Syftet med föreliggande undersökning var att identifiera faktorer som bidrog till känslan av "yrkesstolthet" hos anställda vid Försäkringskassan Dalarna inkluderande personalens tillfredsställelse med yrkesrollen. Sammanlagt 163 personer, 123 kvinnor och 40 män, från 25 till 66 år (X= 49,8 år) deltog i undersökningen. Denna genomfördes med hjälp av General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work (QPS Nordic) inkluderande 123 frågor samt 9 frågor gällande yrkesrollen. Frågorna besvarades väsentligen med hjälp av en 5-gradig skala av Likert-typ. Huvudresultatet uträknades med hjälp av Cronbachs Alpha, Principal Component Analysis och multipel regressionsanalys. Det konstaterades att beroendevariabeln "yrkesstolthets" variation förklarades till 62,7% av oberoende-variablerna "interaktionsintelligens" "yrkesrealism", "arbetstillfredsställelse" och "arbetsengagemang". Även kön, ålder, utbildning och yrkeserfarenhet hade betydelse.

I denna studie var syftet att undersöka medarbetarnas självuppfattade faktorer till motivation att arbeta. Vidare var syftet också att undersöka huruvida dessa faktorer skiljer sig mellan män och kvinnor. Studien genomfördes på en organisation som verkar inom lagerbranschen. En enkät med sju frågor, samt frågor om bakgrundsvariablerna kön och ålder, skickades ut till ca 140 medarbetare, varav 107 medverkade. Frågorna handlade om inre och yttre faktorer till motivation till arbete. Vårt resultat visar till största del att de motivationsfaktorer som togs upp i enkäten ansågs vara viktiga för majoriteten av respondenterna. De två faktorer som stack ut mest var frågan om lön och trygg anställning, där majoriteten av respondenterna ansåg dessa som viktigast. Trots att det inte förekom några statistiskt signifikanta skillnader i frågan vad gäller skillnader på män och kvinnors svar, kan man ändå dra den intressanta slutsatsen att enligt enkäten så tenderade kvinnorna att uppleva de inre motivationsfaktorerna som viktigare än vad männen gjorde. / In this study the aim was to investigate employees' self-perceived factors for motivation to work. Furthermore, the aim was also to investigate whether these factors differ between men and women. The study was conducted at an organization operating in the warehouse industry. A survey with seven questions, as well as questions about the background variables gender and age, was sent out to approximately 140 employees, of which 107 participated. The questions were about internal and external factors for motivation to work. Our results show that the motivational factors our survey covered were considered important for the majority of respondents. The two factors that stood out the most were salary and secure employment, which the majority of respondents considered to be the most important. Despite the fact that there were no statistically significant differences regarding the difference between men's and women's answers, one can still draw the interesting conclusion that according to the survey, a tendency could be seen that women considered the internal motivation factors more important than men.

Cheferna inom vård och omsorg i offentliga organisationer har hög arbetsbelastning och ett komplext uppdrag. Ofta finns rutiner för det systematiska arbetsmiljöarbetet, men de är bristfälliga och används inte. Syftet var att undersöka hur första linjens chefer i primärvården upplevde sin psykosociala arbetsmiljö samt deras förutsättningar att bedriva systematiskt arbetsmiljöarbete. En tvärsnittsstudie där samtliga 126 första linjens chefer från fyra landsting i primärvården deltagit, med svarsfrekvens 51%. I studien har enkät QPS Nordic 34+ använts samt 10 kompletterande frågor om systematiskt arbetsmiljöarbete. Analys delvis med referensdata och Pearsons korrelation. Cheferna hade en hög arbetsbelastning och arbetet tenderade att hopa sig. I jämförelse med referensdata 3,2 var chefernas medelvärde 4,02. De upplevde gott stöd, bra klimat och hade goda kunskaper för arbetsuppgifterna, men 32,8% av cheferna ansåg att de inte alls eller bara lite var insatt i AFS 2015:4. Avseende om arbetsbelastningen gav utrymme för att bedriva systematiskt arbetsmiljöarbete svarade fyra femtedelar av alla chefer inte alls eller i viss mån. Trots det goda stöd som cheferna upplevde är det viktigt att förebygga hög arbetsbelastning, då varaktig stress kan leda till ohälsa. Förutsättningar att bedriva systematiskt arbetsmiljöarbete begränsas också av deras arbetsbelastning och kan innebära negativa konsekvenser för medarbetarna.

