Abstract Purpose: This study aims to explore the usefulness of the Balanced Scorecard in an organization considering the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in a warehouse. Furthermore, the Operational Performance Management of Atea Logistics AB (an IT infrastructure service provider warehouse) during the Covid-19 pandemic is presented with regards to the quality and delivery objectives form the customer perspective of the balanced scorecard along with how it helped Atea prepare for future disruptions.    Methodology: A narrative literature review was presented to highlight the usefulness of the balanced scorecard in an organization in RQ1. In addition, qualitative research was conducted in a single case study of Atea Logistics AB on the usefulness of balanced scorecard and operational performance management objectives of quality and delivery in a warehouse from the customer perspective during the Covid-19 pandemic with the help of semi-structured online interviews/emails with three respondents from the company.   Findings:  The initial result of the study exhibited that the balanced scorecard was extremely useful to monitor the operational performance of the warehouse by linking the impact of the external environment with the internal activities during the Covid-19 pandemic and respond to the situation at hand promptly and minimize its influence on the customers. A second finding was that the impact of the disruption was mixed for the warehouse operations as the demand for products increased but stock was insufficient to fulfil the demand. The third set of findings to help prepare for future disruptions is to plan purchases in advance, urge customers to plan their orders well in advance and to order stock items rather than customized products, collaborate with suppliers to arrange alternative sources, and focus on employee well-being that directly influences the operational activities in the warehouse.

Videoinnehåll på internet är en populär källa för informationssökning och underhållning idag. YouTube är den största av de videoplattformar som finns tillgängliga och dess gratisversion finansieras genom reklam. Reklamen i sig innebär ett avbrott i tittarupplevelsen. Tidigare forskning har visat att sådan reklam är ett störande moment och kan orsaka irritation hos tittaren. Därtill väljer många idag att installera insticksprogram i sina webbläsare som blockerar reklamen och hindrar den från att visas. Eftersom att reklamen i dessa fall inte når mottagaren så fungerar inte reklamfinansieringen som tänkt. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vad hos reklamen som uppfattas som störande och/eller irriterande av tittaren samt hur videoreklam kan utformas för undvika detta. För att besvara frågeställningarna genomfördes en experimentell studie där tio studenter deltog. Resultatet visade att de störande aspekterna relaterar till reklamens tid, dess placering i en video och tittarnas personliga intresse av reklamens innehåll. Slutligen föreslås följande designimplikationer för utformandet av videoreklam: i) reklamklipp bör vara kortare än 15 sekunder för att undvika att uppfattas som irriterande; och att längre reklamklipp bör kunna skippas av användaren; ii) placering av reklamklipp mitt i en vald YouTube-video bör undvikas; iii) reklamklipp bör passa till innehållet av den valda huvudvideon och borde, om möjligt, vara av personligt intresse för tittaren; iv) funktioner såsom att få se kvarvarande tid för ett reklamklipp bör kunna anpassas av tittaren själv, genom dennes användarkonto. / Videos have become a popular source for information gathering and entertainment. YouTube is the biggest video platform available and its free version is funded by ads. The advertisements create an interruption from the viewer experience and research has shown that the ads are disruptive and can cause irritation among the viewers. Many users choose to use plugins in their browsers which block ads to avoid the distraction. Since ad-blockers hinder the ad from reaching the viewer they also hinder the funding of the video platform. This study aims to research what parts of the ads that the user finds disruptive or irritating, and how ads should be designed in order to avoid being perceived as a source of irritation for Swedish viewers. A suggestion will be made on how to design the video ads so that they are as non-disruptive as possible for the user and therefore allowed to be a part of the viewing experience. To answer the questions at hand an experimental study was conducted with ten students. The results showed that the irritating aspects of ads are related to the running times, its placement in a video and the viewers own interest in the content of the ad. Finally, the following implications are suggested for the design of video ads: i) ads should be shorter than 15 seconds to avoid being perceived as irritating; users should be able to skip longer ads; ii) ads showing in the middle of the video should be avoided; iii) ad content should match the content of the video and, if possible, be relevant to the viewer and their interests; iv) features such as showing the time remaining of the ad should be made customisable by the user, through their user account.

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Edge networks such as sensor, mobile, and disruption tolerant networks suffer from topological uncertainty and disconnections due to myriad of factors including limited battery capacity on client devices and mobility. Hence, providing reliable, always-on consistency for network applications in such mobile and sensor systems is non-trivial and challenging. However, the problem is of paramount importance given the proliferation of mobile phones, PDAs, laptops, and music players. This thesis identifies two fundamental deterrents to addressing the above problem. First, limited energy on client mobile and sensor devices makes high levels of consistency and availability impossible. Second, unreliable support from the network infrastructure, such as coverage holes in WiFi degrades network performance. We address these two issues in this dissertation through client and infrastructure end modifications. The first part of this thesis proposes a novel energy management architecture called Hierarchical Power Management (HPM). HPM combines platforms with diverse energy needs and capabilities into a single integrated system to provide high levels of consistency and availability at minimal energy consumption. We present two systems Triage and Turducken which are instantiations of HPM for sensor net microservers and laptops respectively. The second part of the thesis proposes and analyzes the use of additional infrastructure in the form of relays, mesh nodes, and base stations to enhance sparse and dense mobile networks. We present the design, implementation, and deployment of Throwboxes a relay system to enhance sparse mobile networks and an associated system for enhancing WiFi based mobile networks.

