The aim and purpose of this report is to describe how the domestic tobacco industry is affectingsustainable development in Malawi. This is done by describing the environmental and socio-economic effects ofthe cultivation and selling of tobacco leaves. Together with an outlook on the future developments of the industry,this information is used to describe how the Malawian tobacco industry corresponds to sustainable developmentand how it can be changed to improve sustainability in the country. The report is based on a literature study andtwo interviews. Theories on sustainable development and developmental concepts form the theoreticalbackground for the report. The conclusion of the report is that the situation regarding the Malawian tobaccoindustry is a complex one, where direct economic benefits are the main motive, but various socio-economic andenvironmental effects combine to make the situation unsustainable in a number of aspects. The suggestion of thisreport is to turn away from the current high dependence on tobacco to a more diversified agriculture, wheredifferent types of food crops substitute tobacco as the main source of income, while at the same time providingmore food in a country where poverty and malnutrition are problematic issues.

<p>This thesis conceives aquaculture as a transfer of resources within and between different parts of the world system. It is argued that due to inappropriate human-nature interactions, resources tend to flow from the South to the North, as a process of coastal colonisation. To study this resource transfer, coastal aquaculture is ap-proached from a transdisciplinary perspective, integrating natural, social, economic and spatial aspects. By combining world system theory and general systems theory, a systems view is adopted to relate aquaculture to forces of global capitalism, and analyse interactions between social and ecological processes at local and global levels. Emergy (energy memory) synthesis and participatory research methodologies were applied to two cases of aquaculture in Sri Lanka and the Philippines; monocul-ture of the black tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon) and milkfish (Chanos chanos), and polyculture of the two species together with mudcrab (Scylla serrata). The study reveals that semi-intensive shrimp monoculture in Sri Lanka generates few benefits for poor local people, and depends much on external inputs such as fry, feed and fuels, which implies negative environmental effects at local as well as global levels. Extensive polyculture in the Philippines involves more local people, and implies lower dependence on external inputs. Still, since benefits accrue mostly to elites, and mangroves are negatively affected, neither case is viable for sustainable poverty alleviation. Nevertheless, the study offers several insights into how sustainability assessment may be more transdisciplinary, and points to several factors affecting sustainability and fairness in aquaculture; the most important being mangrove con-version, local people involvement, and dependence on external inputs. Given that mangrove conversion is counteracted, extensive polyculture practices may also prove more viable in times of decreasing resources availability, and if policies are developed that favour resource efficient polyculture, and local small-scale and re-source poor farmers, instead of the global North.</p>

This thesis conceives aquaculture as a transfer of resources within and between different parts of the world system. It is argued that due to inappropriate human-nature interactions, resources tend to flow from the South to the North, as a process of coastal colonisation. To study this resource transfer, coastal aquaculture is ap-proached from a transdisciplinary perspective, integrating natural, social, economic and spatial aspects. By combining world system theory and general systems theory, a systems view is adopted to relate aquaculture to forces of global capitalism, and analyse interactions between social and ecological processes at local and global levels. Emergy (energy memory) synthesis and participatory research methodologies were applied to two cases of aquaculture in Sri Lanka and the Philippines; monocul-ture of the black tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon) and milkfish (Chanos chanos), and polyculture of the two species together with mudcrab (Scylla serrata). The study reveals that semi-intensive shrimp monoculture in Sri Lanka generates few benefits for poor local people, and depends much on external inputs such as fry, feed and fuels, which implies negative environmental effects at local as well as global levels. Extensive polyculture in the Philippines involves more local people, and implies lower dependence on external inputs. Still, since benefits accrue mostly to elites, and mangroves are negatively affected, neither case is viable for sustainable poverty alleviation. Nevertheless, the study offers several insights into how sustainability assessment may be more transdisciplinary, and points to several factors affecting sustainability and fairness in aquaculture; the most important being mangrove con-version, local people involvement, and dependence on external inputs. Given that mangrove conversion is counteracted, extensive polyculture practices may also prove more viable in times of decreasing resources availability, and if policies are developed that favour resource efficient polyculture, and local small-scale and re-source poor farmers, instead of the global North.

This thesis investigates the possibilities of increasing efficacy and general improvement of unsupervised medical treatments by implementing electronics and embedded systems (so-called smart devices) to allow the physician to monitor or track the treatment and adherence of the patient to it. The diseases in focus are respiratory: asthma and Chronic Obstructive lung [Pulmonary] Disease (COPD). This thesis will furthermore attempt to show that shortcomings in the current treatment of these diseases incur significant human costs by loss of quality of life for the patients and causes (avoidable) costs to health-care systems and societies on a macro-economic scale, both direct and indirect. It will find that the technology to create a smart-inhaler exists, and while not a panacea, it can address many of the identified issues with the current mode of treatment.This thesis was written in partnership with SHL Medical AB, and the author wishes to extend specialthanks to Plamen Balkandjiev and Mattias Myrman for their help, support, and patience. / Detta examensarbete undersöker möjligheterna att öka effektiviteten samt allmänna förbättringar av oövervakad medicinsk behandling genom implementering av elektronik och inbyggda system (så kallade smarta-apparater) för att möjliggöra för läkare att övervaka eller följa behandlingen samt huruvida patienten fullföljer den eller ej. Sjukdomarna i fokus är astma och Kronisk Obstruktiv Lungsjukdom (KOL). Vidare kommer detta arbete försöka visa att tillkortakommanden i den befintliga behandlingen av sjukdomar inte bara medför signifikanta minskningar i livskvalitet för patienten utan även orsakar (icke oundvikliga) kostnader för sjukvårdssystem och samhällen på en makro-ekonomisk skala, indirekt såsom direkt. Den kommer även visa att tekniken som krävs för att skapa en smartinhalator existerar, och medans denna inte är en panacé kan den likväl åtgärda många av de identifierade problemen med den befintliga behandlingsmetoden.Detta exmanensarbete skrevs i samarbete med SHL Medical AB och dess författare önskar utsträckaett särskilt tack till Plamen Balkandjiev och Mattias Myrman för deras hjälp, stöd och tålamod.

Marine salmon farming is a new and fast-growing industry in Iceland after decades of uncertainties within aquaculture development in the country. While growing at a tremendous speed in the last few years, the development has been challenged by different social groups in regard to its socio-economic and environmental effects. Research has shown that there is a lack of knowledge on the perceptions on different stakeholders involved in the farming. This study aims to investigate how different stakeholders perceive the marine salmon farming industry being established in Bíldudalur, in the Westfjords of Iceland, by conducting a case study. Semi structured interviews were carried out with different stakeholders as well as an online survey was distributed to the residents of Bíldudalur, following a focus groupdiscussion. Analysis of the responses demonstrated that current aquaculture regulations have not held up with the expanding industry which has created tension amongst stakeholders. The results show that many worry about the wild salmon stock and that with current regulations, it is hard to predict how much marine farmed salmon will be bred in Iceland, due to weak regulations. Simultaneously, the local community of Bíldudalur has experienced a lot of positive changes in their rural community following the establishment of fish farming in their community. On this basis, further research is needed to compare the findings to other rural communities involved in fish farming in Iceland as well as further research on Iceland´s current changes in regulation and policies and how aquaculture development is promoted in Iceland.