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Fitness is considered as a diverse spectrum and the society surrounding it is considered to be in constant flux. There are few male fitness influencers on Instagram acting as mass mediums communicating their daily lives in front of a mass of followers. This study investigates how five Swedish male fitness influencers communicate male body ideal by gathering 15 similar Instagram posts while qualitatively analysing five of them. Methodology-wise, multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA) is used to analyse Instagram posts made by Swedish fitness influencers that are communicating something explicitly referred to fitness. Structure of the analysis relies on semiotic denotation and connotation while Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) theory is operationalised on linguistic and semiotic elements. The analytical results argue that they were following three sorts of discourses for communicating their daily lives. Additionally, the identified three discourses are argued to be constructed under certain ideologies.

This thesis investigates the price discovery process between the stock and the credit default swap market (CDS). We link the financial theory of efficient markets and the underlying models and conditions involved in CDSs, the stock market and financial crashes. This study uses publicly listed firms and the European market CDS series to construct a matched stock portfolio and uses financial data collected between the years 2019 to 2021. The purpose is to better understand the price discovery process during a potential new type of crisis in modern financial history. It could potentially allow portfolio managers, traders, arbitrageurs and stakeholders who monitor systematic indices to gauge the level of risk in the overall economy. It can also better inform regulators about how the CDS and the stock market reacted to each other during the COVID-19 pandemic. This deductive and quantitative research is based on secondary data gathered from the Eikon financial database. It uses a vector autoregressive model to test a hypothesis regarding the price discovery process between the stock and CDS portfolios.  Our results show that when using only the variables for the CDS and stock market, both variables cause each other, which is to say a feedback effect is present between the CDS Europe index and the matched portfolio of stocks. When adding the three control variables, the stock variable no longer causes the CDS variable, while the CDS variable still causes the stock variable. We conclude that the European credit default swap index leads the matched portfolio of stocks in the price discovery process with our chosen variables.

The development of devices with high efficiencies can only be attained by tandem structures which are important to the advancement of thin-film photoelectrochemical (PEC) and photovoltaic (PV) technologies. FSEC PV Materials Lab has developed a PEC cell using multiple bandgap tandem of thin film PV cells and a photocatalyst for hydrogen production by water splitting. CdS/CdTe solar cell, a promising candidate for low-cost, thin-film PV cell is used as one of the thin film solar cells in a PEC cell. This research work focuses on developing various back contacts with good transparency in the infrared region (~750 - 1150 nm) for a CdS/CdTe solar cell. CdS/CdTe solar cells were prepared with three different configurations, Glass/SnO2:F/CdS/CdTe/ZnTe:Cu/ITO/Ni-Al (series 1), Glass/SnO2:F/CdS/CdTe/Cu2Te/ITO/Ni-Al (series 2), Glass/SnO2:F/CdS/CdTe/Br-Me etching/Cu/ITO/Ni-Al (series 3). The back contact preparation process for a CdS/CdTe solar cell involves the deposition of a primary p-type back contact interface layer followed by the deposition of transparent and conducting ITO and a Ni-Al outer metallization layer. Back contact interface layers were initially optimized on glass substrates. A ZnTe:Cu layer for a series 1 cell was deposited using hot wall vacuum evaporation (HWVE). Cu2Te and Cu thin films for series 2 and series 3 cells were deposited by vacuum evaporation. HWVE technique produced highly stoichiometric ZnTe:Cu thin films with cubic phase having {111} texture orientation. All the back contact interface layers demonstrated better transparency in the infrared region on glass substrate. Formation of crystalline phase and texture orientation were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The composition was analyzed by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). Transparency measurements were carried out by optical transmission spectroscopy. Thickness measurements were carried out using a DEKTAK surface profile measuring system. Finally, completed solar cells for all the series were characterized for current-voltage (I-V) measurements using the I-V measurement setup developed at the FSEC PV Materials Lab. The PV parameters for the best series 1 cell measured at an irradiance of 1000 W/m2 were: open circuit voltage, Voc = 630 mV, short circuit current, Isc = 7.68 mA/ cm2, fill factor, FF = 37.91 %, efficiency, ç = 3.06 %. The PV parameters for the best series 2 cell measured were: Voc = 690 mV, Isc = 8.7 mA/ cm2, FF = 45.19 %, ç = 4.8 %. The PV parameters for the best series 3 cell measured were: Voc = 550 mV, Isc = 9.70 mA/ cm2, FF = 42.25 %, ç = 5.63 %. The loss in efficiency was attributed to the possible formation of a non-ohmic contact at the interface of CdTe and back contact interface layer. Decrease in the fill factor was attributed to high series resistance in the device.

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Adolescents and young adults (AYAs, 15-39 years of age) with cancer face unique challenges. Efforts have been made to improve both care and outcomes for this population. Metrics to evaluate AYA cancer care efforts help to ensure that objectives and outcomes are being met. This thesis comprises 7 papers which explore system performance metrics for cancer care and control in AYAs. A scoping review introduces the topic and addresses the current state of indicator metrics for the AYA cancer population. The second paper extends this work and develops a consensus-based list of relevant indicators. The subsequent papers focus on further development of two of the identified indicators for implementation in Canada (identification of patient reported outcome measures (PROMS) for assessing distress; a referral indicator for oncofertility care). This thesis describes 14 indicators in 5 care areas. Two identified indicators were further developed to aid in implementation (“Proportion of AYA patients screened for distress with standardized AYA specific tools” and “Proportion of AYA patients who had fertility preservation discussion before treatment”). Criteria from the National Quality Forum (NQF) were used to assess commonly used PROMs for distress. It was found that although all PROMs had acceptable psychometric properties, only the “Impact of Cancer” scale of the CDS-AYA had strong content validity for AYA with cancer. For Oncofertility, the indicator “Proportion of cases attending a fertility consult visit ≤ 30 days from diagnosis of cancer” was recommended for use. Finally, factors associated with attending such a fertility consult were identified. Important factors for both men and women included: age at diagnosis, risk to fertility, year of diagnosis, treatment with radiation or chemotherapy, region of care, income and residential instability. The information presented in this thesis can be applied to national system performance initiatives to identify and implement metrics to monitor and evaluate cancer care in AYA. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / A person 15 to 39 years old with cancer will face many challenges. This is a time of life with many changes such as continuing schooling, getting married, starting a career, or starting a family. To make sure that young people with cancer are getting the best care, and that they have the best chance to achieve their goals and contribute to society, we need to measure what is important to this group. These measures can be used to compare hospitals, or changes over time to help make care better. This paper looks at what we already measure in this group, and what patients, researchers and healthcare workers think also should be measured to help provide the best care for these patients. Measures discussed in this paper could be used in programs to monitor the quality of care given to young people with cancer.

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