The political interest of an individual has always been a factor in theindividual’s decision to vote in an election or not. But is it only theindividuals own interest that decides if they participate in the election, or arethey affected by what media they consume and how the media frames theissues? The dominant explanation for if individuals decide to participate inelections are rooted in a couple of different factors, their socioeconomicalsituation, and their cultural background, but this essay focuses on how mediaaffects individuals voting behaviour. Other studies have looked at how mediaexposure affects individuals’ participation. They found that media exposurehas a positive effect on the individual’s likelihood of participating ininstitutional political situations. This essay uses data from SOM-institute toanalyse how media consumption affects the individual’s likelihood toparticipate in the national election. The results show that media consumptioninfluences the individuals decision to vote however, the extent of mediaconsumed does not matter for participation as expected as it also could havea negative effect on participation. The other part of the result is that thesource of the media is not important to if it increases the individuals’ interestin politics. This indicates that for the individual the extent of mediaconsumed and from what source, does not have a major effect on their votingbehaviour.

REST and GraphQL are the two dominant Application Programming Interface (API) architectures being used for communication with databases. They differ in a lot of aspects, and as such it is not immediately obvious which architecture is preferable. This thesis aims to shed some light onto this problem by exploring two aspects, developer experience, and performance. The method used to measure the developer experience was a case study, in which participants had to write code that communicates with a REST API and a GraphQL API and then answer questions that describe their experience communicating with both. To test the performance, a case study was done in which 5 different benchmarks were ran comparing the two. The results of the first case study show that GraphQL solutions were perceived to give a more overall picture of what is happening than REST solutions. REST was, however, viewed as easier to complete the tasks with. The results of the second case study show that a server that implements REST architecture has better performance during normal circumstances, but GraphQL shows better performance if data is being requested with specified fields. / REST och GraphQL är de två dominerande applikationsprogrammeringsgränssnitten (API) arkitekturerna som används för att kommunincera med databaser. De skiljer sig i många aspekter och därav är det inte uppenbart vilken arkitektur som föredras. Denna avhandling har som mål att reda ut detta problem genopm att utforska två aspekter, utvecklarupplevelsen och prestandan. Metoderna som användes för att mäta utvecklarupplevelsen var en fallstudie, där deltagarna fick skriva kod som kommunicerar med en REST server och en GraphQL server och sedan besvara frågor som beskriver deras upplevelse med att kommunicera med dessa. För att testa prestandan gjordes en fallstudie där 5 olika benchmarks kördes för att jämföra de två servrarna. Resultatet från våran första fallstudien visar på att GraphQL ansågs ha en bättre helhetbild av vad som händer gentemot REST, men när det kom till själva implementaionen av uppgifterna, ansågs REST vara lättare. Resultaten av den andra fallstudien visar att REST arkitekturen har bättre prestanda under normala omständigheter, men att GraphQL har bättre prestanda när datan efterfrågas med enbart specifika fält.

