Mid Sweden University

The document describes examples of missions, visions and strategies based on the potentialpiloting models defined in report 3.2. It is based on status of interest amongst thestakeholders, and the information, figures and challenges which were discussed in the reportD 2.1 Stakeholder interests. The different service models will request different missionsdepending on the stakeholder in charge of the model. Also visions and strategies could bedifferent depending on the composition of services (core business) offered within each pilot aswell as the additional services offered by sub suppliers and the network connected to the pilot.In the report D2.1 Stakeholders interests, the following 5 different piloting models aresuggested:Type 1 Joint venture of industry, retailers and contractorsType 2 Joint venture of construction/renovation, industry and architect/engineering companiesType 3 Complementary businesses expand their business into renovationType 4 Joint venture of type house producer, bank and home owner associationType 5 Energy/building consultant, real estate agent and financing institutions, e.g. bankIn this report we have described mission, vision and market strategies for 4 existing orproposed models; The Project Manager by Bolig Enøk, from Norway (type 1), ENRA concept(type 2) and K-Rauta & Rautia (type 3) from Finland, and ProjectLavenergi (type 2) fromDenmark. Cleantech by Dong Energy (type 3) from Denmark is also addressed, but notdescribed in detail. As there is no concrete examples representing two of the models fromD2.1 (types 4 and 5), we have made a theoretical exercise in developing mission, vision andmarket strategies for type 5 model, while type 4 is not handled.It may be concluded that there are commercial actors in different parts of the value chainwhich see an opportunity in developing different approaches of “one stop shops” for energyefficient holistic renovations. The concepts are still in a development phase and differ inrespect to how they are organised (as supply side). We may say that the pilots in the differentcountries also find inspiration from each other through this research project. Due to thecomplexity of a holistic renovation project, it is a prerequisite with good partnerships even inthe development phase. In all identified models there is however one main actor taking thelead and ownership to the business model.Independent of the business model the responsible company needs to make some strategicchoices. The starting point is the SWOT analysis which sums up all major challenges for therespective business model. How the strategies should be developed is described in this report.Although the main target group for this report is companies seeing an interest in developingbusiness models for renovation, we found some important issues identified in the SWOTanalysis which the authorities may influence including lack of interest in the market (need ofmore public attention through holistic campaigns), fragmented solutions (stop subsidisingsingle measures without a holistic plan), serious vs unserious companies (need of certificationsystems to build credibility), cost focus leads to limited renovation (need of subventionschemes for holistic retrofitting including tax deduction measures) and finally lack incompetence within companies (need of support to training and collaboration acrosscompanies).

Persistence of standing dead trees (snags) is an important determinant for their role for biodiversity and dead wood associated carbon fluxes. How fast snags fall varies widely among species and regions and is further influenced by a variety of stand- and tree-level factors. However, our understanding of this variation is fragmentary at best, partly due to lack of empirical data. Here, we took advantage of the accruing time series of snag observations in the Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish National Forest Inventories that have been followed in these programs since the mid-1990s. We first harmonized observations from slightly different inventory protocols and then, using this harmonized dataset of ca. 43,000 observations that had a consistent 5-year census interval, we modelled the probability of snags of the main boreal tree species Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies and Betula spp. falling, as a function of tree- and stand-level variables, using Bayesian logistic regression modelling. The models were moderately good at predicting snags remaining standing or falling, with a correct classification rate ranging from 68% to 75% among species. In general, snag persistence increased with tree size and climatic wetness, and decreased with temperature sum, advancing stage of decay, site productivity and disturbance intensity (mainly harvesting). Synthesis and applications: The effect of harvesting demonstrates that an efficient avenue to increase the amount of snags in managed forests is protecting them during silvicultural operations. In the warmer future, negative relationship between snag persistence and temperature suggests decreasing the time snags remain standing and hence decreasing habitat availability for associated species. As decomposition rates generally increase after fall, decreasing snag persistence also implies substantially faster release of carbon from dead wood. The effect of harvesting demonstrates that an efficient avenue to increase the amount of snags in managed forests is protecting them during silvicultural operations. In the warmer future, negative relationship between snag persistence and temperature suggests decreasing the time snags remain standing and hence decreasing habitat availability for associated species. As decomposition rates generally increase after fall, decreasing snag persistence also implies substantially faster release of carbon from dead wood.image

This study is an investigation of how members of the Norwegian and the Swedish parliaments relate to and perceive their relationships with the media. Based on surveys conducted among members of the Norwegian Storting and the Swedish Riksdag, we find that male MPs have more frequent and somewhat less formal relationships with media and journalists compared with female MPs. The results also suggest that male MPs have adapted to the media and their logic more than female MPs. Female MPs also appear to be more critical towards the requirements imposed on politicians who want to get media exposure, compared with male MPs. Analysis reveals that gender differences are smaller among Swedish than Norwegian MPs.

A key concept in research on the media coverage of politics is the game or strategy frame. Contrasted with coverage of politics as issues, theframing of politics as a strategic game is marked by features such as winning and losing as the central concern and a focus on how candidates or parties are doing in opinion polls. The pervasiveness of such framing is, however, disputed since (1) the way in which the frames are conceptualized and operationalized differs significantly; and (2) while some use terms such as 'game frame' and 'strategy frame' as synonymous, others argue that there is a conceptual difference between them. Against this background, this article reviews research on the media's framing ofpolitics as a strategic game, what concepts have been used, and how they have been operationalized; and suggests a synthesis and ways of improving conceptual clarity and comparability in research on the media's use of strategy and/or game frames. © SAGE Publications 2011.

