This thesis aims to describe the genre of librarypodcasts that have emerged in Sweden since 2013.Through the overall design of a comparative multiplecasestudy, the two pioneering examples ofCirkelpodden and Bibliotekspodden Solen are beingdescribed and compared, in order to contribute to abetter understanding of what these radio productionsconsist of, on what reasons they have been establishedand finally what this practice based on more explicitjournalistic working methods might implicate for theprofession of the public librarian.Thirty-three programs of Cirkelpodden andBibliotekspodden Solen published during 2103–2014 andtwo semi-structured interviews with the librarians ofthe podcasts are analysed through quantitative contentanalysis and qualitative thematic analysis. Thetheoretical framework is principally based on WiebeBijker’s model of two different ways to perceivetechnology: the deterministic view as an autonomousforce, and the constructivist view as an instrumentcontrolled by man.The results show that the main reasons to adopt thisweb 2.0 media format was to improve the library’straditional ways to talk about books. Besidespresenting books and problematizing the inhold of it,the podcasts were used to enhance the job satisfactionand to promote the library. The main conclusion ofthe study is that the these library podcasts could beinterpreted as expressions of an ongoing movementfrom a traditional conveying role of the publiclibrarian, towards a more content producing role, inwhich the podcast is used as an strategic instrumentfor exposing the librarians expertise and for exertingliterary criticism.

Syftet med denna studie ä̈r att analysera hur jihadiströ̈relsen Islamiska Staten (IS) anvä̈nder sig av sitt rö̈rliga bildmaterial. Fö̈rutom det vill den redogö̈ra fö̈r vilka uttryck och teman som går att uppfatta i dessa filmer. Min ambition är inte att göra några detaljstudier av filmerna, utan att analysera, lyssna på retoriken och titta på bildspråket i delar av det material som publicerats av Islamiska staten. Avsikten med denna studie är inte heller att göra några ställningstaganden, utan snarare att resonera kring frågan varför? Utifrån syftet har jag formulerat följande frågeställningar: Hur presenterar sig Islamiska staten i sitt rörliga bildmaterial? Vad kan det finnas för syften med filmerna och vilka riktar de sig till? Vad kan man se för återkommande teman i filmerna? Resultatet av studien visar att filmerna har flera syften och riktar sig till flera målgrupper. Dels till de redan övertygade med en våldsförhärligande och romantiserad bild av kriget, dels som psykologisk krigsföring för att skrämma civilbefolkningen och motståndsrörelser. Filmerna används också i provokativt syfte – särskilt riktat mot utlandet och kanske främst mot USA. Men också som en marknadsföringsstrategi för att få medial uppmärksamhet, sprida sin ideologi och genom det övertyga och rekrytera nya individer till rörelsen. I materialet från Islamiska staten går att finna såväl brutala våldsfilmer, som filmer där jihadiströrelsen framställer sig som varma och broderliga och skrattar, håller varandras händer eller lägger armen om varandra. Filmerna är avsedda att väcka olika känslor hos olika målgrupper. De grövre filmerna med starka våldsinslag kan uppfattas som mycket stötande för någon som inte delar IS världsbild, men samma film kan verka motiverande för de personer som sympatiserar med IS sätt att tolka islam. Gemensamt för filmerna som analyserats i denna studie är att det i samtliga förekommer tunga vapen och i flera av dem grova våldsinslag.

The emerging techniques of mobile GIS applications, its abilities and its implied limitations ofinternet connections is the main subject in this study. Many of the operations that mobile devicesuse are dependent on mobile internet connectivity. Therefore the potential for it in well connectedareas is great but how would they function in less connected areas? Mobile GIS, which is todaymostly used in devices as smart phones and tablets, has internet connectivity for uploading anddownloading files and other data. Mobile GIS is also dependent on location-based services thatenable the device to get information or take action from the current location of the device. Thisresearch examines the potential usage of mobile GIS in conjunction with the bandwidth of wirelesstechnologies. It is important to study this issue to see if mobile applications can perform upload anddownload tasks within reasonable time in poor mobile coverage. To test the possibilities of mobileGIS in rural areas a test environment is set up in a mobile GIS application for septic tanks. Thetesting is performed by uploading and downloading data with real GIS actions from pre-selectedlocations that have low mobile coverage. The study is comparing the measurements with a scale ofacceptable time for download and upload. The result for registering (uploading) a new point inmobile GIS with three small images is that it requires at least 330 Kbit/s connection to transfer thedata within acceptable time. The results for uploading data without images and downloading giveseven better results and are not as dependent on a good connection for transferring within acceptabletime. The conclusion is that mobile gis applications are able to run within acceptable time measuresin rural areas. The results and other sources were used to make general guidelines for mobile GISapplications for use in rural areas.

