Promoting values of respect, understanding, empathy and developing in the students the necessary skills to be part of a peaceful and comprehensive society is one of the responsibilities of the educational system. This mission, in the context of the Swedish preschools, is also compatible with the characteristic use of the natural and outdoor environments of the Scandinavian countries as learning and experiential settings. The aim of this research paper is to study how the outdoor spaces can affect the understanding andthe resolution of conflicts between students in the preschool stage from the perspectiveof the teachers. Therefore, the main tool for the collection of the data were the semistructured interviews carried out with different educators from different Swedish preschools. Using thematic analysis as the designated qualitative approach to analyse thedata, different themes and sub-themes were addressed throughout the answers from theinterviews and organized based on 3 different sections: experience in outdoors, conflicts in the preschool, and the outdoors in the resolution of conflicts. The results presented the teachers’ experience regarding outdoor education; their understanding of the differenttypes of conflicts in the preschool stage; the role of the different parts involved, and themethods used to understand, manage, and deal with issues between the students; lastly, how the use of outdoor settings and its benefits can promote conflict-management skillsamong the students. Thus, the outdoor settings possess a beneficial effect on the social, emotional, and personal development of the children, these being key factors for the promotion of peaceful conflict-resolution strategies from an early stage.

This two-part dissertation investigated the home language experiences and language development of 35 toddler-aged children from low-income Mexican immigrant families. These children represent a rapidly growing demographic in the United States. Because early language abilities are closely linked to later academic success, understanding the characteristics of the early language learning experiences provided in the homes of Mexican immigrant children is a foundational step to supporting their strengths and needs prior to formal school entry. In the first study of this dissertation, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the children’s mothers regarding the everyday activity settings of their young children. Degree of maternal acculturation was also assessed. Commonalities and variations in mothers’ values, beliefs, and practices regarding language teaching and learning were revealed. The commonalities included attention towards children’s early behavior and social skills, collective child-rearing practices, emphasis on the family unit and Mexican identity, and support for Spanish-English language learning and educational success, among others. A limited number of variations were also found to be associated with mothers’ affiliation with Anglo-American culture. In the second study, naturalistic recordings of the toddlers' language input in the home were analyzed in-depth to describe features of the quantity and quality of the input to which children were exposed. A wide range of variability in children’s quantity and quality was found. In addition, the relative amount of Spanish and English spoken to children was determined. Spanish was the primary language used with children, although English was also used in most homes. Children’s productive vocabulary in both languages was further measured contemporaneously; total vocabulary size ranged widely across children. There were no associations revealed between the characteristics of children’s language input quantity and quality and their productive vocabulary, although quantity and quality were related to one another. Implications of both studies to early childhood researchers and practitioners focused on early language development, including speech-language pathologists, are discussed. / Communication Sciences

No description available.

Studien behandlar teckenspråkstolkars agerande vid språkliga utmaningar som kan uppstå vid tolkning av predikningar med särskilt fokus på religiös terminologi, metaforer och liturgiskt språkbruk. Vidare undersöker studien vilka konsekvenser tolkarnas handlande har på det religiösa budskapet. Med två predikningar som källtext baseras studien på åtta inspelade tolkningar gjorda av fyra teckenspråkstolkar med erfarenhet av tolkning i religiösa miljöer. Relevanta passager transkriberades och analyserades med hjälp av diskursanalys. De främsta strategier som identifierades vid förekomst av religiösa termer var användandet av ekvivalent tecken och bokstavering. Vid metaforer var avbildande verbkonstruktioner konsekvent förekommande bland samtliga tolkar. Två andra strategier som identifierades vid metaforer var formbaserad tolkning och tillägg. När det kom till dessa strategier fanns det skillnader gällande hur explicit metaforen ska tolkas där både formbaserad tolkning och strategiska tillägg lyftes som strategi till samma utmaning. Medan de inom tidigare nämnda kategorier fanns mönster i tolkarnas agerande visade analysen att det inte fanns någon konsensus i tillvägagångsätt för att hantera liturgiskt språkbruk vilket ledde till att tolkningar av samma