasation into the tissue over time. CVI patients present dermal manifestations as; hyperpigmentation of the leg due to iron accumulation, histological changes regarding the dermal layer and fat (lipodermatosclerosis), and a high risk of developing a leg ulcer. For decades, researchers have studied CVI, and chronic venous ulcer (CVU) and iron have been considered critical pathological factors in this context, especially concerning oxidative stress and ROS formation. However, a clear understanding of the pathogenic effects of iron on the tissue network and the cross-talk of resident immune and skin tissue cells in the course of CVI is still missing. Therefore, in this project, we aim to investigate the pathological effect of iron overload on the cross-talk of resident immune and tissue cells in the skin. In the current thesis work, biopsies from CVI patients were analysed. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and spectrometric assay confirmed a massive iron accumulation in their dermis and hypodermis. To dissect the different skin cells’ responses to iron overload, in vitro techniques were exploited. Mimic the erythrocyte overload in a macrophage (M2-like) culture revealed a shift in the gene signature towards inflammatory activation states of these cells. Hence, cytokine analysis confirmed an evident pro-inflammatory activation of macrophages (Ma). A mouse model with skin iron overload was generated to investigate the effect of iron overload in a more complex picture. Here, it was confirmed that iron induces an expansion of immune cells and a pro-inflammatory activation in the skin with a shift in resident macrophage subtypes, which was coupled to the adipose layer. Indeed, the dWAT of these mice shirked and showed clear signs of lipolysis. Moreover, IHC and IF staining of iron-mice skin showed increased cellularity of the lower dermis, which was linked to an expansion of the fibroblast population (dermis and stromal vascular fraction of the dWAT). Consistent with in vitro data, ECM genes were downregulated in the dermis, which may explain changes in the skin architecture of these mice. In this thesis, the newly established mouse model made it possible to understand how iron may affect skin cells in CVI patients and can be extremely useful for future research to develop a new therapeutic approach. This work wants to highlight the significance of iron overload in the skin, which affects cellular cross-talk, altering skin homeostasis and possibly leading to an ulcer.

Background: Much has happened in information technology in the last decade, and the amount of information someone can be exposed to is enormous. There are many digital information channels today used at different organizations. This research study has investigated which channel is used the most, and if there are any methods for handling the flow of information. With these tools and methods, together with a sufficient literature review a proposed model was developed to aid organizations with their information flow. Aim: To conduct research in the field of internal communication with focus on digital channels, to finally come up with what tools and methods can be used for improved internal communication, and to propose a model for this. Method: Three sources of data collections have been used. The first one is semi-structured interviews, where six volunteers have participated, the age ranging from 31-60. The targeted volunteers were the managers, and the employees of the organizations. The second is surveys where 14 volunteers contributed, where we used snowball sampling. The third is a document study that consists of research-generated literature review. Results/Conclusion: Our analysis concluded that the most useful tools for communicating with digital channel sare, namely, email, intranet and telephone. However, the usefulness of the tools decline rapidly when too much unnecessary information flows in the wrong channels. What this research study came up with regarding contribution was an easy to use four step model to be able to classify the information and use the correct channel for it. Working alongside this model, will help with minimizing information overload in the channels used for communication. It is also important from an organization perspective when onboarding employees to learn which channels are used for which kind of information.

