Blekinge Institute of Technology
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Associations between breathlessness and individuals' satisfaction with sexual life : a nationally representative internet survey
No full textINTRODUCTION: Sexual life is important for many people and may be limited by breathlessness. We evaluated associations between breathlessness and individuals' perceived satisfaction with sexual lives and explored mediating factors in this relationship. METHODS: A cross-sectional, online, population-based survey of Australian adults with key demographics (age, sex, rurality, state/territory) reflected the 2016 national census. Assessments included: demographics, breathlessness (modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) scale); satisfaction with overall sexual life; whether breathlessness had affected overall sexual life and physical, social and emotional functioning. Binomial and ordinal logistic regression evaluated associations; a structural equation model evaluated direct, indirect and total associations. RESULTS: Of 10 033 respondents (52% women; mean age 45.4 (SD 18.6)), 4245/10 033 (42%) reported mMRC ≥1, 1214/10 033 (12%) reported being very dissatisfied with their overall sexual life and 943/10 033 (9%) reported that breathlessness had impacted their overall sexual life. Compared with mMRC 0, there was an unadjusted association between mMRC 1 and satisfaction with overall sexual life which remained after adjusting for age, sex and body mass index (adjusted OR (aOR): 1.50; 95% CI 1.29 to 1.74).Breathlessness severity was associated with worse unadjusted and adjusted impact on overall sexual life: mMRC 0 versus mMRC 1 (aOR: 1.84; 95% CI 1.36 to 2.47). The associations increased stepwise for each higher mMRC level. There may be moderation of the effect of breathlessness on satisfaction with sexual life through emotional functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing breathlessness severity increases the likelihood of a person's overall sexual life being impacted negatively, potentially mediated partly through emotional functioning.
AI och entreprenörskapets finansiering - Teknikutveckling, (de)globalisering och globala utmaningar
No full textPontus Braunerhjelm gör en framtidsspaning som redan idag äger rum i olika omfattning. Han konstaterar att även om AI kan bidra till effektivare finansiering av entreprenörer – och utveckla alternativa finansieringskällor med hjälp av exempelvis tokens och kryptovalutor – kommer sannolikt fysiska personliga kontakter att behövas i någon form.
Integrating Meshlets into Real-Time Hardware-Accelerated Ray Tracing Pipelines using DirectX 12
No full textBackground. Real-time rendering applications continue to increase in geometric complexity. Meshlets have emerged as an efficient geometry representation for rasterisation through the mesh shader pipeline. However, modern hardware-accelerated ray-tracing pipelines rely on traditional meshes, creating an incompatibility that requires multiple model geometries to be stored and uploaded to the GPU, increasing memory usage. Objectives. This thesis investigates whether meshlets can serve as a unified geometry representation for both rasterisation and ray tracing in a real-time rendering application using DirectX 12. The study is a proof of concept that evaluates the feasibility, limitations, visual correctness, GPU memory usage, and frame-time performance of the meshlet-based ray-tracing approach. Methods. A real-time rendering application was implemented that supports both mesh-based and meshlet-based geometry for rasterisation and ray tracing. Meshlets were represented as procedural primitives in the DirectX Ray Tracing using meshlet-level axis-aligned bounding boxes. The implementation was evaluated on two different GPU platforms, and multiple meshlet configurations were tested by varying the maximum number of triangles per meshlet to analyse their impact on visual output, GPU memory usage, and frame-time performance. Results. The meshlet-based ray tracer produced output that closely matched the mesh-based reference, with only negligible pixel-level differences. GPU memory usage was significantly reduced for the meshlet-based ray-tracing pipeline, approximately 60% lower VRAM consumption than the mesh-based approach. However, the meshlet-based ray tracer exhibited substantially higher frame times than the mesh-based ray tracer, with a worst-case of approximately 29 times slower. This indicates a significant frame time penalty under the evaluated conditions. Conclusions. The results demonstrate that meshlets can be integrated into hardware-accelerated ray tracing pipelines using existing DirectX Ray tracing functionality while preserving visual correctness and substantially reducing the memory usage. However, the increased computational cost of resolving triangle intersections within meshlets leads to significantly worse rendering performance than that of the traditional mesh-based ray tracer. These findings suggest that meshlet-based ray tracing is feasible for providing visually correct output and as a memory-efficient geometry representation, but requires optimisation or hardware support to improve rendering performance.Bakgrund. Realtidsrendering-applikationer fortsätter att öka i geometrisk