Software security for agile methods, particularly for those designed for individual developers, is still a major concern. With most software products deployed over the Internet, security as a key component of software quality has become a major problem. In addressing this problem, this research proposes a solo software development methodology (SSDM) that uses as minimum resources as possible, at the same time conforming to the best practice for delivering secure and high-quality software products. Agile methods have excelled on delivering timely and quality software. At the same time research also shows that most agile methods do not address the problem of security in the developed software. A metasynthesis of SSDMs conducted in this thesis confirmed the lack practices that promote security in the developed software product. On the other hand, some researchers have demonstrated the feasibility of incorporating existing lightweight security practices into agile methods. This research uses Design Science Research (DSR) to build, demonstrate and evaluate a lightweight SSDM. Using an algorithm adapted for the purpose, the research systematically integrates lightweight security and quality practices to produce an agile secure-solo software development methodology (Secure-SSDM). A multiple-case study in an academic and industry setting is conducted to demonstrate and evaluate the utility of the methodology. This demonstration and evaluation thereof, indicates the applicability of the methodology in building high-quality and secure software products. Theoretical evaluation of the agility of the Secure-SSDM using the four-dimensional analytical tool (4-DAT) shows satisfactory compliance of the methodology with agile principles. The main contributions in this thesis are: the Secure-SSDM, which entails description of the concepts, modelling languages, stages, tasks, tools and techniques; generation of a quality theory on practices that promote quality in a solo software development environment; adaptation of Keramati and Mirian-Hosseinabadi’s algorithm for the purposes of integrating quality and security practices. This research would be of value to researchers as it introduces the security component of software quality into a solo software development environment, probing more research in the area. To software developers the research has provided a lightweight methodology that builds quality and security into the product using minimum resources. / School of Computing / D. Phil. (Computer Science)

The notion of change is one of the more pronounced challenges API developers face, since a change to published APIs means a change for its’ consumers. API Versioning is a commonly used strategy to mitigate the risks of changing APIs, however, the strategy introduces a possibility of having practically innumerable number of API versions published at once, all possibly used by different consumers, creating considerable overhead for API developers to manage. API Versioning and API version management are well-researched disciplines. Nevertheless, Yasmin et al. (2020) have identified a research gap in the support for API consumers to made aware of API deprecations in a proactive and automatic fashion. API Versioning in the context of microservices– which the literature seldom addresses– may serve as an interesting solution space for answering the call of Yasmin et al. (2020), due to the architecture’s strong ties to continuous integration– a practice concerned with automatically and proactively ensuring software quality. Concisely, this thesis is set out to answer Yasmin et al.’s (2020) call for research by utilizing the underexplored contextualization of microservices and continuous integration. Using a Design Science Research strategy, this thesis proposes a model detailing how deprecated RESTful web API version usage can be automatically and proactively detected in microservices using continuous integration. The model is subsequently proven to be instantiable via a proof of concept, designed for and situated at a national Swedish bank. Through a series of in-vitro simulations at the bank, the proof of concept is demonstrated to successfully being able to automatically and proactively detect deprecated RESTful web API version usage. An evaluation of the solution shows that the proof of concept– and by extent the model– fulfills the demarcated research objectives of automaticity, proactivity, generality, and autonomy. Thus, the proposed solution is determined to be both novel and useful, successfully answering the call of Yasmin et al. (2020) in the context of microservices and continuous integration.

Since the advent of the Internet, we have been observing a fast-paced development within the computing world. One of the major innovations in recent years is the “Internet of Things”, which brings interconnectedness between devices and humans to unprecedented heights. This technological breakthrough enabled the emergence of a new sub-field within Learning Analytics, Multimodal Learning Analytics, which makes use of several types of data sources to study learning-related processes. As computers and sensors become increasingly cheaper and more accessible,  research within this new sub-field grows, yet some gaps remain unexplored. Additionally, there is a research bias toward computer-assisted learning environments, rather than physical ones. At the same time, the current labor market is highly competitive, and possessing profession-related skills is not sufficient to land a job. Besides these skills, there is an increasing demand for social skills, such as communication, teamwork, and collaboration. However, there is a gap between the skills that are trained in an academic setting and the ones that are required by the labor market. Having this background in mind, this work aims at designing and evaluating an IoT sensor system capable of tracking patterns observed under social interactions within a group, and more specifically, in terms of the distance between group members while solving a task. Another important aspect of this study is the system's cost-effectiveness so that it can be employed in a scalable and sustainable manner. To achieve this goal, a multimethodological approach for Design Science Research was adopted, which implied the combination of several methods such as sketching, prototyping, and testing. As a result, this study contributes both to the research area of Multimodal Learning Analytics, and to educational practices.