The investigation was initiated because of the high workload of the sellers and, additionally, because the Tunadal sawmill has received low ratings in customer surveys. Thus,  two main approaches are adopted here,  the first being to investigate which of the three methods  of working, namely, market divided flow organization, function organizationand flow organization with collaboration, proves to be the most beneficial. The second is to investigate whether there is an available method to ease the daily work. A literature review has been made in order to determine more efficient ways for the sellers to work in the Tunadal sawmill. During the investigation, an in-depth investigation into the total quality management using a balanced scorecard as a management tool was conducted. To identify the current problems, interviews and workshops were conducted with the department members. A customer survey was sent to the customers in order to obtain some indication in relation to their opinions. The results showed that there are many unnecessary working operations such as control, duplication of work and problem solving. Communication between the various departments and individuals proved to sometimes be poor.  A major reason for the sellers’ problems regarding workload was due to the unavailability of goods on the discharge date. Many benefits are associated with the collaborative flow organization as this increases the holistic view and can assist in relation to communication. The function based method of working would, however, lead to greater isolation of the functions in the business. Very little work regarding identification of problems that occur in the processes exists and focus on working with improvements is limited. It would be advantageous to work with total quality management using the balanced scorecard as a management tool in the flow organization based on cooperation as this also promotes the holistic approach.

Keywords:Efficiency improvement, total quality management, balanced

The starting point for the study was that the Swedish Prison and Probation Service received criticism from the Committee on the Rights of the Child when it comes to children of parents who are deprived of their liberty, criticism that children travel far to visit their parents, and criticism that children who travel far may not automatically extend their visit to certain institutions. At the same time, research has pointed to challenges and important conditions for considering the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the prison service. In a Swedish context, after the Convention on the Rights of the Child becomes law in Sweden in 2020, the organizational development with regard to fulfilling children's rights in the public sector has been relatively unexplored. The research aims to fill part of that knowledge gap. The purpose of the study is to see how the Swedish Prison and Probation Service develops with regard to compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The issues focus on how the prison service improves its activities in order to constantly consider the Convention on the Rights of the Child in matters concerning children. The study was conducted through a qualitative study. Data collection for this study was done through semi-structured interviews, nine respondents who are children's representatives at different levels in the hierarchy in the region west. The study shows that the Swedish Prison and Probation Service controls processes centrally from above by informing legislation, national guidelines for communicating how the Convention on the Rights of the Child is taken into account to regions and then to local units. Then each unit interprets the guidelines in the way that suits the unit type, such as detention, institution, or probation. The study shows that more cooperation is needed between different authorities to promote work for the best interests of the child. According to the study, however, it is not enough to consider children's conventions in the handbooks or through training, but there must be a personal commitment on the part of employees considered customer-oriented.

A novel three-layer anode having the composition Ti/TiHx/Ni-Sb-SnO2 (Ti/TiHx/NATO) was successfully prepared by a spin-coating and pyrolysis process aiming at a long service lifetime and good electrocatalytic properties for ozone formation. The TiHx as an interlayer was produced by electrochemical cathodic reduction of a coated layer of the TiOx on the titanium substrate. Spin coating and thermal decomposition were used to deposit the Sn-Sb-Ni precursor on the surface of the prepared Ti/TiHx electrode. Cyclic and linear scanning voltammetry, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to reveal the electrode performance and morphology. Results show that the onset potential for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) of Ti/TiHx /NATO is higher than for Ti/NATO. They also indicate that the service lifetime of the Ti/TiHx/NATO is twice as long as the Ti/NATO at a current density of 50 mA.cm(-2) at room temperature. Electrochemical ozone generation and degradation of the methylene blue were investigated to confirm selectivity and activity of the electrodes. After 5 min electrolysis, a current efficiency for ozone generation of 56% was obtained the electrode with TiHx while 38% was obtained on Ti/NATO under same conditions. The results also confirm that the Ti/TiH x /NATO has a higher kinetic rate constant and decolorization efficiency for removal of the methylene blue compare to the Ti/NATO. The rate constant for the pseudo-first ordered reaction of methylene blue degradation showed high values of 350 x 10(-3) min(-1) for Ti/NATO and 440 x 10(-3) min(-1) for Ti/TiHx/NATO. 

Due to challenges such as sustainability and increasing carbon footprint, there is a growing demand to replace fossil-based materials with green sustainable alternatives like cellulosic materials. However, unmodified cellulosic materials often encounter issues like high wettability and low mechanical strength that limit their applicability. To overcome these drawbacks, functionalization and modification are crucial and inevitable. Reported methods often involve toxic/harsh conditions or reagents, and multi-step processes. The focus of this thesis is on the fabrication, functionalization, and modification of cellulosic materials through facile and eco-friendly approaches to enhance their properties and broaden their potential applications.

We started with immobilizing copper nanoparticles on controlled pore glass substrate and used it as a recyclable heterogenous catalyst for the copper-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC). Focusing on sustainability, we also employed cellulosic materials as catalyst supports. First, cellulose was functionalized using a mild organocatalytic approach. Then, copper or palladium nanoparticles were immobilized onto the functionalized cellulose and used as effective recyclable heterogeneous catalysts in different reactions.

Direct esterification of CNC materials with thioglycolic acid was performed enabling us to introduce thiol groups onto CNC materials. The reaction occurred under mild conditions using natural nontoxic organic acid as an organocatalyst. The method was applied on different CNC materials, producing the corresponding thiol-functionalized CNC materials. The thiol-functionalized CNC was used as a heterogeneous recyclable reducing agent to reduce Cu(II) to Cu(I), which is the active form of copper in CuAAC. The prepared thiol-functionalized CNC materials further functionalized with attaching UV active molecules via thiol-ene click chemistry.

