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Single-person households have become a popular trend that has grown dramatically since the 1960s. And loneliness is an unpleasant experience that can bring a negative impact on the physical and mental health of human beings. This study focused on designing an interactive solution in order to reduce loneliness for lonely solitary living people. The study used the qualitative research method and identified a design opportunity to reduce loneliness for lonely people living alone - promoting offline social meetings. The study designed a solution— Matching Pal to engage people in offline social meetings by adding gamification factors, providing two ways of playing, and other useful factors. As a result, the solution showed a positive result in attracting and encouraging people to meet new friends. This shows that gamification can have a positive influence on encouraging users´ behavior in the context of promoting offline social meetings. Also, it provides a design idea that designing multiple ways of interaction based on the traits of different types of users in the solution could help more users achieve the goal.

Minskningen av koldioxidutsläpp och andra skadliga gaser är en viktigt för miljön, och nödvändigt för människans framtid. Alla kommer behöva minska utsläppen till den nivå som krävs för att nå klimatmålen. Transportsektorn är en stor bidragare till de globala koldioxidutsläppen, och sjöfarten står för en stor del av de utsläppen. Olika metoder, eller perspektiv, kan användas för att bestämma hur stora de utsläppen har varit över de senaste åren. I första delen av rapporten kommer tre av dessa perspektiv diskuteras. I andra delen diskuteras olika möjligheter, både tekniska och operativa, för att reducera utsläppen. Syftet med den här rapporten är att skapa en bättre förståelse för både omfattningen av utsläppen idag, samt diskutera möjligheter att reducera dem. / The reduction of emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases is important for the environment, and crucial for the future of humanity and this planet. Everybody will need to reduce the emissions to a level that will be necessary to reach our climate goals. The transport sector is a large contributor to the global carbon dioxide emissions, and maritime operations are a large part of those emissions. To get a better understanding of how large the emissions have been over the past years, different methods can be used to calculate an estimation. In the first part of the paper three of these estimations are discussed. The other part discusses different options for reducing those emissions, both technological and operative. The purpose of this paper is getting a better understanding of both the magnitude of the emissions today, as well as discussing options for reducing them.

All people experience stress in their environments. The specific causes of stress vary from person to person as does one's ability to cope with each stressor. This thesis introduces the concept of Empathetic Design, a design strategy possible only when empathy for the inhabitant is achieved by the designer. An Empathetic Designer is able to identify environmental stressors and can employ appropriate design strategies that reduce stress. Though this strategy is meant to be applicable for all people in all environments, the scope of this thesis focuses on the design of elementary school environments. Specifically, the scope is limited to how Empathetic Design can reduce stress and foster the inclusion of high functioning autistic children in a mainstream educational environment. This thesis combines current learning theory and autism research with a visual exploration of building types from six periods of American school design. The hope is to create Empathetic Designers who will inform design of future elementary school facilities. / Master of Architecture

Yes / Circular Economy (CE) and the adoption of its principles globally are more important than ever to sustain the rate of production of goods and services to meet the ever-increasing consumer demand that is burdening the environment and society. This study investigates the adoption of CE principles amongst emerging economies as the challenges faced by these economies are generally different in terms of resource availability, varying government policies and consumer behaviour from those of developed economies. This research presents an empirically validated CE adoption model using a sample of 183 consumer responses. The study highlights the strong influence of factors such as consumer behaviour on the acceptance of remanufactured products and using products as a service to encourage the adoption of CE practices in emerging economies. This research offers businesses, consumers and policy makers insights into measures that have been taken by emerging economies that are in line with CE principles.

Cette thèse a pour but l'enrichissement des méthodes supervisées d'analyse de données symboliques et l'extension de ce domaine aux données volumineuses, dites "Big Data". Nous proposons à cette fin une méthode supervisée nommée HistSyr. HistSyr convertit automatiquement les variables continues en histogrammes les plus discriminants pour les classes d'individus. Nous proposons également une nouvelle méthode d'arbres de décision symbolique, dite SyrTree. SyrTree accepte tous plusieurs types de variables explicatives et à expliquer pour construire l'arbre de décision symbolique. Enfin, nous étendons HistSyr aux Big Data, en définissant une méthode distribuée nommée CloudHistSyr. CloudHistSyr utilise Map/Reduce pour créer les histogrammes les plus discriminants pour des données trop volumineuses pour HistSyr. Nous avons testé CloudHistSyr sur Amazon Web Services (AWS). Nous démontrons la scalabilité et l’efficacité de notre méthode sur des données simulées et sur les données expérimentales. Nous concluons sur l’utilité de CloudHistSyr qui , grâce à ses résultats, permet l'étude de données massives en utilisant les méthodes d'analyse symboliques existantes. / This Thesis proposes new supervised methods for Symbolic Data Analysis (SDA) and extends this domain to Big Data. We start by creating a supervised method called HistSyr that converts automatically continuous variables to the most discriminant histograms for classes of individuals. We also propose a new method of symbolic decision trees that we call SyrTree. SyrTree accepts many types of inputs and target variables and can use all symbolic variables describing the target to construct the decision tree. Finally, we extend HistSyr to Big Data, by creating a distributed method called CloudHistSyr. Using the Map/Reduce framework, CloudHistSyr creates of the most discriminant histograms for data too big for HistSyr. We tested CloudHistSyr on Amazon Web Services. We show the efficiency of our method on simulated data and on actual car traffic data in Nantes. We conclude on overall utility of CloudHistSyr which, through its results, allows the study of massive data using existing symbolic analysis methods.