källtext kunde generera helt skilda måltexter. Detta leder till att tolkningarna utgår från hur enskilda tolkarna uppfattat källtexten, något som i värsta fall får som konsekvens att den döva personen tar till sig felaktigt teologiskt budskap i tron att detta är vad som förkunnas av predikanten. Studien kommer således fram till slutsatsen att det saknas standardiserade metoder för att hantera de lingvistiska utmaningar som finns vid teckenspråkstolkning av predikningar, något som har en potentiell negativ påverkan på överförandet av det religiösa budskapet. / The study investigates the actions of sign language interpreters when faced with linguistic challenges that may arise during the interpretation of sermons, with a particular focus on religious terminology, metaphors, and liturgical language. Furthermore, the study examines the consequences of interpreters’ actions on the religious message. Based on two sermons as source texts, the study draws on eight recorded interpretations conducted by four sign language interpreters experienced in church interpreting. Relevant passages were transcribed and analyzed using discourse analysis. The primary strategies identified in the presence of religious terms were the use of equivalent signs and fingerspelling. In the case of metaphors, depictions through verb constructions were consistently observed across all interpreters. Two other strategies identified with metaphors were form-based interpretation and strategic additions. Regarding these strategies, there were disagreements on how explicitly the metaphor should be interpreted, with both form-based interpretation and strategic additions being suggested as approaches to the same challenge. While patterns in interpreters' actions were evident in the previously mentioned categories, the analysis revealed no consensus or standardization in approaches to handling liturgical language, resulting in interpretations of the same source text yielding vastly different target texts. This suggests that interpretations are based on how individual interpreters perceive the source text, potentially resulting in the deaf individual receiving incorrect theological messages, believing them to be the preacher's intended message.

Alla människor ska vara lika inför lagen och bistås med anpassning utifrån sina individuella behov. Tidigare forskning har synliggjort rättsuppdragets komplexa natur som hänger samman med fackspråket, kravet på adekvat kunskap och utbildning samt motstridiga förväntningar på tolken. Bristen på tolkar med relevant kunskap och utbildning kan leda till en rättsosäker situation som kan medföra konsekvenser för den döva eller hörselskadade personen. Föreliggande uppsats utgår från en intervjustudie där teckenspråkstolkar med erfarenhet av rättstolkning skildrar utmaningar och lösningar i samband med uppdrag i rätten. Bearbetningen av materialet genomfördes enligt en tematisk analys. Utifrån materialet sammanställdes totalt fem teman: 1. Rättssalen som arbetsplats, 2. Vikten av förberedelser inför tolkuppdrag, 3. Målgruppsanpassning, 4. Förväntningar på tolken och tolkningen och 5. Etiska dilemman. Studien visar att i likhet med befintlig forskning om teckenspråktolkning i rätten är frågor om delaktighet i rättsprocessen och att få göra sin röst hörd centrala frågor hos informanterna i yrkesutövningen. Informanterna var också väl rustade för detta genom gedigen utbildning och erfarenhet, vilket de påvisade genom att ta initiativ i rätten, förbereda sig enskilt och med tolkkollegan och målgruppsanpassa tolkningen. På så sätt kunde informanterna nå både sina och andras förväntningar i olika situationer och hantera etiska dilemman. / All people should be equal before the law and receive support tailored to one’s individual needs. Previous research has illuminated the complex nature of legal interpreting, linked to specialized language, the demand for adequate knowledge and training, as well as conflicting expectations placed on interpreters. The shortage of interpreters with relevant knowledge and training can lead to a situation of legal uncertainty, which may have consequences for the deaf or hard-of-hearing person. This essay is based on an interview study where sign language interpreters experienced in legal interpreting describe challenges and solutions associated with assignments in court. The analysis of the material was conducted using a thematic analysis. Five themes were identified from the material: 1. The courtroom as a workplace, 2. The importance of preparation before interpreter assignments, 3. Target group adaptation, 4. Expectations on the interpreter and the interpretation and 5. Ethical dilemmas. The study demonstrates that, in accordance with existing research on sign language interpreting in legal settings, issues of participation in the legal process and having one’s voice heard are central concerns for the informants in their professional practice. The informants were well- equipped for this through comprehensive education and experience, which they demonstrated by taking initiative in court, preparing individually and with fellow interpreters, and adapt the interpretation to the target group. In this way, the informants were able to meet both their own and others’ expectations in various situations and manage ethical dilemmas.