Today, the world contains a large number of important non-profit organizations (NPOs) that seek to maintain the welfare of people and animals and to preserve the natural world. NPOs are extremely dependent on funds from the public which has resulted in severe competition between these organizations. This has also come as a result of the cut down of government support and a shortage of donations. Their lack of financial resources indicates that NPOs around the world face major challenges and are therefore in need of customized tools to increase their revenue and ensure their survival. With the purpose of increasing donations towards NPOs, this study aims to research how a media object can be developed and marketed in Bali to motivate tourists into donating money to the Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA) which is located in Canguu, Bali. By doing this, NPOs can use this research as tool for application within their own organization to increase their revenues.The media object that was chosen for this research was a poster, placed in the streets of Canggu, Bali and was selected because it has been shown that visual communication is a powerful tool for encouraging prosocial human behavior. The aim was to document how the media object affected levels of tourist engagement and ultimately their motivation to donate money to an NPO. A number of theories of motivation and behavior were used to form the foundation for this research. The methodology used included qualitative data collection by way of interviews, observations of local conditions pertinent to tourist interaction with media objects, as well as information gathered through a focus group involving local tourists. Research Through Design (RTD) was the framework that was used to structure the process for the creation and the testing of the prototype (the media object). The RTD included four phases, two of which were not completed due to complications involving the COVID-19 pandemic. The research concluded that the environment, attitudes towards legitimacy and emotional engagement all played a crucial role for the effectiveness and ultimately the success of a media object. Furthermore, it was concluded that there is a need for extended research on tourists’ behavior as well as consumer behavior, in relation to donors, in order to fully understand how a media object should be developed to motivate a tourist to donate money to an NPO.

Die gesetzlich verpflichtende Jahresabschlussprüfung ist in den vergangenen Jahren durch wesentliche Veränderungen gekennzeichnet. Einerseits verlangen gesetzliche Vorgaben als Reaktion auf Bilanzskandale und Finanzkrisen eine zeitnahe Berichterstattung über die rechnungslegungsrelevanten Aktivitäten geprüfter Unternehmen. Andererseits werden Rechnungslegungsprozesse mittlerweile nahezu vollständig mithilfe betrieblicher Informationssysteme, z. B. Enterprise-Resource-Planning-Systeme (ERP-Systeme) und Buchhaltungssysteme, durchgeführt. Dadurch ergeben sich sowohl der Bedarf als auch die grundsätzliche Umsetzbarkeit digitaler, kontinuierlicher Prüfungsansätze. Trotz umfangreicher Vorarbeiten im Bereich der digitalen Prüfung in den letzten 30 Jahren haben sich jedoch bislang keine Ansätze zur flächendeckenden Ausbreitung kontinuierlicher Prüfungsansätze etabliert. Grund dafür sind vor allem Barrieren auf organisatorischer und technischer Ebene. Dies stellt insbesondere kleine und mittelständische Prüfungsgesellschaften vor große Herausforderungen, da diese in der Regel nicht über personelle und fachliche Kapazitäten für die Umsetzung komplexer Prüfungssysteme verfügen. Die gestaltungsorientierte Wirtschaftsinformatik kann mit der Entwicklung von IT-Artefakten einen Beitrag zur digitalen Transformation der Abschlussprüfung leisten. In dieser Dissertation wird der beschriebene Bedarf aufgegriffen und, auf Basis eines dreistufigen Forschungsvorgehens, ein Lösungsansatz für die geschilderte Problemstellung entwickelt: Auf der ersten Stufe wird anhand einer empirischen Grundmethodik der Prüfungsprozess in der Praxis analysiert (Ist-Analyse). Auf der zweiten Stufe werden bestehende Konzepte und Erfolgsfaktoren für die Umsetzung der kontinuierlichen Prüfung untersucht (Soll-Konzeption). Das in der dritten Stufe beschriebene Lösungskonzept „Audit-as-a-Service“ sieht die Integration eines spezialisierten Informationsdienstleisters vor, der als Mediator zwischen Prüfungsgesellschaften und geprüften Unternehmen fungiert und die kontinuierliche Prüfung zu einem Geschäftsmodellansatz erweitert.

