Tag: doctoral thesis

113 – Early life environmental exposures and children’s growth

Early life is an important period for growth and development and therefore, sensitive to environmental exposures, such as chemicals and nutrition. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), ubiquitous in daily exposure, can lead to adverse health effects. Katherine Svensson’s doctoral thesis in Public Health Science investigates 26 EDCs in pregnant women and measured children’s growth up to 7 years, finding higher EDC levels linked to lower birthweight, slower weight gain, and sex-specific impacts on body fat. In our conversation, Katherine explains the significance of her results. Adherence to nutritional guidelines together with better regulation of EDCs can help to promote healthy environments for children’s growth.

Katherine Svensson’s doctoral thesis can be downloaded from DiVA: Early life environmental exposures and children’s growth: A longitudinal study evaluating prenatal exposure for endocrine disrupting chemicals and nutrition in relation to children’s growth up to seven years of age

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112 – Unchaining microservice chains

In modern software development, microservices are crucial. Instead of a monolithic application, where everything is tightly coupled, microservice architecture offers a way to develop, deploy and maintain services independently. This enhances agility, resilience, and scalability, but it also introduces challenges concerning for example resource allocation and performance optimization.

In his doctoral thesis in Computer Science, Michel Gokan Khan addresses such challenges in large scale microservice chains, specifically in cloud native computing. In our conversation, he explains some of the key contributions of his research. Two of them being the PerfSim, a tool designed by Michel that is a performance simulator for cloud native system, and NFV-Inspector, another tool designed by him to be able to profile and analyse microservices specifically in network functions virtualization (NFV) environments. Michel’s research is also able to show how machine learning can be used for optimizing microservice chains in cloud environments. By contributions such as these and more, Michel’s research helps to reveal the true potential of artificial intelligence in profiling, modelling, simulating, and most importantly optimizing the performance and cost of running microservice chains.

Michel Gokan Khan’s doctoral thesis can be downloaded from DiVA: Unchaining Microservice Chains: Machine Learning Driven Optimization in Cloud Native Systems

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108 – Unconventional Metaphors in English as a Lingua Franca

Metaphors accompany us in everyday life, although they are mostly elusive. Yet, when used in unconventional ways, such as in the expression “English Philology is just a bubble”, they remind us of their presence. But what aspects distinguish unconventional from conventional metaphors? To answer this question, Sebastian Malinowski conducted a survey in which 160 non-native and native English speakers using English as a lingua franca (a common language) participated. The participants were encouraged to interpret different metaphorical expressions. In our interview, Sebastian describes the characteristics of unconventional metaphors, and he explains why some of the results of his study should encourage non-native English speakers to be more confident in their language skills.

Sebastian Malinowski’s doctoral thesis can be downloaded from DiVA: “English Philology is just a Bubble” : Unconventional Metaphors in English as a Lingua Franca

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99 – Free and open source software

LibreOffice is an office suite that can be downloaded, used, shared, modified and redistributed freely. It is available for most operating systems, including Mac OS and Windows, and estimated to have 200 million active users worldwide. It is one of the largest and longstanding free and open source software projects.

In his ethnographic study, Reinhard Handler investigates the collaborative practices that forms LibreOffice. With the aim to understand how collaborative practices emerge, are negotiated and ordered in the context of free and open source software, he has followed collaborators at conferences, interviewed them, and participated in their discussions. In our conversation, Reinhard describes and explains the interplay of ethical ideas, technical skills, and governance mechanisms that together form LibreOffice as a software project.

Reinhard Handler’s doctoral thesis can be downloaded from DiVA: Colliberate : The practices of free and open source software

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88 – Juridik som naturfenomen

I detta avsnitt av Forskningspodden pratar vi med Gustav Stenseke Arup om hans avhandling som handlar om förhållandet mellan rätt, samhälle och miljö. I centrum står vargen som Gustav har använt för att tydliggöra att det rättsliga skyddet för vargen och den rättsliga frågan om skydds- och licensjakt inte riktig går ihop.

För att bättre förstå vilka konflikter som finns och hur de hänger ihop på en juridisk nivå har Gustav djupdykt i olika teorier och applicerat de på vargfrågan. Det rättsliga material som finns kring licens- och skyddsjakt på varg – lagar, domar och förarbeten – har varit viktiga i detta arbete som till slut ledde till avhandlingen Entangled Law: A Study of the Entanglement of Wolves, Humans, and Law in the Landscape som ni hittar i vår publikationsdatabas DiVA.

