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The number of domains and tasks where information extraction tools can be used needs to be increased. One way to reach this goal is to construct user-driven information extraction systems where novice users are able to adapt them to new domains and tasks. To accomplish this goal, the systems need to become more intelligent and able to learn to extract information without need of expert skills or time-consuming work from the user. The type of information extraction system that is in focus for this thesis is semistructural information extraction. The term semi-structural refers to documents that not only contain natural language text but also additional structural information. The typical application is information extraction from World Wide Web hypertext documents. By making effective use of not only the link structure but also the structural information within each such document, user-driven extraction systems with high performance can be built. The extraction process contains several steps where different types of techniques are used. Examples of such types of techniques are those that take advantage of structural, pure syntactic, linguistic, and semantic information. The first step that is in focus for this thesis is the navigation step that takes advantage of the structural information. It is only one part of a complete extraction system, but it is an important part. The use of reinforcement learning algorithms for the navigation step can make the adaptation of the system to new tasks and domains more user-driven. The advantage of using reinforcement learning techniques is that the extraction agent can efficiently learn from its own experience without need for intensive user interactions. An agent-oriented system was designed to evaluate the approach suggested in this thesis. Initial experiments showed that the training of the navigation step and the approach of the system was promising. However, additional components need to be included in the system before it becomes a fully-fledged user-driven system. / <p>Report code: LiU-Tek-Lic-2002:73.</p>

This study will focus on explaining the dynamics of Saudi Arabia’s national security. In explaining these dynamics, the study will consider two of Buzan’s frameworks for analysing national security. Further enhancement will be given by conceptualising specific assumptions about Saudi Arabia’s national security – these will be based on the manner in which certain features are utilised within the Saudi state. Semistructured interviews will be utilised to examine the findings from the adapted frameworks. By studying the state’s domestic, regional and international concerns, as well as the specific threats that each level pose with regards to several security sectors (including the: social, political, economic, militant and environmental), this study will provide a distinctive analysis of national security within the Saudi state. Initially, this study acknowledges that only a few studies have been conducted into Saudi Arabia’s national security; furthermore, these have focused on the internal perspective by considering Saudi national security in terms of its military and strategic partnerships. Secondly, the study proposes that Saudi Arabia is unique (and unlike any other state) as it holds various important social and religious aspects that are not fully understood by external sources. Consequently, this study conceptualises Saudi national security from the internal perspective by considering the Saudi state’s specific features.

Mergers and acquisitions have become very popular in recent decades for firms seeking competitive advantage. The high failure rates of these initiatives make a closer look at the influence of the human factors and their complexity on these change activities necessary. This study traces the development of merger and acquisition activities in four companies, with a particular focus on individuals’ sensemaking over time and on the influence of human functional factors on the process and the outcomes of the mergers reviewed. A qualitative case-study approach is adopted with sixteen in-depth semistructured interviews in four post-merger organisations. The analysis of the collected primary data is done through a descriptive analysis of each individual case and a cross-case analysis of the four investigated cases. The findings show that there is a direct influence of the researched human functional elements and of the individual sensemaking on both the process and outcomes of the reviewed merger and acquisition cases. Based on the findings, a human functional merger and acquisition model – reflecting the interaction and influence of the human functional elements – and a management guideline for adopting this, are developed. This study provides a review of the influence of some significant organisational and individual human functional elements, such as leadership, communication, decision-making, relationship, and individual beliefs, values, attitudes and learning on the process and outcome of mergers and acquisitions. Such an investigation of these elements and their complexity, interaction with and influence on the process and outcome of change initiatives, and more specifically in the context of mergers and acquisitions, has not been undertaken previously.