I takt med globaliseringen och en ökande konsumtion världen över skapas också ett växande behov för diverse olika förpackningslösningar. De flesta varor på dagens marknader är förpackade på något sätt och detta kräver att det måste produceras oerhört mycket förpackningsmaterial varje dag, vilket tär mycket på jordens resurser utifrån flera perspektiv. Trots detta är förpackningar i många fall nödvändiga och behövs idag för flera olika syften såsom skyddande av produkt, transport och rent marknadsföringsmässigt. Dessa är dock inte de enda viktiga aspekter som behöver övervägas när det kommer till att skapa förpackningar som uppfyller alla dagens krav och som även har hållbarhet i åtanke genom hela försörjningskedjan. Hållbara förpackningslösningar och en miljömedveten industri är därför mycket aktuellt idag. Det blir således intressant att studera hur dessa olika viktiga aspekter prioriteras av produktutvecklare och hur man på olika sätt involverar slutkonsumentens önskemål i processen. En ytterligare intressant aspekt att studera behandlar hur förpackningsindustrin kan påverka slutkonsumenter till hållbara val. Detta arbete bygger dels på empiriska studier i form av semistrukturerade företagsintervjuer på ett förpackningsföretag samt slutkonsumentintervjuer. Detta har kombinerats med en litteraturstudie som har byggt upp den teoretiska referensram som har använts i arbetet. Vidare har dessa jämförts och analyserats vilket har skapat förutsättningarna för diskussionen och slutsatsen som arbetet har mynnat ut i. Resultatet visade att förpackningsutveckling är en process där flera olika kompetenser och avdelningar måste integreras, vilket kan resultera i svåra prioriteringar och dessutom aspekter som kan komma att stå emot varandra. Någon tydlig och entydig prioriteringsordning finns inte och detta i kombination med slutkonsumenter, som utåt sett vill konsumera hållbart, men i slutändan agerar annorlunda skapar en komplex situation. Det finns således även en markant skillnad i hur produktutvecklare respektive slutkonsumenter prioriterar när det kommer till skapande av förpackningar och konsumtion av förpackningar. / In line with globalization and the increasing consumption worldwide, there is a growing need for packaging solutions of many different kinds. Most goods in today's markets are packaged in some way and this requires that an extremely large amount of packaging material is produced every day, which of course, will greatly affect the earth's resources from several perspectives. Despite this, packaging is necessary and is needed today for a variety of purposes such as protection of products, transport and in terms of marketing. However, these are not the only important aspects to consider when it comes to creating packaging that meet all of today's requirements and that also support sustainability throughout the supply chain. Sustainable packaging solutions and an environmentally conscious industry are therefore very relevant today. Thus, it becomes interesting to study how these various important aspects are prioritized by product developers and how different end consumer requirements are considered in the process in different ways. Another interesting aspect to study is how the packaging industry can influence end consumers to sustainable choices. This work is partly based on empirical studies in the form of semi-structured company interviews at a packaging company and end-consumer interviews. This, in combination with a literature study that has built the theoretical frame of reference used, have created the conditions for the analysis and discussion the work has resulted in. The result showed that packaging development is a process where several different competences and departments must be integrated, which can result in difficult priorities and in additional conflicting aspects. There is no clear and unambiguous priority list and this in combination with end consumers, who want to be considered sustainable consumers, but ultimately act differently creates a complex situation. Thus, there is also a large difference in how product developers and end-consumers, respectively, prioritize when it comes to creating packaging and consuming packaging.

AbstractAuthors​: Johan Byström and Jonathan Ekstrand. Advisor​: Jesper Enbom. Examinator​: Eric Carlsson. The purpose of this thesis is to increase our understanding about how some of the most popular tech business’ use the phenomenon employer branding to make their own company look more attractive towards future workers through their social media channels. But also, expand our knowledge when it comes down to what makes a company attractive among students who study information technology and data programs. This thesis consisted of two methods which were a semiotic image analysis and two qualitative interviews. The data from the semiotic analysis consists of nine different images from the selected companies and the qualitative interviews consists of two separate group interviews which concluded a total of nine students from Umeå university. The results showed us new insights on how successful companies operate on their social media channels Instagram and Facebook. We could also identify that each company had their own idea of strategic communication on their channels. But something mutual between all channels were that they published content which purpose was to please a wider audience rather than a small selected group of people. Through this study we landed in the conclusion that the three companies do not aim their communication directly towards the group of students we interviewed. However, you can see patterns of the phenomenon employer branding in the published content, which contributes to make the companies look attractive. The interviewed students meant that the work environment had to be inviting. They also explained that some of the most important things that they look for in a future workplace are; fellowship, common interests and personal development. If companies use social media their chance of attractiveness and good reputation increases, rather than being lost in the crowd if they are never seen. Keywords: ​Employer branding, identity, social identity, social media, consumption, attractiveness, IT, personal development, corporate culture, students, communication, semiotics