Lactic acid (LA) functionalized CNFs were prepared by using an ecofriendly one-step reaction method in high yields. This was achieved by converting pulp fibers into nanofibrillated cellulose lactate under mild conditions, using LA as both reaction media and catalyst. The process was concurrent and involved an autocatalytic esterification reaction without using metal-based or harsh acid catalysts. Moreover, the LA media were recycled and reused in multiple reaction cycles. 

In the fourth study, strong hydrophobic cellulosic materials were prepared via a facile, scalable and eco-friendly method. The method involves a betulin treatment and hot-pressing processes. First, a water-based betulin formulation was developed and used for the treatment of cellulosic materials. The betulin-treated samples were then hot-pressed. Hot-pressing altered the morphologies and led to dense structures. Moreover, it caused a polymorphic transformation of the betulin particles. Water contact angle and tensile tests revealed that the applied betulin/hot-pressing treatment method noticeably enhanced the samples’ hydrophobicities as well as their tensile strengths. Furthermore, a synergistic effect was noticed between the hot-pressing, betulin treatment, and sulfonation during the pulping process.

Densified and strong large veneers were fabricated via a facile and scalable method. The method involves a combination of chemical modifications of aspen veneers followed by hot-pressing. The study showed that hot-pressing enhanced the tensile strengths. The chemical modifications further improved the efficiency of the hot-pressing, resulting in higher tensile strengths. The chemical modifications changed the wood’s composition promoting wood softening and increasing the bonding. Since the method uses convenient and mild treatments combined with continuous hot-pressing, it enables the processing of large samples. It can also lower time/energy consumption, production costs and the environmental impact.

Celulose nanofibers are lightweight, recycable, biodegradable, and renewable. Hence, there is a great interest of using them instead of fossil-based components in new materials and biocomposites. In this study, we disclose an environmentally benign (green) one-step reaction approach to fabricate lactic acid ester functionalized cellulose nanofibrils from wood-derived pulp fibers in high yields. This was accomplished by converting wood-derived pulp fibers to nanofibrillated “cellulose lactate” under mild conditions using lactic acid as both the reaction media and catalyst. Thus, in parallel to the cellulose nanofibril production, concurrent lactic acid-catalyzed esterification of lactic acid to the cellulose nanofibers surface occured. The direct lactic acid esterification, which is a surface selective functionalization and reversible (de-attaching the ester groups by cleavage of the ester bonds), of the cellulose nanofibrils was confirmed by low numbers of degree of substitution, and FT-IR analyses. Thus, autocatalytic esterification and cellulose hydrolysis occurred without the need of metal based or a harsh mineral acid catalysts, which has disadvantages such as acid corrosiveness and high recovery cost of acid. Moreover, adding a mineral acid as a co-catalyst significantly decreased the yield of the nanocellulose. The lactic acid media is successfully recycled in multiple reaction cycles producing the corresponding nanocellulose fibers in high yields. The disclosed green cellulose nanofibril production route is industrial relevant and gives direct access to nanocellulose for use in variety of applications such as sustainable filaments, composites, packaging and strengthening of recycled fibers. 

There is a growing demand for the utilization of sustainable materials, such as cellulose-based alternatives, over fossil-based materials. However, the inherent drawbacks of cellulosic materials, such as extremely low wet strength and resistance to moisture, need significant improvements. Moreover, several of the commercially available wet-strength chemicals and hydrophobic agents for cellulosic material treatment are toxic or fossil-based (e.g., epichlorohydrin and fluorocarbons). Herein, we present an eco-friendly, high-yield, industrially relevant, and scalable method inspired by birch bark for fabricating hydrophobic and strong cellulosic materials. This was accomplished by combining simple surface modification of cellulosic fibers in water using colloidal particles of betulin, an abundant triterpene extracted from birch bark, with sustainable chemical engineering (e.g., lignin modification and hot-pressing). This led to a transformative process that not only altered the morphology of the cellulosic materials into a more dense and compact structure but also made them hydrophobic (contact angles of up to >130°) with the betulin particles undergoing polymorphic transformations from prismatic crystals (betulin III) to orthorhombic whiskers (betulin I). Significant synergistic effects are observed, resulting in a remarkable increase in wet strength (>1400%) of the produced hydrophobic cellulosic materials.

In this work, photoresponsive nanomechanical systems were prepared through the intercalation of positively charged photoswitching molecular jacks (azobenzene ionic liquids, Azo-ILs) within montmorillonite (MMT) layers (MMT@Azo-ILs). The study shows that MMT@Azo-ILs are photosensitive and the synthesized molecular jacks could change the basal distances of MMT layers upon UV irradiation. These changes come from changes in the structure and geometry of Azo molecules (i.e., cis-trans isomerization) between clay layers upon UV irradiation. The prepared photoresponsive nanomechanical systems were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). Moreover, the in vitro release studies were performed in different conditions (upon UV irradiation and darkness) in pH 5.8 at 34 ± 1 °C, and it was found that the release rates from drug loaded MMT@Azo-ILs were higher upon UV irradiation in comparison with the release rates in darkness. According to the release studies, the prepared photoresponsive carriers might be considered as an excellent potential candidate in order to formulate smart sunscreens. © 2017 American Chemical Society.