komplexitet. Meshlets har etablerats som en effektiv geometrirepresentation för rasterisering genom mesh shader-pipelinen. Modern hårdvaruaccelererad strålspårningsteknik bygger dock på traditionella mesh-representationer, vilket skapar en inkompatibilitet som kräver att flera modellrepresentationer lagras och laddas upp till grafikkortet, vilket ökar minnesanvändningen. Syfte. Detta examensarbete undersöker huruvida meshlets kan fungera som en enhetlig geometrirepresentation för både rasterisering och strålspårning i en realtidsrenderingapplikation baserad på DirectX 12. Studien syftar till att utvärdera genomförbarhet, begränsningar, visuell korrekthet, grafikkort-minnesanvändning, renderingstid per frame för den meshlet-baserade strålspårningsmetoden. Metod. En realtidsrendering-applikation implementerades som stödjer både mesh-baserad och meshlet-baserad geometri för rasterisering och strålspårning. Meshlets representerades som processuella primitiver i DirectX Ray Tracing med hjälp av meshlet-nivåns axeljusterade begränsningslådor. Implementationen utvärderades på två olika sorters grafikkort, och flera meshlet-konfigurationer testades genom att variera det maximala antalet trianglar per meshlet för att analysera deras påverkan på visuellt resultat, grafikkort-minnesanvändning och renderingstid per frame. Resultat. Den implementerade meshlet-baserade strålspårningen producerade ett visuellt resultat som nära överensstämmer med den mesh-baserade referensen, med endast försumbara pixelvisa skillnader. Minnesanvändningen för grafikkortet reducerades avsevärt för den meshlet-baserade strålspårningen, med cirka 60 % lägre minnesanvändning jämfört med den mesh-baserade metoden. Däremot uppvisade den meshlet-baserade varianten högre renderingstider, med ett värsta fall som var upp till cirka 29 gånger långsammare än den mesh-baserade metoden. Detta indikerar en betydande prestandaförlust under de utvärderade förhållandena. Slutsatser. Resultaten visar att meshlets kan integreras i hårdvaruaccelererad strålspårningen med hjälp av befintlig DirectX Ray Tracing-funktionalitet, samtidigt som visuell korrekthet bibehålls och till och med reducerad minnesanvändning för grafikkortet. Den ökade beräkningskostnaden för att lösa triangelintersektioner inom meshlets leder dock till avsevärd sämre renderingsprestanda jämfört med den traditionella mesh-baserade strålspårningsmetoden. Detta indikerar att meshlet-baserad strålspårning är genomförbar och ger korrekt visuell bild samt reducerad minnesanvändning, men kräver ytterligare optimering eller hårdvarustöd för att uppnå bättre prestanda
Improving and characterizing participatory reuse
No full textContext: Producers of reusable software assets frequently encounter a high volume of feature requests and bug reports from consumers. InnerSource (IS) offers a potential solution through Participatory Reuse (PR), where consumers participate in the development and maintenance of reusable assets. Objective: This thesis aims to understand, organize, and improve PR by: 1) understanding the state of the art and practice regarding the costs, benefits, and challenges of software reuse; 2) organizing existing knowledge on PR; and 3) supporting companies in understanding and improving their PR practices. Methods: This thesis used a mixed-methods approach (an SLR, a case survey, and four case studies) to investigate PR. The SLR explored the reported costs and benefits of software reuse. An exploratory case study assessed reuse practices at a medium-sized company, followed by an improving case study on its readiness for PR. The case survey synthesized existing knowledge into a PR catalog and taxonomy, which was validated and refined through expert evaluations and two additional case studies. Results: The results of SLR and exploratory case study showed that improved product quality and productivity are the primary benefits of software reuse, though not without associated costs and challenges. The results of two case studies with the same company demonstrated that IS, particularly PR, can help address reuse challenges such as discoverability and ownership of reusable assets. We developed and tested an instrument to assess the company's readiness to adopt PR, identifying areas for improvement and potential solutions. To organize the PR body of knowledge, we developed a PR catalog and taxonomy. The catalog consolidated PR challenges, solutions, and lessons from industrial cases, while the taxonomy provides a mechanism to characterize PR. Finally, we developed a checklist based on the taxonomy for practitioners to assess their current PR practices and identify desired changes. Conclusion: This thesis advances the field of PR by proposing and validating interventions to improve and characterize PR. The proposed readiness instrument helped the case company to reflect on its current PR practices and identify the areas for improvement. The PR catalog was found to be valuable by experts for providing a clear mapping from PR challenges to the associated solutions and lessons. With the help of two case studies, this thesis demonstrates the utility of the PR taxonomy and its associated checklist in characterizing PR and identifying areas for improvement
Federated Multi‐Source Data Fusion for Semi‐Supervised Fault Detection in District Heating Substations
