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We present an overview of the local environmental development of the valley of Hjaltadalur, situated in Skagafjorour, northern Iceland. The aim of this study is to increase the knowledge about the valley region before and during human settlement in the ninth century. Four mires were investigated after which the Viovik peat bog was selected as the main site for evaluating changes in climate and landscape. The master core from Viovik (V-325) was dated and studied further through sediment analysis, loss-on-ignition (LOI), and pollen analysis. According to the age-depth model, based on three radiocarbon dates and analysis of two tephra layers, the 325 cm long Viovik core comprises approximately 5500 years. In the pollen percentage record, there is a decrease in birch (Betula) and an increase in grass (Poaceae) in the central part of the core, between Hekla 3 horizon at c. 2800 BP and the next dated level at c. 2000 BP. This change corresponds well with previously outlined environmental fluctuations, showing a transition from warm and dry climate to cool and humid climate at this time. Human activity is mainly reflected by a distinct peak in Lactucae pollen in the uppermost part of the core. This change in vegetation corresponds with earlier studies, showing that the vegetation changed dramatically after the colonization of Iceland in the ninth century (during Landnam period, 870-930 AD). The present study shows that a decline in birch started well before human settlement, although the subsequent Viking Age and later settlements continued the deforestation trend., Titel in accepted manuscript: Environment and climate change during the late Holocene in Hjaltadalur, Skagafjörður, north Iceland, interpreted from peat core analyses and pollen identification, Hólarannsóknin

Background. Parkinsons disease is a neurodegenerative condition with both physical and mental consequences that affect many aspects of everyday life. Persons with Parkinsons disease and their care partners want guidance from healthcare services in order to develop skills to adjust to life with a long-term condition. The Swedish National Parkinson School is a dyadic self-management programme to support both persons with Parkinsons disease and care partners. Objective. To assess the outcomes of the Swedish National Parkinson School as reported by participants. Design. A quasi-experimental case-control study in clinical care using self-reported questionnaires. Participants. Swedish National Parkinson School was offered by health care professionals working in clinical care. Participants in the programme were also asked to participate in the study. A matched control group was recruited for a comparison of findings. In total, 92 persons with Parkinsons disease and 55 care partners were included. Settings. Five Swedish geriatric and neurologic outpatient clinics. Method. Data were collected during 2015-2017, before and after participation in the National Parkinson School or before and after seven weeks of standard care. Outcomes were assessed using generic and Parkinsons specific questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were used to describe baseline characteristics. Mann-Whitney U and Chi(2) tests were used to test for between-group differences and within-group differences were tested by the Wilcoxon signed-ranks test. Results. Improvements regarding health status, constructive attitudes and approaches, and skill and technique acquisition were found after the intervention among persons with Parkinsons disease. No changes were found among care partners. Conclusion. The findings indicate that the Swedish National Parkinson School may improve health status and self-management among persons with Parkinsons disease, but further studies are needed to better understand the effects, Funding Agencies|NEURO Sweden; Parkinson Foundation; Linkoping University; Henry och Ella Margareta Stahl Foundation

Persons with Parkinson's disease and their care partners want support from healthcare to develop the skills to handle everyday life with disease. Earlier findings indicate that participants of the self‐management program Swedish National Parkinson School experience several benefits of the program. The purpose of this qualitative observational study was to explore if participants had implemented the strategies of self‐monitoring included in the program, and use them to communicate health care status and needs in clinical encounters. Data was collected 3–15 months after participation in the program and analysed using constant comparative analysis. Three categories were evident: “Self‐observation in everyday life”, “Self‐care activities to promote health” and “Managing emotional impact of Parkinson's Disease”. Categories were linked together in a core category that highlight the use of self‐management strategies described by participants during clinical encounters. Results confirmed that persons with Parkinson's disease and care partners use the techniques of self‐observation in their everyday lives. Observations of effects in clinical care can be a valuable approach to evaluate the outcomes educational interventions and their benefits for individuals and health care. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved., Funding agencies:Foundation for Parkinson research Linkoping University; Henry and Ella Margaretha Stahl foundation; NEURO Sweden

Despite more than 250 years of taxonomic research, we still have only a vague idea about the true size and composition of the faunas and floras of the planet. Many biodiversity inventories provide limited insight because they focus on a small taxonomic subsample or a tiny geographic area. Here, we report on the size and composition of the Swedish insect fauna, thought to represent roughly half of the diversity of multicellular life in one of the largest European countries. Our results are based on more than a decade of data from the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative and its massive inventory of the country's insect fauna, the Swedish Malaise Trap Project The fauna is considered one of the best known in the world, but the initiative has nevertheless revealed a surprising amount of hidden diversity: more than 3,000 new species (301 new to science) have been documented so far. Here, we use three independent methods to analyze the true size and composition of the fauna at the family or subfamily level: (1) assessments by experts who have been working on the most poorly known groups in the fauna; (2) estimates based on the proportion of new species discovered in the Malaise trap inventory; and (3) extrapolations based on species abundance and incidence data from the inventory. For the last method, we develop a new estimator, the combined non-parametric estimator, which we show is less sensitive to poor coverage of the species pool than other popular estimators. The three methods converge on similar estimates of the size and composition of the fauna, suggesting that it comprises around 33,000 species. Of those, 8,600 (26%) were unknown at the start of the inventory and 5,000 (15%) still await discovery. We analyze the taxonomic and ecological composition of the estimated fauna, and show that most of the new species belong to Hymenoptera and Diptera groups that are decomposers or parasitoids. Thus, current knowledge of the Swedish insect fauna is strongly biased taxonomically an