Tuberculosis, an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, has been a global health problem for years. The emergence of drug resistance in this organism generates the necessity of exploring novel targets and developing new drugs. Topoisomerases are enzymes found in all kingdoms of life responsible for overcoming the topological barriers encountered during essential cellular processes. The genomes of mycobacteria encode only one type IA topoisomerase (MtopI), which has been validated as a novel TB drug target. The goal of this study is to obtain new information on the mechanism and resistance of endogenous and synthetic inhibitors of MtopI. Rv1495 is a M. tuberculosis toxin that belongs to the MazEF family (MazE is the antitoxin and MazF is the toxin), with endoribonuclease activity. Rv1495 (MazF homolog in M. tuberculosis) toxin has been shown to interact directly with the C-terminal domain of MtopI for mutual inhibition. In this study the interaction of Rv1495 with the positively charged C-terminal tail in Mtop I is reported. This new information is useful for rational design and discovery of antibiotics for mycobacteria. Ethacridine, an FDA approved drug has shown activity against MtopI. In this project we studied the mechanisms of resistance associated with this drug as well the use of Ethacridine in combination with Moxifloxacin, to potentiate the bactericidal effect of this current second line drug for TB treatment. Results from sequencing of the genomic DNA isolated from the resistant mutants suggested the involvement of the Holliday-junction Ruv resolvase. Further studies showed that co-treatment with Ethacridine can enhance the moxifloxacin-mediated killing of M. smegmatis. FP-11g, a novel fluoroquinophenoxazine inhibitor of bacterial topoisomerase I, has shown promising activity against M, tuberculosis. We explored the bactericidal activity and resistance mechanisms associated to FP-11g using M. smegmatis as model organism. Additionally, the inhibitory effect of FP-11g was also evaluated on M. abscessus. FP-11g at concentration 4X MIC showed complete bactericidal activity against M. smegmatis after 24 hours. Inhibitory activity against M. abscessus was also observed. Results from sequencing of the genomic DNA isolated from the M. smegmatis resistant mutants revealed mutations in genes associated with general drug resistance.

„Science, the Never-Ending Quest.“ The diploma thesis deals with a proposal of science center aimed at promoting science and education in the field of nanotechnology. The aim of the project is to design a science center that will complement the existing building complex of CEITEC Nano BUT but also through its architectural expression represent the value of such institution and enable it to stand out among the existing buildings, allowing it to become the new center „brain“ of the complex. Nanotechnology represents a significant sphere of the scientific world that holds big potential for the future in various industries including architecture and building construction. The aim of the diploma thesis is thus not only to design new science center but also to raise awarness of nanotechnolgy. The design proposal is based on simple geometric shape - circle which is segmented into three parts. Logical shape of circle complements the already existing complex and becomes the new center point "brain" of the whole complex. The symbol of infinity that circle and Mobius strip represent is associated with the never ending scientific research as the science itself is at the end nothing but a "never ending quest".