[EN] The first part of this work reviews the potential applications of satellite remote sensing to regional science research in urban settings. The availability of satellite remote sensing data has increased significantly in the last two decades. The increasing spatial resolution of commercial satellite imagery has influenced the emergence of new research and applications of regional science in urban settlements because it is now possible to identify individual objects of the urban fabric. The most common applications found in the literature are the detection of urban deprivation hot spots, quality of life index assessment, urban growth analysis, house value estimation, urban population estimation, urban social vulnerability assessment, and the variability of intra-urban crime rates. The satellite remote sensing imagery used in these applications has medium, high or very high spatial resolution (Landsat MSS, Landsat TM and ETM+, SPOT, ASTER, IRS, Ikonos and QuickBird). Consistent relationships between socio-economic variables derived from censuses and field surveys and proxy variables of vegetation coverage measured from satellite remote sensing data have been found in several cities in the US. Different approaches and techniques have been applied successfully around the world, but local research is always needed to account for the unique elements of each place. Spectral mixture analysis, object-oriented classifications and image texture measures are some of the techniques of image processing that have been implemented with good results. This work contributes empirical evidence about the usefulness of remote sensing imagery to quantify the degree of poverty at the intra-urban scale. This concept is based on two premises: first, that the physical appearance of an urban settlement is a reflection of the society; and second, that the people who reside in urban areas with similar physical housing conditions have similar social and demo- graphic characteristics. We evaluate the potential of the image-derived urban fabric descriptors to explain a measure of poverty known as the Slum Index. We found that these variables explain up to 59% of the variability in the Slum Index. Similar approaches could be used to lower the cost of socioeconomic surveys by developing an econometric model from a sample and applying that model to the rest of the city and to perform intercensal or intersurvey estimates of intra-urban Slum Index maps. The last part of this work analyzes the relation between the urban layout and crime. The link between place and crime is at the base of social ecology theories of crime that focus in the relationship of the characteristics of geographical areas and crime rates. The broken windows theory states that visible cues of physical and social disorder in a neighborhood can lead to an increase in more serious crime. Based on the premise that a settlement's appearance is a reflection of the society, we ask whether a neighbor- hood's design has a quantifiable imprint when seen from space using urban fabric descriptors computed from VHR imagery. The percentage of impervious surfaces other than clay roofs, the fraction of clay roofs to impervious surfaces, two structure descriptors related to the homogeneity of the urban layout, and the uniformity texture descriptor were all statistically significant. Areas with higher homicide rates tended to have higher local variation and less general homogeneity; that is, the urban layouts were more crowded and cluttered, with small dwellings with different roofing materials located in close proximity to one another, and these regions often lacked other homogeneous surfaces such as open green spaces, wide roads, or large facilities. These results seem to be in agreement with the broken windows theory and CPTED in the sense that more heterogeneous and disordered urban layouts are associated with higher homicide rates. / [ES] La primera parte aporta una revisión de las aplicaciones de la teledetección satelital en la investigación de ciencia regional en entornos urbanos. La disponibilidad de imágenes satelitales se ha incrementado significativamente en las dos últimas décadas, al tiempo que la resolución espacial ha venido aumentando, lo que ha influenciado el surgimiento de investigaciones y aplicaciones de ciencia regional en zonas urbanas. Las aplicaciones más comunes son la detección de hot spots de pobreza urbana, la evaluación de índices de calidad de vida, el análisis del