Posttraumatiskt Stressyndrom (PTSD) är en erkänd diagnos som listades i DSM-III år 1980. Något som inte har uppmärksammats på samma sätt är de symptom som upplevs av individer som i andra hand exponeras för trauma. Exempelvis de som tar emot en primärdrabbads berättelse. För att beskriva påverkan av att ta emot en primärdrabbads berättelse har termen yrkesrelaterad livskvalitet (Professional quality of life) använts. Forskning med fokus på yrkesrelaterad livskvalitet har bedrivits inom många olika yrken. En grupp som berörts är personal som engagerar sig i våld i nära relationer men litteraturen är begränsad. I förevarande studie användes ProQOL (som består av medkänsletillfredsställelse, utbrändhetsupplevelse och sekundär traumatisering) och QPS Nordic för att undersöka den yrkesrelaterade livskvaliteten hos dem som engagerar sig som hjälpare i kvinnojourer. I studien deltog 55 kvinnor som är anställda eller frivillig/volontärarbetare på kvinnojour. Studien utreder även om tillgång till handledning, upplevt socialt stöd, antal timmar i kontakt med hjälpsökande per vecka och anställningsform påverkar den yrkesrelaterade livskvaliteten. Resultaten tyder på att det finns både negativ och positiv påverkan av ett engagemang som hjälpare. Utbrändhetsupplevelse har stark korrelation med antal timmar i kontakt med hjälpsökande samt en moderat korrelation med socialt stöd. Sekundär traumatisering har stark korrelation med antal timmar i kontakt med hjälpsökande. Resultaten visar även att socialt stöd, antal timmar i kontakt med hjälpsökande och tillgång till handledning förklarar en hög andel av variansen för sekundär traumatisering och utbrändhetsupplevelse samt att anställningsform inte tycks ha betydelse för den yrkesrelaterade livskvaliteten.

Wood products all require treatment to mitigate phytosanitary risk prior to exportation. The most common phytosanitary treatment applied to Pinus radiata logs is Methyl Bromide (MeBr). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2010 stated that MeBr must not be release into the atmosphere past 2020. This poses a problem for New Zealand log exports. Radiation has been identified as a possible alternative phytosanitary treatment for export wood products. This study aimed to quantify the effective dose of radiation necessary to sterilise two forest pest species; Arhopalus ferus and Hylurgus ligniperda. These species are representative of two different types of forestry pests; bark beetles (H. ligniperda) and wood borers (A. ferus). All applicable life stages for both species were tested. Arhopalus ferus adults were the most susceptible life stage identified with an LD99 of 30.2Gy ± 13.5 Gy (95% confidence interval). Arhopalus ferus eggs were less susceptible with a LD99 of 750Gy ± 776Gy observed; however there is low confidence in this result due to a methodological issue in one treatment replicate. Hylurgus ligniperda eggs were observed to be less susceptible than A. ferus eggs with a LD99 of 289Gy ± 92Gy. Results for the other life stages were inconclusive due to poor control survival, however the information gained was used to develop improved methods for further experimentation, which is on-going and showing positive results so far. The results of this experiment have indicated that radiation can be an effective method of sterilising forestry pests. To date radiation has not been used as phytosanitary risk mitigation for wood exports; however it is widely used for risk mitigation in agricultural products. Currently there remains a large amount of unknown information regarding, the effectiveness for irradiation of logs, the effective dose require for sterilisation of the most tolerant forestry pest and public acceptability of irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment. These knowledge gaps and an economic assessment must be completed before irradiation can be used as a phytosanitary risk mitigation technique for forestry products.