Natural Killer (NK) cellterapi är en lovande kandidat för cancerbehandling på grund av dess förmåga att känna igen och döda cancerceller. Adoptiv överföring av expanderade autologa eller allogena NK-celler har visat sig förbättra patientresultaten, särskilt i fall av akut myeloid leukemi (AML) efter stamcellstransplantation. En stor utmaning förknippad med NK-cellterapi är dock att få en tillräcklig mängd NK-celler för att uppnå meningsfulla terapeutiska resultat. Nuvarande metoder för att expandera NK-celler innebär ofta att T-celler avlägsnas från blodet, eftersom T-celler utgör över 50 % av blodets cellpopulation, medan NK-celler endast utgör cirka 10 %. Strategin för att ta bort T-celler involverar vanligtvis användningen av immunomagnetiska metoder, som kräver utbildad personal, är dyra och kräver god tillverkningssed (GMP) för att säkerställa metodens giltighet. Detta projekt syftade till att ta itu med denna fråga genom att etablera ett samodlingssystem mellan NK- och T-celler för att fungera som en modell för NK-expansion från patientens blod, vilket skulle kunna förbättra effektiviteten av cancerbehandling. Projektet syftade också till att undersöka det metaboliska beteendet (skillnader i näringsbehov och biprodukttolerans) mellan de två celltyperna. De två första experimenten med Jurkat gjordes med användning av en modifierad DMEM/RPMI och RPMI 1640-mediet under varierande glukos- och glutaminmålförhållanden. Resultatet från dessa två experiment visar att det modifierade DMEM/RPMI-mediet stödjer tillväxten av Jurkat-celler. Dessutom var produktionen av biprodukter inklusive laktat och ammoniak lägre i detta medium. Emellertid var glukos och glutamin avgörande för Jurkat-celltillväxt eftersom uppenbar konsumtion observerades under odlingsperioden. Det tredje experimentet syftade till att bedöma den negativa/reducerande effekten av glukos- och glutamintillstånd på Jurkat-celler. Resultaten från detta experiment applicerades sedan på NK-92-cellexpansion (fjärde experimentet). Det femte experimentet involverade samodling av båda celltyperna, med början med ett förhållande på 10% NK-celler till 90% Jurkat-celler, en ny celldiameterbaserad distributionsmetod användes för att förutsäga procentandelen NK-92-celler under samodlingen. Från dag 3 till dag 4 var det en ökning av andelen NK-celler, särskilt inom cellstorleksintervallet där de vanligtvis förekommer (17,4 µm). NK-cellerna utökades från 10 % på dag 0 till 52 % (i tillstånd med 2 mM glukos, 2 mM glutamin) på dag 3 och 45 % i tillstånd med 2 mM (glukos), 0,15 mM glutamin på dag 2. Sammantaget uppnådde denna studie framgångsrikt projektets mål att utveckla en samodlingsmodell genom att studera de enskilda cellinjernas metaboliska beteende. Ytterligare studier behövs för att undersöka effekterna av Interleukin 2 (IL-2) som produceras av Jurkat-celler på NK-celler. Dessutom skulle experiment med fler glukos- och glutaminmålkoncentrationer under längre odlingsperioder erbjuda en mer omfattande förståelse av samodlingssystemet, inklusive dess långsiktiga livskraft och celltillväxten av dessa cellinjer. / Natural Killer (NK) cell therapy is a promising candidate for cancer treatment due to its ability to recognize and kill cancer cells. The adoptive transfer of expanded autologous or allogenic NK cells has shown to improve patient outcomes, especially in cases of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) following stem cell transplantation. However, a major challenge associated with NK cell therapy is obtaining a sufficient amount of NK cells to achieve meaningful therapeutic outcomes. Current methods for expanding NK cells often involve the removal of T cells from the blood, as T cells constitute over 50% of the blood's cell population, while NK cells make up only about 10%. The strategy to remove T cells typically involves the use of immunomagnetic beads, which require trained personnel, are expensive, and necessitate good manufacturing practices (GMP) to ensure the method's validity. This project aimed to address this issue by establishing a coculture system between NK and T cells to serve as a model for NK expansion from the patient blood which could improve the effectiveness of cancer treatment. The project also aimed at investigating the metabolic behavior (differences in nutrient demands and byproduct tolerance) between the two cell types. The first two experiment with Jurkat was done using a modified DMEM/RPMI and the RPMI 1640 media under varying glucose and glutamine target conditions. The result from these two experiments shows that the modified DMEM/RPMI media support the growth of Jurkat cells. In addition, the production of byproducts including lactate and ammonia were lower in this media. However, glucose and glutamine were crucial for Jurkat cells growth as evident consumption was observed during the culture period. The third experiment aimed to assess the negative/reducing impact of glucose and glutamine conditions on Jurkat cells. The findings from this experiment were then applied to NK-92 cells expansion (fourth experiment). The fifth experiment involved coculturing both cell types, starting with a ratio of 10% NK cells to 90% Jurkat cells, a new cell diameter based distribution method was used to predict the percentage of NK-92 cells during the coculture. From day 3 to day 4, there was an increase in the percentage of NK cells, particularly within the cell size range where they typically occur (17,4 µm). The NK cells were expanded from 10% on day 0 to 52% (in condition with 2mM glucose, 2mM glutamine) on day 3 and 45% in condition with 2mM(glucose), 0,15mM glutamine on day 2. Overall, this study successfully achieved the project's aim of developing a coculture model through studying the metabolic behavior of the individual cell lines. However, further studies are needed to investigate the effects of Interleukin 2 (IL-2) produced by Jurkat cells on NK cells. Moreover, conducting experiments with more glucose and glutamine targets concentrations over extended culture periods would offer a more comprehensive understanding of the coculture system, including its long-term viability and the cell growth of these cell lines.