Utilizing biomass such as lignin, bamboo, soybean, corn stalk, rice husk, etc., as a carbon source to produce graphene-based nanomaterials has been reported recently. However, the potential of using such nanomaterials for engineering and environmental applications has not been realized. This dissertation investigates the use of graphene-based nanomaterials synthesized from using biomass as a carbon source for water remediation and cement-based composites’ (CBCs) property enhancement. The first chapter introduces graphene and graphene-based nanomaterials, as well as the synthesis and application of graphene-based nanomaterials for removing heavy metals in an aqueous solution and for property enhancement in CBCs. The experimental investigation on the pyrolytic synthesis of graphene-encapsulated iron nanoparticles from biochar (BC) as the carbon source (BC-G@Fe0) was covered in the second chapter. Two synthetic routes for producing BC-G@Fe0, i.e., impregnation-carbonization (route-I) and pyrolysis-impregnation-carbonization (route-II) processes, were investigated experimentally using different characterization techniques and heavy metal removal methods. The third chapter reports the experimental performances of the heavy metal removal of Pb2+, Cu2+, and Ag+ from an aqueous solution using BC-G@Fe0. The effectivenesses of various adsorption benchmarks, such as pH, kinetics, and isotherms were assessed. Additionally, the removal efficiency of BC-G@Fe0 was evaluated. BC-G@Fe0 sample made from route II, in particular, FeCl2-impregnated-BC with 15% wt% iron loading carbonized at 1000 ℃ for 1h showed promising Pb2+, Cu2+, and Ag+ removal capacities of 0.30, 1.58, and 1.91 mmol/g, respectively. The fourth chapter experimentally investigated the reinforcement effect of commercially sourced, industrial graphene nanoplates (IG) on the mechanical properties of CBCs. This investigation was based on a hypothesis that the uniform dispersion of IG would significantly enhance the compressive strength of CBC. The main outcome of this research was that, while the wet dispersion mixing process of IG into CBC did not consistently yield significant increases in the composite compressive strength, but the newly proposed dry dispersion process demonstrated significant increases (22%) in the composite compressive strength. Chapter Five investigated the synthesis of lignin-based graphene nanoplatelets (LG) and their application in CBC reinforcement. The main findings were that LG did not show impressive increases compared to IG, even when dry dispersion was introduced. This was attributed to LG's lack of effective surface area compared to IG. Finally, a general conclusion and outlook for the future of research into biomass-based graphene nanomaterials were discussed in chapter six.

Technological advancement has significantly impacted people and organizations during the last decade. Society is exposed to an increasing rate of cyber-attacks utilizing sophisticated tools to accomplish their objectives. Previously attackers’ primary focus was exploiting technological vulnerabilities to access organizations’ information; however, attackers have shifted their focus to exploiting the vulnerabilities in people’s human nature instead. This has resulted in organizations acknowledging that technical security measures alone are insufficient in providing adequate protection for organizations and need to invest in mitigating the risk people pose to an organization’s cybersecurity. Thus realizing the need to address cybersecurity’s social-technical nature. Organizations have begun implementing cybersecurity awareness-raising initiatives to increase people’s cybersecurity awareness to reduce human-instigated breaches. This is especially crucial for organizations in the public sector to achieve because they tend to produce more destructive and widespread repercussions to society. To provide organizations in the public sector with the means to achieve good cybersecurity awareness, this thesis aims to develop a guideline for managers in large Swedish public organizations to assist them in their complex cybersecurity awareness-raising endeavors. The thesis employs a design science research strategy to develop, evaluate, and validate the guideline with the assistance of cybersecurity awareness experts. The results show six principal factors have been established as significant for raising cybersecurity awareness in large Swedish public organizations. These factors range from user-oriented, managerial, and technical, supporting the assertion that cybersecurity is a complex socio-technical matter. The key contribution of this thesis is to introduce a highly abstract guideline to enhance large Swedish public organizations’ cybersecurity awareness efforts.

Today students all over the world use different types of social media to express their thoughts, feelings and ideas. It can either be expressed in a close environment, such as group chats or to a more open environment such as a feed for example on facebook, which could be seen by anyone and not only students. The purpose of this thesis is to research how to develop a prototype platform where the students have the choice to express themselves in other ways than writing and share their thoughts, feelings and ideas with other students around the world. For inspiration for design, existing tools and technologies have been researched on how they can attract and engage students into using them for different activities in educational settings. Furthermore research has been made on how to maximize the students’ creativity and keep them engaged with the prototype for them to be able to express themselves freely and creatively. After that the prototype was tested to measure its impact on the students in regards to the engagement and fun and also if they could see this as a new potential way of connecting and sharing thoughts, ideas and feelings with students worldwide. After analyzing and receiving feedback from the students, it was discovered that the final prototype platform needs further work and improvement in order to increase the engagement and fun in the prototype platform. Furthermore future development ideas were discovered, both when the results were analyzed and during the development of the prototype platform.