3D-modeller är ett allt mer förekommande inslag i planförslag. Ett problem som kan uppstå med dagens 3D-modeller i planer är att de människor som ska ta del av 3D-modellen inte förstår vad de faktiskt visar. Beroende på om det är en tjänsteman på en kommun eller om du är en medborgare vid ett samråd som ska ta del av planen kan denne visa olika mycket information. Ett annat problem är att framtidens 3D-modeller ska kunna delas via olika applikationer och digitala medium. Dock kan en 3D-modell innehålla mycket information vilket gör att denne kan vara svår att dela. Ett verktyg för att lagra, dela och presentera stadsmodeller i 3D är CityGML. Hur kan CityGML användas i planförslag och är det ett verktyg för framtiden inom planering?För att ta reda på hur CityGML kan användas i planförslag och hur framtidens 3D-modeller kommer att se ut har en litteraturstudie samt intervjuer med Sveriges fem största kommuner genomförts.Resultatet av studien visar att 3D-modeller i planförslag är ett måste. Dock varierar dess innehåll beroende på vem eller vilka som ska ta del av den. Därför kan CityGML’s olika detaljnivåer användas. CityGML är också ett verktyg som hör till framtiden inom planering då den även är en interaktiv modell som användare kan röra sig runt i och utforska. CityGML går även att dela via olika applikationer vilket är en del av framtiden inom 3D-visualisering.

This thesis presents a solution enabling lower losses in hydraulic actuator systems. A mobile fluid power system often contains several different actuators supplied with a single load sensing pump. One of the main advantages is the need of only one system pump. This makes the fluid power system compact and cost-effective. A hydraulic load often consists of two ports, e.g. motors and cylinders. Such loads have traditionally been controlled by a valve that controls these ports by one single control signal, namely the position of the spool in a control valve. In this kind of valve, the inlet (meter-in) and outlet (meter-out) orifices are mechanically connected. The mechanical connection makes the system robust and easy to control, at the same time as the system lacks flexibility. Some of the main drawbacks are The fixed relation between the inlet and outlet orifices in most applications produce too much throttling at the outlet orifice under most operating conditions. This makes the system inefficient. The flow directions are fixed for a given spool position; therefore, no energy recuperation and/or regeneration ability is available. In this thesis a novel system idea enabling, for example, recuperation and regeneration is presented. Recuperation is when flow is taken from a tank, pressurized by external loads, and then fed back into the pump line. Regeneration is when either cylinder chambers (or motor ports) are connected to the pump line. Only one system pump is needed. Pressure compensated (load independent), bidirectional, poppet valves are proposed and utilized. The novel system presented in this thesis needs only a position sensor on each compensator spool. This simple sensor is also suitable for identification of mode switches, e.g. between normal, differential and regenerative modes. Patent pending. The balance of where to put the functionality (hardware and/or software) makes it possible to manoeuvre the system with maintained speed control in the case of sensor failure. The main reason is that the novel system does not need pressure transducers for flow determination. Some features of the novel system: Mode switches The mode switches are accomplished without knowledge about the pressures in the system Throttle losses With the new system approach, choice of control and measure signals, the throttle losses at the control valves are reduced Smooth mode switches The system will switch to regenerative mode automatically in a smooth manner when possible Use energy stored in the loads The load, e.g. a cylinder, is able to be used as a motor when possible, enabling the system to recuperate overrun loads The system and its components are described together with the control algorithms that enable energy efficient operation. Measurements from a real application are also presented in the thesis.