En betydelsefull förutsättning för ett hållbart arbetsliv är den psykosociala arbetsmiljön och dess inverkan på arbetstagarens arbetsengagemang. Syftet med studien var därmed att utifrån Karasek och Theorells krav-, kontroll- och stödmodell undersöka i vilken utsträckning de psykosociala faktorerna (arbetskrav, arbetskontroll samt socialt stöd) predicerar arbetsengagemang, samt vilken påverkan distansarbetet har haft på dessa faktorer. För att besvara syftet utfördes en kvantitativ datainsamling genom en enkätundersökning som skickades ut till ett större företag i Sverige som tillhör handelsbranschen samt via LinkedIn. I studien deltog 109 deltagare där samtliga var över 18 år och hade arbete som huvudsaklig sysselsättning. Mätinstrumenten som användes var UWES-9 och QPS Nordic som var välbeprövade och höll en god validitet. Resultatet från regressionsanalysen och tvåvägs-ANOVAn visade att det förelåg en signifikant relation mellan arbetsengagemang och de psykosociala faktorerna var för sig där arbetskrav hade störst effekt på arbetsengagemang. Det fanns däremot ingen interaktionseffekt på arbetsengagemang mellan arbetskrav och arbetskontroll. Vidare uppvisade resultatet att Covid-19 pandemin ej hade förändrat deltagarnas upplevelse av arbetsengagemang, arbetskrav, arbetskontroll och socialt stöd. Avslutningsvis utföll slutsatsen till att studien kan bidra med ökad förståelse gällande dessa prediktorers enskilda påverkan på arbetsengagemanget. / An important condition for a sustainable working life is the psychosocial work environment and its impact on the employee's work engagement. The aim of the study was therefore to investigate how the psychosocial factors (work demand, control at work and social support), based on Karasek och Theorells demand-, control- and support model, predict work engagement and what impact teleworking has. To answer the purpose, a quantitative data collection was performed through a survey that was sent out to a larger company in retail industry and through LinkedIn. The study involved 109 participants, all of them were over 18 years old and had work as their main occupation. The measuring instruments that were used were UWES-9 and QPS Nordic, which were well-proven and had good validity. The results from the regression analysis and the two-way ANOVA showed that there was a significant relation between work engagement and the psychosocial factors separately, where work demands had the biggest effect on work engagement. However, there was no interaction effect on work engagement between work demand and work control. Furthermore, the results showed that the Covid-19 pandemic had not changed the participants' experience of work engagement, work demand, work control and social support. The conclusion was that the study can contribute to an increased understanding of these predictors' individual impact on work engagement.