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87 – Operationssjuksköterskors ansvar och kompetens

Vad går jobbet som operationssjuksköterska egentligen ut på? Vi pratar med Ann-Catrin Blomberg, som efter en lång yrkeserfarenhet som operationssjuksköterska, upplevde att  operationssjuksköterskans roll i den perioperativa vården var otydlig. Det var mycket fokus på den kirurgiska behandlingen och operationssjuksköterskornas kompetens inom medicinsk teknik medans den delen som handlar om patienternas vårdande i stort sett negligerats. För att få en mer nyanserad bild undersökte Ann-Catrin i sin avhandling operationssjuksköterskornas roll, deras syn på sin profession samt deras ansvar och kompetens i relation till vården av patienten och berättar om sina resultat i detta avsnitt av Forskningspodden.

Du kan läsa hela avhandlingen här: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1260195/FULLTEXT02.pdf

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85 – Biblical allusion in three Charles Dickens novels

The famous British novelist Charles Dickens (1812-1870) believed in the power of fiction to affect the reader. In some of his novels he used the reader’s familiarity with the Bible so as to engage them in imagining contemporary social conditions. In Yuanyuan Zhu’s research she investigates the use of biblical allusions in Dickens’ novels Bleak House, Hard Times, and Little Dorrit. Central to the interpretation of the biblical allusions in the novels is the dialogic relation between the biblical and fictive worlds as well as both to the Victorian socio-historical context. In our conversation, Dr. Zhu explains that the biblical allusions serve many purposes in the novels. Ultimately, they instruct the reader about the need for social improvement and individual moral actions.

Yuanyuan Zhu’s doctoral thesis can be downloaded from DiVA: Biblical Allusion in Three Charles Dickens Condition-of-England Novels

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80 – Empowering users of online services

Using online services means ticking a lot of boxes in consent forms, but do we always know what we are saying yes to? In this podcast we are talking to Farzaneh Karegar, PhD in Computer Science. In her research she proposed, designed, and tested usable and legally compliant tools and solutions that can empower users to take control of their data when using online services. 

We talk about the trade-offs between convenience and privacy when it comes to making online choices; tools that both users and service providers can benefit from and consent form designs that motivate users to pay more attention to what they are disclosing and for what purposes. Farzaneh introduces us also to dark patterns which are very prominent in, for example, cookie consent banners and explains why they can be a pitfall also for policy designers with good intentions. 

Farzaneh Karegar’s doctoral thesis can be downloaded from DiVA: The Lord of Their Data Under the GDPR?: Empowering Users Through Usable Transparency, Intervenability, and Consent

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79 – The Public Interest in the Data Society

The public interest, in its ideal form, offers the possibility for all to exercise individual rights and freedoms, such as freedom of expression and information or the right to personal data protection. However, in practice the definition of public interest can vary depending on the context.

In Maud Bernisson’s doctoral thesis in Media and Communication Studies, she investigates how the notion of public interest was constructed in relation to digital media during the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) policymaking process. By interviewing key actors of the process, along with extensive in-depth document analyses, Maud’s research shows that the GDPR redefines the public interest in a way which diverges from its ideal form. In our conversation, Maud explains the reasons for this divergence and how it has affected how the GDPR works for EU citizens.     

Maud Bernisson’s doctoral thesis can be downloaded from DiVA: The Public Interest in the Data Society: Deconstructing the Policy Network Imaginary of the GDPR

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68- The human side of idea screening

For businesses to stay competitive and survive, it is vital for them to take good care of ideas aiming at evolving the enterprise. However, assessing and evaluating new ideas, idea screening, can take time and resources, it often acts as a bottle neck during the innovation process. Thus far, research on idea screening, has focused more on the technical and procedural aspects, leaving the human side of the process aside. For this reason, in his research Alexandre Sukhov, Ph.D. in Business Administration, has taken the perspective of the individuals involved as evaluators of ideas. By investigating more than 1,300 idea screening cases performed by 245 people, he has come to the conclusion that there is more to the process than mere screening. In fact, evaluators are co-constructing the very ideas they are set to screen. In our interview, Alexandre explains what this means for our understanding of the innovation process, and how his results can help businesses improve their innovation processes .

Alexandre Sukhov’s doctoral thesis can be downloaded from DiVA: The Human Side of Idea Screening

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