[pt] A longevidade da população e, consequentemente, o aumento de doenças crônicodegenerativas que causam dependência, são uma realidade com a qual as famílias brasileiras estão se defrontando. No imaginário social e familiar há uma expectativa de que mulheres se responsabilizem pelos cuidados dos enfermos e dos idosos. Considerando a diversidade de papéis ocupados pela mulher na atualidade – filha, mãe, esposa, profissional –, o cuidado ao idoso dependente torna-se um desafio para esta, fazendo emergir inúmeros sentimentos e mudanças na dinâmica familiar. Este estudo teve como objetivo geral investigar a vivência da mulher cuidadora familiar principal de idoso dependente. Como objetivos específicos, pretendemos investigar como a mulher cuidadora de idoso dependente percebe a repercussão da função de cuidar em sua família; e compreender as especificidades do vínculo entre a mulher cuidadora e o idoso dependente. Realizamos uma pesquisa qualitativa, na qual entrevistamos oito mulheres cuidadoras de idoso dependente, com idades entre 45 e 57 anos. Da análise do material discursivo coletado nas entrevistas emergiram cinco categorias de análise: 1) Da autonomia à dependência: tempos do cuidado; 2) Experiência do cuidado e seus impactos; 3) O lugar da cuidadora principal de idoso familiar dependente; 4) Rede de apoio aos cuidados e 5) Lutos no cuidado. O diagnóstico de demência foi prevalente neste estudo e causou grande impacto nas cuidadoras. A evolução da doença, com as perdas cognitivas e aumento da dependência, despertou sentimentos de desamparo, impotência, tristeza e culpa, sobrecarregando emocionalmente a maioria das cuidadoras. A naturalização do lugar de cuidadora e as perdas vivenciadas são percebidas pelas entrevistadas como um destino. Elas não se questionam sobre as repercussões da sobrecarga associada ao cuidado com o familiar idoso dependente nas suas vidas. Contudo, relatam ter menos oportunidades de trabalho e de progressão na carreira, assim como restrições na vida social e no lazer. Recorrer a tratamentos médicos e psicológicos foi uma estratégia para minimizar os efeitos nocivos da sobrecarga. O suporte da rede de apoio foi fundamental para que as mulheres cuidadoras continuassem a exercer outras funções como trabalhadora e mãe. / [en] The longevity of the population and, consequently, the increase of chronicdegenerative diseases that cause dependence, are a reality with which the Brazilian families are facing. In the social and family imaginary there is an expectation that women will be responsible for the care of the sick and the elderly. Considering the diversity of roles currently occupied by women – daughter, mother, wife, professional – care for the dependent elderly becomes a challenge for this, causing innumerable feelings and changes in family dynamics to emerge. This study aimed to investigate the experience of the female family caregiver leading to the elderly dependent. We intended to investigate how the female caregiver perceives the repercussion of the caring function in their family; and to understand the specificities of the bond between the caregiver and the dependent elderly. We conducted a qualitative research, in which we interviewed eight women who were dependent caregivers, aged between 45 and 57 years. From the analysis of the discursive material collected in the interviews emerged five categories of analysis: 1) From autonomy to dependency: times of care; 2) Experience of care and its impacts; 3) The place of the primary caregiver of dependent elderly family members; 4) Care network and 5) Grief within the care. The diagnosis of dementia was prevalent in this study and had a great impact on caregivers. The evolution of the disease, with cognitive losses and increased dependence, aroused feelings of helplessness, impotence, sadness and guilt, emotionally overwhelming most caregivers. The naturalization of the caregiver s place and the lived losses are perceived by the interviewees as a destination. They do not question the repercussions of the overload associated with care with the dependent elderly relative in their lives. However, they report fewer opportunities for work and career advancement, as well as restrictions on social and leisure life. Using medical and psychological treatments was a strategy to minimize the harmful effects of overload. The support network was essential for female caregivers to continue to perform other roles as both worker and mother.

In this dissertation, I propose that there are multiple factors, such as the education process and the consumption environment, which work to simultaneously create an opposition framework. People are constantly exposed to rival products, which are positioned to be opposites even when they are often extremely similar in chemical content and physical appearance. Thus, the implications of the recency-frequency model of activation (Higgins, Bargh and Lombardi 1985) would be that these proximal factors could, in some sense, prime dichotomous thinking. Dichotomous or oppositional thinking, as it is defined in this dissertation, pertains to the flattening of dimensions present in a choice set such that the items can be graphically depicted at two ends of one dimension (see Figure 2 and Figure 3). I will first explore the impact of a dichotomous mindset on making a decision and then expand to the realm of opposition in choice set structures. / Ph. D.

