The gated community motif occurs frequently within climate and environmental disaster fiction. This thesis investigates its occurrence across three media to establish how the gated community mode of living, as rendered in post-apocalyptic speculative fiction, responds to the threat and consequences of climate and environmental crisis. This thesis combines recent urban studies scholarship with ecocritical theory to analyse the gated communities present in Octavia E. Butler’s novels, The Parable of the Sower and The Parable of the Talents, Neil Blomkamp’s film, Elysium, and Naughty Dog’s video games, The Last of Us and The Last of Us: Part II. Comparative analysis of the motif in each primary narrative reveals how disaster exacerbates the security and segregation this mode of settlement makes possible, resulting in a pronounced Othering of outsiders to these communities. This essay concludes that the boundaries of these speculative gated communities come to symbolise the borders Global North, which rhetorically and physically exclude the migrant Other. As most of the gated communities in these narratives experience catastrophe and collapse at the hands of those they refuse to accept, the texts appear to warn us to expect similar results unless issues of climate justice are not addressed by the Global North today. / Grindsamhället (eng. gated community) är ett vanligt förekommande motiv i berättelser om klimat- och miljökatastrofer. Den här uppsatsen undersöker motivet i tre medietyper för att diskutera hur grindsamhället som samhällsform porträtteras i postapokalyptiskt spekulativ fiktion, och hur det ses svara på klimat- och miljö- krisernas hot och konsekvenser. Uppsatsen kombinerar ekokritisk teori med modern forskning inom urbana studier för att analysera grindsamhällen som förekommer i romanerna The Parable of the Sower och The Parable of the Talents av Octavia E. Butler, Neil Blomkamps film Elysium och Naughty Dogs datorspel The Last of Us och The Last of Us: Part II. Komparativ analys av motivet i de primära berättelserna ger vid handen hur katastrofer förvärrar den säkerhet och segregation som samhälls- formen möjliggör, vilket resulterar i en uttalad syn på personer utanför samhällena som Andra. Uppsatsen slår fast att gränserna för de spekulativa grindsamhällena sym- boliserar gränserna mellan det globala nord och syd, vilket retoriskt och fysiskt ute- stänger migranter från syd och konstruerar dem som Andra. Eftersom de flesta grindsamhällen i berättelserna drabbas av katastrof och kollaps på grund av de människor som man vägrar släppa in tycks texterna varna oss för att vi kan förvänta oss något liknande om den globala norden inte ser till att hantera frågor om klimaträttvisa idag.

Denna studie fokuserar på tänkbara takstolslösningar hos garage med inredd vind. Där textförfattarna på uppdrag av AB Karl Hedin vars kunders önskemål ibland varit svåra att uppnå. Detta för att stora spännvidder efterfrågas för att skapa en så stor yta på vinden som möjligt. Kunderna efterfrågar även att garageytan skall vara helt öppen, alltså utan bärhjälp av till exempel pelare eller mellanvägg.Det finns många olika sätt att uppföra tänkbara takstolar för garage med inredd vind, problem tillkommer när spännvidderna blir för stora. Problemen grundar sig både i materialanvändning, konstruktionslösningar och dimensioner. För att konstruera en takstol i dagsläget styrs byggandet av byggkonstruktionskrav, laster och beräkningsmodeller beroende på önskad spännvidd hos takstolen, samt vilket användningsområde vindsutrymmet ska ha.Med hjälp av bland annat litteraturstudie, beräkningar och analyser har förslag diskuterats fram på konstruktionsdelar, material och utvecklingsmöjligheter för takstolarna i fråga. Utifrån vald spännvidd har olika lösningar granskats för att uppnå ett så gott resultat som möjligt. Beräkningarna har visat att en samverkande stödbensvägg är en bra metod som förlänger spännvidden upp till 2m på en byggnad. Bärlina i stål har även visat sig vara en bra konstruktionslösning som förlänger golvbjälkarnas spännvidd. Med vald dimension på stålbalk i denna studie måste djupet på byggnaden beaktas för att uppfylla konstruktionsskarven gällande momentkraft och nedböjning.Materialens egenskaper samt tilltänkta metoder för att lösa problemet med stora spännvidder har sedan jämförts mot varandra för att komma fram till vilken metod som är bäst lämpad för tilltänkt ändamål. Materialen som valts till jämförelsen är de material som takstolstillverkaren idag har tillgång till i sin produktion vilket gör att textförfattarna anser att materialen är väsentliga för studien. / This study focuses on possible roof truss solutions in garages with furnished attics. The text writers, on behalf of AB Karl Hedin whose customers' wishes have sometimes been difficult to achieve. This is because large spans are needed to create as large an area in the attic as possible. Customers also request the garage area to be completely open, namely. Without the carrying aid of, for example, pillars or partitions. There are many ways to erect conceivable rafters for garages with furnished attic, problems are added when the spans become too large. The problems are based on both material use, construction solutions and dimensions. To design a rafter at present time, the construction of construction requirements, loads and calculation models is controlled depending on the desired span of the rafters, as well as the area of use in the attic space. With the help of, among other things, literature study, calculations and analyses, proposals have been discussed on construction parts, materials and development opportunities for the rafters in question. Based on the chosen range, different solutions have been reviewed to achieve the best possible result. The calculations have shown that a collaborative support leg wall is a good method that extends the span up to 2m on a building. Steel carrying line has also proven to be a good construction solution that extends the span of the floor beams. With the chosen dimension of steel beam in this study, the depth of the building must be considered to meet the construction requirements regarding torque force and deflection. The properties of the materials and the intended methods for solving the problem of large spans have since been compared against each other to determine which method is best suited for the intended purpose. The material properties chosen for the comparison are the materials that the roof truss manufacturer currently has access to, which was a limitation for this study.

