Why do ordinary individuals participate in mass violence perpetrated against civilians? That is the question I will attempt to answer in the following paper. I consider these men ordinary to the extent that the majority was not socially deviant. Looking at the case of Nazi Germany, two groups stand out as good case studies: the SS Einsatzgruppen and the SS cadres in the Death camps. The following analysis will focus on the motivations of these men to commit mass murder. I argue for a causal sequence of action, beginning with the onset of Nazi ideology, further followed by the dehumanization of the victim and the brutalization of the perpetrator. I will demonstrate how the ideology present during German interwar society influenced these men into participation. Dehumanization and brutalization are complimentary factors that push these men into action.

Boundary value problems (BVPs) are systems of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) with boundary conditions imposed at two or more distinct points. Such problems arise within mathematical models in a wide variety of applications. Numerically solving BVPs for ODEs generally requires the use of a series of complex numerical algorithms. Fortunately, when users are required to solve a BVP, they have a variety of BVP software packages from which to choose. However, all BVP software packages currently available implement a specific set of numerical algorithms and therefore function quite differently from each other. Users must often try multiple software packages on a BVP to find the one that solves their problem most effectively. This creates two problems for users. First, they must learn how to specify the BVP for each software package. Second, because each package solves a BVP with specific numerical algorithms, it becomes difficult to determine why one BVP package outperforms another. With that in mind, this thesis offers two contributions. <p> First, this thesis describes the development of the BVP component to the fully featured problem-solving environment (PSE) for the numerical solution of ODEs called pythODE. This software allows users to select between multiple numerical algorithms to solve BVPs. As a consequence, they are able to determine the numerical algorithms that are effective at each step of the solution process. Users are also able to easily add new numerical algorithms to the PSE. The effect of adding a new algorithm can be measured by making use of an automated test suite. <p> Second, the BVP component of pythODE is used to perform two research studies. In the first study, four known global-error estimation algorithms are compared in pythODE. These algorithms are based on the use of Richardson extrapolation, higher-order formulas, deferred corrections, and a conditioning constant. Through numerical experimentation, the algorithms based on higher-order formulas and deferred corrections are shown to be computationally faster than Richardson extrapolation while having similar accuracy. In the second study, pythODE is used to solve a newly developed one-dimensional model of the agglomerate in the catalyst layer of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell.

The aim of the study was to examine how Swedish tabloid journalism presented the contestants in the Swedish version of the reality show Idol 2009. We wanted to see which approaches tabloid news papers use when constructing the public identities of them. We have used text analysis to examine 37 articles and nine front pages with focus on the words, propositions, comparisons and parables that describe four of the contestants. In addition we have looked at myths and connotations shown in the pictures by using a semiotic analysis. The results show that the Swedish tabloids tend to describe the contestants in relation to their performances and personalities. They also compare them to stereotypes, music genres, celebrities and the other contestants. The pictures tend to enhance the propositions made by the articles.

In economy, banking sector has been considered as the main issue for development. Using panel data analyzing to test the relationship between banks performance and economic freedom indexes for 9 emerging market countries in Asia, the paper¡¦s result shows that there is the positive effect between monetary freedom, business freedom, financial freedom and banks performance while investment freedom has a negative impact. It suggests that emerging market countries¡¦ government and the policy maker need to focus deeply on the operation, the efficiency of regulation and improving the economic freedom.

Beam problem is very important for engineering theoretically and practically. In this thesis we study such kind of nonlinear 4-th order ordiniary differential equations with nonlinear boundary conditions. The well-posedness of these boundary value problems will be discussed. Moreover, we will design different schemes to solve them, through differential equation, integral equation or minimization. Each type can further be discretized by finite difference, finite element or spectral method, etc. In the end we will compare all methods and find the best one.

<p>This thesis is written with the purpose to analyze immigrants’ effect on new firm formation. Immigrants can ease future sustenance problems of decreasing population growth and growing life expectancy. Immigrants start new firms to a higher extent than ethnic Swedes. Two reasons to that immigrants start new firms is to get out of unemployment and to satisfy a demand of products preferred by certain groups.</p><p>This thesis point out cultural and structural factors that contribute to higher immigrant new firm formation rates and what in general diverges from ethnic Swedes’ new firm formation. Also, push and pull effects are discussed. The ordinary and the advanced service sector in Sweden, where 76 % of all new firms were started in 2005, are studied. The result that emerged shows that immigrants from non-Nordic countries have a positive effect on new firm formation. However, people from FIND-countries (Finland, Iceland, Norway and Denmark) did not have a positive effect on new firm formation.</p>

Efficient and robust numerical simulation of multiscale problems encountered in science and engineering is a formidable challenge. Full resolution of multiscale problems using direct numerical simulations requires enormous amounts of computational time and resources. This thesis develops seamless multiscale methods for ordinary and partial differential equations under the framework of the heterogeneous multiscale method (HMM). The first part of the thesis is devoted to the development of seamless multiscale integrators for ordinary differential equations. The first method, which we call backward-forward HMM (BFHMM), uses splitting and on-the-fly filtering techniques to capture slow variables of highly oscillatory problems without any a priori information. The second method, denoted by variable step size HMM (VSHMM), as the name implies, uses variable mesoscopic step sizes for the unperturbed equation, which gives computational efficiency and higher accuracy. VSHMM can be applied to dissipative problems as well as highly oscillatory problems, while BFHMM has some difficulties when applied to the dissipative case. The effect of variable time stepping is analyzed and the two methods are tested numerically. Multi-spatial problems and numerical methods are discussed in the second part. Seamless heterogeneous multiscale methods (SHMM) for partial differential equations, especially the parabolic case without scale separation are proposed. SHMM is developed first for the multiscale heat equation with a continuum of scales in the diffusion coefficient. This seamless method uses a hierarchy of local grids to capture effects from each scale and uses filtering in Fourier space to impose an artificial scale gap. SHMM is then applied to advection enhanced diffusion problems under incompressible turbulent velocity fields. / text