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<p>The expectation gap is the definition of the differences between what the interests expects from the auditor and what the auditor delivers. A number of studies have been done regarding the expectation gap and generally they point at the existence of an expectation gap.</p><p>In our paper we want to discover and see how strategies are used in the process to reduce the expectation gap from three levels. The levels we treat are auditors, audit bureaus and the profession. We have chosen to examine the strategies used by the three levels to reduce the expectation gap to following interest groups, owners, management/board of directors, and creditors.The purpose with our paper is to create understanding about how auditors, audit bureaus and the profession use strategies in the process to reduce the expectation gap.</p><p>With existing theories as ground we have construed and developed our own theory about which thinkable strategies the three levels can use.</p><p>We have interviewed auditors, representatives from bureaus and a spokesman for the profession. In the examination we have used telephone interviews with questions based on our operationalization. From our analyse we came to following conclusion: All three levels use strategies in the process to reduce the expectation gap, but not to all interests and not in the same range. We can se a common denominator for the strategies that are used by the levels, they are built on communication. The difference between them is that they take way thru different communication channels. Examples of communication channels are commission letters and oral communication.</p> / <p>Förväntningsgapet är definitionen på skillnaden mellan vad intressenterna förväntar sig av revisorn och vad revisorn i själva verket tillhandahåller. Det har utförts en rad studier gällande förväntningsgapet och generellt pekar de på existensen av ett förväntningsgap.</p><p>Vi vill i vår uppsats upptäcka och se hur strategier används i arbetet mot att reducera förväntningsgapet utifrån tre nivåer. Nivåerna vi behandlar är revisorer, revisionsbyråer och professionen. Vi har valt att undersöka de tre nivåernas strategier för att reducera gapet till följande tre intressentgrupper, ägare, kreditgivare och ledning/styrelse.</p><p>Syftet med vår uppsats är att skapa förståelse för hur revisorn, revisionsbyrån och professionen använder sig av strategier för att reducera förväntningsgapet till intressenterna.</p><p>Med existerande teorier som grund har vi tolkat och utvecklat en egen teori för vilka tänkbara strategier som kan användas av de tre nivåerna.</p><p>Vi har intervjuat revisorer, representanter från byråer och en talesman för professionen. Vi har i undersökningen använt oss av telefonintervjuer med frågor baserade på vår operationalisering. Utifrån vår analys kom vi fram till följande: alla tre nivåer använder sig av strategier för att reducera förväntningsgapet, men inte till alla intressenter och inte i lika stor omfattning. Vi kan se en gemensam nämnare för strategierna som idag används av de tre nivåerna, nämligen att de bygger på kommunikation. Skillnaden mellan de är att de sker via olika kommunikationskanaler. Exempel på kommunikationskanaler är uppdragsbrev och muntlig kommunikation.</p>

Purpose: This thesis explores the bi-directional flows of material perceived by manufacturing firms in the supply chain and accordingly derive suggestions to properly manage these flows to increase customer satisfaction and reduce cost. Methods: A literature review was summarized in a conceptual framework. This framework was then illustrated in a case. In this case, 11 semi-structured interviews, 3 participant observations and 3 types of archival records were collected. Analysis and discussion of the preliminary conceptual framework compared to the case was the basis for the modified conceptual framework that was designed. Main findings: In general material flows downstream the supply chain, but because of quality issues, recycling or returns material need to flow upstream the supply chain. This thesis provides a holistic view of how to manage these flows with a modified conceptual framework. Academic contributions: Previously, almost no academic research has been conducted on decision variables when it comes to managing material flows upstream the supply chain. This thesis contributes to closing this gap by suggesting different actions to properly manage the bi-directional flow of material. Furthermore, previous research addressing how to manage material flows has been re-accessed and expanded. Managerial implications: By using the framework, practitioners can determine helpful activities to increase customer satisfaction and reduce cost. This means management gets directions of where to allocate their resources. Limitations: The perspective and evidence in this research are only collected from the manufacturer’s point of view, valuable insight from suppliers and customers may have been overlooked. The suggestions of how to manage the bi-directional flow of materials have not been tested and the outcome of these recommendations has not been compared to KPIs or other measurements.