crecimiento urbano, la estimación de valores de vivienda, la estimación de población urbana, la evaluación de la vulnerabilidad social y las variaciones intra-urbanas en tasas de crimen. Las imágenes satelitales usadas tienen resolución espacial media, alta o muy alta (Landsat MSS, Landsat TM y ETM+, SPOT, ASTER, IRS, Ikonos y Quickbird). Se han encontrado relaciones consistentes entre variables socio-económicas obtenidas de censos y encuestas y variables de la cobertura de vegetación en varias ciudades de Estados Unidos. Algunas de las técnicas que se han implementado y obtenido buenos resultados son el análisis de mezcla espectral, las clasificaciones orientadas a objetos y las medidas de textura de la imagen. Se aporta evidencia empírica acerca de la utilidad de las imágenes satelitales para cuantificar el grado de pobreza a escala intra-urbana. Se basa en dos premisas: primero, que la apariencia física de un asentamiento urbano es un reflejo de la sociedad que lo habita; y segundo, que la población de áreas urbanas con condiciones físicas de vivienda parecidas tiene características sociales y demográficas similares. Evaluamos el potencial de los descriptores del tejido urbano extraídos de la imagen para explicar una medida de pobreza conocida como el índice Slum. Encontramos que esas variables explican hasta un 59% de la variabilidad en el índice Slum. Aproximaciones similares a esta podrían usarse para disminuir el costo de encuestas socioeconómicas por medio del desarrollo de un modelo econométrico usando una muestra y luego aplicando el modelo al resto de la ciudad, y para elaborar estimaciones inter-censales o inter-encuestas de mapas intra-urbanos del índice Slum. La última parte analiza la relación entre el trazado urbano y crimen. El enlace entre el lugar y el crimen está en la base de las teorías socio-ecológicas de crimen que se enfocan en la relación de las características de las áreas geográficas y las tasas de crimen. La teoría de las ventanas rotas afirma que las evidencias visibles de desorden físico y social en un barrio pueden llevar al incremento de crímenes más serios. Con base en la premisa de que la apariencia de un asentamiento es un reflejo de la sociedad, nos preguntamos si el diseño del barrio tiene un impacto cuantificable cuando se observa desde el espacio usando descriptores del tejido urbano obtenidos de imágenes de muy alta resolución. El porcentaje de superficies impermeables diferentes a los techos de arcilla, la fracción de techos de arcilla sobre las superficies impermeables, dos variables de estructura relacionadas con la homogeneidad del trazado urbano y la variable de textura uniformidad resultaron estadísticamente significativas. Las áreas con tasas de homicidio más altas tienden a tener mayor variación local y menor homogeneidad general; esto es, los trazados urbanos son más desordenados y hacinados, con pequeñas viviendas que tienen materiales diferentes en sus techos localizadas muy cerca unas de otras, y estas áreas carecen a menudo de otras superficies homogéneas tales como espacios verdes abiertos, vías amplias y grandes construcciones industriales o institucionales. Estos resultados parecen estar en acuerdo con la teoría de las ventanas rotas y CPTED en el sentido de que los trazados urbanos más desordenados y heterogéneos están asociados con tasas de homicid / [CA] La primera part aporta una revisió de les potencials aplicacions de la teledetecció espacial a la investigació en ciència regional en entorns urbans. La disponibilitat de dades de percepció remota des de satèl·lits s'ha incrementat significativament a les dues últimes dècades. La resolució espacial de les imatges de satèl·lit comercials també han anat augmentant i això, ha influït en l'aparició de investigacions i aplicacions a la ciència regional en assentaments urbans. Les aplicacions més comunes trobades a la literatura són la detecció de punts calents de pobresa urbana, l'avaluació dels índex de qualitat de vida, les anàlisis de creixement urbà, l'avaluació de la vulnerabilitat social i les variacions intraurbanes de les taxes de crims. Les imatges de satèl·lit emprades tenen resolució espacial mitjana, alta o molt alta (Landsat MSS, Landsat TM i ETM+, SPOT, ASTER, IRS, Ikonos y Quickbird). S'han torbat relacions consistents entre variables socioeconòmiques obtingudes de censos i enquestes i variables de la cobertura de vegetació en varies ciutats del Estats Units. Algunes de les tècniques que s'han implementat