Tyr – A historical and comparative study of configurations and formations connected to the Old Norse god Tyr. Klas af Edholm   This thesis has two aims. One is a discussion of the history of the study of Old Norse religion and related aspects, centered on how general tendencies within the area of research have affected the interpretations of the god *Tīwaz/Tyr. Thereby, it treats a selection of influential trends of interpretation, and a selection of prominent scholars of the field. The second aim is an empirical and comparative analysis of the Old Norse source material and, to some degree, the continental Germanic, the Baltic, and the other Indo-European material. Tyr has been interpreted according to trends of research in the field; the mythological character has been used as a projection screen of the theories. Already from the beginning, Tyr was interpreted as a sky god; connected to this was the conception of an original high god. The interpretations of Tyr as a sun god, sky god, and/or law god are close related to this high god conception. These interpretations of the god Tyr has built their arguments upon the etymological connection to Indo-European words for ‘heaven, celestial’ and ‘god’, but they have not taken enough consideration of the Old Norse sources. Georges Dumézil interpreted Tyr, according to his système tripartite, as a law god. This understanding of the god has been widely adopted, but cannot be confirmed; the Old Norse material only speaks of Tyr as a war god. The comparative Indo-European etymological material indicates that his function as sky god is archaic, while the martial traits shared with the continental Germanic and Celtic counterparts prove that this characteristic must have evolved early. Tyr (or rather his predecessor *Tīwaz) lost his celestial traits and became an unmitigated war god, and as such we perceive him in the Old Norse religion.

This thesis describes work to investigate the potential of using an ordinary mobile phone to perform chemical sensing by colorimetric analysis of reflected light. The wide availability and familiarity of mobile phones make them excellent devices for aiding consumers in making on site tests in their everyday lives. A major part of the work has been the development of the necessary software to be able to use a standard mobile phone to study diffuse reflection with the screen as illumination source and the front view camera for collection of spectral information. Java Micro Edition was used to control the hardware resources of the phone. The NetBeans 6.5 platform facilitated the design, development, testing and implementation of a dedicated Mobile Information Device  applet for performing the necessary tasks associated with controlling the screen light and recording the reflected light intensities. MATLAB was employed to extract spectral information from the recorded images. Initially, tests with a virtual sample having areas with different colors were performed. Optimization of the alignment of the sample and the distance between the camera and the sample were carried out and the influence of ambient light was investigated. The lateral resolution of the images enables optical readout of sensor arrays as well as arrays for diagnostics. The potential of using the technique for direct measurement of properties related to the quality of drinking water, food and beverages was also investigated. Liquid samples were prepared in deionized water. Colored compounds such as iron(III)chloride and humic acid in the concentration range 2-10 mg/l were classified from their reflected intensities. Colorless arsenic(III) was analyzed by its bleaching reaction with iodine/starch. An alternative arsenic detection method based on measurement of discoloration of iron containing sand was demonstrated. We have also demonstrated that mobile phones can be used for qualitative analysis of food and drink, such as cold drinks, meat,  vegetables and milk in terms of general food quality.

This thesis reports case studies of students working with context rich problems (CRP) and mini projects (MP) in physics in an upper secondary school class and in a physics teacher education class at university. The students report a big shift from physics in secondary school as fun and easy, to physics in upper secondary school as boring, difficult and with lack of time for reflections and physics talking, but they also found physics as interesting in itself. In order to study how group discussions in physics influence the students learning and to study the phenomena of students’ ownership of learning (SOL) we introduced CRP and MP. We video recorded five groups with 14 teacher students at university in the end of 2002, and five group with 15 students at upper secondary school during the beginning of their second physics course in the spring term in 2003. MP and CRP in physics were used as instructional settings in order to give students possibility to strengthen their holistic understanding and their possibilities to ownership. When students get the opportunity to manage their own learning and studying by open-ended tasks in physics, without the teacher determining all details of the performance, this gives more ownership of learning. The advantage of MPs and CRPs from the student’s point of view is more freedom to act, think and discuss and from the teacher’s view, to get insights of the students’ ability and how they really think in physics. The ownership is found to be crucial for motivation and development of competence. Students’ ownership of learning (SOL) is the students’ influence/impact to affect tasks and the learning environment in such a way that the students have a real opportunity to achieve learning of physics. Students’ ownership of learning (SOL) is found at two levels: Group level: At the start of a task the SOL is determined by the design of the task. The choice of task, the performance (when, how, where), the level of result and presentatio n and report have to be determined by the students themselves. Individual level: A person’s experiences and anomalies of understanding have created unique questions that can create certain aspects of the task that drive this person to be very active and highly motivated. This gives the person a high individual ownership. We developed hypotheses concerning the relation between ownership, motivation and competence and we see some evidence in the cases reported in this thesis. The importance of exploratory talks to enhance learning, and to see aspects of communication as part of the motivation are discussed in the model of ownership, motivation and competence that is proposed.