This dissertation first presents an uniprocessor real-time scheduling algorithm called the Generic Benefit Scheduling algorithm (or GBS). GBS solves a previously open real-time scheduling problem: scheduling activities subject to arbitrarily shaped, time/utility function (TUF) time constraints and mutual exclusion resource constraints. A TUF specifies the utility of completing an application activity as an application- or situation-specific function of when that activity completes. GBS considers the scheduling objective of maximizing system-wide, total accrued utility, while respecting mutual exclusion constraints. Since this problem is NP-hard, GBS heuristically computes schedules in polynomial-time. The performance of the GBS algorithm is evaluated through simulation and through an implementation on a Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX)-compliant real-time operating system. The simulation studies and implementation measurements reveal that GBS performs close to, if not better than existing algorithms for the cases that they apply. Further, the results verify the effectiveness of GBS for its unique model. We also analytically establish timeliness and non-timeliness properties of GBS including bounds on activity utilities and mutual exclusion. GBS targets real-time systems that are subject to significant non-determinism inherent in their operating environments e.g., completely unknown activity arrivals. When system uncertainties can be stochastically characterized (e.g., stochastic activity arrivals and execution times), it is possible to provide stochastic assurances on timeliness behavior. The dissertation also presents algorithmic solutions to fundamental assurance problems in TUF-driven real-time systems, including stochastically satisfying individual, activity utility lower bounds and system-wide, total utility lower bounds. The algorithmic solutions include algorithms for processor bandwidth allocation and TUF scheduling. While bandwidth allocation algorithms allocate processor bandwidth share to activities to satisfy utility lower bounds, TUF scheduling algorithms schedule activities to maximize accrued utility. The algorithmic solutions and analysis are extended with a class of lock-free and lock-based resource access protocols to satisfy mutual exclusion constraints. We show that satisfying utility lower bounds with lock-based resource access protocols does not imply doing so with the lock-free scheme, and vice versa. Finally, the dissertation presents a rule-based framework for trading off assurance requirements on utility lower bound satisfaction. / Ph. D.

Epistemic injustices are the distinctly epistemic harms and wrongs which undermine or depreciate our capacities knowers. This dissertation develops a theory of epistemic injustice and justice which accounts for excesses in epistemic goods as a source of epistemic injustice. This is a theory of epistemic overload as epistemic injustice. The dissertation can be divided into three parts: 1) motivational, 2) theoretical, 3) applications and implications. First, Chapters 1 and 2 motivate the study of epistemic injustice and epistemic overload. Chapter 1 identifies a gap in the literature on epistemic injustice concerning excesses in epistemic goods as sources of epistemic injustice while canvassing the major themes and debates of the field. Chapter 2 levels an objection to ‘proper’ epistemology, thereby providing an indirect defense of the study of epistemic injustice. Second, theoretical development occurs in are Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6. Chapter 3 initiates the argument for epistemic overload, while Chapter 4 extends the case for epistemic overload, identifying several epistemic injustices arising from excesses of understanding, credibility, and truth. Chapter 5 explains the oversights of prior theorists by developing a more descriptively adequate account of social epistemics that explains the many sites of epistemic injustice. Chapter 6 develops a two-stage contractualist theory of epistemic in/justice to explain the bad-making features of epistemic injustices and generates the duty of epistemic charity. The third part of the dissertation applies the findings of earlier chapters to contemporary practical and theoretical problems. Chapter 7 employs the contractualist reasoning of Chapter 6 to address and ameliorate problems from excesses in the uptake and circulation of hermeneutical resources and true-beliefs. Chapter 8 considers the mutual dependence relations between political phenomena and epistemic in/justice, showing that accounts of political justice depend upon or presuppose epistemic justice. Finally, Chapter 9 applies epistemic overload to the use of big data technologies in the context of predive policing algorithms. An abductive argument concludes that the introduction of the “Strategic Subjects List” as part of a Chicago policing initiative in 2013 introduced understandings which likely contributed to gun-violence in Chicago and which constitutes an epistemic overload. In sum, the dissertation shows the theoretical and practical significance of epistemic overload as epistemic injustice. / Ph. D.

Yes / Prominent e-commerce platforms allow users to write reviews for the available products. User reviews play an important role in creating the perception of the product and impact the sales. Online reviews can be considered as an important source of e-word of mouth (e-WOM) on e-commerce platforms. Various dimensions of e-WOM on product sales have been examined for different products. Broadly, studies have explored the effect of summary statistics of reviews on product sales using data from various e-commerce platforms. Few studies have utilized other review characteristics as length, valence, and content of the reviews. The sequence of reviews has been hardly explored in the literature. This study investigates the impact of sequence of helpful reviews along with other review characteristics as ratings (summary statistics), volume, informativeness, and valence of reviews on product sales. Hence, a holistic approach has been used to explore the role of summary statistics, volume, content and sequence of reviews on product sales with special emphasis on sequence of reviews. Relevant theories such as message persuasion, cognitive overload and belief adjustment model have also been explored during the construction of the model for review data. The proposed model has been validated using the helpful reviews available on Amazon.in website for various products.