i han donat bons resultats són l'anàlisi de mescla espectral, les classificacions orientades a objecte i les mesures de textura de les imatges. Es aporta evidència empírica sobre la utilitat de les imatges de satèl·lit per quantificar el grau de pobresa a escala intraurbana. Es bassa en dues premisses: primer, que l'aparença física d'un assentament urbà n'és un reflex de la societat que l'habita; i segon, que les persones que resideixen en àrees urbanes amb condicions físiques de vivenda paregudes tenen també característiques socials i demogràfiques similars. Avaluem el potencial dels descriptors del teixit urbà extrets de la imatge per explicar una mesura de pobresa coneguda com index Slum. Trobem que aquestes variables expliquen fins un 59% de la variabilitat de l'índex Slum. Aproximacions semblants a aquesta es podrien emprar per a disminuir el cost de les enquestes socioeconòmiques mitjançant el desenvolupament d'un model economètric utilitzant una mostra i després aplicant el model a la resta de la ciutat, i per elaborar estimacions inter-censals o inter-enquestes de mapes intraurbans de l'índex Slum. La darrera part analitza la relació entre el traçat urbà i el crim. L'enllaç entre el lloc i el crim està a la base de les teories socio-ecològiques del crim que es centren en la relació de les característiques de les àrees geogràfiques i les taxes de crims. La teoria de les finestres trencades afirma que les evidències visibles de desordre físic i social d'un barri pot portar a l'augment de crims més greus. Basant-se en la premissa de que l'aparença d'un assentament n'és el reflex de la societat, ens hi preguntem si el disseny del barri té un impacte quantificable quan s'observa des de el espai, utilitzant descriptors del teixit urbà obtinguts de imatges de molt alta resolució. Han resultat estadísticament significatius el percentatge de superfícies impermeables diferents a les teulades de argila, la fracció de teulades d'argila sobre les superfícies impermeables, dues variables d'estructura relacionades amb la homogeneïtat del traçat urbà i la variable de textura de uniformitat. Les àrees amb taxes d'homicidi més altes tendeixen a presentar una major variació local i una menor homogeneïtat general; és a dir, el traçats urbans són més desordenats i amuntonats, amb petites vivendes que tenen materials diferents a les seues teulades localitzades molt prop unes d'altres, i aquestes àrees manquen sovint d'altres superfícies homogènies, com ara espais verds oberts, vies amplies i grans construccions industrials o institucionals. Aquests resultats pareixen estar-hi d'acord amb la teoria de les finestres trencades i CPTED en el sentit de que els traçats urbans més desordenats i heterogenis estan associats amb taxes d'homicides m / Patiño Quinchía, JE. (2015). Cityscape, poverty and crime: a quantitative assessment using VHR imagery [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/59453

Streaming services provide different settings where customers can choose a sound and video quality based on personal preference. The majority of users never make an active choice; instead, they get a default quality setting which is chosen automatically for them based on some parameters, like internet connection quality. This thesis explores personalising the default audio setting, intending to improve the user experience. It achieves this by leveraging machine learning trained on the fraction of users that have made active choices in changing the quality setting. The assumption that user similarity in users who make an active choice can be leveraged to impact user experience was the idea behind this thesis work. It was issued to study which type of data from different categories: demographic, product and consumption is most predictive of a user's taste in sound quality. A case study was conducted to achieve the goals for this thesis. Five predictive model prototypes were trained, evaluated, compared and analysed using two different algorithms: XGBoost and Logistic Regression, and targeting two regions: Sweden and Brazil. Feature importance analysis was conducted using SHapley Additive exPlanations(SHAP), a unified framework for interpreting predictions with a game theoretic approach, and by measuring coefficient weights to determine the most predictive features. Besides exploring the feature impact, the thesis also answers how reasonable it is to generalise these models to non-selecting users by performing hypothesis testing. The