We herein report that supported copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) on commercially available controlled pore glass (CPG), which exhibit high mechanical, thermal and chemical stability as compared to other silica-based materials, serve as a useful heterogeneous catalyst system for 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions (“click” reactions) between terminal alkynes and organic azides under green chemistry conditions. The supported CuNPs-CPG catalyst exhibited a broad substrate scope and gave the corresponding triazole products in high yields. The CuNPs-CPG catalyst exhibit recyclability and could be reuced multiple times without contaminating the products with Cu. 

In the present study, the conversion performance of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) to elemental sulfur in ionic-liquid-incorporated transition metals (ILTMs) is predicted using a conductor-like screening model for realistic solvents (COSMO-RS). The predictions were made via the establishment of a correlation between the conversion performance and solubility of H2S in ionic liquids (ILs). All molecules involved were optimized at the DFT/TZVP/M06 computational level and imported on the COSMOtherm program at equimolar conditions. For validation purposes, the solubility of ILs was predicted at 1 bar pressure. Simple regression analysis was used to establish a relationship between the solubility and conversion performance of H2S. The results indicate that the solubility prediction of ILs is accurate (R-2 = 93.40%) with a p-value of 0.0000000777. Additionally, the conversion performance is generally found to be dependent on the solubility value. Furthermore, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [bmim][Cl] was chosen as the base IL for incorporating the transition metal, owing to its solubility and selectivity to H2S. The solubility trend of ILTMs is found to follow the following order: [bmim][NiCl3] > [bmim][FeCl4] > [bmim][CoCl3] > [bmim][CuCl3]. According to the viscosity measurements of ILTMs, [bmim][NiCl3] and [bmim][FeCl4] exhibited the highest and lowest viscosity values, respectively. Therefore, [bmim][FeCl4] is a promising ILTM owing to its higher solubility and low viscosity for the application studied.

In this paper we present an integrating CMOS Active Pixel Sensor (APS) circuit to be used with scintillator type X-ray sensors for intra oral dental X-ray imaging systems. Different pixel architectures were constructed to explore their performance characteristics and to study the feasibility of the development of such systems using the CMOS technology. A prototype 64×80 pixel array has been implemented in a CMOS 0.8 μm double poly n-well process with a pixel pitch of 50 μm. A spectral sensitivity measurement for the different pixels topologies, as well as measured X-ray direct absorption in the different APSs are presented. A measurement of the output signal showed a good linearity over a wide dynamic range. This chip showed that the very low sensitivity of the CMOS APSs to direct X-ray exposure adds a great advantage to the various CMOS advantages over CCD-based imaging systems.

We present in this paper an integrating CMOS Active Pixel Sensor (APS) circuit coated with scintillator type sensors for intra-oral dental X-ray imaging systems. The photosensing element in the pixel is formed by the p-diffusion on the n-well diode. The advantage of this photosensor is its very low direct absorption of X-rays compared to the other available photosensing elements in the CMOS pixel. The pixel features an integrating capacitor in the feedback loop of a preamplifier of a finite gain in order to increase the optical sensitivity. To verify the effectiveness of this in-pixel preamplification, a prototype 32 x 80 element CMOS active pixel array was implemented in a 0.8 mum CMOS double poly, n-well process with a pixel pitch of 50 mum. Measured results confirmed the improved optical sensitivity performance of the APS. Various measurements on device performance are presented.

Hybrid pixel array detectors for X-ray imaging are based on different technologies for sensor and readout electronics. The readout electronics are based on standard CMOS technologies that are experiencing continuously rapid improvements by means of down-scaling the feature sizes, which in turn lead to higher transistor densities, lower power consumption, and faster circuits. For pixel-array imaging sensors the improvements in CMOS technology opens up new possibilities of integrating more functionality in the pixels for local processing of the sensor data. However, new issues related to the tight integration of both analog and digital processing circuits within the small area of a pixel must also be evaluated.

The advantages of down-scaling the CMOS technology can be utilized to increase the spatial resolution by reducing the pixel sizes. Recent research indicates however that the bottleneck in reaching further spatial resolution in X-ray imaging sensors may not be limited by the circuit area occupied by the functions necessary in the pixels, but are instead related to problems associated with charge-sharing of charges generated by the sensor which are distributed over a neighbourhood of pixels and will limit the spatial resolution and lead to a distortion of the energy spectrum. In this thesis a mechanism to be implemented in the readout circuits is proposed in order to suppress the charge-sharing effects. The proposed architecture and its circuit implementation are evaluated with respect to circuit complexity (area) and power consumption. For a photon-counting pixel it is demonstrated that the complete pixel, with charge-sharing suppression mechanism, can be implemented using 300 transistors with an idle power consumption of 2.7μW in a 120nm CMOS technology operating with a 1.2V power supply.

The improvements in CMOS technology can also be used for increasing the range of applications for X-ray imaging sensors. In this thesis, an architecture is proposed for multiple energy discrimination, called color X-ray imaging. The proposed solution is the result of balancing the circuit complexity and the image quality. The method is based on color sub-sampling with intensity biasing. For three-level energy discrimination, that corresponds to color imaging systems for visible light with R, G, and B color components, the increase in circuit complexity will be only 20% higher than that for the Bayer method but results in significantly better image quality.

As the circuit complexity in the digital processing within each pixel is increased, the digitally induced noise may play an increasingly important role for the signal-to-noise ratio in the measurements. In this thesis an initial study is conducted regarding how the digital switching noise affects the analog amplifiers in the photon-counting pixel.