Bakgrund: Kronisk hosta är ett vanligt medicinskt tillstånd och definieras som hosta som varar mer än åtta veckor och är behandlingsresistent (refraktär) trots noggranna utredningar eller medicinska behandlingar. Det drabbar cirka 10% av den vuxna befolkningen och har en betydande negativ inverkan på livskvalitet. Det finns hittills inga studier som beskriver hur hostan påverkar individernas vardag och möjlighet att genomföra fysisk aktivitet. Syfte: Att undersöka hur individer som har diagnostiserats med kronisk refraktär hosta upplever att hostan påverkar vardagen och hens förmåga att vara fysisk aktiv.  Metod: Kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer tillämpades. Intervjuerna (n=10) transkriberades och tolkades med tematisk analys med induktiv ansats.  Resultat: Analysen resulterade i tre huvudteman 1) Betydande inverkan på vardagen, 2) Kampen om kontrollen och 3) Hostan under fysisk aktivitet. Dessa tre teman och deras åtta underteman belyser komplexiteten och omfattningen av hur hostan påverkar individernas liv. Slutsats: Kronisk hosta har avsevärd påverkan på vardagen och har negativa effekter på individens psykosociala tillstånd. Studien belyser dock att fysisk aktivitet är genomförbart för individer med kronisk hosta men att anpassningar kan behövas avseende intensitet eller typ av aktivitet. En bättre förståelse för innebörden och konsekvenserna av att leva med kronisk hosta kan vara ett bidrag till att ytterligare utveckla framgångsrika behandlingsmetoder. / Background: Chronic cough is a common medical condition and is defined as cough that lasts more than eight weeks and is treatment-resistant (refractory) despite careful investigations or medical treatments. It affects about 10% of the adult population and has a significant negative impact on quality of life. So far, there are no studies describing how the cough affects individuals' everyday lives and ability to carry out physical activity. Aim: To investigate how individuals who have been diagnosed with chronic refractory cough experience that the cough affects everyday life and his/her ability to be physically active. Method: Qualitative method with semi-structured interviews was applied. The interviews (n=10) were transcribed and interpreted with thematic analysis with an inductive approach. Results: The analysis resulted in three main themes: 1) Significant impact on everyday life, 2) The struggle for control and 3) The cough during physical activity. These three themes and their eight subthemes highlight the complexity and scope of how the cough affects the lives of individuals. Conclusion: Chronic cough has a significant impact on everyday life and has negative effects on the individual's psychosocial state. However, the study highlights that physical activity is feasible for individuals with chronic cough but that adaptations may be needed regarding intensity or type of activity. A better understanding of the meaning and consequences of living with chronic cough can be a contribution to further developing successful treatment methods.

Bakgrund: Antalet patienter som behöver vård i hemmet ökar stadigt. För att vården ska ske personcentrat och patientsäkert, så behövs en god teamsamverkan mellan läkare och distriktssköterskor. Det är angeläget att undersöka hur denna teamsamverkan mellan distriktssköterskor och läkare fungerar för att kunna identifiera områden där förbättringar krävs. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva distriktssköterskors erfarenheter av teamsamverkan med läkare i hemsjukvården. Metod: En kvalitativ intervjustudie genomfördes med induktiv ansats. Ändamålsenligt urval tillämpades och resulterade i 15 semistrukturerade intervjuer. Informanterna bestod av distriktssköterskor, grundutbildade sjuksköterskor och en specialistsjuksköterska inom vård av äldre från nio olika kommuner i södra Sverige. Samtliga informanter var kvinnor. Kvalitativ innehållsanalys användes för bearbetning av datamaterialet. Resultat: Tre kategorier framkommer i resultatet: Distriktssköterskors erfarenheter av läkares tillgänglighet i hemsjukvården, Respekt mellan distriktssköterskor och läkare i hemsjukvården samt Distriktssköterskors erfarenheter av hemsjukvårdens och vårdcentralens organisering. Kategorierna mynnade ut i ett gemensamt tema som lyder: Distriktssköterskor och läkare i hemsjukvården behöver varandra. Slutsats: Teamsamverkan mellan distriktssköterskor och läkare är nödvändigt i hemsjukvården. Samverkan brister mellan distriktssköterskor och läkare likväl mellan hemsjukvård och vårdcentral. Teamsamverkan mellan professioner och samverkan mellan hälsoorganisationer måste förbättras för att främja patienters hälsa. / Background: The number of patients being dependent on home care is constantly increasing. In order to provide patient-centered and safe health care, good team collaboration between general practitioners and district nurses must be established. It is important to investigate how this team collaboration is facilitated as this could provide better understanding of the topic which could pinpoint areas of improvement. Purpose: The purpose was to describe district nurses' experiences of team collaboration with general practitioners in home care. Method: A qualitative interview study was carried through with an inductive approach. Purposive sampling was applied and resulted in 15 semi-structured interviews. The informants consisted of district nurses, registered nurses and one specialist nurse of elderly care from nine different municipalities in south of Sweden. All informants were women. Qualitative content analysis was applied to process the gathered data. Results: The result is presented in three different categories: District nurses' experiences of general practitioners' accessibility in home care, Respect between district nurses and general practitioners in home care, District nurses' experiences of the organization of home care and health care centers. These categories resulted in a general theme described as: District nurses and general practitioners in home care need each other. Conclusions: Team collaboration between district nurses and general practitioners is vital within the home care sector. Collaboration between home care providers and health centers is also necessary for enabling this team collaboration. The result of this study shows that the team collaboration is lacking between district nurses and general practitioners as well as between home care providers and health centers. The team collaboration between both professions and health organizations must be improved in order to promote the health of all patients.

