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The pursuit of a better life has motivated people to move and settle in different parts of Västerbotten. Traditionally, some building typologies have moved together with the people but due to various reasons some homes have been left behind. Goals have been set up to decrease the amount of construction demolishment waste in Eu and Sweden is following quickly with new regulations upon waste management and sorting. But what happens with the houses that no-one intend to deconstruct, the ones that is left to its own destiny and already is considered useless? This thesis springs from a curiosity of deserted homes, the narratives they witness, the value they hold and the lessons that they can teach. The thesis Challenged by the wall deals with the architects role in bridging past and present.Research question: How can the tracing of empty houses inform the contemporary architect? The investigation is done through a visual research method making drawings and illustrations through different medias the heart of the project. It follows two parallel paths in its search for value: emotional and physical, two different angles of research that find strength in and complement each other. Several factors have caused the houses to be abandoned, such as forestry, economical advantages and standard of living. The empty houses represent an other time and a way of living that man distanced himself from when industrialisation opened up for new levels of comfort to every day life. The illustrated observations pays attention to the obscure and aims to enlighten value in the rejected. By that it hopes to challenge the way value is put into systems. Throughout the research reflections have been made as to whether the architect can treat the romanticism of the past in a nostalgic way that is helpful for the present architecture. With the illustrated samples as evidence, it argues that the broader spectra of value has to be discussed and thus the final resolution of the thesis hope to urge that dialogue.

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Probation and parole have become increasingly popular alternatives to incarceration over the past few decades due to efforts to reduce prison overcrowding and government spending. Successful reintegration and management of offenders in the community is hindered by a combination of individual, social, economic, and logistical factors. The frequency in which offenders are re-arrested after being released from correctional settings has serious implications for both the offenders and the community in which they reside due to additional human victimization, the costly use of taxpayer-funded resources, and continued legal involvement and sanctions. Rural and urban areas differ in terms of resource availability and cultural factors, but limited research informing the prevalence and needs of offenders living in rural areas exists. We conducted a review of the available literature to investigate the differences between the needs of offenders in rural and urban areas during reentry as well as the common barriers that hinder successful reintegration. We sought to determine crucial barriers to reentry and rural-specific concerns and needs to better inform future research and policy initiatives. The literature indicates that offenders transitioning into rural communities face many of the same obstacles as those transitioning into urban settings including difficulties securing housing, finding employment, complying with supervision requirements, locating reliable and affordable transportation, and avoiding substance use, reoffending, and other maladaptive behaviors. In rural areas, however, offenders encounter even more limited housing and employment opportunities, a lack of public transportation, higher rates of poverty, difficulties avoiding antisocial peers, and greater alcohol use rates. Providing mental health treatment to offenders in rural areas is impeded by stigmatization of mental health conditions, a shortage of treatment providers, a lack of resources for specialty treatment such as detox services for substance users, and a lack of referral sources. Probation and parole officers also face substantial obstacles to successfully supervise offenders in rural areas including a greater number of caseloads, greater geographical areas to cover, and fewer referral sources. Thus, our findings reveal that offenders in rural areas have diverse experiences of re-entry compared to those in urban areas. Further discussion regarding the need for rural-specific research to inform policies and practices for rural offender management and suggestions for future directions will be included.

This work is closely related to the idea of thinking outside the box as design is often referred to do. By questioning the definition of something one can challenge the meaning of that particular object, and what it might become. The aim of this work is to explore dressing through objects to generate alternative ways to construct fashion. By using objects as the starting point for ideas and construction this work wants to find something new by investigating something real, such as the objects themselves. The alternative ways on how to construct fashion could also be seen in how fashion is created based on an object instead of the body. The body comes secondary in the process of construction. The result shows upon different perspectives on how objects are made to perform something they normally don’t. This is done to push what fashion could be and to find new ideas, solutions and expressions within fashion.