Supplementary material for article: Structured Care and Self-Management Education for Persons with Parkinson’s Disease: Why the First Does Not Go without the Second—Systematic Review, Experiences and Implementation Concepts from Sweden and Germany

Victim offender mediation is practiced to less extent in Sweden despite the method being a statutory municipal obligation. Recommendations from the existing research is to investigate the identified problems of mediation. In the first part of this qualitative study an integrative literature study has been applied to existing research on the experiences of professional mediators. The second part of the study is conducted through interviews with politicians with emphasis on the fact that a statutory municipal method is used to less extent while the nation is calling for crime prevention. The results are subsequently analyzed from organizational theory and new public management theory. The results show that there are uncertainties about the mediator's position in the legal system, indicating a discrepancy between the legislature´s intention and the social regulation and the practical activities, thus indicating existing exclusion processes within the mediation system. The results of the study also show that the legislation needs to be modified as to meet the need of social work with youth offenders. The increased debate regarding juvenile delinquency and the demand of punitive policies has created a polarization in society where the attitudes and knowledge of victim offender mediation as a method are disparate thus creating the paradox of calling out for new methods contrary using existing ones that are evaluated, implemented and legislated, such as victim offender mediation.

The banking industry is experiencing a transformation where traditional actors are being challenged by newcomers with digital and innovative solutions. This transformation is affecting both customers, employees as well as potential employees. Therefore, banks have to focus on and innovate the employee experience to stay competitive on the employer market. This study intends to deepen the understanding of how students as potential employees perceive the Swedish banking industry and the attractiveness of different employers within it. The analysis is built on previous research within employer branding, employer value propositions, and transformations such as innovation and digitalization. A quantitative research method was used and a survey was conducted in order to collect data from the sample group, consisting of students in the last year at universities in Sweden heading for the working market. The main result of this study shows that potential employees prefer two value propositions when considering a future workplace. The first one is development value, which relates to the possibility to advance and grow professionally, and the second one is interest value, which relates to having interesting and challenging tasks. It also indicates that digital banks, compared to traditional banks, are more associated with these top two ranked value propositions, which entails that they communicate a more attractive employer brand towards potential employees. Conclusively, this research demonstrates that there is a significant difference between how traditional banks and digital banks employer brands are perceived by potential employees. This is important knowledge for the different actors within the banking industry to both possess as well as take into consideration., Bankindustrin genomgår en förändring där traditionella aktörer utmanas av nya bolag med digitala och innovativa lösningar. Transformationen påverkar både bankernas kunder och anställda. Därför måste banker fokusera på och innovera de anställdas upplevelse för att fortsätta vara konkurrenskraftiga på arbetsmarknaden. Den här studien ämnar fördjupa förståelsen för hur studenter som potentiella anställda uppfattar den svenska bankindustrin och hur attraktiva de uppfattar dess aktörer som arbetsgivare. Uppsatsen bygger på tidigare forskning inom employer branding, employer value proposition och transformation så som innovation och digitalisering. En kvantitativ metod användes för att genomföra studien och en enkät togs fram för att samla in data från urvalet. Det huvudsakliga resultatet från studien visar att potentiella anställda värderar det som kallas development value, som är kopplat till möjligheten att avancera och utvecklas professionellt, och interest value, som är kopplat till att ha intressanta och utmanande arbetsuppgifter, högst. Studien visar även på att digitala banker associeras med dessa value propositions i högre grad än vad traditionella banker gör. Detta tyder på att digitala banker kommunicerar ett mer attraktivt employer brand till potentiella anställda. Avslutningsvis, visar denna studien att det finns en signifikant skillnad mellan hur traditionella och digitala bankers employer brand uppfattas av potentiella anställda. Vilket är en viktig lärdom för olika aktörer i banksektorn att både få kunskap om och förhålla sig till.

Denna kandidatrapport avhandlar ett arbete utfört av åtta studenter som studerar på civilingenjörsprogrammen i mjukvaruteknik eller datateknik på Linköpings universitet och har deltagit i kursen Kandidatprojekt i programvaruutveckling TDDD96. Rapporten är en sammanfattning av det arbete studenterna utfört under vårterminen 2020, då kursen fortlöpt. Studenterna har under kursens gång arbetat med att leverera en slutprodukt som ska generera en nodgraf beskrivande gruvschakten i LKABs gruvsystem åt kunden Combitech. Slutsatserna förklarar hur projektgruppen lyckats skapa värde för kunden genom att producera ett generellt verktyg som kan användas med varierad indata, lyckats identifiera processrelaterade, teamarbetsrelaterade och tekniska erfarenheter samt att projektgruppen inte fann något stöd i att kontinuerligt revidera en systemanatomi. Rapporten behandlar även individuella studier skrivna av gruppmedlemmarna som analyserar ett valfritt ämne kopplat till arbetet.