Ontologies capture the structure, relationships, semantics and other essential meta information of an application. This thesis describes a framework to automate application interoperability by using dynamically generated ontologies. We propose a set of techniques to extract ontologies from data accessible on the Web in the form of semi-structured HTML pages. Ontologies retrieved from similar applications are matched together to create a general ontology describing the application domain. Information retrieval and graph matching techniques are used to match and measure the usefulness of the ontologies created. Matching algorithms are combined together to produce global ontologies based on local ontologies inherently present in Web applications. We present a system called OntoBuilder that allows users to drive the ontology creation process using a userriendly and intuitive interface. We also present experiments for a well-known case of study: car-rental applications. We successfully achieve 90% accuracy on ontology extraction and 70% accuracy for ontology matching.

No description available.

This research is based on semi-structured interviews with thirty-two people who understand themselves to be suffering from health problems called ecological illness, or environmental hypersensitivity. The research examines the experience of ecological illness. Given that the medical status of ecological illness is controversial, and that troubles considered to be ecological illness are typically vague and non-specific, the study focuses on meanings and interpretive frameworks that are applied in the definition of such troubles; by those affected, by significant others, and by physicians. The analysis examines the nature and course over time of definitions of trouble-related identity and the social psychological and practical consequences of such definitions for respondents' illness experience. Because respondents largely define their troubles as physical health problems, a central issue in the analysis is the medical and social legitimation of illness claims. The research found that, in the course of seeking medical treatment and legitimation for their problems, people's experiences of trouble were typically discredited. They were long unable to resolve conflicts between a self-identity as sick and others' assessments of them as "not sick" or psychologically troubled. While the eventual diagnosis of hypersensitivity was a profound relief to people in many respects, it was often not recognized and accepted by others as a basis for informal or "official'' sick role considerations. Because of scepticism toward the concept of multiple sensitivities, many people continued to feel stigmatized by their problems. The study illustrates the impact and significance of controversies within medicine for the experience of certain kinds of health problems. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

I den här kvalitativa studien undersöks lärares erfarenheter av att motivera lässvaga elever att läsa skönlitteratur i skolan, både på lågstadiet och på högstadiet. Bakgrund till studien är de senaste årens tapp i internationella kunskapsmätningar och efterföljande diskussioner om undervisning i läsförståelse i pedagogiska och specialpedagogiska sammanhang. Studien bygger på elva semistrukturerade intervjuer med lärare verksamma på båda stadier. De transkriberade intervjuerna har analyserats genom tematisk analys och ställts i relation till Rosenblatts och Bringéus läsartsbegrepp, förklarade med literacy som teoretiskt ramverk. Eftersom det är läsning i skolmiljö som är i fokus för undersökningen, ställs även resultatet i relation till Nilholms dilemmaperspektiv samt inkluderingsbegrepp. Delstudierna visar att det finns vissa skillnader i hur lärare på låg- respektive högstadiet beskriver sitt arbete att motivera lässvaga elever till skönlitteraturläsning. Lågstadielärarna har generellt en mer positiv inställning till skönlitteraturläsning med elever, medan högstadielärarna upplever att skönlitteraturläsningen kan vara givande, men att många elever är omotiverade och att den lustfyllda läsningen är svår att bedöma.