No full textFault detection in district heating (DH) substations is critical for energy efficiency and reliability. However, it is challenged by scarce fault labels, low-frequency data, privacy concerns, and battery-constrained gateways. We propose a novel hybrid semi-supervised federated domain adaptation architecture for fault detection in DH. We use a one-class variational autoencoder (VAE) to leverage heterogeneous sensor streams from 434 distributed substations. First, we perform cross-network unsupervised pre-training on multi-sourced data from two independent real-world DH networks, fusing their return temperature dynamics into a robust shared manifold. Second, we leverage maintenance metadata to selectively allow verified-normal clients for per-round fine-tuning of the model. Third, we drastically reduce uplink costs by compressing each client's weight delta using 10% top-k sparsification and demonstrate that our pipeline enables robust few-shot finetuning with 20% of the normal operational data while retaining high detection performance. By strategically training, our method achieves F1 and G-mean scores of up to 97% and an AUC ≥ 99% on real-world DH data. To our knowledge, this is the first work to study cross-domain data fusion in the DH field for fault detection, aiming to enhance and enable effective, scalable, and energy-efficient monitoring of substations
The adaptation of management control systems in sustainability-oriented innovation strategy implementation
No full textOrganizations are increasingly turning to sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI) to address pressing environmental and social challenges, yet implementation remains fraught with difficulties. Unlike incremental sustainability efforts, SOI embeds sustainability objectives into the core of innovation processes, encompassing products, services, and business models. This study investigates how the adaptation of management control systems (MCSs) enables the implementation of SOI. Drawing on a case study of a Scandinavian polyethylenepackaging firm responding to the European Union's plastic ban by shifting to bio-based and recycled materials, we trace the firm's rapid implementation of an SOI strategy. Leveraging Tessier and Otley's (2012) refinement of Simons' (1995) levers-of-control (LOC) framework, we show how the firm navigated distinct phases of SOI implementation by alternating between strategic and operational levels of control. Rather than developing entirely new control mechanisms, the firm adapted existing ones-a process we term plasticity, defined as the capacity to repurpose controls without altering their formal design or structure. This study advances research on management control for sustainability by introducing MCS plasticity as a key enabler of SOI and by demonstrating the analytical value of the revised LOC framework for examining complex sustainability transitions
Standing next to but not being part of : relatives' experiences of support from healthcare professionals when general palliative care is provided at home
No full textBackground: Relatives play a crucial role when palliative care is provided at home. More advanced care at home places higher demands on relatives, taking great responsibility, facing challenges, and often lacking adequate knowledge and skills to provide care. Therefore, relatives need support from healthcare professionals, yet do not receive the needed support. This study aimed to elucidate relatives’ experiences of support from healthcare professionals before and after a patient’s death when general palliative care is provided at home. Methods: A phenomenological hermeneutical method was used. The inclusion criteria were relatives of people who had died, involved in general palliative care at home. The sample consisted of 14 adult relatives involved in general palliative care at home between one week and 12 months. Data were collected through individual interviews between January and May 2025. Results: Relatives needed to be seen as they felt left out; they felt an overwhelming responsibility; they needed to feel safe at home through guidance from and access to healthcare professionals; they felt the need to know what was happening and what to expect; and they needed help in processing the grief both before and after the patient’s death. These themes formed the main theme: Standing next to but not being part of. Conclusions: The findings of this study showed a lack of support for relatives before and after the patient’s death but offer insights into what support relatives need from HCPs when general PC is provided at home. Relatives need to feel seen, informed and prepared, to feel safe when care is provided at home, and not feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of the situation. As research continuously reveals that relatives have unmet support needs, this highlights the need for tailored interventions and the targeting of available support actions for improved support. Since relatives play a crucial role in palliative care at home, continued work with education and training for relatives should be prioritised to support them in feeling prepared, obtaining necessary caregiving knowledge and skills, enabling them to cope with the situation at home.