The reform measures recommended by the Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct (referred to as the "Fitzgerald Inquiry") radically transformed the face of policing in Queensland. The most significant of these recommendations was the establishment of an external oversight body, the Criminal Justice Commission (CJC), which has independence from executive government and holds the power to investigate not only police but any public servant or politician. Other recommendations included "Whistleblower" legislation, increasing sanctions for serious misconduct, lateral recruitment and promotion by merit rather than seniority. The first main research question tested in this thesis is whether these reform measures have produced improvements in the following areas: the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes for dealing with complaints against police; public confidence in those processes and the public standing of the Queensland Police Service (QPS) generally; standards of police behaviour; the incidence of corrupt conduct; and police attitudes towards reporting misconduct by their fellow officers. These Fitzgerald Inquiry reforms were strategies primarily derived from two schools of thought describing the nature and cause of police corruption: deterrence based theory (including "individual" or "rotten apple" theory) and cultural (also labeled "cultural" or "socialisation") based theory. To date most strategies used to combat police corruption have been underpinned by these theories. A third theory - situational based theory (sometimes titled "environmental" or "opportunity" theory) - which has had success in crime prevention, has been scarcely used in the area of police corruption. However, an extensive body of research has affirmed the effects of situational factors on police behaviour, suggesting the potential for the application of situational crime prevention initiatives in combatting police corruption. The second research question proposed in this thesis is whether situational based theory could also be beneficial in the prevention of police corruption. Data drawn upon to test the first research question were interviews and surveys with police officers, public attitude surveys and statistics from the processing of complaints against police. Although each source has limitations, collectively the data are sufficiently comprehensive - and robust - to defend conclusions about the general direction of the changes which have occurred. These data indicate that the Fitzgerald Inquiry reforms have, at least to some degree, had their intended impact on the QPS. These reforms have contributed to an apparent improvement in public confidence in the complaints system and the QPS generally. Moreover, the available evidence suggests that the Fitzgerald Inquiry reforms have resulted in a weakening of the police code of silence. As far as the specific issue of corruption in the QPS is concerned, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions from existing data sources. However, the weight of the available evidence is that such conduct is less pervasive and occurs at lower levels than was the case in the pre-Fitzgerald Inquiry QPS. It is very difficult to ascertain which reform components were the most effective and which were not helpful at all, as these reform measures were initiated simultaneously. For example, the negative elements of the police culture may have been eliminated or reduced but whether it was the cultural strategies or one of the deterrence based strategies influencing officer behaviour remains unknown. The second main research question the thesis poses is that the use of situational crime prevention techniques has potential for contributing to the prevention of police corruption. A situational analysis of complaints against police data, including the development of a typology for classifying types of police corruption and misconduct, was used as an example of how this may be accomplished in Queensland. The study provides some, albeit limited, support for the hypothesis that situational crime prevention methods are applicable to police corruption. Based upon three years of complaints data, enough homogenous cases were gathered to enable the analysis of four categories of police corruption - Opportunistic Thefts, Driving under the Influence, Assault (while off-duty), and Theft from Employer. Given that this study only used three years of complaints data held by the CJC and more than nine years of data exist, productive situational analyses of many other categories of corruption is probable. This study also illustrated that complaints against police data are being under utilised by the QPS and the CJC. For future research in the situational analysis of complaints data, I recommend improving the gathering of data from complaints files for storage in electronic form to enable situational prevention analysis to be conducted more readily. A geographical example was used to illustrate further how complaints against police data could be more extensively utilised as a prevention tool. This analysis was conducted at an organisation unit level determined primarily by geographical factors. The complaint patterns of units of similar "task environments", as measured by unit size and type of duties performed, were compared in an attempt to identify those units experiencing the presence or absence of "bad apples" or a "negative culture". This study led to the conclusion that a divisional analysis of complaints data can provide information valuable in combatting police corruption. When task environment was held constant, it was possible to identify units experiencing the effects of possible "bad apples" and/or "negative cultures". Once these particular units were identified, intervention strategies to address the units' particular problem could be constructed. Future research in this area would involve ongoing divisional data analysis followed-up by individual assessment of officers identified as "bad apples", or a "compare-and-contrast" procedure to distinguish features requiring correction in units identified as having a "negative culture". The research findings presented in this thesis are that progress has occurred in a number of areas in addressing the problems identified by the Fitzgerald Inquiry, but that there is undoubtedly scope for more to be achieved. Despite the very significant increase in the resources and powers available to investigators post-Fitzgerald, it is still difficult to prove that a police officer engaged in misconduct, or that other officers were aware of this fact and had failed to take action, because of the constraints imposed by evidentiary and legal requirements. Thus, while it is vital to maintain an effective and credible independent complaints investigation system and ensure that there is a proper internal discipline process in place, the scope for increasing the "deterrent power" of the present system is limited. Putting more resources into complaints investigations might make a difference at the margins, but is unlikely to lead to a significant increase in the probability of a complaint being substantiated and a sanction imposed. Investing more resources in investigations has an additional cost in that such resources are then lost to other efforts to combat corruption that may provide more fruitful results in the long term. The value of an occasional substantiation is placed above the ability to engage in a large amount of prevention work. Inevitably then, three clear messages are apparent. First, continued effort must be made to modify the organisational climate of the QPS in terms of commitment to integrity. Recommended strategies to accomplish this end are to continue the recruitment of more educated, female and older officers to reduce police-citizen conflict and the negative elements of the police culture, and also to develop a comprehensive, integrated approach to ethics education for QPS officers at all ranks and positions. Second, other forms of deterrence against misconduct are needed such as the use of covert strategies like integrity testing which could be conducted in conjunction with the CJC. Third, a greater emphasis needs to be placed on developing and implementing preventive strategies. This thesis has shown that valuable prevention strategies can be gained from situational and divisional analysis of complaints data, and a range of proactive management options based upon situational crime prevention theory are recommended. These strategies have application in any police service.

In this thesis, superconducting nanostructures for quantum detection of electromagnetic radiation are studied. In this regard, electrodynamics of topological excitations in 1D superconducting nanowires and 2D superconducting nanostrips is investigated. Topological excitations in superconducting nanowires and nanostrips lead to crucial deviation from the bulk properties. In 1D superconductors, topological excitations are phase slippages of the order parameter in which the magnitude of the order parameter locally drops to zero and the phase jumps by integer multiple of 2\pi. We investigate the effect of high-frequency field on 1D superconducting nanowires and derive the complex conductivity. Our study reveals that the rate of the quantum phase slips (QPSs) is exponentially enhanced under high-frequency irradiation. Based on this finding, we propose an energy-resolving terahertz radiation detector using superconducting nanowires. In superconducting nanostrips, topological fluctuations are the magnetic vortices. The motion of magnetic vortices result in dissipative processes that limit the efficiency of devices using superconducting nanostrips. It will be shown that in a multi-layer structure, the potential barrier for vortices to penetrate inside the structure is elevated. This results in significant reduction in dissipative process. In superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs), vortex motion results in dark counts and reduction of the critical current which results in low efficiency in these detectors. Based on this finding, we show that a multi-layer SNSPD is capable of approaching characteristics of an ideal single photon detector in terms of the dark count and quantum efficiency. It is shown that in a multi-layer SNSPD the photon coupling efficiency is dramatically enhanced due to the increase in the optical path of the incident photon.