This work proposes an efficient circuit implementation of a mechanism for charge-sharing suppression in photon-counting pixel arrays based on current-mode circuits for the analog parts. The additional circuits needed for charge-sharing suppression in a four-pixel cluster, leads to an increase in power consumption of 36% and only a marginal increase in circuit area. The implemented pixel with window-discrimination, managing charge-sharing in a four-pixel cluster and with an event-counter of 13 bits, consists of 300 transistors and has a power consumption of 2.7 μW when idle. It is implemented in a 120nm CMOS process and the presented results are based on simulations.

This paper proposes an area- and power-efficient implementation of the read-out electronics for color X-ray pixel detectors for imaging. Introducing multiple levels of energy discrimination will increase the complexity of the read-out electronics in each pixel. The proposed architecture has full resolution for the intensity and reduced resolution for the energy spectrum (color), which leads to a good compromise of image quality and circuit complexity. We show that the increase in complexity, compared to single energy-range pixel, will lead to increase in circuit area of less than 20%.

To understand how different design solutions affect users, designers traditionally use different evaluation methods that mainly rely on conscious feedback from the users. However, the complexity of human behaviour, where a large part is unconscious, point to a need for an extended tool box addressing the part not accessible to human conscious knowledge. Here, we describe a design research lab where traditional methods are complemented with tools to measure physiological signals influenced by emotional and sympathetic responses. These tools include galvanic skin response (GSR), electrocardiograph (ECG), and electroencephalograph (EEG). Typical sessions with acquired data of conscious and unconscious user reactions are described. The large body of data collected, which also require non-design expertise for interpretation, suggest that a further development towards simplified output data of the unconscious reactions is needed to allow wider use within industrial design work.

This paper describes a generalized architecture for real-time component labeling and computation of image component features. Computing real-time image component features is one of the most important paradigms for modern machine vision systems. Embedded machine vision systems demand robust performance, power efficiency as well as minimum area utilization. The presented architecture can easily be extended with additional modules for parallel computation of arbitrary image component features. Hardware modules for component labeling and feature calculation run in parallel. This modularization makes the architecture suitable for design automation. Our architecture is capable of processing 390 video frames per second of size 640x480 pixels. Dynamic power consumption is 24.20mW at 86 frames per second on a Xilinx Spartran6 FPGA.

Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka om värmeenergin från CO2 kyl-/frysaggregat i en livsmedelsbutik kan motsvara värmeenergibehovet till butiken och byggnaden samt undersöka möjligheten att minska vattenförbrukningen till att nödkyla värmeväxlare.  Genom litteraturstudie och datainsamling av relevanta parametrar, beräknades värmeenergibehovet för byggnaden, butiken och den producerade värmeenergin från kylanläggningen. En energibalansberäkning utfördes för att verifiera resultat och kartlägga hur värmeenergin fördelas i de olika delarna av värmeåtervinningskretsen. En förbättringsåtgärd presenterats för att sänka värmeåtervinnings returledningstemperatur och med det kan vattenförbrukningen minskas.

Nonwoven fibrous materials with reticular support of an interconnected fiber network and a tortuous airflow pathway have been commonly used in filtration applications. To meet the criteria of filter efficiency and performance, the filter materials are recommended to contain different types of fibers such as mechanical pulp fibers, microfibrillated cellulose, cellulose nanofibers, and other polymer or synthetic fibers with a range of dimensions, i.e., length and diameter. Cellulose fibers in filter media possess irregular and complex structures with hollow or collapsed lumen structures owing to their refinement or pulping method. The development of an appropriate filter media model requires information on actual fiber characteristics. In this study, a simulation method was used to investigate the complex microstructures of filter media. The physical parameters such as fiber wall thickness, diameter, length, cross-section shapes, and curliness were obtained from fiber analyzers and scanning electron microscopy. Based on the experimental findings, GeoDict database comprising different types of common fiber models was constructed. 3-Dimensional fibrous models corresponding to the wet-laid binderless filter material were generated. Using the GeoDict modules, the pore size distributions, average pore sizes, air permeability, pressure drop and initial filter efficiency simulations were performed. The simulation results appear to be in close agreement with the experimental results. The incorporation of cellulose nanofibers resulted in reduced average pore sizes and air permeability of the filter material, thus enhancing the initial filter efficiency. The filter media developed a biobased material derived from pulp fibers for advanced applications such as medical facemask, and air filtration purposes.

In today's society, many IT organizations have strived to implement system development to improve and streamline information management in an effort to streamline the entire organization. The first step in system development is to identify the problems experienced by the company. This study focuses on studying delivery systems at IT companies in order to identify problems and quality shortcomings in that system. The delivery system is used daily by employees at the fall company. It was noted that several problems have arisen when the system is not automated. Employees have different problems that they want to avoid. For example, employees must enter manually to change what has been generated by the system. This leads to waste times and increases the risk of failure. Research in the areas of system development and process development stresses the importance of developing or improving IT processes to achieve the required quality. The study has been conducted by observing and interviewing employees who work with the delivery system. The results of this study present three major problems that the system has today. These are installation guide, system usability and requirement specification. The Installation Wizard is a document that consists of all modules to be installed at the customer for the version to be released along with other necessary information about the deliveries or modules. This document is not generated by the system today but is manually created by the employees. This requires a lot of manual work and time to check and make sure they have got them all. Regarding the second issue, the current system lacks some features that make usability very complex and that takes time to learn how it works. Finally, the company has no clear requirement management process, which means that the company delivers a module or service that does not meet its requirements and expectations. The study also represents solutions to address these issues.  