The research examines the relationship between cyber addiction (excessive use of the Internet, CA), information overload (IO), and assesses their impact on workplace productivity. A multi-methods approach is used employing the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and a quantitative survey design to assess and test the stated hypothesis. The study used random sampling methods targeting 150 respondents from different information technology departments of various organizations. The study hypothesizes that CA and IO have a reciprocal association, which adversely affects workplace productivity and employee performance. From the findings, IAT scores increase with an associated possibility of reporting burnout, fatigue, and other components associated with CA and IO. Also, CA and IO were significantly correlated, as evaluated by the chi-square test, although the same approach did not yield significant associations between CA and perceived internet dependence. Other findings CA components, such as social media use, significantly associated with task postponement and burnout. As well, CA affected IO with substantial impacts on workplace productivity. The paper highlights managerial aspects that organizations should consider in optimizing the output of their staff. Recommendations include wellness programs, altering the leadership and management styles, and sensitizing the employees on the adverse effects caused by the two variables.

This study aims to examine and observe the discourse around freedom within academia, morespecifically within research pertaining to the choice overload phenomenon. The study isqualitative in nature and would be best described as a discourse,- and ideology analysis. Thestudy observes the current discourse around choice overload and how the phenomenon ispresented and problematized. Furthermore the study aims to examine if there are anyideological influences in this area of research. The studies being analyzed are publishedbetween 2016 to the middle of 2018 and based around the keyword choice overload,. Theresults of this study show that recent research regarding choice overload is in overwhelmingmajority conducted by marketing and hence presented in a market-minded perspective. Thestudy also finds that there seems to exist an indication of two “perspectives” when it comes tothe researchers views on choice overload. In these study these perspectives are categorized byone having a more pragmatic, solution-oriented view in relation to the phenomenon and theother one being more sceptical to its existence at all. The conclusion brings mixed results,whereas while the study shows that there are prevalent tendencies to problematize and presentchoice overload from a profit seeking perspective as opposed to a general societal healthperspective, the controlled nature of the language used in research makes it hard to draw anyconcrete conclusions. The study ends on an encouraging note, leaving suggestions for furthermore in-depth research to contribute to this field of knowledge. / Denna studie syftar till att undersöka och observera diskursen kring valfrihet inom akademia,specifikt inom forskning kring fenomenet choice overload. Denna studie är kvalitativ till sinnatur och kan bäst beskrivas som en diskurs,- och ideologianalys. Studien observerardiskursen kring choice overload och hur fenomenet presenteras och problematiseras. Vidareämnar denna studie att examinera om det förekommer ideologiska strömningar inomforskningsfältet. De studier som analyseras är baserade kring nyckelordet choice overloadoch är publicerade mellan 2016 och första halvan av 2018. Resultaten av denna studie visaratt nylig forskning kring choice overload är dominerad av marknadsföring och därefterpresenterad ur ett marknadsekonomiskt perspektiv. Studien finner även att det tycks existeraen indikation av två olika “perspektiv” när det kommer till hur forskare ser på choiceoverload. I denna studie kategoriseras dessa perspektiv av att ena har en mer pragmatisk ochlösningsorienterad inställning gentemot fenomenet, medan det andra förhåller sig merskeptiska till fenomenets existens. Resultatet av studien är blandat, då fastän studien visar attdet finns tydliga tendenser att problematisera och presentera choice overload ur ettvinst-sökande perspektiv i motsats till ett folkhälso,- och samhällsperspektiv, så förhindrasstudien från att finna konkreta resultat på grund av det kontrollerade språket inom akademiskforskning och problematiken med allmän generalisering. Studien avslutas med förslag förvidare forskning för att bidra till kunskap kring ideologi inom akademia.