The number of solar panel systems and electric vehicle charging in the low voltage grid is increasing rapidly, due to climate- and environmental targets. These nonlinear loads inject harmonics into the grid, which could impact power quality as well as the wear and life of power grid components, such as transformers and cables. The Swedish network operator Ellevio wants to investigate the possible effects that can arise from a largescale introduction of this equipment in the grid, in terms of harmonics. The aim of this master thesis has been to evaluate the compatibility of equipment emission standards and requirements for power quality, and through different calculation methods assess the potential impact from high penetration of devices in the same network. The results show that converters of both EV and PV are able to keep emission levels well below the equipment standard limits. Even by full penetration of a network the aggregated effect of these loads will not alone have a significant impact on neither power quality nor components in terms of wear, losses or capacity. However, in networks experiencing unusually high background levels in combination with high emissions from other loads, the PV and EV emissions could be a contributing factor to a state where individual transformers would be affected or single harmonic voltage limits would be violated. This is considered a very rare case, and thus not something that would serve as a basis for the dimensioning of the low voltage grid. Instead, increased knowledge will help assessing such a scenario and give better support for solving the individual cases that do arise.

The growing population of cities and the rise of e-commerce are increasing the transportation of both goods and people. This can generate problems such as traffic jams, increased pollution, and lower living standards for citizens. To reduce the negative impacts, a change in last mile mobility could be made, replacing traditional combustion vehicles with electric ones or, ideally, with bikes and cargo bikes.  This thesis examines the case of the Swedish cities of Gävle and Uppsala, trying to explain how the last mile affects the lives of their inhabitants, if and why electric vehicles and cargo bikes are implemented (or not), and how authorities can promote their use. For this purpose, after a literature review, some questions were developed, and seven city managers were interviewed: five from Gävle and two from Uppsala.  The study shows that city managers are aware of the impacts that the last mile, and mobility in general, has on its inhabitants, and of the need for a shift towards a more sustainable mobility. Despite this awareness, policy makers are not doing everything possible to accelerate the transition. According to city managers, both the public and private sector advocate more for a change of energy source (from combustion to electric vehicles) rather than a model change using bikes. In addition, the study shows the opportunities that the new model based on non-traditional vehicles can offer and the barriers that prevent its implementation. Finally, different measures that could make cities more sustainable are proposed.

Communication, in its most basic sense, is foundational for any personal, human interaction and relationship. As theatre artists, we are charged with communicating complex story lines, conceptual ideas, and emotion to an audience. Sound communication is paramount to every aspect of a musical production, be it communication between actors/characters, actor and director, amongst the production team, and arguable the most important, between the actors and the audience. My years of education as a Masters in Fine Arts candidate in Musical Theatre have been spent polishing my ability to communicate physical and emotional choices with greater accuracy, depth, and truth. By staging Jason Robert Brown‟s musical The Last Five Years and performing the role of Jamie, this performance thesis will explore, develop, and examine my mastery of the aforementioned varied forms of communication, all of which are necessary in building a successful musical production. Research will be conducted to gather information on relevant topics, including the history of The Last Five Years, the life of Jason Robert Brown, and his musical and theatrical influences. By further understanding Brown, his life, and his ideas about his works, I hope to more fully understand and communicate the message of the musical itself. A dramatic and musical structural analysis will provide further depth and insight into the piece, with the hopes of informing my production and individual performance. A thorough character analysis will provide connective tissue that will allow myself, as the actor, to more effectively communicate the psychological and emotional make up of the character Jamie. Lastly, the thesis document will culminate with a production journal, documenting the pre-production, rehearsal, and performance process. Through the journaling process, I will document and address the iii journey that I have experienced with the production, giving focus and attention to its many obstacles and discoveries, successes and failures, all of which have contributed to my personal growth as a young theatre artist.