En publicerad studie avslöjar en överraskande brist på konsumenters medvetenhet kring storleken på deras garderober. Denna insikt pekar på en växande överkonsumtion och ett behov av att förenkla våra livsstilar. Tidigare forskning inom textil- och modeindustrin har visat att sektorn är en betydande förbrukare av resurser och en källa till föroreningar. Med tanke på en växande överkonsumtion och branschens miljöpåverkan, ämnar studien att undersöka vad konsumenters uppfattningar om hållbar klädkonsumtion och identifiera hur konsumenterna ser på begreppet hållbarhet när det gäller deras klädkonsumtion. För att besvara syftet används en kvalitativ metod och insamling av data genomfördes via garderobsundersökningar, som sedan följdes upp med semistrukturerade intervjuer med informanterna. För att tolka resultaten har de teoretiska perspektiven, consumer culture theory samt det performativa perspektivet använts. Resultatet av studien visar att det finns en mångfald i tolkningen av begreppet "hållbara kläder", vilket är starkt påverkat av individuella föreställningar och den kulturella och sociala kontexten. I resultatet kunde även en klyfta mellan föreställningar och köpbeteende identifieras, där konsumenternas faktiska köpbeteende inte alltid speglar deras uttalade värderingar kring hållbarhet. Trots uttalade önskemål att konsumera mer hållbart mode möter konsumenterna hinder i form av bristande tillgänglighet av information och priskänslighet. Insikter utifrån resultatet understryker ett behov av ökad tillgång till pålitlig information från företag. Bristen på tillförlitlig information från företag utgör en betydande utmaning för konsumenter som strävar efter att göra hållbara val och hindrar konsumenterna från att agera enligt sina värderingar. / A published study reveals a surprising lack of consumer awareness regarding the size of their wardrobes. This insight points to growing overconsumption and a need to simplify our lifestyles. Previous research within the textile and fashion industry has observed that the sector is a significant consumer of resources and a source of pollution. Given the increasing overconsumption and the industry's environmental impact, the study aims to investigate consumers' perceptions of sustainable clothing consumption and identify how consumers view the concept of sustainability in relation to their clothing consumption. To answer this purpose, a qualitative method was used, and data collection was conducted through wardrobe surveys, which were then followed up with semi-structured interviews with the informants. To interpret the results, the theoretical perspectives of consumer culture theory and the performative perspective were applied. The results of the study show a diversity in the interpretation of the concept of "sustainable clothing", which is strongly influenced by individual beliefs and the cultural and social context. The results also identified a gap between perceptions and purchasing behavior, where consumers' actual purchasing behavior does not always reflect their stated values regarding sustainability. Despite expressed desires to consume more sustainable fashion, consumers face obstacles such as a lack of accessible information and price sensitivity. Insights from the results highlight the need for increased access to reliable information from companies. The lack of reliable information from companies poses a significant challenge for consumers striving to make sustainable choices and prevents them from acting according to their values.

Sustainable consumption is seen as a crucial political issue on the global agenda by politicians, the scientific community, and citizens who are worried about unsustainable consumption. However, several studies have shown that some consumers with "green" values do not consume sustainably – there is often a gap between attitude and behavior. One explanation is that the commitment to sustainable consumption is discouraged by barriers to action. For example, the supply of sustainable goods may be inadequate or the products too expensive. Such goods may be perceived as ineffective in their purpose to promote sustainable development, or perhaps it is believed that there are not enough other people who consume sustainably to make the individual effort worthwhile. However, some studies have indicated that there are also "reverse gaps". That is, there are people who are not particularly motivated to engage in sustainable consumption, but who do so anyway. The study examines why consumers sometimes engage in sustainable consumption (operationalized as a choice of environmental and Fairtrade certified products) but do not at other times. Research questions include which individual prerequisites (motivation and resources) are important for sustainable consumption, how they are distributed among citizens in Sweden, and finally whether perceived opportunities for sustainable consumption can form not only barriers but also "bridges" for engagement and how these are formed. The latter could explain the "reverse gaps" mentioned above. The author builds on the discussion about the challenges that sustainable development poses for the concept of citizenship. Researchers argue that sustainable development requires a transformation of traditional citizenship theory into a "sustainable citizenship". This is not limited by nation-state borders, takes into account past and future generations, and is open to the idea that responsibility-taking can, and sometimes should, be carried out in the private sphere. The dissertation is based on quantitative analysis of a (Swedish) representative survey and shows how consumers can be divided into different clusters based on their individual prerequisites: "Capable Critics", "Capital Weak Critics", "Conditionals" and ”Skeptics". Even if it is only the Capable Critics who have both the high motivation and a high level of resources that theoretically could be assumed to be necessary, there are a significant amount of consumers who choose environmental and Fairtrade labeled goods regularly across all clusters. These types of consumers encounter bridges to action by particularly positive perceived opportunities that make the engagement a little less demanding on individual prerequisites. The bridges are not the same for all clusters though. Their particular approach to sustainable consumption determines which factors are most important. / Det hållbara medborgarskapet

