Sustainability is a highly relevant and debated topic. More companies disclose sustainability information and in 2017 it became mandatory for larger companies in Sweden to prepare a sustainability report. Some industries are considered more or less socially accepted. One industry that suffers legitimacy problems due to its business’ nature is the gambling industry. The gambling industry is associated with social issues, gambling addiction, corruption, and money laundering, which can be considered problematic from a legitimacy perspective. This study intends to increase the understanding of how Swedish gambling companies communicate negative aspects through sustainability reporting and what role sustainability reporting has in controversial industries, such as the gambling industry.  The study was conducted by a combination of an analysis of sustainability reports from Swedish gambling companies and interviews with audit professionals. The combination of different data sources intends to give a broad perspective and a deeper understanding for how negative aspects are communicated and the role of sustainability reports. The study finds that there is a clear pattern in how different legitimation strategies are used when disclosing certain negative aspects. This study also finds that sustainability reporting is considered as a communication tool even in controversial industries where manipulation is said to occur frequently.

Geckos are famous for the skill of switchable adhesion that they use to stick on various surface while keep their fingers super clean. In the dissertation, a unique mechanism was discovered to explain gecko self-cleaning phenomena. Using atomic force microscopy (AFM), we managed to compare the microparticle-substrate adhesion and the microparticle-seta adhesion with a single seta bonded to the AFM cantilever. A dynamic effect was approved that high pulling-off speed could increase the microparticle-substrate adhesion and thus the self-cleaning appears at high moving speed. Based on the self-cleaning theory, a gecko-inspired N-doped graphene surface with switchable adhesion was achieved, which was designed into a bio-inspired micromanipulator with a success rate over 90%. When electrical bias was applied on this biomimetic surface, the charge concentration induced an electrical double layer (ELD) on the convex surfaces, which attracts polar water molecules to form a water bridge on it, significantly enhancing the adhesion on the wrinkled graphene surface, mimicking the capillary force on beetle feet. Therefore, the bio-inspired adhesive surface can be controlled with speed, electrical bias, humidity and different material surfaces. The water attraction phenomenon on the polarized surface was further tested for the potential application of water collection and evaporation in microsystems.

Bakgrund: En ökning av digitalt spelande världen över har bidragit till att uppmärksamhet riktats mot kraftfulla motiverande egenskaper i spelen. I ett försök att nyttja dessa egenskaper i diverse olika discipliner genom att införa spelliknande element i icke-spelbaserade sammanhang, växte begreppet “gamification” fram under 2010-talet. Ett av dessa sammanhang är marknadsföring. Gamifierade marknadsföringstekniker har stött på kritik för att bl.a. undermedvetet påverka engagemanget hos konsumenter, vilket väckt diskussion om huruvida gamification inom marknadsföring bör regleras.  Syfte: Att ta reda på vilka allmänna och etiska attityder som råder bland konsumenter gentemot gamification. Metod: Denna studie har använt sig utav en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi, där målet har varit att skapa en förståelse för olika former av attityder gentemot gamification bland konsumenterna. Empiriinsamlingen skedde med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer över telefon.   Slutsats: Denna studie visar att den generella attityden gentemot gamification bland konsumenterna var positiv, förutsatt att den gamifierade aktiviteten var tillfredställande och passade in med deras egen självbild. Konsumenterna såg inte heller den gamifierade marknadsföringen som en oetisk marknadsföringsteknik, ifall syftet är transparent och tydligt för konsumenten. Dock väcktes det oro beträffande gamification skulle användas i skadliga kontexter.   Nyckelord: Gamification, Attityder, Etik, Motivation, Manipulation, Lojalitetsprogram

Background: Emerging evidence suggests that cervical and thoracic joint manipulations may be advocated in treating patients with shoulder pain. Objectives: To determine the acute effects of cervical, cervicothoracic, and thoracic joint manipulations on outcomes of self-reported pain and pain pressure threshold in experimentally induced shoulder pain. Design: Repeated measures. Methods: Twenty (20) healthy volunteers were tested on two sessions. Session 1 consisted on baseline assessment of pain pressure threshold testing over the infraspinatus bilaterally and self-reported shoulder pain using the shoulder pain and disability index (SPADI) pain scale. An isokinetic exercise protocol was used to induce delayed onset muscle soreness. In session 2 (24-48 h later), all variables were reassessed before and immediately after a combination of cervical, cervicothoracic and thoracic manipulations. Results: SPADI pain scale scores were significantly different between time points (p < 0.001): the exercise protocol significantly increased reported pain [mean increase 14.1, p < 0.001] while the manipulation significantly decreased reported pain (mean decrease 5.60, p < 0.001)) although pain remained higher than baseline levels. Pain pressure threshold differences were also found between time points (p = 0.001): manipulation significantly increased pain threshold bilaterally (p < 0.001) similar to baseline levels. Conclusions: Cervical, cervicothoracic, and thoracic joint manipulations acutely increased pain pressure threshold and decreased self-reported shoulder pain in participants with experimentally induced shoulder pain. Physiotherapists may consider the combination of such techniques to achieve short-term hypoalgesic effects and facilitate the application of more active interventions.

The effects of food quantity on the morphology and development of the paper wasp Polistes metricus Say are studied, and experimental results are compared with predictions of the parental manipulation hypothesis. Food deprivation led to smaller female offspring. By hand feeding larvae we used a technique that counteracts the queen's hypothesized ability to restrict food provisioning. Hand feeding larvae did not result in larger offspring, but their abdomen was wider and heavier and the hand-fed wasps survived longer in a cold test. We infer that hand-fed colonies produced more gynes and fewer workers than did control colonies. Results of a restricted nourishment treatment do not support the differential feeding hypothesis, because in fasting colonies the emergence of all larvae was delayed by a month, and we did not detect discriminatory feeding of particular larvae for faster emergence. Although fasting colonies produced fewer offspring, the sex ratio did not show significant differences from the other groups. These data suggest that Polistes metricus colonies are partly able to respond to different nutritional conditions by allocating excess food to increase the number of gynes at the expense of workers.