Malaria is an infectious disease, transmitted between humans through mosquito bites, that kills about two million people a year. We derive and analyze a mathematical model to better understand the transmission and spread of this disease. Our main goal is to use this model to compare intervention strategies for malaria control for two representative areas of high and low transmission. We model malaria using ordinary differential equations. We analyze the existence and stability of disease-free and endemic (malaria persisting in the population) equilibria. Key to our analysis is the definition of a reproductive number, R₀ (the number of new infections caused by one individual in an otherwise fully susceptible population through the duration of the infectious period). We prove the loss of stability of the disease-free equilibrium as R0 increases through R₀ = 1. Using global bifurcation theory developed by Rabinowitz, we show the bifurcation of endemic equilibria at R₀ = 1. This bifurcation can be either supercritical (leading to stable endemic equilibria for R₀ > 1) or subcritical (leading to stable endemic equilibria for R₀ < 1 in the presence of hysteresis). We compile two reasonable sets of values for the parameters in the model: for areas of high and low transmission. We compute sensitivity indices of R₀ and the endemic equilibrium to the parameters around the baseline values. R₀ is most sensitive to the mosquito biting rate in both high and low transmission areas. The fraction of infectious humans at the endemic equilibrium is most sensitive to the mosquito biting rate in low transmission areas, and to the human recovery rate in high transmission areas. This sensitivity analysis allows us to compare the effectiveness of different control strategies. According to our model, the most effective methods for malaria control are the use of insecticide-treated bed nets and the prompt diagnosis and treatment of infected individuals.

The overall aim of this thesis is to describe what it means to be old and live with multimorbidity. An additional aim is to examine and describe the contextual meaning of the phenomenon in ordinary housing and nursing homes, and a third aim is to deepen our understanding of the situation for old people who also are ill. The thesis uses a caring science perspective and a reflective lifeworld approach founded on phenomenological philosophy. This approach searches for and describes the meaning of a phenomenon, its variations and its essential meaning structure. Interviews were used for data collection and data were analyzed for meaning, searching for the essence of the phenomenon. The findings are presented in two empirical studies and one philosophical excursion. The empirical studies have been further thematized with the essential meanings from the empirical studies. The philosophical excursion is the result of a more profound understanding of the thematized meanings. The essential meaning of being old and living with multimorbidity in ordinary housing is described as a struggle to maintain identity in a life situation that changes. Multimorbidity and aging pose existential barriers at the same time as the possibility of living an independent life and being oneself is hindered. Ordinary housing is experienced as a place where the old can be themselves, and a place that is associated with independence. On the other hand, multimorbidity threatens the possibility of continuing to live in their private homes, as does the failure of others to meet the old as individuals. The essential meaning of being old and living with multimorbidity in nursing homes is described as striving for independence which brings with it a zest for life and a feeling of security. The older’s degree of independence can change due to the fragile health situation, and is characterized by the experience of not being a burden for the busy caregivers and relatives. Independence can change to insecurity, vulnerability and helplessness. The themes of essential meaning that have been extracted from the empirical studies suggest that the experiences of frailty and loneliness differ more between those living in ordinary housing and in nursing homes than the experiences of trust and independence differ. The philosophical excursion illuminates how older people with multimorbidity experience their lives as an ability to manage their daily lives and not merely an absence of disease symptoms. A person is “just” sick, independently of the objective quantity of diseases s/he may suffer from. Health and wellbeing occur from the ability to live in existential coherence, which is encouraged when the older people are allowed to retain their habits, the ability to be oneself, individual’s life story and by social relationships, as well as by continuity among the caregivers.

The aim of this study was to get insight into refugee children’s perception about experience of the preparatory class, the transition to the ordinary class and the ordinary class. To get access to my informant’s perspective and also to get a more profound understanding of their experience, I oriented the study in a qualitative approach. This study will highlight the refugee children’s personal experiences and their point of view regarding the schools preparatory class, ordinary class, together with other pupils behaviour against them in the social interaction. The study is based on the qualitative interviews of four refugee children attending the class 7 and 9, two girls and two boys. The result of the study has been analyzed with a sociocultural- narrative- and a hermeneutic perspective in order to answer the study’s questions. The study shows that the refugee children experienced the time in the preparatory class as positive. They partially developed their Swedish language and felt a strong belonging and solidarity towards their class mates. The transition from the preparatory class to the ordinary class is described as partially problematic, as they felt that they were partly socially excluded. The refugee children’s descriptions of the school situation can be interpreted as pedagogical and socially exclusion. A conclusion from this shows that preparatory classes activity must be more reflect upon how the newly arrived experience their situation in school. A development is needed and the school staff need to reflect upon their tutoring and what approach that needs to be used on the newly arrived.