Today Delta Terminal AB rents a warehouse, the expenses of the warehouse are much higher than the income and therefore Delta Terminal Ab wants to relocate the warehouse to a different building that they own. The current warehouse is approximately 7900 𝑚2and the intended local is 6400𝑚2. Because of the differ-ence in size between the two warehouses, it is important that the products are placed so that the bearing surface is filled as much as possible without damag-ing the products. To reduce the driving distance in the warehouse the products are placed after a categorization technique called double ABC-analysis, where the delivery frequency is the main factor. To verify that the products fit in the warehouse calculations were made on the fill rate, a localization and product placement were also made based on the categorization. The information is taken from a literature review, scientific articles, previous studies, discussions with the staff at Delta Terminal AB and from each client who has a product in the warehouse. The study shows that the products Delta Terminal AB has in stock will not fit in the intended warehouse and that Delta Terminal AB needs at least 48 m2 to store leftover products.

Pollution of the drinking water environment has long been thought to be a primary cause of diseases. According to environmental research, there is a global water quality crisis. From an environmental stand point, eutrophication or accumulation of nitrates in wastewater are expected to cause high ammonium, low pH and increased nitrate concentrations [Koren et al. 2000] which are a critical form of nitrogen that needs our attention. This study considers the case of eutrophication in south-west Iran. This region is located in the Khuzestan province and consists of two basins (Karun and Dez) which can be seen as susceptible to the effect of eutrophication. This paper analyses the environmental pollution impact, economic, and social approaches of two waste water treatment plants. The case study focuses on a waste water treatment plant operated by activated sludge in Iran and the reference study is technology combined Sharon-Anammox treatment in Netherlands. The environmental impact assessment of these Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs) has been analyzed by a Triple Bottom Line method. The hypothesis is to prove a general and specific outlook of the lowest environmental emissions, the lowest costs and creation of better welfare. The other method applied in this study is the barriers of transferring technology. The results show that the combined Sharon-Anammox method is able to significantly reduce the environmental impact based on the methods applied in this study.In this study, the generally considered barriers are problems of methods of transferring combined Sharon-Anammox technology to Iran and the possible obstacles that may be encountered in the transfer of technology to Iran. The result of this study is estimated with respect to an evaluation of political, environmental, economic, social, and technological capacity. The result is that most potential problems are political and economic in nature, which may be because these two issues are so closely related to each other. In this case, lack of management is a problem in the institution of policy, and could affect the economic situation. In fact each of the barriers could be overlapped and affect each other. Regarding all barriers and problems that are in the process of transferring technology, Iran as a developing country would be able to receive technologies.

In this paper, we design a navigation policy for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) where mobile base stations (BSs) are deployed to improve the data freshness and connectivity to the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. First, we formulate an energy-efficient trajectory optimization problem in which the objective is to maximize the energy efficiency by optimizing the UAV-BS trajectory policy. We also incorporate different contextual information such as energy and age of information (AoI) constraints to ensure the data freshness at the ground BS. Second, we propose an agile deep reinforcement learning with experience replay model to solve the formulated problem concerning the contextual constraints for the UAV-BS navigation. Moreover, the proposed approach is well-suited for solving the problem, since the state space of the problem is extremely large and finding the best trajectory policy with useful contextual features is too complex for the UAV-BSs. By applying the proposed trained model, an effective real-time trajectory policy for the UAV-BSs captures the observable network states over time. Finally, the simulation results illustrate the proposed approach is 3.6 % and 3.13 % more energy efficient than those of the greedy and baseline deep Q Network (DQN) approaches. 

Teleoperation is increasingly valued for its costeffectiveness and safety benefits in managing workflows acrossindustries like harbor automation, construction, transportationand logistics, mining, and forestry. Ensuring the safe operation ofheavy machinery involves effectively transferring and visualizingthe vehicle’s state and surroundings to remote operators for realtime tasks. Multi-camera video-based environment perceptionand state knowledge are crucial but bandwidth-intensive. Toaddress this, integrating computing functions at the edge isvital. This paper presents ”edge on wheels,” a system designusing the YOLO model for object detection/depth perceptiontasks. We divide the design into edge and cloud components,where offloading decisions on edge and cloud are based onworkload, task priority, and network quality. Finally, we discusschallenges and future enhancements for real-time object detectionin teleoperated driving scenarios.

The objective of this study is to improve the efficiency and accuracy of YOLO models by optimizing them, particularly when faced with limited computing resources. The urgent need for near realtime object recognition in applications such as surveillance systems and autonomous driving underscores the significance of processing speed and exceptional accuracy. The thesis focuses on the difficulties of implementing complex object identification models on low-capacity devices, namely the Jetson Orin Nano. It suggests many optimization methods to overcome these obstacles. We performed several trials and made methodological improvements to decrease processing requirements while maintaining strong object detecting performance. Key components of the research include meticulous model training, the use of assessment criteria, and the investigation of optimization effects on model performance in reallife settings. The study showcases the feasibility of achieving optimal performance in YOLO models despite limited resources, bringing substantial advancements in computer vision and machine learning.

The accelerated move towards the adoption of the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) paradigm has resulted in numerous shortcomings as far as security is concerned. One of the IIoT affecting critical security threats is what is termed as the ” False Data Injection” (FDI) attack. The FDI attacks aim to mislead the industrial platforms by falsifying their sensor measurements. FDI attacks have successfully overcome the classical threat detection approaches. In this study, we present a novel method of FDI attack detection using Autoencoders (AEs). We exploit the sensor data correlation in time and space, which in turn can help identify the falsified data. Moreover, the falsified data are cleaned using the denoising AEs. Performance evaluation proves the success of our technique in detecting FDI attacks. It also significantly outperforms a support vector machine (SVM) based approach used for the same purpose. The denoising AE data cleaning algorithm is also shown to be very effective in recovering clean data from corrupted (attacked) data.