La manipulation intelligente des objets non-rigides - cordes, tissus, éponges, caoutchoucs, organes et autres matériaux dont la forme change durant la manipulation - par un système robotique est un critère important pour l'automatisation de plusieurs tâches délicates allant de l'assemblage industriel à la chirurgie, en passant par l'industrie alimentaire et les travaux domestiques. Bien que la manipulation d'objets linéaires (cordes) et plans (tissus) ait beaucoup progressé au cours des dernières années, la manipulation dextre d'objets tridimensionnels reste un sujet relativement peu exploré. En particulier, la sélection d'une prise optimale et le contrôle de la forme d'un objet sont des habiletés importantes, mais qui demandent généralement une connaissance complète des propriétés de l'objet ainsi qu'une puissance de calcul significative. L'objectif principal de cette thèse est le développement d'un système de planification et de contrôle pour déformer de façon contrôlée le contour d'un objet tridimensionnel dont les caractéristiques sont initialement inconnues, permettant par exemple de l'insérer dans un cadre rigide d'une forme prédéfinie. Ainsi, la tâche centrale est le développement d'une stratégie pour la sélection des points de contact entre les doigts de la main et l'objet à manipuler. D'abord, l'application du principe de diminution de la rigidité permet d'effectuer une présélection des points de contact qui optimiseront la déformation de l'objet. Ensuite, les prises potentielles sont générées de manière à assurer la stabilité de la manipulation ainsi que le respect des contraintes imposées par le manipulateur robotique. Une fois que la prise qui équilibre au mieux ces différents critères est sélectionnée, le contrôle de la forme est effectué tout en maintenant le suivi en temps réel du contour de l'objet pendant la manipulation. Ceci vise à permettre d'ajuster dynamiquement le modèle de déformation ainsi que les forces appliquées, de manière à caractériser la rigidité de l'objet et à optimiser sa déformation. L'algorithme de sélection de prise développé représente la contribution principale de cette thèse, combinant l'effcacité d'un algorithme heuristique à l'exhaustivité d'un planificateur par échantillonnage pour rapidement identifier les prises qui faciliteront la tâche de déformation en respectant les contraintes de la main robotique et les critères de stabilité. Les contributions secondaires incluent des améliorations au suivi de contour par fast level-set en coordonnées log-polaires et l'adaptation du contrôle par diminution de la rigidité à la manipulation du contour d'un objet tridimensionnel avec l'ajustement automatique du paramètre de rigidité.

This paper presents an implementation of autonomous indoor aerial gripping using a low-cost, custom-built quadrotor. Such research extends the typical functionality of micro air vehicles (MAV) from passive observation and sensing to dynamic interaction with the environment. To achieve this, three major challenges are overcome: precise positioning, sensing and manipulation of the object, and stabilization in the presence of disturbance due to interaction with the object. Navigation in both indoor and outdoor unstructured, Global Positioning System-denied (GPS-denied) environments is achieved using a visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm that relies on an onboard monocular camera. A secondary camera, capable of detecting infrared light sources, is used to estimate the 3D location of the object, while an under-actuated and passively compliant manipulator is designed for effective gripping under uncertainty. The system utilizes nested ProportionalIntegral-Derivative (PID) controllers for attitude stabilization, vision-based navigation, and gripping. The quadrotor is therefore able to autonomously navigate, locate, and grasp an object, using only onboard sensors.

This degree work is investigating nostalgia and the social and environmental sustainable aspects of upcycling. It aims to explore nostalgia as a progressive design tool, through storytelling, by means of upcycling materials and memories. It is developed by using creative writing methods with trigger words, translated to a visual fashion design process. To gain understanding and depth in the storytelling, different memory triggers have been introduced in each example. It suggests a multidimensional take on nostalgia and highlights its importance in everyday life, as well as in the design and art fields, and how storytelling can be actively used in a fashion design process. It also looks at communication in dress and the relationship between the private and the public identity. The importance of this investigation has been to look beyond today’s upcycling field of fashion, in order to develop it further and broaden the perspectives of the field. With the theme of ’the act of eating’, this degree work is seen as an abstract comment to the fashion industry’s influence on bodies and eating habits.

It has been observed by Kröhnke, that certain N-substituted pyridinum compunds possess both pressor and ergot-like activity. It has also been reported that both N-phenacylpiperidinium hydrochloride and the corresponding carbinol have some value as local anaesthetics.

The diploma thesis describes the topic of manipulation in connection with education. Theoretical part analyzes the concept and related essential phenomena and approaches the links between manipulation and education. Mainly, it draws from pedagogical literature, in its social and philosophical context. Qualitative research is based on interviews with primary school teachers. The aim of the survey was to bring closer how educators perceive manipulation in the school environment based on their experience. The results show that manipulation itself manifests, with a few exceptions, as normal part of the educational process. Teachers manipulate pupils directly during teaching. Some of them consider it present at the moment when they apply coercion to pupils, others as more hidden procedures. They perceive manipulation mainly as harmful, which is why some teachers try to avoid it. At the same time, it is partly viewed as a necessary part of normal teaching. Therefore,the phenomenon of manipulation appears to be variously understood. The unifying sign of manipulation is the perception of its realization from a position of power. It is mainly used with the aim of facilitating the education process. KEYWORDS Manipulation, enforcement, objectification, intencionality, education