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is a highly aggressive and prevalent brain tumor with an average 5-year survival rate of approximately 6.9%. Its complex pathophysiology, characterized by the capacity to invade surrounding tissues beyond the visible tumor margin, intratumor heterogeneity, hypoxic core, and the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) that restricts the penetration of large therapeutic agents, all pose formidable challenges for effective therapeutic intervention. The standard of care for GBM has thus far exhibited limited success, and patients often face a poor prognosis. Electroporation-based therapies, such as irreversible electroporation (IRE), have emerged as promising alternatives to conventional treatments. By utilizing high amplitude pulsed electric fields, IRE is able to permeabilize cells, disrupt the BBB, and induce non thermal ablation of soft tissues. However, IRE is oftentimes accompanied by undesirable secondary effects such as muscle contractions, complex anesthetic protocols, and susceptibility to electrical heterogeneities, which have impeded its clinical translation. To address these limitations, high-frequency IRE (H-FIRE) was developed. H-FIRE employs short bursts of bipolar pulses, similar in duration to the cell charging time constant, enabling the desired tissue ablation while minimizing nerve excitation and muscle contractions. Additionally, H-FIRE reduces susceptibility to electrical heterogeneities, allowing for more predictable treatment volumes, thus enhancing the feasibility of clinical translation. This dissertation investigates H-FIRE for targeting malignant gliomas while looking into improved efficacy when administering the therapy in conjunction with other treatment forms and technologies. Specifically, the presented work focuses on several key areas: (1) determining the effect of pulsing protocol and geometric configuration selection on the biological outcomes from electroporation; (2) using a tumor bearing rodent glioma model to evaluate the effects of H-FIRE as a standalone therapy and as a combinatorial therapy with liposomal doxorubicin; (3) investigating the effects of waveform shape on biological outcomes; (4) utilizing real-time Fourier Analysis SpecTroscopy (FAST) to accurately model rises in temperature during treatment; and (5) modifying real-time FAST methods to determine treatment endpoints for safe and effective ablation volumes. / Doctor of Philosophy / Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is one of the deadliest tumors, with an overall five-year survival rate of approximately 6.9%. Unfortunately, it also holds the position of being the most prevalent malignant brain tumor, constituting nearly 50.1% of all primary malignant brain tumor diagnoses. Despite its widespread occurrence, there has been limited success in improving survival rates. The tumor's infiltrative nature and its location behind the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which often screens out large drug molecules like chemotherapeutics, contribute significantly to these unfavorable treatment outcomes. This dissertation explores the potential of high-frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE) as a solution to these challenges. H-FIRE employs bursts of pulsed electric fields to induce nanoscale defects in the cell membrane. The response to these defects may involve temporary pores that facilitate the uptake of therapeutic molecules into the cell, or larger and longer lasting pores that disrupt cell homeostasis, ultimately leading to cell death. Furthermore, this pulsed field therapy has shown success in enabling molecules to bypass the BBB. Thus, this dissertation aims to elucidate the various biophysical phenomena associated with H-FIRE, shedding light on how to manipulate treatment protocols to maximize BBB disruption and enhance therapy when used in conjunction with combinatorial agents. Additionally, this work aims to further develop technologies to provide real-time feedback, ensuring the safe and effective delivery of the treatment. Through these efforts, this dissertation aspires to offer valuable insights into optimizing H-FIRE for the treatment of malignant gliomas and advancing the understanding of combinatorial therapies in this specific context.

Reliable wireless communication is essential for small systems of vehicles. However, for small-scale robotics projects where communication is not the primary goal, programmers frequently choose to use TCP with Wi-Fi because of their familiarity with the sockets API and the widespread availability of Wi-Fi hardware. However, neither of these technologies are suitable in their default configurations for highly mobile vehicles that experience frequent, extended disruptions. BRUNET (BRUNET Really Useful NETwork) provides a two-tier software solution that enhances the communication capabilities for Linux-based systems. An ad-hoc Wi-Fi network permits decentralized peer-to-peer and multi-hop connectivity without the need for dedicated network infrastructure. A background process adds disruption tolerance to specified TCP endpoints without any changes to existing software. This allows TCP connections to persist indefinitely over possibly multiple long network outages. Data sent by applications is automatically buffered and transmitted when network connectivity resumes.

The retail sector is experiencing transforming changes driven by service robots (SR). While SR promise benefits such as improved inventory management, increased efficiency, and enhanced customer satisfaction, their integration presents technical and societal challenges. Technical hurdles encompass image classification under varying conditions, data security, localization, and obstacle detection. On the societal front, concerns revolve around public perception, safety, and employee apprehension regarding job security. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of these challenges and opportunities, highlighting that while SR have considerable potential, their optimal utilization in retail may be best suited for non-human facing tasks, given the current limitations of AI in human interactions.

Thirty (30) years have passed since the cod collapse in Newfoundland and Labrador. The cod collapse left fifteen thousand (15,000) people who made a living off harvesting and processing cod without jobs, and almost eliminated a singular fish species from Newfoundland and Labrador (Bavington, 2010). The cod collapse created many policy changes and ripples of generational disruption in individual livelihoods and inshore/coastal fishing practices among families. Harvesting cod from the waters of Newfoundland goes back for hundreds of years, and many fishers and coastal communities still depend on it today. A significant amount of research on the history of cod fishing, the 1992 cod collapse, and the almost annihilation of a species (Bavington, 2010); but there is room to further explore how local fishers and fishing communities live today. I argue that there is a need to increase local consultation during inshore/coastal fishery policy amendment processes and local engagement with environmental assessment methods in Newfoundland specifically. The thesis critically breaks down industrial ecological systems and looks at how industrial fishing has created a series of policies, regulations, and systems that have historically influenced the contingency of the inshore/coastal fishery. The local stories captured in this thesis represent hopeful futures that reconcile ways to resolve problems within regulatory fishing systems and highlight individual and collective frustrations with licensing, fishing regions, catch quotas, and environmental assessments that inform policy.

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