Framing Sustainability within Software Engineering through FSSD (SPs): A Systematic Mapping Study
No full textDigitalization is reshaping society, yet software engineering still lacks a shared understanding of sustainability beyond narrow efficiency claims. This systematic mapping study examines how socio-ecological sustainability is framed in SE and AI/ML-relatedwork, using the FSSD Sustainability Principles as success conditions. 59 studies were investigated and coded across SE context and SP-based layers. Results show Ecological sustainability is mainly treated through SP1, while SP2–SP3 are less addressed and rarely strong. Social principles—especially SP6, SP8, and SP5—are more consistent but often implicit. Key gaps include limited upstream focus, weak boundary clarity, and insufficient trade-off handling, pointing to opportunities for stronger SP2–SP3 operationalization and more actionable decision support
Interest in Working Remotely : What Factors Are at Play?
No full textIn the postpandemic era, attitudes toward remote work appeared to undergo a lasting transformation, with a high degree of location flexibility becoming increasingly common. Yet, in recent years, many organizations have introduced return-to-office (RTO) initiatives aimed at re-establishing traditional workplace dynamics and prioritizing in-person collaboration. These mandates have drawn significant attention and criticism for limiting software developers flexibility, diminishing well-being, and potentially impacting women disproportionally. This study seeks to understand software developers preferences and actual work behaviors in companies that promote in-office presence. Specifically, we investigate whether certain demographic groups, including women, are differentially affected by RTO initiatives. We also explore a range of factors that may influence individual preferences for remote or on-site work, beyond gender-based assumptions. We report findings from a survey conducted in two large Scandinavian companies engaged in the development of software-intensive systems and services. Data analysis includes descriptive statistics, contingency tables along with post hoc tests, chi-square test of association, and Cramér's (Formula presented.) for effect sizes. Our findings reveal that gender differences among software developers in both industrial cases are minimal and statistically insignificant. Instead, other variables—such as the degree of collaborative work, commute time, and responsibility to support teammates—demonstrate a stronger association with both actual and preferred office attendance. Our results challenge common narratives around gendered responses to RTO mandates, suggesting that other contextual and task-related factors may play a more decisive role. While the impact of RTO initiatives should not be dismissed, our findings indicate that a deeper understanding of work dynamics—particularly around collaboration intensity and commuting burden—is essential to designing equitable and effective work policies. Finally, our findings imply that organizational recommendations for work location must go hand in hand with task design.
Effective Simulations for Value Exploration in System-of-Systems Design : A Step Towards Digital Twins
No full textToday, increased global competition and regulatory demands push organizations to find innovative ways to design and create value. One way is to examine Product-Service System offerings, which enable more stable revenues and foster tighter collaboration and value co-creation between the provider and customer. However, this often means adopting a System-of-Systems (SoS) approach where the value creation is dependent on successful collaboration between constituent systems and actors. SoS also leads to higher complexity and uncertainty, making them more challenging to design, especially in the early stages where knowledge is limited. Therefore, this thesis investigates how to leverage simulations and operational data to explore the value creation in SoS design. Methodologically, the work adopts a Design Research Methodology and Participatory Action Research approach, combining systematic literature reviews with six industrial case studies in the construction machinery and climate resilience sectors. The case studies originate from a series of research projects conducted in collaboration with various industrial and public partners between 2020 and 2025. The research introduces two main contributions. First, the Value–Data Framework, which operationalizes Value-Driven Design by linking value modeling to operational datasets, enabling transparent and quantitative assessment of value creation. The value model introduces a two-step value hierarchy to enhance transparency and address the growing complexity of SoS. Operational data is defined and classified clearly to show where and how it can be leveraged. The second contribution, an Integrated Simulation Platform, equips design teams with the ability to develop effective simulations for SoS modeling in early design stages. The platform explicitly addresses multi-fidelity to guide developers in balancing the computational complexity and accuracy. Finally, both contributions are demonstrated in quarry case studies to validate and highlight their usefulness. Lastly, the SoS simulations are contextualized for Digital Twinning, and the use cases and needs for deploying Digital Twins in climate resilience efforts are examined. The findings advance theory by bridging Value-Driven Design and SoS simulations, and provide practical guidelines for managing fidelity trade-offs and data–value integration. Industrial implications include improved decision support for electrification, autonomy, and resilience strategies.