Background. In parallel with public health responses, health systems have had to rapidly implement infection control strategies during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. Various technologies, such as digital contact tracing (DCT), have been implemented to enhance case investigations among healthcare workers' (HCWs). Currently, little attention has focused on the perspectives of those who have implemented DCT innovations and those who have adopted such technologies within a healthcare environment. -- Objective. This study aimed to describe the implementation, acceptance, and outcomes of a web-based DCT tool used extensively at a specialized pediatric acute-care hospital in Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of key stakeholders. -- Methods. Using an exploratory qualitative design, this research involved 21 semi-structured interviews with healthcare administrators (n=6; 29%), occupational health specialists (n=8; 38%), and healthcare workers (n=7; 33/%) at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Interview protocols and analysis were guided by the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) framework. The interviews lasted on average 33.6 minutes in length and were audio-recorded. Verbatim transcripts were subjected to thematic analysis using NVivo software. -- Results. The implementation of DCT during the COVID-19 pandemic was viable and well-received among stakeholders. End-users cited that their engagement with the DCT tool was facilitated by its perceived ease of use and the ability to gain awareness of probable COVID-19 exposures; however, risk-assessment consequences and access concerns were present as barriers (reach). Stakeholders commonly agreed that the DCT tool exerted a positive outcome on the hospital's capacity to meet the demands of COVID-19, notably through the facilitation of timely case investigations and by informing decision-making processes (effectiveness). Implementors and occupational specialists conveyed staffing impacts, and the loss of nuanced information as unintended consequences (effectiveness). Safety-focused communication strategies and having a technology that was human-centered were crucial factors driving staff adoption. Conversely, adoption was challenged by the misaligned delivery of the DCT tool with HCWs standard practices, alongside the evolving perspectives of COVID-19. Some end-users expressed an initial disconnect towards the DCT tool, raising questions about the fidelity of the implementation. However, stakeholders collectively agreed on the viability of the DCT approach and its applicability to infectious disease practices (maintenance). -- Conclusion. Stakeholders reported DCT in the hospital context to be acceptable and efficient in meeting the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recommendations for optimized DCT use include education and training for relevant personnel, improved access and usability, and integration into clinical systems. The findings contribute to evidence-based practices and guide future scale-up initiatives focused on digital surveillance in the hospital context.

Boliden’s mineral processing plant in Garpenberg wanted to investigate their zinc-regrinding circuit. The re-grinding circuit had performed subpar when running as the total recovery of zinc was lowered and problem with the dewatering of the final concentrates was also noted. Therefore, the zinc re-grinding circuit is currently not being used. Furthermore, it was noted during investigations about silicate depressant that the zinc circuit had problems with coarse sized sphalerite particles locked with silica. Which could perhaps be liberated with the re-grinding circuit. The purpose was therefore to investigate how a re-grinding step could be used to liberate locked sphalerite particles from gangue. The practical part of the thesis involved lab-scale SMD-mill, re-grinding of the scavenger concentrate and cleaner tailings which are the two streams being fed to the SMD-mill in the plant. The re-grind was done in three fractions: bulk, +90µm and +125 µm fraction with subsequent lab-scale flotation afterwards to identify how the re-grinding effected the flotation results. Also, a small QEMSCAN analysis was performed for the +90 µm fraction to identify how liberation was improved by re-grinding. The flotation trials were performed with two references and two different intensities for the re-grinds.  The results showed an overall increase in grade of zinc in the concentrate with increased grinding for all the trials. SiO2 and MgO content (typical elements for silicate gangue) was also reduced in the zinc concentrate, showing that re-grinding helped liberate locked sphalerite particles. The QEMSCAN results showed that the liberation of sphalerite particles in the +90 µm fractions increased with re-grinding. For the bulk fraction scavenger concentrate the zinc recovery increased slightly, for the +90 µm fraction scavenger concentrate, a slight decrease in zinc recovery could be seen after re-grinding. The decrease in recovery was larger for the cleaner tailings (bulk and +90 µm) and was decreased further with increased grinding. However, for the +125 µm fraction tests, zinc recovery was increased for both scavenger concentrate and cleaner tailing. The references showed an overall high recovery but a zinc grade in the concentrate close to the feed grade of zinc and contained a high grade of SiO2. Indicating that without re-grinding the amount of free sphalerite is low. Overall, the re-grind and flotation tests pointed towards that value can be created for the plant by re-grinding the scavenger concentrate and cleaner tailing.

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No description available.