With OCR technologies the text in a form can be read, the position of each word and its contents can be extracted, however the relation between the words cannot be understood. This thesis aims to solve the problem of enriching data from a structured form without any pre-set configuration using clustering. This is done using the method of a quantitative measurement of a developed prototype counting correctly clustered text boxes and a qualitative evaluation. The prototype works by feeding an image of an unfilled form and another image of a filled form which contains the data to be enriched to an OCR engine. The OCR engine extracts the text and its positions which is then run through a post-processing step which together with a modified Euclidean and fuzzy string search algorithm, both together is able to cluster field names and field values in the filled in form image. The result of the prototype for three different form structures and 15 different images for each structure ranges from 100% to 92% accuracy depending on form structure. This thesis successfully was able to show the possibility of clustering together names and values in a form i.e., enriching data from the form.

The overall goal for the projekt was to create a website with booking-functionality for Kristinehamnsortens biodlareförening, an organisation for beekeepers in and around Kristinehamns municipality. The website was created using PHP, SASS and JavaScript, with a REST-api for booking beekeeping-equipment written in PHP and connected to a MySQL-database. Through the REST-api functionality was created to allow members of the organisation to make reservations for renting equipment as well as the ability for the board members to log in to an admin-page and see the reservations made. The webside was design in a modular fashing where content can easily be added into modules of differens sizes, to make adding, editing and deleting content simple and seamless. The projects work was evaluated on teams with a couple of members from the organisation, where minor changes to the color and size was made for certain elements. The choice to create a REST-api for this purpose proved to be superfluous, and the login-funktionality was instead created using a direct connection to the database. There are also plans to in the future convert the bookingsystem to be a direct connect as well.

This report reviews the work done during the project carried out at the company Learn2Esport. The company has designed a platform for education in e-sports called Gameplan. The purpose of the project has been to implement a new design for the platform's pages that contain the product packages. The goal is to make these pages clearer and more user-friendly, which is important for administrators and the company's efficiency. The development has been done in React with the scripting language TypeScript. The work has involved a reconstruction of the index page that prints all packages as well as the implementation of sub-pages for each package. For each sub-page, four tabs have been created where different data related to the package is printed under each tab.

Digital technology offers new ways to meet patients, which is more relevant than ever during thecurrent pandemic. The digitalisation is mainly intended to make healthcare more efficient in orderto treat more patients. Previous research suggests that the human aspect of digitalisation hasreceived less attention than technical issues. The new technology brings new ways for thehealthcare profession to carry out its work. The purpose of this study is to investigate how theemployee experience a digitized work process in a primary care setting.This qualitative study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with six informantswithin a private primary care group in Västernorrland. The Primary care organisation is at thebeginning of their digitization journey and when interviewed, only a few employees had tried howit is like to work digitally. The collected material has been clarified through a content analysisfocusing on the content of three of the cornerstones in the cornerstone model; quality (continuousimprovement), participation and the customer value.The study reveals that the informants feel that a digitized way of working can provide time savingsthrough more effective assessments. At present, however, the new technology is not perceived ascompletely reliable and needs to be improved to function as intended. In the digital work process,the informants believe that the nurse will probably play a more central role. The interviewees alsobelieve that trust in each other, clear roles and that everyone is well informed about what the digitalwork process sustains, is of great importance.

Purpose

Quality management and Lean initiatives are currently widespread in the Swedish municipal sector. It is also made clear that all Lean initiatives should be initiated to benefit the customer and not for internal organizational reasons. However, the practices currently used for understanding value creation in the municipalities tend to focus heavily on the use of numerical, quantitative approaches. In sharp contrast, the growing field of, for example, design thinking argue that qualitative approaches are key when it comes to getting closer to the citizens, establishing new levels of understanding and thereby inspiring new and better solutions. In sum, it seems likely that municipalities are struggling with developing quality due to relying, in too one-sided on the use of quantitative rather than qualitative approaches to understand and spark new levels of value creation. The purpose of this paper is to contribute with a review of research concerning qualitative approaches for understanding and co-creating value in municipal quality development.

Methodology/Approach The paper is based on a literature review.

Findings The paper provides an overview of previous research concerning practices for evaluating and understanding value creation in the context of a municipal quality development.

Value of the paper

This overview is of value for practitioners within the context, as well as researchers that wants to contribute within this area.

Genom att kartlägga smältugnarna och dess kylvattensystem inom Åkers Sweden AB har en studie genomförts för att analysera vilken potential det finns till att ytterligare återvinna överskottsenergi. Detta har genomförts för att uppfylla de av Sverige ställda miljö- och energi-mål till år 2030 som dels handlar om att vi behöver energieffektivisera våra processer och tillföra mindre energi för att uppnå samma resultat som tidigare.

Uppdraget är genomfört på uppdrag av Åkers Ledningsgrupp som önskar förstå om det finns tekniska och ekonomiska förutsättningar att starta upp ett projekt för att investera i ett energilager. Överskottsenergi som idag inte kan tillvaratas kyls bort med sjövatten vilket kan betraktas som ett rent energislöseri.

Resultatet påvisar att det finns en potential till att återvinna ytterligare 2 GWh överskottsenergi vilka är möjliga att lagra i ett energilager till en investeringskostnad på 21 MSEK.