A good ecological status of streams and rivers is crucial for maintaining ecological functionality of running waters. Worldwide eutrophication threatens to change structure and function of freshwater ecosystems (Dodds et al., 2008). To reduce the symptoms of eutrophication in streams and rivers an additional approach, besides the reduction of external nutrient inputs from catchment areas, is needed. Therefore the goal has been set to transfer the approach of biomanipulation, which is widely accepted as tool in water quality management in lakes and reservoirs, to streams. The objective of this study was accordingly to analyse and evaluate some crucial preconditions for top-down control of stream food webs. For that purpose the present thesis examined effects of fish predation (stone loach and gudgeon) on grazer-periphyton interaction in small streams by assessing predator avoidance by benthic grazers, effects of benthic grazers on periphyton community composition during fish presence/absence and the possibility of top-down control on algal biomass by benthivorous fish.

Denna studie undersöker och belyser sambanden mellan ryske författaren Boris Pasternaks erhållande av Nobelpriset i litteratur (1958) och spridningen av dennes författarskap. Syftet med studien är dels att definiera Nobelprisets roll som kulturspridare, men också att problematisera kulturprisers komplexa funktioner och inflytande över kulturell produktion. För att göra detta har två områden analyserats: Pasternaks utgivning på svenska samt dennes förekomst i svensk dagspress mellan 1953–2013.   I analysen påvisas Nobelprisets starka konsekrerande effekt på ett författarskap såväl som prisets förmåga att på lång sikt kanonisera en författare. I enlighet med Englishs teori om hur kulturpriser verkar som medium för kapitalutbyte, framgår det också i analysen hur flera involverade intressenter kapitaliserat på Pasternaks pris genom att växla in kulturellt, ekonomiskt och medialt kapital. I analysen förtydligas dessutom hur kulturprisapparaten skapar och förstärker kulturellt värde, och hur dess inflytande därmed inte inskränker sig till den kulturella scenen utan också har möjligheten att påverka den allmänna politiska opinionen. / This study explores and sheds light upon the relations between Russian author Boris Pasternak’s Nobel Prize in Literature (1958) and the subsequent proliferation of his authorship. The study’s aim is partly to define the Nobel Prize and its role as a distributor of culture, but also to problematize the complex nature of cultural prizes and their influence over cultural production. In order to do this two areas have been analysed: Pasternak’s publication in Swedish and his occurrence in Swedish daily press between 1953–2013.   The analysis exemplifies the strong consecrating power of the Nobel prize, as well as its ability to, in a longer perspective, solidify an author into a literary canon. In line with English’s theory on how cultural prizes have come to serve as forums for capital intraconversion, it is also evident in Pasternak’s example how several of the involved parties have capitalized on the prize by trading cultural, economic and medial capital. Furthermore, the analysis concretizes how the cultural prize apparatus produces and reinforces cultural value, and consequently not only influences the cultural scene, but also has the potential to sway public political opinion.

Our modern society is based on a culture of consumption, where individuals are in an on- going search for self-realization through consumption. But in a society with buzz a of commercials and information, a society where media users are getting more critical towards commercialized messages it’s harder for companies to be heard. To be heard, companies need to create messages that their customers choose to listen to. Content marketing is a marketing strategy that aims to do just that. The purpose with this study is to get a deeper understanding of content marketing as a phenomenon within a consumption society by studying IKEAs series Vad gafflar ni om?. The study has a starting point in Bauman’s theories about consumption life, Giddens theories about the reflexive self, Jenkins theories about convergence culture and Faircloughs critical discourse analysis. The critical discourse analysis was made through Faircloughs three-dimensional conception of discourse, which is a model consisting a linguistic analysis of the text, the discourse practise and the social practice. To get a deeper insight in the reception of the text, qualitative interviews with text consumers where also made. The result of the analysis showed that different types of identities and norms where presented by IKEA in the series, which all could be achieved through consumption. The text consumer is most likely influenced by the ideology consumerism, which can be why they agree with how IKEA present different identities. IKEA presents a narrow image of the typical swede, where that are presumed to be middle class and own their own house. A distinct promotion discourse could not be identified, although a consumption discourse was identified throughout the series. The text consumers felt that the content was mostly entertaining and educating, which could be the result of the non-exiting promotional discourse but also the use of an entertaining-genre. The text consumers were also positively disposed by the content that can be, in comparison to Grusells study, because they choose to see it by themselves.