As industries have begun to rethink the way they design, make and dispose of products for the purpose of sustainable development, manufacturers of acoustic products have been slow off the mark. The majority of acoustic products are still made of primarily virgin material made from petrochemical resources, which have a significant impact on the environment. This is problematic from an environmental standpoint, but also a commercial, as society is starting to favor materials fitting into a circular economy. Thus, consumers might break companies based on poor environmental strategy and branding. As it is clear that well designed acoustic environments can lead to improved wellbeing, an area which has gained recognition in the later years, it is important that acoustic products keep up with the new green economy. The purpose of this thesis was to answer the question, “What’s next in sustainable acoustic materials?”, with the presumption that a truly sustainable material for an acoustic solution already exists but has not yet been applied in an acoustic product. In this thesis, already existing (or upcoming) materials were evaluated with regards to their environmental properties, their applicability in acoustic products and how the materials with the highest potential could be used in an acoustic solution. Two distinct areas of interest characterize this thesis; firstly the material selection and its complexity regarding sustainability and secondly the development of an acoustic concept, BAUX Flight Mode, based on the aforementioned selection. The material search and selection process culminated in a list of 90 materials, which was filtered down to 12 materials with the help of a scoring system and later 3 through discussions and further analysis. The final design proposal, BAUX Flight Mode, was based on one of these materials, Circulose, which are cellulosic pulp sheets made from textile waste. The concept makes use of these sheets by joining them together and extending, Allteftersom företag har börjat att ompröva sättet de designar, tillverkar och avyttrar produkter inom ramarna för hållbar utveckling så har tillverkare av akustiska produkter varit långsamma ur startblocken. Majoriteten av akustiska produkter är fortfarande primärt sammansatta av nyråvara från petrokemiska resurser, vilka har en signifikant påverkan på miljön. Det är problematiskt ur både en miljömässig synvinkel, men även ur en affärsmässig, då samhället har börjat att föredra material som passar in i en cirkulär ekonomi. Således kan kunder komma att bryta ner företag baserat på dålig hållbarhetsstrategi och -marknadsföring. Då det är tydligt att väldesignade akustiska miljöer kan leda till förbättrat välmående, vilket är ett område som har fått ökad uppmärksamhet under senare år, så är det viktigt att akustiska produkter hänger med den nya gröna ekonomin. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att besvara frågan, ”Vad är framtiden inom hållbara akustiska material?”, med antagandet att ett verkligt hållbart material för en akustisk lösning redan finns, men ännu inte har använts i en akustisk produkt. Examensarbetet utvärderar befintliga (eller kommande) material med avseende på miljömässiga egenskaper samt användningspotential i akustiska produkter och hur de materialen med högst potential kunde användas i en akustisk lösning. Två distinkta intresseområden karaktäriserar detta examensarbete; för det första materialurvalet och dess komplexitet gällande hållbarhet och för det andra utvecklingen av ett akustiskt koncept, BAUX Flight mode, baserat på det nyssnämnda urvalet. Materialsökningen och urvalsprocessen kulminerade i en lista bestående av 90 material, vilken filtrerades ner till 12 material med hjälp av ett poängsystem och senare 3 genom diskussioner och vidare analys. Det slutgiltiga designförslaget, BAUX Flight Mode, baserades på ett av dessa material, Circulose, vilket är ark bestående av cellulosamassa utvunnen ur textilt avfall. Konceptet använder dessa ark g

Continuous subcutaneous (s.c.) apomorphine infusion is an effective therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD), but a limitation is the formation of troublesome s.c. nodules. Various chemically non-identical apomorphine formulations are available. Anecdotal experiences have suggested that shifting from one of these (Apo-Go PumpFill®; apoGPF) to another (Apomorphine PharmSwed®; apoPS) may influence the occurrence and severity of s.c. nodules. We, therefore, followed 15 people with advanced PD (median PD-duration, 15 years; median "off"-phase Hoehn and Yahr, IV) on apoGPF and with troublesome s.c. nodules who were switched to apoPS. Data were collected at baseline, at the time of switching, and at a median of 1, 2.5, and 7.3 months post-switch. Total nodule numbers (P < 0.001), size (P < 0.001), consistency (P < 0.001), skin changes (P = 0.058), and pain (P ≤ 0.032) improved over the observation period. PD severity and dyskinesias tended to improve and increase, respectively. Apomorphine doses were stable, but levodopa doses increased by 100 mg/day. Patient-reported apomorphine efficacy tended to increase and all participants remained on apoPS throughout the observation period; with the main patient-reported reason being improved nodules. These observations suggest that patients with s.c. nodules caused by apoGPF may benefit from switching to apoPS in terms of s.c. nodule occurrence and severity. Alternatively, observed benefits may have been due to the switch itself. As nodule formation is a limiting factor in apomorphine treatment, a controlled prospective study comparing local tolerance with different formulations is warranted.