Min vetenskapliga undersökning grundade sig i mitt intresse för platser tillsammans med mitt intresse för grafisk formgivning, ch om det går att göra en tydlig visuell identitet som bidrar till hur platsen känns, då känslan ofta är individuell. I den vetenskapliga undersökning undersöktes tre platsvarumärken i Västernorrland kvantitativt, de tre är Sundsvall, Timrå och Härnösand. Då jag är född, uppvuxen och numera återigen bosatt i Härnösand, ville jag skapa ett nytt platsvarumärke som stämmer överens med hur Härnösand faktiskt är, i varje fall för mig och många i mitt umgänge.

Total quality development has become a strongly recurring concept within organizations, which requires that quality work be integrated throughout the organization in order to achieve success. Continuous improvement work is critical in quality development to maintain competitiveness; companies that do not improve risk falling behind. Effective organizations that continuously improve tend to have a pervasive organizational culture characterized by job satisfaction, a certain leadership behavior and an ability to retain their employees. An adaptation of the quality work according to the organization's specific needs leads to profitability, sustainability and customer satisfaction. The implementation of continuous improvements plays a decisive role in shaping the company's organizational culture and affects both employees and managers. The purpose of this study was to explore how employees and manager in a group within a private company experience how work with continuous improvements takes place and how employees and manager experience that continuous improvements contribute to developing the organizational culture in the company. 

The data collection method for this study was quantitative with a qualitative element. A survey was conducted with closed survey questions and two open questions. The respondents for the survey were employees in a group within a private IT company. In addition, a qualitative semi-structured interview was held with the manager of the selected group. The result of this study showed that there is a consistently high degree of perceived improvement work and a strong organizational culture.  Being able to work with continuous improvements to adapt to the changes continues to be important for both employees and managers. 

Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie var att genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer med fem matematiklärare undersöka hur, varför och när lärarna väljer att använda digitala verktyg vid problemlösning i matematik. Detta är relevant på grund av ökade krav att använda digitala verktyg i skolan och för att forskning pekat ut nödvändigheten av att de digitala verktygen används på rätt sätt i undervisningen. Det teoretiska ramverket TPACK (teknisk, pedagogisk och ämnesmässig kunskap) har använts för att analysera lärarnas intervjusvar för att synliggöra i vilken grad lärarna besitter teknisk, pedagogisk och ämnesmässig kunskap och vilken betydelse dessa kunskaper har för den undervisning som innefattar digitala verktyg i samband med problemlösning. Resultatet i denna studie visar att digitala verktyg är ett stöd för läraren i undervisningen eftersom dessa kan öka elevernas motivation för ämnet. Genom att använda digitala verktyg kan läraren också lättare individanpassa sin undervisning för de elever som har svårt för matematik eller för de som behöver mer utmanande uppgifter. Lärarna måste på egen hand införskaffa den kunskap som krävs gällande de digitala verktygen för att kunna bedriva en så bra matematikundervisning som möjligt, vilket lärarna upplever som problematiskt. Det är tydligt att avsaknaden av utbildning om digitala verktyg hos lärarna är ett problem då de måste utbilda sig själva om de skulle behöva det.

Den här studien är en kvalitativ studie med intervjuer och observationer som datainsamlingsmetod. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur elevers motivation påverkas om fysisk aktivitet används i undervisningen inom ämnet biologi. Studien undersöker också om elevers inre och yttre motivation påverkas om fysiska aktiviteter används i undervisningen. Denna undersökning är relevant eftersom elever har visat en negativ attityd gentemot ämnet biologi och att intresset för att vidareutbilda sig inom ämnet är lågt. Det teoretiska ramverk som används för studien är SDT (Self-determination the-ory), med de tre komponenterna, självbestämmande, kompetens och tillhörighet. Detta ramverk har använts för att skapa intervjufrågor och observationsprotokoll och för att sortera och analysera den data som framkommit under studiens gång. Undersökningens röda tråd utgår från dessa tre komponenter i det avseende att intervjuer, observationer, analys och diskussion är uppbyggda efter dessa. Resultatet i studien visar att elevernas motivation påverkas positivt om fysisk aktivitet används i undervisningen. Resultatet visar också att eleverna i större utsträckning drivs av inre motivation vid fysiska uppgifter, medan de vid teoretiska uppgifter främst drivs av yttre motivation. Det är tydligt att lärarna i större utsträckning måste individanpassa sin undervisning för att gynna elevers motivation.

The following report reflects a degree project carried out at Solör Bioenergi, the project has aimed to evaluate the high proportion of unburned that occurs during their combustion. Solör owns the plant in Nora and supplies the town with district heating. This is done by burning biomass and the fuel consists of sawdust and stemwood chips. During a large part of the heating season, these fuels are mixed with each other. But during the warm season, only sawdust is burned. For the evaluation, information from course literature has been collected. Together with studying of research reports, they have helped to gather knowledge for the project and what factors can affect an combustion. The results of the literature study have been compared with a performed current situation analysis together with several interviews with operating technicians, plant managers and external contractors. This working methodology has created an overall picture of combustion in the boiler and has enabled the design of a list of proposed measures. The list can be found in a separate section, together with a financial calculation. The reliability of the recommended measures has also been confirmed with a test run, where applied theory has improved combustion. A general conclusion that can be drawn after the work shows how important a good process control is for increased fuel utilization, this can be summarized with the basic rule for the design of control systems:

-What can be automated, should be automated.