project also covered bias analysis between users with and without active quality settings and how that affects the models. The models with XGBoost had higher performance. The results showed that demographic and product data had a higher impact on model predictions in both regions. Although, different regions did not have the same data features as most predictive, so there were differences observed in feature importance between regions and also between platforms. The results of hypothesis testing did not indicate a valid reason to consider the models to work for non-selective users. However, the method is negatively affected by other factors such as small changes in big datasets that impact the statistical significance. Data bias in some data features was found, which indicated a correlation but not the causation behind the patterns. The results of this thesis additionally show how machine learning can improve user experience in regards to default sound quality settings, by leveraging models on user similarity in users who have changed the sound quality to the most suitable for them. / Streamingtjänster erbjuder olika inställningar där kunderna kan välja ljud- och videokvalitet baserat på personliga preferenser. Majoriteten av användarna gör aldrig ett aktivt val; de tilldelas istället en standardkvalitetsinställning som väljs automatiskt baserat på vissa parametrar, som internetanslutningskvalitet. Denna avhandling undersöker anpassning av standardljudinställningen, med avsikt att förbättra användarupplevelsen. Detta uppnås genom att tillämpa maskininlärning på den andel användare som har aktivt ändrat kvalitetsinställningen. Antagandet att användarlikhet hos användare som gör ett aktivt val kan utnyttjas för att påverka användarupplevelsen var tanken bakom detta examensarbete. Det utfärdades för att studera vilken typ av data från olika kategorier: demografi, produkt och konsumtion är mest förutsägande för användarens smak i ljudkvalitet. En fallstudie genomfördes för att uppnå målen för denna avhandling. Fem prediktiva modellprototyper tränades, utvärderades, jämfördes och analyserades med två olika algoritmer: XGBoost och Logistisk Regression, och inriktade på två regioner: Sverige och Brasilien. Analys av funktionsvikt genomfördes med SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), en enhetlig ram för att tolka förutsägelser med en spelteoretisk metod, och genom att mäta koefficientvikter för att bestämma de mest prediktiva funktionerna. Förutom att utforska funktionens påverkan, svarar avhandlingen också på hur rimligt det är att generalisera dessa modeller för icke-selektiva användare genom att utföra hypotesprövning. Projektet omfattade också biasanalys mellan användare med och utan aktiva kvalitetsinställningar och hur det påverkar modellerna. Modellerna med XGBoost hade högre prestanda. Resultaten visade att demografisk data och produktdata hade en högre inverkan på modellförutsägelser i båda regionerna. Däremot hade olika regioner inte samma datafunktioner som mest prediktiva, skillnader observerades i funktionsvikt mellan regioner och även mellan plattformar. Resultaten av hypotesprövningen indikerade inte på vägande anledning för att anse att modellerna skulle fungera för icke-selektiva användare. Däremot har metoden påverkats negativt av andra faktorer som små förändringar i stora datamängder som påverkar den statistiska signifikansen. Data bias hittades i vissa datafunktioner, vilket indikerade en korrelation men inte orsaken bakom mönstren. Resultaten av denna avhandling visar dessutom hur maskininlärning kan förbättra användarupplevelsen när det gäller standardinställningar för ljudkvalitet, genom att utnyttja modeller för användarlikhet hos användare som har ändrat ljudkvaliteten till det mest lämpliga för dem.

The lecture recital was given on July 13, 1987. The discussion of the poetry by C. F. Gellert and the musical settings by C. P. E. Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven including analyses of all the pieces was followed by their performance. In addition to the lecture recital, three other public recitals were given: three of solo literature for voice and piano and one of vocal chamber literature. These included the works of Monteverdi, Caldara, Mozart, Brahms, Strauss, Mendelssohn, Ives, Honegger, Debussy, Faure", and others. All of these recitals were recorded on magnetic tape and filed along with the written version of the lecture material as a part of the dissertation.