This thesis presents a formal comparative analysis of how the level design in The Last of Us Part 2 uses lighting and set dressing to suggest whether an area is safe or dangerous. The study's findings are relevant to developers of action survival games with elements of horror which are story-based and want to create a solid immersive experience with lighting and set dressing. The research gathered data on lighting and set dressing components in eight game levels.The elements analysed regarding lighting were evenly lit, high-key, low-key, red light, and flashlight. The elements analysed regarding set dressing were decals, overgrown vegetation, fungus and dead bodies. The analysis involved a mix of contextual observations as well as a discreet count of certain elements.A comparison was made between the safe and dangerous levels to understand if the game uses consistent visual language in lighting and set dressing to suggest to players whether a level is safe or dangerous.

Environmental issues are a vital concern in today’s world. The Swedish government and local businesses are developing a sustainable business and eco-friendly environment for city inhabitants. Last-mile pickup and delivery services are a key concern, which significantly impacts the environment and society. The Norwegian/Swedish parcel delivery company Bring, the reusable waste management company Ragn-Sells, the city of Stockholm, the research institute Sustainable Innovation, and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology are jointly working together in the Intercitylog2 project with a vision to handle better last-mile pickups or deliveries that are jointly serviced by small electric vehicles from an urban micro terminal. This thesis addresses the optimizations of simultaneous pickup and delivery operations using homogeneous vehicles and considering vehicle capacity, time windows and environmental constraints. A mathematical model is developed to address the problem using an exact commercial solver. The quality of the solutions has been evaluated with real pickup and deliveries of the participating company. The primary objective function is formulated to minimize the travel cost by finding the shortest path, and the results are compared with current routing operation data. KPIs are developed and evaluated based on the facts and figures from the obtained results of the experiments. The two scenarios, big vehicles and small vehicles are also developed and evaluated to find the best route optimization opportunity for the companies. The results show that the optimized operation could decrease delivery distance by 36.72% and 37.13% and delivery time by 43.65% and 47.08% for big and small vehicles operations, respectively, compared to the current routing operations. A round trip can complete within a defined time frame to avoid the battery running out during a route. Energy constraints demonstrate that using electric vehicles considerably reduce significant amounts of CO2 emission from the environment. / Miljöfrågor är en viktig fråga i dagens värld. Den svenska regeringen och lokala företag arbetar tillsammans för att utveckla ett hållbart företagande och miljövänlig miljö för stadens invånare. Last-mile hämtning och leveranstjänster är en viktig fråga, som avsevärt påverkar miljön och samhället.Det norsk/svenska paketleveransföretaget Bring, återanvändbara avfallshanteringsföretaget Ragn- Sells, Stockholms stad, forskningsinstitutet Sustainable Innovation och Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan arbetar tillsammans i Intercitylog2-projektet för en vision för att bättre hantera last-mile pickuper eller leveranser som gemensamt betjänas av små elfordon från en urban mikroterminal. Detta examensarbete behandlar optimering av samtidiga hämtnings- och leveransoperationer med homogena fordon och med hänsyn till fordonskapacitet, tidsfönster och miljömässiga begränsningar. En matematisk modell utvecklas för att ta itu med problemet med en exakt kommersiell lösare och kvaliteten på lösningarna har utvärderats med verklig upphämtning och leveranser från det deltagande företaget. Den primära målfunktionen är formulerad för att minimera reskostnaden genom att hitta den kortaste vägen, och resultaten jämförs med aktuella ruttoperationsdata. KPI:er utvecklas och utvärderas utifrån fakta och siffror från de erhållna resultaten av experimenten. De två scenarierna, stora fordon och små fordon, är också utvecklade och utvärderade för att hitta den bästa ruttoptimeringsmöjligheten för företagen. Resultaten visar att den optimerade driften kan minska leveransavståndet med 36,72% och 37,13% och leveranstiden med 43,65% och 47,08% för stora och små fordonsoperationer, jämfört med nuvarande ruttoperationer. En tur och retur kan genomföras inom en definierad tidsram för att undvika att batteriet tar slut under en rutt. Energibegränsningar visar att användning av elfordon avsevärt minskar betydande mängder CO2-utsläpp från miljön.

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