The deregulation and integration of the Nordic electricity market into the European Union's internal electricity market will have a major impact on the current Swedish energy system. In particular, Swedish hydropower, the mainstay of Swedish energy, will have a significantly different role under these new conditions. The price of electricity can logically be expected to rise and to fluctuate more on a daily basis, leading to a considerable increase in profits for suppliers as they adapt their operations.The primary purpose of this study, which forms a basis for further research, is to investigate the fundamental operational changes that will occur when profits are maximised along with their economical effects. It contains, in particular, optimisation calculations which show how hydropower plants must be operated to achieve maximum profit under these new constraints. The larger of the two main models, which have been developed to perform this analysis, represents a vital area in Indalsälven, which contains plants owned by Jämtkraft AB in Östersund, while the smaller is of Stångån with plants owned by Tekniska Verken AB in Linköping.The results show that revenue will generally double when hydropower operations are altered from the traditional yearly based focus to a more day to day focus as the border of the energy system expands and the electricity markets of today are integrated into a homogeneous deregulated European one. / Avregleringen och integreringen av den nordiska elmarknaden i unionens inre elmarknad kommer att ge stora effekter på det nuvarande svenska energisystemet. I synnerhet vattenkraften som har varit en av grundpelarna i detta, kommer att spela en signifikant annorlunda roll under dessa nya omständigheter. Priset på el kan logiskt förväntas stiga och anta en mer dygnsvarierande karaktär än tidigare vilket kommer att ge avsevärt högre vinster då producenterna kommer att anpassa driften efter detta.I den här studien som utgör ett fundament för vidare forskning utreds i första hand de grundläggande driftsändringar som kommer att inträffa då vinsten maximeras men även den ekonomiska aspekten på detsamma kartläggs. Studien omfattar i huvudsak optimerande beräkningar som visar hur vattenkraftverken kommer att drivas för att uppnå en maximal avkastning utefter dessa nya randvillkor. Modellerna som har utvecklats för att analysera detta avbildar ett stycke från Indalsälven med anläggningar ägda av Jämtkraft i Östersund som storskaligt tillämpningsexempel samt en mindre modell som beskriver ett stycke av Stångån med anläggningar ägda av Tekniska Verken i Linköping. Modellerna analyserar en mängd olika scenarion vad gäller vattentillgång med medeltillrinning samt en mängd autentiska årstillrinningar.Resultaten visar i stort att intäkten kommer att fördubblas då driften ändras från den traditionellt årsfokuserade till en mer dygnsvarierad, då systemgränserna utvidgas i och med integreringen i en europeisk avreglerad elmarknad.

This thesis concerns optimization of structures considering various uncertainties. The overall objective is to find methods to create solutions that are optimal both in the sense of handling the typical load case and minimising the variability of the response, i.e. robust optimal designs. Traditionally optimized structures may show a tendency of being sensitive to small perturbations in the design or loading conditions, which of course are inevitable. To create robust designs, it is necessary to account for all conceivable variations (or at least the influencing ones) in the design process. The thesis is divided in two parts. The first part serves as a theoretical background to the second part, the two appended articles. This first part includes the concept of robust design, basic statistics, optimization theory and meta modelling. The first appended paper is an application of existing methods on a large industrial example problem. A sensitivity analysis is performed on a Scania truck cab subjected to impact loading in order to identify the most influencing variables on the crash responses. The second paper presents a new method that may be used in robust optimizations, that is, optimizations that account for variations and uncertainties. The method is demonstrated on both an analytical example and a Finite Element example of an aluminium extrusion subjected to axial crushing. / ROBDES