This research study acquired a consumer response centred approach to visual merchandising stimuli, in an attempt to holistically consider this area of the retail industry. Consumers‟ perceptions towards visual merchandising displays and the effect these displays have on consumer behaviour were exposed. The primary research question that pended from the preliminary literature was to determine the effect of visual merchandising displays on consumer perceptions. Explorative research was performed and qualitative data were collected by means of focus groups and naïve sketches. The data was analysed by means of a thematic analysis process. Perceptions of visual merchandising displays that were identified were subliminal in creating an interest and desire to further peruse the merchandise and aesthetically to beautify the store. Consumers expressed that the impact that visual merchandising displays had on their buying decisions depended on their personal preferences. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

The presence of the sea ice diatom biomarker IP25 in Arctic marine sediments has been used in previous studies as a proxy for past spring sea ice occurrence and as an indicator of wider palaeoenvironmental conditions for different regions of the Arctic over various timescales. The current study describes a number of analytical and palaeoceanographic developments of the IP25 sea ice biomarker. First, IP25 was extracted and purified from Arctic marine sediments. This enabled the structure of IP25 to be confirmed and enabled instrumental (GC-MS) calibrations to be carried out so that quantitative measurements could be performed with greater accuracy. Second, palaeo sea ice reconstructions based on IP25 and other biomarkers were carried out for a suite of sub-Arctic areas within the Greenland, Norwegian and Barents Seas, each of which represent contrasting oceanographic and environmental settings. Further, an evaluation of some combined biomarker approaches (e.g. the PIP25 and DIP25 indices) for quantifying and/or refining definitions of sea ice conditions was carried out. Temporally, particular emphasis was placed on the characterisation of sea ice conditions during the Younger Dryas and the Holocene. Some comparisons with other proxies (e.g. foraminifera, IRD) were also made. A study of a sediment core from Andfjorden (69.16˚N, 16.25˚E), northern Norway, provided unequivocal evidence for the occurrence of seasonal sea ice conditions during the Younger Dryas. The onset (ca. 12.9 cal. kyr BP) and end (ca. 11.5 cal. kyr BP) of this stadial were especially clear in this location, while in a study from the Kveithola Trough (74.52˚N, 16.29˚E), western Barents Sea, these transitions were less apparent. This was attributed to the presence of colder surface waters and the occurrence of seasonal sea ice both before and after this stadial at higher latitudes. Some regional differences regarding the severity of the sea ice conditions were also observed, although an overall general picture was proposed, with more severe sea ice conditions during the early-mid Younger Dryas and less sea ice observed during the late Younger Dryas. A shift in the climate towards ice-free conditions was recorded in northern Norway during the early Holocene (ca. 11.5 – 7.2 cal. kyr BP). Milder conditions were also observed during the Holocene in the western Barents Sea, with three main climate periods observed. During the early Holocene (ca. 11.7 – 9.5 cal. kyr BP), the position of the spring ice edge was close to the study area which resulted in high productivity during summers. During the mid-late Holocene (ca. 9.5 – 1.6 cal. kyr BP), sea ice was mainly absent due to an increased influence of Atlantic waters and northward movement of the Polar Front. During the last ca. 1.6 cal. kyr BP, sea ice conditions were similar to those of the present day. In addition to the outcomes obtained from the Norwegian-Barents Sea region, comparison of biomarker and other proxy data from 3 short cores from Kangerdlugssuaq Trough (Denmark Strait/SE Greenland) with historical climate observations allowed the development of a model of sea ice conditions which was then tested for longer time-scales. It is suggested that the IP25 in sediments from this region is likely derived from drift ice carried from the Arctic Ocean via the East Greenland Current and that two main sea surface scenarios have existed over the last ca. 150 yr. From ca. AD 1850 – 1910, near perennial sea ice conditions resulted in very low primary productivity, while from ca. AD 1910 – 1986, local sea ice conditions were less severe with increased drift ice and enhanced primary productivity. This two-component model was subsequently developed to accommodate different sea surface conditions that existed during the retreat of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the deglaciation (ca. 16.3 – 10.9 cal. kyr BP).